Sold my bikes and looking for something new. I like the dual sport type so have been looking at KTM adventures and old Africa Twins.
Budget is 5kish,any recommendations?
KTM 950smr
Mmnn, I'm sold on an adventure bike. I might never go on that trip to Morocco on it, but it's nice to know I could.
Ktm and Africa Twins are two very different bikes!!
always fancied an africa twin as a kid. Once id finally done my DA I test rode one. Never meet your heroes 😀 Very comfy but the v twin I found too over responsive to the tiniest throttle movements. I went for a NC700 instead. Not quite as comfortable (I had to raise the seat a bit) but the parallel twin is much better behaved on longer trips. 220 mile tank range but also easy to move around on short runs to work etc.
Not sure if you'd get a 990adv for budget, but you'd get a 950adv which many argue is a better bike and easier to work on as Carb etc.
What about a tiger?
KTM is doable at that budget, been looking, allbeit an older one. Tiger is a good shout.
Ktm 990smt.
Or a yamaha TDR/ xt660
Could buy a brand new Honda CRF250L Rally for that budget. Will happily sit at 70mph to get to Morocco and be far more adventurous when you get there than a huge "adventure" bike.
(Says me who took her s1000xr very much off-road on numerous occasions)
Rachel
Old africa twins have sadly been swept up by 'collectors' these days and prices are a bit ridiculous IMO
I've had a run of big single enduro bikes - TT600, Xr650 and Tenere 600, either home brew or off the peg adventure rigs. I took the TT round and across australia solo and it was far the easiest and lightest off road but it was still a handful in deep sand and technical riding. God only knows what some of these big gs's etc are like. My mate took a properly rigged AT across Australia too and scared himself to death. Luckily he bumped into a 4x4 who took his luggage so he could pick his bike up out of the dirt and sand (it will spend some time there)
The CRF above is a good call and is all ready to go. When you've picked up your 950 adventure for the umpteenth time you'll wonder what the extra 700cc's are actually doing 😀
Yamaha xt660r may work.
I've had 5 of the 660x models and they're great and bulletproof.
But surely the bigger the cc's the bigger the hole so it's lighter? 😆
I've got an '86 Ténére in pretty dammed good condition with a credible 25,000 KM's on the clock. It's the 1VJ version: the 1st of the electric start and the one that overheated and had cylinder stud issues...apparently if you listen to the scaremongers.
..puts a smile on my face with my local lanes with the oodd foray upto the higher cols here. Bit tiring to commute on though..trying to keep up with the fast traffic here.
Yeah I had an 1VJ and I wish I still had it. Traded it in for the XR, bit of a mistake really as the xr was a beast!
My IVJ was an import with about 24k kms too! Lovely machine. Came from Italy i think. Sob.
OK, what about an old school suzuki drz? Lol so of different options and pretty bombproof
I've always liked the ktm 990smt, but expensive. On the cheaper end of the scale, the Versys is a capable bike and handles bumps / dirt pretty well, nothing too gnarly though (but plenty of vids on youtube to see...)
Or something more dedicated - KLR 650 😀
Yam tdm's are definitely worth a look
You want to use it for an adventure? Take each of the bikes into a field, lay it down and pick it up 20 times. Buy the one you don't swear at
Rachel
There will be no Adventure, more Chelsea tractor.
GS, then. How are you at growing a beard?
Edit - and absolutely DO go to Morocco. It's a fab place, even with a Chealsea Tractor. I was there a few weeks ago. Loved it.
Whilst it doesn't sound like what Merak is after. Here's mine:
[url= http://www.tenere.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=2352&p=27236#p27236 ]My Ténére[/url]
The V-Strom 650 (using the gladius variant engine aka Glee) is a fine motorcycle that you can take off tarmac if you wanted. You should manage to find a pretty decent one for 5k.
I certainly enjoyed my one.
Tenere 660z is definate contender.
Merck, if you can stretch your budget Knapper on the KTM Forum is selling his KTM SMT 990. All you need to start your adventure is fuel.
You want to use it for an adventure? Take each of the bikes into a field, lay it down and pick it up 20 times. Buy the one you don't swear atRachel
what she says
Allthegear were you there on the bike? If so would like some tips/advice if you'd care to share...
Ride an 800gs, on and off road. If I could afford I'd chop it in and have a KTM 350EXC and a road bike, but I can't!
GS is heavy off road and when going slow a real pig to move about (must big adventure type bikes are in my experience). Ridden the GS back to back with an 800 Tiger and prefer the GS.
If you are near Touratech in Wales they have a travel event on next weekend where you can try bikes from Triumph, BMW and Ducati and there will be a fair number there to chat to about bikes in your budget.
lank45 --
Yes, I was there on the motorbike.
I was at a conference in Seville and rode there (just because) and knew it was only 2 hours or so to Gibraltar so decided to add a few days on the end before going home.
I did very little in the way of planning. I bought a ferry ticket for €56 at a roadside booth on the way down, booked somewhere to stay in Spain near the ferry and a place in Fès, Morocco for when I got there on Booking.com.
Getting in to Morocco was easy - I did a visa form on the boat (don’t queue when you first board - give it a couple of hours) and had to import the bike into the country when I disembarked. As it happened, the guy who sold me the ferry ticket had helped me fill in the forms for this, which helped. Another thing that helped was being pleasant and chatty with the Customs Officials there - I was one of the last off the boat but the first to be approved by Customs and onto the Moroccan roads.
The main Moroccan roads are good - really good - much better than Norfolk.
Service stations on the motorways have free wifi.
Big petrol stations take cards, little ones don’t!
I took a fairly wiggly, but beautiful, route through the country down to Fès and arrived in a fairly hectic city. Expect lots of people coming up to you offering to “help”. Don’t immediately write them off. I did have one who was particularly insistent, though, following me through the streets for quite some time, each time I stopped at a junction bothering me.
I got to the gps coords of the hotel to wonder where the hotel was - I just couldn’t see anything that looked like an entrance - then I saw the sign. “ooooh Rachel, what have you done???”
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As it happens, once I rode my bike up that alleyway (oh yes, I did)
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it turns out the place was fab - this was my room!
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Rachel (now a fully qualified solo African adventurer 😉 )
In the time-honoured STW tradition of recommending what you own - Tiger 800. I've had 2! XC version has much better suspension and can be easily and cheaply lowered if it's a bit too tall. £5000 should get you an early one. They last well and tend to be looked after.
Rachel - sounds a fab trip, I've thought of doing something similar.
Update. Yasss, under 2k miles, minter.
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I approve! ( but only once you post pictures of it somewhere justifying those knobbly tyres!)
Rachel
I adore the look of those and have been so close to buying one a number of times lately, just can't justify it (let alone my list of upgrades, which I'd not actual need for occasional [legal] green lanes), as I've no time to ride it & need a newer car 😕
Enjoy