Kwaka14

Its been hellishly cold here for a few months so have decided I needed to think about something other than the harsh winter and lack of bike or riding weather - so I am sitting here in Prague planning on touring Europe in late May for several weeks. The first thing is the bike (which is to be purchased) and am leaning towards and FJR1300/GTR1400/ST1300 or similar at this stage as I will have the wife on the back. The rough plan is to head south from Czech Republic crossing a few borders meandering our way down towards Greece then across to Turkey (subject to time) and back up to the Czech republic - somewhere around 12-16 countries dependent on the route. We will still have snow on the ground for the next few weeks (6 or so) so cant do much more on the bike front until things start to thaw some more. If anyone has any pointers or experiences to share please sing out.


In the last month I've made some huge progress, nearly ready to depart, its just unfortunate I'm a couple of months early - sadly it will be the end of May before it's holiday time. I spent the weekend before last shopping for gear and am now the proud owner of a nice set of Dianese leathers and some reasonable boots. (I left all of my gear in Auckland and am still waiting on my helmet - end of April maybe will need to get a cheapy here in the interim. The Bike!!!! finally some more traction, In my typical miserley style I have been working hard looking for the best deal on a bike here that I can (Europe is NOT a bike shopping paradise (or at least not a big bike paradise)). I have (actually my wife has- as the only Czech speaker), just made a deal on a slightly unusual choice (well I think anyway) for long distance touring. I am almost the owner of a 2007 Hayabusa. Need to modify it slightly for touring and have found I can't easily get pack racks and the like here (soft luggage is unpopular it seems) so will also order some hard luggage for it, and possibily some risers and then it just remains to start riding. The Czech Republic beckons in the mean time.
Sean.