Well - going next Saturday, three of us by bike from various parts of the UK.
The GS has been prepped now - new tyre last week, 6k Service on Thursday. The last time I went abroad by bike was in 1981 (as a pillion) so the preparation has been pretty thorough. A number of lengthy UK trips has proved the GS to be everything said about it, fast comfortable, economical and totality capable in all conditions (apart from snow). The bike was loaded yesterday with the luggage I intend to take - Small Touratech tank bag (day bag), a Motarrad soft bag, and BMW Top Box - supplemented by an excellent Knoxx Rucksack. Items have been listed as to where they'll stored for the trip. Just taken 10 minutes to programme the excellent Garmin 2610 SatNav. Anticipation is starting now to kick in. Can't wait.
Edited by Pugugly on 07/06/2008 at 17:01
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Lucky so and so
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Lucky so and so
Could have been a foursome - one of the others is a cop.
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PU....dont forget a small bottle of engine oil for the standard boxer thirst!! Have fun!
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Majorly envious PU, have fun though !
Perhaps you might blog it a bit if you find yourselves near a t'interweb caff or two?
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Engine oil safely stashed !
One of the preparations is setting up a Bluetooth "environment" - phone and iPOD link wirelessly into my lid. Worked like a dream - brilliant.
The SatNav is very clunky compared to a TT but with gloved hands it has simple to use real buttons, I've not ventured to programme it on the fly (so to speak) and won't. But with an excellently designed RAM bracket it is totally head up in use. I've not used the audio but you don't need it. The display can be toggled manually to a "dash board" especially useful on the BMW as it provides line of sight speed data and a collection of other indices and it automatically defaults to mapping when a change comes up. A now old-fashioned. but functional bit of kit.
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Three of us did France and Spain via Andorra a couple of years ago and we did 3000 miles in a week !
Had no mechanical problems apart from my Buell riding mate who got a small stone embedded in his drive belt, which eventually worked its way through and out.
Looking back though, if I did it again I would take some means of repairing a puncture.The thought now of being stuck out in the wilds with a flat tyre makes me realise what a problem it could have been.
Have you got a repair kit and are you confident it will work ?
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First trip I did with the wife and kids to Europe was to the Czech Rep first week and then the Ardennes (Luxemburg part) second week - nothing like a slow introduction!
We stayed on one of those Eurocamp sites, it was ok and our next door neighbours had come across on two bikes, Mother and child on one and Father and child on the other!
Worst bit was on the last night we walked down the hill into the village - turns out none of the "campers" did this - and we found a lovely little cafe run by a Spanish family, with Dutch, Belgian and local customers all of whom could speak English and were really friendly! Moral of the story is that I always have a drive around to find the best cafe/pub on the first night!
Have a good 'un!
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Is it still possible to have a blast round Spa-Francorchamps circuit?? - it used to be public roads the last time I was there quite a few years back - very exciting and fast with a caravan on the back of a BX diesel!!
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I'm off over to France for a week this afternoon - destination the Alps, bike a 1200 Bandit, my luggage is a small top box, a small rucksack for maps etc and my trusty £5 holdall (3yrs old and still going strong) strapped to the pillion seat! I've been over before on the bike, the attitude of the french to bikers (& cyclists) is fantastic, they really like/respect anything 2-wheels. The french also love big bikes for some reason - don't know why. I akways carry a 'plug' type tubeless repair kit, you can pick these up in most of the hypermarkets. I have also had a new set of tyres fitted for the trip, and I overhauled the brakes (new fluid & pads) & new oil & filter, & a torque check of all chassis bolts just for my peace of mind!
Edited by Chrome on 09/06/2008 at 09:04
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All i'm taking is the standard tyre repair kit that came with the bike. On a countdown now - whoopee.
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Was over there two years ago - the track isn't public raods any more, but you can drive on a lot of the "old " circuit and the museum they have is well worth a visit!
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Out of interest, what tyre have you used PU ? I switched to Metzeler Z6's...absolute carp (sorry Lud) in the wet, no centre tread on the rear, but fantastic touring tyre. I've done about 10k miles and the rear still has not squared off.
Edited by gmac on 09/06/2008 at 23:37
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On advice of the four places I got prices for I had to match it to the front. Its a Dunlop Trailmaster - faultless so far in all weathers - Amazing grip in the dry. Final stages of preparation now - Photograph to be taken on departure - I am so looking forward to this - its been a decidedly bad 08 so far family wise.
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Enjoy it ! Looking forward to seeing a few photos.
Take a few layers as the weather has been variable between scorchio and cool and wet.
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I'm envious! I'm sure it will help compensate for the family issues. Ewan and Charlie watch out PU's got the travelling bug! Enjoy and safe riding. Ride your own ride.
Just had two weeks doing the Florida thing and could do with a relaxing holiday!
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Bike fuelled up tonight (as the local garage looked slack at going home time). Something quite magical now about the capability of the bike now. It felt pretty tight after its service, nothing rattles, brakes were back to "amazing" rather than just "superb" after a full fluid change and tweak.....
As I passed it in the garage now the mix of smells and gentle ticking was quite intoxicating....with Michelen maps peeking out of the tank bag.
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Well I'm back !!
Decided to bore you with my findings - mainly about bits of kit I was experimenting with !
I'll add them in here as I get time.
1. BMW R1200GS.
The bike was on top form before going, newly serviced and with an new rear tyre. Overall fuel consumption was very good, varying between 50 to around 60mpg at times. This is a bike in full touring trim with rider - fed initially in 95RON fuel, I switched to 98RON midway, the result was a much smoother ride a more even tickover and better fuel consumption to offset the extra cost. The bike stopped its characteristic but occasional backfire once I upped the RON rating. Oil consumption was as near zero as is measurable over the 1300 mile trip. The bike was comfortable over long distances, with me suffering some shoulder ache mid-week, more due to age rather than bike. Totally secure in all circumstances including torrential downpours. Gear change is clunky but hey its part of the character isn't it ? The bike is a heavy beast of burden, the screen rattles (there is a fix which I didn't haver the tools to fit the night before). Ride comfort over broken surfaces was peerless. No complaints in the bike department.
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Hi PU - Welcome back to our burger eating, happy slapping, binge drinking, chewing gum paved, traffic infested, over-regulated, economic freefalling, rain drenched, morally bankrupt excuse for a country. Bet you've missed it?
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No.
Mrs P reckons I'm on a downer - last minute to ride up to Wales last night (where she is at the mo) added to my tiredness today - Just over 400 miles over 11 hours - very challenging conditions in Wales, wind and rain added to the fun.
Anyway..
2. Garmin 2610/Ram Mount.
A clunky bit of kit but a firm favourite amongst bikers. Nowhere near as friendly as my TT 700, used in all weathers proved a very reliable friend, ultimately better than my TT in its ability to store routes properly as well as waypoints - a cross somewhere between a professional and "leisure" kit, totally functional in my use in a way the TT isn't. It offers three different screens Map (with a moving arrow) and turn alerts, overlayed with speed (MP and KPH options) distance to turn, a scrolling text screen with countdowns in minutes and distance to the next turns and destination - useful last night from M6 via Shrewsbury as fatigue and boredom set in. Third screen if a "dashboard" with heads up speedo display, compass and various speed and distance data. Highly recommended and reliable (survived a tumble - more later). Navigated us from horrendous Autoroute conditions (rain etc) to where were staying...Ram mount is a plastic one, no security and eventually one of the nuts slackened off rendering it loose, may get a sexy Touratech device to replace it.
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Pugugly - Like you I have just returned from a trip to France, I went to the Alps and a high point of the Col du Galibier (2645 metres). My bike (a carburrated Suzuki 1200 Bandit) ran fine bar the idle speed dropping from 1,000 rpm to 900 rpm at altitude, my friends horrid BMW K100RS (in need of a service) ran a lot worse (fuel injection). My fuel consumption bimbling over many Alpine passes was 60mpg, fuel consumption on the return leg of the trip on D & N class roads at speeds between 60-80mph was an incredible 70mpg. In the UK I get about 50mpg. I have always found that my vehicles do particularly well in France, a combination of light traffic density (compared to the UK) and the fact that top gear is used a lot covering the distances on straight roads. BTW loads of BMW GS's in the Alps - a very popular bike indeed.
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"Mrs P reckons I'm on a downer"
Bound to be PU after a trip to Ardennes and those roads then having to do all those miles up to N Wales on British roads. We always find that, after thousands of miles on the continent, the 200 from Chunnel to Midlands is much more exhausting - volume of traffic? poor surfaces? traffic jams? Carp services to stop at? Combination of them all.
Anyway, less of the technical stuff! ;-) - how was the Belgian beer? And the frites, and the accommodation?
Edited by PhilW on 22/06/2008 at 20:50
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Riding Gear
Helmet - Shoei Multitec flipfront. Comfortable, even on the longest rides, I dislike earplugs but the helmet was quiet enough not to be uncomfortable. Easy to ride with just around the right amount of airflow, visor was ideal with "vent opening" which stayed open at any speed. (Max speed for the run according to Garmin was a 110mph in Belgium). Flipfronts are ideal for this type of tour, no requirment to remove hem at garages and the suchlike. One complaint on the M6 Toll rain dribbled in through the top vent. Not nice.
Leathers
Two piece Hein Gerickes in black, ideal and very comfortable even on a 10 hour wearing cycle, cool when needed, warm when wanted. Feel like quality items - bizarrely despite being the same model trousers and jacket the zip in the middle don't join. Not a problem in reality but think about it HG. This is a very good quality brand - highly recommended.
Oversuit.
El-cheapo (£35.00) from a bike shop. Rather cumbersome aznd ugly but they kept the rain out on a three hour run. Thinking of getting a Johnny Suit (exactly what you are thinking !)
Boots and Gloves
Both Triumph branded - identical to the BMW catalogued items but 15% cheaper. Boots leaked like a sive and now will be relegated to dry local runs, looking for a pair of gortex lined items. Did the business though !
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The beer PU? the beer?
Sorry
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OK - we were guided to a bar in Brugges - I forgot its name (!) but opposite De Hobbit restaurant in Kemmelstraat (an alleyway off the main shopping street) 150 different types of Belgian beer -I tried 5 of them.
Elsewhere I drank Leffe Brun mainly (Mrs PU says it makes me depressed).
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Sounds like it was the weather that got you down a bit PU. I expect the beer was not entirely to blame. Hope you got some fine days ? I recall a trip to France some years ago with my father in law in tow and he insisted that he never drank beer unless it was in a pint glass. ( sort of unreconstructed ex-army hardman with nails sticking out type if you know what I mean ) We got him on the Leffe Brun ( told him it was French Newcastle brown ) and with the assistance of a barman with a sense of humour got him to serve it in a pint pot. By the fourth one he had lost the power of speech and by the fifth we had to take him back to our accomodation "Zorba the Greek" style and present him to his wife to deal with. Strong stuff that Leffe. ;-)
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(Mrs PU says it makes me depressed).
She'd like you more if you drank the Blonde PU. Better for the disposition.
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(Mrs PU says it makes me depressed).
Possibly so but my money would be on the job you do PU. You see the horrible side of the Great British Public at close range more than is good for any sane person.
Roll on the Retirement - the sun will start shining from the first day.
Happy Motoring Phil I
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"Leffe Brun mainly (Mrs PU says it makes me depressed)"
Oddly enough PU, I find the same - love the taste of Leffe (blonde and brun), and brought back a load a few years ago but found that I didn't feel too good after drinking it. Now tend to bring back "weisse beer" (wheat beer?) which doesn't have the same effect and is very refreshing on a summers evening after work.
Keep testing the beers! And glad you had a good time!
Phil
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Boots and Gloves Both Triumph branded - identical to the BMW catalogued items but 15% cheaper. Boots leaked like a sive and now will be relegated to dry local runs looking for a pair of gortex lined items. Did the business though !
What you need is a pair of:
tinyurl.com/558yw9
They sound like your smuggling mice for the first few wears but fit like a glove and my original ones (which are not Gore-Tex) never let the rain in until the zip went recently after five years constant use. I've got these B2's now and alternate between the two pairs since getting the zip replaced on the originals.
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Just found this photo on my phone - Givet on the Franco Belgian border - superb food and drink, superb weather, superb susnet......well it was just superb.
i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa13/Pugugly_photo/170...g
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