UK to Italy - Yamaha YBR 125

[JDB30]

Next year I plan on taking a trip to Italy, Rome from Cheshire, England on a Yamaha YBR 125.

Can anyone give me their opinions and/or advice if you have any. Some of my family members say i'm mad.

Hopefully, the idea is to get to Italy within a week, frequently camping out for the night on our way. Then to stay in Rome for a week, then to return home, again camping frequently on the way back.

So im hoping to complete it in about 3 weeks. So yeh, any advice or tips??

Cheers
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JDB30

[kitty kat]

It is about 1350 miles from Winsford, Cheshire. and will take well over a day, non-stop, to travel the distance and that will be doing about 70 on M6 (excluding any time on ferry).
I personally wouldn't like to take a small bike on the motorway for such long period and if you avoid all motorways you are looking at adding a lot more time onto the journey.
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[pepperami]

If you use the search feature on old threads. there is some good stuff about long distance touring on smaller bikes.

There are a few good boys on here, who have done some impressive stuff on 125`s.

Alexio has done one or two long distance things on his CG.

As Kitty Kat says, keep away from the motorways and main roads and your journey should be a lot lees stressful.
Your on a 125, so weight is goiung to be a major issue.

Go for it , take lots of pictures, come back and give us a BIG write up about it
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

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[neatbik]

Go for it!
It will be an adventure, and that (to me) is what biking is all about.

Make sure the bike is serviced before you leave, and that things like tyres/chain/brake pads etc etc will all last the trip.
Keep an eye on the oil level while you are away, just in case it uses a bit.

And finally, as already said, take lots of pics and do a big write up when you get back.

[kingsknight]

i done over 2000 miles on my XR125 in 6 weeks! Its easy
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TS50 (sold) NS125F (sold) NSR125R-K (write off after 2 crashes) CG125 (nicked) XR125L-3 (Sold )-: ) DR125SM '11 (sold yay) XL125V '12 (In love with this bike) XT600E '04 (fun on the dirt)

[kingsknight]

https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=195825

that was some of my trip
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TS50 (sold) NS125F (sold) NSR125R-K (write off after 2 crashes) CG125 (nicked) XR125L-3 (Sold )-: ) DR125SM '11 (sold yay) XL125V '12 (In love with this bike) XT600E '04 (fun on the dirt)

[Mord]

JDB30 do you have a full driving licence? CBT is not enough to ride 125cc bike abroad.. legally AFAIK. A ride to Italy on Yamaha YBR125 sounds like fun

Oh.. and take your time, don't plan too long daily stints. Actually be flexible

Don't go without a breakdown cover.. No fun if something go wrong abroad - it can cost little fortune and ruin your trip.

[rob_scott92]

Go for it dude, are you going on your own or is there a few of you going?
As previously said, do a wee service before hand and make sure if your bike does burn oil, you know how much and how quickly .
Might be worth trying to get some breakdown cover for over there too, not being pessimistic or anything

Other than that, lots of piccys for the incredibly detailed write up you WILL do when you get back

Rob
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First bike: 1982 Suzuki Gs 125 'The beast MK1' > 1988 Honda Cb 350's' FOR SPORT! (Good ol' oil burner!) > 2001 Suzuki Sv 650 's' Made it out of the 80's! > 1997 Honda Cbr 600f :p

[N cee thirty]

awsome,if you want any riding buddies i might be up for this next year

i live in south cheshire aswell
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'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30 Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

Jewlio Iglesias wrote: I actually did vote BNP once

[JDB30]

Thanks for all your advice guys.

Just cant wait to do it now. Yep, will take in mind to get the bke serviced thoroughly before hand and make sure I have good knowledge myself on how to fix those minor problems.

Will most likely get with the RAC when the time comes as they do pretty good comprehensive cover for the trip period and they come out to the whole of the EU which is handy just in case.

Thanks for the idea of taking it out on a tester first, when it comes to the time, I think ill probably go down to London with everything I would take and practice the whole camping thing, just to make sure that I know I have everything for when I go next year.

Again, thanks for all the tips so far, if anyone has anymore, please post ---- and I will make sure I get all photos up somewhere and I will do a big write up on how it all went.

Speak soon
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JDB30

[Devans]

Sounds like a plan, i'm dipping into Italy in 7 weeks, but mainly staying around the French alps. Taking my VFR and i'll give you credit doing it on a 125CC.

Is 800miles to the Alps from me, an i'm in Cheshire too, the VFR will drink atleast 100quid in fuel, doing it in 8-10 hours.

But with a 125cc you can do it over 2 days an i bet the fuel and a hotel over night is still cheaper

A tank bag an some sort of panniers is a must, i had a rucksack on for the 400miles to Scotland at the start of July and it ruined me, so that's alittle heads up.

You know i actually had more fun on my GT125 than now on the 800cc, thrashing the little 13bhp motor for over a year without any issues, EPIC!

So i'd say doing it on a 125cc is deffinately a top dollar idea bro!

[colin1]

get european breakdown cover
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[Ciar?n]

I just did London To Estoril on a 125 2 Stroke Vespa.

Motorways and backroads and racked up 3200 miles.

Not a single breakdown.

But very hard work.


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22/8/08 A2 Passed! Full License Biatch!
Past: Suzuki CS50, Gilera Ice 50, Gilera Runner 125SP, CBR 600 F2, CBR600 F4i, CBR 600RR5,

[48gelo26]

1 In Italy , the motorways are forbidden for any 125 cc . 150 cc at least .
But , in Italy , we have a lot of other roads ; much better for any bikes .Piemonte , Liguria and Toscana e.g.
2 In my humble opinion , any bike will be fine . Especially yours...
Ciao , Angelo

[GertyX]

Did you do it?

I rode 40 miles on my YBR today and that was far enough but interested to know how far you got!
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Pootling rules!

Yamaha XJ6 - his Yamaha XJ6!

[psychofox]

[GertyX]

As soon as I returned to the post that was the first thing I saw, having totally missed it the first time. Apologies. Still want to hear how it goes, when it does.
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Pootling rules!

Yamaha XJ6 - his Yamaha XJ6!

[SirEdward]

A 125 through Europe. You know, the 125cc is danger-danger-danger on motorways.

But you've got bawls, sir.
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"Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.

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[Ciar?n]

My 125 was fine on the motorways.
Happily plodding along around 50mph, and nobody even got close to killing me.
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22/8/08 A2 Passed! Full License Biatch!
Past: Suzuki CS50, Gilera Ice 50, Gilera Runner 125SP, CBR 600 F2, CBR600 F4i, CBR 600RR5,