Europe Tour - Taking Bikes in a Van?
Discussion
... Has anybody ever done this? Me and a friend are looking to head to the Alps once again this summer on the bikes. However, last year we found the motorway stint down to Grenoble quite taxing so we were thinking about alternative options for this year and putting both bikes into the back of his van and driving down to a suitable start location seemed like a promising idea. Actually works out cheaper than riding down, with the added bonus of not squaring off the tyres!
My main concern is the security of the van whilst we are away on the bikes (although it is only an old 2003 heap) - I suppose we would be best paying a hotel or similar a nominal sum for he privilege of being able to park the bike for a week or so?
The other option would of course be to just take the twisty route down to wherever we're going but I'm slightly more reluctant to do that as my attitude is generally just get to the good routes as soon as possible! But if there's something I'm missing about the van plan then this would I think be plan B.
Any comments appreciated!
My main concern is the security of the van whilst we are away on the bikes (although it is only an old 2003 heap) - I suppose we would be best paying a hotel or similar a nominal sum for he privilege of being able to park the bike for a week or so?
The other option would of course be to just take the twisty route down to wherever we're going but I'm slightly more reluctant to do that as my attitude is generally just get to the good routes as soon as possible! But if there's something I'm missing about the van plan then this would I think be plan B.
Any comments appreciated!
Charlie Croker mk2 said:
Obviously dont know where you are in the UK ? but its going to take quite a bit longer to get into central France in a van than on your bikes . Spirit of adventure and all that !
Seriously what I do from the Manchester area is leave home at mid day , Calais by 6pm and stay overnight at either Saint Quentin or Reims . ( Go accor hotels.com ) and the next day is so easy with a early start you can be in Grenoble or Chambery by mid to late afternoon .
Seriously what I do from the Manchester area is leave home at mid day , Calais by 6pm and stay overnight at either Saint Quentin or Reims . ( Go accor hotels.com ) and the next day is so easy with a early start you can be in Grenoble or Chambery by mid to late afternoon .
Wedg1e said:
We've talked about it but our usual modus operandi is to get the Hull-Rotterdam ferry and write off Day 1 as a motorway thrash.
Our record for Day 1 was 575 miles.
It's a pain about the tyres (and the fuel of course, most bikes do about 40mpg at best) but you can break the monotony by swapping bikes which gives a different set of muscles a workout (unless you all ride head-down, ar53-up of course).
We live around 100 miles from Dover so our approach in the past has been to bomb it down to the port for an early (6-8am) ferry and then do the motorway stint thereafter. Last year we only made it to Dijon before we were absolutely buggered, but I think some of that was to do with the heat (August heatwave, 35 degrees+) on the motorways.Our record for Day 1 was 575 miles.
It's a pain about the tyres (and the fuel of course, most bikes do about 40mpg at best) but you can break the monotony by swapping bikes which gives a different set of muscles a workout (unless you all ride head-down, ar53-up of course).
I've done plenty of long first day euro drives in the past so reckon the van would be a bit comfier for the boring stint.
The swapping bikes thing isn't a bad idea at all actually, although slightly impractical for us as we are both just under 25 our policies won't cover riding other bikes! Will employ that in future though...
TvrJohn said:
Was only reading about a group called the old gits, here on p heads, which were taking 3 trailers/vans with bikes to similar part of the world as yourselves.
Total number of bikes was 26 i recall
Do a word sarch on here, to track the information
That's really useful, thank you. Will take a look.Total number of bikes was 26 i recall
Do a word sarch on here, to track the information
Killboy said:
Split up the trip to the Alps. We head nearly more fun on the roads to the Alps than in the alps itself. One way hit the B500 and Blackforest runs, and the other a massive B Road boogie through lovely bits of france. Sure, it adds 2 days or so each way, but well well worth it.
You don't by any chance happen to have your route for the france bit do you? I think we'll probably go through the Black Forest on the way there but would be nice to come back through more scenic France.Just to pick up on some other points -
black-k1 thank you for that info. Interestingly next year we were investigating ways to get 4 bikes onto a trailer. Hadn't thought about using a flat bed! Our preference really is Spain this year but annoyingly all the good value ferries have booked up for when we can go so we'd be lookng at a ~£400ish return each. I think it's probably a little too far to ride to but the van could be a way of doing it. I actually don't mind the motorway too much - yes it's a little boring but my bike (Speed Triple) with an Airhawk I actually find pretty comfy. Friend however owns a head down arse up so ends up a cripple quite quickly!
Andybow - thank you so much for your offer, I'll drop you a message once we've got more firm plans in place if that's the route we decide to go down!
CQ8 thank you, I'll take a look at that but at first glance it seems to probably be the most expensive option (if potentially the most convenient!) so I imagine we'll stick to the overland approach.
black-k1 thank you for that info. Interestingly next year we were investigating ways to get 4 bikes onto a trailer. Hadn't thought about using a flat bed! Our preference really is Spain this year but annoyingly all the good value ferries have booked up for when we can go so we'd be lookng at a ~£400ish return each. I think it's probably a little too far to ride to but the van could be a way of doing it. I actually don't mind the motorway too much - yes it's a little boring but my bike (Speed Triple) with an Airhawk I actually find pretty comfy. Friend however owns a head down arse up so ends up a cripple quite quickly!
Andybow - thank you so much for your offer, I'll drop you a message once we've got more firm plans in place if that's the route we decide to go down!
CQ8 thank you, I'll take a look at that but at first glance it seems to probably be the most expensive option (if potentially the most convenient!) so I imagine we'll stick to the overland approach.
Thanks everyone for your helpful replies. As it turns out we now for various reasons can no longer use the van! Doh...
So looks like we shall be riding down or taking the autotrain as linked above. Has anyone had much experience of riding down to the Pyrenees? Portsmouth - Le Havre seems like a good ferry that would perhaps cut off 100 miles or so. Investigating all the options!
So looks like we shall be riding down or taking the autotrain as linked above. Has anyone had much experience of riding down to the Pyrenees? Portsmouth - Le Havre seems like a good ferry that would perhaps cut off 100 miles or so. Investigating all the options!
G Man said:
Here is a crazy fast route to the Swiss Alps, Motorway to Reims and then fast A roads which were great fun to Mulhouse, including Biker hotels
https://drive.google.com/open?id=14GIMeOvO9GDvVMpE...
That's really helpful, thank you!https://drive.google.com/open?id=14GIMeOvO9GDvVMpE...
BobSaunders said:
Are you just using disc locks to secure the bikes or chains on the continent?
I'd hate the idea of having to carry chains..
We usually take 1 long chain between 3/4 bikes then lock all the wheels together. Not the most secure admittedly but better than nothing, and probably better than 3/4 individual disk locksI'd hate the idea of having to carry chains..
Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff