New to HU looking for advice
 

Hello everyone!

My name is Alan and I live in the UK. I am planning a trip to Europe end of August and will be gone for around a month. I plan to camp for most, if not all of the journey. I am riding a 2003 R1 and have no set place in mind but will aim for warmer climates. I am hoping I will be able to pack everything I need in a single 65 Litre dry bag that I will be strapping to the pillion seat of my bike. This is my first solo trip but not my first trip to Europe (once in a camper, twice in a car, and twice on a motorbike with my fiancé).
I currently have a compact stove and am looking at getting a compact 2 man tent, compact sleeping pad and compact sleeping bag.

Can anyone here share any tips based on their own experience ? Things I should pack, things to look out for, etc.? I am really hoping to pack lightly as I do not want to be burdened with excessive gear, however, I am open to all opinions and advice.

Thank you very much !

What worked for me best with packing sport bikes was to get cheapy soft panniers (I have a couple of sets, but the best were second hand Oxford Sport ones I got off ebay for a tenner), and then a smaller bag over the top ... the main reason was I found it hard to secure a single large bag to the bike without it wanting to slide off to the side.

Are you planning on using campsites or just finding a place at the side of the road? Some places that isn't a problem, but others where it is (for example here there's no problem camping, but having a fire is a big no-no)

Remember in most of Europe outside of cities the opening times can be esoteric, and almost non-existant on Sundays.

Thanks for the reply, I will definitely look into the panniers you have mentioned. I was planning on using campsites mainly until I got more confident where I would then be open to camping outside of campsites but if I can’t it’s no big deal. That’s good to know about the opening times I definitely wouldn’t want to get caught out on a Sunday haha. Thank you!

Some thoughts, in no particular order...

• Yes, you can tour on anything, but some bikes are better than others. For a one month trip consider getting a cheap upright 650 and selling it afterwards. Or buy my 660 Tenere ;)
• Plenty of nice warm, scenic, historic places to go in the EU, you don't need to go further - at least for a first big solo trip. The Balkans are beautiful, historically fascinating, relatively cheap, and warm
• Your normal road insurance will cover legal minimum within the EU, but get health and breakdown insurance. I recommend Big Cat and Eurobreakdown
• Take credit cards and get a couple of hundred Euros out of an ATM. Virtually everywhere takes cards these days, even in eastern Europe
• If using satnav, set avoidances to toll roads and interstates (motorways), you get much more interesting roads that way
• Comfortable travel distance is 3-400 kms/day, yes you can do more but it'll wear you out and you don't see anything but the road
• Handy guide to wild camping laws round Europe

1: A 65-liter bag is really not as big as you think, once you have to stuff it full of camping gear AND everything else. I have a 30-liter speedbag that gets stuffed full of JUST my very minimal camping gear, that's completely separate from everything else I pack. I recommend you actually lay out all the stuff you need to bring and see how much space it takes up.

2: A large bag on the pillion is not an amazing option tbh, especially on something like an R1 where the pillion seat is high and small. You are putting a lot of weight very high up on the bike, and if it's sideways, it will make for awkward aerodynamics.

For your first trip where you don't necessarily want to invest in much gear, I would recommend getting something like this: https://www.xlmoto.eu/product/xlmoto..._pid-PP-111569 It will separate your camping gear from other things you need, and put a lot of the weight and volume below saddle level at a minimum.

3: Does your bike have a top box? One big concern would be getting off the bike and storing your gear. If you are stopping in a city to have lunch and walk around, where are you putting your helmet and gloves? You can just leave them on the bike, but you would be concerned about thieves or just vandals. I would STRONGLY recommend a locking topbox where you can store your helmet and gloves when off the bike, and would be empty the rest of the time as spare storage for e.g. your food shopping for the evening.

4: As a corollary to the previous point: your soft/non-lockable panniers should not contain anything you would be very sad about losing. You may never encounter any thievery in your entire touring life, but you will still be worried about your iPad in your roll-top pannier, ruining your experience! (A Decathlon tent is not worth worrying about for these purposes.)

5: I assume you have it already, but a charging port and good phone mount for navigation. Also, earplugs! They make an incredible difference in your quality of life on long riding days.

6: A rainsuit. Yes, a full-body one. Yes, even if you have leathers.

BONUS: Reconsider camping to begin with. I spent an entire month riding around Central Europe carrying my camping speedback on the pillion of my VFR800, and never once unpacked it. Good camping sites will be hard to access on an R1, the ones that are easy to access will be full of drunk students and/or families, you can't really wildcamp in Southern Europe so you're paying camping fees, and you might as well pay very slightly more for a cheap room or hostel bed that guarantees to keep you dry, gives you fresh sheets and (better) access to a shower.

EDIT: My sportbike-touring credentials attached. :)

This strongly depends on how much that coverage costs. When Green Wave gave me EU-wide breakdown coverage for a year for 29 euros, I was very happy to buy it. But consider that the only thing it really does is pay for a towtruck to take your bike to the nearest repair shop - and in practice, the cost of coverage may be more than you can negotiate with a local towtruck on the spot.

What do you mean "even"? :) The country with the most archaic attitude to accepting cards in Europe is, by a wide margin, Germany!

That said, I would recommend a Wise or Revolut account and debit card. Free ATM withdrawals within the Eurozone up to a reasonable limit, good exchange rates, and you can top them up from your main account without worrying too much about that particular card getting stolen or cloned.

Hey thanks for the info, really appreciate it. I will look into using luggage like the one you have recommended my reason for trying to stick to just one dry bag is that if I decide to spend some time off the bike at a town for instance then I would only have the one bag to deal with. But I appreciate this may not be a practical option I will definitely layout all the things I need/want to take and see how much space I have (if any). Any tips on what to pack?

No I don’t have a top box but after what you have said I think it would really help if I looked in to getting one so I will see what’s about! I have two piece leathers at the moment but may look into something that is protective but more practical when off the bike.

I have a quad lock (phone mount with usb) fitted on the bike but didn’t think about ear plugs, thank you!

Yes will definitely get a rain suit do you have any recommendations? I have used a Weisse one but the wet still got through after approximately 45mins.

My main reason for wanting to camp is simply to save money plus I really enjoy camping. My experience from camping for a few days when in Germany on a previous trip with my fiancé was very good and at the time the cost difference between that or a hotel was quite significant but I will look into how much hotels etc are now as It would be nice to have the odd night at one.

Thanks again!

Thank you for all that info! There is definitely a few things I didn’t consider and will be now, cheers!

It's rare that someone comes on here and gets told to bring *more* stuff rather than less, but here we are. I've used rental bikes with a single 60 liter bag tied on back, and it's been clumsy but do-able. I haven't done this with camping gear included, because carrying a tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, stove, cookware, additional food and water, and random other items would require a bigger (or second) bag. Whatever you decide, bring a couple of extra straps and/or (my favorite) heavy rubber bungie cords.

The comments interspersed in previous posts are worth careful consideration--for example, you'll need a way to secure your riding jacket, pants, boots, helmet, and gloves while away from the bike. Depending on where you're headed, this might be as simple as a lightweight cable and an unappealing nylon cover. You should at least consider a secure lock for the bike, too. You'll need to carry some food and water, a change of footwear, spare clothes (including waterproofs and warm layers), toiletries, any electronics, probably a few parts and tools (at least a tire kit, something for lubing and adjusting chains, a way of tightening the stuff that otherwise vibrates loose and falls off, etc.), a basic first aid kit....

If the concept of earplugs--pretty basic, IMO-- is new to you, probably it'll be worth consulting any of the endless lists people post all over the internet, because chances are pretty good there's more you're missing. On the other hand lots of people carry absurd amounts, and you're just going for a month during late summer, a pretty friendly season.

Hope that's helpful!

Mark

You havn't said which country you plan to visit , but i would recomend spain, as you can get cheap hostels there for about 40 e .
Try and go after aug as it is peak holiday time there .mid september is good
Try picos and pyrenese . if you camp in spain most are noisy ! and only take what you need > when i go to morocco or other places i take a pair of sandels
2 t shirts and i pair of light trouesrs / underpants and a book !

40€ is cheap now? That should get a nice hotel.

But yeah, Spain is good to visit - we've got the best roads, trails, food, and weather in Europe :)

To add to this, earlier this year I spent 2 months going round southern and eastern Europe and Turkey. Took camping gear but didn't use it once. Not being in the first flush of youth any more, I tend to go for hotels where I can so the tent is just a backup. Wild camping isn't always possible, campsites aren't always available and it's no fun camping in the rain. Away from western/northern Europe hotels are a fair bit cheaper and I always look for cheap hotels (which is fun in its own respect sometimes!)

In the pic you can see my travel setup. Roll bag is camping gear. One pannier is clothes, the other is tools/spares/food/water. I usually use soft panniers (22/32 litres) with frames but this bike just happened to have hard ones so I used them. It's nice not to have to lug a pair of throwovers up to a hotel room along with the camping bag. Finally the top box is for valuables/electronics.

I've started gather stuff for a little trip next week (just Pyrenees, maybe into France a bit, following my nose), and I'll be taking a tiny tent and sleeping bag as a just-in-case but nothing else camping-related.

Sticking with soft panniers though because my goodness the official Royal Enfield hard pannier set weighs loads, and sticks out loads, and doesn't carry much.

Here's a photo from when I moved house with a bike, that's a tail pack strapped to the top of a sports bag - no rack or top box, lol

https://i.imgur.com/jaml6BA.jpg

Hi Mark thanks for your message as with the other messages on here it’s really helpful. Appreciate the info given. Cheers!