€300 is too much unless you think you are going to be stopped for speeding! I don't take anymore than €100, my Barclays Connect card works everywhere, so need for oodles of folding anymore.
Slug, me old fruit, you need a motorbike and a Eurostar ticket. And that is it. Riding abroad will scare the tits off you right up until you get off the train - and then it'll be the most natural thing you've ever done. You will kick yourself for not doing it sooner. Picky cops..? Stop reading the internets and learn to apologise. I've been stopped dozens of times abroad - get off the bike, take off your lid, and for fuck sake look repentant. In 25 years I've copped £17 in fines...
Hi Viz? Nope, GB Sticker? Nope, Reflective sticker? Nope, Spare bulbs? Nope. All the rest, Yep. But thats in France as they are the best roads aligned with a people who couldn't give a fuck as long as you don't ride like a twat through their town.
Not sure when you were planning to travel to the EU but for others reading this, don't forget to put a spare set of keys somewhere in your luggage. Keys are easily lost and unless you plan an expensive new ECU, a spare set is very welcome!
Germany has the best roads on the planet, end of. 30 ltrs carrying space will do you. Buy cheap disposable smalls and bin as you shower / change. Weare leathers and bring light but effective rain gear. Dont use tank bag. Always keep your phone charged. Keep breakdwon assist number just in case ( goes for all bikes not just a Ducati ). Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Waterproofs are defo what you need at the moment. It keeps lashing it down and it's freezing cold (snow at 2'000m). Sorry.
Passport, licence, insurance certificate, MOT - if required in UK, copy of log book. Be warned that speeding tickets will follow you home from EC countries; speed cameras are always to be found within a kilometre or two of each warning sign (worth a Google to find exact range/distance), no hardship to slow for a mile, or so, when you see the signs or until you spot the low grey boxes at the roadside. Continental police also tend to enforce observation of solid white lines when overtaking, so if there's one coming up and there are enforcers around, make sure you don't cross that line, even a bit - police carry chip and pin machines for on the spot fines (in my expensive experience!), so no need to carry cash just to cover that eventuality. Most major European countries are much more sparsely populated than UK so the policing is relatively lighter and less oppressive, however, knowing our lack of respect for their speeding laws, les French Flics like to lie in wait for us on slip roads and lay bys around the Channel ports, especially after bike events, when the volume of bikes guarantees rich pickings for the Gendarmerie. As with everything, just use your nous(e)
not sure whether green cards are still issued, but I'm sure you don't need them for EU proper, maybe some of the newer countries. I haven't carried one for many years. My insurances cover EU for social leisure etc. If your bike is fairly new it may well have breakdown cover for EU already, I have Ducati cover and RAC for Europe, if and when you want it, you want it fast. I never take original documents, colour photocopies only
Not true. I've set off literally hundreds of speed cameras across Europe and never got a single speeding ticket. However an ignored parking fine in Switzerland cost me dear in the end. As usual, common sense should prevail, wheelie past a school and you can fully expect retribution...
Perhaps you can explain how several fines have been demanded by the French authorities from 2 different friends of mine? One was actually requested to attend a court hearing in France and threatened with arrest next time he was detected to be in France unless they received their dues. I too have set off speed cameras in France, on one night time blitz to the Spanish border it was like being chased by some mad disco with all the flashing lights, but the lack of ugly retribution by the French State will have been due to luck, rather than a lack of teeth! The point I'm making is that you cannot take immunity from prosecution for granted - your experience varies to date, but does not mean they do not have the legislation, cooperative measures with the DVLA, or the judicial systems in place, nor does it make my statement untrue. Actually, re-reading what I said and in the interests of accuracy, I would change 'will follow you home' to 'can follow you home'
That's a bit more like it. If luck had a part to play I must be the luckiest man on earth; I've been batting through France since 1990, been stopped several times, set off a multitude of cameras, even raced a copper down an autoroute (he loved it!) and still I remain resolutely fine-free. The only fine I've ever had from speeding abroad was in Germany, and only amounted to £17. Perhaps it's true about cameras not registering over a certain speed... I've heard all sorts of scare stories on the internet about massive fines, bikes being impounded, etc, and I wonder how the hell these people managed to get themselves into such situations. It's totally at odds with my own personal findings. I can only put it down to one of two things: massively inappropriate behaviour on the bike, or massively inappropriate behaviour in front of the coppers.
I reckon you'll find that you can't rely on anecdotal evidence about what will or will not happen and should plan for worst scenario. Yes, if you do do ridiculous speeds and are caught in France by a real live copper, your bike can indeed be confiscated on the spot. You would expect this to happen if you were radar'd testing its top speed capability on an empty motorway... I reckon automatically generated fines will follow you home depending on where they have been generated. I bet it's like the UK with different police authorities and whereas one copper will see a British plate on his computer and delete the offence, another will be prepared to go through the hassle of finding out where you live. Here in Switzerland I have received retribution at home for my misdemeanours in Austria and France in the past - minor though they were. But last year, I was amazed not to receive any fines having hurried to a Chunnel train on the one hand, and got annoyed on the M25 on the other. I was expecting communications from France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the UK but nothing showed up. Luck. But I did sweat a bit. I'm not counting on being quite so lucky next time.
You must have been lucky then. I got two tickets when I was last driving in Austria and Switzerland in March
