Northern Europe Trip 2020 Advice/Companions

[E.Zibins]

Hello,

First off this will be my first long distance travel, so I am a bit woried. So far my longest journey has been 700 mile long 2 day trip around UK. Now Im looking to travel from UK to Denmark - Norway/Sweden - Baltic States - Poland - Germany - UK in total around 5000-6000 miles.

I have GSXR1000R which brings limitations - petrol station stops, comfort stops.

So far have only a rough idea about dates (Between May and September for roughly 2-3 weeks).

Need some advice for breakdown covers, how many miles would be reasonable to travel per day and still be able to enjoy local activities, what phone providers are supported in countries above, etc.

Please let me know if Im being far too ambitios and unreasonable ... should I be aiming for something smaller?

If someone is interested in joining the trip - please let me know as strenght lies in numbers

[doggone]

It's easier than you think.
However that is ambitious for a first trip and I would rather have done a shorter distance to (e.g) France or Germany without that preconceived extremely tiring if not exhausting schedule.
It sounds like you will spend a fortune in fuel and barely experience anything.

[ThatDippyTwat]

I've looked at doing a similar loop several times. I don't think you can do that, without rushing it and experiencing/seeing nothing, in under a month.

As said, the Scandinavian states are expensive, for everything.
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'98 VFR800 (touring) - '12 VFR800 Crosrunner (Commuting) - '01 KDX220 (Big Green Antisocial Machine)

[chickenstrip]

Agreed on the above replies. Too ambitious. Why tour? Not just for great biking roads. Sample the local cultures, sit outside a cafe in the mountains and soak up the view, have a day off the bike here and there to explore a town or city...make it a more rounded experience.

Mileages; I find up to 250 miles in one day plenty. You can always pop out for an evening spin from a hotel base after a refresh. Sometimes, that's all you want to do for a day, just pootle about exploring a particularly picturesque or interesting area. I will cover more than that if I'm going between destinations, but give yourself an easy day after.

Going with someone experienced is a good shout - you'll quickly get the hang of things and the confidence operating abroad from them.

My first Euro tour is documented here on BCF; see my sig (the Belgium/France/Italy/Austria 2016 one) - there is a lot of discussion about the how-to side in the first few pages; should highlight for you a few things you should consider and will need to prepare.

Think about the main things you want to see/do, then build your tour around those, rather than just letting your imagination go crazy with a mega-route dreamed up on a map. Once you have the touring bug, you'll go again and again, so you don't need to try to see everything in one go.
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[barrkel]

10 days is at the upper limit of most people's tolerance for day after day of actual touring, if you don't stop somewhere for a few days. 250 miles of non-motorway roads is a fair pace but not too intensive, it's low enough to leave late (11am) in the morning, have lunch somewhere, and arrive somewhere for 6pm or so. Depending on what you like, you can e.g. leave earlier and have a few hours extra in the middle of the day or evening for activities. You may be more tired than you expect in the evening though, riding is deceptively exhausting.

It's not really until you've been on a tour that you know what you like, what pace, what mix of roads, etc. I like sporty touring in a roughly 80:20 proportion; I've been to almost every country in Europe by train and plane, so I'm more interested in scenery and fun wiggly roads. Other people want to stop more often and look at stuff (British people seem to be really attracted to Normandy, Flanders, that kind of thing).

I'd leave the trip itself open-ended. It's OK to have a destination in mind, but take it day to day, book each hotel the evening before or the same morning. If the weather takes a turn for the worse, either ride in the opposite direction or stay somewhere for a day longer - a long tour through rain isn't fun in a sporting way, and a GSXR isn't the right bike (IMO) for mere sightseeing.

I like to factor in 2 days to cross France on the way out and only 1 day on the way back. It takes a bit of time to get habituated to a full day's riding, while it's always easier to ride longer distances when you know home is at the end of the road. The toll motorways in France make sense for eating up the miles. Even better is putting your bike in the back of a van or on a trailer and driving, but that's not quite touring.

European breakdown cover makes sense; repatriating a bike without it isn't cheap. I've had two bikes shipped back from breakdowns; VFR with fried stator wiring and a coolant issue on ER6 (thought it was a gasket failure but turned out it was only a pinhole leak in the radiator).
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Bikes: S1000R, SH350; Exes: Vity 125, PS125, YBR125, ER6f, VFR800, Brutale 920, CB600F, SH300x4
Best road ever ridden: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2MhNxUEYtQ

[Skudd]

Take your Mum with you, that's what my wife's lad did. Went to Poland and took his mum to hold his hand, big wet lump of lard that he is.
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Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[weasley]

If you’re doing 5-6,000 miles you may also need to factor in new tyres en route, depending how you ride and what tyres you start out on. Maybe even a service.
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Yamaha XJ600 | Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat | KTM 990 SMT | BMW F900XR TE