Bungleaio

Gerontious really helped set the scene and make sure I was prepared as I could be. It still absolutely blew me away. Friday especially. I'll get the final bit written up soon, work is a bit manic at the moment unfortunately. No I took four in a sealed bag. I only needed 2 of them, the whole tub would be overkill!

It's a great bike. I wanted one too until I went and sat on one and found out that my body doesn't fold up in the right way... if that bike was ever one for me, that day has long gone. I tried sitting on it too. My heal was touching my arse, at that point I had a lot more respect for someone who chooses to ride such a torture device on a European road trip.

I know I'm a bit slack with these updates but here's another one Wednesday The sun was out so after the usual bread overload it was time for some maintenance faffing Followed by some fuel faff I'm not sure where we went but the roads were fantastic again. It's hard to describe what it's like unless you've seen it yourself but it's a mix of Scotland and Wales with villages like the Cotswolds mainly joined together with tarmac that wouldn't be out of place on a race track. We stopped at a place for lunch which had a bit of a reputation for a frosty service but she must have been happy that day as she was fine. It's nice having a beer at lunch The food was spot on too I didn't want dessert but the peer pressure was strong I decided to leave the guys after lunch and go off on my own pace and get some photos. There was a nice little river And when I was looking for where to go next I bumped back into the rest of the guys as they were being diverted due to an Umleitung. Yet another amazing deserted road and another. This is the photo I show people when they ask what it was like. I was the first back to the hotel. Mileage for the day was 145. Gerontious and Smallfrowne were back next Then there was quite a gap for the other three. We'd pretty much given up on them getting back for dinner but just after we sat down they appeared They weren't quite as full as the day before but sadly no more schnitzel. Thursday Not the brightest of starts, the view from the balcony in the morning Not to worry a healthy serving of bread meat and coffee later the rain really started to come down. I decided to have a proper day off the bike and get the bus to the bitburger brewery so off I went to find a bus. The other guys wanted to ride but were seeing what the weather was up to so I left them at the hotel. I wandered about a bit and found a bus stop, sadly as this is quite a remote place the bus service leaves a little to be desired, the service was every few hours rather than being every few minutes. I carried on with having a bit of a walk around the town and stumbled upon the tourist information. It's probably great if you speak/read German but as I don't it was useless to me. This area isn't somewhere us Brits go so they really aren't geared up for the English language. It's probably a lot better off for it too. The town is immaculate though and even looks good when it's raining The only really odd thing I saw was this I kept quiet and slowly backed away. My plan of getting the bus was out of the window but I still wanted to go to the brewery, the weather was improving so I got the gear on and went on the bike I got there in time for a tour but as it was only in German I declined, at least I'd finally made it. I was at a bit of a loss of what to do after that and Bitburg is a small place so I thought I'd go to Trier and have a wander around there, i didn't make it though as I caught up with the rain on the way so I turned around and headed back. Despite me still not really achieving anything I was still enjoying myself and just went riding around with nowhere really in mind to go, I stumbled across a lovely little bakery in some random town As well as getting sort of completely lost and ending up in what seemed like the middle of nowhere I spent a while there just taking in the scenery but also realising that a couple of years ago I wouldn't have imagined that I would be here, let alone on a bike. I headed back towards the hotel, these corners are near the hotel and were wonderful. They did provide a moment to the other guys later on though after someone dropped a load of oil on them. Whilst I was there something that we very rarely see in the uk, someone mowing the verges! Ours aren't even this short after they get mowed let alone before. Back to business though and I went to my natural habitat I picked up three beers which were all I could fit into my bag. Back to the hotel and the mileage for the day was the lowest for the week but still a fair few considering I wasn't riding at all that day. I like keeping my bike clean and seeing as most of my photos of the trip involved the bike I decided to give it a clean. I had packed some Vulcanet wipes so gave the bike a once over https://vulcanet.pro/shop/uk/home/10-vulcanetuk.html I did the obligatory stand back and admire your work whilst having a beer. I then spent the next hour or so sitting on the balcony enjoying the rest of the beer and listening to music. I tend to be on the go all the time when I'm at home so it was nice to actually do nothing for a bit. The rest of the guys arrived back I can't remember what we had for dinner that night but Smallfrowne and I ended up in the pub, we met a chap that had been working in the afternoon, had a few beers with his mates in Belgium and then drove back to the pub to carry on. A nice bloke and was very proud of his Grandad who had turned on his own side during the war and shot a load of Nazis. It was him that brought it up not us! We were also supplied with a few shots of some sort of concentrated bloody mary stuff, it was lethal.

Episode 2! Tuesday After a hearty breakfast of bread, cold meats, a froop and plenty of coffee it was time to start riding. I had decided to do my own thing that day as I was feeling pretty tired from the journey to get to Germany, Mondays ride as well as working hard the week before. I'd also managed to get some offline maps for google maps so I was pretty confident in being able to get back to the hotel. Rather than being completely alone I went with Smallfrowne to take his bike to a garage where it would hopefully be sorted with a new clutch. It was about an hour's ride to the garage so we took it steady. There was great elation from Smallfrowne when he realised the garage was a Honda main dealer shortly followed by great despair at what the cost may be. After some broken German he was ushered into a side room, where what looked like the manager struggled to find the parts for a near 30 year old Japanese bike. Whilst this was happening I avoided looking around the display of various models of Jazz and instead looked at the bikes. The Fireblade was nice but this was far more interesting. After half an hour or so the promise was made that a call would be made with an update on the clutch. As a new rider I've never had a pillion on the back, I also don't have pillion insurance and I've taken the rear pegs off my bike so I did what anyone else would do. I left him. I did feel a little bit guilty but there was a train station about 10 minutes away and the dealer had nice coffee so I knew he would be fine. As I was having a day off from riding I thought I'd put the nearest brewery into the sat nav and go and have a look at it. This didn't quite go to plan though as the roads opened up, the sun was out and I was on holiday so I kept on riding. It really is stunning in this area. As I was on my own I could stop and faff about to my hearts content. My first stop was https://www.google.co.uk/maps/search/50.02917,+6.75389?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiRuJr94szdAhWlAsAKHUplBdUQ8gEwAHoECAEQAQ Bare in mind I'd started in Trier and was supposed to be going to Bitburg so I was way off course. From there I went to https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/50%C2%B001'05.0%22N+6%C2%B048'35.0%22E/@50.0180124,6.8093749,19.25z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d50.018056!4d6.809722 I parked up and was enjoying the view when a bloke turns up in his car, he said something to me but I said I don't understand he immediately asked in English if I was ok. It's really nice when people do this and something that never happens in a car. I said I was just enjoying the view and taking photos, he complimented me on my bike then roared off showering me and the bike in gravel I wasn't really going anywhere in particular and by this point I'd decided not to bother with the brewery but I still needed a bit of a desitnation to head for. I really like a particular curry sauce which is only available in Belgium so I thought I'd find the nearest Carrefour and go there. 5 minutes of googling later the destination was set. I stopped off for another couple of photo opportunities on the way At one point I stopped a couple of times within 10 minutes just to take in the view. I was getting a bit peckish though so stopped for a sandwich (not the feast of toasties that the others were having) as well as some cake. I had already taken longer than the satnav had initially said to get there and I had a fair way still to go so I decided to stop faffing and get to belgium. I enjoyed some great roads (up until the border) and got myself to Carrefour. I didn't even know if they would have the sauce in stock as it was only a small store but luckily I was greeted with. Success, plenty of jars of D&L curry sauce for me but I only took the two. Feeling pleased with my mission to another country I decided to get back to the hotel and have a beer. No more stops and the direct route was selected. When I got back to the hotel the scores on the bike were That's 145 miles, not bad for a day off the bike. The sun was still out so a quick change of clothes later and it was time for It was hard work to get that beer though, I walked in and asked for a beer, no problem the lady poured some beer in the glass, put it down and had a drag on her cigarette, back to the beer and put some more in. Back to the ciggy, then a little chat with the other punters. Back to the beer and a little top up. Back to the ciggy, then a little clean of the sink. At this point I was wondering WTF is going on so I'll try and remind her about my thirst so I paid, then it was back to the fag! Finally, she topped the beer off and handed it to me. She would not do well in a Wetherspoons. I was soon joined by Smallfrowne, thankfully he got the next beer but as he's known in this pub he got a text to ask if we were ready for the third round! We saw the other guys ride past us towards the hotel so we headed back and met them in the hotel bar. The only one missing was Igloo, he's headed off on a mission to buy some mesh gear as it had been particularly warm and was only forecast to get warmer. We sat down for dinner and the others recounted tales of toasties and cakes, little did they know it would be schnitzel night, the food highlight of the week and they could barely eat. Smallfrowne and I had no issue though and tucked straight in. Igloo joined us very soon after wearing his new much cooler clothing, he had tested it's ability to let the wind through at speeds of up to 148mph. The schnitzels were fantastic, it was more luck than judgement that I wasn't full beforehand though Following this we retired to the bar for several more beers along with some sort of schnapps which was basically pure alcohol, nice but lethal!

Sorry for the lack of updates today but I've just got home from work, this week is long days trying to recover from last week's lack of work. There will be an update from me tomorrow. I sadly or happily missed the feast of a thousand toasties so I made the most of schnitzel night.

I have a tendency to waffle on so if this is too much just let me know and I'll put the rest of the week in a shorter format. As noted earlier in the thread my preparation involved riding my bike as much as possible. When I first said yes to the trip I had 6000 miles until the service, I thought that was plenty but it turned out that I was riding that much I got to 6k the week before the trip so it was booked in for the service a few days before the off. At least someone who knows what they are doing had looked over it before I embarked on a very long trip. Saturday My actual preparation involved stuffing my bags with clothes about 2 hours before I left the house. I have a Kriega US30 and two US10s. I didn't need the second US10 but I took it along with me just in case I needed more space on the way back. I set off to the meeting point to finally put some faces to these virtual names, I was given a warm welcome by Gerontious and Snod Blatter. I was given another warm welcome by Igloo, Bonio and Smallfrowne at the hotel in Ashford. A few beers were consumed along with food followed by one of the earliest nights of the week. Sunday A 7am meetup at McDonalds kicked the day off, I don't think any of us could say that we were anything but bleary-eyed. Not to worry a round of coffee's and grease soon sorted that out. About 20 minutes on the bike down the M20 and we checked in to the Eurotunnel, having to deal with the passport and bank card and then boarding card causes a bit of faffing about when you haven't got a tank bag. We parked up at what seemed like a Mclaren drivers club convention whilst we waited for the train but were soon on the way to the tunnel. I was a bit dubious about the whole just leave your bike on the side stand whilst on the train idea but it's so smooth the bikes didn't move at all. Once off in calais it was very simple, I just needed to remember which side of the road we need to be and which way we go around roundabouts. Despite my 20+ years of driving I've never actually brought any of my own vehicles to the continent but I have driven others for a few days so it's not completely alien to me. We had a bit of a break after 40 miles or so And then we had couple more stops every 50/60 miles or so. Two things I noted were French motorways are very boring but their service stations have an amazing food selection. Once off the motorway though things were very different, the roads very anything but boring. We stopped at https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.1835746,5.5735502,3a,75y,80.99h,78.05t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1slcj8UK0W6woEMcRYhjeg4A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 for a look at the view and a few minutes break. I was impressed with the view, little would I know that this was nothing compared to what I would see later in the week. Back on the bike for more interesting roads, into Luxembourg where the quality of the roads was markedly better than those of Belgium. The fuel was also a lot better priced, being on a par with what we pay at home. Another hour or so and we arrived at the hotel. I don't think the other hotel guests expected anyone from England to appear let alone six of us on bikes The evening involved an amazing Kebab type thing along with a few more beers. I was pretty shattered so retired early at about 10. There ends the early nights. Monday Little did I know it but Monday would be an education. The day started with breakfast, fantastic breads, boiled eggs and cooked meats. There was also a bit of a stir from the others about a new entrance and doors but as I was new to it all it largely passed me by. We set out with Gerontious leading the way on what has to be the most amazing roads I'd ever seen. They were everything that you could want, smooth, no potholes, sweepers, hair pins, rises and falls and on the rare occasion that we saw a local they actually knew how to drive. After an hour or so we had a bit of a break and some Cadburys eclairs courtesy of Bonio. Many flies sacrificed themselves on this journey even though quite a few had been brought over from the UK. This visior was only cleaned once during the trip and that was done by Gerontious when Snod Blatter was in the toilet. If it hadn't been done then I don't think it would have been done at all. Back on the bike for a couple of hours then a lunch stop. We stumbled across https://www.alteburg-longuich.de/ so stopped there. There was great excitement when a bottle of wine was found. However, it was returned to where it was found, by the bin. The food was simple in this place but it smiled at me before I ate it. This holiday was the first real experience of riding in a group apart from my training and one 45 minutes ride out with the boss' of my company. Not that there was any realy doubt but one thing that is for certain is these guys know how to ride, they may say they want to improve but they are already at a high standard. I was riding faster with them than I'd ever done before, following their lines and seeing how they did it really helped me be on the edge of my comfort zone. I was loving it but at about 4pm my brain was struggling to process what was going on and I had to back off. Rather than just leaving me behind Igloo slowed down too which was appreciated as I didn't really know where I was, apart from at one point he overtook me and I was shown what a GSA looks like when it's leant over so much the engine bars touch the ground. Great to see and as I said Monday was an education. Unfortunately, there was another casualty apart from my brain. After about 20 minutes or so we caught up Smallfrowne, he was going slowly but waved me on. We were only about half an hour from the hotel so carried on. Little did we know it then but that was the start of the does a clutch pack for an 80's Japanese bike exist in Germany saga. We got back to the hotel and this was what my clocks said The hotel restaurant was still shut so we went back to the Kebab shop and we were joined by a little friend. Bonio realeased him back to the wild in someones front garden on the other side of the road. The food was so nice, I wish UK kebab shops were like this. Even though the kebab shop sold beer 4 of us fancied a few more so we went off to the only pub that was open. When we got there the Landlady told said something to us, not having Bonio with us we took this as we are shutting in 10 minutes but I'll serve you one. A round of Bitburgers (I think it was that anyway) was promptly ordered. After we had drunk these she came round to collect the glasses and we presumed to bring the bill, but no she asked us if we wanted another round! Jackpot and 4 more were ordered. Thinking we had done very well by getting a bonus round it was a great surprise when the landlord said he would do another round! Double bonus. Feeling very proud of ourselves we paid the bill and left. A great nights sleep then ensued. I will carry on tomorrow with a write up of a few more days adventures.

Does this work?

Everything comes to those who wait All the photos have been edited so I will commence the write up now.

The whole experience blew me away. There was hours and hours of grinning. I have commenced sorting my photos, I took over 200 but have got it down to about 80 odd which tell the story of the week. I just need to edit them and get them edited and add some narration.

After a 17 hour trip home with 441 miles showing on the clock for that trip alone I'm tired but I will put a massive update together this week. I'm amazed that Snod and bonito have managed to get theirs up already.

I will do a proper update in a couple of days as I feel a bit broken after a long day yesterday, I could have made it shorter by not being in the pub until 2ish the night before but where's the fun in that. In summary though it was a top week with top lads on top roads.

He managed to get a courtesy bike, an aprilia shiver 900 but don't worry we are have eaten at least a metric tonne of bread so far this week so all suspension settings will be revised for Saturdays return trip.

You must have him confused with someone else?? Just last year.. This seems to be a common pose for the vintage Honda enthusiast.

I will post a proper update when I return home but it's safe to say that anyone who isn't on this trip is missing out.

I've got some chain spray, it's the wurth dry stuff. You are welcome to have a blast if you need it. I'm all packed and ready to go.

The eve of the trip and I've done nothing much to prepare other than get the bike serviced. There's plenty of time tomorrow in the morning I'm sure.

10 Days is even better! I was led astray by http://7is7.com/otto/countdown.html?year=2018&month=9&date=9&ts=24&hrs=08&min=20&sec=0&lang=en&show=dh&mode=t&cdir=down&bgcolor=%23CCFFFF&fgcolor=%23000000&title=Germany%202018

I write this with 11 days to go before quite possibly the best way to round off my first year of riding, a week trip to the Eifel Mountains in Germany on my Street Triple. I put together an introduction thread when I signed up for the site which I updated a few times with my riding story. When I posted about getting the Street Triple at the end of March Gerontious asked if I was going to be putting luggage on the bike, a few messages backwards and forwards later and I had agreed to go on tour with a bunch of strangers. I'd done around 1000 miles since passing my test at this point. There will be 6 of us going - Igloo, bonio, smallfrowne, Snod Blatter, Gerontious and myself. There were to be others but sadly they can't make it. My mates think I'm crazy for going away with people I've never met before, my Mrs is gutted I'm going on holiday without her and my boss nearly refused to sign my holiday request off so that he could go himself! From the messages between us, this area is well known to everyone (but me) so I'm sure I'll be in safe hands. I have done a solo four day trip around wales last month, I can also use my bike for work so have covered 6000 miles on my Street Triple, fingers crossed I'm bike fit and prepped for some long (but enjoyable) days in the saddle. My only experience of Germany so far has been a long weekend on the beer in Cologne so I'm lookng forward to seeing the German countryside. Kit wise I'll be using a Kriega US-30 and two US-10 bags which will be strapped onto my pillion seat. Ultimate Addon's are sending me a prototype phone case for me to test for them. My bike is a standard Street Triple 765 RS apart from the addition of a power bronze screen. The tyres have been swapped out from the very track focused Pirelli Super Corsa SP tyres for Michelin Road 5. Depending on the weather I'll either be in mesh stuff (which I've worn all summer) or RST textiles. I'll try and add a couple of updates as the trip is underway.

Problem with the side stand switch? Mine won't allow 1st to be selected if the side stand is down.

Congratulations on the new bike. I would recommend doing the government enhanced scheme https://www.gov.uk/enhanced-rider-scheme quite often local authorities subsidise it, it cost me £60 to do it.

People are dicks, don't worry about it mate as your experience on the road increases you'll get better and you'll see all sorts of crap driving.

My Street Triple a couple of nights ago.

You've got loads more experience than I did when I did my MOD1 but if you don't pass so what? Just have another go. I'd doesn't mean you are a worse rider for it.

Bad luck mate, it's amazing what test conditions can do to us. Best thing is not to dwell on it and next time you'll be fine. Nice write up though, I wrote up mine when I did it, it's nice to read back even though I only passed 6 months ago.

MCA is great, I bought all my gear from them, they are halvarsons dealers which is really good stuff.