Spain 2010

[Jono]

Going to do the Portsmouth to Santander crossing for 2 weeks in Spain, any hints or tips where to head for after this. Returning the same route, last 2 weeks in June is the intended month. :bow:

 

[Jaws]

yes.. do not for gawd sake take a GPS .. And if you have any sort of comms or MP3 player do not let the wire from your bash hat show

Avoid small towns as the plod in a lot of places have not been paid by the towns for ages and they are nicking anyone who aint got ESP plates on for just about anything

 

[gypsy]

yes.. do not for gawd sake take a GPS .. And if you have any sort of comms or MP3 player do not let the wire from your bash hat show

Avoid small towns as the plod in a lot of places have not been paid by the towns for ages and they are nicking anyone who aint got ESP plates on for just about anything

But above all just relax and enjoy yourself:-0)

 

[Jono]

yes.. do not for gawd sake take a GPS .. And if you have any sort of comms or MP3 player do not let the wire from your bash hat show

Avoid small towns as the plod in a lot of places have not been paid by the towns for ages and they are nicking anyone who aint got ESP plates on for just about anything

Got GPS and Autocom and MP3 player..................................................
Really looking forward to the trip now!

 

[Tinytim]

Expand please

yes.. do not for gawd sake take a GPS .. And if you have any sort of comms or MP3 player do not let the wire from your bash hat show

Avoid small towns as the plod in a lot of places have not been paid by the towns for ages and they are nicking anyone who aint got ESP plates on for just about anything

Got the bit about the plates John, but what's all this about GPS comms and wire??

...and I'll second Gypsys sentiments......have a good un LOL LOL

 

[Dark Angel]

Going to England/Wales? .. do not for gawd sake take a GPS .. the roads are so log-jammed you won't need it...And if you have any sort of comms or MP3 player do not let the wire from your bash hat show or else everyone will want a listen.

Avoid small towns as the plod in a lot of places are nicking anyone who's moving, breathing or showing any other vital signs :-0)

I know things change, but I've never had any plod-related problems caused by using GPS in Spain or anywhere else, despite the fact that the old Garmin 2610 I use mounts very prominently in front of me on the bike.

I've ridden through towns, cities and villages - even through road blocks manned by cops with machine guns who were helping local plod to stop and check bikes (they were obviously looking for a specific "someone", who had been very naughty). :t Never had a problem at all, despite the "no GPS that you can mess with while driving" law that has been in "force" for a few years now.

Ride respectfully through the small towns and don't go completely mad when on the auto-routes. Enjoy yourself everywhere else and don't fall off unless you've got European transport/recovery on you insurance! :}

 

[Jono]

Thanks DA w;;v , that's reassuring, looking forward to it now, heading for the Picos mountains to begin with I think, apparently stunning scenery.
Still open to tips on routes and acomm though if anyone has gone that way? :bow:

 

[Jaws]

Err.. I suspect Steve might be along in a minute

Garages selling new cars are even having to remove the fuses from built in GPS units now !!!

Like anything else, if you get away with it fine.. I am sure there isn't a single person on here who does not errr.. exceed the national speed limit by a little sometimes.. We all know it is illegal and are aware of it..
I am just making you aware that GPS and bike to bike and other noise producing things in helmets are illegal in Spain..

There is no rhyme or reason as to where and when.. For instance, people pulling a wee car with an A frame in Spain sometimes have no issue at all, while others are forced to leave the towed car at the road side and presently the fine being dished out is ?600 !!

 

[MAG man]

Whatever happened to harmonisation of European driving laws?

 

[Gerrard]

Thanks DA w;;v , that's reassuring, looking forward to it now, heading for the Picos mountains to begin with I think, apparently stunning scenery.
Still open to tips on routes and acomm though if anyone has gone that way? :bow:

You could always come round my house as the kettle is always on ...some good roads round down are way as well.. p0pc0rn41

 

[Richie D]

Some ideas for your Spanish trip

Hi,

This year we will again be going to Spain (Portsmouth to Bilbao):yo::yo:. I've had no problems with using either GPS or an MP3 player on my bird. Last year we were pulled over about 30mins after leaving the ferry, local plod with big guns looking for those who had set a bomb off in Bilbao on the Saturday night. Hang on a bit we were on the ferry then p0pc0rn41p0pc0rn41!!

Anyway they had no problems with 2 out of 6 off us having GPS mounted clearly on the bikes. Canny chaps who were more interested what mods we had on on our bikes than if we were terroristsg0551p

This years route is planned and all hotels are booked. My clever mate has downloaded TYRE and his sat nav GPX files run through this application. The good thing about TYRE is that you can do a tour of your route on Google Earth to see if you are happy with it!!

Day 1 Bilbao to Laruns 242 miles
Day 2 Laruns to Andorra la Vella - 255 miles
Day 3 Andorra to Sete - 193 miles
Day 4 Sete to Grasse - 243
Day 5 Grasse to Annecy (Route Napolean) 284 miles
Day 6 Annecy to Nancy - 275 miles
Day 7 Nancy to Zeebrugge - 290 miles (horrible)

This is a similar route to last year, taking in the route napolean again.

Hope this might give you some ideas. If the weather is poor it's not fun, if it's dry then you will have the best ride of your life

The Bird was designed for these Roads, you can explore the full potential of the bike with litle chance of getting pulled. We got pulled in Hull 5 mins after getting off the ferry for having Sports plates..:violin::violin:

Cheers

 

[XX_Rider]

You can stay north and head toward the national parks in northern Spain. Last time I went we we made our base a campsite outside Santander. We were able to leave oiur stuff there and ride offfor days. Best part was heading over the french border to Biarritiz. Here we stayed in a hotel and spent a few days on the beach.

Rich.

 

[Dark Angel]

Day 1 Bilbao to Laruns 242 miles
Day 2 Laruns to Andorra la Vella - 255 miles
Day 3 Andorra to Sete - 193 miles
Day 4 Sete to Grasse - 243
Day 5 Grasse to Annecy (Route Napolean) 284 miles
Day 6 Annecy to Nancy - 275 miles
Day 7 Nancy to Zeebrugge - 290 miles (horrible)

This is a similar route to last year, taking in the route napolean again.

...WICK-E-E-E-E-E-E-EDDDDDDD!!! :yo:

...We did a similar route two years ago on our Misano trip.

Nice one, Richie D! k1ap

For both yourself and Jono, though, a tiny word of warning: I've had a bit of a scout-about on Tinternet and, apparently, the "Illegal use of GPS; I-pods; Intercoms; and CD Players" ruling only became LAW in December 2009.

Note the writer's interpretation of the "Law" which, of course, should not be interpreted as a potential defence against prosecution:

"The law should come into effect within 6 months. It means that you can not touch your GPS screen while on the road"

As I said earlier: "things change".

Let's be careful out there. p0pc0rn41

 

[Dark Angel]

...Arrrrr....

...shunt this be in the "Touring" section? :dunno: :-0)

 

[Jaws]

Good point DA.. duly shuffled

 

[scubashark]

try and call in on san sebastian . the old town is worth a visit ... then continue round teh coast to bayonne/biaritz ...

the coast road from santander is pretty scenic ....

 

[Barrie]

Whatever happened to harmonisation of European driving laws?

You silly person, they make the rules for us to abide by. The 17th Edition of the wiring regulations, BS7671, is supposed to be harmonised with Europe. As far as I can make out it's anything but.

Someone I know has a property in France. He enquired what the regulations are regarding the electrical installation and any alterations he is intending to carry out. The answer was that he could do what ever he likes as long as it's an existing installation with a power supply already connected.

I intend to resign my enrolment with the NICEIC in March after 30 years of being an Approved Contractor. From then on, it's illegal for me to carry out electrical installation work even in my own property.:dunno:

 

[honk]

Going to do the Portsmouth to Santander crossing for 2 weeks in Spain, any hints or tips where to head for after this. Returning the same route, last 2 weeks in June is the intended month. :bow:

Do not take any notice of the scare mongoring,I live in Spain and the plod are a lot biker friendly here then in the UK.
What a lot of Bollocks about the police not being paid.
The local police are paid by the town hall and they only walk around the village giving parking tickets.
Its the guarda civil you have to look out for,they are paid by the government. they will nick you for speeding ect. As for UK plates do not worry I have spanish and UK platted bikes here and have never had a problem.They are hot on speeding throgh villages.

Ride as norm and have a great time on our great roads.
Give me a shout should you need any help.

 

[Jono]

Do not take any notice of the scare mongoring,I live in Spain and the plod are a lot biker friendly here then in the UK.
What a lot of Bollocks about the police not being paid.
The local police are paid by the town hall and they only walk around the village giving parking tickets.
Its the guarda civil you have to look out for,they are paid by the government. they will nick you for speeding ect. As for UK plates do not worry I have spanish and UK platted bikes here and have never had a problem.They are hot on speeding throgh villages.

Ride as norm and have a great time on our great roads.
Give me a shout should you need any help.

Thank you sir. :bow:

 

[honk]

Hello Jono
I spoke to a motorcycle cop today and asked about GPS.
They said no problems,but if they see you playing with it while riding you will probably get nicked.
Look at www.hostalasadorameztia.com stayed here not 5 star but clean and friendly.
They have a garage for the bike and they do great food. Set in the mountains along side a river.