21 days + ?1250

[Itchy]

How far can I go in 21 days ,with £1250, in April?. considering each step I take = 1 step needed to take it back.

I've already factored in 500 for insurance recovery, and gear, and
£1500 for a bike of some sort (if I decide to be brave/nuts I may take the NTV which means a new set of BT45s and away I go).

I just realised I have as of now 17.5 days holiday left since I'm not going to be compensated for them , its either go somewhere or sit at home for 17.5 working days. (including weekends the 2 bank holidays in April its more like 23 days)

You may think why not take holidays? , been too busy at work to take anytime off , unrealistic targets maternity and covering for others = work load is too much to be able to vanish off anywhere.


Work has now come to a bit of a lull,

so where do you reckon I can go on this sort of money and time?

Eastern Europe ? , where the petrol and costs are lower?

And has anybody else other than Nath taken a rat bike like mine out to the continent? (my NTV has been touring before by its previous owner from new, I'm suspicious of it though since its got an electrical problem I cannot diagnose nor can a mechanic , and this has caused fires in the past current miles about 63K).

this is the cheap option £150 new tyres
£150 for a colt top fairing
£100 full service
£100 diagnosis for leccy fault

giving me potentially £2500 to play with if I decide to take the old bike (considering I was going to take a '30 but nobody'd sell me one and my bike is more than a match for a '30 , but fugly). I however do not want to be up the alps and notice lots of smoke coming out the back like last time , which caused self emolation , thus a newer bike is probably the answer.

Any thoughts.

Ta
____________________
Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[EuropeanNC30R...]

Including a pair of tyres, oil change etc and other ancillaries I spent about that much riding three weeks around Spain and France last summer. (4200 miles)

That was camping around half the time and cooking outdoors, (though can be cheaper hotelling in some parts of rural Spain than camping in other bits). The petrol budget goes a bit further there too as it's around 65-70p a litre iirc.

Spent around a grand doing two and half weeks to Italy and back, some camping and always eating out. (3500 miles)

If you're doing it economically petrol should be your main cost, need to work out the MPG of your bike and then how far you can afford to go. If you stay in hotels (especially on your own) that's likely to start outweighing petrol costs.

In April if I was you I'd be looking South around the Med.

[Nath]

Remember that as well as doing my big trip on the cb550 last year, I also went round Spain on my Honda Bros the year before. The Bros coped really well with the 5k or so miles I did, and was easily comfortable and powerful enough for my needs. Unless your NTV is is really really rough then I wouldn't think twice about taking it touring, as it should easily cope with the miles.

Three weeks and £1200 sounds just like my tour of Spain. Like Maurice said that's probably your best bet for good weather in April, plus the petrol there is cheaper than France and Italy, there's tons of mountain ranges full of good roads, plus loads of interesting cities full of culture and bustleing nightlife.


Personally I wouldn't want to take a newly bought bike touring straight away. Your NTV may have problems, but at least you're aware of them. Yes it's true, what they say, better the devil you know.
____________________
Hard livin', hard luck.

[Itchy]

[natv4]