Old or new for adventure touring

[Mikekitts81]

Not a question I see a lot on here but I was sat round today with loads of time on my hands and my brain started pondering on new and old bikes and which would be better for adventure touring. A lot see new bikes as a good choice because they shouldn't break or have any issue once broke in and past the first stages of service etc so no major problems or issue within the first year or so but my mind was thinking that maybe it would be better to go older even if it's just a few years old. My thoughts : with new they never put much out straight away with oem parts and not much aftermarket either so touring over the world with something new straight out of the gate may be a bit difficult if things go wrong as parts sourcing may be harder if not impossible to find as it's not been round for a while we're as if it's an older model even just a few years older then there will be more aftermarket parts out there with oem stuff aswell so parts would be easier to source in these different country's and problems easier to solve as normally you can get on Google and someone somewhere as had the same if not similar issue and as found a solution to the problem for the part whether it be aftermarket o.e.m or even another part of another bike that matches. So this is were my mind starts pondering and wondering on what would be the best option new or old

[AlanHolt]

I guess it depends how far you intend to travel. If you go to some 'third world' countries, you'll probably find someone who can repair an old thumper in every town. You could probably do the repairs yourself with basic tools provided you have or can get the parts. That can't be said for all modern bikes.

[captinktm]

I would never even consider taking a brand new bike on a long trip. You might also avoid first models as well for the same reason. They are n't ready or reliable! What bike manages to get through it's first year these days without a recall? I bought one if not the first KTM 950 s in the uk in 2003 and because I intended to do Turkey I ran it in, in a week, I then could n't get it serviced because KTM did not have shim's yet. I did them my self and another 5000 miles to make sure all was well, and then had another recall for the oil pump. I demanded a new engine and got one, so I was back to square one again. 2 years ago I bought a 2005 KTM 950 with less than 20k on the clock for 3 and half grand and done 20k on it without any problems, recalls or having to add anything to it. Buying brand new is a mugs game, and only done by the rich and very stupid. look at the secondhand market at the moment, the prices are crazy low. As for pcp I personally would be paranoid about wrecking the dam thing. You buy a 4k bike for a long trip and it's almost disposable.

[SteveW]

Rich AND Stupid?
Normally it's one or the other Captin.

[captinktm]

Rich AND Stupid?
Normally it's one or the other Captin.

It's not only poor people that are stupid, they can't afford to be. My personal experience is that most rich people are indeed stupid, it's just they assume there wealth will hind it. We could always spot the stupid one's on tour. They would turn up fully clad in all the latest gear, then crash out on the first day. In their stupidity they spent money on new riding gear when it would have been better spent on training.
Of course the other thing is that just because you can afford to buy a top of the range new bike does n't mean you be able to ride it. But this is off topic

[SteveW]

It's an interesting question.
Here's what I did last year.....
I wanted to ship my bike over to the States and do an eight week mixed road trip.
I had the choice of two bikes that I could take.
A Mint two year old 8,000 mile GSA1200 or a Five year old 26,000 mile GS800. The trip would be 8000 miles.
I considered the 1200 too big for solo off roading and may be the 800 would a pain in the arse and a trip spoiler if it went tits up.
So I thought.....Let's px the 1200 for a mint 1700 mile 10 month old GSA800TE. In the unlikely event of it going tits up its all covered by BMW's fantastic warranty......Fixed for free and a replacement bike. If the canbus main feckle valve blew all I needed to do was order a burger and endless coffees and wait for the BMW mechanic . So I px'd the 1200.
I bought the GSA800 about six months before I went and used it for 4000 miles in the UK and it had its 6000 mile service just before it went in the crate.
Great plan, except that just before I left the UK I found out BMW's warranty won't cover a U.K. Bike outside of Europe!
Anyhow, the GSA800 was perfect for the trip. So I made the correct decision anyway.
So for me, generally For a big trip I'd use a newish bike, not a new one, one that I'd used at least for a few months before leaving.
I agree about not buying the first of a new model.
If you're a decent bush mechanic and you know your not-so-new tried and trusted bike well, then it makes perfect sense to use that for your trip.

[Ksithumper]

I bought a 5 year old supertenere with just 2k on the clock for six grand. It will do me years of European touring and some reasonable off-road. Reliable as an axe, loads of second hand upgrade parts available, and even when scruffy its unlikely I will ever lose more than £3k on it. A new bike would have lost that within a few months.
It also allowed me to afford a brand new enduro bike too.

Which my son has immediately commandeered.

Bugger...

[captinktm]

I guess it depends how far you intend to travel. If you go to some 'third world' countries, you'll probably find someone who can repair an old thumper in every town. You could probably do the repairs yourself with basic tools provided you have or can get the parts. That can't be said for all modern bikes.

I don't know about you guys but I find getting the locals to fix your bike is probably the worst thing you can do unless of course you are prepared to supervise. The problem I found is that they always say yes. It's irrelevant weather they know their head from their ass they just say yes, this in Turkey is to save face, if you fall for this you could be looking at making your problem worse. Better to use their gear and do it your self. I personally would not let anyone east of Germany touch my bike.