Travelling to Europe

Diddums

Diddums

Diddums

Caporegime
Joined
24 Oct 2012
Posts
25,686
Location
Godalming
Thinking of booking a random ferry this Friday afternoon to go visit my mum in Holland.

Questions - what are the limitations of doing it on a 125? I'll obviously avoid motorways and make it a bit of a road trip.

I understand the French can be a bit fussy with lighting and stuff, what do I need to do / carry with me?

I'll likely use Waze with motorways turned off, does Waze even cover Europe?

EDIT: Just thought of insurance too, will need to find out what's what with that.

(I realise I can google this stuff myself and truth be told I'm using this as a bit of a list of things I need to do, but any advice is welcome!)
 
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Obvious is yellow vest,but that might go either way with the French cops. :D
You don't need a warning triangle on a bike, for obvious reasons. Don't forget to take your documents, and put a UK sticker on the bike.
 
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Uther said:
Obvious is yellow vest,but that might go either way with the French cops. :D
You don't need a warning triangle on a bike, for obvious reasons. Don't forget to take your documents, and put a UK sticker on the bike.
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Cheers! Just looking in to their Crit'Air stuff too, apparently my bike "isn't eligible" :confused"

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OP in 2016 on a PCX 125 I rode 300 miles to Plymouth, then got the ferry to northern Spain, then rode about in Spain for a week, and came home the same way using motorways without issue on a 125. I wasn't constantly thrashing it, stuck to around 56mph so that trucks weren't flying past me. You never overtake and everything overtakes you but I soon got used to it. The time flies by on the motorways. I rode for 200-300 miles or so then stayed at campsites overnight (I had my tent on the back of my bike).
 
If you're postponing, have this trip in mind when you're renewing your bike insurance. Sometimes it can be cheaper to buy a more expensive policy than add it onto a cheaper policy later.
 
Uther said:
Obvious is yellow vest,but that might go either way with the French cops. :D
You don't need a warning triangle on a bike, for obvious reasons. Don't forget to take your documents, and put a UK sticker on the bike.
Click to expand...
UK sticker on bike ? Is that a requirement for bikes? Never had one when when ive gone to France on my bike!
Same with yellow vest...
 
Rimsy said:
UK sticker on bike ? Is that a requirement for bikes? Never had one when when ive gone to France on my bike!
Same with yellow vest...
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It is, any UK vehicle without the country letters on the plate its self, needs a sticker.

Fun fact though... With the mess of brexit, speeding fines are not being handled between the UK and most of Europe. At least from my experience...
 
13_how-to-ride-in-france.ashx


This sign has just given me flashbacks to when I was France and some local boomer pulled right out in front of me, naturally I beeped and he decided to aggressively chase me for about 10 minutes. Don't be like me and make sure you understand all the random archaic signs that don't follow any common road sense.
 
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McGray said:
You can't post that without saying what it means!
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"Priorité à Droite"

However, in rural areas you will often find that Priorité à droite is still assumed, even if there is no road signage: the safest guidance is to assume that cars coming from the right, as you approach a junction, are not going to stop.

The onus is on the car on the left to slow down, and, if necessary, give way. In the event of a collision, the car approaching from the left will almost certainly take the blame.
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Sauce: https://www.drive-france.com/faqs/get-your-priorities-right/
 
iamtheoneneo said:
13_how-to-ride-in-france.ashx


This sign has just given me flashbacks to when I was France and some local boomer pulled right out in front of me, naturally I beeped and he decided to aggressively chase me for about 10 minutes. Don't be like me and make sure you understand all the random archaic signs that don't follow any common road sense.
Click to expand...
In my experience, rules or otherwise, assume any vehicle in France is about to pull out on you for any manner of reasons. I thought Londoners were angry drivers until I ventured across the channel.

@Diddums - take a look at Dorothy's Speed Shop, Nathan there runs all sorts of excursions at reasonable prices and he is a great chap - his trips are a great way to try long trips with a bit of a safety net.
 
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