Ferries now booked

You will be pleased to know that I have booked the ferry's, the Hotel in Besancon is sorted, I just need to organise a hotel for Calais. You should have recived an email confirming your boking reference...

Deposit's Received
Steve Jelly (Me)
Richard Miller (Topcat)
Pete (Busa boy)
Pete's mate
Pete's other mate
Taran Hughes (Triple Taz)
Dave Rimmer (Avian Blue)
Rich Helyer (Dr Rich)
Rupert Bassadone (Monkey)
Raf Barbalho (Raf)
Alan Boden (Geek SV)
Damien's (Omen)

That's 12 of us for those that can't count.....

Pete & his 2 mates have organised their own ferry and will be meeting us in Calais on Friday morning. If they have a problem, they will either catch us up or meet us in Besancon. For those of you who are not aware, Richard & I have decided to stay on a bit longer and are returning on the following Saturday after a little foray into Italy and the South of France. If anybody wants to join Richard & myself, give me a call and I'll confirm what our plans are.

We will need to get together before the trip and have a discussion about the trip in general. I would like to suggest Sunday the 9th May, which is the week after May Bank holiday, and just over 2 weeks before we go. If anyone thinks we should do this before we go please let me know.

For those of you who have not yet got their deposit to me there is still time, but I need your deposit before I can organise any more rooms at the hotel or book your ferry. You can, of course, do this yourself as all the information is on my web site, or I can get it to you. Pete & I will be running video's on our bikes, so we should get some decent footage, but if anyone else has a video, it would be handy as well.

Maps
I have invested in some decent Michelin "Regional" maps of France. They're a sort of orange colour, and I suggest maps 515 (Alsace & Lorraine), 520 (Bourgogne & Franche-Comte) and 523 (Rhone-Alps). They're about £4:50 each, available form WH Smiths and other bookshops. You may also want to get a general map of France as well.

Bikes
I suggest you have your bikes serviced a week or 2 before we go, and make sure your tyres are OK as we did 1440 miles last year. Remember, France don't have a problem with race cans, but German police can be iffy, and so can the Swiss. Our tours may take us into these countries so just remember to treat the Police with a bit of respect and we should all be OK. All of them get seriously upset if you go flying into villages. We had no problem last year, Richard & I were running full systems, and Dave has a pair of Rene's on his SV thou'….

So, I look forward to seeing you all on 9th May if not before, we just need decide where (another BBQ at my place ???).

9th fine for me, any location.
I have to return at the end of the tour as will have some work to do
Thanks for this superb job you are doing.

I was thinking about going to Valencia for the opening European MotoGP.

I've never ridden abroad before and wanted to ask if you guys could give tips about preparation and luggage options for the SV650S K3.

Thanks in advance.

Steve

I cant make the 9th as I'm in Turkey, I'll try to catch you on the 30th of April at Soho.

Yup, I can't make the 9th either now - I'm gonna be off paragliding in Chamonix.

But I'm sure if there's anything contentious it'll get sorted out!

Dave

Steve,

9th is good with me!
Pub lunch / BBQ / Cafe, anywhere, as long as there's food.

If any of you know Infinity in Purley (formerly Riossi, formerly Motorcycle City, I was ordering my Gel seat this morning from their parts Dept & struck up a conversation with the guy which went something like this:

Me: Yeah, I'd like a Gel seat, I'm off to France in May & don't fancy walking like John Wayne when ever I get off my bike.
Bloke: Oh yeah, where abouts, I went last year in May & had a wicked time.
Me: I'm off with a group from the SV650 forum, we're going to Besancon which we will be using as our base, then travelling all around the Alps etc.
Bloke: That's where I went last year with my mates, one of whose parents live close by. There are some amazing roads out there, he then went on to tell me all about his trip & where he went & where he'd recommend we'd go. Really good advise.

He also said that in France, we are legally required to carry spair bulbs & some one must have a first aid kit?

I'll take a map down with me when I go & pick up my Gel seat in a week or so & pass the info. he gives me onto you Steve.

Cheers,

D.

Whoopsey!

That was me who posted above.

D.