South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

Planning a trip through France and southern Germany in May. Would welcome any advice from your own experiences. Also what is the situation with high vis in Europe?

Northern France? Long rolling hills, boring, nasty cross winds

The Vosges mountains and down to Mulhouse then on to the Swiss border great.

Reims, the Forest d'Orient and on down through Champaign's country is nice. Nancy, Dole, St Dizier, Chaumont, are other nice towns on the North/Eastern side.

Being on the bike anywhere in France is great ....... Just some bits greater than others

Flouro gear - I wouldn't worry. They seem to have followed the UK invested heavily in speed cameras, but the majority seem to be forward facing

Take a bike that has a fuel range of more than 100 miles, if you're like me and you use a place as a base and like to get lost, 100 mile tank range really isn't good in the middle of [censored] all.

I did Holland, Germany, Luxembourg and France back in 2008 on a 1098S.

Do around 2500 miles every year around Germany a the ring on a zx10r never had any probs with fuel, just have an emergency credit card. Plus check break down cover covers your age of Bike and travel light you can get stuff over there,

France = no speed camera alerts on your GPS
You WILL need reflective stickers on your lid!

CC

CharlieChan wrote:France = no speed camera alerts on your GPS
You WILL need reflective stickers on your lid!

CC

GPS? on a bike? meh! i'm a firm believer in maps and having faith in your destination

As for reflective stickers .... never had them, never been stopped. If you and your bike are legal in a EU country of origin, then you are legal anywhere in the EU - isn't that one of the main points of the EU, freedom of cross-border travel????? My car is right hand drive, and I'm sure it's not a requirement to convert to LHD to take it abroad .....

You are supposed to have GB stickers though

They had been going to bring in a law to carry breathalisers in France, but this has been put on hold, you do need spare bulbs though.

These are LGAL requirements.

V5(c) original in the owner’s name.
Insurance Certificate specific to the bike, showing your name and reg number.
MOT Test Certificate.
Driving Licence
Passport.

Here's the write up of our trip last summer, France, Switzerland, German & Belgium.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=94327&p=236165#p236165

No problem with Hi-viz or helmet stickers, worth carrying a Hi-viz waistcoat in case you do happen to breakdown though.

Take your documents but also take a copy either on a memory card or simply on paper and stick it into your jacket back protection pocket.

Don't set yourself silly mileage targets, you're bound to find loads of places to stop and you'll end up chasing the clock !

Well I can only tell you what I know so if you are stopped it will be an on the spot fine, fail to be able to pay and they will go through your bike looking for more infringements.
You need to have original documents.
As for EU law, they (Gendarme) are not interested in it, its whats on the French Statute ie French Law.

CC

Beware of visa, I had loadsa probs getting fuel on my travelex card last year. Visa costs an arm and a leg in holland but dunno about france and some fuel stops don't take visa because of the charges. I took me, the missus, luggage, licence and passport. Didn't bother with hi viz or owt.

Thanks for all the replies. Some really useful ideas there. This is my first trip to Europe on a bike, looking forward to it.

Have a look at the Post Office Platinum Credit Card, no charges when spending abroad. Or, if you are over 50 look at the Saga offering.

Or, set up a Metro bank current account which will give you a Mastercard Debit card with free transactions in Europe. These are accepted in the various supermarkets.

Regarding Luggage, even if you gear it's worth investing in some drysac's to puut your stuff in. Search for Alpkit or Lomo.

Also check out how your bike is being secured on the ferry/tunnel.

Consider taking your own ratchet strap maybe.

Gloves are handy placed under the strap as it goes over your bike.

CC

CharlieChan wrote:Also check out how your bike is being secured on the ferry/tunnel.

Consider taking your own ratchet strap maybe.

Gloves are handy placed under the strap as it goes over your bike.

CC

One time I was on the ferry on my GPZ900, a guy said use the side stand, it's more stable, If you think about he was right, 3 points on the deck, centre stand is 2 metal points on a metal deck, could pivot round.

Never thought of it myself, 'cos I normally thought the centre stand was more stable.

I'm still unsure about the best way (side or centre stand) so didnt offer an opinion but now you have commented so will I ;)
I too favour the 3 points that you get with the side stand however it does put a lot of additional strain on the sidestand.
In the other camp are those that favour the centre stand being also 3 points, 2 on the stand, one is a wheel. They say you can ratchet it down harder as the centre stand is usually much more robust.

CC