Hello!

Shiny new member here, I'm currently doing my DAS with a view to go touring in the summer. I have to move out of my flat in July, which is also when my job will finish, so I'm thinking I'd like to pursue one of my dreams of touring on a motorbike.

The route I'm thinking of would be to make my way from the UK to Norway, then up to the bottom of the Arctic Circle, down through Finland, carry on through Eastern Europe, skirt around Ukraine to Greece, head up the Croatian coast to Italy, go up and down both coastlines of Italy, then head to Spain to potentially get a ferry back to Plymouth (near my family home) for Christmas. I'm trying to put away 5k to find the actual traveling part, with roughly 2k for the bike/insurance/luggage. 7k in total.

I'm 27, 6ft, 90kg. I've been looking at a whole host of bikes, but there are so many considerations. I'm prioritizing length of travel vs. comfort of travel, so I will be camping whenever possible. Good mpg is a big draw, plus reliability (at the moment, my mechanical know-how is very low, but where there's a will...) or part availability. Comfort too, I guess!

I know Ed March from my hometown, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to go on a C90. I've been looking at DR200s, Varaderos, you name it really...

Any advice? At the moment any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Kris