Zen, you are on my wavelength..l took a Guzzi to ltaly..l got such reaction from alot of locals..travelling alone, to take my mother out to dinner in Venice..she was on a cruise ship..you could see people soften and when they saw the Guzzi..such stories..and as for satnav in france; Marseilles, easy. Dover Calais, turn right...

The Italians do love their vehicles. I wondered what was going on when I got to the Italian border up in the mountains. The passport guy waved me to the front, past twenty cars. When I went to get my passport out, he just pointed at bike and waved me through. It was like that all the way. Hope to go back there, after Sweden, central Spain.

I did pick up on your mod, about map book rolled up in tube. I've got a telescopic rod in a plastic tube. In Sweden, it's free roam, camp where ever(even farmer's land with respect), and free fishing in lakes.

Touring on a bike is like preparing for an adventure, everything has to be necessary, compact and well packed. I even used to have a petrol primus that I could fill up from my petrol tank(thinking about it, I think I need another one!).

A good addition is a one litre fuel container..l got one a few years back, eu stamped etc with a neck wide enough to accomodate a pump nozzel. With modern machinery having such a pathetic fuel capacity some back up is good when your off exploring with no schedule.;I have a friend who runs asix year old golf; 600 miles between fill ups...my KlR its 125 miles..

The new breed of adventure bikes are changing luggage and mods necessary. A bigger tank could be a good one as well(I get about 550 miles, tank cost me £25. The last one was leaking from the bottom, I patched it temporarily with araldite). Araldite is a good mod to carry, I remember reading a story about a guy who stuck out somewhere, rebuilt a gear cog, and filed it to shape. Super glue as well for bike and open wounds.

Reminds me of another Italian story. There was a petrol strike when I was there. Got to a motorway station, no petrol. They suggested I walk over the footbridge over motorway to station on the other side. Carried fuel back in a watering can!

Some of the airbeds and air pillows make for some luxury when camping(I'm sure you guys are ahead of me on that one).
Wasn't sure I could hack camping any more, but slept great!

Hi guys, I’ve made numerous mods to all the bikes I have had. I’m currently building my own bike from the ground up but as it has previously been said your ride height and static sag on your suspension is one of the most important/best things to get sorted. ( pictures of my project are on my profile)

The first mod I do to any motorcycle is a advancer . Advancing timing 4 degrees . Gets a better performance.
Another is 36y’s
I’m a fan of olins shocks 🙂                                                                                                                                                                             

Symtec Heated elements to fit under standard handle bar grips. Had them on a couple of bikes now. Not amazing in the middle of winter of course, but allow summer gloves in Spring, Summer & Autumn when the temp's cool off a later in the day or for night riding. They don't spoil the look of the bike either & can be very discreetly wired in. It look's like they're over £60 now, ironically cheaper from the USA Inc Postage still!

The hand shields are a very good extra bit, even in the glorious British summer.
Mods on mine are Floating discs up front with 4 pot calipers which mean I don't have to book in advance to stop anymore with Avon tyres, along with cam,ignition controller, breathing in and out , fairing...,of course ..it is a 27 yr owld Harley that perhaps now operates as it should , a different bike to the one I picked up all those centuries ago 😎