newbie what to bring

[gttjohn]

hi all just doing some research on what to bring on a bike trip dublin- barcelona this is how we are going..... dublin to france ferry then to paris then to the far side of france to the med side then to barcalona and back. soom of you guys have done simular trips what tools and parts should we bring there is a vfr 400 +two africa twins and one fireblade ( all honds) we plan on camping or hostiling and will be going in april for about 10 days any info much appriciated guys thanks

[moon]

You know your bikes weak points better than anyone else & your own abilities, the bestest tool kit in the world is useless in the hands of someone who thinks a screw driver is for stirring paint with...

but when I'm doing a long trip on the tralp I take a basic toolkit : small socket set,2 screwdrivers (1 cruciform, t'other blade) leatherman, spanners for chain adjustement, small adjustable, zip ties, mole grips, length flexi pipe, gaffer tape,earth tester & torch. Anything I can't bodge at least temporarily with that is probably beyond me anyway so I'll call the breakdown insurance. I am still looking for a lightweight, folding BIG HAMMER...

Spares wise, a universal cable with it's end fittings will be going into my kit very soon. A spare clutch / brake lever would be a good idea if you can find one that will fit either way up (either side) & head & rear light bulbs. Again, anything more than that is either going to get in the way or be beyond me again. If you're on tubeless tyres, then a puncture repair kit is small & potentially very useful (they have a hole borer, some rubber meches, some glue & a couple of mini compressed air canisters in them)

hope that helps.

[Lutin]

I carry a set of replacement bulbs, pair of large(ish) tyre levers, puncture repair kit, a couple of spanners that are not covered in the tool kit (for the extras that I've fitted), zip ties, insulation tape, bag of spare fuses, multimeter, hand pump, zip lock bags (very useful in all sorts of situations), oil for my scottolier. And probably a few other bits that I've forgotten for the moment.

On the subject of spare bulbs, I believe that it is a legal requirement in some EU countries to carry these. Me, I just think that it's common sense.

[Ashley M]

I would agree with the other posts on what to take, once you have decided what tools your taking, before you start your trip only use those tools you have picked to do routine jobs on you bike, ie adjusting your chain, cables and taking your wheels off and take off any panels you need for access, this way you can cut your tools down to what is really necessary and not take tools that you think you will need, also find out if all the bikes have tools, spare parts in common this will stop all of you carrying the same stuff , before you go give the bikes a good service and change anything that’s worn if you haven’t done it before change a tyre to get some practice as a motorway is no place to learn, I carry tubes for front and rear and a puncture repair kit but most of my riding is off road, on my Africa Twin I carried the spare clutch cable next to the working one so if it broke I only had to fit the ends to be on the road again, I also carry a gear level as you can get by without a rear brake but not gears, one last thing when you pack all your gear, tools and clothes pack the bags with space to spare as I find when you repack them in the morning after camping they never seem to pack as well as when you do it in the comfort of you home, this will also leave room for the piece offering when you get home and tell her it was great fun and you are going to do a big bike trip every
year with your mates
You can see what i get up to on YouTube click on the link DHholidays

[gttjohn]

thank you very much guys ide suppose its realy common sense tools are a deff spare bulbs spare tubes and various small parts.. my god the price mettle side boxes are expensive im going to make my own and ill have to make my foot rests at least 3x bigger,im getting real excited now roll on april + i cant belive my wife doesent mind ill hav to bring her back somthing nice (gohnareea) only joking thanks again

[Zenarchy]

I came back from europe recently, and a few things that I didn't take, but that would have proved really helpful were:

* A european/international sim card. MUCH cheaper calls and texts to the UK, and free to receive calls (unlike my uk sim card). For example : Cheap International calls with a roaming SIM card: SIM4travel , International SIM Cards from GOSIM™ - cheap mobile calls from abroad, MAXroam - Cheaper International Roaming for Mobiles and Cell Phones - there are others too so worth searching google for the best deal). This would have saved me a LOT of wasted money

* A POI file for your gps (ideally), or a printed list of bike dealerships for the manufacturer of your bike in the countries you're visiting. Hopefully you won't need it but takes up no space, and may be handy (trying to find somewhere to fix my steering head bearings and buy back brake pads after them sticking and wearing down was a pain with my poor language skills). If you find yourself in need of fluids, brake pads, cables, replacement visor etc. then a general bike store list might be handy too (there's probably a chain in france and spain - I found a good one in germany called 'polo') - will be much cheaper for such things than main dealers.

* Obvious thing but easy to forget - A small pocket phrase book or dictionaries if you don't know the languages (or maybe a translator/dictionary installed on your phone). Rushed off without these and couldn't find any over there. By the end of my trip I was speaking English, French, German,Swiss, Italian and Dutch, often all in the same sentence, accompanied by a bad mime-artist act, usually eliciting an "are you on drugs? Where is the person who looks after you?" look from the poor sods who were trying to understand me. Thankfully the word for 'Beer' sounds the same in every language I discovered

* A big map that has all of the countries you're visiting on one single fold out page/sheet. I took an A3 size AA europe book, and although OK (glad I didn't get the A4 one at least!), doesn't really give a great overview and sense of scale or distance as you're constantly flicking pages (particularly in the corner bits - though the bigger scale is handy at times). If you're planning to visit or pass through any mountainous/hilly areas try to get a map that shows terrain clearly, or do a few print screens from google maps in the terrain view and make your own. The AA map was rubbish at showing the terrain clearly and I missed some good places as a result in retrospect.

* Couple of spare tent poles and a bit of wire to thread them (wire is important - almost impossible to do without it). Couple of quid on ebay, don't take up much space, light to carry. Fibreglass poles splinter and are hard to repair. Bodged mine up with gaffa tape and tent pegs each night, which saved me from a soaking, but much more convenient to fix them properly just once in the dry somewhere. Plus the length of stiff twisted wire in the repair kit doubles up as something strong and heat proof to bind/tie things if you get stuck.

* Sun cream - obvious but I forgot it and oddly it was much harder to find than I expected, particularly considering how hot it was in some of the places I visited (maybe I was just unlucky). When I did find it, it was very expensive (by then my nose had actually started bleeding so I decided to stump up the cash or risk looking like this fella : http://www.memorabletv.com/dvdreview...tective300.jpg). I was already well on my way by the time I got the sun cream. Though I did have a good tan by the time I got home Visor shaped though

Some things that I did have that proved very useful:

* CaxtonFX card - Currency Cards - No ATM Fees,Best Exchange Rates,MasterCard,money,forex rates, prepaid,travel money,foreign exchange,exchange currency,money exchange - really handy, easy to load money onto from your regular bank account and get balances via text, phone call or online, more secure than carrying lots of cash, best exchange rates guarantee, no transaction fees or atm withdrawl fees (apart from withdrawing when back in the uk or in a none euro currency - read the small print). Accepted everywhere I went and helped me out of trouble a couple of times when I found myself without enough cash on me. Much better than using my regular bank card (where they'd have charged me for everything possible and it wouldn't have been accepted in as many places). Few other cards like this from other places too but this one seemed to offer the best deal at the time I looked, all things considered. You're not protected in the same way as with a credit card though so best not to put too much money on it and just load it up as you go (if you load it up via text remember to delete the texts after you send them too incase your phone gets stolen - if you use something like this that is).

* Gaffa tape - already mentioned I know but can't stress this one enough! Would have been lost without it. Several times.

* Spare fuses (don't think anyone mentioned this yet?).

* Spare split link/retaining pin for your chain if you can get one. Didn't need this myself, but was nice to have and only a £5er. Maybe handy to have for riveted chains too incase there's a problem?

* Self amalgamating silicone tape - better than insulating tape and gaffa tape for some jobs, small and light to carry - screwfix sell it. A small roll of extra electrical wire doesn't take up much space, and might be handy too, if anything gets burned (guy I was with part of the way had this happen unfortuantely - though it was his own fault for rushing and wiring something directly unfused when a fuse blew really).

* "Archies Europe" campsites POI files (ARCHIESCAMPINGS) if any of you are taking a GPS. Apart one campsite that turned out not to be a campsite despite the tent sign (not sure what it was - hunting lodges or possibly people living in shacks there by the looks of things), it was a brilliant help. At least it was once I'd managed to gaffa tape a power lead up the side of my bike for the gps. Ride around all day till it starts to get dark, turn on the gps and just about wherever you are, a list of campsites will pop up within easy reach (usually no more than half an hour away - very often closer and several to choose from).

I know these aren't all tools/parts like you were asking, and you might already know about these things (was my first time this year so big learning experience for me) - but perhaps there might be something helpful there. Good luck with the planning. I'm sure you'll enjoy your trip

[gttjohn]

thankyou all very much this has opened my eyes to how stuck between a rock and a hard place one can become if you dont bring the right things. a gps with camping destinations is a must as is gaffer tape and wire i think ill bring one of thoes electronic translators also, because i can only speek english and a small amount of irish and polish . there is somthing very attracting about having to rough it its kinda like a survival course. well the bike is fully serviced brakes rebuilt ,pads chain and sprokets, carbs ballanced renthal bars new tyres oils all changed ,frame cold galvanised ,new grips , now all i have to do is make a frame to mount my back boxes on im going to use to old ammunition boxes ill post pics as i go along ooo im also in the process of welding twin pipes (one over one under) on one side purely cosmetic should look cool ok guys talk soon and thanks again.

[Zenarchy]

I wouldn't worry too much about being stuck. I rushed off much less prepared than I should have, and a few things went wrong, and you just muddle through.

Something I forgot to mention is to get travel insurance that includes medical costs and repatriation of you and your bike in the case you have an accident (I used carole nash who also cover for theft and other damage I think - though there are others). When doing that, you need to make sure it covers you for bikes over 125cc (many regular insurers don't in the small print or when asked). If you've got that and breakdown cover, then you're protected a bit if the worst happens and it's worth it just for the peace of mind I think, even if you (hopefully) never have to use either.

If you don't have comprehensive travel insurance and you get hurt and need treatment or to be flown home, then the costs can run into thousands from what I've heard, and the EHIC card (also worth looking into if you don't already have one) doesn't cover you for everything. For an extra £50 or less (depending where you go), it's probably well worth it just incase.