Do you need to ask yourself what bike would you like to come down this hill on?






This bike ...



Or this bike.




Riding skills may help but IMO opinion it's all down to kg.

I have both bikes, so depends on my route and what type of road I expect to ride then I pick the bike to do the job?

That said on rides you will hit the unexpected, would I of got down that hill on the AT without coming off? NO
Not down to riders skill, just down to the bike to many kgs to keep upright.

All the other parts on that ride in Burma yes the AT in my hands would not have been a problem.









So the bottom line expects the unexpected and picks your bike accordingly.
And if you go big bike expect to be hitting the dirt at some time.?

One item not discussed here is cost. For a fraction of the cost, you can buy a smaller moto, and have more money left for travel costs. I know a traveler who rode through South America on a 125cc Honda, in order to afford to go now.

Bigger moto has more up front cost for the moto. Why delay going because you don't have enough money for both an expensive moto plus travel costs? If budget is holding you back, shave on the moto cost in order to enjoy international motorcycle travel now. It's well worth it; a month at a time, a year at a time.

Gas economy is better with a smaller moto, and gas prices can be relatively high in some countries.

Considering all this discussion, I travel both on a small 250cc moto, plus a larger moto 650cc. Both have their advantages and place.

If you are a budget rider then yes you are correct.
But some are not, so the upfront cost is not so important.
More to do with the ride and how and where you ride.
At the end of the day, I take my hat off to all people who decide to tour in this manner budget or not.

Ride safe and try and keep the rubber down?

the whole point is that's not always the case - klr 650 costs about the same as crf250, rally version is even more expensive. Also bigger bike doesn't necessary have worse mpg. Thanks to bigger mass their inertia helps quite often. Look at statistics. My 485lb nc750x has way better economy then cr250l and wr250r. Klr is actually very similar to wr250l, slightly worse then crf.

wr250r
Yamaha WR250R MPG - Actual MPG from 73 Yamaha WR250R owners

crf250l:
Honda CRF250L MPG - Actual MPG from 122 Honda CRF250L owners

nc750x:
Honda NC750X MPG - Actual MPG from 130 Honda NC750X owners

klr 650:
Kawasaki KLR 650 MPG - Actual MPG from 206 Kawasaki KLR 650 owners


If you can afford 2 bikes depending on type of the trip good for you, but if I can have only one I choose 600cc + any time of the day.

The other factor no one has talked about if your ride with the intention of staying in "HOTEL"
I don't care what 250cc bike you have, I can ride with ease and comfort more the double the mileage on my CRF1000 then you can on any 250cc.
Therefore saving on Hotel cost.
Like petrol, Hotels can be expensive and in most cases a lot more expensive than petrol.

The Honda CB500X has got very good fuel economy.

And in a lot of cases, the cost of purchase sometime is not a lot more than a 250cc.

IMO as said by many other members on the HUBB it comes down to the route, riders skill and how many kgs can you handle.


What size is better? Are opinions like assholes yes we all have one?

Same with me, the CRF250L or the AT? AT wins every time?

So this may be an Asia thing, but parking at night has been one of the more surprising benefits of a smaller bike. The fact of the matter is most budget hotels/hostels I've been in have, er, "creative" solutions for parking that have involved riding up stairs, down cart ramps, around weird corners (that I've had to pick up the back end to turn it around) through alleys and crammed in the back with scooters only semi-secure.

People I've ridden with on bigger bikes always seem to end up at much nicer hotels because that's where there's going to be secure room for big bikes!

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This type of wet mud is always the enemy, never the "hill".

Well done them older guys I am impressed

Jenny morgan is just starting a coast to coast USA tour on the new 310 BMW GS, as she previously did a similar route on her Yam 660 tenere it will be interesting to see how the two bikes compare.

as for MPG most of the smaller bikes offer far better mpg than the bigger ones exceptions are the honda 500/750's or ktm 690's which offer great mpg.

new honda monkey offer 160 mpg but I think its a bit too small

Hill? What hill?
On above pic seems mud is the enemy, not the "hill".


typical California Enduro riding, not as hard as it looks on light dirt bikes. First guy on CRF250R (74 years old)middle guy, XR250R (rider 65) , guy at top was 86 when this was shot, riding DRZ400S. He gave up dirt riding a years back at 90!
Still going!

I led them on this route. They weren't happy ... but all made it no problems. Trust me, it's MUCH steeper than it looks in pic. (this is Death Valley area)

You also have to ask how many times on a normal 20,000 km cross continent ride you will be encountering this terrain. Now back to people who found their bikes too small. We've seen many posts here defending whatever choice, no someone answer the original question.

So my only time on a small bike was a trip many years ago from the north to the south of Egypt. The only sand I encountered was the sand off the side of the road where I frequently ended up being pushed off of by trucks, busses and cars that were going faster than me. I wished for a more powerful bike so I could at least cruise above 60mph and stay ahead of the traffic.

I answered the original question a long time ago (i.e., 4 days and 20+ posts), and like you I've definitely wished for a bigger bike at times. Of course, I've also wished for a smaller one, and for knob tires--or for less-knobby. For carburetors when I had fuel injection, and for fuel injection when I had carbs. For a bigger windscreen or a smaller one; for soft bags or for aluminum cases; for more ground clearance or for less wind-resistance, for more luggage or less....

I've even wished I had no bike at all, although not as often as I've wished I had one when I didn't. You name it, I've wished for it. About the only things I've never regretted are a better seat and improved suspension, and I seldom bother with either one, since I'd apparently prefer to pocket the money involved and keep traveling.

Anyone craving simple yes/no answers is better off posting a poll, where they can define the possibilities in binary terms. Real life is seldom binary, despite our attempts to believe it so.

I apologize for not contributing any steeper-hill-deeper-mud-more gnarly-feshfesh photos to this thread!

Mark

Edit to add: You'd think I would know how to prevent the site software from insisting on "knob" and/or "knob-" when I'm merely trying to describe tires with relatively aggressive tread patterns.

"Disable smilies in text" when posting...

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