Gerontious

Get the Haynes. Better to have it as a hard copy than trying to see it on a phone. Quick google and there it is. Not exactly expensive either.

Prevention is always better than a cure. So first - bike to be serviced in advance. At least a couple of weeks before the off - and get a few miles in before you go, that way you have a greater chance of identifying any potential problems that might arise from the service itself. Think about weak points. If your bike uses cables - check them. Clutch cable for instance. When I go away I tend to concentrate on two things. Tyres and the chain. So I have the ability to repair a puncture and re inflate fully. Plus lubricate and adjust the chain if that becomes necessary. If the bike uses standard bulbs then at the minimum a spare headlamp. Indicator and brake light bulb - plus the tools needed to do the swap. If the bike has a known “weakness” then the appropriate spare plus the tools required for that job too. In my case I have a spare lithium battery that’s tiny. Weighs next to nothing and is kept at the bottom of my panniers. Just in case. Aside from that. Trust your bike. Help is never far away, regardless of where you go within Europe. People will always help out. Like this time when my mates bike had a problem near D’Oulx and a random biker stopped and helped @smallfrowne diagnose the problem with his VFR. And jerryrig a fix so we were in our way again and got a proper fix at the next big town. Besancon.

To me… they’re bikes for the vertically challenged. With more money than sense. Who only ride in the summer. And think they’re a rebel when in reality they’re a dentist with a house in the country and a small yacht.

It’s easy to jury rig luggage including makeshift panniers. - but - you will need to ensure that the pannier or bag hanging on the exhaust side does not touch the exhaust. That might mean some form of frame - or something - to keep them apart. Otherwise it’s almost certain to melt if it’s any kind of plastic. Once you have panniers of some sort then a large bag. Perhaps one of your duffel bags across the entire width will carry a whole load of gear. I use a 59 litre and that contains all my camping gear.

Just a quick follow up, we’re now up to my self imposed limit of 8. So if you’ve been prevaricating, sitting on the fence. Times up. maybe try again next year.

At a guess.. spellchecker couldn't cope with the word Gilera. Its a 125 from the early 2000s.

Ive never come across a battery optimiser that discharges the battery as a part of its normal operation. what they do is charge the battery and then periodically check the battery as it normally discharges over time and add a bit of juice as and when necessary. They keep it fully charged over the months of winter. What they do not do is load test. which in simple terms is measure the actual power of the battery. so a dying battery might show 12 volts or whatever it is but the amps. the oomph to drive the starter motor isn't there. Most bikes nowadays have ABS and that does measure the Amps as part of its initialisation test. so if you start getting ABS errors at start up even if the bike starts fairly normally its often a sign that the battery is on its way out. Normally all it takes is a short ride and then the ABS will set. This state of affairs slowly gets worse and eventually the bike will struggle to start. When I had the GS - ABS start up faults were always an early sign that the battery was beginning to die. Optimisers are good at what they do - but they don't do everything.

Depends on where you're going and how much time you have. My usual strategy is to get to the best bits as quickly as possible. though having said that last year we did the exact opposite and heading first for the Somme - we used ordinary roads - no motorways from the tunnel and basically wandered south east to our eventual first stop at a place called Sezanne. This then put us within easy reach for day two of the French Alps We were doing perhaps 200 miles per day give or take and camping so there was no need for pre-booking or having to stop early to find a room. just a matter of - when the time was right, looking for the nearest campsite and rolling up. So that meant the days could be fairly long and completely stress free. Better fuel milage as we didn't use motorways. no tolls to pay. easy. Once you get south of Paris.. or its line of latitude the landscape gets a lot more interesting. though I was not disappointed by the route we took from the Tunnel on day one. And our first campsite was only €7 and walking distance from the town centre for a meal.

I’m far too busy spending money on”expensive ornaments” to think about bike gear. But having said that I have some history with Oxford clothing. I don’t own anything made by them now and I wouldn’t list anything made by their clothing arm as an option for me. Nothing.

I will keep that in mind the next time we are wandering the streets of Eperney late at night.

European breakdown - absolutely frabjous. Congratulations to all concerned. Reading all that I was in the edge of my seat, poised at a moments notice to rush out and buy some travel sickness meds. Huge sighs of relief and a lowered risk of palpitations. No alcohol was consumed. 10/10 your mother must be so proud.

I don’t have an immediate answer. Older bikes are often tricky. The devil hidden in the small print. However, it can sometimes be best to go with a specialist - you might pay more, but when your bike is something of an outlier then this is mostly just part of the landscape you inhabit. Carole Nash have always dealt with insuring older bikes. There are other insurers that do the same, for example Footman James. And their comprehensive policies normally include full rescue services. Both at home and in the EU. Not simply roadside. Or carriage to the nearest garage. But they will take you home and if necessary pick the bike up from your home and deliver it to your designated garage at a convenient time. it might be that the ease of dealing with a specialist who covers all eventualities goes some way to offset the higher premium cost.

If they carry no branding then you’re stuck I’m afraid. They could easily be fake “made in Italy” from a website like aliexpress or temu. soft panniers generally have loops on top, usually two of them for straps to go through and these straps lies across (or occasionally under) the pillion seat. if they don’t have these attachment points then they might have been sold with the purpose of sitting on the lid of metal panniers as a little extra capacity. It’s difficult to tell without seeing them in the flesh - so to speak.

After almost 6 years, seems the best way to maintain the battery in my bike is to ignore it completely. Though I imagine the fact that it has nothing connected that might be drawing power has helped. Somewhat.