Adventure Motorcycling author Chris Scott gives an introduction to the practicalities of the Big Trip
What is it that stops us from taking on the Big Trip, setting off to ride across Africa or even round the world? Well, for many the stability we've managed to establish for ourselves does not want turning upside down right now, thank you very much. But a web search for 'motorcycling + slippers warming by the fire' comes up with a big fat zero. Weekend blatabouts on pocket rockets offer quick thrills but it's a big planet and the appeal of being marinated by it's rich flavours from two wheels and a saddle is always there. It's an adventure, and apart from promulgating the species and putting out the bins on time, it's what we were born to do.

Why, Where and When
Usually your initial inspiration comes in the form of an all-captivating idea; the practicalities can sort themselves out later. On my website you'll find a Planner (www.adventure-motorcycling.com/planner) which, with one graphic lays out the pre-departure process I'm summarising here in words. 'Why' of course is up to you but where you go is tied in with when you go. Generally, in the northern hemisphere you don't want to be driving into the African or Asian summer or the American or Siberian winter, so if you're going to Cape Town or India, leave in autumn; Russia or Alaska, make that Spring. Below the equator things are not so critical as the land masses down there have relatively better infrastructure which makes travelling at anytime less hazardous.
Another factor on which 'where and when' depends is security. For example a couple of months ago the overland route to India would have been a bit tense, and crossing from West Africa to East Africa via Chad and Sudan can have its moments. Planning a route through Africa especially is a game of snakes and ladders; borders close, rebellions or coups rise up, epidemics break out. As the legacy of colonialism matures, Africa's never going to settle down so once you get clued up you may as well go for it now.
'When' though can also mean "when you're ready" and that will be later then you think. For any serious overlanding trip across Africa or Asia, give yourself a year to sort everything out in between earning the money to pay for the whole caper.
Bike choice is personal but common sense should be allowed to have a peak in. Of the 400 trip reports sent in to my website, 26% of the machines are BMs, 24% are Hondas and Yamahas add up to 19%; all as much to do with what's gone before I suspect, as what is best. Unless (like me) you like to get off and stay off the tarmac as long as possible, then a proper single cylinder trail bike (as opposed to the heavier twins, etc) is only necessary for trans-Africa, chiefly crossing the Sahara. Sure you can manage a bit of sand on a road bike, but remember that by the time you're loaded it up with everything you need for the next few hundred miles or months, you'll be carrying a pillion's weight. Depending on tyres, trail bikes become manageable in this state, road bikes are a liability. I set off for my first (successful) Saharan crossing with a German guy on a tatty R90; we burned the remains of his bike halfway to Niger and he flew home with a broken shoulder.
The acquisition of visas and other paperwork is too tedious to list here (it's all in the book) but note a couple of things: forget extended UK motor insurance beyond Europe - you can buy local Third Party at most borders; your bike ownership document (V5, logbook, whatever) is it's passport, other UK motoring documents are irrelevant; and watch out for the Carnet de Passage, a temporary import document for your bike issued by the AA or RAC and for which you must indemnify (i.e. freeze in a bank account) up to four times the value of your bike. Check with the AA/RAC which countries require it. Once that's sunk in you may be changing your route or give up the idea of slinking off into the sunset on that new 1150GS with all the fruit.

On the Road
Finally on the move after months of preparation, the urge is to press on. Try to resist covering excessive mileages in your early days even though movement will probably be the best tonic for your nerves. The early days of a big trip are when most accidents happen. If an estimated 75% of all overlanders achieve hospitalisation due to accidents rather than commonly-dreaded diseases (as I heard recently), you can imagine what that figure is for bikers.
One of the best ways of inspiring confidence for the lift off is taking a test run. You can use this trip as a 'systems shakedown' to acclimatise yourself with your bike's habits without the added nerves of the Big Departure. This way when the day comes you're pretty sure how the bike is going to run, if not so sure of what exactly lies ahead.
And one's health and security in foreign lands is probably the biggest anxiety we have about overlanding, an understandable self-protection mechanism. Travellers are natural targets but the same common sense and street wisdom you use at home will get you well on the way to Timbuktu. Me, I like a quiet life which is why I settle for unpopulated deserts although recently I was lucky enough to crash out and so avoid a nasty mass abduction in Algeria. But it is cities anywhere in the world are the lairs of opportunist n'er-do-wells and where your pride and joy becomes a millstone. Accept that you're going to lose something or even everything, either through carelessness or theft. In the end it's all just stuff that can be replaced, albeit at a price and great inconvenience. The perils of travel are probably no greater than they were five hundred or two thousand years ago, and the need for vigilance has always been the same. Just don't expect to slip back into the same old routine when you get back.

Chris's main website is www.adventure-motorcycling.com