Hey all. So I'm gonna be rising around France for a few weeks in a month or so, quite sorted and sure I'm ready for it. But I'm wondering if anybody would have any tips for my first real ride abroad. I'm aware of the needs like the vests and light bulbs an stuff, just after general tips that you might have.

Get in touch with Jinx, madscott, Ragnar and Vladimir, and Lindsay.   All of whom have recently Franced it                                                                                                                                                                             

One of the main things to remember is that drive on the wrong side of the road, I know it seems obvious, but every time that I've been over the water someone in the group will have a brain fart and turn into the left lane.
One person I know put a bit of ribbon on one mirror to remind her

I was driving, not riding, but found it relatively simple. Roundabouts are strange to start with but do make sense very quickly.  

The French have no patience so be sure about your manoeuvre & speed BEFORE you start it, they will quickly be behind you or at the side of you gesticulating wildly if you falter or aren't as quick as they think you should be! Which can be rather disconcerting.

The Toll Roads are boring as hell, but are fabulous for getting places quickly, which is well worth the cost. 

The roads in general are very quiet (towns and cities are interesting) and oh so smooth and well maintained  Coming home to Blighty really made me wish I hadn't bothered.  Packed roads, major traffic jams and bloomin awful road surfaces, pot holes everywhere! 

Enjoy your trip. 
                                                                                                                                                                             

Don't forget your gonna need emission certs for some places.At the moment they're not needed for Normandy area,i've asked.                                                                                                                                                                             

I am led to believe Crit'Air  is currently only in use in Paris, Lyons and Grenoble, but others are due to join the scheme shortly.  You can use the Paris Ring Road (Boulevard Peripherique) without one but not the tunnel that goes under the city apparently.  I steered well clear of Paris! 

The sticker relates to the vehicle for its life once purchased (under current regulations) and is cheap compared to the fine in my opinion.   

Make sure you read the information out there and don't get ripped off if you do need one. Apparently there are several places charging up to six times its actual cost! 
                                                                                                                                                                             

We got the Crit'Air stickers before we went in July - only a couple of quid so worth it.
Worth remembering that filtering is technically illegal in France, but everyone does it anyway.
The french love bikers and tend to give lots of room and respect, riding is a joy over there.

More important to remember is that many fuel stations are now un-manned and card only - in about half of the rural stations we used it rejected everyones card - in others it took everyones.

A post office credit card always seemed to work for me, but often none of the other cards.
And as someone said be extra careful to stay right!
                                                                                                                                                                             

I spend about 4 months of the year traveling by motorbike through France Switzerland Germany in fact most of main land Europe in some of the Islands like Sicily and Corsica been doing this sort of thing for over 20 years anything you want to know specifically give me a shout.

just back from 4000 miles and 2 trips through France.

French riding is easy and they will pull over to let you past, on motorway they tend to pull out and your expected to slow down while they overtake then you carry on (as with most of EU anyways).  There is loads of speed cameras but are all well sign posted so keep an eye out for the large white signs telling you.  A lot of the smaller villages have cameras so be warned.

Hi viz is the only real one but is needed if you break down and have to stand at side of road.  Bulb kit is less an issue as most modern vehicles are LED now and not required for a M/C.  Having dealt with Police there numerous times they are blunt but fair to UK bikers.  Do make sure you have all your original docs for everything as if you can't prove it they take your bike until you can.

All that being said   France is awesome and central France is one of my fave places to ride. 

http://www.fema-online.eu/website/index.php/consumer-information/riding-abroad

thanks for the tips people, its all appreciated. and glad what I have read so far has been spot on...

where do I get the Crit'Air stickers? will probably grab some of these cause I do wanna go to Paris, never been and will be so close I may as well see it whilst I'm ther...