Looking to do a ride next summer from Lisbon to Zagreb. What would be the approximate cost? Better to ship my bike (vfr 800) from Canada or rent one? I am just looking for an approximate figure to save towards, not including plane fare. Is it a bad idea to do this ride in the summer? Was looking to do it in July/Aug, with a possible major detour through Germany if that makes a difference.
You might check with Carlos @ Motoxplorers. They are in Lisbon and are building an ADVenture tour business. Good people, and might be able to help with your questions. cazevedo@motoxplorers.com
Well talked with my buddy and he would like to do this: http://goo.gl/maps/iCHUu Route would be altered so we could see the better parts of each country roads etc. What do you guys think? Reasonable to do in 1 month? Would my VFR 800 be suitable for this trip or would I be better off picking up an Africa Twin in Lisbon?
'Reasonable' means different things to different riders. Personally, I wouldn't do that much in a month if I wanted to stop and take in the scenery and the various cultures. But, that's me. Lisbon to the south of France across the interior of Spain in July/August would be like sitting in an oven. The better route would be along the coast to Bayonne. Your proposed route across France is mostly on autoroutes. Not only are they toll roads but they tend to be cut through the less than interesting scenery. Why Zurich? From there to Venice looks to be all highway. Shame not to enjoy the Alps/Dolomites rather than the especially boring Como-Bologna-Venice route. From there I can't offer any info. Keep in mind that Google is full of it. 9600 kms in 106 hours of riding so 95 kph average. That is without calculating weather, road construction, traffic, etc. July/August is when everyone is going somewhere else.
You make a few good points. I am open to route changes, that was just a general guide as to where I would like to go. Dependant on cost is how long I spend. What would be a good figure per day to budget for this? (not including bike shipping or rental or plane) I would possibly be open to a 2 month ride, since I do want to see Austria and Switzerland. Possibly even Ukraine, though I have read/heard bad things about the police there. Any companies that you guys could recommend to crate and ship a bike from Ontario, Canada to Lisbon? Or am I better off buying a bike over there? Edit: Found this company, was quoted approximately $4700 for flight (myself) + the bike on the same flights, Toronto to Lisbon, Brussels to Toronto. http://www.motorcycleexpress.com/ Anyone heard of them? They also seem to offer medical/travel insurance along with insurance for the motorcycle.
A little input from someone in Europe in addition to what RTLover has already said: A VFR800 should be really good for riding in Europe if you can put your luggage on it. There are a lot of threads on shipping vs buying vs renting a bike in Europe, you might want to check those. Regarding your planned route, I appreciate your interest in so many places, but frankly I think it is just overambitious. You need to cut it way down. A a first hint, in Google Maps deselect "use motorways". This will be more closer to your actual route and with an average speed of 60kph give you a riding time you can start calculating with. In real terms I would still increase the riding time by 50% (or calculate with 40kph) for scenic stops, gas stations, cruising through villages,.. If you want to start in Lisbon, something reasonable based on RTLover's suggestions and onwards would be Lisbon - Atlantic coast - Bayonne - Pyrennes (border Spain and France) to Mediterranean coast - Nice - follow the Alps till the east of the Dolomites (e.g. Cortina d'Ampezzo) - south to Venice That would still be a challenging plan for at least a month with a focus on riding most of the time. After this month, your bum will hurt, your head will want to explode with all the impressions you have and you will be sick like after riding a roller-coaster for a month from all the alpine pass roads. If OTOH you mainly want to visit the cities you are mentioning, I would consider another means of transportation. There are affordable railroad passes you can combine with a flight or two to more remote cities like Lisbon or Bucharest. I hope this helps regarding the routing. Don't be put off, just rethink your plan a little bit
How much time would you allocate to visit the places in that route? 2 months? Edit: Altered the route a bit with some of the recommendations posted: https://maps.google.ca/maps?saddr=L...lg=h&mra=dpe&mrsp=12&sz=7&via=1,12,13&t=m&z=5
I used motorcycle express to ship my bike from Germany to Toronto - if memory serves it cost me about $3700 + the ticket for myself (booked separately). There were a few extra charges, amounted to about $80 or so I think. Insurance for Canada and the US, 2 months, cost me $750. As for your route - I've driven Lisbon to Vienna (by car) and then on to Greece (bike) through the Balkans a few times and, I reckon you'd really need to allow at least 15 days to enjoy it but if you hammered it you could probably make it in 5 to 7 days.
like the previous posts, i also think how much time you want to spend depends on how much riding you wanna do a day and if you plan on having off-days to relax etc., maybe take a swim in the mediteranian sea etc if you are flexible time-wise, i would highly recommend to start your trip at the end of august or beginning of september. i have been to croatia, italy and spain/southern france in july and august, and it was way hot. i was there with a car wearing shorts etc and I remember thinking that i have to come back with my motobike to ride these great roads (especially the adria magistrale, the road along the coats in croatia, it's perfect for riding), but later in the year, when it's not that hot. but your trip sounds like a really good plan!