I took my Transalp from Tokyo to Cape Town, through Mongolia and the Stans. It is very comfortable on the tar, but not a real dirt bike, too low and 19" front wheel, but very reliable. It needed the fuel pump to be flushed and cleaned in Burkina Faso and that is all. My wife rode a BMW G650GS and it went like a dream, 50,000 ks no issues. A friend came with us from Tokyo to St. Petersburg on a KTM990, we had to get a new fuel pump in Mongolia and it was a new bike, no electrical problems. I have read a few reports where both the 990 and 690 KTM bikes have serious fuel pump problems, if you get dirt in the fuel
For your trip if you are buying a bike from scratch I would look at the KTM 690R, very light 138Kg, excellent fuel econoimy and you can get long distance tanks, made for dirt riding but good on the highway, thinking of making it my next bike.
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