Can anyone recommend a off road bike that has a large fuel capacity and can handle touring? (i.e. reliable, 4 stroke) Doesn't matter what capacity but working on a budget of around £3000ish but the cheaper the better.


Many thanks

Its never been a year already has it?

I've got about 24 weeks left :P

But i want to do a bit of offroading and then when the ban is up i plan to go exploring

You won't really find a bike that does both well - you want something smallish and light for offroading (cos you have to pick it up a lot! ) but you want something larger for touring.

Looks like it'll be one of those bikes where you can pretend to be Boorman or McGregor..........

Aww .

So would going travelling on a enduro bike be silly then? lol

I notice they do all have 10 litre ish tanks. How far does that actually get you?

I'd love one of those KTM 950 adventure bikes but they're well expensive

What are those Triupmh Tigers like? The new ones not the old ones......

tigers apparently drink oil like its going out of fashion

other than that supposed to be great bikes

For most offroading you're better off with a 125 or similar cos you WILL come off, and they're lighter to pick up, and lighter when they fall on your leg!

My mate Bob rode about 20 miles home with a broken ankle!

wait a minute...
on my thread when I wanted an off road bike I needed all kinds of stuff...

so I assume that..sorry mate, you can't have any bike because you are on a 12 month ban and to do offroading you will need a fully road legal bike, including insurance..

unless you do it on a private track, like a farm or something...

Am I right?

Yeahhh mate thats what i meant.

I'll be doing at an off road centre and they let kids and stuff do it so i assume you don't need a licence.

I don't know though. Hopefully some one will be able to shine some light on this...

Your best bet is to ask the offroad centre surely? If it's only for a couple of months they mayhave bikes you canhire for a session, then you could buy one more suitable for touring?

yeh, off road circuits you dont need license, the guy I was buying the 2 pit bikes, his kids race around one...so a license isnt needed..as they are too young to have one anyway

Ahhh ok cheers JP and thanks BG. Good idea with the hiring

The new ones are certainly reputed to be very thirsty on oil. The older ones aren't as bad.

I really like the oldest of the design, the one with the big twin round hesadlamsp - it looks a bit like a Super Tenere.

By new do you mean the Hincklery Tigers as opposed to the "old" meriden tiger that was essentially a single carbed bonnie?


The hinckley ones are a hoot, although they've become more refined and like a road bike than off road styled as they've gone on.

My DRZ400 has a tank capapcity of about 10 litres, and it's good for about 120 miles on a good run. You can get a high capapcity tank for it which of course makes it bigger and heavier but almost doubles the capacity.

The longest journey I've done on mine is from my place to my brother's in Reading and back in one go. About 100 miles. Not a problem apart from the wind blast. Other than that I did a run once from work in The City up to Barnet, where I collected a 19" rack mount computer, ratchet strapped it to the pillion then headed for the M25 and came round the M25 down to Caterham. That would be about the same distance too. Coped fine.

On the new r1200gs you can get an overland tank that will go for 350-375 miles, I don't know if its predecessors (1100 & 1150) had this. Not cheap and only really good for dirt roads rather than enduro circuit but far more comfy for high mileage than an enduro

try an XTZ750 (or XTZ850 if you have a spare TDM engine laying around )
great bike, reliable, 26litre tank, friendly owners club with lots of techy advice
comfy for all day rides

£3000 will get you a fully prep'd RTW job