BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

11 days to go until our annual Greece trip, and at the risk of sounding like British Rail in days of yore
“Calling at Folkestone, Coquelles, Chaumont, Caprie, and Forli before arriving at Ancona…” followed by overnight accommodation on Superfast Ferries to Igoumenitsa then onto Paleros.
A month there and then home again, bronzed and skint.

So we have:
Bike serviced and newly shod with Michelin’s finest. Clothing laid out prior to culling thus reducing the load to manageable levels.
Lots of ‘we must take this’ equipment sat to one side (see ‘culling’ above).
Euros, cards, passports, recovery/medical insurance
V5/MOT/ins packed in tankbag along with LeShuttle and ferry tickets, plus all docs backed up in phone of course.
Toll blipper thingy.
Acres of pills and potions , the joys of old age!
Contacts and spare specs.Charging leads and adapter… etc., etc.
The list goes on and on… but I know from experience that I’ll forget some damned thing!

Every year we set off, and on our return promise that we’ll look at the stuff we’ve taken and not used, and also promise to make a list of what we need to take for the next time. Needless to say we’ve done neither in the last 15 years of our travels.

So, just out of interest does anyone out there ever do these lists or have a special routine for pre-travel packing, or is it my OCD kicking in again?

I'm off to France for 10 days(Dordogne)if I survive 3 days in Blackpool after the Ace cafe to Barrow Dave day run.Then its the usual stuff,paperwork, spare safety glasses(bloody great things to wear on the bike,suprised more don't wear them)Top box full of tools,waterproofs and the
like,then I get 1 pannier (2 this year cos she isn't going)get in what I can,which usually consists of shorts,few t shirts,bit of underwear and more shorts.
Will take me blip toll thingy,though I can't remember where you said to mount it.And it's pack the day before,whereas the other half starts to pack her pannier a week before,women
No set routine and I tend to remember everything, unless I forget it and then it doesn't matter

Enjoy ya trip Steve

How about here? I thought it may work there ok, it’s about the only half straight bit facing frontwards (is that a word?)
Have fun on your trip matey

Enjoy your trips Gents.

Without wanting to sound like my Mrs...... Enjoy it, have fun and be safe

I have a spare mount,I'll go and find the flattest spot at the front there is.I could have sworn you had it on your person,or was that somebody else.

Cheers Michaelc

burridge01 wrote: ↑Fri May 17, 2024 3:16 pm I have a spare mount,I'll go and find the flattest spot at the front there is.I could have sworn you had it on your person,or was that somebody else.

You’re right, last year I put it in the zipped pocket that holds the CO2 canister on my air vest where it worked pretty well.

When I first got the blipper I unsuccessfully searched for a suitable location on the bike, but have now found the one the pic shows. Post it up if you find a better one.

Where you have it Steve, did it work at the tolls OK.Cant work out whether you've tried it yet.I'll be over the garage later for a look

Not tried it yet, but we had one positioned on the windscreen of an MX5 that we took through France and Italy a few years back and that worked a treat. So having it on the front of an RT fairing should work too… we hope.

I did wonder if it would be better placed where the Crit’air sticker is on the photo, but I haven’t got time get another one and it was a pain to fit the sticker there anyway, so I wasn’t going to even try it.

My only concern is that the gluey stuff may melt in the 30c temps and the last I’ll see of the blipper is as it disappears over my shoulder at high speed!

Probably going to be in the same boat Steve.I found a flat spot on the screen and stuck it on.





As you say,heat could well be an issue,so I may make up a lanyard of some description just in case.We went through France at Christmas/New year in the sprinter and had no problem,time will tell

As a side note,I couldn't find me spare clip so ordered another 2(minimum order)then I promptly found it If you need/want a spare clip you can have one of the ones coming,free of charge.

Ta mate

I just put my tag into the left arm / wrist key pocket on my EnduroGuard jacket, seemed to work OK

We've done a lot of touring since 2015 , most of it overseas but during covid we just toured in the UK. The Mrs likes to film these trips and I'm always asked why I'm wearing the same three T shirts and two pairs of trousers. Those clothes look pretty ordinary but they're from Rohan or similar and are made from what they call "Technical" fabrics meaning that they're light,stretchy, breathable but most importantly quick dying. A lot of our trips involve moving on every one or two days, so when we get to the hotel, it's charge devices and off into the shower taking the clothes in with you and washing them in there. I'm fine with soap but the Mrs has travel bottles of washing liquid. Wring the clothes out then roll them up in a towel and walk the remaining moisture out. Put onto a hanger or on the balcony if you have one. Shirts and T shirts dry in a couple of hours, trousers, usually by morning., and best of all no ironing. You can buy socks and underwear made from the same stuff but I just buy the thinnest cheapest I can find as they dry fast.
Easy for us blokes and the ladies will never go for that,right? This it true There's loads of packing videos on Youpube and she's even made one herself. If that's not enough, you know how much they like to buy more while they're there so just let her. You'll find a way to strap it to the bike for the way home. Or else....

100% agree Do you put your videos on You tube? If so a link pls!

I remember on our first French tour in the 90’s I had the ZX10 with 2 humongous Krauser panniers, an equally sized topbox, and a triple-decker tank bag, all filled them to capacity. It must have weighted a bliddy ton and we used about a third of what we’d taken.

Over the years the luggsge load has decreased dramatically with the advent of technical clothing and the like, but we’re still subject to the occasional ‘let’s take that too…’ moment.

Like you my clothing these days is virtually all technical, merino, or bamboo, purely for comfort and ease of washing/drying. I’m also blessed with my wife having backpacked around India in her youth and thus embraces the concept of minimal packing. She doesn’t do cosmetics or multiple pairs of shoes, and is content to limit herself to 5kgs of luggage for the whole holiday.

TBH the biggest packing pain is the ‘what-if’ stuff that you haul along in the hopes of never using - replacement bulbs/puncture repair kits/tyre inflators/a very small selection of tools/waterproof outers and gloves of course, plus whatever you deem useful/essential in your case.

I did try some vacuum bags on a 5 week tour of the EU in 2010, they were OK for about 2 weeks and then began to leak/fail, and what had been tightly packed with vacuum bags became over packed without, so that went into the ‘didn’t work’ bin. My wife would always pack using carrier bags, which I hated, but I’m now onto compression sack packing for the first time this year. However it should be appreciated by your loved one (and mine) that less bulk (thanks to the compression sacks) doesn’t equal less weight, so that’s not an excuse to take more clothes!

Load em up

I saw this on a Greek ferry a few years ago, it fell over when he put it on the side stand.