Hi guys, thanks for the additional advice!

Tony P - Thaks for the warnings, the autobhan is actually one of my concerns. I'm on a Kawasaki Ninja 250, and the top speed of the bike is 170kph. It can get up to speed fairly quickly and cruise along fine at 130-150kph. I've been on the French autoroute a few times and haven't had any trouble getting up to and staying at 130kph, but it can be a bit boring, so envisage quite a few rest stops on the way. My only other major concern is the seat which after a while feels like a block of wood. I'm planning to get some sort of pad, maybe the airhawk or gel.

Caminando - Thanks for the advice, my plan is to get there in one go, but take my time on the way back to explore some of the little towns and routes, and there's also a nice forest road i've heard of a little out of the way of my route back. In Milan, I may just take a few extra days off work and make it an extended trip, either to visit the Italian countryside in the North, or the alps (not sure if I'm ready for the latter just yet). And I meant no offence to anyone 50 or otherwise. I often tell my friends I can't wait until I'm 50 (I kid you not), but I hope to at least have loads of fun until I get there

Magnon - You're right, I guess I'll have to see when I get there. I'm on my own so it'll be up to me to decide in the end. I'll be looking at a few routes around there for either trip in case I want to do some exploring thanks for the reply.