It so happens that I have a couple of weeks late June / early July time to do as I please. I am thinking it might be a good idea to take the bike over the channel to France, ride up to the Waterloo monument in Belgium and then head in an easterly direction with nothing other than a vague plan to end up in Prague or at a push Vienna. Outward via France, Belgium, NL and Germany possibly back through Switzerland. This will depend entirely on how I do for time as if I find somewhere interesting I may stay more than overnight. No plans, no targets just follow my nose really. I may get no further then Amsterdam or all the way to Vienna. (?)
I want to travel as light as possible but I have some Buffalo touring panniers, my regular Give top-box, buffalo tail-pack that it fit the "wrong" way around back-to-back with the top-box and my Oxford tank bag. I rather hope to do without the tail pack and just use panniers and tank bag for my stuff and the box for bike related stuff plus wet-weather gear etc. I will stay in Hotels and ride in full CE armoured gear plus propper bike boots.
I shall carry the basic tool kit plus bulbs and fuses and a couple of extra tools but roadside engineering is not my thing I will get roadside assistance, accident and recovery cover from one of the motoring organisations or my regular insurer.
What are the aboslute essentials that I should carry in addition to the small digital camera, mag-lite and swiss army knife that are permanently in the pockets of my biker jacket ? ?
x
My two cents?
If I had a big journey to take on a GS500, these thoughts would come to my mind:
- I'd invest in an AirHawk (http://www.airhawk.co.uk/) over pharmaceuticals -- avoid Monkey Butt rather than deal with it. (Heard the "Anti-Monkey Butt" powder (http://www.antimonkeybutt.com/) does well but just minimizes the effects.) I have a Sheep Skin pad, and it doesn't do enough. (I'm walking like an old bow-legged cowboy after 250 miles.)
- A single or two-piece rain suit is a must have. Getting wet when you've got many miles to go to a destination is no fun.
- A puncture repair kit. I've got the Stop & Go Pocket Tire Plugger (http://www.stopngo.com/plugger.asp). Very compact. Fits under the seat on top of the stock tool kit. Never had a need to use it (knock on head -- closest wooden object).
- Some other tool kit than the stock one. Sadly I have yet to upgrade, but the tools are low quality. Best to trust a better set.
- You'll need some way to unload your camera's memory when full. Since you want to travel light, a Computer is probably not an option. What's the chances of a commercial service to dump the memory disk onto CD-ROM in Europe?
I envy you Cal. A lot of great riding opportunities out where you're headed. :thumb:
I think I can manage to get fired from my job by then...and my passport is still valid. Do you want a riding companion?
Seriously, it sounds like a great trip! We'll expect pics!
A cell phone would seem like a must-have. And a Lonely Planet guide. And a French phrase book, unless you parlez-vous francais.
Quote from: Cal Price on April 08, 2006, 04:11:56 PM
I am thinking it might be a good idea to take the bike over the channel to France, ride up to the Waterloo monument in Belgium and then head in an easterly direction with nothing other than a vague plan to end up in Prague or at a push Vienna. Outward via France, Belgium, NL and Germany possibly back through Switzerland. This will depend entirely on how I do for time as if I find somewhere interesting I may stay more than overnight. No plans, no targets just follow my nose really. I may get no further then Amsterdam or all the way to Vienna.
I am entirely jealous. You have just stated my dream trip, and here I am in Chicago. Man. Best of luck, and please look up the nearest internet cafes to upload pics and give play by play.
ah Cal, sounds great. Kerry would be your go-to man on that as he's done his share of touring and has documented lots of his minimum gear. I'd suggest trying a search, seeing as he's not around much these days.
Pantablo, kerry does know about the plan, I am expecting wise words sometime anytime.
I will take plenty of pics, I have a fair bit of memory available as both by small and large Nikons both use the same card but downloading to a disc is available all over should it become required.
I normally carry one of those aerosol, inflate and repair kits for punctures and a cellpnone, I will investigate a plug kit and aquire a small handpump. My biker gear is waterproof and i will probably give it an extra silicone spray as well. I normally carry waterproof overtrousers in the top-box but will investigate a second skin jacket or one-piece as well. I will not devote too much time and space because if there is dreadful rain I will just hole-up somewhere.
Redshift and TadMC have made a good point, I am not keen on the John Wayne walk. Caffeine, I'm not too worried about the language thing, forty-five minutes out of calais I shall be past french and into Flemish speaking territory once over the belgian border and back into the Francophone areas as I near Bruxells, German will be the most useful language, I hope to muddle through with a bit of truck-driver German aquired over 30 years of working at Dover Docks and the universal Anglo-American assumption that "everybody" speaks English, usually everybody except that guy you really need to communicate with!
I will report on the final choices to take and eventually post pix I'm sure. If this goes well Istanbul becons in a year or so, I've always wanted to do that.
I hope you have a good trip! Spare sparkplugs?
Notebook or journal to keep track of your days events... I'll have to check my packing list from my trip to see if there is anything else I would recommend
Sounds like the makings for a book, or at least a serial of articles on traveling through Europe on a motorcycle. Allow us to travel vicariously with you as you plan and execute this adventure. :thumb:
Roy...