I'm planning a European trip this coming summer. Leaving from Portsmouth mid June traveling a rough route through Northern spain, Pyrenes, Along the south of France cut through the top of Italy over the Alps towards Innsbruck, Munich, Black Forrest then back to blighty.

The trip is planned for a month using mainly campsites and a few B and B treats now and agian. I'm travelling on an 1150 GS with my girlfriend and we plan to return mid July.

As this is my first trip i need some advice- where to stay, what kit to take, what breakdown cover i need, any advice you can give will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks Dan

Places that i found especially good in the region include -
Carcassonne
French Gorges (Tarn and Verdon in paticular)
Millau (the Bridge and access to the Tarn Gorge)
Chamonix (Aguille du Midi cablecar)
Stelvio Pass
Dolomites (outrageous roads/scenery)
Black Forest in general
Mosel Valley and the Nurburgring.

Camping available most everywhere but pricey in Italy.
I found internet cafes to be pretty sparce in general (France in particular), so if you need to be online i'd take some sort of Wi-Fi (lots of availability in Bars/Cafes) device.
Sounds like my kind of trip, enjoy!!

Thanks for that Pottsy, I'll start to research some of them>

Ps I cant wait........

The specifics of where to stay I can't help you with but there are plenty of campsites in the Pyrenees and camping in France is very civilised and campsites are usually easy to find.

Kit: Pack light, especially if you are two-up (let her take more than you). There are loads of lightweight and ultralight weight backpacking websites out there packed with ideas - very useful. You need surprisingly little stuff.

It'll be summer so getting laundry to dry shouldn't be too much of a problem so you shouldn't need too many clothes ( e.g. undies x3: wearing, ready to wear and drying) and there's no point lugging dirty laundry around Europe. Quick dry Zip off trousers (they work as both long and short trousers) and coolmax(RTM) type shirts are good as they dry pretty quickly. Do laundry little and often (e.g. nightly - it takes very little time to do it and it's not too much of a chore). Either take a universal plug (basins often don't have them) or a heavy plastic bag (I use a rubble sack) to act a bowl.

Think about the clothes you will take with you and go for layers for flexibility (in the mountains it may well be quite cold whereas in the valleys it'll be warm or hot). I use thin fleece. Get rid of your jacket liners, especially the thermal one - you can't wear it off the bike and you can replace it with your fleece tops. I also take a breathable outer two-piece rain suit rather than an inner waterproof lining, especially if camping as it keeps the bulk of your bike jacket and trousers dry which is a boon when camping after a rainy ride and you can wear it off the bike e.g. in town. In addition to this when it is cold you have a windproof layer outside your jacket which allows you to get the best insulation out of the jacket itself which means that you need to carry less insulation.

Other kit: Be realistic about your camping gear e.g. I find that a cup of coffee and a bun for breakfast, bread and sausage for lunch and more bread and sausage/cheese, for dinner is fine and it means that I don't need to carry much by the way of cooking gear - just a penny stove and simple pot/mug for coffee (take her out for resatraunt dinners often tho, there's plenty of good ones in France that don't cost too much even with the weak pound).

A small folding rucksack can be really useful e.g. Oxford Handy Sack Foldaway RuckSack | Buy Online | ChainReactionCycles.com for doing tourist things in town or for keeping your shopping in when coming back from the supermarket (e.g. if you pick up shopping before you book in to the campsite you'll have full panniers and bungying full supermarket carrier bags to the bike is a recipie for disaster)

I carry a coil-up push bike lock threaded through the handlebars. Good for helmets and for threading through the arms/legs of your bike gear (take valuables out of the pockets thos) so you can take them off and leave them on the bike before walking up steep slopes to places you may like to visit. Invaluable when hot.

The bike:

Preparation is better than cure. Replace everything that is likely to fail or need replacing on the road. Check and replace all consumables e.g. pads, discs, brake fluids/lines, oil, filters, plugs, TYRES etc if there's any doubt about them lasting the course and do a through service (much easier in your garage, tea in hand than by the side of the road with explanations in italian - your other half won't like it).

Have a look on e.g. UKGSer* ::::* For BMW GS Enthusiasts for problems that are common to your bike and replace anything that is likely to fail (take the old one as a spare if there's a recurring problem - you know it fits 'cos you've just taken it off).

Basic tools should be fine if you have breakdown cover but make sure that what you take fits and does the job that you're taking it for.

The Post Office credit card doesn't charge commission on foreign currency transactions and gives you the wholesale exchange rate which is better than the tourist rate so it should stretch your pound a bit further. Get one account for you and one account for her, two cards for each account, give her your second card (if you trust her) and get her to give you hers. Pre-pay one account with what you estimate your cash needs to be and use that account for making cash withdrawals (if your account is in credit they don't charge a cash advance fee. Post Office don't charge for withdrawals tho the local bank may (quite often they don't tho)). Make purchaces on the other account to save depleting your cash pre-pay.

Enjoy.

J

CHeck out the Bike Club France site too.

There's members all over France, who I'm sure will give you some tips on places to see/stay/eat, you never know you might even get a bed for the night or two.

__________________

Thanks for that, there are some fab tips in that.... Some of them i would nevar have thought of. The bike prep is going well although it seems to be costing me a small fortune. I've got most of the camping kit and have opted for a Teepee still tent, larger than i relly wanted but very useful cos you can stand up in it, there is enough room to park the bike in it!
Thanks again for your top info.
Dan

Hi there,

Check out my website Life Is Joy - Home
You wil find motorbike movies from almost all over Europe.

Enjoy!

__________________
Movies from our motortravels around the world: www.LifeIsJoy.nl

Check out the ADAC motorcycling maps at Online Versions of the UEM-Motorcycling maps The best roads in terms of riding enjoyment and scenery!

You can download these, however I bought a complete paper set over the Internet for about £15 incl p&p.

__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Every McDonalds in France now has WiFi, making that particular GPS waypoint category useful for once.

Mup

__________________
More malformed, irrelevant opinions here.

Ah yes, i'd forgotten about the McD's WiFi - and the toilets are pretty useful to boot.
And how is the trip developing, Westcountrygser?

Lots of good advice above. So I'll just throw in a couple of bits.

Tepee: "Nice to be able to stand up"
If you want to stand up, go outside the tent.
Two-up motorcycle touring allows no room for such heavy, bulky indulgences.

Silk sleeping bag liners can be had for as little as £10 on Ebay. They take up no room at all, are lovely against the skin, and are almost magically effective given their cost/bulk at keeping you at a pleasant temperature.

Summer-weight down sleeping bags are much nicer and less bulky than synthetic. You must keep them dry though.

Linen & silk mix shirts can be washed in sinks and dry much faster than cotton. And are less likely to smell than synthetics. Merino is good too.

The main thing I'd do differently on my next tour would be to take a little brew stove. But I tended to get my head down as soon as it was dark, and rise before dawn. If you keep more normal hours you could probably rely on coffee shops being open.

Your missus is not as tough as you so don't be too ambitious with the daily mileages.

__________________
Seek Truth

15 countries in 40 days. Tanks, crashes, minefields and Kalashnikovs

Hi
Dont forget a washing line... I use the bungee type one, no need for pegs just stretch it between bike and tent and your all set.

I take 2 x riding underwear and socks, wash one and wear one.

I take 2 x evening wear, same princible wash one and wear one. also bought silk undies for the evening.. really quick to dry.

pack a small mesh type laundry bag, if your washings still a bit damp just strap it to your top box and it will dry whilst riding (unless its raining of course).

hopefully this may be of some help

Cheers
Geordie

Realy? That*s pretty cool ;-)

To look for the weather forcase ;-)

__________________
CU

Rainer

of SpitfireTriple: I've even shelved a much more practical tent than a teepee (well my old BMW was more like a removals van than a motorbike . . .). It was too bulky, and too heavy, even when split between two bikes. I'll keep it for multi bike tours though, as it can be the 'social' tent with enough room to sit a half dozen comfortably (well, ok, not comfortably, but 'handily'), shove gear into the spare capacity, or whatever, while lightweight small tents can then sleep the rest.

So I hit on one of the new Vango Zetes 300's, which comes in about right at 4.5kg with solid materials (rather than flimsy expensive lightweights like I've bought in the past, all turning out to be a waste of money unless seriously into backpacking). It's turned out to be a very competent tent, well suited to two up touring, and absolute luxury solo. Downside is not a huge porch (it's a 3 man though so there's space for gear inside plus two), but a huge porch adds far too much weight and bulk, so if something has got to give, that's it. The Vango 'add on' cheap (about 22 quid) porch at 1.3kg (due to no groundsheet, etc) seems a good compromise, but not one I need as yet.

I also heartily second the recommendation on silk stuff too. Outstanding stuff.

After the complete rethink on gear, I've pretty much abandoned the 'just eat out' approach now (though I agree dine out often in the evenings for the benefit of the pillion). From now on, I'm taking most of my basic food with me (dehydrated).

All now centres around a Kelly Kettle. The large one. With the extra cooking set. It all fits neatly into a supplied nylon carry bag and the flue up the middle has enough room to store firelighters and/or other kindling.

Half a newspaper will boil 2.5ltrs in just over 3 minutes.

Ancillary to that, I have a .7ltr stainless steel Thermos food flask, and a 1.2ltr one. So one boil up of the Kelly, will fill both with boiling water (usually easily fill, and leave enough for two coffee's or teas).

Two cups of porridge, a squirt of condensed milk, into the 1.2ltr Thermos, pour in boiling water, seal it up, 10 minutes later, perfect (unless you like water and salt porridge, and it'll do that too), piping hot porridge for two. That's Breakfast out of the way.

Rinse out the flasks with hot water, and pop the Kelly on again, drop a boil in the bag (2 servings) rice into the 1.2ltr (the .7ltr is too small for two servings, which is why I didn't get two of the .7ltr), fill up with boiling water, and seal it up. Or pasta, or whatever.

Drop boil in the bag or 'another whatever' to go with what's in the bigger flask (for me often a premixed dehydrated curry my curry expert pal makes up for me, with some locally procured or a shop bought tin of meat, chorizo, stuff like that), into the .7ltr, and fill up with boiling water and seal up.

It takes longer to describe it than to do it.

Then anytime in the next 12 hours that hunger pangs call, there's two piping hot meals in the tankbag waiting to be eaten (I have tested the Thermos to beyond 12 hours, and no problem - caveat though, there's sometimes a high failure rate with stainless flasks, so check them as soon as you buy them so you can exchange faulty ones while you can still find the receipt).

Soups, and all sorts work really well this way, and you can always call in somewhere for fresh bread and some cheese to have with it.

The heaviest part of this setup, is the contents of the flasks. The Kelly is aluminium, and the stainless flasks aren't exactly much of a penalty. You can also keep stuff cold in them as well, so some ice cold gazpacho could easily be an option for a refreshing meal to look forward to at the end of the day.

Another very significant benefit, is how do you sterilise water by boiling it for long enough, without boiling it all away?

Get the flask liners up to temperature, fill with boiling water, seal them up, and you can leave them boiling for half the day or longer, with no water loss.

That might easily be a lifesaver. Given that the Kelly is aluminium, would it hurt to drill the cork, and have a condensing tube to fit it, so you could use the Kelly as a still?

Something else I'm very taken with by Vango, is their ultralight self inflating sleeping mat. It'll be interesting to see how durable that is.

A cheap alternative, and/or supplement, is a pretty warm waterproof picnic rug from Tesco's, which is only slightly bulkier, and is lighter, than an ultralight self inflating mat. I got one when on offer for 4 quid instead of 6 quid. That'll live in the tank bag to aid waterproofing, and will be handy, to pull out at services somewhere out of the way, and even roll up into alongside the bike for an 'extended refreshing snooze'. . . . . .

Which might well save a bomb on campsite fees when solo.

eta: PS I do seem to ribbit on a bit, sorry about that.

The above was big enough so I'll post this separately.

One of my favourites with the flasks is this:
Soak beans overnight in one of the flasks (butterbeans, haricot, etc) - leave plenty of room for them to expand though! What would be about 20% of the .7ltr maximum, I soak in the 1.2ltr, then top up to about half full with water. Boil them up in the pan that's in the Kelly set, in a gazpacho type sauce/soup or cook in sauce, with slices of chorizo, then put them boiling into one of the flasks.

Pasta or rice then into the other one.

It really works well.