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WOO HOO!!!!
Only 7 days to go.
Mads, Gone2Mars (both bikers cafe) and Myself are off to Europe next Wednesday 04th August. Very excited. We have been working on this since christmas but already it hasn’t been smooth sailing.
Good points! 10 days across Europe, roughly 2300 ish miles planned, 7 countries, Stelvio pass, Fluela Pass, Furka pass, and toll roads banned.
Bad points! G2Ms Fireblade has a dodgy 2nd gear, my ZX6Rs brake pads still need changing, and Mads’s GSXR6’s tyres aren’t looking to healthy.
But currently, thats 7 good points and the 3 bad points. Odds are good.
No problem on the piccys, between us we have 1 camera, 2 onboard video cameras and 3 camera phones.
We must be able to get at least a couple of decent photos.
Well, better late than never.
Finally getting round to putting up a bit of info on our Euro run.
So sit down, relax and learn from our mistakes!
Finishing work of the Wednesday afternooon, I headed home and pulled the bike out of the shed. The night before I had successfully packed everything I needed into two Paniers and a tankbag, with the newly bought 4 man tent bungeed to the top.
Issue number one, with panniers on, the bike is too wide to fit out of the shed door.
So after unpacking the bike, removing it from the shed, and packing again. I met up with Mark (Gone2Mars -Bikers Cafe) and hit the motorway to meet our third member Atif (Mads- Bikers Cafe) at Warwick Services.
The plan was, as always, a simple one. 10 days in Europe working our way across and down through France into Switzerland, with a relaxing 4 night stop before heading up North.. and a bit West back home.
First stop was Travelodge at Ashford.
We had spent a bit of cash on installing Autocoms to the bikes, which were a great way to break up the boredom of the 200 miles dash down to Ashford. Arriving at 11pm, bedding down to catch the 6:30 ferry to Calais.The next morning, we woke most of the hotel up by leaving Ashford at around half 5. To which the manager was really thankful!
The ferry trip, the usual uninteresting run, after which a quick fuel stop in Calais put us on the road for our first stop.
Mark and myself did a very similar run two years ago, and we were determined to learn from our mistakes. Keeping off the motorways was the first one. No tolls, and the French D roads providing a bit of excitment to the standard flat striaght northern French continent.
Arriving at the campsite in Nancy, we set up and headed off to the local shops for something to eat. Which on a bike, isn’t that easy.
The next day took us down the French-German border, off the main roads we headed towards all the green bits on the satnav which we found were quite impressive areas
And onto our base of operations for the next few days. A place that both Mark and myself fell in love with on our last jaunt. Vitznau in Switzerland.
The next couple of days were spent running some of the local alpine passes. THE best roads I have ever ridden, without fail. 1st and 2nd gear only. No time to accelerate past 35mph before being back on the brakes for the next 180′ switch-back.
These roads are stunning and the views are better, even if you do have the thought of impending deadly drops only a couple of feet away.
And I have never seen the satnav with so many lines on it.
And some self-indujent photos
Our new plan was working well, we even had enough flexibility to stay off the bikes for a day whilst the weather was miserable.
From Switzerland, we worked our way up through Germany with a quick dash back into France.
We adjusted our game plan and cancelled out last night as the weather started to turn, all the forecasts suggested rain for the next week! Heading up to luxembourg for our last stop we caught the sun for one last photoshoot
Which on the Thursday left us a rather mammoth 510miles home! Hard work on sportsbikes, but we thought it the better option through the constant rain.
Arriving back at Birmingham nearing midnight, Atif left us where it has all started at Warwick Services, Mark and me only live 5 minutes apart, so it was nice to complete the run home together. Although it was nice to have a moment to myself to remember another fantastic euro trip.
Happy Days
Excellent stuff Champs. Glad you had a great time. Love the sat nav shot, looks like one of those heartbeat monitors in the hospital!
“Bad points! G2Ms Fireblade has a dodgy 2nd gear, my ZX6Rs brake pads still need changing, and Mads’s GSXR6’s tyres aren’t looking to healthy.” – All resolved before you went then?
Oh yeah, I forgot to add thsat bit in.
No, is the short answer.
The dodgy 2nd gear was short shifted through into 3rd. Although we did have one 100 mile alpine run which Mark couldn’t use 3rd because it was too twisty, so used 1st all the way round. Ended up using 6 litres of fuel more than the two 600’s in 100 miles!
I took my brake pads with me and sorted that problem out whilst I was over there.
And Mads’ tyres, last time I saw were on the legal limit.
What a smashing time the 3 of you had, those photos really do the trip some justice. Note to self: Get a passport, and have some fun!!!
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