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Bikes
Eurotrip day 12 6th Oct 2010 – Germany
0We awoke to a bright sunny day with clear blue skies and go ready to go to breakfast. We went upstairs to the restaurant and found a large breakfast spread which we tucked into. They had a Nurburgring toaster that toasted the ring on to the bread! I also enjoyed a ring doughnut and fresh coffee.
After breakfast we used the hotel wifi to check out the last minute availability of the ring. Before we left home it did not say on the website whether the ring was open or not, but we found that the ring was shut for private testing and would open again for an evening session 9th October. We took a walk up to the ring and immediately had a good view watching cars come around a bend towards us, before braking for another bend and going uphill into the forest. The sound of the cars coming and then going past was immense. We walked further around the ring and it got muddier and muddier, Alexa stepped in a big squidgy patch and it made a squeak and oozed mud out into her shoe! She was less than impressed and stood on one foot refusing to move until I cleaned both her sock and the inside and outside of her shoe!
We found a spot with make shift benches on right next to the ring and we stayed a while watching the cars race past, Alexa took a photo of me as a Lamborghini went past! We walked on and stopped to have some apfel juice and crisps and watch the cars. The scenery beyond the ring was pretty, towns with a church spire poking up and areas of forest. After a while we strolled back down to the hotel and got a late lunch, a mixed salad and some tuna sandwiches. After lunch Alexa fell asleep as she was knackered and I read my news things and we chilled out.
As the sun got lower in the sky we walked back to the track and saw the sunset behind the ring disappearing through the trees. I took some photos and Alexa took some video on my iPhone 4. As the cars got fewer finishing for the evening we wandered back down to the town and got our last dinner. Alexa had a currywurst and I had a cheese burger followed by sharing an apfel strudel and ice cream and a waffle with black cherries which were delicious.
We returned to the room and packed up our thing ready for the ride home Thursday and got to bed early.
Eurotrip day 11 5th Oct 2010 – Germany
0We woke up to heavy rain in Ulm and slowly got up and went down for breakfast hoping the weather would clear up. The breakfast was delicious, another buffet, and with hot food – our first cooked breakfast on holiday! As we enjoyed breakfast the rain had stopped and the road was drying out. We got back to the room and got our things together, paid our bill and got back on the bike.
We got on the autobahn and I rode northwards on our way to the Nurburgring. The traffic began to slow and then promptly stopped. It moved forwards a little then stopped again. We watched people climbing out their cars, one guy sat on the crash barrier, and another got a cool box out his boot. Alexa jumped off the back to stretch her legs and we shared a snickers and some water. After a while we saw the traffic start to move off ahead, as we could see down and then back up a hill, so Alexa jumped back on ready. I set off again and there was no apparent reason for our hold up, we encountered a few more stops as lanes were shut for tree cutting and grass trimmings – that wouldn’t happen on our motorways!
The scenery was still hilly and there were so many trees. As we moved ever northwards the trees turned from fruit to fir. There seemed to be lots of activity on the farmers’ fields, harvesting and ploughing, and we saw a field of large pumpkins probably waiting for Halloween. The weather was cloudy, dry and warm though noticeably cooler as we travelled north. We stopped for lunch at a café and had a brockwurst each and some water. Alexa went in to pay and man stopped her, wearing a t-shirt with a motorcycle on, and gave her a voucher which was a cool random act of kindness and made us smile.
We refuelled and got back on the road and by late afternoon I left the main road and got on the twisty forest roads. We were close by to the Nurburgring and entered a small town passing a Lidl and an Aldi and went under and bridge and saw our hotel on the left. We got off the bike and heard squealing tires and looked up to see the bridge we just went under was in fact part of the ring! The cars were flying round the bend and over the bridge right next to our hotel!
Our host Eddy pointed to a level area undercover and said I could park my bike there which I gladly did. We went to our room and were immediately disappointed it was a twin. Then as we walked further in we found another room which was the double with a fridge, tv and sofa as well. Then as we went to find the bathroom we found another twin room, within our room and then a bathroom! It was warm and we had everything we needed. The sun was low in the sky and we could no longer hear any noise from the ring so we walked up to Lidl and Aldi as Alexa wanted to see what they were like in their home nation. We got some lunch bits for the Wednesday and Alexa happily investigated the Christmas sections, though we had no room to bring anything else home!
We walked back to our room and got ready to go out for dinner. Out we went again to an Italian restaurant, the only one open, where we both had lasagne. It arrived very quickly and was bubbling in a serving dish. We tried to wait for it to cool down but we both burnt our mouths! We returned to our room and went to bed tired from a long day on the road.
The BIG trip to Italy, Lake Garda
2
Recently we have been planning our first long distance motorcycle trip to Europe. This September (2010) we are going to Lake Garda, Italy, some where we have both wanted to visit for a while now. When I got the new Motorbike (BMW K1300s) we decided we could go on that. It will be the first time I’ve ever driven in a different country on the other side of the road and I’m very apprehensive over getting junctions, and the law, wrong there. So I’m trying to prepare for the trip, and anything that might come up, as best I can. (Yeah right!)
The bike itself is nearly ready, I’ve just got the headlight converters to go, and I’m going to add a small white line of tape on the offside mirror to remind me of what side of the road I should be on; the white line should match up with the line on the road. Then having the top box and the two expandable panniers I’m hoping that should be enough space for the clothes and some of the tech I want to take!
The plan for the trip itself is to ride for about 8 hours a day to get down to Lake Garda in three days, stopping each night at pre-booked B&B’s. The first stop will be France, in Meurville, at a champagne producing family’s B&B, in a vineyard, where the owners have said the bike can be parked in the champagne cellar between the bottles, which we can also taste! We’re hoping to pick up a bottle while we are there.
To get to our first stop over I will be taking the fastest route straight down the Autoroute for the first part of the journey from Calais. Then from this first stop over I will be taking the minor roads, equivalent of our A roads, down to the Swiss Border to travel around part of Lake Geneva. This road then leads into the Swiss Alps where our second stop over is at Naters, in the heart of the Swiss Alps. I do hope it’s not snowing too much; the weather is looking colder the further into September we go! Then, if we’re not too frostbitten, I shall ride down the last part of the Alps into Italy and work my way to Lake Garda. On arrival at Lake Garda, we are staying at Keycamp resort, though in a chalet not a tent! Here we shall stay for 7 nights on the lakeside.
For the return journey we shall be travelling back over the Alps, through Austria and into Germany. The first stop over is in Ulm. Then I shall ride northwards through Germany to the Nurgburgring where we are staying for 2 nights at the track side. Maybe I’ll even get out for a lap if the track’s open and I’m feeling brave! Then I shall ride the last 300 miles past Brussels, perhaps stop at Brugge, then on to Calais to the Eurotunnel and back home on the motorway.
This trip will be about 1900 miles and approximately 50 hours of riding. It would be a lot quicker if I just took the motorways, but then we wouldn’t see much apart from tarmac!
So keep watching the site for more updates and also the live blogging on the trip!
Weekend away to Reddich
0Great weekend away on the bike up to Reddich, the whole journey we didn’t touch a motorway just a lot of lovely twisty country roads 
) stayed in a travel logde (only £9 a night room on there special day) seeing friends and chilling in Stratford Upon Avon.
Bmw K1300s
2Bmw K1300s 2009
After riding for over 5 years now on a sports bike i been looking around thinking this maybe not all its crack up to be, seeing other riders sat upright cruising along the motorway looking so much more comfy then me being hunched over the tank getting blown about. I had always liked the look of the BMW s hyper sport bikes ever since I see Essex police unmarked bike around, With it’s fitted sport panniers witch I thought set the look of the bike After a few visit to BMW’s motorad dealers and 3 test rides later I finally decided that this was the next step of bike for me. There was a big apill of the panniers making biking life a lot more easier.
The k1300s is as such, still a sports bike but being bigger in size and engine It could still be used more for touring with a pillion and language without to much compromise of comfort or power and it lacks no speed and I fill and now proven that it will give sports bikes a run for there money on the twisties.
After riding the bike now for just over 3 months and just under 4000 miles I’m really happy with it, apart from some teething problems. BMW being such as they are nothing seems to be easy, there wiring system on the bike is cambus, so i tried to changed the side light bulb to an LED , but no as soon as i did the check light on the display came on “LIGHT F”.
Also BMW in there wisdom have placed a connecter next to the battery that’s a switched positive for there GPS system, to use it you need to buy a special plug with 2 bare wires, (£18) i don’t think so.. The connector had a blacking cap over it, By using this and drilling 2 small holes and gluing 2 tined wires trough so there go nicely into the plug and can even be connected and disconnected, so now the tomtom and autocom unit goes on and of with the ignition.The autocom unit was installed fairly easily, using a relay off the switched positive (just incase it would blow anything up by drawing to much power) to power the unit, the unit cable tied behinde the rear side fairing where a optional tool kit can go, and cables run under the under the seat in the trucking already there, the only tricky part was running the cables around to the front, by removing the side fairing, and plastics around the fuel tank i managed to feed the cable thou along the side of the tank in between the tanks fairing, ( just hope there not going to be a problem later on when its serviced ) so now i have music from the iPod shuffle Velcro ed to the inside cockpit plastics and tomtom audio.
I’m using a tomtom Go 720 that’s a car unit with a Ramount holder, the holder connects to a Ramount ball joint that’s meant to go into the toptree stem but iv placed in the handlebar toptree itself, just ed removed a block plastic cover and pushed in the expanding bolt tightens up making it nice and secure and a perfect place to see the tomtom. A camera can also be mounted to the same ball joint
After a few runs out with my partner as pillion it can apparent that a top box would make her a lot more at ease, there’s a lot of power goin to that rear wheel and im not the gentlest with the throttle, I was hoping BMW would be the answer not the case, they seem to think the bike should only be fitted with a soft language top bag, so I bought a SW-MOTECH rear bracket that fitted a treat with a givi monolock E450 top box with backrest pad, and yes i no it meant for a scooter but its works fine. (she’s not fallen off yet).
As we are in the middle of arranging out first trip to Europe this month i thought it would be a good idea to get a tank bag for the things I need to hand, like passport, money, documents, camera and netbook. But BMW tank bag is over £150 witch was far to much for my needs so with a little research and DIY i managed to find and fit a hein-gericke streetline tank bag that was designed for plastic tanks so has suckers on the bottom, a strap that goes round the head stock and eyes for extra strapping, I made some strap webbing with clips to go round the frame of the bike just under the seat and up, just so the bag wouldn’t move and can be lifted up when fuel is needed.
When we go out to Europe the plan is to drive for around 9 hours a day so i came across a couple of things that should help the miles -
GripPuppies – basically thick form handle bar covers to fit directly over the existing rubber grips just to give to help stop vibrations of the bike and a little nice to hold due to the extra thickness.
CrumpBuster – just a small peace of plastic to go round the throttle so your palm rest on it moving the throttle round freeing your grip from around the throttle, works really well the few hundered miles iv used it.
The LED driving where just bough on ebay, 24 super bright LEDs in a water proof silicon case, i just glued then under the front noise fairing.
Spec -
Mods (all be it small)
Givi Topbox Paniers Autocom, ipod Tomtom Tankbag Puppie Grips Cramp Buster Led Driving lights
