Expedition Motorcycles
- Thread starter Scott Brady
- Start date
Colorado Ron
Explorer
I really love my BMW airhead. Just got back from a hundred mile "quick trip". So much fun. I need to take the top off the jeep and really compare. I just cant imagine the jeep being as much fun as the bike. Just somethin about riding VS driving.
underdog
New member
Hi. Just wanted to chime in on this thread. I'm new here but I, like Hltoppr, am biased towards the BMW R80/100GS models. I've been touring on my R80GS for 7 years/50K+miles now and it's a really sturdy and reliable bike. Just love it. I've gone through the same mental argument with myself so many times that I'm sick of it and I'll continue to do it for as long as I ride. Dual sports bikes are by nature a compromise. Something like a 400 or 650 enduro is just a ton of fun for off road, sandy, muddy, hill climbing, power sliding, woo-hoo, tearing it up. And you can load 'em up with bags and gear but, when you need something that's going to carry your (my) 200+ pound fat ass plus enough gear and parts to get you through a multi-thousand mile trip, you just need a bigger and more powerful bike. That plus the fact that, like it or not, any single cylinder thumper is just going to get fatigueing and buzzy if you've gotta do a few hundred or even a thousand miles of highway to get to your destination. There's just no perfect bike out there. I think the early BMW GS bikes are as close as it gets. The new KTMs are pretty damn close too. I met a guy in Baja last year on a KTM 950 who said he used to ride a BMW 1150GS. He said he loved 'em both for very different reasons. He said the KTM was more nimble and capable in serious offroad situations and was great for a few days out, but for more serious, long distance, many-days-in-the-saddle adventure touring the BMW was the better bike. Based on my BMW experience, I'd tend to agree with him.
BajaTaco
Swashbuckler
BajaTaco said:
Looks like the website is working now. A quote from the new 2006 home page...
Guinness World Record Success for Monika
Monika Newbound is the new Endurance Enduro Guinness World Record Holder. Her Journey started in May 2002 and to date has featured 54 countries, 182,000 Kilometers (121,000 miles) and one and a half circumnavigations of the earth. Monika understand the meaning of endeavor, the reality of sacrifice and the joy of success - She is without question, and in the true sense of the word a "Spirit of Adventure"
That just friggin' rocks :clapsmile
Scott, seems like these two have made a testament to the "robust" factor. They say they are still riding the same two BMW bikes after 121,000 miles around the world.
dhackney
Expedition Leader
This is a real irony. I'm on this forum researching overland 4x4 expeditions and end up in a bike thread that includes posts on sailing.
We spent a couple of years out around the world on various bikes. I spent the subsequent year gearing up to spend the next few on a sailboat circumnavigating and am now on a panic prep for extended overland 4x4 travel because my wife unexpectedly nixed the sailboat.
I've been riding motorcycles for about 40 years, including all sizes and types of dirt, enduro/dual sport, road race, sport bikes, standards and vintage. Our last remaining bike after selling off the collection is a 2004 BMW GS1150 Adventure. We're looking to go back out to explore in a LC 100. In sailing terms, we're moving from a cruiser to a trawler. Our bike friends are aghast.
But anyway, back to the thread. I've ridden about every bike mentioned or pictured so far in this thread. I'd agree with the comments that there's no better way to travel than by bike, on or off road.
I'll try to answer some of the specific questions that have come up.
1. Many of the “what to pack, how to pack, what spare parts, how much weight, what about big guys, etc.” questions can be answered on our web site: http://www.hackneys.com/travel/ Look in the FAQ, Lessons Learned and Gear sections.
2. The "best bike" question is good for bench racing, but rarely yields much useful info for someone On The Quest once you get past the first few beers. For pure dirt work in Baja, it is just about impossible to beat the Hondas. KTM's increased reliability in recent years has put them into the hunt. The old saying used to be that KTM stood for Kan't Take Mexico. For dual sport (on and off road legal and capable) work in the 400-500cc range you just can't beat the Suzuki DRs, especially here in CA where they've clamped down on street licensing true dirt bikes. For large capacity bikes capable of carrying a big guy or a couple on long world exploration type travel, it is very hard to argue with BMW.
3. The best way to improve riding skills is to get training, and that includes road racing, street riding, dual sport, pure dirt or the big GS. Invest in yourself before you spend money on trick parts for the bike. Scott Harden has good offerings here in the US for rally/expedition type riding and Jimmy Lewis offers BMW specific courses. BMW has a school in Europe that some people I know attended and spoke highly of. If you want to be a better street rider, spend some time riding off-road. Your bike control will improve dramatically.
4. Aftermarket suspension that is specifically tuned for your fully packed travel load and riding style is the single best thing you can do for you and your bike.
5. Second best thing is a custom seat, cut and shaped to your body. The process will take a couple of days and will be the best two days investment of your riding lifetime.
6. The "Globeriders uses it" air pump is not your best choice. I know. I own one. It failed the one time I needed it riding offroad down the Continental Divide. We don't have any endorsement deals, don't receive or use free products, and don't ride free or reduced price bikes. We pay for everything. So if it's on our web site as an endorsed product or supplier, it's because they have really earned that endorsement through lots of hard use in tough conditions, not due to other considerations. If it is listed in our current or past inventory and isn't on the “recommended” list, you know why.
7. As a friend of mine who works at HQ of one of the big Japanese brands says, "everybody makes good product these days." Materials science, systems design and quality control have improved dramatically in motorcycles during the last couple of decades. A lot of the pissing matches people get into over brand X vs. brand Y are not justified by the differences in the products. Not to say there aren't' some real stinkers foisted on the public, but there are fewer of them than there used to be.
8. The KTM 950 is a better choice if you are a good dirt rider or plan to spend most of your time in challenging off-road riding. The big BMW GS is a better choice if you will spend most of your time on pavement or fire roads. Neither is a real dirt bike.
9. You and your bike will last longer if you ride within your abilities and the design envelope of the machine. My biggest problem on dirt bikes is my velocity consistently exceeds my abilities. Less so as I get older and heal slower. I took our GS1150 down the continental divide with a couple of guys on two Suzuki 400 DRS (true street legal dual sport model). While that ride did convince me that there really is something to this whole BMW thing, there is no doubt that during the border to border off-road sections the other two guys had more fun and had the perfect bikes. Yes, it is true our GS miraculously did not explode from the abuse I dished out, but it was really a lot of work horsing that big thing down those trails at speed.
10. The biggest downside to traveling by bike is the need for nightly accommodations and eating every meal in a restaurant or picnic. These are the reasons we were moving to a sailboat, so we'd have our bed and galley with us, and the reasons we are moving to a 4x4.
11. The biggest upside to traveling by bike is the factor mentioned earlier in the thread. A bike is non-threatening and an instant ice-breaker. It didn't matter if we were pulling into the remotest village in Africa or up to the curb in downtown Tokyo, everybody had a bike story and they wanted to share it with us. Our greatest fear is that by sealing ourselves off in an LC we will become just another four wheeler full of rich people behind glass, and we'll lose that instant camaraderie and acceptance by locals worldwide.
12. If you are traveling 2-up, do not leave home without an intercom. It will not only save your kidneys from getting rabbit punched every time you drag the pegs, it also opens up an entirely new way to experience 2-up travel and the sport.
13. If you are traveling to developing / 3rd world nations, get a high beam flasher and a brake light strobe and use them. Increase your visibility to others in every possible way you can. I could not begin to count the number of times crashes were avoided by these measures.
14. World travel by motorcycle is easier than you might think. Start small with a local trip. Then go to an easy foreign place like Europe or down to Baja (but not during the Summer when it's hot). Then head out and see what the world is really like.
15. The LWR guys are total posers. Going out with free bikes, free gear, a film crew, a 24 hour team of support people back in London and flying in BMW factory techs to fix your bike is not the reality you will face. They have zero credibility in my eyes. If I meet them on a back road having tea in a tiny village, passing out candy to kids or helping a local fix his hand pump, with no film crew recording the precious moment, no publicist cranking up the buzz and no helicopters of factory techs hovering overhead, I will reconsider.
If you are interested in learning more about on- and off-road world travel by motorcycle you may find some useful information on our web site:
http://www.hackneys.com/travel/
Northern Baja California, Mexico
New Zealand
Caprivi Strip, Namibia
Himalayas, Sikkim, India
Bhutan
Aydin, Turkey
Entering Syria
Red Rock Pass
Southern Japan
Great Wall of China. Huangyaguan (Yellow Cliff Pass), China
We spent a couple of years out around the world on various bikes. I spent the subsequent year gearing up to spend the next few on a sailboat circumnavigating and am now on a panic prep for extended overland 4x4 travel because my wife unexpectedly nixed the sailboat.
I've been riding motorcycles for about 40 years, including all sizes and types of dirt, enduro/dual sport, road race, sport bikes, standards and vintage. Our last remaining bike after selling off the collection is a 2004 BMW GS1150 Adventure. We're looking to go back out to explore in a LC 100. In sailing terms, we're moving from a cruiser to a trawler. Our bike friends are aghast.
But anyway, back to the thread. I've ridden about every bike mentioned or pictured so far in this thread. I'd agree with the comments that there's no better way to travel than by bike, on or off road.
I'll try to answer some of the specific questions that have come up.
1. Many of the “what to pack, how to pack, what spare parts, how much weight, what about big guys, etc.” questions can be answered on our web site: http://www.hackneys.com/travel/ Look in the FAQ, Lessons Learned and Gear sections.
2. The "best bike" question is good for bench racing, but rarely yields much useful info for someone On The Quest once you get past the first few beers. For pure dirt work in Baja, it is just about impossible to beat the Hondas. KTM's increased reliability in recent years has put them into the hunt. The old saying used to be that KTM stood for Kan't Take Mexico. For dual sport (on and off road legal and capable) work in the 400-500cc range you just can't beat the Suzuki DRs, especially here in CA where they've clamped down on street licensing true dirt bikes. For large capacity bikes capable of carrying a big guy or a couple on long world exploration type travel, it is very hard to argue with BMW.
3. The best way to improve riding skills is to get training, and that includes road racing, street riding, dual sport, pure dirt or the big GS. Invest in yourself before you spend money on trick parts for the bike. Scott Harden has good offerings here in the US for rally/expedition type riding and Jimmy Lewis offers BMW specific courses. BMW has a school in Europe that some people I know attended and spoke highly of. If you want to be a better street rider, spend some time riding off-road. Your bike control will improve dramatically.
4. Aftermarket suspension that is specifically tuned for your fully packed travel load and riding style is the single best thing you can do for you and your bike.
5. Second best thing is a custom seat, cut and shaped to your body. The process will take a couple of days and will be the best two days investment of your riding lifetime.
6. The "Globeriders uses it" air pump is not your best choice. I know. I own one. It failed the one time I needed it riding offroad down the Continental Divide. We don't have any endorsement deals, don't receive or use free products, and don't ride free or reduced price bikes. We pay for everything. So if it's on our web site as an endorsed product or supplier, it's because they have really earned that endorsement through lots of hard use in tough conditions, not due to other considerations. If it is listed in our current or past inventory and isn't on the “recommended” list, you know why.
7. As a friend of mine who works at HQ of one of the big Japanese brands says, "everybody makes good product these days." Materials science, systems design and quality control have improved dramatically in motorcycles during the last couple of decades. A lot of the pissing matches people get into over brand X vs. brand Y are not justified by the differences in the products. Not to say there aren't' some real stinkers foisted on the public, but there are fewer of them than there used to be.
8. The KTM 950 is a better choice if you are a good dirt rider or plan to spend most of your time in challenging off-road riding. The big BMW GS is a better choice if you will spend most of your time on pavement or fire roads. Neither is a real dirt bike.
9. You and your bike will last longer if you ride within your abilities and the design envelope of the machine. My biggest problem on dirt bikes is my velocity consistently exceeds my abilities. Less so as I get older and heal slower. I took our GS1150 down the continental divide with a couple of guys on two Suzuki 400 DRS (true street legal dual sport model). While that ride did convince me that there really is something to this whole BMW thing, there is no doubt that during the border to border off-road sections the other two guys had more fun and had the perfect bikes. Yes, it is true our GS miraculously did not explode from the abuse I dished out, but it was really a lot of work horsing that big thing down those trails at speed.
10. The biggest downside to traveling by bike is the need for nightly accommodations and eating every meal in a restaurant or picnic. These are the reasons we were moving to a sailboat, so we'd have our bed and galley with us, and the reasons we are moving to a 4x4.
11. The biggest upside to traveling by bike is the factor mentioned earlier in the thread. A bike is non-threatening and an instant ice-breaker. It didn't matter if we were pulling into the remotest village in Africa or up to the curb in downtown Tokyo, everybody had a bike story and they wanted to share it with us. Our greatest fear is that by sealing ourselves off in an LC we will become just another four wheeler full of rich people behind glass, and we'll lose that instant camaraderie and acceptance by locals worldwide.
12. If you are traveling 2-up, do not leave home without an intercom. It will not only save your kidneys from getting rabbit punched every time you drag the pegs, it also opens up an entirely new way to experience 2-up travel and the sport.
13. If you are traveling to developing / 3rd world nations, get a high beam flasher and a brake light strobe and use them. Increase your visibility to others in every possible way you can. I could not begin to count the number of times crashes were avoided by these measures.
14. World travel by motorcycle is easier than you might think. Start small with a local trip. Then go to an easy foreign place like Europe or down to Baja (but not during the Summer when it's hot). Then head out and see what the world is really like.
15. The LWR guys are total posers. Going out with free bikes, free gear, a film crew, a 24 hour team of support people back in London and flying in BMW factory techs to fix your bike is not the reality you will face. They have zero credibility in my eyes. If I meet them on a back road having tea in a tiny village, passing out candy to kids or helping a local fix his hand pump, with no film crew recording the precious moment, no publicist cranking up the buzz and no helicopters of factory techs hovering overhead, I will reconsider.
If you are interested in learning more about on- and off-road world travel by motorcycle you may find some useful information on our web site:
http://www.hackneys.com/travel/
Northern Baja California, Mexico
New Zealand
Caprivi Strip, Namibia
Himalayas, Sikkim, India
Bhutan
Aydin, Turkey
Entering Syria
Red Rock Pass
Southern Japan
Great Wall of China. Huangyaguan (Yellow Cliff Pass), China
Last edited:
Scott Brady
Founder
Absolutely fantastic post Douglas, and greatly appreciated.
At this moment, I am leaning more towards the BMW650 Dakar than any other bike. I would prefer to sacrifice road manners for improved dirt performance.
And now that you have shared so much on the bikes, how can we help you prepare the UZJ100? I have travelled with several well built examples.
At this moment, I am leaning more towards the BMW650 Dakar than any other bike. I would prefer to sacrifice road manners for improved dirt performance.
And now that you have shared so much on the bikes, how can we help you prepare the UZJ100? I have travelled with several well built examples.
dhackney
Expedition Leader
If I had been riding solo, I would have been on a GS650. We rode one 2-up in New Zealand. Great little bike. BTW, we just saw Glen last Sunday and his is holding up well.expeditionswest said:
You won't be making much of a sacrifice in road manners. You need dirt capable tires (street speed capable knobbies) to do any serious exploration anyway. By the time you put a capable suspension and decent tires under the non-Dakar model, you're in Dakar territory.
We could certainly use some help! We know so little, we can barely spell LC. But I don't want to hijaack this thread. I'll plead for charity, mercy and some crumbs of knowledge and experience with a fresh post over in that forum.expeditionswest said:
mountainpete
Spamicus Eliminatus
Douglas, I just spent the last few hours reviewing your site and adventures - simply amazing! Thanks so much for posting!
Hltoppr
El Gringo Spectacular!
Welcome aboard Douglas! It's great to have you here, as we can all learn muy mucho from your travels! (I really liked the section on staying married on a trip!)
I missed SVfest, as my bike is being rebuilt at the time being...glad to hear it was a good time, Glen almost feels like family, as I've been following him for the last 5 years!
-H-
I missed SVfest, as my bike is being rebuilt at the time being...glad to hear it was a good time, Glen almost feels like family, as I've been following him for the last 5 years!
-H-
dhackney
Expedition Leader
To ease potential marital friction related to "we spent all that money on the Taco/LC/bike(s) and one (or more) are just sitting there," here are some options for taking the bike along. Some of these won't be applicable to the relatively light chassis of the Taco or LC:
Advanced Recreational Products
Blue Ox
C5A Heavy Lift Moto Carrier
Overbuilt Lifts
Motorcycle Ramps.Com
Discount Ramps
Pak Rak
RV Lifts of America
RV Motorcycle & Cargo Trailer - this is a design worth looking at if you could modify the suspension for the intended use.
Fast Master Single Wheel Trailer - similar design to above
TK Loader - good option for big bikes and big rigs
TK Loader Implementation on a class 8 truck
Hydra Lift
Advanced Recreational Products
Blue Ox
C5A Heavy Lift Moto Carrier
Overbuilt Lifts
Motorcycle Ramps.Com
Discount Ramps
Pak Rak
RV Lifts of America
RV Motorcycle & Cargo Trailer - this is a design worth looking at if you could modify the suspension for the intended use.
Fast Master Single Wheel Trailer - similar design to above
TK Loader - good option for big bikes and big rigs
TK Loader Implementation on a class 8 truck
Hydra Lift