France road trip advice?

BrokenArrows

I'm aiming to do a roadtrip from London to the south of France next summer, working my way along the coast of France to the south east and back over the space of maybe 2 weeks.

My rough route is looking at about 4k miles round trip and I'm thinking of camping.

I'm on an L plate at the moment on a varadero 125. Advice on what bike to get for the trip on a full direct access uk license. I'm thinking of a cruiser.

What other gear do you recommend?

If anyone has done a similar trip what are your experiences?

Del2005

Any bike will do, it just depends how much you want to bring. But the bigger the bike and luggage the more stuff you can bring, so you will carry more.

I just did France on a Z750 and the only thing I really needed was this, a few guys on the boat had them and they are great for the long boring bits. All I had was tail pack and tank bag, but the tank bag was too big so not much fun in the mountains.

Get gear with plenty of vents, mine has a few but I thought they weren't working till I got back north into the cold.

We stayed in cheap hotels so don't know what you'd need for camping.

RosieJoe

Zascar did a trip to France last year so he'd be good to annoy for advice

P.C.

RosieJoe wrote: »

Zascar did a trip to France last year so he'd be good to annoy for advice

I am sure that he will give you loads of advice...





when he gets back from his holiday - yes, another one.

MrPudding

BrokenArrows wrote: »

I'm aiming to do a roadtrip from London to the south of France next summer, working my way along the coast of France to the south east and back over the space of maybe 2 weeks.

My rough route is looking at about 4k miles round trip and I'm thinking of camping.

I'm on an L plate at the moment on a varadero 125. Advice on what bike to get for the trip on a full direct access uk license. I'm thinking of a cruiser.

What other gear do you recommend?

If anyone has done a similar trip what are your experiences?

Riding in France is great, you will have a fantastic time. As a previous poster said, get gear with plenty of vents. I personally use "airflow" gear which really helps keep cool. Carry a fleece and some waterproofs for unseasonable weather.

France has a couple of really cheap hotel chains, F1 for example, which might be an option to look at rather then camping, or to have a comfy bed once in a while. That said, French camp sites are really good.

Get a decent GPS.

Bike wise I think it is whatever you are happy with. You are looking a fairly decent miles so clearly not a sports bike.

And get you waving hand ready. French bikers are big into their waving.

MrP

BrokenArrows

MrPudding wrote: »

BrokenArrows wrote: »

And get you waving hand ready. French bikers are big into their waving.

MrP

Lol. its a head nod over here in the UK.

Del2005

BrokenArrows wrote: »

MrPudding wrote: »

Lol. its a head nod over here in the UK.

Because they drive on the Right side of the road the hand away from the throttle is free to wave. They wave from miles kilometres away.

Anyone know what the story is with the wave? I saw anything from a full hand to 1 finger below the bars. Is there a code?

rugbyman

I am in France just now and only yesterday i was looking at a book ,in French ,on20 or so great motorcyclng routes in france. if i see it again I will post it here.

There are some great route national s in france where covering hundreds of miles is easy and some are blighted by wee towns and speed limits etc.
the routes national have had all the business life sucked off them with the advent of motorways.

a big must in my opinion , dine where the lorry drivers do, restaurant Routiers, great meals with wine for 13euro, and you will be welcome.
just had one an hour ago.

Enjoy it

Rugbyman

MrPudding

BrokenArrows wrote: »

Lol. its a head nod over here in the UK.

Yeah. I am in the UK myself. Mostly the nod, but I do the occasional wave if I am in a good mood.

Del2005 wrote: »

BrokenArrows wrote: »

Because they drive on the Right side of the road the hand away from the throttle is free to wave. They wave from miles kilometres away.

Anyone know what the story is with the wave? I saw anything from a full hand to 1 finger below the bars. Is there a code?

Not sure.I figured it was personal preference... Oh, and there is also the foot out salute!

MrP

Del2005

MrPudding wrote: »

Not sure.I figured it was personal preference... Oh, and there is also the foot out salute!

MrP

Yeah was giving them the waves and foot salute. Only place I didn't do it was on the Pay roads, was going too fast:D

MrPudding

Del2005 wrote: »

Yeah was giving them the waves and foot salute. Only place I didn't do it was on the Pay roads, was going too fast:D

Yeah, I had a couple of near dislocated shoulders, note to self, stop waving when you hit 90.

MrP

simplybam

As far as I know the 'foot out' is meant to be a 'thank you' to cage drivers for making room for you to pass. The waving is for other bikers.

MrPudding

simplybam wrote: »

As far as I know the 'foot out' is meant to be a 'thank you' to cage drivers for making room for you to pass. The waving is for other bikers.

I have had the foot out as well when on the bike. Had it when passing a biker on the other side of the road, when being overtaken by a biker and when overtaking another biker.

MrP

Del2005

simplybam wrote: »

As far as I know the 'foot out' is meant to be a 'thank you' to cage drivers for making room for you to pass. The waving is for other bikers.

I got the foot out when cornering, sometimes I do it here.

dazed+confused

Get a jacket with a little pocket on the sleeve (my Ixon has one) and keep your credit card in here. Use it at all the payage toll booths. You collect your ticket when entering the motorway and then put you ticket back into a machine and pay as you're leaving the motorway so you pay for what you use. This was up to €12 on my trip so that's why the card is handy. Also the automatic booths may not recognise you as a bike and charge you the car rate so make sure you go to a window.

masseyno9

The peage (toll roads) don't accept laser card, I just carried cash in my tankbag. If you can afford it, hard luggage, or some sort of lockable luggage would be useful. I was a bit nervous about straying too far from the bike at any time as I only had soft luggage that anyone could open up and have at it.

Stay off the motorways unless you're aiming for somewhere and not bothered about the scenery. I did 2 days on motorways (7 hours and 5 hours) to get to the alps, where I stayed for a week. Then spent 5 days getting back to cherbourg, without a single peage.

Speed cameras are always (and must be) signposted afaik with either "controle automatique" or "controle frequente." Automatic ones are 90% forward facing, give 'em a wave as you go through! The other sign means a gendarme unit might be there, so take her handy.

Fill up the tank when you can, had a couple of nervy incidents with my fuel light! You'll most likely find a 24hr automatic station in any of the supermarkets, but if you're going rural, be prepared to have to ask someone. The auto pumps do take laser cards.

Oh yeah, and the wave. leg out after you pass someone who moves over for you. They generally do, they're quite good drivers, very predictable. If they can't move over, they'll usually indicate right, meaning they know you're there and will move over when they can. ALL bikers wave at each other over there. Not uncommon to see a hand up from 3 lanes over on a motorway going the opposite direction! I found the "low hand wave" was most popular. Take your left hand off the bar, rotate forearm outwards so your palm is facing forward (kind of like the "spout" part of the little teapot song) and drive past. Handy when you pass a group, no hokey cokey carry on.

One last thing, bring some basic tools. I had an issue (still don't know what it was) but opening up the seat, re-seating a few fuses, and doing other sorts of possible simple fixes seemed to sort it. Felt like either electrical (like hitting the ECU restriction, losing power etc) or fuel starvation. Anyway, being able to have a poke around the bike is important.

simplybam

Check out this site. There's an app (for both iphone and android) as well to use it on the road. Is a deadly site, methinks.

http://www.bestbikingroads.com/motorcycle-roads/motorbike-rides-in-france-/france-__804.html

Zascar

Fair play OP, do it, one of the best holidays I've ever done! Have a read of my past threads cause lots of people gave me great advice. In short here are my tips.

• Pick your bike wisely. I was on a naked monster 600 - big mistake. Have as much fairing and wind protection as possible.
• Get some rain protection, several days I got drenched - was not fun. You can get big raincoats to go over your gear and boots, and gloves - cheap and light. Also, bring two sets of gloves, summer and winter.
• Get a satnav. Other did without it but it was an absolute godsend for us. No idea how much more difficult it would have been without one
• Stay off the motorways and take the scenic route when you can. I spent many days spending most of the days on long boring motorways. The days I did do amazing country mountain backroads
• Find out some of the best roads and plan your route around them. We did the Gorge Du Verdon and it was INCREDIBLE!! Also the roads around the mountains here were fantastic too: http://g.co/maps/u69a7
• Camping might be a pain, you can get very cheap accommodation outside the cities, we got really nice rooms for €40 a night between the two of us. Personally I think you should save some money up, do it properly and have some creature comforts.
• Get breakdown cover. Proper stuff not just recovery. It saved me. My chain got really lose and luckily I was able to get it fixed roadside. If not I definitely would not have made it home - would have missed the boat and might have had a horrible crash if it fell off. I got mine though a company in the UK - I gave my UK reg (my bike was an import). Got it for €40. AA are the only ones who do it in Ireland and its a ripoff - over €100 for 11 days.

That's all I have for now, let me know any questions

Steffano2002

Zascar wrote: »

[*]Get some rain protection, several days I got drenched - was not fun. You can get big raincoats to go over your gear and boots, and gloves - cheap and light.

Here's the rain gear I got for my Euro-Trip last year!

Hotblack Desiato

BrokenArrows wrote: »

I'm on an L plate at the moment on a varadero 125. Advice on what bike to get for the trip on a full direct access uk license.

When I went to France the first time, I was only a year on a big bike, so it can be done, but try and cover as much mileage as you can before you go - it helps if you ride every day not just weekends. Easier and safer to get as much experience as you can here before you go off to unfamiliar roads, riding on the other side, different rules of the road etc.

Familiarise yourself with the local laws, speed limits, road signs etc. in each country you will be travelling through. Good idea to have spare bulbs in France (a legal requirement for cars, not sure for bikes, but a good idea anyway) and have enough tools to be able to adjust your chain at the very least.

Check brake pads, chain, tyres etc. have plenty of life left in them before you go so you avoid wasting holiday time trying to get replacements (BTDT) Tyres can wear down a lot faster than you'd think when doing long high speed rides in hot weather, the chain will be under more stress too. Check the tyre tread (for wear, damage, nails etc.) and tyre pressure, and check the chain adjustment and lube it, every morning before you set off. I did hundreds of motorway miles in Germany once with a slow puncture in the rear tyre, it was almost flat before I realised and I'd been doing 90-100MPH all day, if I'd checked the pressure that morning I'd have spotted it.

If you get a Scottoiler (or a belt or shaft drive) then that's one messy job you won't have to do every morning, and the chain will last longer too.

Take a plug kit for temporary puncture repairs. Breakdown cover is a must as if you have to be towed off an autoroute it could cost you hundreds.


Get a small piece of removable vinyl sticker (the IRL plates for cars are good) and cut it into an arrow shape 2cm across, stick it in the centre of your speedo pointing to the right before you get off the ferry. Every time you check your speedo you'll be reminded to ride on the right! Do the same but pointing to the left when back home for the first few days too, ask me how I know...

I'm thinking of a cruiser.

I don't like cruisers anyway, but there are drawbacks with them for a trip like this - some of them get very uncomfortable on long rides because your bum is taking all of your weight, not great for doing motorway miles (true of all bikes to some extent!), they can be heavy and not handle well in the twisty stuff, luggage provision is often poor.

I did my first trip to France on a GS500 and then I did 4 or 5 on a CBR600F, using the same luggage on both bikes, soft panniers, tent and a bag on the pillion, and a tank bag. Rucksack for bringing the baguettes back from the hypermarket but seriously, don't plan on carrying more than that on your back, it tires you out as well as being dangerous in a crash. Let the bike carry the load, not you!

Camping in France is probably the best way to see the country, on the routes nationales once you get away from the ports there are campsites every 10 or 20km, so finding one is rarely a problem, they are cheap and usually have very good facilities.

two wheels good

You need to remember that "Priority to the Right" still applies on many small rural roads in France.
Look up the meaning of the relevant road signs: one with a yellow diamond, the other a triangle with a black X.
http://www.bwam.org.uk/articles/in_france.php

If you don't sample the D roads in France you'll miss a treat and if you do you need to know about these signs.

Bonne route

Hotblack Desiato

I didn't do much distance on D-roads but what little I did was great fun - literally no traffic, fantastic scenery and the chance to just potter around and soak it all in, go slowly through tiny villages and scatter the hens on the road!!, the autoroutes are a bit manic and even on the routes nationales the traffic is constantly looking to get somewhere, they're a bit like our old N-roads before the motorways were built, although more scenic in general.

Have been going there since '96 and never had a problem with priorite a droite but mostly I would have been on RNs with the priority sign. On local roads, old habits die hard irrespective of rule changes, but that applies in rural Ireland too.

I found the most dangerous thing was pulling out of a petrol station or the like, on a two lane road with no traffic - needed to consciously remember not to go onto the wrong side. I got caught out once on a complex junction (in a town, single carriageway turning left onto a crossing dual carriageway) I was aiming for the wrong side of the dualler until I realised! The nearest I came to a cropper was when turning left from a dualler into a petrol station on the other side, a gap was provided for turning left, I pulled into the left filter lane and stopped, by some sort of reflex I looked over my left shoulder and of course saw nothing, pulled out and a car coming from the right had to jam on. So embarrassing