Small rider looking for a small bike to do a big trip
Hi all
my girlfriend and I are considering a motorbike trip through the Stans next year. I 'm 177cm, 70kg and she is 155cm, 45kg. I only have an A2 licence, which means that I'm limited to bikes that produce no more than 35 kW or 47bhp. I suspect that this pretty much takes the option of riding 2up off the list. She has a B licence, which means she can only ride 125ccs or smaller bikes.
Now, I know that there's plenty of people who travel long distances on small bikes so I don't see that as a problem at all. However, I don't know what bikes we should use! I was hoping to use my CRF250l and that she could ride a honda XR125l - I know ideally we should ride the same bike but this would mean that I could ride the bike that I already own. I am heavier and would carry most of the luggage so I would hope in the end the two bikes would be equivalent in terms of speed etc, above all on bad roads. However, seat height is a bit of a problem there - she is currently riding a Suzuki van van (770mm seat height) and is uncomfortable riding anything higher than that (anything over 800mm is certainly a no-go).
So, the question is - has anyone done anything like this before? Any advice on a good, small and reliable 125cc for a trip like this?
I know that two guys from the UK did a trip to Mongolia on two VanVans a few years ago, however my concern there would be around spares, above all considering they use fat tires which I guess are harder to find. Just to give you the whole picture - we are based in Spain, so for example machines like a tw125 are harder to find compared to the US.
Thank you!
Andrea
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