1st TIME TOURING GUIDE

this is a place to list your places of recommended shops/dealers/sites/links etc. No banter please, just details and your experiences...

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1st TIME TOURING GUIDE

Post by A_T »

RIP [url=http://dcbikers.co.uk/15.html][u]Frank 1960 - 2006[/u][/url] & [url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/1482088.stm][u]JD 1963 - 2001[/u][/url] (always in our thoughts)
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Re: 1st TIME TOURING GUIDE

Post by nomad »

I have some too ;)

SOME TRAVEL HINTS

1. Bike preparation. You could be riding 2,000+ miles, make sure a service is carried out prior to going. Check tyres - are they up to the mileage and at the right pressure, also settings of bike and maximum loadings, don’t overload the bike as it will affect the handling or could cause fatigue in the frame and upset the balance/handling. Try your bike out with its loading before setting off; see if you need to ditch anything. Remember your headlamp dip direction adjusters and a GB sticker.

2. Luggage. Choose between hard and soft. Don’t just bungee down a carrier bag. Remember it may rain so if you have soft luggage it will need to be waterproofed – a plastic bin bag is cheap and ideal. If you take hard uggage is it easy to remove? If not, take an insert (carrier bag?) to make it easy to unload. Don’t take too much, you will be wearing most of your kit, and you can easily wash or buy anything you need. Remember to take waterproofs. A tank bag or bum bag is very useful for cash, passport etc, and is easily removed for security, at lunch time or for sightseeing.

3. Documentation. Essential. Passport. Driving licence – if the new photo type, you need to take the translation too. Insurance, remember to activate your green card with your insurer. You will need a bail bond still for Spain. Registration document – photocopy will suffice. If you have borrowed a bike, you will need copy of the Registration document and a letter of authority from the owner. Remember in Europe new licence holders are restricted to 90 KPH for the first 2 years. Riding age is 18 yrs.

4. Recommended. European breakdown cover (AA 0800 444500 or 0870 2401456. MCN/NCI 0870 9012999 RAC 0800 550055) remember some insurance companies e.g. Carole Nash give free breakdown cover but check. EHIC reciprocal health care (available on-line). European accident statement form (from insurers, comes with green card). This is a multi language document which is ideal if you are unfortunate enough to have an accident. You might also consider travel insurance if you do ensure it covers you for riding a large capacity bike and if you are carrying a pillion make sure that is included.

5. Spares etc. Tool kit. Torch. Aerosol tyre repair kit. Spare bulbs (compulsory in most of Europe). Spare fuses, Chain lube. Bike lock. Bikes do not need to carry a Hi-Vis vest in France but if you have room take 1 as other EU countries require you to have 1.

6. Personal. Sunglasses or tinted visor (not illegal in Europe where they are deemed a safety item!). Sun block. Map (pocket type) even if you have SatNav. Mobile phone – ensure it has Roaming for Europe enabled, if riding in a group pass all numbers between yourselves on the ferry. Have an emergency telephone number in UK that messages can be left at for relaying/passing. Ear plugs. Tie downs/protection for tie downs. On British ferries, your bike will be secured by good tie downs, on French ferries (Sea France, eurotunnel), you may have to tie down the bike yourself, the tie downs may be dirty/oily. Protection stops damage to your bike – it can be your riding gloves. Destinations address and phone number. Translator or language dictionary.

7. Riding in Europe. Information. Auto routes in France have service areas every 20 KMS, called ‘AIRES’ they have everything from rest areas and toilets to petrol stations and quality restaurants. The sign on the motorway will tell you what services are available – do not run out of fuel on the auto route, it is an automatic fine. Emergency numbers – yellow box or dial 15 Ambulance, 17 for Police, 18 for Fire. Flashing lights – mean nothing. They are telling you the French driver is indicating his/her priority. It is COMPULSORY to ride in the daytime with headlights illuminated. Europe take lunch seriousely so ensure that you fill up before noon if you are off the beaten track as they are closed from 12h00 - 14h00. Most things are closed on Sundays except on major routes.

8. Advice. KPH are quickly covered. If you want to know the actual mileage, divide by 8 and multiply by 5. Distances to travel – you will average about 50 MPH if you stop for breaks, 65 MPH if you don’t. That means if you plan to travel 450-500 miles in a day you will be riding for some 10 hours, so set off accordingly. When you go to your bike, it is useful to have a ‘KEEP RIGHT’ reminder on the
tank or somewhere visible which you will see when inserting your keys. Also let your credit card company know you are going abroad - nothing more annoying than them cancelling your card because they think it has been stolen and being used abroad.
[url=http://www.RidersRest.net][b]B&B 4 bikers by bikers [/b][i]in the beautiful Correze region of France....[/i][/url]
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Re: 1st TIME TOURING GUIDE

Post by PeterM »

As long as you have your Passport and a credit card then your world is your oyster

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nomad
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Re: 1st TIME TOURING GUIDE

Post by nomad »

PeterM wrote:As long as you have your Passport and a credit card then your world is your oyster

Peter
and your bike... :wink:
[url=http://www.RidersRest.net][b]B&B 4 bikers by bikers [/b][i]in the beautiful Correze region of France....[/i][/url]
[url=http://www.motomassif.info][b]Touring [/b][i]the Central Massif on a motorcycle... [/i][/url]
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Re: 1st TIME TOURING GUIDE

Post by jason »

PeterM wrote:As long as you have your Passport and a credit card then your world is your oyster

Peter

it really is that simple( as long as you stay in the EU). book a ferry and a couple weeks off round up a couple mates make sure your misses stays at home grab your bike and go. Make the rest up as you go along. Personally I never camp (as camping is shite anyway and limits where you have to stop) .... just bounce between hotels and B&B's.

lots of good stuff in that article but I completely disagree with that links opening recomendation - personally I think sportsbikes make the best touring bikes. Touring bikes suffer from the affliction of being terminally dull - Id rather be slightly uncomfy than have to endure a couple weeks on something like a vfr800. We use GSXR 1000's and have been down to the bottom of croatia on them and over a fair bit of eastern Europe, and rode them on every type of road going right down to dirt tracks in the middle of nowhere. I have done 4,500 miles on one in 16 days and 750 miles in one day once.

Eastern Europe is much more interesting than the usual French - spanish thing. Mainly because its much more weird.

For 2009 we have three weeks booked the plan is to hack it down to Austria in one day in a van with the bikes in the back (get the boring miles out of the way) - then unloading them from there ditching the van and riding to the black sea (, try and get into the Ukraine and Moldova if poss then down through romania and bulgaria to istanbul then back through Serbia, Bosnia and croatia.

anyway these are proper touring bikes :)

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Re: 1st TIME TOURING GUIDE

Post by Blue »

I am doing my first euro tour next year as my mis life crises and hitting 40 :roll: . I want to go to nurburgring, stelvio pass or whatever it is, ducati, ferrari factories, then down to Malaga to spend a week with the kids at their grandads and then back the qick route through spain/france to Roscoff. It comes out at about 4300 miles 8)

i have done the homeward bit in trucks before but none of the rest. I will sit and read the link but is it better to have stops etc at least roughly planned cos its gonna be at the beginning of Augest ?
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Re: 1st TIME TOURING GUIDE

Post by sadbiker »

Blue wrote:I am doing my first euro tour next year as my mis life crises and hitting 40 :roll: . I want to go to nurburgring, stelvio pass or whatever it is, ducati, ferrari factories, then down to Malaga to spend a week with the kids at their grandads and then back the qick route through spain/france to Roscoff. It comes out at about 4300 miles 8)

i have done the homeward bit in trucks before but none of the rest. I will sit and read the link but is it better to have stops etc at least roughly planned cos its gonna be at the beginning of Augest ?

Ouch.... August, French all on holiday, Italians out on mass invading Austria etc, better check to see if any of the places you want to visit in Italy are open, Ducati tends to only have skeleton crew looking after factory during August.

Would say the roads around the alps and Italy will be fairly busy, Start of July is a better time as you are just missing the crush.
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Re: 1st TIME TOURING GUIDE

Post by jason »

Blue wrote:I am doing my first euro tour next year as my mis life crises and hitting 40 :roll: . I want to go to nurburgring, stelvio pass or whatever it is, ducati, ferrari factories, then down to Malaga to spend a week with the kids at their grandads and then back the qick route through spain/france to Roscoff. It comes out at about 4300 miles 8)

i have done the homeward bit in trucks before but none of the rest. I will sit and read the link but is it better to have stops etc at least roughly planned cos its gonna be at the beginning of Augest ?
the problem with doing the nurburgring during a tour is a crash could shorten your trip somewhat. The ring is probably best visited on the way home rather than near the start.

I did the stelvio at the end of august and it wasnt that busy - we did it going from italy up to Austria - from lake como then through the pass into austria before stopping for the night in innsbruck (great place to stop).....say hello to brake fade by the time you get to the bottom....roads like the stelvio are one of the reasons that sportsbikes are the best bikes to tour on


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Re: 1st TIME TOURING GUIDE

Post by nomad »

Blue wrote:I am doing my first euro tour next year as my mis life crises and hitting 40 :roll: . I want to go to nurburgring, stelvio pass or whatever it is, ducati, ferrari factories, then down to Malaga to spend a week with the kids at their grandads and then back the qick route through spain/france to Roscoff. It comes out at about 4300 miles 8)

i have done the homeward bit in trucks before but none of the rest. I will sit and read the link but is it better to have stops etc at least roughly planned cos its gonna be at the beginning of Augest ?
It is a fair way and taking into consideration your itinary of things to see/do you have chosen quite a big area to cover. I am presuming August because it is during the School holidays and that is when the kids are in Spain.

August isn't too bad in France The worst is probably 1st or last week, there is more traffic but if you are avoiding the main routes you won't be too bothered by it, a plus is that all the cafes etc will be open ;) Accommodation is a must book unless you are camping. Italy and Spain are Hot in August.

It sounds to me like you are trying to Pack too much into your first trip (It is doable don't get me wrong) My first ever Eu trip in 89 I did 9 countries in 10 days including the Stelvio two up with camping gear... so if you are on a mission do it.

Interestingly I would say that the North of France is quite boring so the aim would be to get down south as Quick as possible taking the Paege (I know but it gets you to the good roads where you can enjoy your bike) Like the suggestion above (Top advice Jason) I would probably leave the Ring for another trip though I can understand the need to do it every trip ;) There is just so many excellent roads to ride so the more research you do the more you will be spoilt for choice.

How many days do you have to do the trip?

If you need any help with the France side of the trip let me know as I might be able to help.
[url=http://www.RidersRest.net][b]B&B 4 bikers by bikers [/b][i]in the beautiful Correze region of France....[/i][/url]
[url=http://www.motomassif.info][b]Touring [/b][i]the Central Massif on a motorcycle... [/i][/url]
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Re: 1st TIME TOURING GUIDE

Post by jason »

nomad wrote:
2. Luggage. Choose between hard and soft. Don’t just bungee down a carrier bag. Remember it may rain so if you have soft luggage it will need to be waterproofed – a plastic bin bag is cheap and ideal. If you take hard uggage is it easy to remove? If not, take an insert (carrier bag?) to make it easy to unload. Don’t take too much, you will be wearing most of your kit, and you can easily wash or buy anything you need. Remember to take waterproofs. A tank bag or bum bag is very useful for cash, passport etc, and is easily removed for security, at lunch time or for sightseeing.
definately take note of nomads words on this one - it all sounds obvious but first time I went I presumed the waterproof covers on my oxford soft panniers would be enough. wrong, after going all the way through gemany in the sheeting rain by the time we got to switzerland and found a hotel to stop in every single bit of clothing I had with me was soaked. Fecking miserable - didnt even have dry clothes I could change into. A bin liner inside solves this instantly.

Also on the packing light bit - if there is more than one bike dont double up on kit you can share - spread it across the bikes, so say one takes a (small) toolkit, one takes a chain to lock the bikes togethar, one takes Wd40/chain lube etc.... the lighter you pack the better your bike will ride when you get to the good roads (another reason to avoid camping like the plague - bounce between hotels and you dont need to take much at all). dont skimp on good quality waterproofs though. Presume you will get caught in bad rain for a long period at some point!

and the other thing I can think off is consider bike security (to a bigger or lesser extent depending on where you are)- we always make sure the hotel we stay the night in has secure parking - dont skimp on this even if it means paying a premium rate for the hotel and spending a bit more time to find the right hotel - especially once you get into eastern Europe, leaving a bike parked outside on the outskirts of something like prague would be very very foolish. Alot of the time if you ask, even if it doesnt initially look like it, places will have somewhere they dont mind you putting your bikes in that is relatively secure.
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Re: 1st TIME TOURING GUIDE

Post by TLS-Moose »

jason wrote:........A lot of the time if you ask, even if it doesnt initially look like it, places will have somewhere they dont mind you putting your bikes in that is relatively secure.
Even the hotel foyer (on more than one occasion) if you're on a Ducati .... 8)

A lot of places now have a proliferation of "factory" hotels on the industrial outskirts Formule 1, Etap, etc., and whilst they're great for a quick stop and moving again in the morning, you do tend to miss a lot of fun going this way ...... We used to find little one/two star hotels in the town centre or Chambre d'Hote, and whilst quality might be variable (to say the least :shock: ) the experience tends to add to the holiday, and you can meet some great people along the way 8) whereas the chain hotels tend to be a little "numb" when it comes to it ......

Also, if you're in trouble, try to speak the local lingo a bit first, rather than the usual English trick of raising your voice, and you'll be surprised the amount of difference it makes in getting people to help you (and if you do go abroad with one of the aforementioned italian bikes, you will need assistance at some point :lol: :lol: ).

And a final thing, a lot of people abroad understand a lot more English than they might let on, so be very mindful of what you say in front of people who give the impression of not being able to understand you - we have witnessed some very interesting situations where we have been able to undertsand both sides of the conversation :wink: :lol: :lol:
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Re: 1st TIME TOURING GUIDE

Post by jason »

TLS-Moose wrote:
A lot of places now have a proliferation of "factory" hotels on the industrial outskirts Formule 1, Etap, etc., and whilst they're great for a quick stop and moving again in the morning, you do tend to miss a lot of fun going this way ...... We used to find little one/two star hotels in the town centre or Chambre d'Hote, and whilst quality might be variable (to say the least :shock: ) the experience tends to add to the holiday, and you can meet some great people along the way 8) whereas the chain hotels tend to be a little "numb" when it comes to it ......

Also, if you're in trouble, try to speak the local lingo a bit first, rather than the usual English trick of raising your voice, and you'll be surprised the amount of difference it makes in getting people to help you (and if you do go abroad with one of the aforementioned italian bikes, you will need assistance at some point :lol: :lol: ).
absolutely avoid the format places, no charm at all

and like you say definately do try and speak a bit of the local lingo - dont be a sterotypical ignorant brit. there is no excuse to not at least be able to order a round of beer/ask for a menu and say please/thank you and hello.
piling on in English without any attempt is ignorant as hell - in fact its one of my pet hates. Grab a phrase book and at least try!

im alright in france as I can read/write in french realtively well (I have friends in Toulon and a cousin who lives in Paris)and although my converstaion is very poor and I sound like someone doing a bad 'allo 'allo impression I can generally understand what people are saying to me.
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Re: 1st TIME TOURING GUIDE

Post by nomad »

TLS-Moose wrote:
Even the hotel foyer (on more than one occasion) if you're on a Ducati .... 8)

:lol:
doesn't matter what bike you ride if you can get it in the foyer go for it ;)

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[url=http://www.motomassif.info][b]Touring [/b][i]the Central Massif on a motorcycle... [/i][/url]
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Re: 1st TIME TOURING GUIDE

Post by nomad »

Some other Gems **

*If you are hungry and stop at a resaraunt go for the "Plat d'jour" usually cheap and you get a drink with it.

*If on a bike never use your credit card at the paege you will be charged the tarrif of a car.

*In most towns in France you can park on the pavement next to the cafe as long as you are not blocking or causing an obstruction.
[url=http://www.RidersRest.net][b]B&B 4 bikers by bikers [/b][i]in the beautiful Correze region of France....[/i][/url]
[url=http://www.motomassif.info][b]Touring [/b][i]the Central Massif on a motorcycle... [/i][/url]
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Re: 1st TIME TOURING GUIDE

Post by nomad »

one last tip...


Get an EHIC European Reciprical Health Insurance Card you can do it on-line at https://www.ehic.org.uk/Internet/startApplication.do - this might save you a fortune should you have to seek medical treatment whilst in the EU countries ;) don't leave home without one.
[url=http://www.RidersRest.net][b]B&B 4 bikers by bikers [/b][i]in the beautiful Correze region of France....[/i][/url]
[url=http://www.motomassif.info][b]Touring [/b][i]the Central Massif on a motorcycle... [/i][/url]
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