Travelling to Europe

Diddums · 27 Sep 2023 at 08:53

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!)

Uther · 27 Sep 2023 at 09:13

Obvious is yellow vest,but that might go either way with the French cops.

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.

Diddums · 27 Sep 2023 at 09:24

Uther said:
Obvious is yellow vest,but that might go either way with the French cops.
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.

Cheers! Just looking in to their Crit'Air stuff too, apparently my bike "isn't eligible" :confused"

Uther · 27 Sep 2023 at 10:00

If the bike is euro 5 then I don't think you need one, but do some research on that!

Tykey · 28 Sep 2023 at 15:25

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).

Mr Jack · 20 Oct 2023 at 17:10

Diddums said:
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.

What kind of license do you have? If you only have a CBT it is not valid in Europe.

Diddums · 20 Oct 2023 at 19:28

Mr Jack said:
What kind of license do you have? If you only have a CBT it is not valid in Europe.

Full licence now.

This has been put on the backburner now until next year, the weather's too crap and I get my new bike in November anyway so it'd be silly to do it on a 125.

Zowghi · 29 Oct 2023 at 20:33

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.

Rimsy · 31 Oct 2023 at 11:50

Uther said:
Obvious is yellow vest,but that might go either way with the French cops.
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.

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...

Uther · 31 Oct 2023 at 11:57

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...

Pretty sure it is.

Rimsy · 31 Oct 2023 at 11:58

Uther said:
Pretty sure it is.

Guess I've just been very lucky! Eek

Mr Jack · 31 Oct 2023 at 11:59

Uther said:
Pretty sure it is.

Correct.

Uther · 31 Oct 2023 at 12:03

Rimsy said:
Guess I've just been very lucky! Eek

You have, the French police love dishing out fines.

agnes · 9 Jan 2024 at 10:05

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...

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...

iamtheoneneo · 10 Jan 2024 at 09:04

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.

McGray · 10 Jan 2024 at 15:58

iamtheoneneo said:
Snip

You can't post that without saying what it means!

poosemon · 10 Jan 2024 at 16:19

McGray said:
You can't post that without saying what it means!

"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.

Sauce: https://www.drive-france.com/faqs/get-your-priorities-right/

Nomisf · 6 Feb 2024 at 10:06

iamtheoneneo said:
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.

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.