I am an American thinking about a motorcycle trip in Europe. What do I need to know?

You don't mention what you ride, but if you're talking about Switzerland, France and northern Italy, you're talking about some significant altitude changes.. talk to a skilled mechanic about your carburetor, and if you're going to need to adjust for the lower O2 pressures at altitude, for instance. Also, plan your route, and your alternative routes (because something always goes wrong), well in advance, ensuring that you end each day in place where you can find a good meal and a warm bed (I've slept on the grass by the road-- it gets old fast. Carry a small cooler on your bike and keep it stocked with bottled water, bread, cheese, sausage, etc.-- sometimes, especially in the mountains, you may find yourself some distance from the next meal. Also, don't plan to closely, or set yourself too rigid a time schedule. Allow time for bike repairs, dinners with families you meet, scenic routes that turn into goat trails, etc.

Get a mobile phone that will work in Europe (many American phones utilize different places on the bandwidth). You can also wait and buy a cheapie once you're here, and thus avoid massive roaming fees. On a related issue, get some traveler´s phrasebooks if you aren't a speaker of French, German and Italian. More Europeans speak some English, unlike Americans who tend to be monolingual, but phrasebooks simplify life. See if you can find one with motorcycle terminology; if not, before you go, make up a list of useful phrases and get them translated in advance (what's a valve-stem in German? But if you need one...).

Get good, up-to-date maps, and get them locally-- the road that last year's map shows may be gone now (and I've discovered that Google and Yahoo's Maps are both behind the times.

Make sure that you have your US driver's license with motorcycle endorsement and an International license (available from AAA), and thet it also shows your motorcycle endorsement-- generally speaking, just your US license and passport aren't sufficient in Europe. On the other hand, once you arrive in Europe, there are no customs inspections between European Union nations.

Good luck, and have fun!

Apart from the obvious such as correct licence, travel documents and insurance etc, much depends on where you wish to go.and where you are setting off from

A good way to do it is to take a small tent and use one of the many good campsites in france and Switzerland.

I did a bike tour a few years ago, setting off from the UK and travelling across northern france towards the belgian border before heading south and staying overnight at a campsite at a place called contraville de mezeries ( not a bad little campsite there for an overnight stop )

From there we headed towards switzerland, crossing the border near Berne, and headiing around lake thun towards interlaken.

We camped at what can only be described as a 5 star campsite at a place called Lutrebrunnen ( valley of the waterfalls ) The campsite was called camping Jungfrau.

It has got to be one of the most spectacular places i have ever seen, so do get a guide book for the area, and read up.

From there we travelled east and rode over the Susten pass ( watch for your brake fluid overheating on the other side on the way down ) and then crossed the Furhrka pass into the Rhone valley, before crossing the border at Martigny, and camping at the foot of Mont Blanc just outside Chamonix.

The campsite was called the mer de glace ( sea of ice )

From there we headed south through provence, and camped between st Tropez and Cavalaire for a few days before heading north via Orlean to Boulogne and home.

DO take a good camera.

breakdown insurance

plenty of guide books

And have a fantastic trip as we did