April 2011 euro moto adventure!

[Wavex]

Cali Rider and I are currently planning a Motorcycle trip in Europe (mainly in France).

We are most likely going to rent bikes in Paris and pick them up on Thursday morning April 14th, 2011. The plan is to be on the road from April 14th through April 22nd (9 days on the road!!!!).

The loop I am envisioning right now goes something like:

Paris => La Rochelle (West Coast) => Arcachon/Bordeaux (West Coast) => Toulouse (South West) => Marseille (French Riviera) => Nice/Monaco (South East, French Riviera) ======== and then go back up through the Northern part of Italy, thru the Swiss or French Alps, and then to Paris again via Strasbourg (North East of France).

Questions:

- Any American on this forum ever ship a bike to Europe? I'd be curious to get some lead-time and price details...

- Any American/European on this forum ever rent a bike in France? Any recommendations/advice?

- Any French, Italian, Swiss...etc forum members who would have advice for us in terms of roads to ride, things to see, stops to make, ppl to meet, beer to drink, etc etc.....? (I am already working with friends/family to come up with our best itinerary, but any advice is welcome, especially for the Italian & Swiss legs of the trip),

- Any French, Italian, Swiss...etc forum member who'd be up to be our guide for a day when we pass through your region?

Any advice is welcome.

Thanks all!

 

[lonesoldier84]

Northern part of Italy will probably be the highlight of that trip in terms of roads, methinks.

Good luck, that sounds like it's going to be brilliant.

 

[lytehouse]

Sounds like quite an adventure! Can't wait to hear and see pics from this trip! :thumbup:

 

[Norbert]

Wavex and Cali Rider's Excellent Adventure

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Well it seems every year, somebody keeps raising the bar as far as roadtrips. Well, it's a good thing for John that David speaks French.

The entire forum will be watching this thread, interesting to see how many forum members you will get to meet on the otherside of the pond.

 

[AngelFZ]

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!

This is more like a dream!!!!!!
The awesome roads, the great food, the marvelous scenery...


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[Lefty]

This is going to be good! :rockon:

I'm totally envious though....

 

[Wavex]

Thanks guys, this should be a great adventure....

John and I have been talking about doing this for quite some time... it just so happens that I have a business trip scheduled for France the week of April 14th (total coincidence I swear on my FZ6) :BLAA: :cheer:

 

[Motogiro]

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!

This is more like a dream!!!!!!
The awesome roads, the great food, the marvelous scenery...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Those were my thoughts. More like a dream! What an awesome adventure it will be! Wow!

"Bring me back a toy!!!!"

 

[DefyInertia]

Excited for you guys.

So the passes in the Alps are rideable in April? Pretty cool.

 

[lytehouse]

Thanks guys, this should be a great adventure....

John and I have been talking about doing this for quite some time... it just so happens that I have a business trip scheduled for France the week of April 14th (total coincidence I swear on my FZ6) :BLAA: :cheer:

Did I miss something????
Did you get another FZ6?

 

[yukon_alex]

Take a look at this shipping company. No, I have not used them but I would like to! You can book a seat for yourself on the same airplane as your bike. Too cool.

Motorcycle Express - Ship Your Bike

 

[Wavex]

So the passes in the Alps are rideable in April? Pretty cool.

We'll let you know

Did I miss something????
Did you get another FZ6?

Negative........ (the business trip wasn't really a coincidence lol but shhhhh)

Take a look at this shipping company. No, I have not used them but I would like to! You can book a seat for yourself on the same airplane as your bike. Too cool.

Motorcycle Express - Ship Your Bike

Awesome thank you! I just emailed these guys for a quote... :thumbup:

 

[lytehouse]

Negative........ (the business trip wasn't really a coincidence lol but shhhhh)

:spank: I thought so! But if you have to be there anyway, might as well make it fun as h*!! Right?!?
Can't wait for your report...my husband has been toying with the idea of the Alps for awhile.

 

[Wavex]

Northern part of Italy will probably be the highlight of that trip in terms of roads, methinks.

You've ridden in France/Italy/Switzerland? You know the roads there? If you do, any advice is welcome right now.

I am looking at this Michelin site right now which lists the 85 best motorcycle itineraries in France... it's awesome!!! you can download all the PDF files and/or the GPS coordinates data!

Spécial: 85 virées à moto

I am already revising my preliminary itinerary to eliminate riding down the West Coast of France, as I hear the roads are really not that great there... lots of beautiful scenery, but roads are flat and boring, so we'll most likely make our way to the South of France through the Massif Central (big mountain range in the center of France) and through a region called Auvergne... apparently l'Auvergne is an amazing region to ride in (there are active Volcanoes to go check out in that region)... I am also pondering going to Corsica (small island off the French Riviera) for a couple of days of riding there... that would be pure sickness...

I also got this website to check road conditions in real time: Infotrafic®

The guy who gave me the link lives in the French Alpes and he told me April will be hit or miss in terms of going over Mountain passes... the good news is that he will be able to give us a detailed update/recommendation in early April based on how it will look at that time...

More updates soon....

 

[Wavex]

Take a look at this shipping company. No, I have not used them but I would like to! You can book a seat for yourself on the same airplane as your bike. Too cool.

Motorcycle Express - Ship Your Bike

Got the quote:

We can ship your uncrated motorcycle by airfreight as follows:
ONE-WAY from: Vancouver or Calgary TO London, Manchester, Glasgow, Frankfurt, Paris, Munich, Dublin, Lisbon
USD $1,995.00 per bike

ROUND-TRIP from: Vancouver or Calgary / London, Manchester, Frankfurt, Paris, Munich, Dublin
USD $3,990.00 per bike.

We are not shipping to/from the US at this time.

Guess we'll stick with renting or borrowing (I could buy a used motorcycle for the price of that round trip LOL) :thumbup:

 

[VEGASRIDER]

it just so happens that I have a business trip scheduled for France the week of April 14th (total coincidence I swear on my Buell) :BLAA: :cheer:

Cali Rider and I are currently planning a Motorcycle trip in Europe (mainly in France).


Questions:

- Any American on this forum ever ship a bike to Europe? I'd be curious to get some lead-time and price details...

Beutiful, can you say the word "Expense Report"

 

[Wavex]

hahahaha shhhhhhh

 

[marke14]

Wow this sounds like an epic journey! I hope to one day be able to do this kind of trip. :thumbup:

 

[rsw81]

So jealous of you guys! I totally miss riding with you guys and the roads out here suck big time. Ugh... I need to make a riding trip back to Cali sometime this Spring.