Funnily enough I’m watching McGregor’s and Boorman’s Long Way Around at the moment and the episode I’m at is where their cameraman Claudio broke his GS and replaced it by the only bike available to them in Mongolia, a Russian thing for $1,000 new, and it out-performed the two remaining GSs on the awful Mongolian muddy tracks.
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On a similar note, the super tenere can be had in the mid 4s if patient. Okay, maybe not as brilliant as the BMW but longer servicing intervals and a better reliability record. I’ve wanted a super tenere for a long time, but never saw one at the right price and right time yet.
I was thinking about your goldwing when I wrote the post, but similar to the gtr I’d be hesitant to do anything majorly off the beaten track with it. At least my gtr is battered and old already
Here is where I may need to make concessions, I can afford to do this if I manage to work at the same time, which really means slower pace of travel and finding urban areas really for better internet. I can make a few weeks here and there I’m sure for real bucket list rural areas
A good point on fairings, there’s nothing quite like dicking around with a headtorch and fiddly fairing screws at the side of the road in the rain is there
Riding around the world would inevitably require a fair number of non tarmac roads. So anything heavy is a no-no for me.
Genuinely, I’d opt for a Honda 250-300cc offroader like I used in Peru to ride over the Andes. Top end of 85mph was plenty on the tarmac and was very capable off road. You want something light and also something local mechanics can fix if/when something goes wrong.
For me, an all singing KTM or BMW isn’t going to get easily fixed in the middle of nowhere. Leave the Africa Twin at home and go simple 
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I reckon most modern bikes should get you round the world on roads with just scheduled maintenance. Choose the right brand and you’ll get service agents in most places. If you want to cross the Congo then yes, you’ll be on your own if you breakdown in the middle of the jungle but the big cities would be ok.
This thread takes me back a bit to when I had every intention of doing some overlanding. I bought a brand new XTZ660 reg L977 ULR (what year was that?) not long after I graduated. I wanted to ride to Cape Town but also wanted my own place and soon got caught up in work stuff.
I think you should go for it, and if necessary do smaller trips if the big one is too difficult to make time/finances for.
These days I fancy a road trip to India. Still got no time but if I could I’d jump on the Goldwing with a spare pair of pants and a toothbrush and just go. I wouldn’t worry about the bike making it, probably wouldn’t even change the oil 'till I got there.
…which reminds me, my cousin left his Triumph Tiger at home and took a 125cc Chinese bike to Mongolia and back on the Mongol rally…wouldn’t be my choice of bike!
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Peloton!
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My Pegaso Trail 650.
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smaller trips had occurred to me, but there a limitation is often the bike is tied to your visa so you’d either need to get the bike shipped out every time doing a new continent, or buying and selling bikes as you go.
I visited Ladakh a few years ago and like you if I could only do one place I think it would be India, but East Asia and South America are also high on list
I’m 25 now with no commitments and if I’m sensible I could probably just about get by if I didn’t have work by just renting my house out, but boring thoughts such as taking at least a year out of paying into my pension at this age crop up - hence the desire to work as I go
So exciting to see everyone else would like to do this too. I actually had a mid 20s review during lockdown (lame) to make sure I was doing things I wanted to be doing with my life
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Someone I know does a load of smaller trips around the world and rents bikes in each country.
His trips are generally only a couple of weeks long and he normally rents roughly what a local uses. One to keep costs down but also if there is an issue most places will be able to fix it.
One of the reasons I picked my 690 Enduro R was it gave a good mixture of offroad capability and decent tarmac power when needed.
It’ll happily cruise on the motorway at 70/80 to take it offroad.
It’s only issue is if your skill level exceeds talent it can get a bit heavy to lift but that’s only if you drop it a lot lol
If you want to ride tricky offroad stuff I’d look at a lighter bike but for overlanding it’s a great bike.
If you haven’t already the ADV rider forum is a good source of information about most bikes, plus people post their adventures and what issues they have encountered.
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If I were 25 with limited commitments I’d definitely go travelling. No better way to travel than by bike. As it is I’m 50 with way too many commitments - my youngest is 3 years away from Uni, should she go - only then could I travel for any length of time without her.
You will never regret taking six months or a year out of a career path, any potential falling behind of mates at work will be lost over the following decades.
Choice of bike is probably easiest to sort out, suspending normal life the hardest.
If you camp a bit and stay in hostels in Western Europe before heading to cheaper economies you can go a long way with little money. If you have an income from a rental as you go, even better. I didn’t have anyone encouraging me to do anything other than the conventional stay home, get a job thing and regret that I didn’t do more.
Go for it! The few trips I’ve had over the years live with me always, a part of who I am. I never stop looking at the map planning a future adventure, even if it is a two week summer holiday.
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Check out Itchy Boots. She’s done a few long trips - a few on a Royal Enfield Himalayan 411cc.
You’ll probably find the biker guide section really useful, it’s got loads of tips on budgeting, accommodation and transporting your bike if you need to.
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This looks really cool, thanks - I’ll make time for a proper read this evening