125cc Touring

Oh, and on the subject of maps, get one of these -

http://www.tuffmap.co.uk/

They are far better than the paper version and are waterproof. A bit small scale but ideal for when you've taken an alternative route you didn't intend to (AKA got lost).

Cheap homemade ammo boxs panniers....

Thanks for the suggestions, we're both currently looking into panniers for the France trip.
Most of the ones we've seen are huge and look a bit daft on our bikes.

In the photo, there is a lot of unused space, but this was probably taken on a day when the tents were already off the bikes. The yellow bag you can see is actually a 50l waterproof pack liner, so there's plenty of room in there to allow for extra kit. So long as it fits under the cargo net.

One issue we still have, is being able to get off the bikes and wander around some of the French cities. It's not a problem in the more rural areas, but when we're away from the bikes for a long time in cities, we'll need an easy way to take the gear with us for security.
For this, I like the idea Mortis suggests of a rucksack strapped to the pillion. Again, so long as it can be made secure. I imagine it will be heavy and will stick out a fair way each side. I guess it's another thing to add to the list of tests to carry out on our test ride in a couple of weekend's time.

before, my travels are like this....




it was a pain in the ass to contantly strap and unstrap the cargo...

Those panniers look great! Have you got any more details on how you mounted them to the bike?

Getting a box is pretty straight forward, however, the bit I'm struggling with is mounting the box on the bike!

Any more pics or advice would be really helpful!

AJT2, where abouts in L**ds are you? I'm from Bradford but I work in Stourton. If you need help making brackets, let me know and I'll see if I can help.



Being from Bradford, I struggle to type L**ds

Great RR! That's the beauty of this "thing" we do....you don't have to have all the farkles and horsepower to still have a great time and a fine adventure. Underboning was kidding you because he and his wife rode around the world on a pair of Symbas!! There's a young american riding in Spain right now on a pretty small displacement machine....he has a rr going under the nom de moto of "PorLaTierra"....and he seems to get around okay, though I think most of his trips do not involve carrying much gear. A couple of Americans rode two-up with camping gear on a Ninja 250 and made it all the way down into Argentina IIRC. Their report might be here, or else at the other place, but it just goes to show how capable small bikes can be! Looking forward to this next journey!

Thanks for the offer!

Do you think I need to get some welding gear to fabricate a custom bracket or is there a way to do so without welding?

you can get a universal custom screen for £40-£50 on ebay that fits onto the handlebars. A cheap set of acerbis hand guards will help with the wind hill on the finger greatly £15.

125er myself, always a big adventure

Hi, thanks, i will try to put some photos of the mountings, in the ammo box i screwed an reinforced L bracket, then i join the L brackets to each other welding an steel bar with 1 centimeter thickness by 4 of diameter,and screwed the bar in to the rear seat peg mounts..

Volksg what kinda bike is the blue one in yer pics....

Diabolic,,, read yer report an great pics,, i had a van van last year,, wish ad kept it....then just on the 5of the 5 bought it back...

johnny tall... when ye`s goin tae spain an stuff.??? read alll yer posts an pics,, they were great,,, i have a wee van van 125...looking to do a tour o Scotland, God willin this year. who knows.

thanks guys

PLEASE keep it coming

That was a good read, featured great scenery, and I like the bikes too. What sort of fuel mileage do the 125s get? That looks like a good, economical way to explore. I'm looking forward to more installments of your RR. More proof that "the wrong bike" really doesn't exist. Safe travels.

Come on man,what a wonderful plan,we all looking forward it...

Diabolic...please could ye help me, Im trying to register or log in to the Van Van uk owners club, i keep getting the message. THAT I CANNOT LOG IN AT THIS TIME, i have re logged in 20 times now saying i forgot my password, an they keep sending me new ones.. but I still cannot log in, they say if this persists, email an adminster...but i dont know how to...can ye help me get onto that site please.. im afk40 in there...sometimes it says im reactivated.. but i still cant do anything..im exasperated with the amount of times i try to log in.... thanks,. john

Well - The wait is over...

The trip is done. The little 125s have trekked across Europe.

I'll write up a new thread in the RR section, and also link from here.
It'll take some time to write.

In the meantime, here's a little teaser from the trip!

Crossing the Pyrenees between Spain and France at 1,700m.


Full RR coming soon to an adventure motorcycling forum near you...

I'm glad you're all still following this thread - it appears you were urging us to go while we were actually on the trip!

To catch up on the other Qs:

@ The Sandman:
we can get around 90-100mpg on the flat when riding carefully, drops to maybe 85mpg when thrashing them all day. If my riding buddy AJT2 chips in he'll tell you what they made on the trip, and what climbing the Pyrenees did to the economy. He painstakingly records his odometer reading and gallons delivered every fuel stop. Me, I'd rather just ride.

@afk40:
The Van Van will be ace to tour Scotland on - My only advice from experience is take the minor back roads where possible. We found, last year, that the big open A roads up in Scotland just got a bit dull and slogged the bikes a bit. When you're limited to 45-50mph top speed, you'll find that you have a much more fun and engaging ride if you hunt out the small, narrow roads with tight turns one after the other.
That way you can experience the same 'feel' at 30-40mph on these roads as the large CC guys 'feel' doing the Scottish A roads at 100-140mph+. Oh... and it won't hurt as much if you stack it into Rannoch Moor on a corner!

It's just a case of matching the road size to the bike size.

It good to see the pictures of Britain and Europe. It is about 15 years since I was last there, commuting and touring on a Honda CB250RS through the early & mid '90s.

I worked various places, depending on the time of the year, but my home base was St Johns Arms, a country pub near the northern border of Bedfordshire. It hosted several motorcycle rallies each year, including the Northampton MAG in the summer, and the Ariel Club's midwinter event.

One thing I found refreshing about motorcycling in the UK and Europe is that I didn't detect much of the big bike snobbery that there is in some other places. Own anything with a motor and two wheels, and you are a biker

Hi all,

It's been a long time coming, but I finally got round to writing the ride report for the Europe trip on the 125s.

Here it is:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=921846

Enjoy