29-12-11, 12:15 AM
For good roads look at www.bestbikingroads.com
IF you're going thru Switzerland look for a route that doesn't use motorways, you need a special permit and you'll be spending so little time on the Mway there it's not worth it.
Don't be too ambitious about mileage, if you try to do too much day after day it'll become a chore.
Why bother camping, Formula 1 hotels and similar budget chains are so cheap it isn't worth the trouble of lugging all your camping gear round, it'll ruin the handling of the bike and take up time packing and setting up each day. If you have a satnav the chain hotels will already be in it so finding them is easy. Book ahead on the web so there's no worries if you are running a bit late.
Don't assume all roads in Europe are better than ours, I suggest planning your route rather than making it up as you go along. Once into Europe go for 250/300 miles tops each day, your average speed for each day will probably only work out at about 30mph including all stops etc so that's a full day at 300 miles.
Pack as lightly as you can, a heavy bike is a tiring bike.
I've got several 3000 mile week long trips to France on Garmin, PM me if you want a couple sending to you, they use some of the best roads in France and you're welcome to have copies (of course you'll need a Garmin or Garmin software to look at them)
So far I've organised and run something like 15 dealer trips to Europe, got another one going this year for a Triumph dealership, if there's anything I can help you with PM me.
IF you're going thru Switzerland look for a route that doesn't use motorways, you need a special permit and you'll be spending so little time on the Mway there it's not worth it.
Don't be too ambitious about mileage, if you try to do too much day after day it'll become a chore.
Why bother camping, Formula 1 hotels and similar budget chains are so cheap it isn't worth the trouble of lugging all your camping gear round, it'll ruin the handling of the bike and take up time packing and setting up each day. If you have a satnav the chain hotels will already be in it so finding them is easy. Book ahead on the web so there's no worries if you are running a bit late.
Don't assume all roads in Europe are better than ours, I suggest planning your route rather than making it up as you go along. Once into Europe go for 250/300 miles tops each day, your average speed for each day will probably only work out at about 30mph including all stops etc so that's a full day at 300 miles.
Pack as lightly as you can, a heavy bike is a tiring bike.
I've got several 3000 mile week long trips to France on Garmin, PM me if you want a couple sending to you, they use some of the best roads in France and you're welcome to have copies (of course you'll need a Garmin or Garmin software to look at them)
So far I've organised and run something like 15 dealer trips to Europe, got another one going this year for a Triumph dealership, if there's anything I can help you with PM me.