That's some fucked up shit al.... Hopefully it'll thaw out for us in a couple of weeks. Chin up dude... Will be one to talk about at least
Bloody hell Al, that looks cold! Seem to remember you having heated grips, bet they are coming into their own in this trip.
After Scotland Al ''You do seem to be a glutton for punishment'' Hope you get out of this rapid and find some decent weather.
This place would be stunning im winter or summer, but winter in summer not good but it does look cool. Roads clear
Now in trier in Germany near Luxembourg. Tough day with rain from he'll for 4 hours non-stop. More to follow..
Hats off to you Al, proper legend riding through all that. Bet the forthcoming tour vids going to be awesome
Just near sedan in northern France and finally weather good . Tunnel early morning and bike swap in Kent then home for afternoon.
Home - watched Mugello race at pals in Milton Keynes and managed to spot my mates in background on news coverage! Bike jetwashed and initial clean done. Trip had its ups and downs due to weather but can't change that. Hotels pre-booked and route pretty much set. Hope the 4 who went down to Mugello have a safe and uneventful trip back in the next week. Took 4 days to get back from Italy - had I used the rail savers train I could have stayed in Italy till about 15:00 yesterday and been home early evening today. Will work out what it cost to ride vs train
Sorry about your weather! Sounds like you made the most of it though! I hope it cheers up in a week and a halfs time! Incidently......the Nurburgring will come and noise check you if they think you sound loud.......if you're unlucky.
Start of write up - not easy as seriously hacked off this week. Trip report 1 The following is really just expanded review of previous pages with a few extra pics Plan was simple - I was to join a pre-planned 2 week trip which 4 mates from the North East were taking to Mugello for the MotoGP but for various reasons I made decision to just do the first week and head for home on the Thursday they headed South. They had pre-booked the overnight ferry from Newcastle of the Friday night so I was to meet 2 others at the Tunnel Saturday morning and then we all meet at the Nurburgring mid afternoon Saturday. Bike loaded at home ready for the off - Baglux bag for valuables, cheapo Euro Satnav and trusty Ventura bag I was first to arrive and check in at about 8:15 only to then receive text that the rear shock on an a 2006 R6 had come apart and dumped all its oil and bike was not rideable - managed to contact a biking mate from Kent who came up with local dealers number but unable to help, then he says 'She can take my R6' - Kev is a proper legend and got her rack to fit his bike, fitted eletric clothing connection. As we had no idea how long this would take or future delays to tunnel (already 1.5 hour delay) the 2 of us headed to France to motorway to Germany border to save time as running late. Waiting for shuttle - best food option the hot dogs from here - ordered coffee just as called to move onto train but carried drinks and coffee in ventura! Stopped for fuel at Brussels as below and head Emma was at the Tunnel but huge delays Turned off motorway and headed for Monschau then onto ring - great roads and finally enjoyable being off the motorway Got to the ring about 16:30 - great place but on the way my bike had been juddering under braking - we checked a few things and was deemed fit to ride so did a lap - was prob the slowest bike round all day but just would not turn and judder like hell - I just enjoyed it but jesus some cars are scary quick... Headed to our pre-booked hotel in Mayen via some absolutely cracking roads that I enjoyed more than the ring! Walk round town then food - phone calls from Em that she was running really late having had a 4 hour wait for a train AND been made to buy a new ticket for missing shuttle. Mayen town square Back at digs we waited for Em having warned her to stay on motorway and head for Koln and Koblenz then Mayen - phone call at 12:30 and we met up in town centre: R6 (with a new R1 front end) had done well! SUNDAY Our hotel was pre-booked and paid for in far south of Germany = long day but we let Em rise when she was ready and got moving in pouring rain at about 11:30 - pretty late but needed We hit the autobahn and after an hour or 2 had to stop for fuel and hot drinks, everyone getting cold and wet. The route planned involved about 50 - 60 miles of B roads to link over two motorways but progress was glacial, it was torrential rain now for 4 - 5 hours and everyone was getting seriously hacked off. We stopped and the Triumph Sprint was getting increasingly reluctant to start, till at this point at about 18:00 and still a good hour or so from hotel it would not start Having a Triumph design mechanic on the trip he suggested water logged plugs - so removed tank etc. to get to them and found damp - dried them out with WD40 and rag and put back together. Why won't it work?? It did not fix it... battery at this point getting low Next idea was water in tank, as martin remembered drain hose from filler neck can get blocked and cause water to get into tank Tank off, drained and told you could see water in fuel, and as water sinks it explained why it would not work - so fresh fuel in tank and try again - Nothing I then suggested plugs would be damp form fuel / water mix so remove fuel pump relay and crank - battery now flat so swapped with one from BMW S1k Finally it started and we left here to get to hotel without needing this Due to combined skills of this lot Still pouring with rain, high winds and cold, really cold Got to hotel at about 21:00 - old place but fair, all soaking dripping wet. quick change then taxi to town for only open restuarant for a pizza then back and crash - told I was sleeping within 10 seconds!
Part 2 review Monday morning was another lazy start - breakfast for 09:00 then bus to Ludwigs castle The tour would cost €15 and we would have needed to wait 3 hours for start, so we just walked up to it , took photos and left We checked the R6/1 and found it almost no oil, so further time spent getting oil - we hit the road proper at about 15:00, late for a 180mile B road trip to Zel am See in Austria. Weather was good and had to stop here for photo I managed to get split from group - my MP3 player after about 1 minute as we left a stop went mad so I had to stop - gave thumbs up meaning 'carry on, minor issue' - minute or so tuns from blackberry and I'm good - road leaving town split in 1 way system round a hill - I see my mate point to me which I took as 'carry on where you are heading' - never saw any of the other 4 so blasted on, thinking they were 2 / 3 mins ahead its hard to catch, and if my mate is a minute or 2 behind it can take a while to meet up. His hand gesture had meant 'stop and wait there' Anyhow - I had a good map and worked out how to get to Zell am Zillar so we met up there and went up Gerlos pass We had a brisk run to the appartment unit - could not find key and PIN code would not work - turns out we were at the wrong block - by the time we had got to 'right' block and checked in it was past 21:00 (common theme here...) Sunset while waiting for learn we were at 'wrong' block Lovely restaurant but only one still serving and really late for dinner Bikers are welcome! Late night (not from excess drink just being 'late' ) meant late start the next day again - on road for 10:00
Tuesday Headed for the Grossglokner pass and paid our €23 toll ticket and warned 'be careful in tunnels' Austria had much cheaper petrol than Germany - €1.39 vs €1.60 we had been paying View from toll booth Pass is great - was not too busy but we stopped here for snowball fight Went up the cobbles to the 'bikers nest' with loads of fresh snow Panorama - great views with so much fresh snow Reason for being careful in tunnel now very clear with all the ice Spoke with the owners of these Heinkel Scooters - worlds first 4 stroke scooters, one had been to artic circle and owned for 50 years! Not normal end May conditions Stopped for coffee and strudle at Glacia - I tried to 'move group along' as time ticking on We went up Staller Sattol Pass and stopped for the view On into Italy We had to wait 20 mins here for the traffic lights to change - its open for 45 mins coming up the hill, and 15 going down. Our destination was Arabba in the Dolomites for another pre-booked hotel - slightly better as we arrived around 18:00 - but by the time you check in, unload bikes, park bikes, shower and change its 19:30 or so and another late meal - we all said 'lets get to the next hotel in good time'
