[coolmel]

Loved it to bits and particularly so because of the F800ST which also happens to be one of my fav bikes of all time. Will ya please please please connect me to your German friend? I wish to speak to him about the beemer. Will mighty appreciate it.

[alphadog]

Great travelogue and those were some amazing pictures.
I have done a continental Europe backpacking and road trip, but not on a bike. That would have been a fantastic experience.
Any reason why you guys did not choose more powerful bikes. It seems like you could have had a pick of any bike from that bike rental place.
Is it b'cos of economics or did you feel that 500-650 cc rides were good enough for the task at hand?.
Another one added to my wish list.
Keep riding and posting.

Cheerio!

[hifisharu]

Originally Posted by alphadog

Any reason why you guys did not choose more powerful bikes. It seems like you could have had a pick of any bike from that bike rental place.
Is it b'cos of economics or did you feel that 500-650 cc rides were good enough for the task at hand?.
Cheerio!

Thank you for those kind words, hope that you too get to do a ride soon. Regarding the bikes, I can say there were two main reasons: The first one was of course the money factor, as the higher you go up, the more expensive the rental as well as the insurance. Also, at Limbarcher, from where we rented the bikes, even the 650s are restricted to 48bhp, only after a certain class you get the unrestricted ones and those are way more expensive and have alimit on the number of Kilometers allowed during the rental period

The second reason was familiarity; My friend rides a Ninja 300 in India and wanted something manageable, as the roads were completely new to him. For me I would have like to get my previous ride, the Street Triple or something more powerful. But considering most of that extra power is only useful on the Autobahn stretches and our plan was to avoid them as much as possible, we went with the more sensible choices. Even in the restricted form, the Z650 was comfortably doing 180kmph+ and the high speed riding gets boring and tiring

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Hey Sharath. What a nice writeup with the right amount of spectacular pics! Congratulations on the ride.

Glad you enjoyed it Naveen. I read your ownership on the Africa Twin and looks like you're having a great time in USA. Look forward to your road trips as well