Trip wild camping round europe - 2/3months - advice needed

[jrbrown]

Hi all, I'm buying a bandit 600 and planning on going on a solo trip round europe, france, alps, austria etc etc, I have read endless guides and bought books on what is required and will be doing a lot of homework before leaving.

I plan on wild camping the entire time, stopping into towns now and then to stay in dorms to wash clothes and freshen up and fill up on supplies.

what advice to people have for this method of trip? literally any any all advice welcome.

Namely, what do you do with your bike/your panniers and bags if you want to go for a wander to look at something? your entire life is attached to a bike which and somebody could just take all your clothes and food... what do you do about that? do you need to pack it all in some sort of bag you would lug with you to see a castle, or lake that is outside of eyeshot of your bike? That is the only area where I'm feeling like I'll just have to always be with my bike or bringing my bags with me... do I just have to pack so minimal that I can carry it all with me when I park my bike up?

[Itchy]

[doggone]

Your important valuable stuff wants to be in an easily carried tank bag or rucksack that mostly stays with you.
At most touristy locations it would be unusual for anyone to go over and rummage through panniers even throw over type that don't lock - after all this will mostly be your smelly undercrackers and such.
Obviously think about where you park it, a very prominent location in a busy spot is usually going to be better than down a quiet alley unless you can hide it completely.

It seems easier nowadays than when I used to do it as cameras and phones can be tiny yet very capable, and you will need minimal cash just a couple of credit cards.
You could almost keep your really important bits in pockets now.
It's worth thinking about keeping a few emergency banknotes or whatever rolled up and hidden on the bike in an obscure place, so you aren't completely stuffed if someone robbed you of everything else.

[Al]

I think I'd do similar, take a tank bag that converts into a back pack for valuables that stays with me at all times. Then the rest of the clothes, washbag and camping stuff, go cheap and take as little as possible. Try and make it look as shitty and unappealing as possible. Maybe some of those old army looking panniers rather then some fancy looking new ones. If your tent is a decent brand maybe pack it into a cheap looking tent bag ect.

Hard luggage would be a massive help but I've always just left my panniers on the bike even when exploring cities for the day and have always been ok. Only ever take them off the bike if I stay in a hotel.
Not really sure what you would do with a gas cooker though as you'd need one for wild camping and probably wouldn't want to carry it with you all the time.
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[Ebbs73]

As said above really , we did ten countries last summer , camping stuff, food and clothes on the bike but all my important a in my tank bag that never left me .
I have a 2001 zx6r Jim and they don't make a racking system so I bought a full top box and pannier kit and racks off eBay for a Yamaha , spent a couple of weeks getting it to fit , it cost £200 but made everything secure , just the tenth was tied on top .
I worried about the same things but didn't really go anywhere I needed to .
Pack small , practice packing and find the best way , saves a lot of time .
I took a couple of locks and the long wrapped cable leads to put through my jacket and trouser when we went walk about , also took my cheapest helmet .

Keep us updated .

Chris

[Itchy]

[.....]

[pepperami]

[TheDonUK]

I must have been lucky then, no one fucked with my soft luggage when i was in Russia/Kazakhstan (Did get my leather jacket nicked in Mongolia, but then I left that by the side of the road doing some repairs quite a distance away so was kind of asking for it in retrospect).

OP budget wise you probably need to be realistic about wildcamping opportunities in western europe, definately possible but you really gotta look for those spots.

Also if you make it to southern Austria, consider going a bit further to Croatia/Montenegro (Very pretty coast line and good camping too).
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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]

[A100man]

Did he leave without saying cheerio ?
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[RodYork]

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