Bike
In
2006 I flew my motorcycle to Europe and rode it to Cambodia. One
of the first questions one faces when trying to do something
like this is "Which Motorcycle"?
Reliability needs to be weighed against ease of maintenance and the availability of parts. As well, it can't be a "black box" to the traveler. The bike will need service and most likely you will be the only one around knowing anything about the bike or have the right tools. For all these reasons, I chose a mid-eighties BMW R80G/S.
I found the bike for sale on-line. It was located in Arizona. A few phone calls later we came to a mutually agreeable price. I booked a one-way ticket and accepted the invitation of the owner to come pick me up at the airport in Phoenix. During all this time, I had not seen the bike. The owner, however, had also restored a few older bikes and this G/S was one in a "cluster" of
Beemers he maintained.
It was definitely the right choice.
In preparing the bike for the trip and in order to make sure there were no hidden flaws, I dismantled it.
After an extensive rebuild, it was up to the task for my initial trip in 2006.
Aside from new side cases, spoke truing, a shock rebuild and a new GPS plus general maintenance, no changes were made for the 2012 trip.
The details of the bike preparation for the 2006 trip can be found on my old website.