Have you guys ever done it ?
Got some tips or stories ?
How is it compared to normal travelling (ie : bus, plane, train) ?
Looking to get my license next year so also interested in this
>>1131766
>Have you guys ever done it ?
moved to another country & bought a motorcycle specifically for it, and been trying to do as much of it as i can for about a year now
>Got some tips or stories ?
1) if you wanna ride > 4-5 hrs per day, consider investing in an aftermarket touring saddle.
2) your bike's fuel economy may be drastically different on a country road compared to a highway. for me, its the opposite to a car (highway economy good in car, country twisties economy good on bike)
3) storage/stowage: best is what you can strap down onto the pillion. topbox is generally quite roomy & conveniently placed, but catches a lot of crosswind & can noticably raise centre of gravity. panniers can give excellent volume & god-tier centre of gravity, but will hamper traffic-filtering ability. hard cases (as opposed to collapsable/compressable cases) may allow contents to shift during cornering, which you quite surely do not want. backpack gives great weight control for cornering, but you better have well-designed straps for long-range comfort. try them all for your own load-outs & see what works best for you in which sorts of trips.
>How is it compared to normal travelling (ie : bus, plane, train) ?
hahahahahahahaha..... omfg....... the number of times i'd scramble to make a scheduled public transport service, then the service was delayed anyway, or when the unions called a few days' strike, or when security screening was retarded, or when the departure hall food/drink outlets were overpriced, or when your travelling companions are groups of obnoxious cunts, or when your (mainly bus) service gets stuck in traffic, or when """terrorists""" are out bombing central stations & terminals... get on your bike & head for the twisties, don't even consider looking back.
i'll try to check this thread when i can, ask me anything.
>>1131811 here again with a grain of salt for ya... the guys in OP's pic are going *way* harder than i ever have. so if that's what you are aiming at, leave my rambling shit in the dust & god bless you. i'm a weekend to week-long traveller through fairly well-developed regions, not a hardcore cross-continental voyager.
I spent 5 weeks on the road in Vietnam and a week traveling across Myanmar. If I went to Thailand, Philippines, or really anywhere else in SE Asia again I'd certainly ride across there too. IMO it's the best way to travel in SE Asia.
Don't be the idiot that tries to do motorcycle touring without real training or experience. If you're American take the MSF course and get your license, it's cheap.
My biggest recommendation: bring a helmet and *full lightweight gear* from home. Western-quality gear just doesn't exist out there and you're very likely to end up dropping the bike at some point.
Feel free to ask me anything about motorcycle touring in SE Asia.
Took a short motorcycle trip in Vietnam. Now I want to get a DR650 here in the states.
I just rode from London to Slovakia, it was fucking fantastic.
The freedom of it compared to public transport makes it all worthwhile, it's generally cheaper than a car (tolls can be less, potentially better mpg, campsites charge less for bikes, free parking) and it's been more fun being in the open than inside a car. Plus you can just ride straight into a city centre easily and get to any sites you want to see.
But it can be tough, long days on the road take their toll. Stop as often as you can to rest yourself, the bike, and take in where you are. I've rushed parts of my trip I wish I'd slowed down on.
If you're serious about it then my advice is just get stuck in, you can tour on a GS1200 with hard panniers or a Honda Wave and a shopping bag.
>>1131766
me and 2 mates went on a short/ish 10 day trip around NSW/VIC up through the mountains through jindabyne , towards the coast, camping on the beach, and at state parks / camping grounds, checked out waterfalls ,and eventually made our way down to Melbourne travelling along the coast.
We didn't really have fixed plans on what we did or where we went, would typically ride for 4-6 hours, but it depended on how much we liked our camping spot, the other two had panniers set up, i just had a bag strapped to back with a bit of wood to keep it away from exhausts. pic related
bikes, XTZ660, KLR650 and a WR450, the wr450 yamaha also had an extra 10 litre portable fuel container as it had smaller fuel capacity , but we never really struggled as fuel stations are everywhere in aus. good fun though , we went offroad a bunch of times to test the bikes and ourselves.
OP here thanks for the replie, I'm currently getting my licence in Europe so it's quite intense.
I'm not planning now to do long trips like in first pic atm.
Did you guys meet the locals a lot ? Is the bike an icebreaker ?
Seems like touring in SE asia on a bike is goat
>>1132335
It's not so much that the bike is an icebreaker - in SE Asia every local is on a bike - but it'll make you end up in many areas that rarely see tourists. 99% of tourists go from tourist zone to tourist zone by bus/plane. The busses even all stop at the same tourist restaurants for breaks.
In motorcycle touring you'll be stopping in random places for gasoline, food, coffee, and repairs along the side of the roads. Since those places very rarely see tourists you'll end up as a novelty and people will be very curious and want to chat with you. In SE Asia people will give you free drinks at bars and families will invite you to join them in their meals. Honestly it gets kind of overwhelming at times.
The downside, as someone said, is that it's very challenging physically and mentally. After a 4hr motorcycle ride you'll be far more exhausted than you would be after a 10hr bus ride.
>>1131766
We were staying in India and 2 of my friends left to go motorcycling in Nepal one weekend. Was supposed to have been awesome, but the one guy had never ridden a motorcycle and ended up accidentally accelerating at an intersection and crashing into a house. They ended up having to pay and deal with the local police and stuff. Just be aware of that if you don't know what you're doing.
I will do my first Trip in two weeks from Vienna to Croatia, about 750km
I am pretty excited and I am planning on using my Top Case, a Backpack and a tank-backpack. It will take me two days and my unly fear is that it will not be comfortable at all haha
>>1132655
>one guy had never ridden a motorcycle
this is just asking for trouble
>>1132335
The biker community in Europe is great, you'll find 99% of riders will wave to you as you go past and every one so far has been friendly to me and helped out if I needed anything.
>Have you guys ever done it ?
I just spent 3 week riding my bike around western US. I ended up in an accident at the end of it where nothing happened to me but my bike had the front end completely damaged and was written off.
I did about 8000km on the trip and was supposed to do another 2 weeks with about 4-5k km more. I was mad because it cost me a lot of money and I missed out on some great locations that I won't get to for years now. But ultimately the 3 weeks I was on the road were absolutely amazing. Some of the best times of my life. If you want more details of my trip let me know.
>Got some tips or stories ?
In western countries it's seen as something awesome, in places like Latin America or Asia so many people ride motorbikes that it's nothing spectacular. #1 tip before going on a long trip is to get some riding under you first. Maybe I'm exaggerating a bit but I'd say if you haven't done 5000km locally and on short trips near your city/region you'll have a few issues on a long trip. It's very straining riding for many hours. I motocamped so it was even more straining. Get good riding gear, it's expensive but well worth it.
>How is it compared to normal travelling (ie : bus, plane, train) ?
It's just very different. I don't think you can compare it to normal tourist travel or backpacking. See I usually backpack on my travels and I love that, it's very easy to sit on a bus or a train and read or work on your photos. When you're riding a motorbike you can't do anything except ride. And you do it for nearly the whole day sometimes. I will do both on my future travels, backpacking is a lot easier but I think when I'm in Indonesia or Thailand I will buy a bike to see the country. I also hope to live for a year or 2 in Asia and will definitely buy a bike when I'm somewhere long term, it's just a fun way to get around.
>>1132696
try to keep your backpack as light as possible, maybe only a bottle of water and a map or something like that
otherwise it will be the first thing that gets very uncomfortable
What would a good beginner bike be that I could also take out on weekend trips? I asked this in the daily bike thread on /o/ as well and they recommended a Suzuki SV650 or a Honda CB500R. Any other suggestions?
>>1132887
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SV650 is good, as is the CB.
you could also look for a Kawasaki ER5, it's a bit similar to the CB.
Or a Ninja 650 / GPZ600
>>1132696
on what bike?
>>1132791
rough luck with the fender bender anon. hope you get back on the saddle soon.
>>1132887
>take out on weekend trips
where? the terrain & distances you're hoping to cover will be the major considerations for picking an appropriate first bike.
highways intercity
>v-twin cruiser
dusty trails
>thumper enduro
mountain passes
>parallel twin sport/naked
