Glasgow > Dover = Pain - yes/no?

[UrbanRacer]

Me and a mate are planning on heading to the Mugello GP on the 31st of May. The only thing thats putting us off is the trip to Dover, that part of the trip will be over 1000miles of our trip. how much of a b*stard is that journey bearing in mind it will need to be done within one day and all motorway miles? and will i be buckled with back pain doing this trip on a GSXR 1000

[fredsredhat]

good luck pal!!! you factored in you may new a new tyre when you get to italy if you have soft tyres on? Will be square as a, well.... square. I'm flying out to mugello with a mate of mine who's a Dr (but not of medicine) so we'll be there to straighten your back between us

[Itchy]

No problem at all , I rode from Troyes to Manchester about 970km in a day, and some git on the ferry wouldn't let me sleep and wanted to talk. I also did a crazy cornwall manchester , cornwall in one day over 1000 miles on my NTV.

Dodger managed to get from South coast of France to liverpool over 1400km in less than 24 hours.

Just pace yourself and put 2-3 30 minute rest breaks to sleep in the middle of it, its not funny when you fall asleep while riding. Your tank range won't be that great anyway.

You might want to remove any double bubble screen though (or bring the DB and the stock one) , Nick Sanders has a technique I used in Spain where you find a nice riding position where the wind hits your chest and lifts you up slightly taking the pressure off your back and your wrists.
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[G]

I did a similar distance coming back from the top of Scotland in summer - though the last hundred and fifty miles were done in a dodgy old fiesta after several hours wait, as I got a puncture in my rear bike tyre and that was the best recovery could do .

Give yourself plenty of time (presuming you've got all day) and it shouldn't be a problem if you have a few stops. I've done quite a few stints of a solid five hours in the saddle (and car/van) with only fuel stops as required.

Oh and as it's a GSXR1000, it shouldn't take you long anyway .

[UrbanRacer]

[Bendy]

I did Aberdeen - London on the CBR and the only annoyance was having to stop for fuel every 150 miles. There's a lot to be said for 'econo mode'.

Didn't bother with rests, the time taken to fill and pay's enough for me.

[AngelGrinder]

I did North London > Oban on my ZX6R, using the M6, M1 all the way up, straight through the middle of Glasgow.

Left about 6.30 am, got to Oban about 6.30pm.

My tank would only do 100miles before refulleing, so that added time, but it was fine, definately do-able.
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[iooi]

[The Tot]

Dooable. Considering that Dover is only another 2 hours from where i live in london. I did London -> Edinburgh in 6 hours with all my gear when i was moving so i'd say it's an 8 hour journey. Leave VERY early in the morning to avoid the london evening rush hour which usually starts at 3PM.

I will recommend you dunlop roadsmarts for your gixxer since they're holding out impeccably well on the Blade; i recommended em to a few guys on MCNninjas with 9R's and 10R's.
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[Wave2k]

done it twice, its a bit of a ball ache but it wont kill you.

leave early, that way you can at least cruise at 120 in some places, just be aware of headlights behind you, could be the police.
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[owdamer]

I've done a few long hauls with no real problems. 800 miles in a day in a 91 cbr600, and a year later i did about 3000 miles in 5 days on my yzf750. The yzf trip was hard caz i was suffering pretty bad with sciatica at the time so i couldn't stand upright when i got off the bike, but on the bike was fine.
Then i did the 800 mile trip on the cbr there was a guy with us from edinborough. As we were all setting off from dover he put his bike on the train so that he wasn't facing a long trip before the actual tour began. Have you thought of trying that?

[doggone]

It's less than 500 miles to Dover from Glasgow, no problem at all if you set off and ride 'purposefully'.

Don't underestimate the time and distance after London though.
If you haven't booked a ferry yet consider the Ramsgate crossing, cost is similar or less and you get a couple of hours when you can snooze.

[Chriss]

I ride Elgin - Broadstairs, even further, regulary, even did it on a SV1000 and Daytona 600 with no problem. Easy!
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[dodger]

As above, you should be fine.

Just make sure you take advantage of fuel stops to keep yourself alert and have a good stretch...
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[NicM]

Have you considered the ferry from Rosyth to Zeebrugge, which may be cheaper/less hassle than riding to dover when you factor in petrol stops and wear etc on the tyres.
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[damz]

i will be doing a similar journey but to ramsgate instead to visit family and plan to do it on motorways to get there asap but worried about squaring off my tyres, as stated above its around 500 miles, would that square off tyres a significant ammount?
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[instigator]

It's a pain in the tits, end of.

Take an mp3 player. And drink redbull.

[lurker]

when planning a trip to france last year i had the same dilema.
after factoring in the wear on tyres/ costs to get to dover etc., i decided on the ferry from rosyth instead.
i think it cost about 260 quid return, but that included a bed for the night(due to the 17 hour crossing) leaving me fresh on arrival for a full days travelling down through belgium/france as opposed to semi zombie mode and a sore arse from 8 hours riding to the south of england.
i also managed a full hearty meal and a fair few beers before retiring for the night.
as far as i'm concerned it's a no brainer although i would say that the prices for the ferry seem rather higher this year due to superfast pulling out and the new operator not having the same deals at the moment.
i'm pretty sure if you persevere you'd manage to get somewhere near the price i paid last year(which i will be looking into soon myself for this years trip).

[doggone]

Hull to Zeebrugge another option saving a lot of miles.

[chris-red]

[UrbanRacer]

as much as i hate this country i need to come back home so thats 488miles each way. 976miles all in, its a big part of the trip i was just hoping to find a way to avoid it.

As for the ferry its coming in at £295 each, a bit steep i'm sure you'll agree.
I did think about hiring a van and doing a one way rental down but again hidden costs knock that up a fair bit.

looks like we'll just need to grit our teeth and just pound down the mway, hopefully my license will still be intact by the time we get home again.

thanks for all the input guys, its much appreciated.

ps, we'll be using sports touring tyres like Pilot Road 2 or Roadsmarts

[Fawbish]

Me and my mate just booked ferries from Dover to Calais, £32 return each...Over a period of two weeks in June.

*shrugs*


We booked ferry for 5am and are travelling down overnight

Mind you, you say you have to do it in a day, so I suppose that means work commitments etc?
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[UrbanRacer]

[Fawbish]

Fair enough man.

Steep prices, but at least you'll be well rested for the hoik through france, whereas we will be knackered
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[t121anf]

isn't the tunnel at night silly cheap? try that.