 B I K E S
The criteria for our ideal desert machine add up to those listed on p.208 of my Sahara Overland book, that is:
• Lightness
• Economy
• Comfort
• Robustness
• Agility
• Reliability
• Mechanical simplicity
To give ourselves a good chance of success we wanted to buy new bikes and so the list was soon narrowed down to:
• KTM 640 Adventure
• Kawasaki KLR 650 (imported from Canada)
• Honda XR650L (imported from Australia)
• Yamaha TT600E (imported from Italy)
• BMW F650GSD
In the last two years I've travelled with all these machines, either on my desert tours or my own travels. The way we saw it then, in 2002 these were the pros and cons of each machine:
|
For
|
Against
|
KTM 640
Adventure |
27L tank, desert ready components and build quality |
Expensive in the UK, variable economy, vibration and comfort |
Kawasaki
KLR 650 |
23L tank, inexpensive, economical, reliable, water cooled, good kit in the US |
Import and registration hassles, average suspension |
Honda
XR650L |
Inexpensive, economical, reliable, good suspension, no rad |
Import and registration hassles, small tank, high. |
Yamaha
TT600E |
Easy to import, air-cooled, well known in UK and Europe |
Import and registration hassles, dated design, small tank, leaky USDs, 'non-Japanese' build quality? |
BMW
F650 Dakar |
UK model, comfort, very good economy |
Heavy, complex, pricier than Japs |
In a Burger King one night we narrowed it down to a KTM or Honda with large fries. Then, once we considered the importance of economy and got a good price from Australia (about £4000 delivered), the Honda XR650L was the choice we were all confident with (until we rode them...). In case you don't know, the XRL is an NX650 Dominator engine in an XR600 frame ~ more or less. With good springs and a trail bike motor, it's the ideal set-up for a desert bike, even if we had to buy a tank and get racks made. In our opinion, for this ride the proven, decade-old technology was an asset.
Interested? Go to XRL Prep
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