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| Benno |
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Benno
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 Posted: 20:36 - 19 Jul 2013  Post subject: Things to know for a Europe trip |
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I've decided to go on a trip into the wilds of Europe on my bike, into France, Germany, Austria, Italy, maybe Spain...and beyond, perhaps.
I was wondering if anyone can tell me some vital things I will need to do/prepare before going?
I have a couple of questions:
- My V5 is currently with the DVLA for an address change, do I need to carry it?
- I have heard that all insurance policies cover trips into the EU for up to 90 days, is this so?
- I hear France has some strange driving laws, do I need to carry a breathalyser and other strange equipment when in France?
- Is filtering with a big topbox a big no-no? 
- Anything else I should know or do?
Massive thanks for any help 
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| J.M. |
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J.M.
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Posted: 21:02 - 19 Jul 2013  Post subject: Re: Things to know for a Europe trip |
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| Benno wrote: | - My V5 is currently with the DVLA for an address change, do I need to carry it? |
Yes.
| Quote: | - I have heard that all insurance policies cover trips into the EU for up to 90 days, is this so? |
Should do, but do check. They like it if you notify it them that you're going too.
| Quote: | - I hear France has some strange driving laws, do I need to carry a breathalyser and other strange equipment when in France? |
Think they scrapped that, but you will need helmet stickers.
We ended up in France by accident with none of this crap (not even GB stickers) and had no bother. But then we only passed 1 copper and on the roads we were riding, there's not a hope in hell his car could have kept up even if he wanted to.
| Quote: | - Is filtering with a big topbox a big no-no? |
Well... if you have to ask... 
I didn't like filtering with my panniers as I wasn't comfortable with knowing the width of my vehicle. With no panniers I know that if the bars can get through, the bike will follow. Although in a foreign country I found myself not really filtering. I didn't know the area well enough to do it safely; not with the scooters wizzing through traffic at a suicidal speed.
| Quote: | - Anything else I should know or do? |
Take tools. Learn basic phrases. Being able to ask the price of a room or where the toilet is comes in handy.
Be prepared for rain and bad weather. We ended up caught in a huge thunderstorm in the middle of summer.
If you're going alone, try and let someone know at least your rough location or planned route encase something should happen (e.g. you accidentally drive off the edge of a mountain and be stranded for a while). Have a phone which works in Europe (and 1 or 2 ways of charging it).
Learn your bike and how to fix anything that goes wrong.
Remember some easy to forget but quite useful items, like swimming shorts, engine oil, chain lube, etc.
Don't load your storage too much. When you're out there you'll inevitably end up with things you want to carry. If your storage is full, you wont be able to. One of the most notable items is water; you'll get through lots. Another is food. Say you want to camp one night... it's far nicer to have some breakfast when you wake than drive for an hour or two to find somewhere that sells the food you like.
Contemplate how your arse will feel. Mega mileage is difficult when your but-cheeks become bruised. So consider getting a gel or padded seat.
Ear plugs. They're bloody brilliant and your ears will love you for it after a long day riding.
There's probably more I've missed but I've written a tonne already...
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| BTTD |
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BTTD
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Posted: 21:03 - 19 Jul 2013  Post subject: |
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https://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/driving-abroad-whats-new-2012.html
The AA actually still do good info on this sort of stuff.
I say still, because they used to be a brilliant organisation in general, but then they went public - bought out by Centrica - bought out by venture capitalists - relisted again, and somewhere along that road things changed. Their breakdown cover is often a total rip off.
Anyway, rant over - read that page and download the pdf.
Last edited by BTTD on 21:09 - 19 Jul 2013; edited 2 times in total |
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| Wonko The Sane |
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Wonko The Sane
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| henry hoover |
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henry hoover
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| Posted: 21:05 - 19 Jul 2013 Post subject: |
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It's like being in a foreign country 
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| -Matt- |
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-Matt-
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| Posted: 21:14 - 19 Jul 2013 Post subject: |
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I personally carry most of my documents [copies at least] with me in a plastic wallet - better safe than sorry.
France particularly has a lot of traffic laws, breathalyser i'm not sure if its required or not but helmet stickers and high vis [and in car warning triangles etc if i remember] etc apply.
Main thing really and regards to that - research.
Check in depth on a country-by-country basis about their traffic laws [you may find the touring sub forum helpful probably lot more experienced euro-travelers in there].
Take a phrase book for each country you intend to travel through - get signed up down your local libary and take some out, at worst if its a long trip you'll get a small late fee for each but its priceless to have in paper on you, don't rely on smart phones and electronic gizmos without a backup.
Be careful about speed limits also baring in mind most are not in MPH or you'll be getting tickets coming out your ass.
Also generally just be aware of road markings/rule differences, even if you feel youve managed to research well there may be small obscurities which can lead to dodgy situations if you don't realise how the traffic around you is used to acting vs how it would on the same road back home.
I'd also route plan - at least roughly, obviously youre likely to go off the route a bit at various times and miscalculate a fair bit, but you don't want to go with the intentions of it being a 10 day trip and then find yourself in italy without fuel money or the will to live 15 days later
Oh and of course... Spare pants and socks 
Edit - also forgot to mention take adequate security as you have no idea sometimes where you will be stopping, and some parts of the route may not be the most desirable to leave a nice shiny foreign bike outside of for the night. |
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| J.M. |
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J.M.
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| TheDonUK |
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TheDonUK
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Posted: 21:35 - 19 Jul 2013  Post subject: |
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Ear Plugs.
Chain Lube.
Credit Card.
Debit Card / Cash.
Waterproof 1-2 piece kit.
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[Current Bikes - GSXR-750 K5 & C90-97 ] [Previous Bikes: Runner 125, YBR 125, GS500, Bandit 600, Hornet 600, ZX6R-99, C90-99, R1-99, XT600E-04, GSXR-750 K4, CRF250L '16] |
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| -Matt- |
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-Matt-
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| Posted: 21:39 - 19 Jul 2013 Post subject: |
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| Skudd |
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Skudd
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BTTD
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| Robby |
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Robby
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| -Matt- |
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-Matt-
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| Posted: 22:20 - 19 Jul 2013 Post subject: |
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| Robby wrote: | Ever done anything like before? If not, separate dream from reality. If you don't want to ride 500 miles a day, don't try to see all of Europe in one holiday.
Have a couple of weeks, concentrate on seeing two bits of one country in that time. Otherwise you'll spend ages on European motorways, none of it actually seeing the country. |
Thats a very good point, besides being on the other side of the road - most of the time you could be back in the UK, a fields a field at the end of the day excluding coastal/mountain areas being a bit special of course.
I'd factor in some places you want to visit as part of the plan, as like robby says 500 miles a day [or more ] day after day is horribly tiring and near unbearable on some bikes.
I was doing 300-400 a day some days on my ZX6 [stupid bike for touring i know but had to be done ] and it was a cunt on the wrists and knees.
If you're interested in italy i'd think of scrapping spain and port etc and just focus on france, germany, italy.
I did a trip over to nurburgring. Via luxemburg [waste of time really ], then went down to Munich for a day around the city and visited Dachau concerntration camp. Then traveled on down through Austria to Vienna. But could of easly thrown in a fair bit of Italy given a few more days. |
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| Clutchy |
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Clutchy
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| Posted: 23:57 - 19 Jul 2013 Post subject: |
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Always keep £20 up your arse, you don't know what its like out there maaaaaan.
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| barrkel |
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barrkel
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| Posted: 00:40 - 20 Jul 2013 Post subject: Re: Things to know for a Europe trip |
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| Quote: | - Is filtering with a big topbox a big no-no? |
I have a Givi Maxia E55 on my VFR - the biggest top-box Givi sells. It makes small bikes look like the Enterprise. I have zero hesitation filtering with it on. The bike mirrors are the things that stick out most, and the top-box is higher up than most car mirrors.
A big top-box is more of a problem for speeds in excess of 120mph.
I've filtered on the Périphérique (almost mandatory if you want to get anywhere), in traffic jams, and a little bit in towns, but nowhere near what I do in London. The traffic culture is different everywhere, and you need to tune into it before you can take liberties.
| J.M. wrote: | Be prepared for rain and bad weather. We ended up caught in a huge thunderstorm in the middle of summer. |
Most continental tours go through a summer thunderstorm at some point, though if you have a flexible schedule / itinerary, you can look at the forecast and avoid the worst of them. I took my goretex gear I normally wear in winter with me to Spain this year because of experience of prior downpours - including one on the autobahn that slowed all traffic to 25mph owing to visibility no greater than 10 metres. But I also took my highly vented touring kit. Hence the top-box.
| Quote: | Remember some easy to forget but quite useful items, like swimming shorts, engine oil, chain lube, etc. |
All these things are trivially bought locally, FWIW. Supermarkets in Spain sell chain lube; many non-automated petrol stations sell motorcycle-specific engine oil, those that don't do sell car oil. Only had to visit 2 before I found bike oil to top up my GF's ER6.
| Quote: | Don't load your storage too much. |
Fully agree with this. You do not need to bring anything with you that you can buy when you need it, so if it's not essential or is a consumable of some sort, you needn't bother. Anything that you can buy in the UK without needing to order away specially can be bought on the continent almost as easily - you just need to figure out what kind of shop to look for. Exceptions might be things like UK plug to Euro adapters (but not the reverse, obviously).
I generally bring docs, spare headlight bulbs, scottoil, a puncture repair kit, nexus 7, a multi-port USB charger + USB cables, a small extension bar with UK/Europlug gender bender, some clothes and a regular pair of shoes, in addition to vented gear and full body waterproofing of some kind. Depending on the type of trip, I may bring my laptop to make trip planning and hotel booking easier. For everything else, I have credit / debit cards and RAC euro cover.
Don't plan to travel more than 300 miles a day unless you're trying to cover distance via motorway. And 300 miles a day ends up a fair bit; figure your tiredness level after 300 miles is like a day at work, and including loading, lunch and unloading, will take about as long too. Figure 5 minutes minimum for every time you stop for photos. I took photos the first time I went to Spain, didn't bother the second time, didn't want to waste the time. Also had helmet camera on though.
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| J.M. |
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J.M.
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| Posted: 01:03 - 20 Jul 2013 Post subject: Re: Things to know for a Europe trip |
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| barrkel wrote: | All these things are trivially bought locally, FWIW. Supermarkets in Spain sell chain lube; many non-automated petrol stations sell motorcycle-specific engine oil, those that don't do sell car oil. Only had to visit 2 before I found bike oil to top up my GF's ER6. |
Yep, just eats in to your budget a bit and you have to find the storage space for it all. So if you want to do that, I think it's pretty important to add it to your budget. That said, generally things seemed to be cheaper over there once you factor in the exchange rate (and sometimes even before). I found the engine oil in most garages to be overpriced. I found some reasonably priced in the end though; about €5-6 rather than €11-12 for 1L.
| barrkel wrote: | Anything that you can buy in the UK without needing to order away specially can be bought on the continent almost as easily |
Especially bike stuff! Me and Iain went in to a bike shop over the pond and were amazed by what was in there. It was a big independent store with so much stuff on the shelf. So much. Including sprockets, levers, rear-sets, chains, jackets, gloves, etc. All decently priced too.
| barrkel wrote: | Don't plan to travel more than 300 miles a day unless you're trying to cover distance via motorway. And 300 miles a day ends up a fair bit; figure your tiredness level after 300 miles is like a day at work, and including loading, lunch and unloading, will take about as long too. |
Agree with this.
Looking back at my Diablo Superbiker for a couple of the roads we did. With all the tight corners and photo/fuel/map stops, a short distance of 60-100km was averaging out at around 30mph (even with highs reaching in to triple figures!)
We cracked out around 400km in one day on motorways and it was stupidly tiring. For comfort I'd want to be cracking out no more than 200 miles in a day. That gives you the chance to rest your arse and explore your destination rather than just ride. It's a holiday after all!
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| gorillaonabik... |
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gorillaonabik...
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Posted: 07:35 - 20 Jul 2013  Post subject: Re: Things to know for a Europe trip |
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| Benno wrote: | I hear France has some strange driving laws, do I need to carry a breathalyser and other strange equipment when in France?
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I ride through France all the time, lived in France for a few years and will go again in August. I don't even think of it as touring.
If you want to carry a life-size model of the Eiffel tower, a string of onions around your neck, a load of camembert, flashing Xmas tree lights, stickers stating you are not French and then sit a snail-juggling, Gitanes-smoking, claret-drinking, Edith Piaf singing frog to put on your back seat, go ahead. However, this is not what the French carry.
When travelling through France, I carry what the French carry. A spare bulb for my headlight, a toolkit plus some lube in case I meet an accomodating French girl. Also, I have my passport and driving license. This is typically what a French biker would carry (carte d'itentite replacing passport) and that's about it. Naturally I speak French fluently and have exchanged niceties with the local fuzz on a couple of occasions who choose to overlook the fact that I am not wearing whatever stupid mandatory beret law they have in place at the time.
If I were concerned about being caught seriously exceeding the speed limit and having my bike seized, I would also carry a V5 and insurance but generally I am a middle-aged f@cker carrying girlfriend and load of cr@p on the back of a muscle bike so keep it to around 100 / 110mph at worst and can hear a gendarme breathing from 1000 yards. A French biker would have access to their paperwork at home so if they had to deal with a, for example, 150mph speeding issue, they could just get it. Otherwise, there is no point stowing additional cr@p.
The French have three types of police. Police Municipale (the local fuzz) who will only stop you if you're speeding or riding something where the wheels are falling off, the gendarmes (carrying the guns) who are more concerned about serious crime but will stop you if you're speeding / wheels falling off and the CRS who are the anti-riot squad / SWAT teams. None of them give a flying froggy f@ck if you do not have GB sticker on your helmet as long as you are not speeding, riding something visibly falling to pieces, rioting or shooting someone. Only the most pedantic French porker will care about the smaller details and even then, you would have to be winding them up like a complete w@nker for them to do a headlight bulb search.
I have never heard of any of my French friends having any hassle for the multitude of potentially minor infractions that are so frequently cited on this forum. In addition, I have never heard of anyone else of any other nationality having this issue even when they have had their bike impounded for a serious exces de vitesse.
The French porkers have a different attitude to enforcing the law over there. Over here, if you give a copper a power, they will generally abuse it as much as possible until the law is revoked. In France, if the rozzers think the law is stupid, they will pretty much ignore it unless they meet a complete tosser in which case they will dig up every archaic part of the Napoleonic code to throw at them up and including laws designed for horses towing gun carriages in the 19th Century.
Just follow common sense and you'll be fine. If it's necessary, then take it. If it isn't then leave it at home unless you particularly enjoy lugging a marble, life-sized statue of Charles de Gaulle around with you.
* Rant over *
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Last edited by gorillaonabike on 12:32 - 20 Jul 2013; edited 1 time in total |
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| Enduro Numpty |
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| Posted: 09:15 - 20 Jul 2013 Post subject: |
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Agree with above.
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| Benno |
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Benno
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| Posted: 09:23 - 20 Jul 2013 Post subject: |
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Great stuff, thanks chaps. Off to buy a topbox now. 
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| stevo as b4 |
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stevo as b4
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| Posted: 12:47 - 20 Jul 2013 Post subject: |
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Agree with Robby etc about not going with the aim of seeing everywhere, and pick a country, region to explore and sight see rather that make the trip about solid riding every day all loaded up with gear, and only stopping for petrol or when you get tired.
I like France for biking, and I'd go there again as the trips I've had were great. I rode down to Rennes and stayed 2nights then to La Rochelle for 6nights where I stayed in a nice b&b near the port.
The first day I travelled from Birmingham to Rennes, crossing from Portsmouth the Cherbourg. Riding distance of about 620miles. It was a long tiring day and even though we arrived well before dark, I could hardly walk due to the aches and pains of 600miles on sportsbike with all my gear strapped on.
When we arrived in La Rochelle, we basically met up with some friends that were staying just the other side of town, and we generally just had days out exploring on the bikes doing 50-150miles, and returning back to our b&b every night.
The Holiday for me was about the places and socialising more than it was about the riding, so in my case I suppose you could say I just used the bike as a taxi and wasn't actually touring at all? But It's still by far the nicest way to get through France and enjoy the brilliant roads on your way to a holiday destination. |
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| deeds |
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deeds
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| Posted: 13:54 - 20 Jul 2013 Post subject: |
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| ScaredyCat |
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Benno
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| -Matt- |
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-Matt-
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Old Thread Alert!
The last post was made 12 years, 189 days ago. Instead of replying here, would creating a new thread be more useful? |
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