A few mates and I done quite e few desert trips in the late 90's, I had a Yamaha TT600 Belgarda
with a 21 ltr Acerbis tank which gave a fair range,if we needed more fuel we used throw over the seat type saddle bags with 5 ltr containers in each,it was very awkward to get on & off the bike,made the handling sketchy & hard to use the kickstarter (for that reason I would probably go for button start) but it was better than pushing because of no juice!, we would transfer the contents of the side containers to the main tank as soon as we could to bring the handling back to normal,Nowadays you can buy an aftermarket rear fender tank,I think they are called bum tanks,i reckon they would also dramatically affect the handling as they are high up & rear biased.
As far as carrying gear,we used a small rear rack & spread the load half on the seat,sometimes we also used a tankbag,If you are using a tent you can share the different components between bikes,i.e. someone carries the poles,someone else carries the fly etc,before the trip you work out who is bringing what other stuff such as cookers etc so you do not double up on things & can share each others.
It's worth spending time checking out camping /hiking stores & seeing what is the lightest & smallest things you will need that fit in your budget,I would do a couple of small weekend trips first to work out what you really need & what you don't & the best way to pack the bike.
We carried for spares tubes,chain joiners,cable repair kits & generally just what you would use on a trailride,if you start out with your bike in good mechanical nick, new tires & heavy duty tubes you should be o.k.
Camelbak make a good range of backpacks,I used a H.A.W.G , 2 ltrs of water & just big enough to fit enough gear & not break your back.
We never crossed the simpson & I am not sure if it is possible to do without backup because of the long distance fuel wise, you would have to look into that.
Cheers Smed
P.S. you lucky buggers, wish i could go!
