Europe - R 1200GS

Who	Rob Powell ~ email
Profession	director
Born 1974	Nationality British
Previous travel experience	Australia, Mexico, USA, Europe,
Previous bike travels	Australia, Europe

This trip	Europe
Departure date	April 2005
Number in group	3
Trip duration	2 weeks
Distance covered	3400 miles
Cost of trip (not incl. bike)	?1500

Best day	Opening the tent to the Italian Alps in the background - Amazing
Worst/ hardest day	Travelling from Monaco to Paris to catch up with group
Favourite place	Switzerland, Austria, Italy
Biggest headache	Rear hub assembly failure
Biggest mistake	Taking to much
Most pleasant surprise	The scenery in the Alps
Any illness	none
Other trips planned	Europe again and New Zealand
One travel tip	Make a list of what you use and what you dont use so next time you take what matters.

Bike Model	R 1200GS
Age/ mileage on departure	3000
Modifications	BMW Panniers, GPS, Larger sidestand foot, Autocom,
Mods you wish you'd done	None
Type of baggage	BMW panniers and top box with dry bag on pillion seat
Tyres used	Michellin Anakees - 8000 miles per set!
Number of punctures	None

Bike's weak point	Rear hub assembly
Bike's strong point	Engine, Handling, load capacity, everything
Bike problems	Rear hub failure during trip took 4 days for parts
Number of accidents	None
Same bike again?	Yes
One biking tip	Less is more!