Trip to Monaco (Planning)

[Raf]

So i’ve been thinking about my summer holiday for the past few weeks and due to my financial situation the original plan to go to Thailand was just not possible.

Since i recently passed my licence, the cheaper fuel prices in France and the fact my insurance covers driving in the EU i’ve been thinking of instead driving down to Monaco through France.

My plan is to take the ferry from Plymouth to Roscoff, and on arrival driving through “Rennes” and “Nantes” which are two lovely French cities i’ve always wanted to see but most likely would not be staying at due to accommodation prices.

Im planning to take an indirect route to Monaco driving down the west coast of France and camping along the way “rough” when i can to save money.

I would be stopping no more then for 1-2 days at various destinations depending on price, weather and obviously how nice the place generally is. I would like to also pass “La Palmyre” next to “Ryan” a small town in the mid west of France where i was born which has great fishing and a fantastic surfer town feel to it and staying a few days there.

I would then drive a hundred miles south from La Palmyre to Bordeaux where my cousin is currently working.

I then hope to gradually head south down to Monaco, passing through Marseille if possible. This part of the trip i am unsure about since i have never been so south of France before so it will be quite an adventure.

The objective of this trip is not to GET to Monaco but to explore France for myself, feel adventurous and conduct my first trip on my first proper bike!

Since i don’t know anyone else with a bike and my Gf refuses to get on the back, anyone else who is planning a cheap trip or who would like to join would be more then welcome too. Travelling with someone else is always more fun. I have already offered Steve-D to come but i know he is always tied up with work so it will most likely be not possible.

I have fully serviced the bike and currently in the process of buying all the camping equipment and other essentials i need for the trip.
I am hoping to travel as light as possible and buy non essentials along the way if need be. Food/Alcohol/Cloaths are always dirt cheap in France anyway so would be bought as travelling.

I know this is a rough plan but i still have much to do in the UK before leaving. I will be coming up with a more detailed plan as soon as time allows me to.

-Rafa
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CBR1100xx - BMW K1100 - BMW K100 - Triumph Sprint ST 955i - Suzuki GSX-R 600 - Suzuki DR 350 - Yamaha XV 750 - Honda CBR 600 FM - Yamaha XT 600 - Yamaha Rs 200 - Honda NSR 125

[Steve-D]

Will check and find out my holidays from work and let you know, if you can do it on any of them and I have the money then I'd be up for it.
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www.southwestbikers.com
Tristan The said 'Dunno what my pace will be like, fastish slow puncture on the rear and if I go too fast I risk my 'keys' falling out'

[dodger]

To be fair the west coast of France is pretty sh*t.

I went that route last year as I couldn't get space on the Santander ferry so had to ride down instead. With hindsight personally I'd try and blast down to Pau [as in 1 long days riding]. Stay around there for a few days honing around the Pyrenees before heading to Monaco etc. It'd be a much better biking holiday that way...
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My Bikes: Piaggio NRG| Aprilia RS 125| Suzuki GSX-R 600|Yamaha Fazer Ducati 848
Europe 2008

[c-m]

I'm leaving next week for Monaco should be fun. Anyone seen any guides or anything for monaco, cannes and Saint-Tropez?

[instigator]

Exactly what I did last year but go into the Pyrenees. Also, take a GPS and just look for the craziest windy road you can find. Thikn I took the N260 last year, superb fun.

[Raf]

I have been to the west coast allot and always had a great time. I guess it depends what your looking to get out of it.

I have a Navman GPS which i need to hook up to the batt since the battery only lasts a few hours which is all i have needed for the short rides i've used it on. What i need is one of those cigarette socket attachments that you hook up to the bikes battery which then allows you to power devices. Anyone know what they are called? If i can get one cheap on ebay it might be worth a buy.
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CBR1100xx - BMW K1100 - BMW K100 - Triumph Sprint ST 955i - Suzuki GSX-R 600 - Suzuki DR 350 - Yamaha XV 750 - Honda CBR 600 FM - Yamaha XT 600 - Yamaha Rs 200 - Honda NSR 125

[instigator]

[Phoenix]

Maplin sell them cheaper than heine gericke, or caravan stores sell them too, just make sure you fuse it and use the right guage wire.

[Raf]

Sounds good. Il have a look today thanks
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CBR1100xx - BMW K1100 - BMW K100 - Triumph Sprint ST 955i - Suzuki GSX-R 600 - Suzuki DR 350 - Yamaha XV 750 - Honda CBR 600 FM - Yamaha XT 600 - Yamaha Rs 200 - Honda NSR 125

[MaybeGuy]

mine was £5 from ebay. 12v socket motorcycle or something if you search for it.

then i forgot to take it off the GSXR when i sold it, otherwise you could have had it.
damn the guy who bought it got such a good deal because of that
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[Raf]

[Raf]

I've now decided to change my route slightly. Since i have realised i have over a month to burn i have decided to instead tour spain aswell as some of france. I will be following the coastline around spain and through portugal and back up through France. Hopefully the extra distance covered would be redeemed by the cheaper fuel and campsites of spain.

https://img269.imageshack.us/img269/7048/route.png

After a few weeks looking for deals on ebay, argos, blacks, poundland and wilkinson. I have finally purchased all of my basic camping equipment and now just need to find a way of securing it to the bike..

So i've been looking around for a set of panniers. I've looked at pretty much every brand of fabric panniers i could find. My main concern with fabric panniers is their strength. They seem to sag allot when loaded and seem quite flimsy. The only panniers i have found to have a good solid construction are the Oxfoard sports panniers which unfortunately retail at £100-£120 which seems like a pretty hefty price for what is essentially two bags stuck together. Also the fact that a separate cover is needed for waterproofing seems completely retarded. So this brings me onto my second option being solid case type panniers. So, their stronger, waterproof, larger storage capacities, look better and you can strap additional luggage ontop.

So i spend a day driving to various stores and looking online for panniers to fit my 1991 cbr 600. The racks needed to secure the panniers to the bike are normally unique to that model and impossible to find for the cbr. I did manage to find some on ebay for a fireblade but with a buy it now price of £300 which was far beyond my budget.

So one random night out i got into a discussion with a friend who builds furniture for a living about my pannier issue. We discussed some options of how we could instead build some. Professional bodging i think he referred to it as. Anyway i went to all sorts of places looking for two strong boxes in the right shape to fit the cbr, Not to wide and not to deep so that they don't burn on the exhaust. I found some perfect looking ammo boxes in an army surplus store but i was to concerned about their weight since they must have weighed 5-6kg each! I finally managed to find two 20 litre plastic storage boxes in staples for £9 each. They were light and large enough to store most of my camping equipment with the benefit of also being waterproof

Only downside was the fact they were completely transparent. Now being painted and varnished. We have been looking at ways of securely attaching them to the bike. My first plan of bolting them to the rear rail failed as we discovered that they would need to be lowered considerabley forcing contact with the exhaust. Another major problem was the curvature of the fairing. The curved rear fairing means that the square boxes always role around and never make solid contact with the side of the bike making them very unstable. After a few hours of crappy ideas we decided the easiest and most secure way to hold them in place would be to instead bolt them together instead of fixing them to the bike itself. We decided that strong wood such as oak would be sufficiency strong to hold them together.

https://img196.imageshack.us/img196/1175/panniers.jpg

The wood has now been measured cut and fitted. I was going to use bolts with large washers on the plastic side but decided a stronger option would be to screw into another piece of oak on the other side of the box lid. You may be wondering how this will not come flying off the bike but i have overcome that problem by placing two additional wooden planks through the rear spoiler/pillion bar which seem to hold it quite nicely. Remember there will also be a large bag aswell as additional gear ontop of them. The lids will also be rachet tied to the boxes for additional security if the lid were to pop open.

I still have some final touches to complete. I am wrapping some spare imitation leather/ seat material i used to resurface the seat of my nsr around to wooden support beams to make them blend in a bit more aswell as making them a more comfortable bench

Anyway i will post some pictures of progress soon. As i said before this will either work quite well or be a major disaster. Either way im happy to give it a go.

Oh and did i mention that they also double up as a bench
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CBR1100xx - BMW K1100 - BMW K100 - Triumph Sprint ST 955i - Suzuki GSX-R 600 - Suzuki DR 350 - Yamaha XV 750 - Honda CBR 600 FM - Yamaha XT 600 - Yamaha Rs 200 - Honda NSR 125

[mistergixer]

[Phoenix]

Be interested to see how they work out. Looks like the whole setup is going to weigh an absolute ton, but aslong as you're not exceeding 60kilos it's not really an issue as a pillion weighs at least that so the subframe can take it, just the handling will totally go to pot.

The problem may be instability at high speed, probably a wobble, or maybe strange handling when turning, just make absolutely sure they can't move around at all. Also remember anything close to the exhaust may still melt or deform, it doesn't have to be touching it and i'm not sure what plastic they're made from but some stuff becomes quite soft when hot so direct sunlight could well affect it, especially in spain.

I've done two trips with my Givi T 431 soft panniers now, £70 worth, they're very strong and the zips show no signs that they're likely to fail which is where i'd bet most go first. The waterproof covers are a pain in the arse and useless after 15mins of flapping about at 80mph as the waterproof lining cracks up and the seems eventually burst, but sort out some better covers which wouldnt be hard with some sheet and straps and they're a good option.

[Clanger]

Seeing as you are heading over to Portugal, you may as well pop into the Faro bike rally...it would seem a shame not to!!! It's right near the airport by all accounts...though I suspect you will see lots of bikers since it attracts sooo many from all over Europe.
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Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind - Dr. Seuss

[MaybeGuy]

[Steve-D]

Bit late now, last time I heard from him 3 days ago, he was 500 miles along the west coast of France. Managed to loose one of his panniers and got a puncture.
Fixed the pannier and got the tyre sorted. He seemed to be enjoying himself anyway.
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www.southwestbikers.com
Tristan The said 'Dunno what my pace will be like, fastish slow puncture on the rear and if I go too fast I risk my 'keys' falling out'

[Phoenix]