Hmm... I guess I must be a weirdo and lunatic then. I had a 3.5 gallon Tourtank inside the topbox and it served me very well through several IBA rides and 1 rally. My buddies (also Silverwing pilots) have 2.5 gallon Tourtanks. I'm actually waiting for a 5 gallon Tourtank right now.

As for why? There's different rides for different riders. I don't like to stop. Simple as that. Then again, I try to do a lot of endurance riding where time is a major consideration. At interstate and turnpike speeds, my Swing also gobbles up gas, so I want to make sure I can go at the very least 250 miles before I start looking for gas.

I wouldn't recommend carrying your spare gas in saddlebags since it might get smashed if your bike goes down on the side.

If you're not going with an aux tank route, I have carried spare fuel in MSR bottles as well as a Rotopax before under the seat. How safe is that? I don't know. I've ridden all through 90+ degree summer days with that old setup and it was fine. With an aux tank, I don't worry about it.

If you're gonna just go on stock, just know what your range is like at different speeds. With my setup, I know that I get close to 50mpg if I keep my speed below 60mph (for back roads trips), if I maintain 70mph, I get 42mpg, and if I maintain 80mph, I get 37mpg.

Like others have mentioned, research the area you're going to, particularly if you are going to ride during the night. On a previous trip down and up the Atlantic (Pennsylvania to Georgia and back), I found that MANY of the gas stations along the interstate were closed after 8pm. That was quite a shock but thankfully I was told beforehand so I spent several hours the week before locating 24hr gas stations and programming them into my GPS.

Enjoy your trip!

Hi Steve
I had the topbox empty, so I had somewhere to stow all my gear when it was hot, the underseat compartment was full of clothes etc. I do have a pair of throw-over panniers but as I was riding alone, I didn't need the space. I also try to avoid toll roads but I slept for only an 90 min the night before I was due to leave, so I changed my Eurotunnel booking online from 6:30am to 3:30am. The weather forecast was very good with temps between 24c-29c all the way, so I planned a direct route, avoiding toll roads but with a second route including tolls, if the weather turned bad. Needless to say, it rained from Calais all the way for the first 400 miles, so I used the toll roads. It was a horrible journey, I was dog tired and those toll roads are so boring. I took 8 1/2 hours, including 5 fuel stops to complete my 525 mile France leg of the trip. The toll cost was about 60 Euros in all.
The return trip was so much better. Lovely sunny weather, so i rode in shorts and a T shirt until I got to Rouen, where the heavens opened up!!! lol The return trip took 9 hours, including 5 fuel stops, 470 miles, ( I visited family in the Montbron area, so a shorter trip back) with all D roads except from Rouen, where I took the A28 for the last leg. Toll cost about 6 euros.

Just a few asides:
My Givi Airflow screen was fantastic, the best screen of any bike I've ever ridden. In the torrential rain, with it fully "up", I hardly got any rain on my visor. The rest of the time , I adjusted the screen to either be very comfortable or to blast my face when I was extremely tired.
My Go Cruise was a god send, giving my throttle hand long rests on the toll roads.
The Hyperpro springs made the Swing feel very planted at all times, although the ride is a lot harsher on bumpy surfaces, I much prefer the ride overall.
As I use a Garmin Zumo 550, I like to plot not only 2 routes as I've mentioned, but also lots of waypoints, as the Garmin has a habit of getting itself confused, so I'm able to just switch to the next waypoint to get back on track.
The Hit clutch and DrP sliders (26gm) performed very well but I noticed a bit of clutch judder on takeoff, on my trip back. I'll be changing the pillow springs asap to cure that.
I was very pleased with the MPG seeing as I had ridden pretty hard all the way there and I am a tad heavy on the throttle by nature.

Ian

French petrol pumps are only a problem on Sundays. I carried a CaxtonFXCard with me. You can load it with money before you go. In the end I didn't need to use it as we used supermarket pumps on the Sundays we were travelling, but always good to know I had a backup plan. Checkout http://www.caxtonfxcard.com/
As far as I know they are part of Newcastle Building Society.

Are you using TomTom? I have the French autoroute aires all listed in two PIO files (repos and service) also the junctions PIO. If you want them (or if anyone wants them PM me with your email and I'll send them attached to emails.

Steve
Could you give me the web sites you used to book the ferry & train? I'd like to see what the options are to get to Bordeaux. On my trip, the tunnel return was £75, and I spent about £150 on fuel, so it may be a better option to go via your idea next time.
Ian

Thanks Steve, very useful!!

It seems that they have stopped the Calais to Bordeaux service. Shame.

They do run from Paris to Bordeaux but at a price that's dearer than the straight run.

Oh well, back to the drawing board!!!

Ian