Right, ferry booked, hotel in Calais sorted and time of work planned. Newcastle practically safe from relegation so can concentrate on more important things. Such as....... the bike.

Two options, option one, trade in the trusty ER6 and buy a big tourer like a BMW or Transalp, or option two, spend a bit of cash turning the kwak into a tourer.

Option two appeals to me more for several reasons, firstly the idea of buying a bike and then putting 7000 miles on it will devalue it, secondly the route I am riding favours a light nimble street bike rather than a big lumbering sports tourer (charley and ewan style), thirdly I would like to prove that long distance touring doesn't need a huge budget and an expensive bike, I'm not yet thirty! I can take a bit of vibration and wind. And finally I'm very fond of goofy (the er6), and can't quite bring myself to sell.

With all of this in mind I have set aside £1000 with which to Europe proof my bike.

So the big thing this week was to do up the bike, I have already got a small screen to stave off the wind and a topbox but as im going to need more storage. At first I considered soft luggage but having been educated on the high crime rates in some places I am going through (thanks top gear), I resolved to get proper hard luggage (£350. Ouch!) and use a bag strapped to the back for camping equipment.

I have also splashed out on a new helmet, a shark evoline 2 fliplid, I love shark helmets and have wanted an evoline for ages, with the varying temperatures I will experience an open face helmet is essential and the shark system means you can ride easily with it open, plus it has a sunvisor and that's a must for touring.

My kit will be taken from my current collection as I've got a pretty reasonable selection though I will need to decide between big heavy duty tech 3 boots and lightweight sidi boots.

My final two buys were a tomtom rider pro with charging maps and European maps and a 12 volt cigarette plug for the bike so I can charge the iPhone/iPad/kindle without relying on dodgy foreign electricity.

Enough for today, going to heine gerike tomorrow so more stuff may be aquired.