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One Bike to Travel the World

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I would hate to work on my DRZ-400e along the road. The carb is heck to remove and all the plastics are no fun. I would look for a wide saddle, not much to remove to maintain, and parts availability.
 
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cabanza said:
While countless people use a variety of motorcycles for their world travels, I asked myself what I would want out of such a bike. My initial thought would be a motorcycle that is found in every country or so. I asked AI what would be the most commonly sold motorcycle in the world and the first answer was the Super Cub. I had to rephrase and narrow my questions better until AI finally gave me the following options:

Under 500 cc:

KTM Adventure 390 or Honda CRF300L or Indian Himalayan 450

Above 500 cc:

Honda NX500 or Kawasaki Versys 650

Any and all cylinder size:

BMW R/ GS

The GS came up quickly. It seems that BMW sells it in just about every country. While it may seem like a good choice, price, parts, and maintenance would affect negatively my decision to buy one for world travel.

I had a 2011 Versys 650. We didn't gel so I think the Honda NX500 would be it for me.

What would be your criteria and which bike would you choose as your traveling companion?
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You got it right the last one. Airhead GS I’ve got three of them. 😀
 
V strom 650. I put 17k miles on one in 14 months then traded it. New bike (M109R) is a missile but I kinda miss my DL650. You can easily do back to back 10 hour days on the wee-strom, good fuel economy, light enough to be easy to handle but heavy enough to be stable in the highway.
 
woodsguy said:
lol, I had the XR650L, the 300 would probably out run it. I felt like the 65 was top cruising speed. Didn't keep very long, it's a dinosaur. Yes some folks love it, I'm not one. Do AI, it'll show 55-65 mph cruising speed for 650, and 70-75 for the 300. The transmission ratios on 650 are just wrong, 1st and 5th, no 6th.

Not to mention the 300 is a modern bike!
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I did the 2nd/5th gear mod on my XR, so there's no lag between 1st and 2nd, plus 5th gear is higher. I still contend that it depends a lot on the route this "world travel" is going to occur on. If it were one route, I'd kind of like a T7...others, more dirt oriented and lighter. I have not been impressed by the CRF300. I have an '06 KLX250 with a factory 300 jug on it, and it kills the CRF in suspension and power. The modern FI KLX weighs 302 wet and the CRF300L weighs 311...but the rally version hits a porky 335. I've always felt the KLX is the better bike over the 300L. The KLX design has been around awhile, but it's a good one. Rob, you know I'm a Honda fan like you, but at best or worst the choice between the two is a coin flip IMO.
 
TNC said:
I did the 2nd/5th gear mod on my XR, so there's no lag between 1st and 2nd, plus 5th gear is higher. I still contend that it depends a lot on the route this "world travel" is going to occur on. If it were one route, I'd kind of like a T7...others, more dirt oriented and lighter. I have not been impressed by the CRF300. I have an '06 KLX250 with a factory 300 jug on it, and it kills the CRF in suspension and power. The modern FI KLX weighs 302 wet and the CRF300L weighs 311...but the rally version hits a porky 335. I've always felt the KLX is the better bike over the 300L. The KLX design has been around awhile, but it's a good one. Rob, you know I'm a Honda fan like you, but at best or worst the choice between the two is a coin flip IMO.
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I think that T7 would be a great bike if you put tubeless rims on it.
 
Any older gen 650, 1000 Vstrom.
No electronic nannies.
Bullet proof reliable.
Cheap to run and fix.
Vast parts availability.
Unappealing to potential bike thieves.
 
Tourmeister said:
The issue of breaking down in the middle of nowhere is also not as big a deal as most people imagine. If you follow any actual world travelers and look that their experiences, they almost always have someone that finds them and is willing to help. The break down or problem might not be part of the plan, but it becomes part of the adventure.
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The archetypal example of this observation is Scooter Tramp Scotty, who has lived on the road for something like 30 years. Dude has broken down about a million times in the decade or so that I've been watching his videos. His most precarious situations have been mechanical problems in Mexico. Still, he just sets up shop in a parking lot or asks someone if he can borrow their driveway, pulls out his tools, and fixes his bike. Sometimes he has to mail-order parts or needs a little extra help from locals or a random bike shop, but never seems to have trouble finding folks willing to give assistance. He recently retired a '90s Evo Harley with something like a quarter-million miles on it. He replaced it with another low-mileage '90s Harley. He's a very interesting character, never getting upset or scared in a given situation, and always ends up with a good story to tell.
 
Old harleys could be fixed with basic tools and were simple to deal with . not like a whole lot of new crap , if you take a new bike out of cell service your pushing the limits .
 
I could set my valves in 30 minutes on my 2005 Honda XR650L better yet the most dependable bike I ever had was a (I think 2014) Royal Enfield 500 Classic. It had hydraulic valves that never needed setting and believe it or not was a great dirt road motorcycle and the seat was the most comfortable of any motorcycle I have ever owned. It was so easy to work on. Some people in India pass down the same Bullet from generation to generation. Oh and it was all metal and could out run a 🐢 . About 70-80 mpg and liked cruising at 65 with top end 80 laying on the tank. Parts are many places on planet earth .
Add. My now 2022 NC750X has rocker arms also runs on 87 octane and gets 65-70 mpg and the seat is the worst one I have ever had on a motorcycle. Even my first one a 1959 Cushman Eagle made in USA was better. It is like many bikes today full of plastic panels and push pins and eats rear tires. But she is so smooth.
My vote is to an air cooled big single for travel the world. I would like to travel with Itchy Boots 🤪 but we both have our own bike. No cupcake riding.
 
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last yr, a big group of us spent 2 wks circling COLOMBIA in S. America
This was our route.

Screenshot-20250318-064121-Docs.jpg


the big bikes stayed at home.
We spent 2 wks riding on these
PXL-20250318-132259996.jpg


Everything we need to live off the bike easily fitted on the bike, cpap included
PXL-20250321-144300529.jpg

Honda XRE 300 adventure
292cc thumper, FI, air cooled
3.6 gal steel fuel tank w/ locking cap
LED headlight, digital instrument cluster, ABS brakes, and a USB charging port.
34" seat height
325 lbs dry
Knowing first hand what I now know....the perfect around the world bike isn't what you think it needs to be.
Here's a real world situation that you only get by turning off the internet and just go do it.
 
John Bennett said:
I'm thinking this also.

XR650L's and Gen 1 KLR's have a decades-long proven track record that even Airhead GS's cannot match.
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Maybe the KLR but I rode a XR650L one time. That thing will vibrate your hands off. It was horrible I couldn’t wait to get off it. I don’t know if Honda ever made the later one any better. I’ve rode a few KLR to so I would still take to old trusty GS. 😀
 
I think most bikes could make a trip around the world as long as it’s not ridden too far outside its design parameters. It comes down to how tough the rider is, and I’m NOT tough!!! 😂. So there is no one bike that I would want to ride across several countries or around the world. But I’ll try to play…

Depends on how much highway riding would be included. Bikes like the DR650/XR650L are tempting because they’ve been in production for so long and they’re simple designs. They could probably run on bad fuel when needed too. Great parts availability and could be repaired in a lot of places. However, I’m of the opinion that bikes ridden predominately on the road should have at least two cylinders and be able to cruise at least 75-80mph without sweating. The Yamaha T7 retains some simplicity but not sure if its engine isn’t strained at highway speeds. So, if it can maintain the desired hwy speed without high rev’s, my choice would be the new T7 Rally Raid properly prepared for the mission.

If the trip included +/- 80% remote locations with some fairly technical off road riding, I’m probably going single cylinder. If I’m riding in the U.S., or Europe it’s probably KTM 690 or a dual-sported KTM 500 depending on how technical the riding would be.
 
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Road speed is a big variable as soon as you leave the US. I know Europe has some super fast roads but I know some of the roads in Mexico and many of the major roads in Uganda are only about 30-50mph tops. I think much of the roads across Africa would be of similar speeds. So as many have already posted. It really depends on where you want to ride.
 
ntklr650 said:
Road speed is a big variable as soon as you leave the US. I know Europe has some super fast roads but I know some of the roads in Mexico and many of the major roads in Uganda are only about 30-50mph tops. I think much of the roads across Africa would be of similar speeds. So as many have already posted. It really depends on where you want to ride.
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An argument could be made to keep it small. Not the old man on the lawn but, when Italy “God’s race track” allows 125s to travel on their freeways due to the lowered speed limits you can really say that they’ve not only lost their k-horns but their soul.
 
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