A few touring questions

[quik_d]

I have a few more questions in prep for my trip in May, as follows:

Methods of payment >>>Does europe take maestro, i have mastervcard but would rather use my debit card. Also is it better to take more cash as dont you get charged for using cards?

Travel insurance >>> I need to get some but most of the companies i've looked at don't cover you for motorcycling anyone know of some companies that do?

Petrol >>> The bandit seems to run out of motion lotion at around 120miles, then its onto reserve. Can i assume that i'm not going to go that distance without seeing a petrol station?

Tyres >>> Similar to itchy's question on his thread, I have about 3-4mm of tread in the centre, and plan on doing about 3000 miles. Should that be enough? I'd rather change the tyres after the trip.

Languages >>> I can speak spanish fine, could get by in italy and people speak english in germany, but what about france? I've tried learning some french and can't grasp it at all.

Thanks very much
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LOOK AT DAT M8 WELL LUSH A PARROT INT IT

[EuropeanNC30R...]

Don't know about Maestro. Try to keep a healthy amount of cash on you as you never know when the local tills/cash machines will start not liking your cards, if it happens in rural Spain it can be a pain in the arse, trust me.

The post office does travel insurance that covers you on larger bikes (well it did, check etc), Carol Nash does a bike orientated travel insurance that specifically covers stuff like stuff being nicked from panniers, bit more expensive than the PO though.

120 mile tank range is fine, there's more petrol stations in Spain more often than in the UK, for example. It ain't the third world, but just be careful in rural France on Sundays.

Take phrasebooks, you sound reasonably proficient in language plus you'll always get by anyway. Often in rural areas people are pleased just to meet you.

3mm sounds a bit low to me, but I don't know what tyre you have or how far you are going. Bearing in mind by 1mm a tyre is usually square, fucked or both, doing a big say 3000-4000 mile trip on 2mm of reasonably grippy rubber isn't that realistic.

[stinkwheel]

What he said. The post office insurance is pretty comprehensive.

I've found you can get money out of MOST cash machines in Europe using your card if it has the cirrus logo on it. Not all of them though.
It actually works out cheaper doing it this way. There is usually a charge of £1.50 to make the withdrawal but you get a better exchange rate. I think it worked out best if you take out over £100 at a time.

I've found the French can be remarkably ignorant towards non French speaking visitors. In fact, I've found they can be remarkably ignorant to visitors who speak bad but understandable French too. They also drive like lunatics in town, not paying attention to where they are going and taking both hands off the wheel to wave their arms about at other drivers. You will struggle to find a car more than three years old without dents in it.

[EuropeanNC30R...]

It's a bit annoying when paying for petrol etc by card to find little commission fees have been added to each transaction when you get round to reading the statement at home.

For the most convenience open a Nationwide account, they won't charge you any foreign commission fees on overseas transactions and withdrawals on both current and credit card accounts. (Some cash points, notably in Madrid, will charge their own fee anyway but that's out of a UK bank's control)