Touring

[nick.h]

Just found out from my dad that he wants us to go abroad on the gs500 in a week. At first he thought spain, as a good mate currently lives out there, but now it looks more likely to be france.

This will be this first time (i think) for us both to do anything like this, so any advice would be welcome.

Not sure yet if we are going to be following a route, or just going wherever the roads take us, as we dont have our own luggage, my dad has already asked a mate to borrow a top box/rack and tank bag. i will most likely have a backpack too.

Anywhere do you recommend that we go? roads/places?
Any helpful tips, what we should take (except for the obvious)?

I remember seeing a site about motorbike touring once anyone remember it?

Cheers, Nick
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[Italjet MM5A] ll [Rieju RS1 Evolution] ll [Suzuki GS500e] ll [Suzuki GSX600F] ll [Honda CG125] ll [Pug Elyseo 125] ll [Yamaha YZF750R] ll [Yamaha Thunderace] ll [Yamaha R6] ll [Triumph 955i] ll [Hayabusa RZK3] ll [Suzuki RGV250] ll

[stinkwheel]

Tie something flappy and annoying round your right wrist/handlebar to remind you to ride on that side of the road.

Oh, and French people drive cars like Kamikaze fly aeroplanes (count the dents in some of the cars when you get over there!).
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[musclebiker]

switzerland through the alpine passes is a MUST

[musclebiker]

[Jack_Cheese]

Keep your documents and cash in ur toasties, you're gonna notice if it goes missing from next to your manhood
Plan for every little contingency, if you ever think "nah, don't think i'll need that" it'll be the first damn thing you need in an emergency.
Fold a towel and shove it down the back of your pants, help pad things out and add a bit of comfort.
Slacken your straps on your back pack so it just rests on your top box without coming off your shoulders, helps prevent the pain setting in.
Make sure you get drunk, and have a blast of a time, and if you can get access to a computer over there, give us a little insight into your trip

Jack
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www.bikepics.com/members/jackcheese <--- NOW FOR SALE! 51 Plate Cagiva Planet 125
Quacker_boy: "Jack, you really are a dick!"

[Nath]

If you don't have much storage space then take as little as possible: Minimal clothing, waterproofs, some tools, an alarm clock, maps, and your wallet. Make sure you inform both your bank and your insurance company. Get several photocopys of all your documents. If you don't already ride with earplugs in, you will want to do so for this trip(or at least your dad will, since you're out of the windblast a bit).

The GS500 is about the most common bike there is in both France and Spain, but one with a GB number plate should earn you some looks


The French roads are shite and I find the suggestion that they be the main draw of your trip laughable. The Pyranees are great, and I'm sure the Alps would be as well. Spain is full of fantastic mountainous roads. If you want to ride around Spain, the ferry direct to Santander probably works out the same price as riding down through France when you factor in petrol/accomodation/food. I can perhaps reccommend some roads in Spain if you decide that's where you're going - Read the writeup linked in my sig for an idea of what it's like.
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Hard livin', hard luck.

[McGee]

Hey nath,

can you recomend any decent top boxs my mate want one for his bandit im no expert ???
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◙◙► K6 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 1000 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► 96 RF600r ◄◙◙
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Its pronounced Jixxer!

[Jack_Cheese]

Givi are probably the most popular, and seem to be decent quality. Not too clued up on the alternatives tho...

Jack
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www.bikepics.com/members/jackcheese <--- NOW FOR SALE! 51 Plate Cagiva Planet 125
Quacker_boy: "Jack, you really are a dick!"

[McGee]

Well he wants it cause he works 40+ miles from home and his back is bothering him from wearing a back pack full of his uniform and crap. How much wieght can they take.
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◙◙► K6 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 1000 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► 96 RF600r ◄◙◙
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Its pronounced Jixxer!

[philb]

luggage =go for givi they are very good quality and 100% waterproof (p.s. i have top box and panniers for sale )

if your doing France beware of running out of petrol, lots of petrol stations are closed on a weekend 24 hour ones are pay by credit card (french only)

overnight stay = try formula one hotels (www.hotelformule1.com) ... cheap and very clean about £18 per night for a room that will sleep 3


we did the French Alps, staying at a place called Bourg st Maurice near mt Blanc, from there we had 7 different mountain passes to do...Fantastic....

the French drivers seem to show more respect to motorcyclists than their British counterparts and you'll find most of them will make room for you to pass....

where ever you decide to go take it easy and enjoy yourselves and take in some wonderful sites, you'll love it

[ts50x0]

french drivers are ace, they all pull over so you can overtake, really freindly, andf they are crazy, lol, so do be carefull, but its great over there, btw wen i went to france this summer on my cb i found that the n21 dowen the south was amazing and hgood for a smaller bike.

[Knowlsey]

[Knowlsey]

[Johnny GSX-R]

There's no way i'd ride with a topbox as opposed to throw over panniers....... Never ever ever!

With weight after ther rear spindle and so high up its gonna make the bars shake and feel twitchy. The Blackbird was a twat to ride with a full topbox, since sold it.. Panniers / tankbag are the only way to go, keep the weight low and more central, especially on a small bike such as the GS.
Enjoy the trip... ( i have some panniers if you wanna borrow them)

[Johnny GSX-R]

Formula 1 hotel chain is very cheap as are a majority of out of town hotels.

Take a phrase book and at least attempt to learn the lingo, if you try they will assist you. Make sure you have new tyres or at least very good condition as the weight of 2 up with luggage on skinny tyres will wreck them quite soon.

Get an 'ORANGE' sim for your phone as they have the best coverage for the continent just incase of emergency.

[Black Knight]

[mistergixer]

It depends on what you want out of a tour, personally i would rather cover shorter distances on fun roads than sit on the Autoroute and rack up the miles.
A year ago a few of us went over to Brittany, we covered about 200 - 250 miles per day, but hardly ever went on dual carriageway, and never went on the autoroute.
I love france, they are extremely hospitable to bikers: at one place we stopped for the night, the owners let us put our bikes away in their own garage(no parking for cars!), took all our wet clothes and gear and dried it all off for us.
What really highlighted the differences between English and French views on biking was the port customs blokes. In England leaving it was: gloves off to get passport out of tankbag, lid off so they could see your face, passport away, lid back on, gloves on, and off to the ferry.
On the French side i started to take my gloves off to get my passport out, the french official stopped me, he undid my bag took the passport out and looked at it, asked me to pull my lid down a bit so he could see my face, put my passport back in my bag, zipped it all up and motioned me to go.
I thanked him for doing what he had, he gave a perfect gallic shrug and replied 'J'ai un Moto aussi' - I have a bike too.
Marvellous, jumpers for goalposts stuff!
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Space Monkey #7
Don Eladio is dead. His capos are dead. You have no one left to fight for. Fill your pockets and leave in peace. Or fight me and die!
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[feef]

[Nath]

I never managed to find an 'automate' petrol station that took my card But there are staffed late opening petrol stations, and the ones on the autoroutes all are.

There is deffinately a different attitude to biking on the continent, probably because there are more bikers and there isn't such a bias towards sports bikes. However re: Passport checks, I think it was you who made it difficult and not the British officials. I rode in and out of both Calias and Dover ports with my helmet on my arm and no-one said anything


My attitude to touring would be to ride hard for a full day to get along way from home, and then take it easy doing shorter distances on smaller roads. The only effective way to cover distance is to take to the bigger roads in my experience.
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Hard livin', hard luck.

[McGee]

America gas pump's = lazy. They acctually work when it comes to credit card. Choose how many gallons/ amout in cash then put in and use this speical clip on the nozzle and it pumps its self and turns off when reached your choosen amount or is full
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◙◙► K6 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 1000 ◄◙◙◙◙► K5 GSXR 600 ◄◙◙◙◙► 96 RF600r ◄◙◙
◄◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙►◄◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙►◄◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙◙►
Its pronounced Jixxer!

[Jack_Cheese]

[stinkwheel]

[McGee]

[Jack_Cheese]

[M1ke]