<<4)Chain. Adjusting the bloody thing every time it has rained (with luggage and sidestand), spraying it, bringing chainlube.
Try to get chainlube outside western countries. In addition to all that, the muck and gunge that sticks to your sidebags and everything else that you take into the tent etc. And driving in the desert or on non asphalt roads, you now have a machine element covered in grinding paste. Really! Spare me. No more chain for this dude! You could add a Scott oiler, but I believed that total loss lubrication was a theme of the 1920`es. >>

Your ignorance of chains and chain maintenance is akin to a BMW guy, but your ignorance regarding riding off road can be forgiven due to you being English.

Modern chains are not what you might remember from your 70's Yamaha. X ring
chains can do quite well with NO LUBE at all thank you very much. Off road, this is precisely what experts reccomend. NO
LUBE. EVER. As a veteran enduro racer
(as in ISDE 6 days type stuff) I can verify
this advice. If you do like a bit of lube in the rain and on the highway (as I do) then
90 wt. gear oil works just fine. Last I checked you can even get this in Surinam and Antarctica.

A chain is superior to a shaft in so many
ways. It saves weight, it does not rob power, when it wears out in 25K miles it can be replaced cheaply in nearly any country worldwide by yourself or another
amateur mechanic.

Without knowing your specific riding plan regards distance and load or types of roads preferred its hard to be precise.

But my guess is you can NOT go wrong with the DL650 Vstrom. Sure, the Guzzi
and Brutale are pretty and the old NX650 was good in its time but things do move forward mate. Learn the simple and straight forward task of chain maintenance and you will be a happy camper. Do this and take care of your tires and keep oil in the machine and honestly thats all you'll ever have to do
with the Suzuki, except ride it without falling off. Now can you do that?

((Your ignorance of chains and chain maintenance is akin to a BMW guy, but your ignorance regarding riding off road can be forgiven due to you being English.))

Your ignorance of geography can be forgiven due to you being American. Norway is NOT England. Get a map.

regards
John

Touché, I'd say ;-)

No chain. Offroad capability, two up capability, decent power, good brakes?

Looks like there's only one way to go: BMW R-series GS bikes.

Oilhead GSes (except 1200 which is 198kg) are more than 200kg (about 230-250kgs wet depending on extras), but they DO handle like approx 200kg bikes due boxer's very low centre of gravity once you get it moving even a bit. That's "GSs philosophy" to do better performance than it's weight written on paper permits, simple law of low centre of gravity describes the boxer engine advantage here compared with v-twins- and inline engines that rivals have (V-Strom, Caponord, Tiger etc), which most of people don't understand because they only look what's written on the paper.
ABS brakes in cooperation with telelever suspension are exceptional compared with other enduros not having both. You may always switch ABS off for some offroading.

If you mentioned something about MV Agustas, then the price range goes well into field of BMW's new handmade HP2 (aka "High Perfomance Twin") bike. Though, two-uping seems to be greate con for this machine, i don't see even pillon's footpegs, so it seems to be pure solo-bike. But currently there's no doubt it's the most 'kickass' 100+horsepower and 100+Newtonmetre off/on-roader having shaft drive and weighting only 175kg and having boxer engine too (see the GCC racing series how well it competes with 80kg less weighting 250-450cc single cylinder offroaders).

For two uping and long distance comfort maybe considering from R1100-1200GSes is optimum idea, depending on budget. Many 1100s have gone more than 300K and i've seen even one doing 500 000+ kilometres too without any serious trouble, few minor worn out parts replacements only. Though, as on all bikes - reliability depends primarly on riding style and technical knowlede how to ride it properly and not to kill it.

BMW older R-series airheads R80 - R100 GS and G/S are another option, though, they "handle like cows" (if stating famous Helge Pedersen RTW-rider words after he replaced his R80 airhead with new 1100) comapred with oilheads equipped with telelever and modern suspension. They mostly do need more maintenance and technical knowledge, but they are cheaper too if 'money (intensly) speaks' buying the bike.

There is Moto Guzzi Quota 1100 enduro too with horizontal V-twin engine and shaft drive, but compared to BMW GSes it's overweight, underpowered, more unreliable and fuel consumption outrageously high (circa 20MPGs or even less), though worth some testing too for sure.

Good luck choosing the right one, Margus

[This message has been edited by Margus (edited 11 July 2005).]

This probably has no relevance here but.... I just got back from the USA travelers meeting in Buena Vist Colorado. On the friday morning intermediate ride we did some spirited road riding, several water crossing that would be more comfortable with life jackets for the weak swimmers, rocky uphills(4000 meters) and just before we hit the pavement again got radared by the local cop. The fast guys had slowed down to 70mph+ and only 50+ for us slower guys (the great guy from mexico had just hit a rock hidden in dust on his borrowed R1200GS so hard the toolbox lid broke) my point is I was riding a bike you would laugh at (Yellow tiger striped tank and all) but the main thing is to ride and go those places you feel called to visit wether it is on a $400.00 rat bike or a $20,ooo.00 ultimate machine.

You got it in one there Bill!
If you spend a fortune on the latest bike,you'll forever be worrying about scratching it.If you only spend a few hundred on something older,most likely;
1,you'll have more of an adventure
2,you'll have more money to spend on your travels
3,you won't mind so much when it falls off the sidestand once in a while(it will if you're going to really explore this wonderful planet!)


------------------
Just going for a short ride on my bike....

i totally agree. there´s no need to take a $20.000 rig.i travelled all my country and most parts of Chile (atacama included) with my trusty 1992 jawa 350,never had a problem.besides i don´t care if i drop the bike in dirt roads(usually the best places are only accesable trough dirt roads).there´s no electronics to play with and it will run almost with any kind of gas. the chain if fully covered, mine lasted more than 40.000kms, yes, 40.000. next year i´ll be off to explore the rest of the continent, with this very same bike. regards .
erik

I concur with the above. I took my trusty, stock R65 from India to the UK via Central Asia, without any problems, aside from a few bits welded on here and there in a dodgy welders shack on the side of the road, something i would hesitate to do with a 'fancy' bike. An offroad oriented model would have been handy for about 800 km of the total 37,000, and i had no gear box or driveshaft trouble associated with some older GS models.
Keep it simple and pack light.
Sean