I'm thinking of going to the Dolomites summer 2016 on my Panigale and need some advice, as it will be my first time aboard on my bike. What soft luggage do you recommend? I'm concerned about running out of petrol when away from the motorways. Is it ok to carry a jerry can of petrol on the back of the bike or will there be no need as petrol is plentiful? What paperwork should I take with me? What spares, if any? General tips on what to watch out for? Cheers Steve
Ventura luggage. Petrol (tank capacity) will not be a problem. Documents: Log book, insurance certificate, drivers license, breakdown details Tools: Just a socket for the rear wheel nut, in case you get a puncture and have to go to a tyre depot. Tie-wraps and some gaffer tape are always useful to have. Travel light; don't pack things for every eventuality; buy any thing that you need and didn't bring with you.
Cannot talk for the Dolomites, but in most of Europe they have petrol stations all over over the place. I manage to get around the south of France on my small tank 848 without ever running out of fuel. On my 848 I sorted luggage problems out by using the back seat, see Ducati SBK luggage – Ducati ST. That will only work if you are without passenger and have fitted a cowl leaving the old rear seat to mess with.
Cheers Bob What a great idea, not sure about if that's possible on the Panigale narrow pad. It would give more security to mounting a large 50ltr Dry tail bag etc.
I carried a 5l can of petrol all the way to southern italy and it was a complete waste on time as there's always a petrol station. I did come close to needing it a few times but never actually used it. The Kriega stuff was rock solid. It wrecked the inner plastics a bit which I replaced when I got back but it was worth the trouble. The bike was more than happy to do silly stuff as well, although it did feel ten times better once I'd removed the great lump on the back.
Now that looks like something that you could work with there royalwithcream. My 848 may look strange with the top box fitted, but it saves me room in the garage, it means that I don't need to have a sports tourer as well as the 848. The wife and I have 5 bikes between us already and she wants an ST3 to add to the stable.
I saw the Kriega bags at the show fitted to a panigale, very impressed, looks like you didn't need bungee cords either. Like your photos, can't wait
This was before Kriega brought out the Panigale kit as well. My rear straps were attached underneath to the tail tidy so I'm not sure what Kriega have done for those. You'll love the trip, the roads are incredible down that way, perfect 1199 material
You'll love the trip, good advice above and don't worry about the fuel, if the light comes on switch to Wet mode..., Here's my 899 with Kreiga gear last summer to southern France. As usual I took too much gear so pack light and then pack lighter. Most bike shops have rear wheel nut adaptor or can get one locally, invest in puncture repair kit (see below). Enjoy and merry Christmas!
The Technophobes and more "Frugal" forum members will pooh-pooh me on this but in 20 years of touring Europe the one thing that's made the biggest difference to me is a decent sat nav with audio connection (blue tooth) to my helmet. The added safety of being able to concentrate on my riding and not trying to f*ck around with maps, getting lost, etc. etc. is worth the world. I can unreservedly recommend TomTom (I use the iPhone app rather than the freestanding unit) which will even pick out great biking roads for you if you use the "winding roads" - "Medium" option. Don't worry about petrol, it's widely available. Other than that, get into a habit of chanting the mantra "Right hand side of the road. RIGHT HAND SIDE OF THE ROAD" very time you set off and you'll be fine. Enjoy!
Excellent advice... Also rather than chatting to yourself fix a cut out tape (electrical/cello/gaffa) arrow pointing to the right and fix it close to your clocks. Each time you ride away you'll see it and act accordingly, I hope.....
I agree with the GPS recommendation, it does not need to be a Tom tom as all of then use the same roads and many are much cheaper, your smart phone will do the job just as well. The only thing to be careful of is to know who is the boss, you and not the GPS. If you follow it blindly it will take you down dirt tracks in France to save a few hundred meters! I set mine to think that I am a bus for both the bike and the car. Right hand side is no problem for me as it is the natural side to ride on. We had a chap visit us a few years ago on a Honda riding solo, after a couple of days he set off southwards on a Sunday. The next thing that we had was an email from his wife saying that on that Sunday he had pulled out of a junction, near Toulouse, on the wrong side of the road and hit a truck. It was a very sad time for us but shows how easy it can be to ride on the wrong side of the road.
A long long time ago I was at the Nurburgring. I set off for home on my own very early in the morning and had an uneventful ride along the 258 into Blankenheim. I turned left to take the shortcut through the the village centre. It's a very narrow street. At the other end I emerged back onto the empty main road and continued on my way. After a couple of minutes of riding on the deserted road I spied a small van coming towards me, on my side of the road! As we got closer I realised that he wasn't going to move over and I rode onto the verge to avoid him. Only then did I understand that it was ME that was on the wrong side of the road! I had to stop for a few minutes to regain my composure...
