Bike choice
Looking for a suitable bike.
One thing was clear from the very beginning: two travellers – need of two bikes. The advantages are obvious: fun of drive for both, more agile vehicle handling, less stress for the chassis and more storage room for our luggage. The back seat is not attractive for each of us.
The idea was to have two bikes of the similar model type which allows us to reduce the carriage of tools and spare sparts. In case of a failure we can install the suspect part from the healthy machine into the one with the failure and therewith confirm the defect of a part before ordering a new one.
We decided against such big flagships with 1200ccm with all their technical gimmicks (which are interesting from engineering point of view, saying „we actually do not need this, but look how it works“). Robustness, low weight and easy handling are arguments for a smaller bike. Also we do not need phenomenal horse power for our trip, but reliable, simple machines we would be able to repair by ourselves or at least with few special equipment. Our maximum travel speed will be about 120 kph (75 mph). For that reasons we were looking in the range of 600 to 800ccm engine size.
Further important factors are fuel consumption and the size of the fuel tank, which are critical for range cost. 400km (250 miles) minimum range (without additional fuel canister) were the requirement. To cover long distances e.g. in Alaska or Patagonia, we might need additional canisters.
The height of the machine is a compromise between the contact of your feet on the ground (especially at hills or road stones) and the ground clearance off the road.
Service intervals of motorbikes can vary between 6000km and 15000km or even more. Despite we are doing the inspection ourselves and need to repeat this more often than normally, it helps not to ride a motor bike diva which requires service actions at a very low frequency.
We had a closer look to BMW 650 GS, BMW F800 GS, Honda Africa Twin and Yamaha XT660Z Ténéré, which finally won the competition.
by Ulli