perperation for european touring

Like some of you already, I've started to prepare for travelling to Europe in the coming months. I feel confident that my cb5 is coming with me and I'm starting to acquire the necessarily bits and bob to make for a memorable journey.

I've already attained a givi rack and small helmet sized box, soft throw over panniers are in the post,and thoughts are moving towards the possibilities of satnav, tent considerations, clothing and tools...

I am wanting to throw open a post where people can add ideas and items to help me consider my traveling itinerary...hopefully it will be of benefit to anyone else with touring aspirations this year.

Not quite sure if the laws are in place yet, but in France they were talking not so long ago about it being mandatory to carry a high viz vest and a self-test breathalyser. Also, as regards the sat-nav, no radar trap detection facility on it.

I just use a car type sat nav or the one on my mobile in a tankbag with the charge wire running to a lighter socket (bought from a local marine suppliers) mounted under my seat. It works well enough though I do need to take my gloves off to set the route & camara warnings can be turned off if needs be. I keep meaning to get a helmet specific bluetooth headset so I can use the voice commends on the phone.

How does this solution suit you? I use a normal car type sat-nav too in a waterproof case.
Rather than have an audio cable running from the output on the sat-nav, I plugged in a cheap battery powered FM transmitter (fits in the case) and this broadcasts sat-nav audio, which is picked up and amplified through the radio on a cheap Medion MP3 player in my pocket to earbud headphones in my helmet. Clear as a bell audio quality, and it means I can keep my eyes on the road a lot more.

Reckon it's as good and a lot cheaper than a bluetooth setup.

Yip like the sound of that, I'd also be grateful to hear more about the wiring involved in adding a lighter socket for the satnav charger cable.

In the uk for local navigation i use a free satnav app 'navfee' on my iphone, with the voice command running into my headphones over my music. It's convenient for short distances and costs nothing. However, with data and roaming charges i don't think this would work travelling through Europe. Motorbike specific satnavs are costly so i'm going to explore the techniques mentioned above. Thanks

geewhizz wrote:Yip like the sound of that, I'd also be grateful to hear more about the wiring involved in adding a lighter socket for the satnav charger cable. >>>snip>>>

You've a couple of choices with wiring:
1) Wire strait to the battery terminals with an inline fuse on the positive feed. The simplest (especially with the lighter socket mounted under the seat) solution but it'll be live with the ignition off so could potentially drain your battery if you leave stuff plugged in & switched on.

2) Wire them via an automotive relay connected to a switched live (like the sidelight circuit) with the option of a distribution block for hooking up heated grips etc.

I'm off on the 28th June hoping to get to south of Alicante(not actually on a Cb5). I have a Banshee 300 tent hard panniers and a top box. I've done the route several times in a car but never on a bike. The sat nav info is very useful as I don't want to pay for a bike sat nav as they are too expensive. The old Tom Tom has been very good every time I've been to Europe but it has no bluetooth-soI may follow the suggestions.

Anyone used or see a problem using this ???

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-12V-Power-Outlet-Supply-Cigarette-Lighter-Socket-for-Motorcycle-Boat-Car-1pc-/140918602386?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item20cf673a92

If I understand correctly, all that would be required would be to wire to the battery and leave it under the seat.

While the negative of doing it like this would be the potential for leaving plugged in devices to drain the battery?

I have a similar setup for my sat nav, never had a problem draining the battery with it.


If you were concerned you could take the positive feed from the ignition much as you would with heated grips, that will cut the power when the bike is off.
Ive done that for my heated grips and its pretty easy to do on the CB.

geewhizz wrote:Anyone used or see a problem using this ???

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-12V-Power-Outlet-Supply-Cigarette-Lighter-Socket-for-Motorcycle-Boat-Car-1pc-/140918602386?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item20cf673a92

If I understand correctly, all that would be required would be to wire to the battery and leave it under the seat.

While the negative of doing it like this would be the potential for leaving plugged in devices to drain the battery?

There shouldn't be any problem with using this kind of cigar-lighter socket, however it doesn't look very waterproof, which might (or might not) be a problem to you, depending on where you are going and what you want to use it for.

Personally I would wire it to the battery via a relay which was switched from one of the switched lives from the ignition, assuming, that is, you don't want to be able to use it with the ignition off.

suitably waterproof or overkill ? seems pricey compared to other units but i don't know very much about electrics..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Marine-Surface-Mount-Power-Socket-12V-Brand-New-/220919772398?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_BoatEquipment_Accessories_SM&hash=item336fd834ee

btw has anyone dashboard mounted there socket or just kept it under the seat?

any suggestions on where to mount the distribution block?

I've wedged the relay next to the fuse box and was thinking to put the terminal block there too or leave it in the battery compartment.

I hit a stumbling block when I found that the wiring colours on my bike don't correspond with the colours in the haynes manual, I'm not sure if this is normal but it threw me. All the wires are taped up and inside protective tubing. I didn't fancy taking them all apart to trace the wires back to source. I was looking for either the side light or back light to connect into from the relay as suggested in the canyonchasers page above.

I was wondering if I should be able to work out the correct wire to use as it goes into the fuse box and bridge the wires there? Appreciate any help I can get on this, thanks.

Been thinking about doing something similar - motorcycle vacation. But how about loading the bike? If I and my son weigh in at almost 180 kilos, this equals factory specified load limit. This means there's nothing left for the luggage. Anyone with comments on (over)loading the bike?

I would put the preload to max on the rear shocks and just go for a test run to see how it handles.


If you arent happy with the handling you could invest in new shocks and fork springs to handle the extra weight. I believe Hagon will put the spring you your choice in their shocks, and any after-market progressive fork spring is likely to be far stiffer than stock.


As far as i am aware the only real issue with exceeding the weight limit will be with your suspension. But also check your tyre pressures are good and you are happy with your braking distance which may increase.

stormbringer wrote: If I and my son weigh in at almost 180 kilos, this equals factory specified load limit. This means there's nothing left for the luggage. Anyone with comments on (over)loading the bike?

Well... the specifications I have say 184kg max load, so you've got at least 4kg of luggage to play with :)

I think if you were planning to exceed the limit you should make sure that you do some testing first i.e. go for some rides with both people and some realistic weight of luggage - making sure that you include some corners, hills and a bit of motorway/high speed riding to make sure that the handling isn't badly effected by the extra load.

I would also suggest the normal things: increase the pre-load on the rear shocks and make sure your tyres are pumped up correctly.

As you are going to overload the bike a bit, it might be worth experimenting with up to 10% (approx 3 PSI) extra pressure in the tyres.

I suspect you won't have a problem and everything will be OK, but it is worth being a little careful to make sure you don't get a nasty surprise while on holiday.

This is the stuff I use:

Bluetooth headset - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005FNH29E/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Connect to smartphone for calls, satnav music etc. Direct comms with a pillion rider or a riding partner. I believe there is a single headset version as well if you don't need comms with someone else. Sound quality is good up to around 70mph or slightly faster if it's not too windy.

Smartphone mount - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008CMWY66/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Waterproof and stable on the handlebars.

Charger - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorcycle-charger-hard-wired-battery-Universal/dp/B00AMDI34U

Waterproof, already fused, has an on/off switch built in so you don't need to worry about draining battery.

I went for a pretty cheap (some may say nasty) solution to the charging issue.

Battery connected to an inline fuse and switch (in a box) then from the switch to a connector (the type you usually find connecting RC cars to their battery packs). At this connector (hitched up by the main loom just below the handlebars) I can then connect the actual 12v socket when I want it.

This way, I can disconnect the battery - through the switch and don't have a permanent socket cluttering the place up.

When I connect the socket, I thread it either into a handlebar bag or tankbag - depending how much junk I'm carrying.

Connected to my lovely detachable system is my phone charging, pumping out Google or navfree commands into my headset.

I decided to myself that my cellphone would have to do the job. A Samsung Galaxy 2 gobbles up energy at an alarming rate when navigating, meaning I'd have to power it while driving. And I'm no fan of cigarlighter connectors - they're so big and clumsy. Solution was to get hold of a wired-directly-to-fusebox 12VDC-to-microUSB converter thing. Found one in my local autoshop, but didn't like the delivery schedule, so instead I bought a cigarlighter USB charger (£5), moved its content to a matchbox-sized plastic case (similar to what could be bought readymade - but NOW instead of next month) and connected the whole thing to the fusebox on a switched wire (believe I used the wire coming from fuse protecting brake light). Strapped the box to frame next to fusebox and fed the USB socket to just in front of the under-seat-compartment rubber thingy. Next, I ripped off the tank, routed an USB extender cable to the steering column and a 3.5 mm audio jack extender cable the other way.
I now had USB power and a minijack audio plug at the steering column, and a minijack audio out socket dangling in the under-seat compartment.
Next, I installed a Givi satnav/cellphone universal soft box on the handlebar, connected said microUSB cable to the cellphone and wired it through the softbox cable hole, adjusted cable lengths, popped the box on the handlebar holder, connedted to USB and fired up the bike. Bingo.

Photodocumentation on the procedure available here

Only minus is that the cellphone can't be operated with gloves. Bummer.

Once I get a short audio minijack extender sorted, audio will be led from cellphone to under-seat-audio-out-socket. Then, plug in earbuds, channel wire inside jacket to socket - and there will be sound. No flapping wires, earplug noise reduction comes as a bonus and all will be good.

On BT helmet sound kits: It's my belief (based on previous experience with a 'el cheapo' helmet) that you won't be satisfied with the sound. Wind noise will force you to crank up the volume to deafening levels. For three years I've commuted on a EU45 scooter (45 km/h), listening to audiobooks to cope with immense boredom, and even at this speed I've managed to damage my left ear slightly. Don't let that happen to you. Use earbuds.

Just watched a mad man do Denmark -> Nordkap -> Denmark -> Gibraltar -> Denmark. 12.000+ kilometers!

On a CBR250...

In TEN DAYS!


See for yourself here.

Or what about this guy who did the Nordkap -> Gibraltar trip in five days, on a 11 bhp diesel bike. Averaging 150 mpg...

this satnav unit seems interesting and very cheap...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-5-Car-GPS-SAT-NAV-free-maps-update-4GB-128M-SunShade-Free-Bag-Airoutlet-L4-/260909746575?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_GPSSystems_GPSSystems&hash=item3cbf6ec98f