What's the smallest bike you'd use for a multi-day Euro trip?

[SteveW]

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I ask this question because I've just ridden back from Bulgaria on my CCM GP 450s.
On the Zeebrugge - Hull ferry yesterday, aside from a couple of scooterists who'd spent a few days around Brugge the other bikes were all 1000cc and above.
I'd say my 450cc would be as small as I'd like to go. I'd set off from Eastern Bulgaria nine days previously and I was determined to take my time this time.
I find that on bigger bikes I'm more comfortable and often grind-out long days in the saddle......probably missing out on sights along my journey.
With the CCM I'd kind of limited myself to 300 miles a day. In Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia I picked remote mountain towns and set the Sat Nav to "Curvey Roads" I was rewarded with some simply fantastic remote locations and brilliant trails and small roads.
I really couldn't have wished for a better bike than the CCM. It's got a cracking engine and I'd take it anywhere that my 450exc would go. The only limiting factor on unpaved stuff was the Heidenau K60 tyres.....grippy and quite on tarmac but less than happy in mud.
I'd done close to 1200 miles around Bulgaria and Serbia, but on Checking my location on the Sat Nav I was only about 500 miles from my set-off point in Bulgaria!
I had to stop f*cking about and get some distance done if I was get home by my target date of yesterday.
So Austria and southern Germany were mostly main roads and motorways.....not much fun on the CCM.
Don't get me wrong the bike is very capable of boring motorway miles, the screen/faring are much better than I though they'd be, the vibrations through pegs and bars are minimal. But for the sake of mechanical sympathy I kept the cruising speed to around 70/75mph.
The motorways where the only time I missed a bigger bike. They were a necessary evil really, I had to grind out some distance.
I dropped into Western France, Ballons Des Vosges, set the Sat Nav to Curvey roads all the way to The Ardennes.
I was again rewarded with some great remote riding, small roads and trails.
Did I miss a bigger bike.....yes I did sometimes! But on a bigger bike I would have struggled a wee bit solo on some of the more testing trails, especially in Serbia.

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Bulgaria and Serbia

[SteveW]

A few more photos mostly Serbia

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[SteveW]

Just for the record.....The CCM didn't miss a beat in 2450 miles. I topped the oil up twice....following the correct procedures, each time it took 100cc's of oil. Absolutely no issues, it ran like clockwork at temperatures above 30 degrees and below 0 degrees. I didn't hang about and used some pretty extreme trails, nothing broke, nothing fell off or worked loose, it probably averaged 50 mpg+.
The longest I did on a tank full was 183 miles, the low fuel warming light didn't come on. The fastest speed I did was 95 mph, 5 miles from home on the M65!
The chain didn't any need adjustment.
Great Bike!

[micksea]

great pictures steve.i think a 350 is the smallest bike to use on a trip like that,as I'm sure you are aware a big bike has its good points on a trip like that but is harder off road and a small bike has its good points but is more of a struggle on motorways,so there is no ideal bike for a trip like that.you just have to enjoy your choice for the most part and put up with the rest of it whichever bike you choose.maybe the HISS would be the ideal scenario for a 450 as it does"t entail as much road travel but gets you to almost as many off road tracks.are your kriega bags attached using the overland strap set up or by using the hard plates.bike doesn"t look overloaded as is often the temptation,looks spot on. (insert thumbs up smiley here if I could find it)

[Wonkyconk]

Looks like a great trip.
I agree that a smaller bike is going to be easier to ride off road but I also think a big bike can do 90% of what the smaller bikes can as long as the rider has good ability and is confident.
I'm not a great rider but I prefer a bigger bike for travel.

[SteveW]

Thanks mick,
I think we're thinking along the same lines.
Regarding the bags, I sheared some 5mm Ali plate and bolted the bags through the plate. I then drilled the plate to suit the pannier rails and used multiple zip ties to attach the plates to the pannier rails. I've had these bags on four different bikes, using the same plates and zip ties to pannier rails, never had a problem, they must have done 40,000 miles.

[SteveW]

Looks like a great trip.
I agree that a smaller bike is going to be easier to ride off road but I also think a big bike can do 90% of what the smaller bikes can as long as the rider has good ability and is confident.
I'm not a great rider but I prefer a bigger bike for travel.

You are of course correct.
But I wanted a minimalist type experience. On a bigger bike I'm more inclined to push on a bit, I wanted to take my time a bit more, being on the CCM and being solo, I found I'd take that dodgy looking trail more times than not.
Just the act of turning a big bike round if you meet an impass can be a pain in the arse.
When you are on your own in remote locations, with no phone signal you've got to risk manage situations, a smaller bike allows you to take the interesting option with more confidence.

[PHILinFRANCE]

As usual great blather and pics Steve but to answer your question ...................................DONK

[SteveW]

Phil, I'd say the CCM is pretty much as close as you'll get to a modern Donk.

[minkyhead]

if you owt like me steve ..you will find if very hard ..to chose ride a bigger bike on trips like that again ..seriusly i wouldnt swap me crf300 or me ccm for a 1190 ktm money apart of course ..i havnt got the talent to ride it where i want to ride the crf is like riding a trials bike in comparason ..a 1190 with k60s on is my best shortcut to a helicopter ride

and motorways are in hours a tiny tiny part of my plans but if i have to drone along for 5 hours ..its no big deal

..and i find i can take the crfs or the ccm pretty much anywhere i dare to go ...a big bike would be a total liability for me .id get stuck get frightened fall alot ..wouldnt be strong enough to pick it up and dont want to think of turning one around in a dead end thats four feet wide ..i can turn the crfs on one knee ..dont see the point of riding all the way to a place where im to frightened to actually take the thing into the woods

ive hussled more than a few big adventure bikes around and in hindsight have concluded i must have been mad to do so

id ride me 250s anywhere ...crf300 is like a mini donk .if it was a phone it would be two co co tins and a peice of string
ccm is just plain quick probaly too quick for me now off road

looks a great trip great pictures thanks for posting