What Have I Done on my bike today?

[tt bob]

Well to be honest nothing - but yesterday - well that's a different matter.
Yesterday I rode home to Leicester from the channel tunnel at Folkestone where I had just arrived after a three week tour of Europe on a MT350.
On Saturday May 26 I set off together with an Aprilia Caponord , an Aprilia Pegaso , a Suzuki Bandit and a P reg LDV Convoy which had all come down to Leicester from Ellesmere Port on the Friday night and a Yamaha FJR from Leicester - and theres me on a MT350 - well it seemed a good idea at the time.
We eventually arrived in Calais that evening (it was shut!) , ate a kebab in the hotel car park and went to bed .
Sunday after breakfast in France , lunch in Belgium , and dinner in Germany we arrived later than expected to our camp site where we were met by Birgit and Tomas , two friends we ususally meet at the TT , Stefan , Birgit's brother and a crate of German beer packed with ice - NOW that is what I call a welcome.
Next day was a day off the bike - we were treated to a guided tour of the Rhine valley by Birgit and Tomas and a barbeque at their house .
Tuesday - a "quick" blast through Germany to another campsite . Again a friendly reception from the site owner , a very friendly reception from the onsite Italian Bistro and one (or was it two?) bottles of red wine.
Wednesday - Austria - stopped at a country Gasthof for lunch , the landlord had a long conversation with Uncle Baldy (Aprilia Pegaso) - the resident linguist we were waved on our way by the Landlord , the staff and the other diners who all came out to the car park to see us off! Arrived in Linz , our destination , the sat nav told us we were at the campsite when we were actually in an underpass in the centre of Linz - a marked lack of tents or the promised lakeside site - it was honking down . We stopped in a car park to get our bearings - a hotel car park - yes they did have rooms - sorted.
Thursday - Hungary - the Hotel Budapest - pretty damn good . The Majorca - a bar over the road in a park - good meals for 8 , who knows how mucg beer (at least 12 pints ) assorted soft drinks , three or four vodkas and deifnately 2 bottles of red wine - total bill? , including tip? - just over 10 quid each!
Friday - another day off - sightseeing in Budapest . Great place , will be going back again.
Saturday - Rumania - the Hotel Nicky . In the middle of a dirty great inner city park/forest
again well worth a revisit.
Sunday - THE TRANSFAGURAN HIGHWAY ! - it waa open - all the way up until it was closed - there was still 15ft of snow on the road in June . So we came back down it again .It was scary on the way up , it wasn't much better on the way down either - especially when I got my front brake so hot the fluid boiled and I lost anything resembling stopping power - a definate "Oh Shit" moment - in total 44 miles of the most unforgettable road and mountain scenery - and a special mention has to go to Mary who was the van driver - she had to do a three (or five or six) point turn in a 16yr old LDV hightop van with a mountain on one side of the narrow road and bugger all on the other side - I didsn't enjoy it on my bike!
An alternative route through the Carpathians to the Taffic Motel - it rained - lots - got there and the first words uttered to me by the Romanian waitress was "What beer would you like!" - I do like this country!
Monday - and it's off to our nominal final destination - Uncle Baldy's house in Bulgaria and was it hot - it was so hot that my wing mirrors came loose because the ball joints expanded - the next day (and ever since) they have been as tight as normal.
Three days in Bulgaria - cheap food and wine (a quid a bottle for the good stuff!)
Peta , Baldy's nieghbour and a retired army Brigadier was , for some reason , interested in the MT350 - and he distils the most wonderfully accomplished Brandy .
Thursday - back to the Traffic Motel - this time it's sunny and the road through the Carpathians wasincredible , twisty ,a bit bumpy , up and down mountains incedible views again - and we all overtook a train! dosn't get much better than that.
Friday - another hotel in Hungary (there must have been more to it than that but the memory isn't what it was before the red wine)
Saturday - Poland - Krakow - disaster , the MT started playing up - well I had to swap two headlight bulbs in quick sucession .
Sunday - another day off - a visit to Auschwitz - enough said . It is worth mentioning though - Poland shuts at 10 o clock!
Monday - A Highlight - we stayed in a 13th century castle elsewhere in Poland - indescribable . It's called Zamek Czocha in Lesna - if you get the chance then go there.
Tueasday - back to Germany - found the hotel - the restraunt is closed on Tuesdays! All is not lost - there is another Gasthof and restaurant a 100 yards away - really warm welcome . I ate wild boar with mushrooms and the landlord brought us a beer as we sat with the locals wathing the euro football .
Wedneday - Meerbusch near Krefeld -a campsite on the banks of the Rhine we were led to our camping spot by a young German who was grinning from ear to ear - when we stopped
all became clear - waiting for us were Klaus and Vera , two more friends from the TT , Vera'a mother and Jurgen a brother in law I think together with the obligatory barbeque and beers - how welcoming are these Germans?
Highlight of the night ? - Katy Diesel's (he knows who he is) Aprilia Caponord had given up the ghost 50 miles away so it was into the van (thats what it was there for) and on our way . At the campsite I had narrowed the fault down to a faulty starter solenoid and I stood there explainig to Jurgen , who had shown an interet , the it "was just a low voltage switch for a high voltage connection - blah blah blah" the Jurgen mentioned what his job is - he's an electrical engineer! - I wonder what the German is for teaching your Grandmother to suck eggs?
Thursday - a day off mooching around Meerbusch and saying goodbye to Klaus and Vera
Friday - getting lost , in torrential rain , in four differeny countries (Germany , Holland , Belgium and France) and belting down between two lines of stationary traffic in Antwerp - and I do mean belting - I've not done that since I was a callow youth (60 next year) and I got away with murdere - it was GREAT - I had to wait for the Suzuki and Yamaha for around two minutes so they could catch up .
That brings us up to Saturday and a horrible journey up through England with the wind knocking me from pillar to post .
Start - 7643km on the clock - Finish - 13931km on the cxlock - spares needed - 2 headlight bulbs , maintence - tightened and oiled the chain once .
MT350 a good idea? - probably . It did at least 50mph contantly through long days without missing a beat and the interest it caused - well I probably don't have to mention that to you lot - but there were 7 travelling companions that were getting a little fed up that the only reason people took photos of their bikes was if they were parked next to the Harley!
What next then ?
Nothing for a bit - but Ireland in August looks good , and I wonder if there's any of them 500 electric start engines left?
regards
TT Bob

[pupster]

...Hi Bob...That sounds like a fantastic trip....We're hoping to get to Budapest on our current trip....I hitch-hiked there when I was 18 and have wanted to back ever since....Krakow is one of my very favourite cities....I'd love to ride that highway in Romania but riding 2-up with all this luggage, I think I'll wait until next time....Same as Norway!......You also reminded me of last year riding about 30 miles between traffic in Antwerp, beeping cars out of the way blasting through....Happy Days!.....

[bth2bth2]

fantastic journey. great write up.
i can only wish.

brian

[arceye]

Wondered why i didnt see you at the TT this year.
Sounded like a great alternative.

[tt bob]

It was certainly better than sitting in the rain somewhere in the irish Sea waiting for the Senior to be cancelled - did I mention the teperature in Bulgaria over that weekend? - scorchio just about says it all.

TT Bob