I posted a fairly detailed report in this forum about my "experiment" riding a Kawasaki KLX250s during a tour of several thousand km. in the Yukon and Alaska.

In the end my initial enthusiam for serious travelling on this size and type of motorcycle moderated significantly.

You may find the post of interest.

Cheers.

Norm

I have now read that - thanks for sharing. Well - the Yukon-Alaska roads are maybe a place a bigger bike would have comed better through.
And as long you havent done a similar trip with a bigger/other bike you really dont know how you would have liked that....

regarding good quality racks you could try Motorcycle Accessories in Boise ID | Carrier Racks | Cycle Racks they also have a side plate add-on kit for soft panniers. The construction also get support from the main frame as well as the rear sub frame, handy if you plan on carrying lot's of baggage.

I have just purchased a 2015 CRF250L, and as far as racks/soft luggage goes there are now several options.


I ended up with the Mosko Moto "Reckless 80" system. Trying to keep the bike as light as possible, this setup is perfect, as it is completely rackless, and weighs just over 11 pounds in total. Lots of thought has gone into the design, I find it works well.


Reckless 80L System | Mosko Moto

That's what I wished my Giant Loop looked like! Looks amazing! Shame no distributors in the EU :(

Opps... havent paid attention to this thread that I started long time ago.

I ended up taking my Yamaha XT660Z Tenere on my trip. I am currently in Indonesia and man do I wish I took something lighter like the CRF250. At least here i SE-Asia where I have spend a lot of time.

That said the Tenere has been rock solid for more than 60 k kms. But just feels too big in many situations. But soon in Australia where the Tenere probably will feels better.

But next big trip will be on a lighter bike indeed...

The welsh woman Steph Jeavons has been riding her Crf250 around the world, well not entirely finished yet, but her bike has performed very well as far as I know except from a subframe fractur - which was fixed rekatively easy with some welding.

Ride on.....

If you pack light I think a modern, EFI 250 is a fantastic choice. :thumbup1:

For Snakeboy

and all others thinking about a 250ccm dual sport bike as an overlander I can tell you the Honda CRF 250 L will be a suitable choice.

I even returned from a 3 month trip around Europe's south-east. My bike is now 11 month old (got it new in feb. 2015) and got ~30 000km on the clock.
It never had any problem, defect or broken part. Its oil consumption is nearly zero. The engine runs smooth and all-time-ready like at is first day.
The maintenance and consumption are on a minimum.

The only mods I did are classics: protectors at the handle bar and a bigger 11.3 Ltr fuel tank (Acerbis) which I purchased via internet in USA. It was simple to install - the stock fuel pump can be reused - and now range increased to 350km. But then its absolutely dry and you walk ;)

I never touched the suspension or the engine. Some think about modifying the suspension but in my eyes that's not really necessary. If you're used to high performance suspension or your weight is very high - go for it.
I am just 76kg, 1,73m tall and used to old bikes far away from a modern KTM character (means my old japanese bikes run well, consume few oil and don't cost a lot at all):rofl:

The luggage question is really an issue but hey if you ride a small 250ccm bike why travelling with maximum luggage volume? I reduced camping gear and clothes plus small stuff to just 22kg in one medium sized and one small sized moto bag (both cheap) mounted on the bike's tail where you find 4 extended bolts for hooks/ lashings.
So a luggage rack is not a must-have here. Only if you want sidebags - it doesn't work without due to the non-symmetrical shape of the bike's tail.

In some countries like Romania I went offroad into forests, mud, gravel (once a mining site too) and the bike was a great choice! Because it's everywhere so handy and easy to ride but not uncomfortable on the long distances.
My personal record was 607km at one day in Germany and my butt was still okay afterwards. The next day I tried some easy offroad terrain. The third day I went back home again 607km.

What else?
At 2200m altitude the bike's power lowered as usual but the EFI still made the engine run absolutely normal.
Once in Romania I crashed into a car's back at low speed - nothing broke or bent.
I dropped the bike to each side once - nothing broke or bent.
The exhaust pipe is now super rusty due to the humid climate in northern Germany, my home, and the salted streets in winter time.
Except this there ain't no issues about the quality of this low-priced Honda made in Thailand. Pretty much bike for just 4.900 EURO.


Make your life easy! Ride an japanese lightweight dual sport! :thumbup1:
:scooter:

I am thinking mote and more about purchasing a Crf 250 or similar sized bike and turn it to a overlander. After riding from Norway to Australia on a Tenere660 I am convinced that a well prepared 250 would be as good in general. For long highway distances of course not so great but then again I would try to avoid such roads as much as possible. And it cant carry as much weight as a bigger bike but then again - it can be an advantage after all.

A bigger gas tank is a huge advantage as the stock only gives max 250 kms range.
The seat is terrible for longer hours so I would do something with that. Luckily there many solutions for this.
I might do something with exhaust/airfilter/injection to make it perform a little better - there are also many solutions for this. But its not neccesary of course.
Luggage - the Mosko moto soft luggage system seems great. Would like to have such a luggage system.
Suspension - agree with the above speaker. The stock one are quite good. Only if one want high performance a change of suspension is needed.

I am dreaming about circumnavigating Borneo, Philippines and Sulawesi by motorbike one day. Hope to have a Crf 250 ready for that adventure