Faith in my dominator? i journey round france

[oOReGoROo]

hi all,

me and my friends are going touring round france end of april. my friends are on cbr600's, im on my 1989 dommie.

haven't had the bike for long, my last dommie i found the whole engine was killed due to previous owner overheating and bodging the engine back together. so this has tainted my faith in the dommie engine, will my bike make it back from france?

it's done about 50k, starts and runs fine and hasn't used any oil as of yet. my friends want to sit at 80mph, which i think is too high for my bike, and im carrying 2 + camping gear. we going to end up doing 3000+ miles in the 2 weeks we're over there.

anyone have any advise? what oil? what speeds? what spares?

cheers roger

[Rubberchicken]

80 mph 2-up with gear sounds quite ambitious to me, you'd be going flat out all the time.

[oOReGoROo]

that's what i was trying to teel my friends. i said i'll do 70mph for first 2 days to get down south, but even that's pushing it. im also worried about oil usage, or pump failer (common problems i've heard).

[Scott]

I wouldn't tour round London let alone France on a Dommie...you'll be dead within a couple of days....death by sore buttocks.

The most comfortable seat, they aint!

[oOReGoROo]

thankfully i've had the seat repadded, and re-covered. so my ass is the least of my worries, lol

[catteeclan]

I think you should have the shock linkage apart for a check over and regrease, replace the rear wheel bearings if you haven't done them recently and fit new tyres if they're not almost new. You're carrying a lot of weight so these measures will help to keep you going and the new tryes will reduce the chance punctures. Take spare bulbs and do a FULL service on the engine.
I would be thinking of speeds around 60mph myself.

[oOReGoROo]

thank you for your good advice. will do all the above. so if i persade my friends to chill down to 60mph how often should i stop, check oil etc.

one plus is it shouldn't be too hot in april/may so that will give it a chance.

AA COVER IS A MUST, LOL

anything else i should know?

[Oly]

I must admit I don't understand people wanting to race down around anymore. I just like going around at comfy/safe speeds for me and my bike enjoying the countryside. Racing there and back just shortens the time I'm in the saddle enjoying my bike and the ride.

[catteeclan]

thank you for your good advice. will do all the above. so if i persade my friends to chill down to 60mph how often should i stop, check oil etc.

one plus is it shouldn't be too hot in april/may so that will give it a chance.

AA COVER IS A MUST, LOL

anything else i should know?

You're going to be stopping for petrol so why not check then and the chain adjustment. You should get an idea how many tank fulls to top up the oil and the same for the chain. So don't forget some tools.
AA has got to be a good idea. You never know what can happen.

Enjoy yourselves and bring back some pics for us.

[Rocketraz1982]

Ive rode all over europe on my dommie and its fine even with full Hepco and becker gobi panniers i was still sitting around 70mph on the motorways no problem.Regarding oil consumption keep it under 5000rpm and the amount it drinks is reduced by hell of alot.The main thing that gets me when im touring is the tank range i fill up around the 90-100mile mark ive just ordered a Acerbis tank 23l much better for long distance work.As said above just give the bike a once over oil filter air filter spark plug and wheel bearings and it should be fine.. good luck