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Which Bike? Comments and Questions on what is the best bike for YOU, for YOUR trip. Note that we believe that ANY bike will do, so please remember that it's all down to PERSONAL OPINION. Technical Questions for all brands go in their own forum.
Photo by George Guille, It's going to be a long 300km... Bolivian Amazon

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by George Guille
It's going to be a long 300km...
Bolivian Amazon



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  • 1 Post By *Touring Ted*

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  #1  
Old 19 Jun 2015
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help choosing bike for 2 traveling all around
hello all ,

I have the dream as many of you to travel round the world by bike, but since that would take a very long time, i decided to go by motorbike

Me and my wife both like bikes, but never made huge trips with them, specially since the bigger bike I had was a Honda CB500.

I'm now looking to purchase "THE MOTORBIKE" to start traveling long distances, road and some off-road, and for that would like to request your help.

I'm looking for something with the following characteristics:
- good to travel with 2 adults (around 70kg + 60kg)
- not too heavy (for me a BMW GS1200 is heavy)
- easy to maneuver
- i need to reach the ground with my feet while seated (i'm 1,72m high)

I would prefer a used one, but new is also an option. A good option would be one with easy maintenance and easier to find replacement parts.

The first main big goal would be to go from Portugal to Nepal, but with smaller goals before, so I can start to learn about long distance traveling by bike.

Any recommendations ?

Thank you in advance.
Last edited by ciber; 22 Jun 2015 at 09:51. Reason: added info
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  #2  
Old 19 Jun 2015
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As you have probably read on the forum people travel the globe on all sorts of motorcycle/scooters/mopeds and most do it with out any major problems

Why don't you look at the Yamaha XT660Z, the V-strom and the Wee-storm, the new Tiger, there is also the GS 800 and the GSA 800 to name but a few and I am sure others will come up with a lot more

I test rode the XT660Z before I went for the XT600E and it was a nice bike but a little too tall, it was like been back on my old GSA

Good luck with the search

Wayne
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  #3  
Old 22 Jun 2015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lonerider View Post
As you have probably read on the forum people travel the globe on all sorts of motorcycle/scooters/mopeds and most do it with out any major problems

Why don't you look at the Yamaha XT660Z, the V-strom and the Wee-storm, the new Tiger, there is also the GS 800 and the GSA 800 to name but a few and I am sure others will come up with a lot more

I test rode the XT660Z before I went for the XT600E and it was a nice bike but a little too tall, it was like been back on my old GSA

Good luck with the search

Wayne

Hello Lonerider,

Thank you for your quick response. I have already looked at the XT600 since it seems to be a very common bike, but do you think its good for 2 people traveling? Does it need any special modification so it can carry 2 adults plus luggage?

Now that you talked about i added another preference of mine to the list, since I always like to be able to reach the ground with me feet.


Tks in advance.
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  #4  
Old 22 Jun 2015
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Lonerider have mentioned several good bikes for a two up travel according to your criterias. I would like to mention Honda Transalp 650 and 700 as a potentially suitable bike for you as well. Theyre a little heavy and topheavy for their size and doesnt have the longest range either, but can still be an alternative. Maybe even KTM 950 or 990. They are definetively not as heavy as the BMW 1200. Lots of umph but not the longest range either.

Suspension and seat are imo important things to look at when travelling two up.
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Old 22 Jun 2015
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That you want to do a bit of off-roading is the big difference. Especially two up.

I'm just going to assume you mean light trails, fire-track and the odd devilish campsite.

Transalp is good bike. The 600-650 Especially.

V-strom is more road bias than the Transalp but a very good bike. Better two up on the road than the Transalp I reckon.

XT660 Tenere could be a good choice but it is tall and will be more cramped than the others.

The older BMW's like the R100GS are a good bike and manage trails better than you'd think due to their really low centre of gravity. Getting expensive now though and they all have a lot of miles on them. Not a problem if it's well maintained but you never know with them.
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  #6  
Old 22 Jun 2015
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Tks for the replies "touring ted" and "snake boy".

Snake boy, I don't really like kind of heavy bikes, but the transalp is on my list to test.

Touring ted,
Since I would like to travel trough Iran and Kazakhstan i don't know if vstorm would but good for the road, what do you think about it?

I would prefer a used bike, cause a new and expensive one its a lot o headache, since I'm always worried if someone stills it, if I let her fall, etc. Of course I worried about that even if its used, but its different...

Anyway I will post a list of bikes shortly so you can help me out better.

Tks
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  #7  
Old 22 Jun 2015
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I have a new toy for two up camping.

two of us with all gear in comfort and 65+MPG

a little diesel Citroen C3 for my wife and 4 man tent coleman 450 bags, stove gear, food and 6-700 mile range easy before fuel light. carry a 10 litre can behind my seat (130 miles)

better than a sidecar, more room, more comfort incl air con

still have the bikes for solo trips.
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  #8  
Old 24 Jun 2015
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Originally Posted by ciber View Post
Since I would like to travel trough Iran and Kazakhstan i don’t know if vstorm would but good for the road

Dunno about Kazakhstan, but I´ve ridden two-up through Iran on a 2007 Wee-Strom. Main roads were fine, even excellent. Smaller roads could offer just about anything, but generally were not so bad, and we did not have any problems related to the bike (-- or anything else for that matter, was just a great, great country to visit!)

If you decide to get the Wee-Strom, and your budget allows, then get the newer version (2012 ->). This is not to say that the older one was bad, and that´s the bike we went to Iran with (or all the way to Australia actually), but in fact there are quite a few differences, and they all favor the newer one. If you ride them back-to-back, it will be obvious.

XT660Z – a great machine in many ways, but IMO, for riding solo ONLY. Riding two-up and with lots of luggage installed, there is no 1-cylinder motorcycle, that does it really well, they will feel exhausted, and their handling will suffer a lot. I know people do it, and some are quite happy, so that´s just my personal opinion.
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  #9  
Old 24 Jun 2015
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I agree with Ted's suggestion of a BMW R100GS. A very good choice! Incredibly reliable and they can carry a load. They are easy to service, nothing computerised or too technical, parts are available globally, accessories are infinite, they handle well on and off road and finding a good specimen with low miles at a reasonable price is still very possible!
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  #10  
Old 27 Jun 2015
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I have ridden through Kasakhstan (on my Xt660z Tenere) together with other bikes with 19/17 wheels such as a Transalp 700 and a BMW 1200 GS as the Suzuki 650 W-strom have and they were exactly as good or bad as mine. Dont worry about that. You are not going trailriding with a heavy loaded adventure bike and a pillion. I belive a Suzuki 650 W-strom, the new or the older would be perfectly fine. One thing you must consider when riding through Kasakhstan is that there can be 2-300 km between gas stations and that gas stations often runs out of gas. So if you have ridden 300 km and come to a gas station only to find that it it out of gas you have to ride 200 km yo the next. So a good range is important there. Remember also that they sell 80 and 90 octane gas there (95 a few places if you are lucky) and if you get that low octane gas your bike will probably burn more gas than normal and your milage will go down drastically.

I also rode a 10 000 km tour with a pillion on my XT660Z Tenere in Laos and Cambodia and found it perfectly fine for that. But that said, a multicylindered bike would probably feel better and be esier to ride due to the engine characteristics.
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Old 27 Jun 2015
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Dl650 2012+
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