F650 Dakar
Martin, not sure if you have made your selection already but here are my thoughts and experience: my wife and I have ridden 2-up on a 2002 F650 Dakar in Australia and Tasmania (mostly tarmac, some dirt track), Mexico Baja (lots of dirt, gravel, sand) and in Canada and the USA (mostly pavement but a fair bit of gravel as well).
We are not small people (100kg and 55kg), we have 50,000 kms on the bike and have had no major problems. Our main reason for going with the F650GS was to have a lower seat, and a lighter bike, loaded up it is plenty heavy enough. The factory seat is not very comfortable for long days in the saddle, in Australia we made do with using travel pillows (the horse shoe shaped blow up version) with just a couple of puffs of air, which worked surprisingly well. After that we bought a Corbin seat which as well as being more comfortable gives the rider a bit more seat room, my wife also finds it a lot more comfortable.
All that being said, we are planning a trip to south and central Africa for 2014 and I am also looking for the right machine(s). Suzuki DL650? another Dakar? KLR650? a pair of AG200's? Lots of good motorcycles out there, research and try out as many as you can. Good luck.
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