Word of warning, when the train arrives at destination, braking to slow down, the bikes especially top heavy routers can tilt towards the front of the train. This can have unpleasant consequences. Having witnessed a bike fall over on its side right by the compartment door, my advice would be stay beside your bike when coming into the destination. A further tip, do your toiletting needs in departure facilities. The ones on the train can be out of order or so foul as to be imagined! Only for the truly desperate.
I've often wandered why they have you parking your bike with the front wheel to the left of the carriage. Surely it would be better to the right as your bike would then be pushing against the side stand when you stop?
We tow a motorcycle behind our Motorhome and use the tunnel quite a lot. Just a heads up to motorcyclists. You are going to exactly the same place as everyone else and you will get on your train. So please don’t ride past all the other vehicles queuing at passport control. They are probably on an earlier train and got called before you. I have seen the staff turn motorcycles away and send them to the back of the queue when they cut the queue.
Thanks Andy, I checked out your MGA video (what a timeless classic) and got a glimpse of your Trophy. I swapped my FJR1300 for it on a bit of an impulse and I don't regret a thing. 😍
The ferry is a far better way to cross the channel. The toilets on the Chunnel are terrible. You just stand with your bike for the duration of the crossing. On the ferry you can walk around, eat, drink, and relax. It might tak a bit longer but it's so much better.
A long time ago we did Southampton-Le Havre return, twice. IIRC on both trips the bikes were in a separate queue from the cars and waved on to park down side areas, between the hull/wall and a rail, with the advice to strap the bike down to e.g. the rail. It was worth having spare straps for this. Not sure if they still require it on the ferries. On the first return trip we met a guy with a Guzzi who'd been told by the crew, on his outbound trip, that they would do it for him. If they did it, it wasn't sufficient and he came back to find his bike wedged under the rail, with a bent side-stand and pretty much unrideable. We were also not allowed to remain with the bike during the trip, though it may be different now or for shorter crossings.
I advise a good tank bag if you can fit one, French Passport control are normally very good, British side can be arses and useless, nice stuff Bonnie, I shall subscibe.
If you have a tank bag it's useful to have your passport and a glove to make passport control a little easier. If the tank bag has a vision panel on top it's a useful place for the paper number tag you are given. Be careful when riding through the train. If you are in the right hand lane, you are also on the toilet cubicle side. Easy to clip that with your handlebar if you are not careful - and that could screw up your whole tour
I think another good tip for big touring bikes should be,,, Do,nt fill up before crossing ! I say that because my RT as well as your Trophy have prety big fuel tanks and so become somewhat top heavy,,, and on that close find train the slights misstake and you will be down,,,which would not be a good start to your trip
Quite the job getting thru and up to the train. Whew! Just before the last ticket spot, the biker in front of you in a blue jacket, carried on like it was his first time queuing to the Chunnel, because he cut directly in front of you making a lane change. He forgot signaling courtesy. Anyway, hope France was a great ride.
I was a bit stressed at the prospect of it all, what with a fully loaded bike, but it wasn’t as bad as my worst imaginings… Thank goodness! The Marshall tried to send the girl in the blue jacket down a different lane to the rest of the group, hence the lane changing, took me by surprise a bit but I didn’t say anything… Good job, turns out she was a US Marine. Respect!!
Interesting you got that bit of info on the Marine girl. Glad you learned about her, maybe a friendly rider. Wonder where she was headed while on leave.
I used the train on my bike in 1997, when ist was quite new. Later on I took the ferries again. Using the ferry is more like travelling and not only transport. You see the coasts disappearing and aproaching, smell the sea and watch, what is going on on it.
They are much nicer, and the food these days on Brittany ferries is great. The best thing about the Chunnel is the ability to get thru Paris before rush hour and a few hours further south...
Biggest problem with putting a bike on Le Shuttle is that they insist that you park your bike pointing to the left. So what, I hear you say? If you park your bike this way, if the train brakes suddenly, your bike could fall over - TRUST ME, I KNOW! If they would let you park your bike pointing to the right, this could not happen. Think about it - a train is far more likely to brake suddenly than accelerate fiercely!
@ - The last time I used the shuttle I deliberately parked the other way around and refused to change it. They threatened to stop the train (unlikely) or get all the bikes behind me to back-up (impractical) so that I could reposition my bike. They decided that it was not worth arguing about and let it pass. Another thing that bugs me about the shuttle; no matter how early you get there, they will always hold the bikes back until last. The reason they give is that they don’t want the billows of smoke from the bikes (?) suffocating the car drivers mid-train! Somebody aught to tell them that two-strokes are a of the past!
Great video Bonnie, thank you. Hopefully I can put it to good use next summer. How much did it cost by the way and how long do you need to book in advance?
Hi Robert, I bought my ticket for about 60 GBP, which is about the cheapest you can get (non flexible). Early and late in the day is best value. You can book and get prices on www.leshuttle.com I think there are always places available even in peak season, but maybe not the cheapies. I booked in March for a June trip and there were lots of spots available then.
Hello Bonnie, where do you stay on your travels? hotels? Have you any tips? Should you book in advance or just on the day? Any issues with solo travel?
Hi Peter, I have 2 videos coming up which detail my trip. To answer your question, I used Booking.Com and Air B&B. A mixture of cheap hotels, guest houses or rooms to let. They were all fantastic and a great way of meeting local people and gaining local knowledge for places to eat and visit. I booked my accommodation a few months before my trip and I avoided the school holidays. I recon it would be a gamble trying to find somewhere last minute in the summer months especially. I found that wherever I went, people were super friendly and as a female biker I was not short of someone to talk to, except when I got a flat tyre near Innsbruck, then suddenly I became invisible! Hope that helps? Bonnie x
Hello Bonnie I will look out for them I am going on a solo trip to Europe At my age and on a electric motorcycle a challenge I am a bit worried about single supplement cost@Bonnie-English
Wow, an electric bike… That will be fun. I didn’t have any issues either way with single supplements. On Booking.com I just put in 1 guest and they gave me the price… I guess some gave a discount others didn’t. Airbnb private homes was really the best, feels a bit strange at first but I was always made to feel welcome and at home, I always managed to park the bike securely too😀
Its definitely interesting I did the Black Forest last year with my partner That 10 year relationship ended recently However I want to continue hence the questions I appreciate your help I am a bit too old to camp 😂@Bonnie-English
Good grief, I’d not thought of that. It’s a bit like the dilemma of where to put your car keys at the nudist beach.😂 I’m guessing a handy blob of blue tac?!
Beberapa tahun yang lalu saya berkeliling Bali dengan skuter, dan itu sangat menyenangkan, terlepas dari lalu lintas Denpasar! Sumatra, Thailand atau Vietnam akan menjadi sebuah petualangan.
@Bonnie-English ,, Aku tunggu Bonnie di payakumbuh 🇲🇨 ranah Minang, aku pernah Rider, sumatra🇮🇩, malayi, Thailand, unt masuk boder Myanmar tidak bisa karena perang saudara 👭
I love how slick and stress free the tunnel crossing is. Great vid for those who've not experienced it yet 🙂
Clothes peg was very helpfully given to me by someone who took pity on me as I went through the tunnel for the first time this summer. Essential!
Short, simple and very useful! Well done Bonnie, thanks for sharing! 👍👍
Thanks Bonnie, very helpful 😊
Thank you for a great video it was very informative 👍 Awesome 😎
I bought a sucker bull dog clip which I use on the ferries as well, Brittany ferries has sellotape on the boarding pass so need on their ferries .
I use a kitchen clip👍
Word of warning, when the train arrives at destination, braking to slow down, the bikes especially top heavy routers can tilt towards the front of the train. This can have unpleasant consequences.
Having witnessed a bike fall over on its side right by the compartment door, my advice would be stay beside your bike when coming into the destination.
A further tip, do your toiletting needs in departure facilities. The ones on the train can be out of order or so foul as to be imagined!
Only for the truly desperate.
Great points, thank you!
I've often wandered why they have you parking your bike with the front wheel to the left of the carriage. Surely it would be better to the right as your bike would then be pushing against the side stand when you stop?
@meurigjones2469 Great point. Others have mentioned this too.
Really enjoyed your video . Many thanks Bonnie .
We tow a motorcycle behind our Motorhome and use the tunnel quite a lot. Just a heads up to motorcyclists. You are going to exactly the same place as everyone else and you will get on your train. So please don’t ride past all the other vehicles queuing at passport control. They are probably on an earlier train and got called before you. I have seen the staff turn motorcycles away and send them to the back of the queue when they cut the queue.
Surely no British motorcyclist would ever jump a queue?!😀 Good point though, there’s nothing worse than a queue jumper.
great video and great to see another Trophy owner
Thanks Andy, I checked out your MGA video (what a timeless classic) and got a glimpse of your Trophy. I swapped my FJR1300 for it on a bit of an impulse and I don't regret a thing. 😍
That was so cool! Subscribed.
Thank you! 😍
The ferry is a far better way to cross the channel. The toilets on the Chunnel are terrible. You just stand with your bike for the duration of the crossing. On the ferry you can walk around, eat, drink, and relax. It might tak a bit longer but it's so much better.
Funny you should mention that. I took the ferry on my return journey. I have a video of that coming up soon!
A long time ago we did Southampton-Le Havre return, twice. IIRC on both trips the bikes were in a separate queue from the cars and waved on to park down side areas, between the hull/wall and a rail, with the advice to strap the bike down to e.g. the rail. It was worth having spare straps for this. Not sure if they still require it on the ferries.
On the first return trip we met a guy with a Guzzi who'd been told by the crew, on his outbound trip, that they would do it for him. If they did it, it wasn't sufficient and he came back to find his bike wedged under the rail, with a bent side-stand and pretty much unrideable. We were also not allowed to remain with the bike during the trip, though it may be different now or for shorter crossings.
Isn't the crossing quite quick? I spoke to a chap who reckoned 35/40 minutes, not expensive, either.
I've done both, the train is 35 mins and is a far better experience than the ferry, other opinions are available!
Ye, I'll try le shuttle next I think. Get riding sooner👍
I advise a good tank bag if you can fit one, French Passport control are normally very good, British side can be arses and useless, nice stuff Bonnie, I shall subscibe.
Thank you!
If you have a tank bag it's useful to have your passport and a glove to make passport control a little easier. If the tank bag has a vision panel on top it's a useful place for the paper number tag you are given. Be careful when riding through the train. If you are in the right hand lane, you are also on the toilet cubicle side. Easy to clip that with your handlebar if you are not careful - and that could screw up your whole tour
Very good video. Thank you
I think another good tip for big touring bikes should be,,, Do,nt fill up before crossing ! I say that because my RT as well as your Trophy have prety big fuel tanks and so become somewhat top heavy,,, and on that close find train the slights misstake and you will be down,,,which would not be a good start to your trip
Great point, those extra kgs are very high up… And there is a filling station a Km or so after you get off the train. Thanks for that ❤️
Quite the job getting thru and up to the train. Whew! Just before the last ticket spot, the biker in front of you in a blue jacket, carried on like it was his first time queuing to the Chunnel, because he cut directly in front of you making a lane change. He forgot signaling courtesy. Anyway, hope France was a great ride.
I was a bit stressed at the prospect of it all, what with a fully loaded bike, but it wasn’t as bad as my worst imaginings… Thank goodness! The Marshall tried to send the girl in the blue jacket down a different lane to the rest of the group, hence the lane changing, took me by surprise a bit but I didn’t say anything… Good job, turns out she was a US Marine. Respect!!
Interesting you got that bit of info on the Marine girl. Glad you learned about her, maybe a friendly rider. Wonder where she was headed while on leave.
For the geezers watching this take a small clamp and not a clothes peg 😂😂 nice vid 👍
Absolutely. Tough blokes need a sturdy bulldog clip!❤️
I used the train on my bike in 1997, when ist was quite new. Later on I took the ferries again. Using the ferry is more like travelling and not only transport. You see the coasts disappearing and aproaching, smell the sea and watch, what is going on on it.
They are much nicer, and the food these days on Brittany ferries is great. The best thing about the Chunnel is the ability to get thru Paris before rush hour and a few hours further south...
Thanks for that
Biggest problem with putting a bike on Le Shuttle is that they insist that you park your bike pointing to the left. So what, I hear you say? If you park your bike this way, if the train brakes suddenly, your bike could fall over - TRUST ME, I KNOW! If they would let you park your bike pointing to the right, this could not happen. Think about it - a train is far more likely to brake suddenly than accelerate fiercely!
Yes, I agree… not sure why they do that but they were quite insistent on parking front wheel to the left…
@ - The last time I used the shuttle I deliberately parked the other way around and refused to change it. They threatened to stop the train (unlikely) or get all the bikes behind me to back-up (impractical) so that I could reposition my bike. They decided that it was not worth arguing about and let it pass.
Another thing that bugs me about the shuttle; no matter how early you get there, they will always hold the bikes back until last. The reason they give is that they don’t want the billows of smoke from the bikes (?) suffocating the car drivers mid-train! Somebody aught to tell them that two-strokes are a of the past!
Great video Bonnie, thank you. Hopefully I can put it to good use next summer. How much did it cost by the way and how long do you need to book in advance?
Hi Robert, I bought my ticket for about 60 GBP, which is about the cheapest you can get (non flexible). Early and late in the day is best value. You can book and get prices on www.leshuttle.com I think there are always places available even in peak season, but maybe not the cheapies. I booked in March for a June trip and there were lots of spots available then.
Hello Bonnie, where do you stay on your travels? hotels? Have you any tips? Should you book in advance or just on the day? Any issues with solo travel?
Hi Peter, I have 2 videos coming up which detail my trip. To answer your question, I used Booking.Com and Air B&B. A mixture of cheap hotels, guest houses or rooms to let. They were all fantastic and a great way of meeting local people and gaining local knowledge for places to eat and visit. I booked my accommodation a few months before my trip and I avoided the school holidays. I recon it would be a gamble trying to find somewhere last minute in the summer months especially. I found that wherever I went, people were super friendly and as a female biker I was not short of someone to talk to, except when I got a flat tyre near Innsbruck, then suddenly I became invisible! Hope that helps? Bonnie x
Hello Bonnie
I will look out for them I am going on a solo trip to Europe At my age and on a electric motorcycle a challenge I am a bit worried about single supplement cost@Bonnie-English
Wow, an electric bike… That will be fun. I didn’t have any issues either way with single supplements. On Booking.com I just put in 1 guest and they gave me the price… I guess some gave a discount others didn’t. Airbnb private homes was really the best, feels a bit strange at first but I was always made to feel welcome and at home, I always managed to park the bike securely too😀
Its definitely interesting I did the Black Forest last year with my partner That 10 year relationship ended recently However I want to continue hence the questions I appreciate your help I am a bit too old to camp 😂@Bonnie-English
I avoid camping too! The Romantic Road was just fantastic as was the Alpine Road if you were thinking of Germany again ❤️
you want to try putting a 44 ton truck on shuttle its not easy if you dont watch out
I can imagine! Bet they don't make you park wheels to the left!!!😜
1:17 what if you have a naked bike and no windscreen 😂
Good grief, I’d not thought of that. It’s a bit like the dilemma of where to put your car keys at the nudist beach.😂 I’m guessing a handy blob of blue tac?!
@Bonnie-English well I could tell ya where ya can put keys at the nudist beach...... But, you may not like it 😉
@@Bonnie-Englishattached to where lol 😅
🤔😂
Just kitchen clip to the brake line or your jacket👍
Curious if you encountered any smelly dogs on train?😅
No, come to think of it I didn’t… You don’t think it’s the bikers peeing in the car park do you???🤢
Motor nya bagus, Harga nya mahal di Indonesia, ayo datang ke Indonesia unt touring, 😊
Beberapa tahun yang lalu saya berkeliling Bali dengan skuter, dan itu sangat menyenangkan, terlepas dari lalu lintas Denpasar! Sumatra, Thailand atau Vietnam akan menjadi sebuah petualangan.
@Bonnie-English ,, Aku tunggu Bonnie di payakumbuh 🇲🇨 ranah Minang, aku pernah Rider, sumatra🇮🇩, malayi, Thailand, unt masuk boder Myanmar tidak bisa karena perang saudara 👭
Don’t give up your day job!