driving from Calais to Ancona 1528kms on a 600cc sports bike?

clancy wiggum

Hi all , first time posting over here. I am currently thinking about doing the above journey in early June. I don't have a bike at present, my last one being just over a year ago. It was a bandit 600 gsf. I'm going to buy a bike in the next few weeks, hopefully. But what I want to know is what would be the best sports bike to do this journey? I know a tourer would be way more comfortable for the trip , but I'm bringing this bike to the Greek islands so an r6 would look the part. What other sports 600's could do this trip without bother? and would how often would I need to stop for the bike not to overheat?
Thanks in advance.

CJhaughey

clancy wiggum wrote: »

Hi all , first time posting over here. I am currently thinking about doing the above journey in early June. I don't have a bike at present, my last one being just over a year ago. It was a bandit 600 gsf. I'm going to buy a bike in the next few weeks, hopefully. But what I want to know is what would be the best sports bike to do this journey? I know a tourer would be way more comfortable for the trip , but I'm bringing this bike to the Greek islands so an r6 would look the part. What other sports 600's could do this trip without bother? and would how often would I need to stop for the bike not to overheat?
Thanks in advance.

Why would a bike overheat unless the cooling system was defective?
Any bike should run all the way down there without a bother if it is in good condition.

honeybadger

greece is a hot hot place so hot i say its safe to say it isnt a bike friendly enviroment if ya parked up in the traffic even my blade dosent like daily conditions here parked up in traffic at the best of time without the fan kicking in and this is march here eire ,,head gaskets lol

KamiKazi

CBR600F would be the most comfortable 600cc sports bike.

old_aussie

The yamaha R6 is a water cooled engine sports bike capable of reving to 15,000 RPM.

You will not have any trouble with that bike.

Nice bike, way to go in style.

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/modelspecs/8/0/specs.aspx

CJhaughey

honeybadger wrote: »

greece is a hot hot place so hot i say its safe to say it isnt a bike friendly enviroment if ya parked up in the traffic even my blade dosent like daily conditions here parked up in traffic at the best of time without the fan kicking in and this is march here eire ,,head gaskets lol

But the OP isn't talking about riding in Greece in traffic, they are talking about a 1000 mile ride from Northern France to Italy.
Shouldn't be a problem overheating on an Autoroute, if a bike overheats on that kind of run it has problems.
Sitting in traffic is hard on any engine. Make sure you have proper coolant not just water if you have an water cooled bike.

eurofoxy

have not done that much but i agree with kamikazi the cbr600f is a good starter,
I think its important to get something that has decent range as well as some comforts like abs etc just for your own comfort..

traco

You need a Yamaha R1 - ultimate sports tourer, no problems with heat, crap roads etc you just need to be as mad as a box of frogs and away you go.

Linky

Interceptor

Any modern liquid cooled bike could do that journey without missing a beat - the only bit that'll have problems is you. How many kms do you plan each day?

A modern sportsbike can travel all day without risk of overheating. If it was me, I'd probably buy a GSXR 750 since it is a nice compromise between power, size and capability.

'cptr

clancy wiggum

im thinking of dividing the trip into two days driving so roughly 750kms a day. If i average 110kms an hour the total driving time should be about 15 hours total so four 3.5ish hour stints with a two hour break. I love the look of the r6, but im also thinking a cbr600 or maybe a gsxr 600( bit pricey though). Do ye think ill be in bits after driving that long?

Antiquo

Having rode the R6 and CBR600F I would prefer to go any distance on the CBR but would add a gel seat to whatever I took.
Problem obviously with the sportsbikes is they let you know every lump n bump in the road. Also anything under 100kmh for long periods and your arms start to get knackered as there isn't enough wind to support you.

Your legs will begin to ache after a couple of hours purely due to the ergonomics of a sportsbike especially on long motorway stints but a good stretch at fuel stops usually gets the blood flowing.

I still have a CBR and I never got more than 120 miles ish with less than 100 miles on a spirited ride out. Old R6 (2002) was about the same if I remember right.

At a steady pace you could possibly eek out 140 miles between refuel or every 2hrs at 110kmh. Depends how much luggage (tank bag,etc.) your carrying also which is another limiting factor on sprtsbikes.
As mentioned above no issue with overheating the bikes fan will kick in when in traffic nothing to worry about when on the move.

Greece eh you lucky sod but don't get on the wrong side of the local cops they can be right gangsters.

TheZohanS

clancy wiggum wrote: »

im thinking of dividing the trip into two days driving so roughly 750kms a day. If i average 110kms an hour the total driving time should be about 15 hours total so four 3.5ish hour stints with a two hour break. I love the look of the r6, but im also thinking a cbr600 or maybe a gsxr 600( bit pricey though). Do ye think ill be in bits after driving that long?

Tbh I don't think what you're planning is realistic. I've done a few 700km days myself in the past (albeit in a car) and you're going to be absolutely shattered the next day, it will be a lot more tiring doing it on a bike.

Also averaging out 110kph is a LOT harder than you'd think, you'd probably have to be hitting a constant top speed of 160kph on the stretches to make up for the lower speeds when you encounter traffic.

I'd recommend breaking the travel up to 3 days, that way you'd have a bit more comfort and should anything go wrong you have more time to play around with.

unclebill98

clancy wiggum wrote: »

im thinking of dividing the trip into two days driving so roughly 750kms a day. If i average 110kms an hour the total driving time should be about 15 hours total so four 3.5ish hour stints with a two hour break. I love the look of the r6, but im also thinking a cbr600 or maybe a gsxr 600( bit pricey though). Do ye think ill be in bits after driving that long?

:eek:

You'll be wrecked trying that. As said break it up over more days.

Sure part of the fun is driving, sight seeing and stopping. 200-250km a day would be easier.

veetwin

I did this trip a few years ago in the other direction in a comfortable saloon and its a long hard slog of endless motorway. Left Ancona at 7am and arrived in Calais at about 2pm the following day with an overnight stop in Grenoble.

On a sportsbike it would be torture. Stopping every 90 minutes for fuel and tolls along the way. Give yourself at least 3 if not 5 days and see some of the countries. You'll see nothing much on the most direct route.

clancy wiggum

Thanks for all the advice lads. I think after hearing whats been said ill take a few more days to do the trip, seems I'm in no rush I might as well. The michelin website is great, gave me a few different routes to take depending on what time frame I wanted to cover the distance in. I might opt for the longer option on the return leg.

http://www.viamichelin.com/web/Itineraires?strStartLocid=31NDJxdzgxMGNOVEF1T1RVNE1ETT1jTVM0NE5USTBNUT09&strDestLocid=31NDFkcHAxMGNORE11TmpFMU9BPT1jTVRNdU5URTRPVEU9&intItineraryType=4&caravaneHidden=false&vh=MOTO&strVehicle=1&itineraryCarType=0&itineraryFuelType=0&isFavoriseAutoroute=false&isAvoidPeage=false&isAvoidVignette=false&isAvoidLNR=false&isAvoidFrontiers=true&dtmDeparture=13%2F03%2F2011&distance=km&devise=1.0|EUR&indemnite=&carbCost=1.3&autoConso=6.8&villeConso=6&routeConso=5.6

honeybadger

and dont forget about the iron butt award aswell i even feel sore sitting in me cahir here thinging of wot you are going to put yourself thru

LookBehindYou

That distance is achievable in 2 days. Keep er lit and you will have to stop every hour for fuel. Keeping it lit will kill the boredom of the motorways and keep you alert.
Realistically, you would have to watch for traffic police. So take it easy.

roadsmart

My own thought would be to make a holiday out of it over 4 or 5 days, and avoid the motorways completely. Motorways on a bike are so ****ing boring. Pick a few nice twisty routes and plan for around 300km a day. One tip I'd give is start early so you can stop early. This gives you plenty of time to look for a nice town to stay in. There's nothing worse than panic-searching for accomodation as its getting dark:eek:

grumpybore

Think outside the box ( or fairing)...forget the sports bike option ...go for a Royal Enfield Bullet ,aircooled 500cc (or 350 for the purists) , you will see all the scenery there and back ,use damn all petrol and meet the nicest people imaginable . I have covered Dublin to Giants Causeway and back in a day on mine ....over 400 blissful miles ....