Scooter Vs Motorbike (Tim)

I woke up this morning at 5am, tossing and turning about all this trip.  There are so many things we haven't thought about, or prepared, or tested, or tried.  We are 10 days away from the start, and yet we are as prepared as if we have 10 weeks to go.  We are idiots.

I am confused and frustrated with my unease over all this.  Surely this isn't such a big deal is it?  We are simply pottering over to the continent on our little scooters for a few days.  Many people have done far bigger adventures than this; and without all the flap.  Take my friend Hugh......

thnx to Mags for the pic

Hugh is setting off on his own continental trip at about the same time as we are; only he is going by Motorbike - a Yamaha TRX850 to be precise.  He is off with 4 others (A Gilera Saturno, A Cagiva Raptor 650, A Honda NTV 650 and a Honda GB500) on a 6 day, 1300 mile trip to Northern Spain.

I asked him.  What tool kit are you taking?  Apparently his mate has "a great kit, spanners, adjustable, couple of screwdrivers, spark plug spanner, small mole grip that's about it."
What about luggage? "A small sports bag strapped to the bike plus most of us have a small rucksack on our backs or a tank bag"

He seems very relaxed and prepared about the whole thing.

While Scott and I will be averaging 25 MPH, Hugh and his mates will be averaging 50 MPH (with not a great deal less on their MPG than we will be getting)
 “We tend to stick to A and B roads chosen for their beauty rather than straight line distance” - By contrast, Scott and I simply cant afford to choose anything other than the shortest distance (in the hope that this is the minimum time in the saddle)

Hugh did offer some advice;
“Spare inner tubes, forget it.  The likelihood of getting a puncture is so remote to be almost negligible.” Hmm I hope we aren’t going to be the exception to the rule
He goes on...
“Earplugs can be helpful for both the journey and for sharing a room with guys who snore badly”  Oh God thats a whole other issue about this trip I havent even thought about yet.  Does Scott snore?  fart? scratch his things?  I shudder at the thought