Awesome picture.

I think you should try and gear up you DRZ for a weekend and take it onto some really rough stuff with all the gear to see how it performs. It has an ali subframe, so when distance comes into play, water and fuel take priority over anything else. Need to find some room for food as well. Sounds like a light sleeping bag in comb with a bivi bag and 3 pairs of undies type of trip.

This bloke is doing a fair trip on a Husky. May give you some ideas. He doesn't seem to be camping though.

Three Months on a Husky TE610 - ADVrider

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

If you buy a BMW, you might want to carry extra forks in case this happens:


BMW Recovery Team (BMW Owners cover your eyes) - Page 5 - Stromtrooper.com

Not too well informed I gather.....

Check your F650GS or Dakar Forks - ADVrider

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

Personally, I think he should stick with the Suzi; not 'cause the forks on old BMW's might turn to mush, but because he already owns it and knows it--the BMW thread is only to throw gasoline on the fire

Yes Algeria is one of the best! I’ll go back as soon as things normalize.


Going with a BMW900S must have been hard from time to time. When was it? Here is a video from Algeria, 1986. I think it’s great! YouTube - riding motorcycle to CAMEROON - per Motorrad bis KAMERUN

It’s not bad; we managed almost two pages before the BMW-bashing started.

You are right on this one , it was a handfull but the BMW was my first big bike so I didn't know better , I left from France and went across Africa with it and back without any major issue .But off road the beast was riding me. It was almost 20 year ago ,ignorance is bless ,I think sometime we know too much and worry way more than necessary.

There is not a right or wrong, it’s whatever works for ya.

I have had both the BMW and DRZ.

I personally am leaning to smaller and slower bikes. I even question a 400 at times. When you see bigger bikes you normally see foreigners or you’re in a developed country. The DRZ can comfortably go 60mph, do you really need a bike that can go faster? Are you on a timeline, if not why go faster in areas that you are not familiar with in 3rd world?

Your DRZ is worth what $3k ish. How much would a modded BMW set you back? Which is cheaper to repair, insure, etc? DRZ has 2 dealers as well which may help at times but very little. This money is what gets you down the rode. Chris Scott said something along the lines of distance = gas and time = water. I say money = both.

I find that the DRZ is a lot easier to work on as well. It’s just a simpler bike plan and simple.

Travelers are stereotyped, we all are and we all do it at times. It’s presumed the couple riding a bike has less money than the couple on motorcycles and less than couple pulling up in their 4x4. Which looks like you have money the dirt bike or a BMW?

Either bike will work and it is all irrelevant. Only thing that maters, is what works for you and you are the only one that can decide that.

Wish you the best and GL with your decision.
EW

On that note, does anyone know somewhere in the UK that would meet the rough requirements you're suggesting? Somewhere in Scotland, Ireland or Wales perhaps?

Not sure mate. You'd wanna find some heavily rutted and corrugated dirt roads and run those for 500km at 80-100kph. Don't think there is much of that in Northwestern Europe. May have to jump on the ferry to Spain. Nice mid week trip that.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

Thanks for the input people. I have found a few nice Dakars in the $5800-$6600 range, complete with racks/panniers. They handle WAY different than the DRZ, probably not as good in serious dirt, but far more comfortable.

I thought a lot about it, and no matter what, we're going to spend at least 70% of our time on road getting to dirt areas. I'm leaning toward the Dakar simply for that. We're not going to be doing 'trailriding' like you might do for a weekend here in Colorado. We're going to be travelling for a long distance, and some of that distance will be on fire/gravel roads, some of it on 4x4 tracks, and a very small amount on something more difficult.

The thought of going so far on the DRZ after riding it several thousand miles makes my ass hurt, even with an aftermarket saddle. I love the bike, it handles great, and is wonderful for what I do off road. But pretty much anything I do you can do on the Dakar (I'm not a hardcore trail rider).

Also, with the airbox, exhaust, and carb mods, the DRZ isn't quite as good on gas as it used to be. Maybe because it's WAY more fun to twist that throttle now. Great for fun around town, or in the mountains, but not great for a long trip.

So with that in mind, anyone (tmotten) got any tips on what to look for in a Dakar with 12-18k miles on it? What are the parts of the Dakar that wear out fastest or fail most often? Any benefit to replacing bars? And what's with the flimsy handguards? Any problems in replacing with acerbis guards? How's the electrical system? Easy to wire in a socket?

TMotten, I see you have a DRZ now, what have you done with it? Just interested :-)

Exactly the conclusion so many of us draw. It's unfortunate if you really want to go hard offroad, but doesn't mean it won't be an adventure regardless.

What year are the Dakar's your looking at? You want one with the new forks.

There is a Dakar thread on Advrider at the moment that asked me a similar question. Bit more on mods though.

ADVrider - View Single Post - The 650 Dakar Thread

I would personally go with soft luggage now. A lot lighter means you can ride a lot more sporty on the dirt. Hard luggage is rigid which can only cause fatigue failures. I've had the little rear bracket break due to that.
Handle bars are crap, but most bikes have that problem. Reason is their handling of the heated grip wires. You want heated grips by the way. But they are available everywhere.
The hand guards are useless. Really just weather guards. Definately get rid of them or bring heaps of levers.

Things that go are:

waterpump (replace before you leave to know how to change. Mine lasted 18k km.)
SHB (lube them every 10k km and they'll be fine though. Most don't lube them at all.)
rear suspension bearings (see SHB)
fork seals (if the stanchions are pitted, rechrome and fit neoprene fork gaiters. I'm still on the originals.)

and that's about it I think. On mine only the aftermarket shock and waterpump went. Shock was due to volcanic ash getting past the seal at Chaiten in Chile.
I've modded the crap out of it, so click on my blog and find the pages about it. If you need help beyond that PM me.

So far I've only done protective mods on the DRZ. B&B bashplate, Force rad guard, cheapo hand guards (untill they brake), TT case savers. re-route vent hoses, removed side stand switch, ground gear selectors edges off, lubed SHB and swingarm bearings. Still need to make some mirrors and indicators.
It's only really for trail riding though.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

I'm looking at a really nice '02 with 18k miles. Mint, with many TT aftermarket accessories. But still with stock bars and handguards.

Also a nice '05 with 12k miles. Mostly stock.

The 02 is cheap enough I could probably replace the forks if PO hasn't already done it. WIll check on SHB/fork seals. Both owners claim to have had recent BMW service.

Any benefit to having the newer engine? I'm leaning toward the '02 because with the money I save on it I can do some upgrades. It already has all the protection (bashguard, crash bars, fairing protection) and fog lights. Plus racks.

I'm leaning to hard cases for security.

Also, what's the deal with the exhaust mod where you replace one of cans with storage? Can you just plug it and remove/drill the cat?

I love my DRZ, fun bike. But I'm more into the long distance thing at the moment. So I'm selling my DRZ. Sad to see her go. But you can always buy a new DRZ. Next time I'll get an SM. Definately recommend the FCR carb (properly jetted) with the 3x3 plus full exhaust. It really adds HP and throttle response. I'd say that bike is the most fun bike i've ever been on. But not great on long distances...

Tyres make a huge difference with the weight of the F650. I ran Pirelli MT60's which were great on sand but lethal on wet tarmac (and were never going to wear out). The usual TCK's etc. work, just don't even try dirt with the knobbed-up road tyres a lot of owners fit.

You'll need to carry a water pump kit and know how to use it IMHO. If the oil turns chocolate brown it needs sorting same day or you'll risk cooking the head. I don't want to talk about how I know, lets just say I was close (like 50 miles) to taking up Desert hiking and havn't bought a watercooled bike or a BMW since

Personally, I'd stick to the DRZ and work on the seat.

Andy