Day 1: Home to St Omer

The weather forecast was wet and so I committed to setting off to France in my new BMW Prorain 3 suit. This was bought on the basis of excellent reviews in Ride magazine and on the AdvRider forum. It's pretty dorkish but if it keeps me dry it;ll be worth it.

I decided to do the A1/A14/M11 route to the M25 as although it is boring, it is efficient. I managed the 400km  journey to the Folkestone terminal in around 4.5 hours including petrol stops. As usual there was no hassle and little security prior to boarding the EuroTunnel train and I had a pleasant chat to 3 other bikers during the crossing. One of them was on his 12mile old Triumph Tiger, fresh from the dealer. He liked it so far, but thought he'd have a better opinion once he'd reached home in Brussels.

In France I had a dry start but the drizzle soon set-in and so I only did a few detours on my way to St Omer, the area I had explored a little a few years ago. Nonetheless it was pleasant to be in the countryside; from the picture you'll see that the terrain is pretty straightforward. Note that the legislation affecting motor vehicle in the countryside has been clarified recently: Amendement de la circulaire Olin (décembre 2011) and the guidance in this document and from Codever underpinned my actions on the trip.

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On this trip I decided to stay in a minimum quality of Etap hotels so that I had ensuite facilities. They are quite basic but clean and usually with semi secure parking.

Give it the once over

Before my trip to France the Alp needed a look over. I have taken it for a few short trips and the fork seals don't appear to be seeping so I'm going to leave those alone.

The chain was a bit slack but an adjuster was very stiff. It's been that way since I bought the bike but today it was too bad to accept. With the rear axle nut removed and the axle pulled back it was possible to get a socket on the adjuster and screw it all the way out. I thin ran an 8mm die down the bolt and a tap through the flanged nut and also into the swing arm. After reassembly with a light smear of grease the task was simple.

The other little jobs were to locate the tank bag, straps etc etc needed for packing.