Three months around Europe

In early May I leave the mild winter of the Coromandel to spend three months riding my motorbike around Europe.

My route will take me from the UK, through the D Day beaches, down the Atlantic coasts of France and Spain, then Portugal. In mid June I will spend a week or so with friends in Spain, then it is off along the Med Coast to the sights of Italy, ferry to Greece , then through the Dalmatian coast , across to Austria, Czech Republic , Poland then up to the Baltic states . I will then visit a bit of Russia then back to through Germany and Holland to the UK.

I know it sounds a bit exhausting -t in distance it is around 12000 km. And really that is only around 150km a day. But I want to sniff the roses so I will be putting in some long days on the boring bits.

I will be riding a V strom 650 which I have already purchased through E bay. I chose this bike because I already own a V strom 1000 so am familiar with the riding position. It is the touring model with the hard luggage, ABS, centre stand, heated grips etc.

The dealer is only 30 km from my home base, is well established and offers a six month no quibble warranty. My experience with my current bike has been very positive .

I will alternate between camping and hotels. Last year I rode my pushbike from Istanbul to Aberdeen. Initially I stayed in hotels in Eastern Europe but once I hit Austria I used camp sites. They were cheap, well equipped and welcoming. I met a number of bike and motorbike riders at these sites who were more than happy to share information.

My purpose in this blog is to keep my friends and family informed on the tour, I did this through a biking website last time and it worked well.

Perhaps my experiences will also help other riders planning a similar trip. So far it has been easy but an EU passport and my residency in the UK have helped ease my passage.

And if you have any tips or experiences that may help you. They will be gratefully received.