Doing the adventure thing

[svs]

Well, I'm seriously considering getting an adventure bike and doing some serious travelling on it. things have changed for me personally so now i might have the opportunity to do this sort of stuff.

Now I've only ever owned road (and race) bikes before, never really done much in the way of back road /green lane/ gravel/ off-road stuff.

The plan is to do NZ as much as possible, then across oz (cairns to perth) and then we'll see after that (europe anyone?). The time frames for this are in the next couple of years.

So where do you start? Bikes. Looking at xt660r, older xr650l, klr650 and transalp. beemers are too expensive for what they are. Any advice appreciated. Or should i just start out on a cheaper whatever off tardme then decide what's best after a few months and trade it in?

This year I'm still concentrating on the road racing, but after that and in between? who knows?

[far queue]

Have you read this and this ?

[Transalper]

lol... second time this week FQ, you must have them links bookmarked nice and safe.

[svs]

read the first one, but more interested in how bikes would be for the long haul in terms of reliability etc. and how they handle the extra weight.

[crazybigal]

Depends what you want, do you want a big single? or a twin or even a tripple (triumph tiger) comes down to how much road work your going to do.
for me its would be hard to go from a blackbird to a KLR or DR, not enough power! and the other thing is your budget!
ive been thinking about it too and ive gone from looking at KLR's to transalps to what i now think is the best all rounder for me, the tiger 955i

[Alltrax]

Well, I'm seriously considering getting an adventure bike and doing some serious travelling on it. things have changed for me personally so now i might have the opportunity to do this sort of stuff.

Now I've only ever owned road (and race) bikes before, never really done much in the way of back road /green lane/ gravel/ off-road stuff.

The plan is to do NZ as much as possible, then across oz (cairns to perth) and then we'll see after that (europe anyone?). The time frames for this are in the next couple of years.

So where do you start? Bikes. Looking at xt660r, older xr650l, klr650 and transalp. beemers are too expensive for what they are. Any advice appreciated. Or should i just start out on a cheaper whatever off tardme then decide what's best after a few months and trade it in?

This year I'm still concentrating on the road racing, but after that and in between? who knows?

I'll sort you something bro....give MR Poo's a call!!!!! 0275MRPOOS
[0275677667] or flick me a email: cowpoos@xtra.co.nz

[98tls]

Oldrider had nothing but good things to say of his trans alp so if going that way give him a pm.........mind you i was talking to him the other day and saw his Tiger for the first time which was a hell of a good looking bike........he seems very happy with it and couldnt wipe the smile off his mush when showing it to me.............very nice bike...

[svs]

tiger or other big trailie too heavy. i want to be able to pick it up when i drop it in a ditch

Mr Poos - email on it's way

[98tls]

Just an afterthought..........ive read some good write ups on the yamaha 660.

[svs]

yeah. I was bit worried about all the new bikes having FI, but i guess in the long run they'll be as reliable as carbs, and carrying reasonable spares like injector and fuel pump should cater for most eventualities

[far queue]

lol... second time this week FQ, you must have them links bookmarked nice and safe.

Maybe I just think those 2 are really good threads that will most likely answer this question that gets asked on here frequently. If someone is new to this aspect of riding and really doesn't know too much about it, then those threads will probably answer a lot of questions for them, and maybe cause some more questions to be asked. There are lots of different bikes and riding styles discussed there. Just to be helpful as it's easy to do a search on here and still miss stuff.

read the first one, but more interested in how bikes would be for the long haul in terms of reliability etc. and how they handle the extra weight.

How far off road to you intend to venture?

Depends what you want, do you want a big single? or a twin or even a tripple (triumph tiger) comes down to how much road work your going to do.

Yep

for me its would be hard to go from a blackbird to a KLR or DR, not enough power!

You don't need lots of power adventuring, it's not like you're going to be doing road speeds in the rough stuff. But again it comes down to where you want to ride.

ive been thinking about it too and ive gone from looking at KLR's to transalps to what i now think is the best all rounder for me, the tiger 955i

They're all good bikes ... depending what you want to do with them.

So, SVS, what sort of terrain do you want to take it on ?

[98tls]

yeah. I was bit worried about all the new bikes having FI, but i guess in the long run they'll be as reliable as carbs, and carrying reasonable spares like injector and fuel pump should cater for most eventualities

would imagine so.........just as a side note to that i was on another forum the other day and a guy was having real problems with a fuel injected bike....cant remember where it was but in the middle of nowhere somewhere....it was an altitude thing and it was running like shit.....he was doing the round the world thing and was something he never considered when he set off from blighty...........i would imagine he would have the same problem with carbs although you could adjust yourself............

[far queue]

tiger or other big trailie too heavy. i want to be able to pick it up when i drop it in a ditch

Then you want a DR650 or a KTM LC4. They're at the lighter end of the big single dual purpose bikes. An XR600 or TTR600 would probably be lighter still, and more off road oriented/less on road oriented.

[pete376403]

KTMs may have long term reliability issues - even KTM themselves didn't want to supply bikes for the "Long Way Round". I'd also consider the repairability of computer controlled EFI systems in the middle of nowhere.
Referring again to "Long Way Round" - having the biggest most powerful bikes didn't make it easier for them anywhere except on the motorways.
I'd go for the least complicated bike that could carry the load - either the DR or (I'm biased cos I'm getting one) the KLR.
You should also checkout www.advrider.com which has huge amounts of info about adventure riding

[svs]

..it was an altitude thing and it was running like shit.....he was doing the round the world thing and was something he never considered when he set off from blighty...........i would imagine he would have the same problem with carbs although you could adjust yourself....

I thought the FI was supposed to be self adjusting which is why it was better than carbs. carbs always set up as a compromise, but FI should be able to map for whatever

How far off road to you intend to venture?

To start with, not far - just all the gravel roads, but building up to a trip from cairns to perth through the outback, than after that we'll see.

You don't need lots of power adventuring, it's not like you're going to be doing road speeds in the rough stuff. But again it comes down to where you want to ride.

No. I got fast road bikes for that. I'm wanting to tour and go places I can't go on a road bike. I'm happy going slow too.

They're all good bikes ... depending what you want to do with them.

So, SVS, what sort of terrain do you want to take it on ?

Basically whatever gets thrown at it Not going to be wanting to do MX style terrains, but gravel roads, back blocks, dessert just want something that's reliable, can carry me and luggage and be just generally competant allround. Not asking for much, but the newer bikes all seem to be more road orientated, both the KLR and XT marketing gumpf seem to push the "now better on road" message and i'm not sure that's a good thing. Odds are if I'm travelling far then I'll be after a new bike. Might try a second hand one first though.