In the morning, I packed my belongings and left the hotel as it didn’t provide any. I followed one of their suggestions and visited a café that was open on a Sunday morning. I had a coffee and muffin in a cozy place and could set off already at 8:30. During the night, it rained heavily but now the streets started to dry, the weather would still be cloudy for the next two hours.
I left Lunenburg in direction northwest, riding through a mix of forests and farm land. After a while I passed the little village of New Germany where also large plantations of Christmas trees were located.
Slowly the temperature rose and there were more sunny spells. I remembered that I hadn’t switched on my GPS tracking app and corrected that. During this trip I relied solely on my mobile phone that I charged continuously with a power bank stored away in a fairing box, safely protected by some fresh underwear.
Around 10:30 I arrived the town of Annapolis Royal that was composed of old wooden houses of this Maritime style. A lot of trees and meadows give it sometimes more the feel of a park than a town. I rolled into the ‚centre‘ of town and spotted a ‚German bakery‘. Curiously, I checked the menu at the outside and concluded that this must be a real German baker. Maybe later.
I rode through Fort Anne with the views on the bay and rolled slowed slowly through the mini waterfront before turning around. I stopped at the bakery again and as I was really thirsty, I thought it might be a good idea to consume some quenching liquid. In the bakery, I was attended by an East German waitress and could see that the bakers produced genuine products. So I ordered a salami roll with a Bavarian wheat beer. Unlike back home, I asked for a alcohol free version. In the background, I could hear some German Schlager. Entering customer showed that this place was quite popular. I finished my second breakfast and continued my ride.
I was entering Annapolis Valley, supposedly one of the highlights of Nova Scotia. I avoided the Highway 101 and chose the smaller Highway 201 that lead through lush fields with scattered farms. It has one of the mildest microclimates and is known for its fruit and vegetable crops. I enjoyed riding with the humming ST1300, the sunny weather was also playing along. I stopped here and there, taking pictures. In one village, I spotted a painter that was painting an enormous mural in great details – impressive.
In Kentville and Wolfville, the area got more urban, quite a wealthy area, it seems. My next stop was at Grand-Pré, a national historic site. The Grand-Pré National Historic Site is a park set aside to commemorate the Grand-Pré area of Nova Scotia as a centre of Acadian settlement from 1682 to 1755. The French settlers built dykes to hold back the tides along the Minas Basin. They created rich pastures for their animals and fertile fields for their crops. Grand-Pré became the bread basket of Acadia, and by the mid-18th century was the largest of the numerous Acadian communities around the Bay of Fundy and the coastline of Nova Scotia.
Serving as a kind of museum and memorial site, the Site tells the story of the Acadians that got caught in the middle of the colonial wars between the British and the French. Although French-speaking, they did not want to take sides, staying neutral. After the occupation of Nova Scotia by British troops, they did not want to swear an unconditional oath and allegiance to the British Crown. As a reaction, in 1755 their property was confiscated and almost all Arcadians were deported. Many Acadians died from drowning, starvation, imprisonment, and exposure. By modern terms, this would be considered an ‘ethnic cleansing’.
The “Landscape of Grand Pré” was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2012. The 1,300 hectares of polderised marshland and archaeological sites in the Grand-Pré area were recognized as an “exceptional example of the adaptation of the first European settlers to the conditions of the North American Atlantic coast” and as “a memorial to Acadian way of life and deportation”.
I visited the exhibition, attended a film, visited the park and chatted with some museum guides about remaining Acadian culture. After the visit, my trip was basically over. I rode westwards to Truro and further to the motorbike rental place. I changed clothes, packed my suitcases and waited for the pre-booked taxi that would get me to Halifax airport. The trip was quite entertaining, as I had a lively discussion with a well-informed driver. At the airport, I had quite some time on my hands, as my flight departure was delayed for two hours. Enough time to have dinner and to survive the Air Canada Lounge.
One flight to Frankfurt and a connecting flight to Brussels later I was back home. A nice short trip through most of Nova Scotia!
I was wondering which route to take in the morning in order to avoid a rain front. But as the rich breakfast and the following chat with the owner did take longer than expected, it did not matter anymore – the rain had started. Well, it didn’t matter then. I started off in the rain shortly after nine and headed for Baddeck and further southwest. The rain stopped after 30 minutes and I enjoy the easy ride on highway 105. Just after leaving the island of Cape Breton, I filled up and cleaned the windshield. My plan was to head for the east coast and to cross Nova Scotia at the southern shore. The sky was cloudy and I still had to pass a strong shower, but this would be the last time today. The area was lush with farmland and small forests.
Shortly before noon, I arrive at the small village of Sherbrooke. I had read something about a living museum, looked for it and found it. The internet page of the museum claims: “Sherbrooke Village depicts a typical Nova Scotian village from 1860 to pre-WW1. With approximately 80 buildings, over 25 of those open to the public, most with costumed interpreters, it is the largest Nova Scotia Museum site. Visit the working woodturner shop, blacksmith, pottery shop, and printery. During your visit, enjoy a delicious, light meal at McDaniel’s Tea Room & Restaurant, located within the Village or drop in to Village Treasures and Gifts for that perfect keepsake. Built on an economy of ship building, lumbering and gold mining, Sherbrooke Village reflects Nova Scotia as it was during its industrial boom in of the 1860s. Visit a place where time has stood still… visit Sherbrooke Village!“
It is basically a museum village where you can visit (almost) all buildings and get an idea of the professions that were important at that time. I stopped at the blacksmith and watched him forging an iron bar, turning it into pointy piece. He was a young lad and a kind of apprentice, learning the old techniques. When the real blacksmith arrived, he greeted me with a strong handshake. One of the kind that could squash your hand into a bloody pulp, if he wanted to. I was chatting with the apprentice for a while as I was interested in some chemical details.
At the next house, I visited a printing office and paper maker. I had another chat with the printing lady and some Austrian tourists when I overheard them. She printed recipes with types on a machine from the 1880s and showed me how to make hand-made paper from leftovers.
My next stop was at a drug store with a series of products, herbs an “OTC” products from the late 19th century. I passed by a potter and ended up at a woodturner and chair maker. When I told him about my father and his chairs, another tourist chipped in that her father from Germany had been also a carpenter. She even knew the carpenter university in Rosenheim. What a funny encounter!
I visited a general store, the courthouse and a soap maker, before I strolled back to the parking lot. This was a longer than expected, but very informative visit.
The next two hours I followed the Highway 7 westwards, little civilisation, lets of archipelagos, views on bays, lots of low pine forests, cloudy skies and dropping temperatures. At the lowest point, temperature dropped to 11 degrees, chillier than expected. Ride, ride, ride and keep the pace high. Needless to say that there are no police patrols in rural Nova Scotia.
In Musquodoboit Harbour, western civilisation had me back and I had a snack at Timmie’s (Tim Horton’s) where I also put on my inner liner as the temperatures were still on the chilly side. I swithed to the large highway now and crossed Halifax and rode another 100 km further to arrive in the UNESCO heritage town of Lunenburg.
Lunenburg is a charming coastal town steeped in history and maritime tradition. Established in 1753 by British colonists, it is one of the earliest and best-preserved examples of a planned British colonial settlement in North America. Its Old Town, with brightly painted wooden buildings and a grid street layout, has earned UNESCO World Heritage Site status. Perched along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, Lunenburg boasts a strong connection to the sea, once serving as a major shipbuilding hub. The town is home to the legendary Bluenose schooner, a celebrated racing vessel and Canadian icon featured on the dime.
Today, Lunenburg attracts visitors with its blend of historical charm, working waterfront, and vibrant arts scene. The Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic offers insight into the area’s seafaring past, while galleries, shops, and cafes line the scenic harbor. Festivals, live music, and fresh seafood—especially lobster and scallops—enhance the town’s appeal. Despite its small size, Lunenburg has a cosmopolitan spirit, drawing artists, entrepreneurs, and travelers from around the world.
I checked in my hotel, the Lunenburg arms, and went out again to wander through the streets, taking a lot of pictures; as some rain was forecasted, I returned to my room before my reservation at a restaurant later at night. I inspected also the Bluenose II that was in the harbour. A pitturesque town with a lot of history.
At night, I had a good dinner at the Pea Beach Kitchen, where I planned also my last day of the trip tomorrow. Grand finale.
After the breakfast, I set off at 9:30 to do one circle of the famous Cabot Trail, the ring road around the Northern tip of Cape Breton. The owner gave me some good tips that should turn out to be as good ones later. I hoped that the horrible weather forecast would not materialise – and luckily it didn’t, I had no rain the whole day, just mostly sunny weather. I followed the advice to go counter-clockwise and did not regret it. I followed the Cabot Trail to the north and enjoyed some view on the coast.
I wondered when I should plan to fill up petrol, as stations are scarce. But as the consumption is low, I can afford to take it easy. In Neils Harbour, I followed the advice of the landlord to take the side road along the northern coast. In retrospect, this was an excellent idea, as it provided some of the best views of the whole day.
I returned to the main road and decided to fill up to give me some peace of mind for the rest of the day. To my surprise, only 16 litres fitted in the tank which means that the consumption is quite low (5.5 L/100 km; 43 mpg). I headed north to the northernmost tip of Cape Breton next to Bay Saint Lawrence, a small fishing harbour. I tried to ride to a remote lighthouse, but after 2 km the gravel road turned into a footpath. Well done, Google Maps! I turned around and tried to follow the coast in the opposite direction towards Meat Cove. I did not ride the whole way, only until I had enough of the gravel road and had taken enough pictures of scenic views.
I turned around again and went back to the Cabot Trail main road. I reached the west coast which turned out to be very different from the eastern side. The temperature was lower and it was more windy. The aspect was more maritime as the eastern side is more protected. I stopped at a viewpoint that informed me that this was a large geological formation – the Aspy Fault, a large rift that separates the north of the National Park of Cape Breton. Down at the coast. I felt a bit peckish, but food places were rare. Finally I stopped at a souvenir shop, mainly because it said “biker friendly”. I browsed the merchandise and acquired a T-shirt of the Cabot Trail of an acceptable design. I also purchased my lunch, aka icecream.
I noticed again how friendly people were – this is a general observation, genuine friendliness, such as greeting a stranger on the road. Very relaxing and showing a true kindness without pretending. The next stretch was probably the most scenic part of the trail, a great coastal road that went up and down overlooking the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Very beautiful.
I arrived at Chéticamp where suddenly the language switched to French/English. This was the enclave of French speaking arcadians, Chéticamp and Isle Madame are major Francophone centers on Cape Breton Island, with French being the dominant language in those areas. I stopped at a very colourful café and had a real espresso. In the adjacent gallery, many colourful artifacts of the local artist could be studied and purchased. I could have been inclined to consider a purchase, had the prices been considerably lower. The place was idyllic in its own way and I enjoyed the short break.
I rode further south along the coast before the road turned inward again. Soon I arrived at the Bras d’Or lake and decided I would try to visit the Alexander Graham Bell museum in Baddeck. It was still 45 min open so the visit was worth a try. Bell was the famous inventor of the telephone who lived here for the last 40 years of his life. He was interested in many things and invented a series of devices. The museum also celebrates his groundbreaking progress in aviation, for example. Well worth a visit.
Acadia
Bell Museum
Back at the hotel the new daily menu was too tempting to not choose the full monty (aka the full menu). A surprisingly good bottle of Nova Scotia Pinot Noir accompanied the delicious dishes. I had entertaining chats with Holger the owner. I had browsed where to go to tomorrow. My first idea was to go to Prince Edward Island – until I checked the weather forecast. This made me change my mind – I will go for a long ride past Halifax tomorrow, stopping in the town of Lunenburg.
I was quite lazy this year when it comes to blogging – even the successful outcomes of the rallies this spring where I defended my titles (Brit Butt Rally, Magic 12 Rally) I did not consider worthy to report. But now I am on a short trip across the pond – something that does not occur every day.
I had to attend a conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada for a few days. Together with two colleagues, I presented our work at the BERM16, a scientific conference on reference materials that is the core business of what we do. It was a good and pleasant meeting with enriching exchanges and luckily, some months ago, I had a cunning idea to make the most out of this trip. I thought it would be a good idea to add a few days, rent a motorbike and discover Nova Scotia, a region somewhat “off the beaten track” in terms of motorbiking holidays. I had biked in Canada on my on XBR during the Iron Butt Rally in 2013, but I only got as far as Ontario and Quebec.
It was not that easy to find a place that rents motorbikes in Nova Scotia and ultimately there is only one place – Brookspeed Motorcycles in a remote location east of Truro. I reserved well in advance and the challenge was rather to organise the transport from downtown Halifax to there which was 70 min away. In found also a solution for this by arranging my first ever Uber ride. I had an entertaining chat with the driver from Ghana who dropped me off at 9:15 in the morning. Nigel the owner was already waiting and the bike, a Honda ST1300, was already waiting for me.
But before I would set off I had almost one hour of petrol talk with Nigel. I had brought my gear in a separate suitcase and packed my little luggage needed for the four days trip. The weather was great and quite warm for this part of the world. The V4 was humming when I headed eastwards towards Cape Breton, the island to the east of Nova Scotia. I spotted a sign of a memorial, parked the bike and walked to the beach where a memorial for the battle of Culloden was placed. The sign had sparked my curiosity. I had passed Culloden (to the east of Inverness in the Scottish Highlands) twice during rallies; it marked the end of Scottish struggle for independence when the Scottish lost this decisive battle against the English in 1746. It may seem strange to find such a memorial here, but it demonstrates the strong Gaelic heritage of this region, both Scottish and Irish, that still marks Nova Scotia (“New Scotland”) to this day. Many Scottish emigrated to the New World and settled here.
Memorial for the Battle of Culloden.
I followed Nigel’s advice to make a detour to Cape George. Sea views, bays, forests and small settlements lined my way and I enjoyed the views from the lighthouse at the Cape on the shores of Cape Breton on the opposite side.
In Antigonish I stopped at a Tim Horton’s for a sandwich and something to drink. A short break, the plan of this trip is to have a relaxed ride, to have a break from all these rides under time pressure. I crossed the Canso Strait and entered Cape Breton. I decided to ride on the West Coast. In general, there is a lot of nature, few houses and little infrastructure. In a way it is comparable to rural Scotland or Northern Scandinavia. I made good progress as average is decent, despite the low speed limits: as there are no towns and no traffic, riding speed is constant. In Mabou, I decided to fill up early, as petrol stations are scarce. I went up further north until I turned eastwards, I had plenty of time on my hands today, although I had to arrive before 6 p.m. at my hotel today. I passed Lake Ainslie until I reached Whycocomagh at an arm of the Lake Bras d’Or, a large estuary in the centre of Cape Breton, a UNESCO biosphere reserve. The views on the lake are quite nice and when I reached Baddeck, I expected a large touristic town. Well, it is touristic in a way, but much smaller than expected. You see a lot of names in Gaelic on the island, including all the town names. The roads I was riding on today had poetic names – the Sunrise Trail, the Ceilidh Trail…the largest one is reserved for tomorrow/ the Cabot Trail.
I arrived well in time at my hotel, the Chanterelle Inn. I had selected it as it is a small, private-run hotel with exceptional food. A small, but very cozy and friendly place. I had a longer chat with the owner when it turned out he was from Germany! We shared funny expat stories and soon I had to enter my plush room to have a short shower before the dinner would start at 6:30 sharply. There are only few guests and all dishes of the menus are served at the same time. A very familiar atmosphere. Excellent food (I took the degustation menu) with only local wines from Nova Scotia (surprisingly good!). A true gem.
Tomorrow I will ride the Cabot Trail, I don’t know yet if clockwise or counter-clockwise, this depends on the short-term weather forecast tomorrow.
Comme d’habitude, it’s the time of the year to sum up what was going on this year…at least with respect to motorbiking. Not as spectacular as 2023, but not boring either. Some highs and not so highs, but entertaining.
The first motorcycle-related ‘activity’ this year was a sad one. End of January, many fellow motorcycle riders from Britain and beyond joined in Cornwall to pay the last honours to Kevin Weller. Kevin and Lyn were a great couple, inseparable, riding everywhere during rallies and rides, always good for a laugh. After the touching ceremony, we joined Lyn at the wake to celebrate Kevin’s life.
The first European Ride to Eat in February this year was in Northern France, close to the Belgian border. The topic this year was ‘motorcycle statues’. After a cool ride and the obligatory picture, we joined for dinner and a good chat.
My BMW dealer invited for a test ride day in March, but I was too late to realise it, so I could only pick rides with the ‘less desirable’ models. So I had to choose a F 900 GSA and a S1000RR. The downside with these tests is that you can only ride in a guided group. This was not a big deal with the 105 hp two cylinder inline GSA, a solid bike. The 270º firing interval makes the motor agile, but gives it also a somewhat rough character. Very different: the inline four beast. S1000RR. Not one R, bur two RR. A whopping 210 hp.
Riding in a slow group was painful, I could only rev it up to 50 % nominal-speed range. But this was enough for about 100 hp and quite impressive, long before the real music kicks in. The riding position was surprisingly relaxed, not riding on a razor’s edge as expected. But even with ‘the hand break on’, the traction control light in the dashboard was flickering like a disco light. Flabbergasting. Would be interesting to ride it properly.
In April, I was invited by the IBA UK’s president Phil Weston to give a talk about long-distance motorcycle rallying at the IBA UK’s annual jamboree. I gladly accepted and presented my experiences and ‘acquired wisdom’ in front of an interested crowd in Coventry.
As I had planned to do a tour with the XBR in summer, I started to work on the bike in spring. I had ordered a large windshield called Slip Streamer Turbo. It was the largest windshield I could find that had some universal mounts. It was a bit tricky to attach it to the XBR, but in the end I managed. It replaced my old, smaller windshield that I was using for decades. As the saying goes: the better is the enemy of the good. The massive windshield provides me with an even larger surface to cover me of the wind and the cold, two aspects that I deemed important from my next trip. I did some test rides and concluded that the new gadget was stable and should be reliable for future adventures.
Another major improvement was to build a mount for my auxiliary tank to push the bikes fuel capacity from 20 L to 37 L. I had the tank mounted to the XBR in 2013 Iron Butt Rally but I used a different amount in the past. As this amount was not available anymore I had to make a new one. I decided to apply my dodgy welding skills to construct a basis where the tank could be mounted on. The whole thing would go on my rack in the back of the bike where normally my big 80 L aluminium box would be placed. I still had some iron lying around and started to construct what looked like a hashtag and welded it together. In the end the whole thing seemed to work and after I had connected the fuel line to some new connectors that combined the old and the auxiliary fuel line together. I also invested in a few more farkles such as a new GPS holder and was quite happy with the result of all the transformation.
The railing year started early with the 12 hour Brit Butt Light rally. The starting point was near Bristol were all riders met at the same location in the morning. The difference to longer rallies is that the riders get the rally documentation already a few days before the start. In my case I thought I had an excellent plan albeit a very ambitious one. It turned out that my plan indeed was very ambitious as I had to drop a point or two in order to stay on schedule but I had fun and a good weather and ride made it a nice day out. I even got close to the vicinity of Greater London before I turned around, making a detour through the centre of Oxford and Bristol before I arrived back at the finish. I thought that I had done an almost perfect rally as I had to ride really very engaged to make this plan work.
At the scoring I realised that one of my combos that I had chosen so cunningly was missing one location. I went back to my bike to doublecheck. Indeed I had not visited one location? I checked again my plan. Indeed, during planning I had missed one location on the map probably because it was of a light colour and went unnoticed. This was very frustrating as I had double and triple checked my whole route and did not spot that. This meant that I lost a tremendous amount of points as my whole plan had suddenly collapsed. In the end I achieved a second place behind Arian Steiner and was quite miffed with the result. I don’t have a problem that someone has a better performance than I do, but when these stupid errors happen I virtually kick myself in the ass. This was an error not to be repeated.
The next opportunity to make up for this error came already two weeks later. I had decided to join a new rally offered in Europe double point the Celtic rally, organised by the IBA Ireland. This first rally was called the tartan edition and took place in Scotland. This was an opportunity I could not miss. I always love to ride in Scotland and then 12 hours of rallying that was not to be missed. I took the ferry from Rotterdam to Hull overnight and rode up to the Scottish East Coast the next day, a smooth ride without any pressure. I joined some other participants in the Rally Hotel in Dundee and early the next morning we set off for our 12 hour plan that we had designed to ride the days before. We all set off from an iconic point and I still had not really fully understood all the rally rules as it turned out later. Nevertheless I followed my plan and rode first through the lowlands and later up to the highlands all the way up to Inverness and then to the west coast open where I had to walk up to an old castle in Oban. I did enjoy the ride and was not aware that I had not fully understood the rally rules as I passed several locations that I had not considered eligible according to the rules, thereby giving away a big sum of points along the way. This was really a very nice ride even the weather was so-so, still a bit fresh as it was only beginning of May. I returned to the finish in the same hotel and learned only at the scoring of my massive misunderstanding! Did I cock up again? However, I was lucky enough to have sufficient points to come on first place and to be the first winner of this new Irish rally. The next day I rode back through Scotland and England and arrived in Belgium with a pretty much worn tyre.
A little interlude was the German Ride to Eat in May. I picked my old ST1100 for a day out. The meeting point was at the Teufelstisch in the Palatinate and quite a big bunch of riders joined. We met for dinner in Pirmasens and I rode home afterwards. I concluded that the old steed is still a great long distance bike and sponsored a new shock shortly after. I found a place in internet that could replace the contacts of my old Garmin Zumo 590 so the navigation is again up to its job.
I did another test ride day, but this time at a Honda dealer. I had signed up for testing the Transalp and the Africa Twin. The first bike was all right, maybe a bit strained, but ok. But I was really surprised about the performance of the Africa Twin, a bike that I could imagine as a future RTW bike.
Hannes Bagar, who is still riding a test bike with 550.000 km on the clock – without big issues. I had chosen a bike with DCT – the automatic transmission system. To my surprise, I got used to it immediately. The ride was super smooth – both in terms of suspension (typical Belgian concrete roads) and because of the absence of any load changes. Honestly, truly impressive. A test to be remembered.
In June I had everything ready – a cunning, perfect plan and a prepared bike to run the 12 hours Magic 12 rally in Baden-Würtemberg in the south-west of Germany. Just before I set off the news reached me that the rally was cancelled – the heavy rains in Germany had caused a lot of floodings that lead to a declaration of state of emergency. Not some good conditions to hold a rally. It was postponed to 2026.
In early July, I visited the yearly XBR meeting in Franconia – I had missed it for various reasons the last years. Although I had to squeeze in a short business trip to Munich, it was good to be with the XBR500 and GB500 lovers. Lots of fuel talk.
In August it was finally time to take my raucous, 680cc ‘yippie ki yay’ XBR to the Alpes again. I organised another ‘XBR Alpentour’ for the old friends. It was the 30th anniversary of the first one in 1994; I had organised one every August until 2014. Since then, it has only happened two times that we brought the old group together. So it was a special occasion again. But first I had planned a pre-tour with Gernot and Johannes as a warm-up. We met in Tegernsee and rode through the Bavarian Pre-Alps and over the TImmelsjoch to our base for the next days, the Hotel Penegal on top of the Penegal mountain. From there, you have spectacular views over the Adige valley and the Italian Alps. The next day, Johannes and I did a tour over the Stelvio Pass, Umbrail and Ofen Pass to do a lunch break in Livigno. We returned back to the hotel over the Gavia and Tonale passes. The following day, Gernot joined us and we rode to the Croce Domini Pass and back home again. We were warmed up now and left the Penegal the next day to meet the other chaps in a nice, traditional restaurant near Sterzing for lunch. Spectacular food and good company, the secret of the XBR Alpentours. Apart from the great roads, of course. The next three days, we visited all the great places in the area – Southern Dolomites, Pasubio area and Lake Garda area with the Monte Baldo area – bringing back good old memories and making new ones. A great time together!
In September, it was time to do the Brit Butt Rally, finally again as defending champion. As ever, some great trip with lots of memories made. The result was very pleasing, I had to pay many rounds after the ceremony which I did with great pleasure – winning the Brit Butt Rally, the longest, frequently organised long-distance motorcycle rally is always something special. I should know – this was already the sixth time 🤗. The report is here.
Locations of the BBR24
A tricky location. In the end, this was the only BP picture that was recognised and I didn’t get the points. The instructions for the chapel required that the bike has to be in the picture; the rally tean argued that the whole bike should be visible…
In autumn, two articles were published about me and my tours and bikes. First, a whole one-pager in the prestigious ‘Süddeutsche Zeitung’ and somewhat later a paragraph in an article about high mileage bikes in Bike, the largest motorcycle magazine in Britain. Very nice indeed. Links are in the top menu of this page.
End of October, I rode to the European Ride to Eat at the Faaker See in Carinthia in Austria, stayed for the dinner and started a business trip the next day that lead me to the Lago Maggiore and back to Miesbach and Belgium. A relaxed, but most fitting trip to conclude the year 2024. All in all, a more kind of ‘average, good’ year 😁, with the exception of the Nordic trip with the XBR. That was epic, even or because of the outcome.
What’s up for 2025? Well, the usual rallies – BBR, Celtic, M12 – and the six days rally through France, Spain and Portugal. Looking forward to that. And there’s another possible job for the old XBR to visit another, so far unknown country: I heard that it is now possible to enter Algeria on motorbike…more on this channel.
After I have reached and licence agreement with the Süddeutsche Zeitung, one of the most prestigious newspapers in Germany, I am allowed to publish this nice article. The original is posted here. I have added an English translation.
Only a few days later, my story was also mention in the latest issue of BIKE; the magazine claims the title of “Britain’s best-selling motorcycle magazine”. An article from a difference angle, covering high mileage bikes. You might recognize a familiar face – my friends John Young and Dave Badcock were also covered in this article. They got my surname wrong, but in this case, it’s NOT about the rider, but the bike.
Well, there you go. It is important to give your articles a catchy title in order to attract an audience. This is the law in modern media and in your case, it seems to have worked. This appears to be a really odd title and it all becomes clear in a minute or ten. Bear with me.
I’ve had a great, relaxing motorcycle trip to the Alps aka as the XBR Alpentour. It was the 30 year anniversary and we, the usual suspects with and without a Honda XBR, had a great time (again), visiting all the great roads in the Trentino and adjacent areas. But now it was time to switch from my 680cc XBR thunderbolt to the even more thunderbolty K1600GT, my little “flying fortress”. It was the time of the year again to set sails for the shores of England and to participate in the longest regular long-distance motorcycle rally in Europe, the 36 hour Brit Butt Rally.
As the registration schedule had been modified, I could set out the same day, take the Eurotunnel train and arrive in time at the rally HQ hotel in Coventry. The registration and technical check was quickly done and I prepared my laptop and the sat nav in my hotel room. A quick shower and I was ready for the dinner and the subsequent rider meeting. This year, a small German-speaking contingent was present: last year’s runner-up Arjen, Rainer and Marcus. Hans-Jörg was missing, as his bike was stolen in front of his hotel in Maidstone the night before. In the year before, two bikes were stolen as well during the rally and earlier as well. The organisers had ramped up security: we learned that three guys would be looking over our bikes this night. If the thieves would dare to show up, they would face some ex-military, ex-special forces lads. NOT a good idea. The crowd was very thankful and appreciated this a lot.
In the rider meeting, were handed the rally book and were told that all bonus point locations were part of combos, four locations per group. As all the locations were more of less of the same points value and the extra points for visiting two, three or four locations per combo did not increase drastically, it was clear that the best strategy was to look for ‘doubles’ or ‘pairs’. As usual, I worked out three possible routes, one going to Scotland, one going to Cornwall and the Isle of Wright…White…Wight! and a route in the middle. Although I knew (out of own, negative experience) that going to the Isle of…..Wight is considered a ‘sucker bonus’, it seemed to be the most rewarding option. I had almost booked a hotel for the next night in Bournemouth when I checked the ferry to and from the Isle of…Wight. The timings were so unfortunate that you would lose six to seven hours choosing this route. For a handful of big points, but still at a big cost. This reminded me too much of the BBR11 and BBR14 where I suffered a lot of time loss on the island and on the ferries.
Locations of the BBR24
So I turned to the middle route. It seemed to be more of a low-risk option. Definitely not an epic monster ride. Even the Scottish route would be more demanding. The middle route left a lot of options, the idea was to stay in Newcastle for the rest break at night and mop up all the remaining points on the route back to Coventry. The ‘many options’ feature and the calculated high points value made it the route of choice. Nothing to be particularly exited about if you look for a challenge, but a solid ‘I-couldn’t-find-a-better-one’ route.
As it had been quite a difficult nut to crack, I went to bed rather late at 1 a.m. After a good nights sleep, I had my tiny breakfast in the room, stored my panniers in the rally team room and headed for the parking where we set off at 6:30 a.m. I was very relaxed and headed for the first location near Stratford. On the way there, I encountered a scary black sedan car that seemed to chase me. It behaved in a very aggressive manner, pushing me, outbreaking me, going roundabouts the wrong way…I wondered what had triggered such a behaviour. I stoically followed my route and at a certain point when we were leaving the urban areas, he did almost a handbreak turn in front of me and disappeared in the opposite direction. Weird. Very, very weird.
At the BP location, I wasn’t the first one. To my surprise, Kim Leeson had found a more direct route and was about to set off again. From here on it started, as expected, to drizzle and the wet weather accompanied me the whole morning well into Wales. I collected my first bonus point locations and noticed that I slowly fell behind my estimated arrival times; normally you can develop a small buffer in the morning when traffic is still absent.
My first BP location in Wales was near Crickhowell, up in a valley. It was supposed to be an old chapel. The road turned into a single track road where twigs of the hedges were touching from the left and right. Suddenly I reached a road closure sign. Great. As there was a second road to the chapel, I needed to go back and try it out. I entered a very narrow, steep road. To my horror, the road was also closed. Now, technically, this was easy. I had to take a picture of the road closure sign. Easy. However, how to turn a 350 kg motorbike around when the steep road is only 20 cm wider than the length of the bike? Somehow I managed this without dropping the bike and could carry on.
My plan was falling apart, but I stayed cool about it. My calculation of my route had revealed that I would arrive six hours early at the finish, something that seemed impossible with this slow route and predicted 2100 km. It meant I had quite some buffer, I just didn’t want to arrive too late at the hotel in Newcastle. I noticed that something was different this time. I wasn’t pushing as usual to meet the times in my plan. I kept a steady pace, but I seemed to enjoy more the riding. And riding in Wales is always entertaining, at least if you can ignore the persistent wetness.
I was tinkering a new plan. Yes, they say “plan the ride, ride the plan”, but what is equally important is to adapt your plan whenever meaningful. I decided to skip two locations to gain 90 minutes, I could recover this by visiting two other locations the next day if I had enough time. My next location were the white gates of Chirk castle in Wrexham. I could find the white gates, but no adjacent castle. Never mind, I just needed the gates. I was now ahead of my plan after the change of the plan.
The next location, back in England, was a narrow-gauge railway station. The next miles went through a beautiful landscape: the Peak District National Park where I visited and photographed the picturesque Ship Inn. I have to come back here one day. How many times have I said this? Hmmmm…I was enjoying the ride and ignored the fact that I was running behind my plan again. I went up the M6 and exited close to Lancaster for a ride up the hills. I took my picture of the Jubilee Tower in the sunshine, but was nerviously checking the rain forecast. The prediction had been spot on, but it had predicted rain in the Lake District later. As I planned to cross the notorious Wrynose and Hardknott passes, I hoped to be spared from heavy rain there. It didn’t look good, some rain fronts were nearing the coast already.
Well, first I had to get to Windermere. I enjoyed the road through the Lake District in the evening sun. Yes, I was behind schedule, but I was cool about it. I had decided that I didn’t have to chase anything anymore – this is the advantage when you have won this rally five times. I was puzzled how off my plan was – usually my strong point – and I didn’t know if I was doing a genius or fools ride. But my experience told me that over 2000 km on this slow route was quite demanding, this was not a monster ride with over 2500 km.
In Windermere I remembered my first large motorbike trip on my XBR500 to Ireland in 1989 when I produced my first involuntary stoppie, two-up with lots of luggage, in Windermere. I also remembered the Brit Butt 2013 when I crossed the mountains as well, cheered up my rival Rob Roalfe when he had gearbox issues, but chicked out in the final stretch of the rally when my additional fuel tank system produced some sputtering that prevented me from visiting any small BP and thereby giving away the victory presented on a silver plate – on the same XBR500.
I could see the black rain clouds coming in from the west, I would not be able to stay dry, but I hoped I would get over the passes before the rain front would hit me. At the beginning of the Wrynose Pass, multiple signs warned the drivers of the narrow and steep roads (up to 30 % !). The road is very scenic, but indeed quite demanding at times, at least for a large, chubby bike like mine. Not to speak of the rider. With the menacing black clouds on the horizon, I arrived at the Cockley Beck bridge, a BP location.
I met Rainer who was checking his picture and had a little chat. When I packed my flag back in my tank bag, a car stopped next to me and the following dialogue developed.
Hello Sir, can I ask you a question? Yes, sure. What is the way to the motorway? What? What is the way to the M6? WHAT??? What's the way to Windermere? (...)...You just came from Windermere! Where does this road lead to ? Er....to the South? And that road? ...to...the West?? Hmmm...what is the best way? I don't want to go back on this road Well, I think South is a good idea...
I shook my head in disbelief and directed by bike to the West towards the Hardknott Pass. The horizon was pitch black and I hoped I could make it at least to the pass without rain. Daylight was slowly vanishing. The road was indeed very, very steep and there was a lot of traffic with cars and…vans! Totally nuts. If you want to get an idea, try this video (in plain sunshine, ha!) .
It was not easy to heave a 350 kg motorbike up this road, but I made it. However, when I descended on the other side, the thunderstorm broke loose. I mean, torrential rain. Apart from the narrow, steep bends, I had to deal with a flash flood on the road. Carefully, very carefully I maneuvered the bike downhill, this seemed to take forever. This was an excellent test for my new Stadler gear and it passed the test with flying colours. I stayed dry during the whole trip! Well, that’s what you’d expect when you’ve spent tons of money.
Down in the valley I visited another small train station and continued my ride towards the coast when finally the rain stopped and some rays of sunshine brightened the evening. But I could see another big rain front closing in over the sea. I realised that my next location required to ride back into the mountains to the end of a valley and my rain forecast predicted that the rain front would hit me right there. Gulp. Well, I did not want to give up this point and combo. Grit your teeth and do it!
When I entered the valley of Buttermere over the Crummock Water, the valley bottom was again very dark and looked very, very …wet. With a sigh I entered the curtain of rain that was waiting for me. The landscape was surely impressive, but I was in mental ‘endurance’ mode and stoically grinding on. Finally I reached the photo point and took the desired picture with the bike on the road. I was flabbergasted when suddenly a police car rode past, looked at me, but did not stop to tell me off. Good.
Meanwhile, the rain front had passed me and at least I would be able to dry off. As it was getting dark I could also draw a trump and finally use my auxiliary lights that turn night into day. My plan lead me to the Cumbrian coast again and into the town of Allonby where I took a picture of the village hall. My next stops would be in Scotland so I needed to get to the M6 first. And before that, I needed to fill up and have some ‘dinner’ aka a sandwich; I preferred to refill safely now in order to reach my hotel in Newcastle without having to look for petrol in remote places in the middle of the night. I avoided single track farm roads and found a small petrol station where I put this idea into practice.
I was glad when I got back to the motorway, I was well behind schedule. I still stayed cool about it, I could maybe make up some time now – motorways and no traffic on other roads could allow this. However, there was also little traffic on the M6 which is not necessarily an advantage. As the road is sometimes quite winding, the darkness and the absence of very reflective road markings made it difficult to find reference points in the dark. Using the bright high beam was somewhat counterproductive after switching back to low beam: darkness. I remembered my tough time during the Iron Butt Rally last year during night riding on highways, it is quite tiring on highways, but riding in the bright light (15.000 lumen) of the Erica Lights is actually fun. And it was the same here. I had to take a picture of a gas works museum in Biggar, but after a short walk I ended up in a small private garden. After some searching I found it but when I returned to the bike I was addressed by a couple with far above 0.2 % blood alcohol. I shouted at them that I was wearing ear plugs under my helmet and couldn’t hear them but they ignored it deliberately and continued to babble fervently. But in a sympathetic way. I enjoyed the back roads to my next location in Jedburgh where I was looking for some plaques on a wall. I was quickly surrounded by a group of ‘well refreshed’ people who ‘wanted to help’. In the end, I found the spot myself. Happy lads, these Scots. Boozy, but friendly.
Now I only had to get to my hotel, more than two hours later than planned. I went first to the closest petrol station to fill up and get the start ticket of the rest break of four hours. This year, the rest break was not mandatory, but the points value for it was so high that it wouldn’t make sense NOT to take it. Well, my hotel was quite special. At this short notice on a bank holiday weekend, prices are always quite high, even in Northern English Newcastle. The selection is usually limited to a 24h reception desk and, in the light of many bike thefts, a secure parking. Among the subset of available hotels, the Hilton was the cheapest (!) and the best located. Hard to believe, but true. For comparison: during the Iron butt Rally 2023, I spent 20 – 30 % more money for very mediocre hotels, so the price was quite all right.
Shortly before 2 a.m., I rode up the driveway of the Hilton and left the BMW in front of the revolving door. The check-in was quick, but I still had to park the bike in the underground parking garage. Definitively a secure place. When I entered the ‘room’, I encountered this:
Well, ‘room’ is maybe not the right word. ‘Suite’ would probably more fitting. More than enough for the next three hours. I stripped my gear and had plenty of room to distribute it. I munched a sandwich and planned the route for Sunday. I had been slower than my plan so far, but I thought I could visit all the remaining locations back to the finish, I even added another location north of Scarborough at the coast. At 3:20 a.m. I could finally hit the sack only to get up less than two hours later.
I had a good sleep, a quick shower, a quick breakfast and a quick checkout. Another visit to the same petrol station for the rest break end ticket and at 6 a.m. I set off for the second day of the rally. My first bonus point location was very close in South Shields, a lighthouse at the sea:
The light and mood was magical and cannot be depicted in this photo. Sometimes, certain moments get engraved in the memory of your brain and this was definitively a memorable one. Anybody would be touched by this moment. Well, unless you drive by in the back of an ambulance with a sheet over your head.
The next stop was the added one so I had to ride down the Yorkshire coast, enjoying the scenery. I arrived at the next location called Robin Hood’s Bay. Yes, the little village actually is called like that. I passed a sign that seemed like a prohibition sign for vehicles that have no business and wondered what this was about. I soon realised what the reason was: a single, narrow and steep road leads down to the sea through this very picturesque old smugglers village; very lovely. Luckily, it was 8:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning and no other oncoming vehicle stopped my descent. Down at the lowest point I parked the BMW and took my picture and quickly returned as I obviously shouldn’t be there. Hm, it was not mentioned in the rally book that a long walk was required so I was playing by the rules. A very nice place, to be put on the long list of places to return to.
Robin Hood’s Bay. Yes, that’s the actual name.
I was again in a not very competitive mood and was enjoying this morning’s ride. This did not mean that I would be dallying, but I did not push in the usual competitive way to waste any time. Next on the list were the Yorkshire Dales – a place that had been a disaster during the Brit Butt Light Rally in 2015 when my navigation software totally underestimated how long it takes to ride on the typical single track roads.
On the way there, I passed a little Edwardian post box (early 20th century) that is still in use, an object that you normally would not spot. The next location were some gates of the Jervaulx Abbey in a very rural place. Soon I was on the A684 and it dawned on me that I had been on this road before, riding east to west. It had also been in 1989 on the trip to Ireland when I was cruising very slowly through the Yorkshire Dales National Park. This was not because I was enjoying the scenic landscape so much then, but I had been in panic as there was no petrol station nowhere to be found. I remember that I switched to reserve only after 389 km which resulted in a consumption of 4.1 L/100 km (69 mpg)…two-up and with a suspension-killing amount of luggage. On the way to the west I had passed the village of Wensley – famous for its product that was extensively featured by Wallace and Gromit.
I had to turn left and climb up the mountains, this was the rough, barren part of the Dales. The temperature immediately dropped a few degrees, indicating that the climate up there is rougher than in the milder valleys. I approached my destination and….was flabbergasted. In the middle of nowhere in the mountains, there was station! Apparently part of the Settle – Carlisle railway, it connected the east coast and the west coast for over a century being Britain’s highest railway line. Today it forms part of a steam train network. My route led me through small single track roads and in contrast to 2015, I had enough time at my hands. It was still melting away, but I was cool about it. In the worst case, I’d had to skip the very last location, this would give me another 30 min.
My next stop after a Victoria column in the Dales was a ‘football’ street sign’ and after that I rode to the centre of Leeds where I had to take a picture of a golden owl on a column. Easy, another triple of a combo bagged. I noticed that someone had forgotten his rally flag (rider 08) as it was lying at the bottom of the column. As tempting as it might be, IBA state clearly that flags of other riders need to be untouched. A mistake a participant made during the IBR23. Being told off in a rider meeting in front of all riders at the checkpoint is not what you want. So – hands off from other rally flags!
I could follow the M1 to the South until I had to exit to enter the Peak District to take a picture of a memorial in a beautiful landscape. On the way back to the M1, I passed the centre of Sheffield where I visited a BP location in the BBR23. The next stop was called “Newstead Abbey waterfall” and as indicated in the rally book, I tried to enter the Abbey grounds from the wrong side. First I had to find the right entrance where I also needed to get a ticket for some extra points. I carried no cash but the cashier was equipped with a mobile card reader. Finally I found the right spot in the huge park of the abbey. Three more bonus point locations to go and three hours and 170 km left. This should be feasible. After visiting a Stone disc circle and another memorial, my last location was a view of a canal in Zouch (!) where I met Arjen. He was only the second rider I had met during the rally (excluding the first BP location where everybody is still close together). Over an hour left to return to the finish, more than double what was needed. The six hours of buffer had melted away but actually my estimate was right: 2100 km on these roads was quite something, as I rode very little on motorways. I still was riding relaxed but had not made a mistake on the whole trip. I changed my plan when needed, had planned a good rest break, had withstood adverse conditions.
With 25 min to spare I arrived at the finish in Coventry. I was scored by VP Martin and learned that my picture of the closed road was not accepted; the reason was that the picture would have required the whole bike in the picture and as my BMW was not FULLY in the picture, I didn’t get the points. Well, a bit harsh. I suggested to introduce finally a system of penalties for not-perfect pictures as it is the norm in the Iron Butt Rally. When we went through the list of pictures, I realised that one e-mail had not been recorded. As I could prove that I had sent it, I did get the points. In the end, I had obtained a straight 9.000 points for 31 bonus point locations. Not bad for a relaxed ride, I thought.
I had a shower, dressed and went for the dinner. After this, the ceremony began and people were called to receive their certificates. In the end, only Kim Leeson, Arjen Steiner and me were left.
The podium of the BBR23: Kim Leeson (1,041 mls, 7,130 points), Myself ( 1,306 mls 9,000 points), Arjen Steiner (1,352 mls, 7,790 points).
Well, that went well. My sixth win in the Brit Butt Rally. Despite the 300 points loss of the not recognised picture. We went to the bar and had a nice, wet evening. I guess it was not as boozy as in Scotland, despite the flowing Whisky.
My route of the Brit Butt Rally 2024
The next morning, I had breakfast with the other lads. I packed my stuff and set off south towards the Channel tunnel. Right before the Dartford Crossing next to London, I left for the service area to fill up. What now happened was quite a memorable experience.
I had filled up the bike and was having a juice before setting off, when I saw a little boy in the car at the next pump. The driver called me, drenched in tears. He told me he had been robbed in Calais and his man purse had been stolen out of the car with all the passport, money, cards, etc. Sobbing, he asked me if I could give him some cash, he would pay by bank transfer right now. He had to get back to Ireland with his little son and needed to buy a ticket for the ferry in Liverpool.
Now, in this moment there are two possibilities: i) you’d say ‘nah, mate, sorry, can’t help you” or ii) you hear him out what is the matter. What is important here: in my traveling life, I had come across many unknown people who had helped me in dire or desperate situations, they appeared like ‘guardian angels’ and showed unbelievable kindness. I had always tried to return these favours to other people whenever I could, after all it’s a give-and-take. I decided to hear him out.
He explained he had no money left and needed to get back to Northern Ireland. His cute little blond boy showed great interest in my BMW and wanted to sit on it. I told him maybe later. The man proposed to make an online payment, there was an ATM around the corner. PayPal? No, he didn’t have. I told him that unfortunately this could be a scam and that I needed proof that his story was true. No ID? Name, Adress, phone number? Patrick Stokes, Canal Side 17, BT828DB, Strabane, +447378109251. Hmmmm….can’t find any social media profile….he showed me his facebook profile. Hmmm, right. He had an Irish accent, albeit not a very strong Northern Irish one. He showed me his banking app and wanted to transfer the money. Hmmm…ok, I do it. I waited for the transfer to arrive on my account but knew that this wouldn’t be that quick. Right, let’s go to the ATM…suddenly he asked for more money. What?? Yes, the ticket, but he needed also money for the petrol. I was very skeptical. I reconsidered all the points. If this was really a scam, it was an extraordinary one. I mean, using a little boy for that? It was a 51:49 decision. I gave him the money and did the last test: “if this is a scam, my biker friends and I will find you…” – he looked disappointed – “if not – good luck”. He thanked me overwhelmingly and we parted ways. I went to my BMW and noticed that he left the service station in his car. Wait a minute! The 51 % value plummeted. I quickly followed him.
At the exit of the station, there was a short traffic jam and I could ride next to him. Didn’t he need to fill up? Yes, but he said he needed to turn around and enter the station again – look, the tank is empty (indeed, the fuel gauge showed an empty tank). He drove into the roundabout and I followed him. He rode around it and entered the service station again. Knowing he would be watching me in the mirror, I remained in the roundabout, pretending I would ride back to the M25. In reality, I rode around the roundabout again and entered the service station. Through a prohibited shortcut I entered the petrol station from the trucks side, i.e. the opposite, back side of the station. I parked the bike at the station and peeked through the window across the interior of the shop to the other side. I saw that he had parked the car at the same pump, but did not leave it for quite a while. Then he left it and I couldn’t see him anymore. I moved to the corner of the building and peeked around it carefully. There was Mr Stokes, talking to a young couple. I approached him carefully from behind so he couldn’t see me. When I was close enough, I heard him telling the same story I had heard before.
“DOES HE TELL YOU THE SAME STORY HE TOLD ME BEFORE??!!” I said in a very loud voice. He turned around and startled. “YOU GIVE ME BACK MY MONEY – NOW!!! – or you have a serious problem!!!” Well, an angry, 6’1” and 20 stone biker in full gear can be quite convincing. He quickly walked to the car escorted by me, grabbed the money from the centre console and gave it back to me. With a hearty “F*CK YOU!!!” I left him and went to the couple. They confirmed that he tried to trick them in the same way and thanked me for interfering. I had lost enough time by now, I quickly went back to the BMW and went to the M25. I needed to catch my train which I managed. Another three hours later I was back home. While riding, I analysed what had happened before. This was a professional scam at very high level. He targets foreigners who do not get some of the details. He and his accomplice, the little boy, are confusing you by asking questions or distracting you otherwise so you can’t assess the situation thoroughly. And there’s a prepared answer for every question. A fake facebook account. A fake banking app. This is not for amateurs.
At home, I reported the incident digitally to the British police. I haven’t heard anything ever since.
‘Poor’ Mr Patrick Stokes from Strabane, NI with his car running on empty. And the earth is flat. Number plate code LD is from London North-West, by the way.
In summary, it was a very nice and successful trip, despite this story in Thurrock. A lovely ride out, great scenery, no motorbike stolen, a good performance, a good time with friends, overall good weather, a very pleasant result.
The motto of the past days can be summarised as follows:
Just in case you didn’t get it:
Well, what happened in these days? A lot. Too much to remember. So I better get this written down.
I always like going South, somehow it feels like going downhill (Treebeard)
On the morning of the start, I had breakfast in the hotel and received a message from the other four who started already at the North Cape. This meant they had started 90 min ahead of me. I rode to the Nordkapp myself and had the same weather like the day before: very cold and in the mist. I took the picture at the start and set off at 8 a.m. After 30 min, I arrived back in Honningsvåg, where I had to fill up and get the start ticket. The ride along the peninsula was very quick, beautiful and I could make up a lot of time, I would basically keep this buffer for the rest of the day.
In Alta, it was again very warm before temperatures dropped again when I rode towards the Finnish border. Arjen and Filip were still 90 min ahead of me so my pace was quite good, considering the difference in bikes. I pushed the XBR through the tundra and soon crossed into Finland again. After six hours, I arrived at my first fuel stop and met Hilmar and Ulrike who just set off again. I had made up almost 90 min on them. But first I needed to fill up petrol, oil and water for the rider. The oil consumption was high the last days which tells something about the pace. Or the age of the motor. Before setting off, I noticed something disturbing: the rear tyre was very much worn! Maybe I had to change it in Belgium already?
When crossing into Sweden, clouds got darker and some showers dropped the temperature. At Luleå, a big shower turned out to be a thunderstorm: I got pretty wet and the subsequent drying made me feel very chilly. Icy, actually. I started to doubt whether the whole thing was a good idea. I was wet and cold and I realised that this ride was an enormous challenge on this little bike with no frills. At a pee stop, I noted that the tyre degraded rapidly. I texted my colleague Håkan whether he could find a rear tyre for me between Stockholm and Malmö. After quite some trials, he managed to find one in Jonköpping. After riding through the night, I could be there before they opened. Perfect, thanks Håkan! Problem solved?
In parallel, I had also informed the XBR lads and Ralf, located in the North of Germany, offered me a tyre and had it even mounted already on a wheel. However, it got more and more unlikely that my tyre would last until there, so probably Jonköping it would be. The low temperatures and the insecurity sowed some doubts…the tyre change would eat away all of my buffer and even more, so the 72 hour mark would not be achievable. But no problem, I could still make the 78 hour one. Soon after, I passed Hilmar and Ulrike ( later it turned out that Ulrike fell shortly before Tarifa trying to make the 78 hour mark and broke her collar bone…get well soon!).
I noticed some strange movements and decided at 11 p.m. to stop at a petrol station to check if everything was ok with the chain. I stopped in Harnösand. I checked. The chain needed urgent tightening! I asked at the counter if they had a spanner. Of course not.
And then reason raised its voice. Even if I could tighten it, I would need to carry a spanner, because at this rate (I had tightened it yesterday), it meant that the chain was….rapidly degrading. It made no sense trying to continue the ride. I needed time to take care of it. Game over for the ride.
I booked a hotel with a self-checkin and went to a Big M restaurant where I was the last customer two minutes before closure at midnight. I returned to my ‘suite’. Tomorrow would be another day, trying to sort out how I could get home. Operation ‘E2E’ was over, operation ‚Rescue‘ was on.
I had a good breakfast and left the hotel to prepare the bike. Right opposite to it, there a low budget market and I thought they might have a spanner set. They did. Cheap and surely not the top quality, but I only needed it for the rear axle nut. After having tightened the chain, I left the place.
After the first meters, it was clear that this was not resolved. The terrible mechanical sound of the chain and the feel could only mean one thing: the chain or the chain kit was completely worn. Dead. Pining for the fjords. Pushing up the daisies. Bereft of life. Game over!
Game over? Not so fast! I needed not only a new tyre, but also a chain kit (the chain including the front and back sprockets). Here in Härnosand surely not, but the ‚big‘ city of Sundsvall was ‚only‘ 50 km away. It also has an airport so whatever I would be doing, my chances would be better there then in Harnösand. So I limped carefully south and selected a motorcycle garage where I would ask for help. In beautiful sunshine, I arrived at the Powersport Center and explained my problem. The friendly guy tried his best to identify a supplier, but as expected, he couldn’t find the sprockets. This didn’t come as a surprise, the bike was not sold in Sweden and even in Germany it is not easy to get them.
Ok, this plan didn’t work. Ralf had left me a voice message: he not only had the wheel with the tyre, he had also a chain kit for me. Fantastic! Could we get it by express courier? Ralf would investigate, but probably it’ll arrive too late. I the meantime, I followed another route: I could rent a car ( before I was thinking of a van, but this is too much) and pick up the parts in Germany myself. Crazy, but possible. I could leave the XBR in the garage and do the swap two days later on Friday. This would still give me time to be back home on Sunday night. I spotted a Hertz car rental nearby and rode there.
My request to rent (any) car was met with disbelief. ‚no reservation?‘ ‚yes, I need a car now‘ ‚there is nothing available!‘ But the lady would call a colleague. In the meantime I conacted the Belgian road assistance. After a lot of discussion, it turned out that the XBR is not covered there, only some of my other vehicles. Well, then I called the German ADAC, I knew that the coverage is person-based, not vehicle-based. The other guy explained me in the meantime that there was no available car, only an electrical one. Well, this would mean adding insult to injury, covering 2900 km in two days in an electrical car?? This would mean no sleep at all, charging all the time…
I checked all the other car rental companies in town via their online portals….nothing available either…I saw my crazy plan collapsing. Is this it?? I talked again with the ADAC; as usual, they’d need the confirmation from the garage that the bike is not repairable (in a few days). I went back to the garage and asked the guy to call. This time the operator (who talked no proper English) seemed to be a bit thick…he’d have to pass the information on someone else. I talked to Ralf again…in principle, the express courier should take one day, but maybe also 2-3 days, no guarantees. Well, this was out of question then.
I tried again to call the rental car companies with the same result, all booked. When I tried the very last number, I heard…’I have one last car available’ What? Really? We agreed he would reserve the car and I would get there quickly. When I was finishing the call, I turned around and saw a known face that left me totally perplexed…I stared into the face of Daniel Duvskog, a Swedish LD rider and well-known IBA rally rider. Actually, when we were competing together, I could only narrowly beat him, he always was a great competitor and very nice guy.
What was he doing here?? Well, he followed my spot and as he was living only a few kilometers from here….I thought he lived south, but he had moved up there some years ago. He had seen my post from the morning and after getting the latest update from me he asked me directly: „how big is the thing you need to transport?“ Well, just the chain kit and the wheel…“do you need a motorbike?“. I couldn’t believe it. He wanted to give me a bike to pick up the stuff in Germany? After two seconds of hesitation, I said yes. Was this my last straw apart from giving up and returning by train and plane? I informed the garage guy and thanked him for his support. I called the ADAC if they would pay the rental car: only a small fraction. I canceled the rental caar reservation. Outside, I met Daniel’s family. I followed his car to his home, only 15 minutes away.
He prepared the bike, a shiny BMW R1200RT, and I swapped the luggage. It was 3 p.m. now, I could still go past Stockholm. I said „thank you and see you in two days“ and set off towards the south. I had mounted my tablet so I could browse for a nice, plush hotel. I thought that I needed this for peace of mind.
I found a very pretty one in Södertälje. You know you are in a special place when the signature colour is rosé. After a quick shower, I had some Italian (!) dinner in the restaurant. I decided to leave very early the next day, trying to ride a ‚Saddle Sore 1000‘, i.e. 1609 km in a day. At least I had one documented ride bagged on this trip.
I left the hotel garage at 5 a.m. and filled up to have my start ticket. I would have to fill up a lot this day, the tank of the RT is apparently not very big. I liked riding the RT, it was very smooth and comphy, almost like my K1600GT, or even better in terms of smooth changing of gears. The difference to the XBR was flabbergasting. I realised how demanding this project was, riding an XBR. On such a modern bike, it’s almost effortless. And the cruise control comes very handy. It could have worked, although constantly pushing the XBR out of its comfort zone is taking its toll. The tyre issue I couldn’t have envisaged, the degradation was unseen in 37 years. The chain though…had its mileage, but a lot less than the previous one. I had already used it in the Japan trip as it was pretty new, but I think I carried a reserve kit „just in case“. This I didn’t do now, probably because Europe is just around the corner, isn’t it?
On the way to Malmö, I had mostly good weather, but also some heavy showers. The temperature dropped to 8 degrees….but here I am with a good fairing and a good grip and seat heating. I crossed the Öresund bridge and was slowed down by slow traffic in Denmark. What a comfy cruise this was! After the German border, I had to ride on country roads and circumvent many road closures.
Finally I arrived in Ralf’s town at 2:30 p.m. and filled up to get the ‚turning point‘ fuel ticket for the SS1000.
Ralf was already waiting for me and we immediately fixed the wheel on the back of the RT with four straps. He also gave me the chain kit. Thank you Ralf, you saved my trip! I had done more than 1000 km already and was a tad tired so sitting down with Ralf and Kirsten for a coffee or two was more than welcome. Finally I hit the road again and almost took the wrong way when I follow the sat nav who wanted to guide me to the ferry at Fehmarn. I wanted to be quicker than that and went back the where I had come from.
Before Copenhagen I had to fill up again and allowed me the luxury to have a sit-down dinner in a burger restaurant. I knew that my arrival in Jonköping would be very late. Again some showers and fresh temperatures. When I had to fill up again on the E4 in Smaland, I had a hot coffee that should get me through the evening and warming from within. I had obtained the last ticket for the SS1000 and deserved a little break. Finally I arrived in the rally hotel of the European Tour 2018 in Jonköping before midnight and had a good rest. After 1832 km on that day. Ironbutt Rally style.
The next day I stayed for breakfast and had to cover 700 km of the almost 3000 km long detour to pick up the spare parts.It was sunny now, apart from a few showers, and I arrived in Sundsvall after 2 p.m. I filled up the RT and wanted to wash it, but the payment terminal was broken. I arrived at Daniel’s house where he was already in standby. I hoped that everything went quickly so I could still cover some kilometers….back to the south! The question was: would everything go smoothly? After all, it was a closed chain (no link) which meant I had to take the swing arm…
I removed the back wheel and realised why I hated to use closed chains: to take out the swing arm, I had to loosen the shocks. To do this, you need also to loosen the exhausts. Finally the swing arm was removed. Due to the use of the automatic lubrication system, everything is covered in the lubricant oil, quite messy. I put in the new chain and tried to put back the swing arm. Tricky. Some 12 years ago, Emil Schwarz fabricated some bespoke swing arm bearings for me which means that the arm goes back very badly. We worked both on it and after a series of attempts, the swing arm was back in place. I was still carrying my motorbike gear which was now soaked from the inside.
By the way, I carried only minimal cloths for six days because I had planned to return home before setting off to Spain. I was now into day eight…
Now change the front sprocket….I removed it and was puzzled…the new one was different…I vaguely remembered an issue from the past. As the last change was so long ago, I needed to check with Jo, the XBR encyclopedia….yes, this was a different sprocket, but I had to widen the holes for the securing plate, then I could use it. OK, Daniel used his drill to elongate the holes. This was not pretty, but it had to work. Finally the holes seemed to match. When I put on the securing plate, it would not go in the groove on the transmission output shaft that would keep the whole setup in place. We were totally confused. Then we realised that this sprocket was a lot wider than the old one. This was it. Game over? I just feel the mental exhaustion knocking on the door: “still don’t wanna give up?“
I said to Daniel that it was a pity that it was Friday afternoon, normally a metal workshop could remove the surplus steel on one side, maybe with a turning machine, but now….and than Daniel had the brilliant idea: „why not use a grinder?“. Of course! He had all the tools so he tried. Hm. A lot more was needed. For the next half hour he was grinding more than 2 mm of hardened steel off the sprocket (!), while I was putting back the XBR together. I was dripping now of sweat. Maybe this could work. The mental exhaustion grumpily turned around and was not seen anymore.
Ready for take-off
Finally I was ready for a small test ride. Ah, the exhaust was not tight…now yes. The bike rode fine, so let’s get going. It was now after 6 p.m., more than two hours later I had hoped for. I quickly reserved a hotel in Gävle and left back Daniel with a very dirty garage. I said farewell to all and thanked him from the bottom of my heart. He proudly called it „some redneck magic“; after all, in a remote place like northern Sweden, you have to be able to help yourself in case of need. We did indeed some magic and this shows the IBA community at its best: you would do everything in your power to help a fellow rider in dire need. Thank you so much Daniel!
About two hours later, I arrived in the hotel in Gävle, had a quick shower and some dinner before the restaurant closed. I permitted myself a dram while reserving the ferry from Göteborg to Kiel the next day. It’s a bit more expensive, but I save about 600 km not going through Denmark.
I had a good long sleep and set off after 9 a.m., the latest in the whole trip. Another rider told me he had seen me at the Nordkapp. I told him that’s sweet, I had done some extra 3000 km in the meantime. Like the day before, the XBR was running smoothly, at a relaxed pace of 100-110 km/h, purring like a cat. I felt sorry for it for pushing it so hard but the XBR said „it’s ok, I can handle it“. First I was rolling through forests, but then through typical Swedish countryside. At lunch, I stopped in Mariestad and had a delicious meal (roe deer) at Kingfisher’s, to be recommended.
I put on my rain gear as I expected a rain front in Göteborg. The check-in was quick and soon the ferry took off, heading where I will arrive in an hour in Kiel, less than 600 km from home, a smooth ride I hope.
So was it worth it? Well, yes. It could have worked, but the universe threw a spanner in the works (pun intended). However, on by K1600, it would have been a smooth ride. I underestimated how tiring it is for rider and XBR to be constantly pushing. The bike can ride anywhere, but prefers a lower pace. Yes, it almost won a Brit Butt Rally, and my other XBRs won smaller rallies, but without luggage and only for a short period. But the Ironbutt Rally 2013? Yes, I had forgotten how much I was suffering then, pushing the bike for eight days before it flipped the finger.
It also showed me that the future adventure traveling does not depend on the XBR alone. It runs fine, but after 38 years and 408.000 km, it deserves a lower pace than a constant pushing against the clock.
An intense ten days with some 7.000 km (XBR) & 3.000 km (BMW), with a lot of memories and tales of bad luck and how to overcome it.
PS: Arjen (66 hours) and Filip (69 hours) successfully finished the trip! Congrats!
The whole trip when embarking on the ferry to Kiel.
I’m owing you a quick update on the past two eventful days! Some individuals may have been perplexed by my GPS track, but I’ll delve into details in a comprehensive report soon. Here’s a brief summary in bullet point style:
Purchased a wrench, securely tightened the chain, and identified that the chain is beyond repair.
limped to Sundsvall, a larger city, went to motorbike garage
as expected, no chain kit with sprockets available
my friend Ralf in northern Germany has a tyre on a rim and a chain kit available
I tried to rent a car in Sundsvall (population 57.000), to pick up the parts from Ralf
not possible, nothing available (!)
Express mail with parts from Ralf would not arrive in time
Found the last rental car in Sundsvall (?)
Fellow IBA rider Daniel stands in front of me, asks if I need a bike
Daniel gives me his shiny BMW R1200RT to pick up the parts (a 2900 km ride)
Went yesterday to Södertälje, indulged myself in a luxury resort (430 km)
Rode today to Germany, picked up parts from Ralf, rode back north (1832 km; SS1000)
Stopped in Jonköping, will do the rest tomorrow
Will repair the XBR tomorrow, return home (hopefully)
That’s just the basics what happened. In fact, it was much more detailed and nerve-wrecking.
Just a quick update. Yesterday, I was fighting hard against the odds. I had a rapidly disappearing tyre and had found some solutions for get another tyre ahead. I was wet and cold, but I kept on. Then I realised that my chain had a problem. Luckily I stopped and noticed that the chain was totally loose. Without a spanner at hand and confronted with a degrading chain, I called it a day. I was probably only miles away from a chain failure, the chain coming off the sprocket. I checked into a hotel and now, after a good breakfast, I will buy a spanner and limp back south. As far as the chain will carry me. It will need more and more tensioning, but maybe I can make it. Wish me luck.
I packed my XBR early and set off without breakfast at 6:30, heading for Tallinn. I had not expected rain yet, but I got it wrong. Some shower took me by surprise and I stopped 15 min before Tallinn to warm up with a hot coffee.
At the harbour, there was a long queue, also due to a large group of motorbikers. They were trucker who did an excursion to Estonia for the weekend. I also spooted an IBA plate among them. I had a nice chat with a guy when we queued for the checkin. After parking the bike in the ferry to Helsinki, I walked to the lounge I had reserved where a breakfast buffet was waiting for me.
After filling up, I tried to rest on the floor, but needed to put in my earplugs as the girl at the next table did not stop talking for hours, I wonder if she was even breathing in between. after two hours we arrived in Helsinki and after some waiting, I could leave the ship, prepared for the rain to come.And what a rain it was. Torrential. Streets in Helsinki were flooded. At one point, the road was 30 cm under water. I realised it on time and went for the pavement instead, I didn’t want to drown the XBR. Outside Helsinki, the rain was just continuous, Sometimes it seemed to stop, but it just wouldn’t. The first hour and half was a motorway, then it changed to a overland road, for the rest of the day. Rain, rain, rain. After a while I noticed that the rain got into the rainsuit…aaaargh! I had hoped I could get in front of the rain front moving north, but it just wouldn’t stop. My progress was ok, but the situation got more and more miserable…
After 450 km, I stopped to fill up and emptied my exploding bladder. I checked the rain radar in detail. I was not getting ahead of the front, but I was moving with it, right in the centre. And I would still do it for the rest of the day! This was shocking news. Under my rainsuit, I was totally soaked, I was cold and my sense kept knocking at the back of my head. Four more hours like that to the hotel in Kemi??? I warmed up in the shop and had a coke. The sugar and the caffeine helped a bit. After one hour my bladder exploded again and I had to expose myself to the hungry Finnish mosquitos in the wilderness.
I started to doubt. Does this make sense? Why didn’t I plan with a buffer day? Could this be changed? What if….I got myself a nice hotel in Oulu, rethink the options and in the worst case start the ride a day later? It was almost decided….and then the rain stopped. Confidence came back. I managed to stay in front of the rain front, chased by it.
I sticked to my plan and shortly before Kemi, I was washed by a local shower. I stopped to fill up and decided to eat something there as the hotel restaurant would have closed already. I got a hot salmon soup that brought some life into my body, I was a bit hypothermic.
I arrived at the hotel and the friendly landlady let me dry my gear in the washing room. She told me her three boys are into Motocross, so she’s used to some bad smell…the rest of the soaked, smaller stuff was dried in the bathroom on the heated towel rack. What a day. My rain suit is not tight, water entered from the crotch and the collar (by the way: I have lost my riding collar on the ferry, hmpf…). I found out only the next day that my boots were also wet…from the inside! The caoutchouc overshoes did not let anything in…or out.
I stayed perfectly in the blue zone between Helsinki and Oulu.
The next day, everything was almost dry and I set off at eight…without the rain suit on. Bad idea. I coorected this after 5 km. I hoped to escape the front from yesterday that was now ahead of me again. I decided against the route via Rovaniemi as it was probably the better option of the two. I went north along the border between Finland and Sweden. On my tablet, I could see that the rain front was moving towards me. However, I could only just escape, but not one hour later . This time, I was riding for 15 minutes in the pouring rain and finally I could spot a tiny patch of blue sky on the horizon. I had managed to get beyond the rain front and I realised how lucky I was. Behind me, a large thunderstorm cell was forming and had I’ve been only half an hour later at this place I would have encountered torrential rain. But now, I was riding in the sun under blue sky with some occasional clouds. The downside was, that the temperature dropped. I felt suddenly very cold. I kept singing uplifting songs to improve the mood. I was now riding on a kind of plateau, mountain range is probably too big a word, and soon I reached the Norwegian border. Here the speed limits are lower most of the time only 80 km/h or occasionally 90 km/h.
I made good progress but I started to freeze so I decided to stop for petrol and to warm up in the respective shop. I had a hot Pølse, the typical Norwegian hotdog, with it an unmatching large cappuccino. In my thoughts, I hate weighed the option to connect my heated gear but I was still afraid that the rain front could catch up with me and I simply didn’t want to take off all the clothes and back on again. So I decided for a compromise and put on my heated shirt only.
This seemed to be a very good idea because for the rest of the day I felt sufficiently warm and also my thicker winter gloves kept my fingers nice and warm. After a while I reached Alta, the largest town in the region. I had no interest to see anything there so I continued on the E6, the road along the Norwegian coast that leads to Kirkenes. Here, it was rather mild but this should not last for very long. It’s going to colder again but this time I could handle it. When I reached the junction that leads to the North Cape, I decided to stop in a souvenir shop and to buy me something to drink and a sticker of the Northcape for my pannier. From here, it was only 126 km to the North Cape, quite a scenic ride albeit a chilly one. I passed the city of Honningsvåg but I had decided to go first to the Cape before I would check in the hotel.
The ride to the Cape was very scenic but also very very cold. As the Cape is situated on the large piece of rock and visibility was going down to 20 m. When I arrived at the parking I hardly couldn’t see anything of the building. The wind was icy, all the great views were nowhere to be seen. I entered the warm visitor centre and bought myself a warm collar that does not substitute fully the one I lost but as long as it wouldn’t rain I can maybe wear it to keep my throat warm. I went outside again to take a picture under the famous globe that is an iconic monument. I went into the visitor centre again to dry my visor that has been collecting water vapour between the two layers. I dried it out and was surprised by the good visibility after everything had been properly dried.
I rode back to Honningsvåg where I checked into the hotel. I got a message from Arjen who informed me about the place where the other four riders would have dinner. I quickly topped up the motor oil and the chain lubricant and joined the others for dinner, I had a good fish soup and a good cod dish. We had a good time, but we would not stay too long as we all still need enough sleep. They will start very early tomorrow probably one to two hours before me but as I have a longer fuel range we might see each other again.
I realised that I had left an important key at home that I need to loosen the nuts to tighten the chain. The receptionist established a contact with a local motorbike mechanic and I quickly went to town to ask him to lend me a ratchet to loosen and tighten the nuts of the rear axle so I could finally tighten the chain properly, this is just some normal part of the maintenance of an old, mechanic bike. I also bought a bottle of motor oil, I need it anyway. I returned to the hotel and here I am having everything prepared for tomorrow. When I will set off from the North Cape I will have maximum 78 hours to arrive in Tarifa, the southernmost town in mainland Europe. This should not pose a big problem on my big six cylinder BMW, but on my old XBR it will be a tough challenge for rider and machine. Wish me luck!
After a boring videoconference day, I set off at 4 p.m., direction east. Passing several traffic jams, I maintained a good pace thanks to the wind from the back.
XBR500 ready to rock ‘n roll.
My auxiliary tank worked just fine and after 328 km, I had to switch to the normal tank. This should give me a fuel range of over 700 km, more than enough for the trip. I was impressed by the protection of the new windshield and the tablet also worked smoothly. In cases of unexpected traffic, it can provide faster alternative routes. This could become important as fellow IBA rider Ralf, who went to the North Cape before the Ride to Eat, reported of lots of very slow road works along the E4, the long road that crossed Sweden North-South.
In the end I arrived already after four hours in the city of Peine without any stop, filled up and checked into the hotel. As it is close to the motorway, breakfast is already served at 6:30 a.m., promising an early start. The weather looks ok, not too warm. If predictions are correct, it could get very wet up in Finland, we’ll see about that.
On the next day, I started a bit later than I had hoped for (7:25), it would be a long day, about 1200 km. It went eastwards on the A2 towards Berlin and the border. Today I had to ensure a series of traffic jams in Germany and Poland that slowed me down, although I regained some time by rigorously using the hard shoulder. I noticed a permanent smell of hot oil that I had already noticed yesterday. I spotted oil between the cylinder and the carburetor, although I had no clue where it would come from. I also noticed that I had lost my right side cover…I stopped at a petrol station and checked the oil level….normal consumption. I suspected the crankcase breather…but the tube seemed to be in place? I filled up and continued. I crossed into Poland and maintained my speed at 120 – 125 km/h, a good XBR pace. After a total 660 km, I stopped again as the oil fumes annoyed me. Oil level was ok, I put on my working cloves and had a closer look….and spotteed the problem. The tube placed on the crankcase breather actually is composed of an outer and inner tube and apparently I had ripped them apart when I installed the new fuel lines. It took some jerking and swearing until I had fixed the problem that had already made me wonder if I could continue the trip as planned. An oil leak is a serious problem. But everything was back to normal, no more fumes in my nose.
The culprit. Put back together, no more oil fumes.
Around Warsaw I was slowed down by traffic but when I rode on the new highway to the northeast, I could go on my own pace again. As my tablet showed me some upcoming thunderstorms, I put on my rain gear early and when I reached the Lithuanian border, I also needed it.
As Lithuania has Eastern European time, the clock jumped forward one hour and my ETA jumped to 9:30 p.m. Probably too late to get some food in the hotel. With 15 min to go, I filled up and had two large sandwiches, rider and steed were sufficiently nourished. I checked into the hotel, not without noticing that I had lost one of the screws of the aux tank base…this means I have to find a DIY shop tomorrow, hmph. The distance is not so large, but now there are no more dual carriageways, let the overtaking begin.
I set off at 7:20 in Kaunas in dry weather, heading for a DIY market in Riga, along the route, but 260 km away. I wanted to buy a screw for the tank plate, some oil and batteries. It was only a normal road, but little traffic and I could make up a lot of time.
After two hours, I closed up to two motorbikers that turned out to be Arjen and Filip. They also want to do the big trip like me, albeit on big, modern bikes. They had been behind me yesterday and narrowly caught up with me. But now I had caught up with them. Me made a quick stop where I realised that the screw was still laying on top of the pannier in the cavity of the grips! I screwed it back in with the help of some locktite.
After the chat, I continued my ride towards Riga with Filip riding with me; we would be riding together the whole day. I stopped at the enormous market where I tried to find all items. I returned to the bike to find the screw again in the cavity. So I went back in and got me a longer screw that I used with a nut to counter the screw; now I won’t lose it anymore. I also bought some motorbike oil, maybe I’ll need it.
We left sunny RIga and heade north-east. The roads are in good condition with little traffic, so the average speed was high and we could make up some time.
When we had enough time saved, we permitted us a lunch break in a bistro next to the road. The braised beef was very tasty and very cheap. We chatted with some German riders and set off after an Illy espresso. The lunch break was the right choice, we just missed the hailstorm and only got some spray from the road. We still made good progress and after a short stop and picture at the Estonian border (my first visit!) we headed for Tartu and went 50 km north to the picture and meeting place where we arrived with 30 min to spare, enough time for some chats.
We went back to Tartu to the hotel where I filled up the bike after 630 km, topped up the oil and the chain lubricant. This is a cute, cosy hotel and now I’m ready (after a much deserved shower) to go down to have some dinner.
Visit the two furthest points North and South on mainland Europe drivable by road in three days. On a 1986 Honda XBR500.
In the beginning, there was the idea to join the European Ride to Eat in Estonia. A ride to eat is a get-together of IBA riders to meet for a picture on a Saturday at 4 p.m. and later having dinner together. In case of a Europan R2E, this place can be anywhere in Europe. The June meeting is located in Tartu, Estonia. My old Honda XBR500 has been to every country in Europe – except Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and….Estonia! So it was a no-brainer to decide to join the R2E with the old thumper.
So far, so good. Some months ago, fellow IBA rider Arjen had an idea and shared it: is there anybody interested to do a European End-to-End ride afterwards? The website of the Ironbutt Association UK states:
“This ride is a multi-day challenge, with three levels to suit the rides LD riding ability. Planning the route and managing their ride time, sleep and fatigue is an important factor for success.
The two furthest points North and South on mainland Europe drivable by road.
Nordkapp, Norway, 71.169466, 25.783198
Tarifa, Spain, 36.008538, -5.606893
The ride is classed as Extreme at the three Levels which are categorised by time taken to undertake the ride.
End to End (less than 78 hrs)
Insanity (less than 72 hrs)
Insanity Gold (less than 66 hrs)”
When being up in Estonia, you’re almost close to one possible starting point, aren’t you? Not quite. Northern Europe is big. I had this ride on my mind…why not doing it now?
There is only a small problem. The ride is considered an extreme ride, but should pose no big problem for an experienced LD rider…on a modern bike with >1000cc, fairing, high windshield, heated grips, heated saddle, etc…And my choice is…a 38 year old, 498 cc, one cylinder bike with 402.000 km on the clock. Quite an obvious choice, isn’t it?
I last visited the North Cape on July 1st 1993 on the same XBR…at 7 degrees and totally frozen. The forecast predicts some 5 degrees for next Tuesday. As I said, modern bikes are rolling living rooms. The old XBR is not. Another challenge will be my traveling speed. While my 110 – 120 km/h is sufficient for Norway, Finland and Sweden, it is rather slow for the rest of the trip. And no, a cruise control is not available.
The ride is similar to the Finnish North Cape – Gibraltar ride that existed for many years. In the Halls of Fame of both IBA Finland and IBA UK, almost all successful finishers had big bikes and nobody used a bike smaller than 650 cc. Well, that seems like a challenge!
But first, the bike needed some nursing. The last ride was two years ago, the trip to the Balkans. The XBR still carried the dirt of Albania. One idea was to increase the protection. I had bought a large(r) windscreen in the US that should replace my screen that served me over many years and countries. Another plan was to connect my 17 L auxiliary tank of the BMW. I just needed to i) build a mounting base and ii) connect the fuel line to the carburetor. And need to mount a new GPS cradle for the new Garmin Sumo XT. And to connect the tablet. And the heated gear. And a full service with fresh tyres.
Well, what is the plan? Well, first I will ride to the Ride to Eat in Estonia on Saturday and take the ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki on Sunday and ride up to the northern end of the Baltic Sea. The next day, I will pass the Inari Lake and arrive at Honningsvåg, the northernmost town in the world:
On Tuesday morning, I will set off at the North Cape and arrive not later than 78 hours later in Tarifa.
After a relaxing evening and night in Tarifa, I will head back home in a relaxed way in two days. You will be able to follow me via my GPS track that will be active from Thursday evening onwards.
This is my usual writeup of the major events that happened this year. And what a year it was! After four meagre years, long distance rallying had a high tide again. In total, 25 rallying days in the saddle. That’s….quite a lot. Approximately 500 hours of riding pleasure under competitive conditions. The highest number ever which will not be reached again. Let’s see what happens if I use this new “AI button” and ask it to write a summary of this post:
Summary of Motorcycle Year 2023
The year 2023 was an eventful one for the rider, encompassing long-distance rallies and memorable journeys. It commenced with a European ride to the Olympic Stadium and included a switch to a new bike due to unforeseen circumstances. A significant highlight was the Iron Butt Rally, where the rider demonstrated competitive prowess and resilience, earning a Gold Medal finish and securing the title of best European rider. This victory was followed by the 12 Days European Rally, marked by strategic riding and scenic adventures. Additionally, the rider triumphed in the Brit Butt Rally, reclaiming the winning position after facing previous setbacks. Culinary experiences during the rallies added a unique flavor to the year. The post reflects on the impressive achievements, acknowledges room for further growth, and hints at a promising future in motorbiking adventures. With a diverse array of rallies and ride events, the year truly encapsulated the spirit of long-distance motorcycle riding.
Artificial Intelligence provided by WordPress
Hmmmm, pretty good, albeit not perfect. Maybe I should stop blogging and leave this to A.I.? No, I am still here to stay. Let’s start.
Preparations in spring
The year started off easy with an European ride to eat to the Olympic stadium in Amsterdam in February, meeting again many of the weirdos in this sport. A short trip from the Belgian lowlands, just the right distance for a quick winter ride. In March I realized that my once refurbished rear shock of the BMW was leaking which caused a panic attack. As I was an entrant to the Iron Butt Rally 2023, I had only a few weeks until I had to ship the bike to Canada.
This meant that there was no time to fix the bike as the shock had to be removed, sent to the seller (warranty) who would send it to the manufacturer and then the whole thing backwards… This would leave me with no time to test things before the IBR, and probably the deadline could not be met anyway. So a decision had to be taken.
The only logic decision was to get a new bike. Seems unavoidable, doesn’t it? I sold the 65.000 km red K1600GT to my dealer and bought a 7.500 km white K1600GT from him. I had to wait for the registration and the swapping of all the farces from one bike to the other which meant I had to ride to the European Ride to Eat on my old Honda Pan European. My old trusted steed took me to Barcelona and back without any issues. Actually I had a big time on my favorite route at the Costa Brava and around the Montseny. Meeting point was the Olympic stadium of Barcelona, followed by the usual dinner.
Back home I finally could pick up my new bike, just in time to do a test ride to Italy and a Benelux Four Corners Ride that I completed, but I never handed in. In any case, the new K1600 behaved very well and I could ship it to Canada with a optimistic conscience.
But before that, I had to do my first rally this year; the Magic 12 Rally in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Everything went well and I could book my first win this year. After the debacle of the previous year, this was quite satisfying. The bike and the new rugged tablet worked perfectly; All of this above and more can be read in this post.
During a week back home in Bavaria, it was the only time to do a proper ride with an XBR this year: a ride along the Bavarian Alps reminds me how beautiful this area is. Especially in May.
With 680cc in paradise.
The Iron Butt Rally
And then it was time for “the Big Dance”, aka the Iron Butt Rally. This time, my objective was a different one: as I had achieved a finisher status in 2017 at the second attempt, I planned to do more of a competitive rally this time, although I planned to hold my horses in leg 1 and 2 to get used to the competitive pace of the IBR. I am still preparing a report about this adventure, it will be published at a later stage. For the time being, I give only a short summary of this epic ride.
After some interesting pre-start days in Pittsburgh, we set off on a Monday morning (see 3:38 min) to be 11 days on the road. I played it very safe in leg 1 and did not dare to ride at night through the forests of Vermont. And indeed, the first riders ended up in hospital when they crashed into some deer there. I visited Boston area and New York City by night instead. After a quick visit to Atlantic City and Baltimore, I headed west for the first checkpoint in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I had indeed taken it slow, as I was only on 37th place of 110 riders. For the second leg, I had to ramp up the effort a bit. In order to increase my points, I had to go to L.A. via El Paso and Phoenix. From there, I crossed the Nevada desert and blinding Las Vegas to end up in Utah. The next day, I crossed the Rockies and arrived early in Denver for a tyre change before the arrival at the second checkpoint in Denver. I climbed up 10 places in the ranking to the 27th place with this leg, but the biggest chunk was before me: the third leg with five riding days. In order to improve further, I had to go west to San Francisco, down to San Diego and back to El Paso. From New Mexico to Kentucky I rode 22 hours without any bonus point location. I went to Delaware and up again to NYC before I turned west and rode the last stint to the finish in Pittsburgh. I had done it again! This time, with a “proper” ride with 11.100 miles and without any problems, enjoying many rest breaks. I lost some points due to a missing picture and a malfunctioning SD card, but my final standing was quite good under these circumstances: Gold Medal finisher and best European at 16th place! I knew I could have done better, but this was a kind of apprenticeship in competitive IBR rallying, so I was quite happy with the result.
IBR ceremony
Arizona
Gilroy, garlic capital
San Francisco
Road closure? – use the flag method!
Group picture, leg 1
The trophy
Arrival at Denver checkpoint, leg 2
At the start in Pittsburgh
Before the start
Find the right corn cob among a hundred!
Katz’s, New York City
The first bonus point location visited
The parking lot at the start
Final standings. 16th out of 108 starters and 94 finishers
Total mileage during the 2023 Iron Butt Rally (17196.4 km)
Philadelphia cheese steak
After the rally, I returned to Toronto and flew back to Paris. I used July to relax and to prepare the next big thing: the 12 Days European Rally. Nominally even longer than the Iron Butt Rally, it was an event that would lead you through the whole of Europe.
The 12 Days European Rally
One advantage was the location: the start and finish was in Eindhoven, only 25 min away from my place in Belgium. The participation was unfortunately rather low for such an event, many people in Europe felt probably overwhelmed by this task to compete 12 days, interrupted only by one checkpoint in the Alps. Without going into details, I was not happy with the layout of the rally and how the interesting locations were distributed over Europe: Northern Europe, the British Isles and South-Western Europe was basically not worth visiting through the layout of the combination bonuses that were mainly located in Central Europe. Additionally, at least 19 countries needed to be visited which meant that all the smaller states including the Balkans were high on the list.
I figured out that the key was to combine combos for maximum efficiency. In terms of riding style, I applied the same focussed, but rather relaxed approach as in the IBR, leaving room for rather long rest breaks.
As described in the dedicated rally report, at the checkpoint, my mate Stefan organized a fantastic pit stop that included a wheel/tyre and oil change. On the second leg, I visited the whole of Italy, crossed by boat to Albania and worked my way upwards back to the Netherlands, overcoming some critical situations that should not form part of any rally on purpose. As mentioned in the report, I will not speak about these incidents in public. I tried to make the best out of it and maintained my steady pace, having fun on many of the twisting roads such as the Dalmatian coast road in Croatia. Although my execution was not flawless (I rode past a huge combo location in the rain on the first day), I had most points at the finish at won this probably one-time rally by a large margin. In the end I had visited 22 countries in 12 days: The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Andorra, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, San Marino, The Vatican, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. The report can be found here.
Climbing up 255 stairs of a former blast furnace in Duisburg.
Croatian coast in Zadar.
Group picture in Dobrun, Bosnia. Worth 8000 points if five riders are present. Not.
Drina River, Bosnia.
Tara Bridge, Montenegro.
Iconic Castel del Monte, Puglia. Built for Friedrich II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
At the tip of the Italian boot: Calabria.
Salerno by night.
I had no time to receive Pope Francis. Never mind.
Hutzlmandl’s Service Team in action.
Simmerl and Stefan at the pit stop.
Getting caught in a hailstorm on a mountain in Switzerland
Casino in Monaco
Col de la Bonette, highest pass in Europe, too windy to take a picture standing
Time for a chat with Eric after a veeery quick ride together
Peine del viento, San Sebastián
Soaked at “Land’s End”of Bretagne, France
12 Days Rally statistics
Something I had not stressed so far this year how I turned the second leg of the 12 Days Rally into a nice example of “how to rally in style”. In contrast to the IBR, I took the time to check in early (as the mandatory rest breaks had to be started before midnight) and to have a good dinner…every night. Let me use this opportunity to put a bit of gastronomic touch to this blog 😇.
Autogrill road food, Calabria, Italy (delicious)
Fried seafood, Bari harbour, Italy
Grilled octopus, Montenegro
Lamb chops, Serbia
Mixed Grill, Slovenia
Wild boar goulash, Croatia
Sea bass, Salerno Bay, Italy
The Brit Butt Rally
Only two weeks later, I set off for the last rally this year: The Brit Butt Rally. After my golden period between 2015 – 2018 with four consecutive wins, I faced a series of setbacks in 2019 (DNF, leaking tyre and leaking oil sump), in 2021 (hiccups due to electronic scoring and total road closure of the M4, 6th place), and in 2022 (choosing the wrong route due to a tiny planning error, 3rd place). So I was happy to perform perfectly on a challenging route through the Midlands, Wales, Devon, London, East Anglia and back to Coventry. I had some issues with my malfunctioning auxiliary lights, but the new BMW performed perfectly like the whole year, a truly perfect rally bike as long as gravel roads can be avoided. So I received my fifth winning trophy, properly challenged by 2nd and 3rd places Arjen Steiner and Scott Lloyd who will be tough competitors in the future to be reckoned with.
Epilogue
As this year was composed mainly of rallies and Ride to Eats, I concluded the year with a business trip to Munich and the Lago Maggiore and a later Ride to Eat in Paris where we met in front of the Eiffel Tower and had dinner afterwards.
In total, I rode about 48.000 km on the BMWs, 3.000 km on the old ST1100 and 200-300 km on XBRs. A totally different year from 2022….and probably from 2024 as well, as I plan to use again more the old XBR500 with 402.000 km on the clock next year. The new BMW K1600GT behaved very convincingly and I hope it will continue like this.
After all these successes, there is of course a kind of void. Three wins and a gold medal finish in the IBR, how much better can it get? There will probably be no other European rally over 12 days, I have already won every major LD rally in Europe, so the remaining challenge could only be to perform better in the Iron Butt Rally. The 16th place was very good, but I know that there is still room for improvement, especially now that I know how to compete in the IBR. With more efficiency and longer riding days, I guess a potential finish in the high single digit places could be possible if everything works out perfectly. Anything better than this is basically impossible for an European rider IMHO, after all, rallying in America is fundamentally different from Europe. But when I will do another IBR, who knows…
So next year will be a “small” motorbiking year again, but I already have some ideas to make it interesting…stay tuned!😉
The year 2023. Not all trips were recorded, but most.
After a series of good rally results it was time for a closing event of the 2023 rallying year: the Brit Butt Rally, a 35 hour rally through Britain. I had have participated in every BBR since 2011 and won it between 2015 and 2018, coming second twice and third once. In the year after 2018, I had a series of mishaps and errors that had annoyed me. I like riding through the British countryside, so it was time to travel to the rally HQ in Coventry. However, I wanted to avoid stupid errors this time to get this monkey off my back.
The rally’s topic was “chart music”, the rally book was simple and I finished my planning at 11 pm, having time for a beer before hitting the sack. A luxury.
My plan included the Welsh coastline, Dorset, London, East Anglia and Northumberland; actually I was ahead of my ambitious plan which allowed me to include two extra points that were crucial in the end. I had no issues except some dying auxiliary lights. Traffic, as usual, got painful in the afternoons. But I stayed in the flow and had a nice ride. The BMW behaved perfectly, as ever. I arrived 30 min too early as I ran out of locations.
After the dinner, the ceremony revealed the ranking: I was called to the podium with Scott and Arjen. I had no lost any points this time and even Arjen’s strong route and execution could not prevent me from winning the BBR for the fifth time! Nice! A long evening with a lot of chatting and pints ended this good weekend.
So the 12 Days Rally is done and dusted and in the rally books. 12 days of riding through 22 countries of about 13.000 kilometers. Visiting 123 bonus point locations. Numerous twisted roads and a spectacularly performing K1600GT that never missed a beat. I avoided most of the bad weather that haunted the continent and devastated Slovenia and parts of Austria, riding in sunshine in moderate temperatures for most of the time. There could be lots of tales to tell and I will decide later if I’ll do that. However, I have made a vow to myself to not comment on details of the rally and how it was organized. A gentleman never tells.
Some of the places were great locations though. I had managed to carve out a plan that combined most of the high combos and made only two small errors (one wrong picture and one transcription error that cost me two combos). But all in all the plan was a good one and very well executed.
A big thank you goes to Stefan and Simmerl had formed the “Hutzlmandl Service Team” and changed my rear wheel/tyre and did an oil change at the checkpoint at the Passo Tonale on day 5. I had no technical or physical issues (thanks to my fitness trainer Thomas) and kept the quick pace I showed during the Iron Butt Rally, even keeping the long, generous rest breaks.
My plan to travel super light with only one top case and a small bag worked out quite fine. A thanks also to the organizers for putting together this event and to IBA Benelux President Michiel for hosting a cozy start and finish event.
Here is a selection of some of the 123 locations I visited and some additional pictures I took:
Climbing up 255 stairs of a former blast furnace in Duisburg.
Croatian coast in Zadar.
Group picture in Dobrun, Bosnia. Worth 8000 points if five riders are present. Not.
Drina River, Bosnia.
Tara Bridge, Montenegro.
Salerno by night.
At the tip of the Italian boot: Calabria.
Iconic Castel del Monte, Puglia. Built for Friedrich II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
Pope Francis had no time to receive me, they said. Never mind.
Hutzlmandl’s Service Team in action.
Simmerl and Stefan at the pit stop.
Getting caught in a hailstorm on a mountain in Switzerland
Casino in Monaco
Col de la Bonette, highest pass in Europe, too windy to take a picture standing
Time for a chat with Eric after a veeery quick ride together
In a few minutes I will be heading to the rally hotel of the 12 Days Rally. It’s not a big trip yet, as it is only 25 min away, situated in Eindhoven 😊. The bike is ready. Actually, it is exactly in the same state when I returned from the Iron Butt Rally some weeks ago, only that it received a thorough service at the BMW dealer. The had proven to be optimized and in good shape – no reason to change anything (“if your system is working, don’t fix it”). There is one difference though – I will ride without the panniers, only with the topcase and a small bag for warm/rain gear. I used the experience from the IBR to leave everything at home that I didn’t (really) need in America.
It will be a rally of a lifetime – with 12 days, it will be the longest LD rally in the world – one day more than the Iron Butt Rally. It will also be harder than the IBR – speeds are much lower than in the US, there will be much more, secondary, twisted roads and there will be border crossings outside the Schengen area. There will only be three IBR finishers among the riders, but even for them, it will be a new experience, as the physical and mental challenge will be higher here in Europe. I did some maths and I concluded that I just should continue the relaxed riding style of the Iron Butt Rally, I am still well trained in that respect.
I will ride to the rally hotel, do the Odo ride and the registration, check into the hotel and at 5:30 p.m. we will gather for the riders meeting…
10 a.m. EST, the Iron Butt Rally is over and the social media ban has been lifted. I arrived well with more than three hours to spare. I lost some point at the scoring table, but this was due to a corrupt SD memory card and a disappeared picture. Could be worse.
It was a great rally and I will write about it shortly. I had no issues, rider and the steed arrived well. More later, because I urgently need some sleep now, I have ridden through the night. In the evening, the ceremony will take plan in the evening.
It is before midnight and I have already finished my planning and preparations. After I close this laptop, I will hit the sack and you will hear nothing from me until Friday 30 June, 10 a.m. EST. I am under a strict social media curfew from tomorrow morning onwards, no direct information from me must appear on the internet. I may even not be comment or like Facebook posts. So do not expect anything from me in this time. Anybody who has received my GPS tracker link must not share it, it must not appear on the internet. Luckily there is the new http://www.ironbuttrally.net website that will keep you updated together with John Young’s entertaining comments on this website. Stay tuned in to this blog!
I have received the rider number 31 out of 112 starters. The way to the next checkpoint in Tulsa seems close, but as expected, this would have been too easy. It resembles more the Dancing Procession of Echternach.
I had a a good rest tonight and rose refreshed. The choice of breakfast was again pretty depressing but I tried to counter with some fruit salad at the end. In the beginning I was pretty alone at my table, but gradually it filled with quite illustrious people of the Iron Butt Association such as Ed Otto, Jason Jonas, Bob Lilley and finally his excellency himself, IBA President Mike Kneebone. This made me stay a lot longer as this was a unique opportunity to chat quietly with these people, soon the storm would break loose. I had a long and good conversation with Mike about a series of topics. I told him that I was super relaxed, what a difference to previous IBRs where I was very nervous before the start. This will of course change during the ceremony tonight: after the dinner, when we will be handed out the rally book, the imaginary clock for planning starts.
I rode to the nearest petrol station (or as they call it here, ‘gas station’) and used my electric pump for the first time to correct my tyre pressure. I filled up and I purchased a series of items in the shop (water, energy bars, beef jerky, cookies…). In the parking lot, a had a talk with Bob Lilley asking for tips in terms of riding style, precious information.
In my room, I prepared my luggage, the one that I will carry and the one I leave here. I connected my Sat Nav to the notebook and noticed a problem: the North America maps that are stored on the devices are not visible in Basecamp, the planning software. They are on the devices, I used they to come here, but they are not visible for planning. Luckily, I had installed some Open Source Maps on the Computer to use it also without the GPS, handy to have a quick look on the roadside. This should work as well. A good example for appropriate redundancy.
I will go to the rider meeting now, curious what the rally master will reveal to us. Later the banquet will take place where we will be given the rally books. Then, the storm WILL break loose.
I got up at six and after a typical …American breakfast, registration started at 7 a.m. At lot of stations had to be passed, I went for the paperwork first: insurance, repatriation insurance, GPS tracker check, camera check, video statement recording, In the car park, it was time for the bike papers check and tech inspection. All ok, also the auxiliary tank check. The only ‘problem’ was about the stickers. No commercial stickers are allowed on the bikes, sponsoring is prohibited.
I had wondered if my number plate holder could be a problem, it bears the name of BMW dealer. But no, it were the decals with the name of my site (see the top of this page!). I insisted that this would be my blog site and nothing commercial. In order to have a ‘level playing field’, I was told to cover it with tape. When I tried to put some Gaffer tape on it, Dale ‘Warchild’ Wilson, the head of tech inspection felt sorry as it would destroy the stickers. He made the Solomonic proposal to just cover the ‘.com’ with tape….and so I did. The whole story brought me the first mention in a daily report this year, maybe for the wrong reasons. Well….🙄.
What was missing was the odometer calibration route of about 54 km. It is to be done to determine a correction factor for the milage ridden during the rally. I managed not to take wrong turns like others and at after three hours, everything was done and dusted and rally master Jeff Earls congratulated me for being an entrant to the IBR 23! Everything went very smooth, even the ridiculous sticker episode. Well, I had gone through this before, practice makes perfect.
After this, I went to the gym and did some exercise, I had not moved my bones in one week. In the afternoon I chatted with fellow riders, strolled through the carpark and decreased the entropy in my hotel room by packing the luggage for Monday. At 6 p.m. I joined the happy hour and later the buffet dinner. In contrast to the the previous two IBRs, I am super relaxed and everything worked out just fine. Tomorrow is another relaxing day…until the riding meeting.
I add some pictures from the dark park for entertainment.
Well, my arrival in Toronto was expected – a quick Passport control, taxi ride to Air Canada Cargo and….then staff was confused…”this usually takes more than six hours”. No, it didn’t. However, I had to walk back from customs to get my passport, they needed it. I had to wait for a while, but staff got more and more friendly. Finally I got back back the BMW and rode to the hotel. The night was not pleasant, I got some cramps in the calves…too much sweating and a dehydrating intercontinental flight. Luckily I was prepared and solved the problem with magnesium and lots of water.
In the morning I had a barely edible breakfast and set off soon. On the way to the border, I changed my mind and decided to pass by the Niagara Falls and to do the border crossing there like in 2013. It should be quick as it is a minor crossing. I went to the Falls and took some pictures. Compared to the Victoria Falls in Africa and the falls in Iceland….cute.
When I went on the Rainbow Bridge that spans over the river, I got stuck in traffic…it took one hour to cross the bridge! At the border port, the official did not how to introduce a ‘foreign’ number plate. I had to go into the immigrations building and faced an enormous crowd in the waiting room. Urgs.
Left: a sticker of Hansa Rostock on the Rainbow Bridge??
After one hour of waiting time I was admitted, could answer some questions and got my passport back. Without a stamp, they don’t do this anymore. I had lost a lot of time and in the next hours I learned that the preferred, direct route led right through Western upstate New York, quite rural, slow and with bumpy road. And the worst of all: no filtering permitted. What is quite acceptable to jump the queue with a bike is a no-go here, people would get quite angry. So this route seemed to take forever, with a fuel and sandwich stop in between. Later I continued on Interstates and finally arrived in Gaithersburg after 760 km before sunset. I filled up and prepared my visit for the following day.
Today, I stored my luggage and was picked up by the Director of the Reference Materials Office at NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), my peer in the US. I gave a presentation to the department about the European Reference Material program and we had a lot of good exchanges and discussions. It made sense to make a little detour to visit NIST for the first time.
I changed at the hotel and set off for the rally hotel in Pittsburgh where I arrived after a lot of traffic after four hours. I checked in and went to the bar where I found some familiar faces and had some good chats. The “team Europe” is rather small with two Irish, one English and me.
Tomorrow will be a tough day doing the whole registration, this will take the whole day. But everything should go smooth. I hope.
Got up early, one hour too early. Perfect summer weather. Packed the rest, said goodbye to the cats and the cat mummy ☺️, left at 8 a.m. It was only some 400 km to today’s destination, the airport area in Paris. The usual traffic in Antwerp didn’t slow me down a lot and after two hours I was near the French border where I visit a motorcycle accessories shop. I bought another piece of extension for the RAM Mount system I am using to put the tablet in a better position.
After two hours more, I arrived at the hotel near the airport were I dropped off most of my luggage, at least the one that does not stay on the bike. I went to a car wash and cleaned the bike thoroughly and filled up 1.5 L of petrol: the maximum allowed volume of petrol in the tank is 1 gal (4 L), but I was afraid I’d had too little until I will get to the first Canadian station.
I went to my agent who does all the transport and customs procedures, he explained me the process. His colleague showed me the way to the warehouse/drop-off point. I was happy that I can leave a lot of things in the panniers: helmet, rain gear, tools and accessories. I had to disconnect the plus lead of the battery (as usual) and an employee of Air Canada checked the bike and liked what he saw. After that, I pushed the bike onto a metal pallet and two guys strapped the bike to that plate very thoroughly.
I was driven back to my hotel (excellent service) and did the check-in. It has a modern but very different style (Pink?? Pink!!). I never had slept with the shower next to my bed. The utilities in the room were all controlled by a tablet and the TV program was projected against the wall by a beamer. A funny place and ok for one night. Having the moisture from the shower in the sleeping room is not so nice.
After some relaxing I went downstairs and had some buffet dinner that was actually quite nicely prepared and tasty. I checked the weather in the US and it seems that the situation will be similar than 2017: We will get toasted in a heatwave. Even the two checkpoints that are rather central in the US (Tulsa and Denver) will see temperatures above 35ºC. Wow. What about the Southwest? The prediction for Phoenix (Arizona) left me speechless…highs of 47ºC and lows of 33ºC. Not my thing. Hopefully there will be more options to the North.
I had wondered when drama would struck for the first time. And it did. I had received an e-mail to check in for the flight already. When I went through the process, I had to introduce a number for a Canadian visa. Visa? What? Why? There was a help button that revealed that I had to introduce the number of a visa or the ETA number. ETA? A quick search showed that since my last visit, Canada has also introduced an electronic visa programme similar to the ESTA in the US. Gulp. This was new to me. I found a site on the internet that provided the application. It looked very similar to the US application I had done a few days ago. A the end, I startled…97 $?? That was hefty. Well; but I needed the number ASAP, otherwise I could not board the plane. When I received the e-mail after the transaction, it was in Spanish. Spanish? I checked the e-mail address that led me to a website in Spanish. Was this a scam?? I did not receive a confirmation message. Maybe it was a scam. I searched again and came across a governmental website that asked me all kind of things again. This one cost only 7 $, I got the confirmation immediately and the number a few minutes later, this was fast. I could finish my check-in and disaster could be averted. The other confirmation and number arrived later on that evening so I must have been kind of legit, although it is still a scam to ask 90 $ on top. Right, some money burnt in the process, but at least I could fly. It’s the result that matters.
After my breakfast this morning I took the shuttle to the airport. As there were some roadworks, I got dropped off at another terminal. The hotel could have warned me, as now I had to take a shuttle train as well and to walk for about 1 km to my check-in counter. The security check was interesting, after all I carry a lot of electronic devices, cables, power banks etc…these were fine, but I had to wait for more than 20 min to have my bag routinely swiped for explosives, the only security guy was not the fastest and clearly overworked…At the gate, the boarding went veeeeery slow, Paris Airport is still very complicated to travel. Nice cafés though.
So finally I entered the plane…I thought I was clever to book a seat next an emergency exit door. Infinite leg room. I did not reckon with the super narrow seats that are even narrower close to the window. It is impossible not to be in close touch with my seat neighbour. I realise that my ‚width‘ did grow a bit….this is a disadvantage here. The reason is that I started my fitness programme late, but at least I did. Since January, I have a great personal fitness trainer and together we managed to get me in a much better state than I was in January. Thomas designed a perfect plan to get me ready for the Iron Butt Rally with a focus on core stability. I did a lot of training myself, but Thomas keeps on pushing me to the limit which is necessary for good results. In the end I didn’t lose a lot of weight (yet), but I turned about 8 % of my fat tissue into muscle tissue in the last five months. As a result, I have a much stronger upper body that should bear much better the physical stress and fatigue during an Iron Butt Rally. My test ride around the Benelux was a good proof: no pain felt whatsoever.
As I have plenty of time to write now, being on the plane, I want to take the opportunity to introduce (again) another co-commentator for the next weeks: my good friend John Young will do me the honours, just like for the Iron Butt Rallies in 2013 and 2017. He will comment on my progress, the Iron Butt Rally and whatever comes to his mind. I will be barred to publish anything on social media between two hours before the start and the finish of the rally. In order to keep this blog alive in that time, he will entertain you with his witty contributions. Too bad you can’t hear his nice Yam Yam accent, this would make it even more colourful.
IMHO John is still the best British LD rally rider, even that he doesn’t do rallies anymore. Having said that, no rule without exception, he won the short SAS rally in May where he competed with his famous 1969 Triumph Trident that had successfully completed the 2011 rally with him.
“It’s the rider, not the bike”.
By the way, I did not participate in that rally 😉. While he still WAS doing rallies, it was usually the question who of us would win it. If you are curious, you can check his old posts in June/July 2013 and June/July 2017, they are in the archive.
John and me before the European Tour 2016. Picture nicked from Wully’s Facebook page, I’m sure he doesn’t mind.
So I am on the plane to Toronto and I will land in a few hours. Before I can get to the hotel, I’ll have to pass immigrations, the warehouse, customs and the warehouse again. What could be more fun after a transcontinental flight?
Well, here I am, sitting in the garden with the laptop on my knees, enjoying a relaxed evening, probably the last one in the next three weeks when I will be aboard the plane back to Europe. Tomorrow I will be riding to Paris where I will drop off the BMW before I will fly to Toronto on Wednesday. The weather will be good, but I still will have to clean the bike before I present it at the customs and warehouse: no muck allowed.
I have packed everything and the bike is waiting in the garage to be mounted. I will put an extra bag on top of the auxiliary tank that I will have to carry to the rally hotel; it contains some extra luggage like clothes that I will need before and after the rally.
Iron Butt Rally 2023 – the Flying Fortress
By looking at the pictures I realize that this is the most serious motorbike I have ever taken to an Iron Butt Rally. The XBR 500 and the ST1100 were iconic bikes that gave me a lot of attention, but they were not really “competitive”. This bike and its predecessor have demonstrated that the K1600GT is a very serious motorbike for long-distance rallying. It consider it a “Flying Fortress” as it covers many miles so effortlessly and makes you always feel in control, even under bad weather conditions. A machine. Comfy, but with a lot of character, if needed. And the farkles attached to it make long distances a lot shorter. In the end, I have decided against two modifications: highway pegs and a radar detector. The pegs are difficult to mount and not really needed as I have now lowered foot pegs. Most American riders have radar detectors that are legal in the US; during my trips in America I had never been stopped so why now. And maybe I’ll get away with a warning 🥳. Fixing an electronic device last minute without proper testing is simply asking for stress and problems, so it’s a ‘no’.
So what are the modifications of the ‘Flying Fortress’?
Russell Day-Long seat for a pain-free bottom
Clearwater Erica LED auxiliary lights turning night into day with 15000 lumen
Auxiliary tank with about 11 liters of extra fuel, the smaller version to be under the lower American fuel limit
Wunderlich Crash bars
Wunderlich grip protectors
Samsung Galaxy Active 3, rugged and watertight, permits real-time navigation and online internet
Garmin Zumo XT GPS
BMW Navigator V GPS
Wunderlich lowered foot pegs
SW Motech tank bag
Quad Lock mobile phone holder with inductive charging
Optimale USB Charger with 3A output
SPOT GPS tracker
That’s it. Pretty modest, actually. At least in comparison with other American riders. But you know, they say ‘less is more’ 😚.
It is less than 10 days to the start of the Iron Butt Rally 2023 and I haven’t posted a thing in months. This is not to surprise people, it is just a case of extreme procrastination. I know for more than one year that I was selected to ride in this year’s rally, but I kept quiet for a long time. In 2013, I posted a lot during month, documenting the transformation of my XBR into a rally bike. In 2017, I was less chatty, but informed about my upcoming trip. In 2023…things were super relaxed. I had to kick myself to start the preparations not so long ago, I was/am in a very relaxed state of mind.
Of course I’m not a rookie anymore. I know how the process works at the IBR. I know how rallies in America are different from Europe and and I have done my share of multi-day rallies to know my body and mind under these conditions. But there is always the possibility to overlook a tiny thing that is essential. In 2017, I lost my proof of medical repatriation insurance before the rally registration. With out this mandatory document, you cannot start the rally. I managed to get another insurance online, but incidents like this result in unnecessary stress before the real stress even begins.
The Iron Butt Rally is a competitive motorcycle road rally held in the United States. It was first held in 1984, and beginning in 1991, now takes place in odd numbered years, usually in August. The rally lasts 11 days, and riders often travel over 11,000 miles (18,000 km) in that time. During the rally, entrants earn points by riding their motorcycles to various “bonus” locations in the U.S. and Canada. A bonus is a task or destination with a point value. To earn the points for a bonus, a rider must provide evidence by photographing an object or scene, purchasing a particular item, or by various other means specified by the organizers. The rally consists of one or more checkpoints, which may be located anywhere the United States, and one or more lists of bonuses with locations, times of availability (if limited), and varying point values. Each leg of the rally has its own bonus list, and only the bonuses for the leg currently being ridden are known to riders and can be earned. A bonus list typically contains far more bonuses than can be earned in the time allotted during a leg. This introduces a significant strategic element to the rally, since each rider must determine for him/herself which bonuses to attempt, and what route to use to reach them, while still reaching the next checkpoint before it closes.[6] Entry into the Iron Butt Rally is by lottery only and every lottery entry must be an Iron Butt Member first.[7] To be considered a finisher of the event, a rider must be present at each of the checkpoints within a specific time window, and must earn a minimum number of bonus points during the rally. Additional achievement levels (gold, silver, bronze) can be reached by earning more than the minimum required points. Themes are often employed, with 2011 being about visiting U.S. states and their capitals; 2009 were crime scenes; 2007 was about gateway and arches (i.e. Perce Rock on the Atlantic, St. Louis Arch, and Golden Gate Bridge on the Pacific); and 2005 was about lighthouses. First-time finishers are assigned a 3-digit number membership to replace their previously assigned number…that often are five digits in length and over 1,000. As of 2019, slightly more than 600 people have officially finished the Iron Butt Rally.
Wikipedia
I had planned to ride the rally with my old XBR500 with 402.000 km on the clock. However, it was not possible to obtain insurance for the US and Canada, as the only provider for tourist insurances does not insure motorbikes older than 30 years anymore. So no start in the ‘Hopeless Class’ for me. First, I was disappointed. I had already put aside a more powerful motor with 600cc und had made plans to improve the XBR. The only alternative was the mighty K1600GT, the ST1100 that barely made it to the finish in 2017 is considered retired and is only used occasionally anymore.
Bit by bit I was convinced that choosing the K1600 was the better idea. It’s a comfy ride and 10.000 miles or more is a long distance to get tired. Everything is optimized for rallying, everything in place. Well, small changes I needed to make. I finally managed to get my tablet running, using a plug for the socket in the fairing and using direct charging with a watertight USB-C cable.
Some weeks ago, I bought a original top case for the BMW: I want to use it to keep the rally flag, list and computer and a bag with daily needed gear in there, without having to touch any stuff in the panniers during the different legs, except when needed. An expensive, but very useful addition. I had planned to do some test rides, the first was to the Ride to Eat in Barcelona in April. However, the riding comfort of the BMW got worse and worse and in a common investigation in the garage we discovered that the rear Wilbers shock was leaking! This was a major disaster! As it was not an original part, the shock would have to be returned to Wunderlich and then to the original manufacturer Wilbers. A few weeks before the take-off over the Great Pond, this was an impossible undertaking. After all the issues last year, I simply had enough. It took me one hour of discussion with my dealer and after I had traded my red 2017 K1600GT with 62.000 km for a 2020 white metallic K1600GT with 7.500 km.
Think Big.
Ignore the pain in the area where the wallet is, that’s for later. Or as Douglas Adams has put it:
This planet has – or rather had – a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movement of small green pieces of paper, which was odd because on the whole it wasn’t the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
We agreed that the farkles of the old bike would be transferred to the new bike by the garage, this softened a bit the pain of the low vending price. After all the administrative procedure (insurance, registration), I swapped the bikes and enjoyed the new bike that was not really different. But it had a working suspension.
I had to go on a business trip to the Lago Maggiore and use the new BMW for. it. Riding in the snow in Switzerland, in the torrential rain in Italy and over the Swiss passes back north showed me that a working K1600 is a mighty fortress and big fun on long distances.
I rode on the ST1100 to Barcelona and was reminded again what a good bike it still is. Smooth.
I visited some of my favorite places in Barcelona and the Costa Brava (I had lived here in the 90s) and did the best coastal road that I know north of Tossa Del Mar. My new tyre was immediately run in 😳.
In May I went to do the only rally this spring, the 12 hour M12 Rally in Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania. I carved out a cunning plan with an excellent adaptation during the rally (I was ahead of my plan). It was a fun ride with no issues. And for the first time in two years, a rally win. The spell is broken.
When all the farkles had been installed, I did my last test ride with the BMW: the Benelux Four Corners ride. Visit all most Western, Northern , Easter and Southern points of the Netherlands and Belgium; And the most southernmost point of Luxemburg. And all geographical centre points of all three countries. And the northernmost point in Holland. In less than 24 hours. After my failed attempt in October this time in perfect sunny conditions.
About 2000 km in 20 hours, right on the planned time. A perfect shakedown run.
Slowly I made my check lists. No hurry. A few purchases. Another advantages of the BMW is that there is little to optimize. I was deeply relaxed. The finalization of the insurance and the bike transport was more nerve-wrecking. Finally everything was settled. Next Tuesday I will ride to Paris, drop off the BMW and fly to Toronto the next day.
At the moment, I am packing my stuff, about half of it is already in the panniers. I think I can call it a day now. There will be more time to mention other preparations…
I just realised that I didn’t write a review for 2021. Well, in fairness, not a lot happened during the first two years of the pandemic. In 2021 however, I took a break from the pandemic and visited Iceland which was a very lovely trip.
I thought first ‘not a lot has happened in 2022’, but when I went through all the pictures on my phone, I stood corrected. I did not post a lot and there was not one monumental event like in 2019 that dominated the whole story, but there were many little things and one ‘adventurous’ trip that made this a quite nice riding year, at least considering the conditions (still a pandemic going on, although less dangerous than the previous years). I will mention everything in a chronological order, after all this blog is a diary that lists what I have experienced. In contrast to earlier travel diaries, it is digital and public, but I essentially write all these stories for myself and not for others, although I don’t keep this blog private and I appreciate that so many people seem to like it 😊.
In February, I did small tours in the area, crossing into the Netherlands to the North, riding without a plan and relying on my GPS to carry me home when I had to turn around. I rolled also through the towns of Maaskantje and Schijndel, both notorious for the Dutch TV series and films around the New Kids, a Dutch ‘white trash’ comedy with (very) strong language and trashy humor. Dutch people will know what I’m talking about…What came as a big surprise: Maaskantje is actually a cute small village, LOL.
“Ik betaal goddomme helemaal nergens meer voor” (Richard Batsbak).
On the last weekend in February, I went to the first European Ride to Eat in Raalte, Netherlands. It was good to see some of the old chaps from the UK, Germany and the Netherlands for the first time after pandemic. A lot of stories had to be exchanged and the usual meeting point in February in the Netherlands makes it usually possible for everybody to come to the meeting as the temperatures are bearable. Even more when you have heated gear, hehe.
Another event that happened for the first time since 2019 was what was called in former times the “XBR Wintertreffen” (XBR winter meeting). Since 2003 I invited fellow motorbiking friends (linked to the XBR Alpentour events) for a meeting in March, accompanied by a yummy dinner. Since 2007, the meetings happened in Belgium; the mild climate allows to do a motorbike tour, often the first one in the year. This year, Jo, Hans, Ralf and Gernot made it to the meeting, Hans even made it on his Pan European. Using some of my bikes, we did a nice 100 km trip through Southern and Northern Brabant. In the evening, the motto of the dinner followed the typical pattern: my last journey. As my last trip went to Iceland, I tried to reproduce some of the nicest dishes I had enjoyed on the Island: sandwiches with aquavit, Humarsúpa (fish soup), slow cooked lamb and Skyr with fresh berries. Delicious.
Icelandic dinner
During the ride-out, I noticed that the suspension of my BMW was not as smooth as expected, a lot of noise from the front and not a subtle reaction of the system. I had enough of it, last year I had the two shocks reworked by a company that was suggested by my BMW dealer. Didn’t go well, a few weeks later, the front shock was leaking and had to be reworked. So I was not amused to have a lot of noise every time I rolled over a bad road. I had enough of it, this asked for new shocks. So I visited my BMW dealer and discussed the subject. He advocated for new original shocks, after all they were specifically developed for this type of bike, being modern electronically adjustable high-quality items. Indeed, the riding comfort when the bike was new was impeccable. Hmmm, but what is the price? (I was suspicious..) Er, well, ehm…it’s 4.500 Euro, excluding installation (that’s another 800 quid). Wow. 🥶 And what is the price for the Wunderlich shocks that are made by Wilbers (excellent quality shocks)? 1500! Aha! So we do what? Dealer mumbles…”hmmm, yeah, that makes more sense”. I couldn’t agree more. So this was agreed and a few weeks later I had a new suspension. Under normal conditions, I would install it myself, but half of the K1600GT needs to be disassembled in that process and the electronic shocks need to be calibrated. Hands off!
In April, I had the idea to connect two business trips and left the old XBR in Valencia. Until picking it up, I had some other things to do.
After having done many motorcycle rallies, it was my first time to try a classic car rally, the Eifel Marathon Rally: Driving 390 km on nice back roads in the Ardennes and the Eifel. Not in a competitive way, just based on on arrow instructions (‘tulips’) on a touristic route. There were many great cars in this rally, it was fun to to be surrounded by a lot of iconic cars. My co-pilot and navigator was my neighbor Jeroen who managed to guide us criss-cross though the Ardennes and the Eifel during this long day. We started mid-field and arrived in the top group, that was fun!
My BMW was ready and I picked it up from the dealer; When I arrived at home, I was not happy. There was still some rumbling noise! I grabbed the front wheel with both hands…really? The wheel had some longitudinal play! Aaargh! The bike went back to the dealer, changing the ball joint (no.2 in picture).
I flew back to Valencia, picked up the XBR again and went to Portugal to the next R2E. I never had visited Portugal by motorbike before and was surprised by the country. Gorgeous roads and beautiful landscape. The meeting point was at the highest point of Portugal at almost 2000 m altitude. The hotel was great and after a nice evening with nice conversations, I left Portugal the next day and went to my home town in Germany. Portugal is a place I definitively need to visit more intensively in the future.
In Germany I tested the new XBR 680 that my mate Stefan had helped me to build. A true monster. Not 500cc, but 680cc push the ‘no frills – minimum weight’ bike forward. It had a 600cc XL motor before that, but the extra 80 cc with this tuned NX650 motor are truly awesome. On top of the extra displacement, a sports camshaft adds even more ‘oomph’.
Unfortunately, the gear ratio was not correct and the right sprockets did not arrive on time. I decided to ride the Magic 12 anyway, the 12 hours rally in Germany. Big mistake, I should have swapped the bikes. As usual, I had an excellent winning route and I even was ahead of my planned time when disaster struck. The brutal force of the motor and the wrong ratio had first killed the sprocket bearing and later the wheel bearings. With 100km to the finish, I called it a day and rented a van to return home with the poor bike. With the proper sprockets, it could have worked as it turned out later that year.
But this retreat was a wise thing. It was not worth to risk my health for this. A destroyed wheel bearing can lock the wheel at any time. You’d take the risk when you’re virtually leading in the Ironbutt Rally, but not in a short rally that I had won twice before.
The first test for the new set-up was a trip to Kent, riding the short ‘Invictus Rally’. Initially I had considered to ride with the ‘hot’ XBR680, but I was still waiting for the right sprocket. Well, my BMW was finally ready, just in time! I went to the BMW dealer, put a bunch of bills, equivalent to a very, very nice XBR, on the desk and rode home with a new suspension. Just in time to head off to England. As is it common for short rallies, I had received the rally book a few days before and solved the puzzle to plan a potentially winning route. I transferred the waypoints to my GPS and left for Calais, getting stuck in an enormous traffic jam at the Eurotunnel terminal. I arrived at my inn in Tonbridge and had some pub food before I prepared my stuff and went to bed. In the next morning, I went to the rally HQ, signed in, had some chats and set off together with all the other riders. The rally took place in Kent Sussex and Surrey. I had planned a tough and ambitious route that should give me a lot of extra points.
I arrived soon at the first location in Lynsted. In time. On the way to the second location, I wanted to introduce the third location in the GPS…and couldn’t find it! How could this happen?? Well, ok, I have to skip this one. Next location, fine, picture taken. Looking for location number five….where is it? Number Seven, eight?? I had to realize that during the waypoint transfer process, only half of the points were transferred. As I had left the laptop in the hotel (normally I always carry it with me, but not on a such a short rally). Well, this was it. It made no sense to continue when half of your points are missing. I returned to the hotel, packed my stuff and rode to the rally HQ where I informed the rally team that I dropped out and I would return home. This was a technical DNF like never before. I realised later that there was something wrong with the old Garmin Zumo 590, it gave me a lot of problems later. As usual, I had checked if the transfer of the points had happened, but I didn’t check for completeness. So when I rode back to Belgium, I took the decision to buy the new Garmin Zumo XT which I did.
However, I noted also something else during this trip. When riding on bad roads, the front of the BMW was still producing this rumbling noise. After all what was changed! I was super annoyed. So I went to the dealer (again) and discussed what to do. The bike rolled impeccably, but any small hole or obstacle resulted in a noise as if the steering bearing was loose…except that this modern bike, equipped with the duolever system does not have a classic steering bearing that receives any force from bumps. The ball joint was exchanged, so what else could be the problem? I had enough of this…the labour costs of removing any parts are actually much higher than the parts themselves…thinking we would remove one part after the other….so I took the decision to replace all remaining parts in the front. Yes, all of them. Sounds crazy, but I wanted to avoid further incremental attempts.
In June, I went for the trip I wanted to do since 2020, but the pandemic had put the plan on hold: visiting the ‘white spots’ on map in south-east Europe. I had planned the trip with Stefan in 2019 and finally it was going to happen. We wanted to visit a lot of countries in only one week, but the distances were rather short. After a week the a booth at an exhibition in Munich, we set off on a Friday evening and went to Villach in Carinthia. The next day, we enjoyed the beautiful Croatian coastline on the way to Split. We did a detour into Bosnia to Mostar and strolled through Dubrovnik. We passed the Kotor Fjord and went up Mount Lovćen in Montenegro, rode the stunning mountains of Durmitor. We rolled through the Tara Canyon and crossed into Kosovo, a truly different experience. We enjoyed the wild beauty of the Valbona Valley and the Albanian mountain, including its potholes. We stayed at the Ohrid Lake in Montenegro, rode the bumpy backroads of Southern Albania and were surprised by the hospitality in Gjirokaster. A day on the Greek island completed the trip before we embarked on the shabby ferry to Italy.
On the way back North, the odometer of the little XBR turned around for the forth time in a little town in Northern Italy: 400.000 km on the same motorbike! Now for the next 100.000 km 😊!
Back in Belgium, I picked up the BMW from the dealer….everything replaced….another monster bill…..first I thought everything was ok now, but I had my doubts…but it was too late to change my plan, I had to leave for the Brit Butt Light Rally in England, a 12 hours rally. Also here the rally book was sent one week before the rally, so I could come up with another cunning plan. The rally was based on collecting locations in the same group: the more locations of the same kind, the more points. One ‘group’ is also called a ‘string’. I had planned to do four strings which required a top-notch execution, there was only a buffer of 15 min foreseen in the whole day. The topic revolved around pre-historic sites that are quite abundant in central England.The tricky thing was that all points of the same string needed to be visited consecutively which resulted in a criss-cross and a lot of planning had went into optimizing this puzzle.
On my way to my hotel in Portishead, I noticed that the problem of the BMW lingered on…every time I rode over an obstacle in or on the road, a loud noise rattled the bike. I had no other chance than to endure this é&§%*%$!!! To my surprise, the hotel had its pub closed (staff shortage). Finally I could check in and leave my luggage. I went to the rally HQ in another town, registered and had dinner with German and British fellow riders. The next morning, I went back to the same place and started the rally from there. The roads and the locations were nice to spectacular, the traffic was a bit unexpected. I realised that the area was attractive to tourists as well and then there is always the notorious Saturday morning traffic. I visited iconic places such as large horses engraved in hills or neolithic monuments, such as Stonehenge. One location was crucial: walking from to road across a field, up a hill to take a picture from inside a neolithic monument. This are the things rally masters start to giggle when they develop their evil plans.
Walking up to the neolithic grave in full motorbike gear in the heat – big fun!
Finally I reached the top of the hill, had to find the entrance to the necropolis to take a picture from the inside. Luckily I had properly investigated the area before on Google Earth so I came prepared. Done. And now the walk down. I used to check if all my messages had come through – which was not the case, so I re-sent them again. I was faster than calculated but I had to realise that I was falling behind my plan as the traffic was slowing me down more than expected.
On the way to the points in Wales I could make up some time. Things looked good again. I was using the new Zumo XT GPS together with the old Zumo 590 and things were working well. Back in England I deviated from my routine and started to introduce locations for the next but one point, while riding. I had to go on backroads and single track farm roads but I could maintain my plan to do the four strings (spoiler: that nobody else was able to do).
At a certain point I was about to reach the next location, the GPS indicated ‘500 m to F2’…what? No, this must read ‘E2’, I had been there before. And finally it occurred to me that I reached the location F2 for the second time in one hour. WHAT?? The logic explanation: when deviating from the routine and looking for the next location, I had pressed on F2 and not on E2! This meant that all my well designed plan that was a kind of ‘all or nothing’ had just collapsed. The only thing I could do was do skip some locations of the fourth string and make the best out of it.
In the end it was a third place, something I had never managed before in a British rally (only 1st, 2nd and 6th places☺️). The best I could have achieved after this big error. In a long rally, you could maybe make up for it, but in this short 12h rally, no mistakes were possible.
The BMW gave me a lot of noises during the trip to England that I had ignored with a cold heart. But at home, I went to the dealer again and together we speculated what other source could be the cause. We were clueless, as every part in the front that could wear out had been exchanged. We agreed on an appointment to check AGAIN.
But before that it was time for another XBR Alpentour! I had equipped the grey XBR with the correct, custom made sprockets and now the system seemed stable. I went to meet Gernot in Karlsruhe and we rode together to the meeting point in Reutte, Tyrol. During the trip, I had to turn the bike as we had to turn around. In that moment, as it seemed retrospectively, my tank bag touched the starter button while the motor was running. The starter came on and would not stop! Even if I removed the keys! Panic! I tried all kind of things…The starter would not stop!! Sooner or later it would get fried! Frantically, I ripped the luggage from the bike, searched for my tools, removed the seat and tried to disconnect the battery while the starter was turning the motor hysterically😱😱😱. As I was in panic, the unscrewing did not happen without some flying sparks (in my panic, I tried to remove the positive and not the negative terminal 🙄). Finally, there was silence. What had happened? Well, pushing the button had pushed the starter relay that got stuck and did not get released. As the starter is connected to clamp 30 (permanent positive), a hanging relay results in a permanent current that cannot be switched off by the ignition key. I knocked on the relay and connected the positive terminal again. Silence. I pressed the starter button. Worked without problems. Everything ok again. It’s a Honda.
In Reutte we met Johannes, Hans and Ralf. The next day, we rode to Trento that we used again as a hub for the next three days to ride some of the best roads in Northern Italy. Monte Bondone, Valvestino, Pasubio, Sella, Monte Baldo, just to name a few. Not to forget the usual gastronomic part 😋.
As usual, we had a great time and my tuned XBR behaved as expected: spectacularly.
Back home, I rode to the BMW dealer for the appointment to inspect the bike…again. On the way, I noticed that the mirrors were vibrating a lot and I told this to the dealer. He startled and ran outside to the bike: ‘I have an idea’. I followed him. He took the whole cockpit in his hands and joggled it. I tried as well. I could lift the whole cockpit by one centimetre. So this was the crux of the matter! No suspension, no ball joints, no bearings….some bolts of the cockpit frame were broken and caused the annoying noise. After another intervention, the cockpit was fixed and I had a new bike. Trying not to think of all the money I burnt in this process 🥴.
At least the BMW was finally ready for the longest rally this year, the Brit Butt Rally 2022. After my errors sending bonus location pictures with the wrong codes last year that resulted in a disappointing 6th place. So after all the hiccups of last and this year, I wanted to focus on sending proper information and pictures at every bonus point locations. I arrived early at the rally hotel in Coventry and had time with fellow participants. The registration, odo meter calibration ride, technical inspection and filling up petrol is a well established process, after all this was my 12th Brit Butt Rally. After the dinner we had the riders meeting and the handout of the rally books. This year’s theme was simple: castles. This sounded great. Big objects in remote places. No riding in big cities, less traffic, simple tasks. Maybe an occasional walk. I had high hopes that my wish would come true: riding to Scotland. After my monster ride in 2021, including riding from Dover at lunch to Penzance before sunset on lots of secondary roads with zillions of weekend drivers, I was desperate to ride through the Highlands, avoiding the typical bank holiday traffic.
I sat down in my hotel room and started to carve out another monster ride, this time to Scotland. This could work. As the rest break is quite long now, I needed to have a good hotel in a central position. This needs a good planning as my plan needed a hotel with a 24h check-in, as little detour as possible and a petrol station nearby. Not something you would find in the middle of the Highlands. Possible towns were Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Some locations were daylight bonus points only, this made it very tricky to find good solutions to this puzzle. Another challenge was the big combo bonus that required visiting a castle up north in the Highlands and another one north of London. It was clear this would be a close shave, no room for mistakes. There were two variants of this route, depending how I could make progress, they both went through Edinburgh so this had to be where I booked the hotel, next to a petrol station and close a daylight bonus point for the next morning.
As usual, I tried to look for alternatives. This is very important as often your first impression can trick you and the second best option turns out to be the better one. Alright, what could be an alternative? Well, there was only one option where enough points could be found: going to Cornwall and Wales. I use a well-established method based on spreadsheets that helps me to quickly calculate the points value of draft routes. I did the calculation of a route similar in riding time and concluded that it would not bring more points. So the decision was clear: I wanted to go to Scotland, avoiding all the traffic to be expected in the Southwest. I didn’t bother to go into the fine-tuning of the alternative route; I had longed to go to Scotland, so Scotland it was going to be. At 6 a.m., the horde left the parking in the dark. I had to get to Scotland as quickly as possible with only one quick detour near Penrith where I visited Brougham Castle. I passed Glasgow and Loch Lomond, as usual infested with tourist caravans. On the way north, Barcaldine Castle was visited and I was still in time. What I had not expected: crossing Loch Linnhe requires taking a ferry! Of course it was on the other side and I had to wait. The crossing took 20 min off my plan and suddenly I was behind schedule. The road to Tioram Castle was beautiful, but mostly single track, so this costed me more time. However, riding in this part of Scotland is just fantastic, lots of nature and no traffic.
Near the famous Eileen Donan Castle it started to drizzle and wouldn’t stop for the next hours. I was falling behind my tight plan and had to realize that I couldn’t make that daylight point east of Inverness in the evening. This required a change of plan. I dropped the route to Aberdeen and decided to go to the north, near John O’Groats instead. I would have to shortcut through the Highlands using the A9 going to my hotel in Edinburgh. With this the points loss could be minimized.
But first I had to visit Ardvreck Castle up in the very Northwest of the Highlands. Things were running smoothly, I enjoyed flying through the highlands. I reached the A9 north of Inverness, visited Dunrobin Castle (see picture to the right) and turned north. I reached the Castle of Mey at sunset, just in time as it was a daylight bonus location. Well done. I filled up again early in Thurso for I did not want to look for petrol until Edinburgh. I put on the Erika lights and turned night into day; with these floodlights it is pretty safe to ride at night. I calculated the distance to the rest hotel in Edinburgh, more than 500 km to go on the A9 and only a short distance on motorway. Gulp! 😨. I deliberately left out Urquhart Castle as I wanted to save time to able to go London the next day, I could recover the points later if there was time left in the end. It was a great dark ride through the Highlands, passing Inverness and visiting the Blair Atholl Castle.
I arrived at my hotel at midnight where I would stay for seven (!) hours to get the maximum points for the rest break. That is a very generous rest break. Back in the times when the Brit Butt rallies were more competitive, there would be only three hours of rest break, asking for much more bonus hunting at night. The break gave me time to fine tune the second day to make sure I could get the big combo north of London.
The next day went smooth, refreshed I continued my monster ride. On Saturday I had covered about 1900 km in 18 hours, I simply had to maintain the pace to make the finish in time. After some criss-crossing though the Borders and Yorkshire I went down on the M1 and made it to the Berkhamstead Castle north of London to bag the big combo in time. I made it back to the finish in Coventry with a few minutes to spare, after 2711 km (1685 mls). I think this is a record in the history of the Brit Butt Rally, even more considering the shorter effective riding time than before. This was only possible as I was riding a lot on motorways with no traffic.
I had achieved what I came for: going to Scotland and losing no points at the table, i.e. I had sent all pictures and information correctly. So this looked like a very good result. Yet during the ceremony, I was surprised by the high point values of the other riders…I was called on the podium when only three riders were left. And for the first time in a Brit Butt Rally, it was third place for me. John Cross and Dave Winter came second and first with a bit more points, but a lot fewer mileage. What? How was this possible, they all went to the southwest…had I overlooked something? Anyway, it was a splendid ride and I had perfectly executed the planned ride.
Back at home, I had a look at the calculations. To my surprise, I noticed that in the calculation of the alternative route in the spreadsheet, I had not ticked the boxes to add two combos, this would have changed the whole picture. So I sat down and recalculated in detail a possible route through the southwest with the correct point values. To my surprise, the total points value was 2400 points higher than my route to Scotland, with 20 % shorter distance! 😫 (I had thought it would be 600 lower). This was more than double the gap to first place. Right, confidence restored, I still can design winning routes. Just a simple, but stupid error. As the saying goes: ‘the one wins who makes least errors’. I keep on beating myself, maybe it’s time to get my act together and to ride a perfect rally again 😊.
In October I had a weekend to spare and wondered what I could do with that time. I did not want to go far away, but why not doing the IBA Benelux four corners ride? Visiting the points to the North, West, East and South and also the geographical centre of each country? In less than 24 hours? This sounded like a good ride for a Saturday? The tricky thing is to find the right order, after all I didn’t want to do a lot of extra kilometres from and back home. The plan was to do 1929 km in 20 hours, starting at 6:30 in the morning. I had chosen to ride with the old Pan, the IBR veteran and most successful LD motorbike in Europe. I went to the northernmost point in Belgium first, I knew the place, but it took me several attempts to take a usable picture of myself and the bike in the dark. The next location was the most western point in the Netherlands near Westkappelle (see picture to the right). I went to Zeeuws Vlaanderen and when I crossed the border, some drizzle started. This came as a surprise, in my plan I had expected two to three hours of rain in the afternoon. On my way to the western point of Belgium at the French coast, it would stop but return again on the way to Brussels. It was a classic: you think that it will stop soon and you don’t put on your rain suit. So after visiting Belgium’s geographical centre, on my way to Luxemburg and Belgium’s southernmost point, the rain got worse and the roads in Wallonia are notoriously bad, especially in the rain. Here, the BMW would have served me better with its electronic adjustable traction. After a long traffic jam I was quite behind my schedule, and I saw that the rain would accompany me through Luxemburg and the Ardennes on secondary roads. OK, that’s it. No need to force it. This is supposed to be fun. I had only done about one third of the ride and through the capillary forces of the wind stopper balaclava, I was soaking wet under my jacket. I called it a day, rode back home and had a hot bath to get warm again. Next time I try it in summer.
But this attempt had served me; I knew that the Pan was in good shape to be used for the last rideout in this year: the ride to eat in Milan. I wanted to go there in one day and arrive before 3 p.m. at the hotel to drop the luggage and to show up at the usual meeting point for the picture at 4 p.m. So I started very early in the morning and zoomed through Germany and Switzerland. I had a good pace that allowed me to have a snack before the Italian border. I arrived in time at the hotel, checked in and showed up at the meeting point ‘Il Dito‘ with 30 min to spare. A special place 😅.
We had the usual dinner and chatting in the evening, a nice closure of this season. The ride back was of course a piece of cake for the seasoned Pan European and its rider. The bike always surprises me time and again that a bike designed in the 80s can still be such as a smooth and reliable ride. One of the best bikes ever built.
Sooo, 2022 was a year with a lot of interesting things happening. Not any big events, but a lot of smaller things that were of interest. Six new countries visited with the XBR. A new racing XBR. Another great Alpentour (No. 22). In terms of rallying, this was a kind of annus horibilis. Never since 2011 had I finished a year without a rally victory. Two DNFs and two third places are due to some bad luck and stupid mistakes. On the other side of the balance I know that ad planned excellent routes that, if perfectly executed, had been winning routes. Shoulda coulda woulda. It doesn’t matter, I just need to return to my usual routine. After the pandemic break, maybe my performance is a bit rusty 😄.
What’s up for next year? Well, probably the biggest rallying year ever. I’m a participant for the Iron Butt Rally in North America – the mother of all long distance rallies. And then the same thing again in Europe, the 12Days Rally. For the first time a copy of the IBR happening in Europe. two big rallies in one year, but it will be a one-off as this probably will not happen again. So no big trips are planned apart from that. More on this blog in the next months 😎.
I had asked for and early 7 a.m. breakfast as we had a ferry to catch. Tatiana prepared us a fine breakfast with homemade cheese, jam, honey and fried dumplings. She was very charming again, calling us „good boys“ and „very positive“. The place was superb value for money, especially compared with earlier accommodations. And then Tatiana. Imagine the most hospitable and charming landlady you have ever met. And then put some iced sugar on it. That’s Tatiana.
We parted at 8 a.m. and rode to Saranda, our ferry harbour to cross the strait to the Greek island of Korfu. Thanks to the Sat Nav, we could find the small ferry harbour in the harbour and waited for the check-in….one hour later. It was only 9:15 and we were already roasted by the, seeking shadow where we could.
When another boat arrived and all the passengers wanted to leave to compounded area, chaos broke out. When you only have ONE policeman and ONE little gate that have to cope with with the influx and outflow at the same time, it get’s…complicated.
Almost there…
Finally we could enter the tiny ferry. All the good seats were already taken so we identified the free seats that would be in the shadow during the crossing. The only downside was that they were close to the women’s toilet. There was a large and noisy group of Polish tourists and after they had downed a crate of beer (!), the women lined up to get rid of it again… The arrival at Korfu was somewhat less chaotic than the check-in in Saranda, but only slightly. The passport control in the building just took some time, but then every vehicle needed to be inspected one by one. We were last (no need to hectically queue, hakuna matata) and then the guy saw our dirty bikes and didn’t bother to inspect them. Well,… What to do with half the free day? Our ferry to Italy would only depart late in the evening. We exited the harbour and visited the office of Minoan Lines as requested in the confirmation e-mail. However, this was a misunderstanding as it was meant that you had to visit the counter in the terminal prior to departure. We rode along the coast, enjoying the splendid views on the sea and the small bays.
Korfu coastline
The idea was to have some snack in a snug location. Finally I spotted the right thing, called „The White House“, a restaurant right above the water of a small bay with a free table in the shadow. We ordered Greek salad and grilled squid and permitted ourselves a glass of white wine with it. The food was less traditional but with a modern touch. Anyway, it was tasty and we had to leave before the wedding party would arrive.
It was pretty hot and humid so the best place seemed to be the highest place on the island, in this case, the 900 m high summit of Pantokratoros. Home of a monastery and lots of radio communication. And a small café where we had a gorgeous view. And some chilled drinks.
We had spotted a tiny road at the bottom of the mountain, gravel, so we thought. We asked the barman and he said it „had a lot of stone“. We wanted to give it a try. After less than a kilometer, I called retreat. Stones, yes, but rocks? This was a tough road. Maybe ok without all the luggage and extra weight, but under these conditions…better to turn around than to risk a fall on the last kilometers. We rode down the mountain on some tiny roads and with good views. Down at the coast I had to fill up and had to help a very clumsy guy who tried to serve us. After that, we rode to a taverna we had spotted in internet but found it closed. We picked another place with tables outside near the harbour and decided it was Gyros time with some beers. At 9 p.m. we went into the harbour and checked in. We still had to wait for about two hours until we could enter the fenced in area and had to wait another one until the ferry arrived and finally was moored properly. In the meantime I checked the air filter of the bike as it was running a bit rich. The dirty piece that I removed from the airbox confirmed my idea: I never had such a dirty filter…when did I last change it??
The ship’s staff welcomed us in the same way we would be treated the next 20 hours: rude and unfriendly; a guy trying to tie down the bike was shouting at me that I should lock the steering lock and fumbled with my keys in the ignition. I shouted back this was not possible and that he should take his &($%!!! finger off by bike and removed the keys before he could destroy something. The officer was also very charming.
The ship was a real disappointment, probably a punishment battalion of Minoan Lines. Instead of a plush ferry like the MS Venice, this MS Florencia filled the gap. Dirty, crappy food, unfriendly staff, no proper facilities…charming! We tried to kill time as good as we could. Epic: Greek truck drivers heavily smoking under a series of “no smoking” signs.
We arrived an hour late the next day in Ancona at 6 p.m. The check-out was quick and soon we were on the autostrada. As the sat nav said that we would arrive at the pre-booked hotel at half past eight, I pushed the XBR a bit….in the end we were flying with 150 km/h, a speed our bikes hadn’t seen in a long time. We made up some time and arrived at our 12th (!) country of our trip: San Marino. It is a very scenic place, dominated by a huge rock where the old town is located. We parked our bikes at the parking of the pedestrian zone and walked to our hotel. After a quick shower we were ready for dinner. The views from the terrace of the Piazza della Libertà are truly spectacular.
Next to the Piazza, we managed to get a table in the restaurant “La Terrazza” that has gorgeous views as well. We ordered all kinds of local products, beer (“Titanbräu”!), wine, antipasti, home-made pasta, Tagliata and desert. All very good. The gastronomic highlight of the trip. After a digestion walk through the old town we hit the sack.
The next morning we left San Marino not without filling up with “cheap(er) petrol”. On the way through the Po plain, it got hotter and hotter. Close to Verona, I exited the Autostrada and looked for a nice village, because the XBR was celebrating a special day:
399,999.9km
I had never expected that I would ride 400.000 km with this bike, but it has happened! 400.000 km through 55 countries on four continents; the bike had sometimes some issues, but it never let me down, I always reached my destination, no breakdowns! Well, it’s a Honda! This asked for a short victory lap:
400.000.0 km!!!
The rest of the trip was easy. Motorway in Italy and Austria. Temperatures up to 37 degrees. Lots of drinking breaks. Last scenic shortcut via the Achensee. Back in Miesbach, we went out for a Pizza (that we didn’t get during the trip) and concluded that this was a great trip, twelve countries in nine days, a lot of new impressions, and a good time!
After an early breakfast we south, riding along the lake. The night before, we had changed the plan. Instead riding on main roads and visiting the UNESCO heritage town Berat, we decided to cut through the Albanian hinterland and to experience some backroads before arriving at Gjirokaster. We knew it could get bumpy….
At the south end of the lake, we climbed up the road when we had to acquire a ticket to cross the Galicia National Park. From up there, we had first views on the Ohrid and later on the Lake Prepansko where we met good tarmac again.
Some kilometers to the south we crossed the border into Albania again. This time, I was asked for my insurance at the Albanian border. Gulp! I handed over my insurance paper with the stroked-through „AL“ and the Kosovar insurance, maybe this one would be valid here, too. Apparently it did. Or not. After registering my data, I could pass and we were back in Albania. The first part to Korça (home to the Korça brewery as we had yet discovered) was a good road. In Korça, I looked out for a more modern petrol station where I could pay by credit card. The road south of Korça was in a fantastic state, brand-new! Would this ride today be a piece of cake? For a while, we were living this dream, riding on perfect tarmac. Until the road ended and we faced the reality of Albanian backroads again. The landscape was nice, but the surface required all attention. The town of Erseke was clearly preparing for some mass tourism…whenever it will come. Slowly, the road deteriorated more and more. It turned more into a track, although I know many tracks that would feel humiliated to be compared with THIS.
Not the worst part
The sights were lovely, though.
We crossed a little pass and I had to notice that I felt some play in my handlebar. What was going on here? Clearly, it was getting worse and the bad road clearly revealed it. Finally we reached the town of Leskovik where a decision or action needed to be taken. In my mind, I had developed already some plan B and C, should this be a problem that couldn’t be fixed. They all involved crossing into Greece immediately, avoiding bumpy Albanian roads. However, I had an idea…; I had experienced something similar during my trip in Iran….a play in the steering that showed on bad roads. Later, it had turned out that the steering bearing was not tightened properly. Could this be the same problem here? I explained the issue to Stefan and had him riding the XBR as well. He confirmed my observation. By putting our tool boxes together, Stefan checked the steering bearing screw…and fix it, it was indeed not tightened enough! A quick test showed that this had been the problem, probably the counter screw was a bit loose and the bad road had worsened it, loosening the bearing screw that holds the bearing in place. Phew! Resolved. We could continue with plan A. With the help of the Sat Nav, I could find the road but I soon concluded that there must have been a reason why there was no indication, it should have said: „not for public use – ride at your own risk!“ The whole way down to the valley we met one couple on mules and one car who seemed happy to meet a living soul. In terms of landscape, it was worthwhile, but I was happy that the bearing was fixed, because this was the worst part on our whole trip. The thing is that you never manage to get it properly documented on pictures, so you simply need to take my word.
Down in the valley, close to the Greek border, about 90 km from Gjirokaster, we were surprised to find a road with perfect new tarmac! This was our reward after this suffering? Anyway, we enjoyed it. I did a bit less because the steering bearing was a bit too tight, something that was adjusted later after arrival. We were motivated to hurry a bit, because a large thunderstorm was forming where we just came from. After 1.5 hours and a fluent ride and good and scenic ride in two valleys, we arrived in Gjirokaster. It is listed as UNESCO heritage for its ensemble of Ottoman houses that were preserved even during the communist era. The fact that it was the birth town of Enver Hoxha may have played a role here. The Sat Nav led me through very narrow streets, only passable for motorbikes until we arrived at our Hotel Argyropolis. It has the highest rating I have ever seen on Booking.com, a whopping 9.9 out of 10. And we were not disappointed. We were welcomed by Tatiana, the owner. What she lacked in English vocabulary, she overcompensated by kindness and hospitality. The 200 year old house had been renovated thoroughly and put in a very modern and clean state. For Albanian standards, it’s off-scale so the 9.9 rating is justified. Our room was next to the house, super clean and cozy. After an urgently needed shower, we were ready to walk to the city centre nearby. Tatiana told us to wait and to join her in the patio and returned with two glasses of water and some homemade caramelized water melon skin. Very tasty, I never had this before. In the city, we understood why the city aspires to be the touristic centre in the region.
Old traditional houses with tiny streets….and lots of souvenir shops and sellers. This seems to be the essence of tourisms. We walked around a bit before we went to the restaurant that we had spotted in internet. We were very early and could occupy the tiny balcony in the street. Good for watching, but also prone to getting roasted by the setting sun until it disappeared behind a mountain.
Veggie Moussaka and Greek salad in Albania.
The food was ok, maybe not up to the high expectations, but ok. After that we walked up to the old castle where one has a good view on the city and its location on the mountain’s flank.
We had in mind to have some concluding drink on a terrace and found a very modern, „cool“ lounge-type place with a large terrace with a spectacular 270 degrees view.
Gjirokastër
We spent the rest of the evening there and filled up our liquid reservoir, as the sweating during the day depletes you of a lot of water. The thunderstorm did not make it there, but provided some dramatic scenery. When we returned to the hotel, we discovered the even „cooler“ streets with DJ music and youngsters sitting in the streets. This was in contrast to the call of the muezzin coming from the centric mosque.
In the morning, as expected, we were greeted with a splendid view. We had our breakfast at the terrace outside with a scenic view that can match many places in the Alps.
Before crossing through Albania, we had to exit the Valbona valley again, a nice ride. When the direction of light is different and the sky is blue, the views also change. If you are used to the Alps, it’s quite beautiful, for Albanian standards it must be exceptional. Down in Bajram Curri, we took a different turn and headed south this time. Soon we passed a large water dam and followed the bends upwards above the lake.
For the next hour, we had a lot of good views on the large dam lake, riding along the flanks of the mountains. The road range was from acceptable to bad at times and we soon began to understand the Albanian road code. Well, if there is any. The unwritten part says that there are only roads, not lanes. The concept of „this is my side of the road and this is yours“ is not applicable; it omits the last part of this approach and leaves only „this is my side of the road. Period.“ In practice, you have to be prepared that an oncoming car comes flying around a corner, on YOUR side of the road where you are trying to avoid some potholes or gravel that are quite abundant. Strictly defensive riding is the only way to avoid any problems. This is not new to me. Every now and then I stopped and took some pictures.
No traffic, no pain
This road turned into another one that led over mountains and valleys with scenic views. We came to a junction with a motorway (!) And rode the last kilometers to Kukës on a dual carriageway, what a contrast.
In Kukës, we learned two things. First, road signs are not needed in Albania (just like in Kosovo). The locals know the way to the next town, so there’s no need for them. Luckily, my Sat Nav worked very well and showed me the right way. Without it, Albanian cities could pose a challenge. Secondly, we had to notice that Kukës was populated by a remarkable concentration of high-end luxury cars, preferably Mercedes. If possible, in a S-Class AMG version. We were reflecting about this oddity and I came up with a possible explanation. Kukës must have a hard working, law-abiding population that takes out the fruit of its hard labour on its free Wednesday morning to proudly ride it around town, showing that diligent work does pay off. I could not think of another explanation than this one.
We filled up, paying in Euro with a correct exchange rate. We left the city on the way south and rode on some mountain roads until I spotted a new and pretty hotel with a pretty terrace. Why not making a short break with a soft drink. I checked the map and it occurred to me that me must have taken a wrong turn outside of Kukës (note: road signs can be missing outside towns as well). This is a weakness of the Garmin Zumo 590: sometimes it doesn’t take the route that makes most sense, but the one that is shortest. The road in the valley should have been the better option. We decided to risk it and to continue on the mountain road. In the end it was worth it. The road was challenging at times, but the itinerary was surely more rewarding in terms of scenic views.
Abysmal road conditions in Albania. However, please note the exemplary construction site setup.You don’t need balls to fill up here.
In Peshkopi we were back on the main road, the Sat Nav showing me the way to exit the town again. Soon we were at North Macedonian border that was very quiet. On the Macedonian side, I was asked for my insurance for the first time. Luckily, the „MK“ logo is not stroked through like the „AL“. On the road, we noticed immediately that the road conditions improved. No more suicidal drivers and monstrous potholes. After having passed the town of Debar, we rode fluently along a long lake, making good progress.
Here, close to the border, the road signs [sic!] were in three languages: Macedonian Cyrillic, Macedonian Latin, and Albanian. The latter mostly sprayed over.
Finally we reached the Ohrid Lake and rode through Ohrid, a popular holiday destination. The Ohrid Lake is a large lake surrounded by a mountain rim and lots of accommodation around it. One of them is the Hotel Belvedere. With views on the lake. We parked our bikes in front of the entrance, just like the VIPs as we were, and approached the reception. I remembered positively that I had made a booking for a suite with two bedrooms. It was very spacious indeed with a view on the lake. At the first look, a plush accommodation, at the second, no so much if you have an eye for details.
We had considered to extract some cold beverage from the mini bar to quench our thirst, but the amount of life forms in the small fridge and the stains on the cans made us change our mind. We moved to the restaurant terrace where we went for the safe way (bottled beer). We switched over to dinner later, once we got hold of the young waitress that occasionally blessed the restaurant with her presence. We learned that the hotel was also the chosen place for the entire football team (name forgotten) occupying the third place of the Kosovar Superleague. The downed the Kosovar Rakija from the monastery on our large balcony later.
Although we could get our breakfast only at 8 a.m. again, we managed to leave at 9 a.m. We descended to the Tara Canyon, the second deepest in the world after the Grand Canyon. It is the largest and deepest canyon in Europe, which is for the most part located in Montenegro, and to a smaller extent in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We stopped at the Đurđevića Tara Bridge that was built between 1937 and 1940 in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The 365-metre-long (1,198 ft) bridge has five arches; the largest span is 116 metres (381 ft). The roadway stands 172 metres (564 ft) above the Tara River. At the time of its completion, it was the biggest vehicular concrete arch bridge in Europe. It is still very impressive today:
Tara Bridge
We followed the canyon and had some great views, although it is difficult to stop at the best ones. The waters are spectacularly green and clear. For the next 40 km, there was no settlement or even hamlet, just the canyon and a good road. Fantastic.
Tara River
The landscape after this was less spectacular, but still beautiful. We rolled slowly through the green countryside and enjoyed the morning. Then I had missed a turn and pointed to Stefan to turn left. I heard a crashing noise behind me and saw man and machine on the ground. He slipped on some sand when he wanted to turn. But luckily it is a BMW GS with crash bars so no harm done to rider nor steed apart from a few scratches. It showed, however, that carrying gloves even in hot weather is still a good idea. In Rozaje, we filled up tactically to have enough juice for the whole day. We rode up some densely wooded mountains and arrived at a pretty abandoned border post. The Montenegrin side took it slow, the Kosovan side as well. It’s good to have some quiet border crossings as well. We had to buy some insurance for the Kosovo which required some patience and explanations to the clerk but we succeeded and we were now owners of a very colorful piece of paper for 10 Euros. Before that, we had to pass a herd of cows that shared the road with us. Their cowboy said that he had lived in Augsburg for 30 years. It’s a small world.
While decending, the Kosovan plain was right in front of us. We sat down under a tree, had a little break and enjoyed the view. .
Kosovo. The only picture.
This was the only picture I took in Kosovo and later it will turn out why. We carried on and arrived at the city of Pejë. The towns we crossed were bursting with life, a lost of recent progress seems to have been made. People have come a long way, it is a weird mix between old and new, it reminded me of the situation in Eastern Europe in the nineties. The was one special place to visit according to the Lonely Planet guide: The Visoki Dečani Monastery. Luckily, my Sat Nav found the way, roadsigns seems to be really absent in the area. When we approached the monastery, we had to pass a check point (!) by the…..KFOR! It began to dawn on me that this could be a political issue. The monastery is Serbian orthodox, surrounded by ethnic Albanian Kosovars. I had a look in the guide. Indeed, I was right. The KFOR is the peacekeeping force of NATO members stationed in Kosovo after the Kosovo war in 1999. From Widipedia:
The Visoki Dečani Monastery is a medieval Serbian Orthodox Christian monastery located near Dečani, Kosovo. It was founded in the first half of the 14th century by Stefan Dečanski, King of Serbia. In 2004, the monastery was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO) as “an irreplaceable treasure, a place where traditions of Romanesque architecture meet artistic patterns of the Byzantine world.”
Albanian civilians seeking refuge in the monastery returned to their homes following the withdrawal of Serbian military from Kosovo in June 1999. An Italian unit of the Kosovo Force (KFOR) was subsequently assigned to guard the monastery, which was attacked on several occasions. Since 1999, attacks on the Monastery have increased, there have been five significant attacks and near miss attacks on the monastery.
Wikipedia, VisokiDečani
Suddenly we were reminded of this frozen conflict that is pretty much forgotten in Central Europe. We found the entrance to the monastery that was guarded by a heavily shielded check point. We were friendly asked by a soldier to park opposite on the parking lot. At the gate, I chatted a bit with the Italian soldiers, but they were well trained and gave diplomatic answers about their mission and the situation in general. We had to leave our passports and received a visitor badge. After that, we could enter the small, walled area. The church is not so big, but it does indeed have a byzantine touch about it. The next pictures are all from the internet, no photographs were allowed.
We entered the churched and were immediately stunned by the quantity of the frescos that covered all the high walls. We were asked about our whereabouts and the friendly man started to tell us something about the church’s history. This developed into an interesting talk, partly speaking in code because our conversation touched politically and historically sensitive subjects, such as the founding of the monastery by the Serbians, the Battle of Kosovo (Schlacht auf dem Amselfeld) in 1389, the role of Kosovo in Serbian history, the Balkan War in 1912 etc. It was a very good background given from a more Serbian point of view.
In the monastery shop, I purchased two Rakija (“Grappa”) from the monastery for late use. When walking back to the parking, I was thinking about this absurd situation that represents the complicated entanglement of “ethical” relations in the whole region of the Balkans. Croats vs. Bosniaks vs. Serbs vs. Kosovars/Albanians vs. Macedonians vs. Bulgarians…. what a mess.
We rode towards the mountains and the border, this was a only a very short visit to the Kosovo. Shortly before the border, a very ambitious Golf III overtook Stefan, but he wouldn’t overtake me as well, would he? Well, he managed in the last 20 m before the checkpoint! Wow! A first glimpse what was ahead of us in Albania. The border checks were quick and my question where I could buy an insurance was met with an indecipherable grunt that probably meant “I don’t know/who cares/please leave/don’t embarrass me”. The first town we crossed looked different from the other countries we had visited so far. A tad less developed. I thought to have even spotted an old monument of the Enver Hoxha era.
We entered the Valbona valley, probably one of the best natural beauties in Albania.
The Valbona Valley National Park is a national park inside the Albanian Alps in northern Albania. The park covers a total area of 80 km2, encompassing Valbona River and its surrounding areas with mountainous terrain, alpine landscapes, glacial springs, deep depressions, various rock formations, waterfalls and the Valbona Valley with its dense coniferous and deciduous forest. It is characterized by its very remote areas which have a large preserved ecosystem all of which is primarily untouched with pristine quality. This vast pristine ecosystem is the centrepiece of what has been referred to as the Albanian Miracle of the Alps.
Wikipedia
The views were indeed spectacular. A deep valley and high mountains. Clear rivers. Definitively Alpine. But not something you would expect at this latitude.
I had reserved a room in a hotel at the very end of the valley, reachable by a bumpy piste after 1 km. The place was modern and clean and after stowing our luggage, we went back to the XBR to fix the play in the sprocket/rim/damper. By working hand in hand, we quickly removed the back wheel, cut some rubber stripes out of the rubber mat I bought in Dubrovnik and placed the pieces to reinforce the rubber damper, thereby reducing the play. The whole work lasted less than 20 min. I also exchanged the spark plug and topped out the chain lubricant, service done!
After a well-deserved shower, we occupied a large table with gorgeous mountain views, accompagnied by some quenching beers. We ordered dinner and the young waiter who spoke some German elegantly made us order more and more until the large table really made sense. It was all very good and we managed to eat almost all of it. After all, we have no lunch breaks so the stomachs are pretty empty.
Later in the room, I tried to write my report and upload the pictures, but I did not succeed. This means my reports will be a bit delayed from now on.
The downside of a late breakfast only served at 8 a.m. is that you leave very late, to be confirmed again today. We took off at 9:30 when the sun was high and the temperature as well. The view from our small room overlooked the harbour, not so bad. Outside Dubrovnik, there was a scenic look back:
Dubrovnik
I tried to wait as much as possible to fill up, in the end it was shortly before the border. To my surprise, the consumption was below 5L/100 km (over 47 mpg), demonstrating the relaxed riding style the day before. Soon we arrived at the border with Montenegro, having to queue for a while at the Croatian post and the same at the second check point with the Montenegrin police. I took a deep breath and remembered the border crossing from hell to Russia. Compared to that, this was nothing. We entered Montenegro and realised that the living standard was not so high than in Croatia, but still remarkable. The downside was the slow traffic.The plan was to ride the whole Bay of Kotor, but taking the ferry seemed to be the better option. Not only to make up some time, but to see the mighty mountain range that forms the background of the fjord. We took the ferry to the other side of the Bay, a nice change.
Crossing the short of the Bay of Kotor.
This was indeed a good idea. Opposite of the mountain rim, we could see the massive geological formation and ride through the small villages until we reached the town of Kotor.
Bay of Kotor
The traffic jam in Kotor did not pose a huge problem for us and soon we climbed up the hairpins above Kotor, occasionally climbing up “goat tracks” as shortcuts. The traffic was hilarious: Camper vans, trucks and even tourist coaches tried to share a road that often was not more than five meters wide. Hairpin by hairpin the road went higher and the view on the Bay of Kotor was nothing short of being called “spectacular”.
Bay of Kotor
The hairpin would not end and up on the mountain, we had the full one view on the Bay of Kotor and the full coastline:
The small road turned into a wide, new road and higher and higher we rode until we arrived at a scenic spot on the top of a mountain. Here, the Mausoleum of Njegoš is located, interring Petar II Petrović-Njegoš, located on the top of Mount Lovćen. He was a Prince-Bishop of Montenegro, poet and philosopher whose works are widely considered some of the most important in Montenegrin and Serbian literature. The path or rather a tunnel to the mausoleum on the top of a mountain seems a bit megalomanic. A long tunnel with more than 400 steps leads to the tomb and a statue of 28 tons of granite.
A bit “too much” for my taste. Anyway, the views were fantastic and before leaving, I downed a large glass of freshly pressed orange juice. It was already rather late and our next stop was far away. We returned to the heat in the plains and passed by Podgorica, the capital. It was bloody hot again (35 degrees) but we tried to escape the heat by riding towards the north on a new dual carriageway that was not fully opened and the traffic had to share two lanes. The system showed a disturbing lack of planning and safety measures. Weird. At least the road was in a good condition and we could make good progress. After an hour, we turned to ascend to the monastery of Ostrog, another special place for Montenegrin or Serbian sentiment. After 12 km of a tricky road, we arrived at the monastery.
The Ostrog Monastery is a monastery of the Serbian Orthodox Church situated against an almost vertical background, high up in the large rock; it is the most popular pilgrimage place in Montenegro.The sights overlooking the plain were great, the exterior is special, the interior was interesting at best. If you’re orthodox or interested in iconostasis, that is. Entering a tiny room I was almost baptized by a monk but I could retreat in time. Apparently a huge place in terms of Serbian history, but somewhat underwhelming in arts history. Or maybe I just missed the good bits.
We descended to the main road again and enjoyed the quick ride ascending into the mountains. After an hour, we arrived in the area of the Peja Canyon where we filled up and had a short break. The water in the nearby lake had a turquoise color, indicating a high concentration of loam particles.
We took the turn to the Durmitor National Park and climbed through hairpins and tunnels until we had a good overview in the area. Spectacular views, to say the least!
Soon the winding road reached a plain at 1500 m altitude with rolling hills and lots of farms in between. This was a sight I had never seen before.
A small, but decent road, no traffic, the setting sun in the back and cooler temperatures made this a hard-to-top ride in the early evening. The road went up to 1900 m altitude with a great scenery of stunning geological formations.
Beyond the highest point, the road dropped quickly, but we still had great views:
Shortly after 7 p.m., we arrived at the hotel Pavlovic, a good hotel where I had booked an apartment that now contains all our gear in different places. My socks were contaminated beyond fixing and went directly into the bin; no point carrying this toxic material for few more days. After a shower for me AND my underwear we visited the restaurant where we tried the smoked lamb. Our guess was it was more mutton than lamp but it filled our stomachs nicely together with some deserts and a very good mokka Turkish style. It is quite fresh here at 1500 m altitude, very welcome after the humid coast. Prices are reasonable here, not like at the coast. Tomorrow there will be two more countries: Kosovo and Albania.
Our breakfast fast was rather late – 8 a.m. – but our program for today was not very tight so we could afford a relaxed one. We had to carry our luggage to the fenced parking that caused my sweat to flow in streams – hot and humid mediterranean climate does that to me. The weather was – what a surprise – sunny and hot. We started rather late at a quarter to ten, after topping up the motor oil and chain lube, and left Split riding on the coastal road again. It was a detour but definitively worth it. Lots of beautiful sights, cute little bays and beaches, too many to stop every time. It is tricky to capture the atmosphere in pictures – a lot is lost there, but I think you get the idea:
We filled up again and joined the motorway again. The temperature was in the 30’s with higher humidity at the coastline. Soon we reached the border to Bosnia and Hercegovina and after a short passport control, we were in! I had planned to visit the Kravica water falls, but due to some lacking road signs, I gave up and dumped the idea. The next destination was Mostar, the notorious city known from the Yugoslavian war. It’s not very far from the, just some 50 km.
Mostar is situated on the Neretva River and is the fifth-largest city in the country. It was named after the bridge keepers (mostari) who in the medieval times guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva. The Old Bridge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, built by the Ottomans in the 16th century, is one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s most visited landmarks, and is considered an exemplary piece of Islamic architecture in the Balkans. Two wars (Serb forces versus Bosniak and Croatian and Croat-Bosniak war) left Mostar physically devastated and ethno-territorially divided between a Croat-majority west bank (with ca. 55,000 residents) and a Bosniak-majority old City and east bank (with ca. 50,000 residents), with the frontline running parallel to the Neretva River.
Almost 30 years have passed by and the Bosnian War seems to be over a long time. However, quite a number of ruins reminded us of the past when we rode into the city. Today, Mostar centre is full of tourists and souvenir shops. We parked the bikes in the shadow, close to the pedestrian zone and locked our jackets and helmets to my bike. We strolled between numerous souvenir shops towards the Old Bridge.
The Old Bridge is unmistakenly the outstanding piece of architecture in Mostar. It stood for 427 years, until it was destroyed on 9 November 1993 by the Croatian Defense Council during the Croat–Bosniak War. Subsequently, a project was set in motion to reconstruct it; the rebuilt bridge opened on 23 July 2004. The bridge is considered an exemplary piece of Balkan Islamic architecture and was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1557. Upon its completion it was the widest man-made arch in the world. Given that mosques, synagogues, and churches in Mostar were in proximity, the Old Bridge was targeted for the symbolic significance it served in connecting diverse communities.It can be considered an act of “killing memory”, in which evidence of a shared cultural heritage and peaceful co-existence were deliberately destroyed. This resembles latest developments in Ukraine where the cultural heritage is targeted as well.
We crossed the bridge to the other side and discovered some nice cafés under it with a view on the bridge and the people who were eager to join some rafting boats. A large jump into the river was also near where people jumped from 15 or 20 metres height. We found a small table in first row and enjoyed a Turkish/Bosnian Mokka.
After this relaxing break in the cool shade, we walked to our bikes and rode back, in some 35 degrees. But instead going back to the coast, we did a little detour. Bosnia owns a small strip of land at the coast that cuts the Dalmatian, Croatian coast in half. By riding directly to Neum, the Bosnian city in this enclave, we avoided to cross into Croatia, back to Bosnia, and back to Croatia again. Only one crossing to Croatia was needed.The last 50 km today were very scenic, I stopped again a few times, much more stops could happen, but I’m usually too lazy to turn around.
Well, and then, finally we arrived at King’s Landing. Oh wait, I think in this world it is called “Dubrovnik”?
Yep!
We quickly found our accommodation, like yesterday a place that has a few ok rooms, but is not really a big hotel. But for our purposes it’s ok. A quick shower and we were ready to visit the Old Town of Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva County. In 1979, the city of Dubrovnik was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in recognition of its outstanding medieval architecture and fortified old town.
We walked through the narrow and wide streets and alleys, its picturesque squares. As it was already in the evening, we didn’t walk the huge ramparts on the huge wall that surrounds the old city. A genuinely marvelous city with a very special atmosphere.
Well deserved!
I had to think of my favorite scene in GoT:
That was the right hint. We discovered this busy bar outside the wall, just over the sea with magnificent views. Time for an aperitif!
After that, we want back to that yard that we had seen before, looking great. We had some salad and grilled calamari, very delicious.
Cozy. On our way back to the hotel, we criss-crossed the old town and enjoyed the lower temperatures. No fire-breathing dragons anywhere in sight!
Luckily, our rooms have airco again. Tomorrow, the new country will be: Montenegro (Црна Гора).
We started the day early – off to breakfast at 7 a.m. It was surprisingly good and we had a good start in the day. We packed our stuff and at 8:15 we sat on the bikes and wanted to set off – I started the motor, released the clutch – and heard a terrible sound from the front! I remembered that I had tested my lock yesterday and had put it around the front wheel. Well, the cracking sound resulted in a damaged front fender that was totally broken and even ripped out of its screws on the left side. Fantastic! Only two meters travelled and already a damaged bike! We assessed the situation – this looked bad. I came up with the idea to fix everything with some gaffer tape – not beautiful, but effective. But there is another advantage when you travel with the best mechanic on this side of the Mississippi: Stefan came up with the idea to heat a screwdriver with a lighter and to burn two wholes in the plastic of the fender, fixing it to the underlying fender frame with zip ties. A very bold idea…
And it worked! Wow! Rock stable. With only 15 minutes delay, we headed off. On the motorway and off to Slovenia. But before, we filled up and wanted to purchase a vignette for the Slovenian highways. Only possible online. For the next 10 minutes, I arranged to book with my smartphone two vignettes for us. The weather was splendid today. We passed the Karawanken mountains in the tunnel and rolled through Slovenia. Easy going, we were not in a hurry. Around Ljubljana there was some heavy traffic that required some filtering. We had decided not to ride the whole day on motorways but to do some shortcuts on secondary roads. The first one was rather slow – lots of traffic and little chances to overtake. We passed the Croatian border, did a short break and descended to Rijeka on a good motorway. There, the Adriatic Mediterranean welcomed us with fantastic weather. Hot, but not too hot, blue skies and fantastic views. Soon we left the motorway behind us and rode on the coastal road No 8. There was still quite some traffic but the views were fantastic, postal card quality. In Novi Vinodolski, I had to stop and take some pictures.
In Senj, we had to fill up and combined it with a short break. I needed a snack, enjoying the great view from the petrol station. After Senj, the road turned into a fantastic ride: little traffic, gorgeous views, mostly good tarmac and nice bends. A scenic motorbiking dream. I rode a bit faster to occasionally stop and take pictures. This was so much better than the motorway!
Shortly after picturesque Karlobag we stopped for a break for a scenic view. This road made it directly into my top ten of motorcycle roads. The 150 km between Senj and Zadar are highly recommended!
It was quite hot, above 30 degrees, but when riding it was ok. Even the best flow has to end and near Zadar we joined the motorway again. The next hour was rather boring and I checked whether a detour along the coast would cost us a lot of time. It would so I dumped the plan again. With 30 km to go, we exited and took a road to the coast, descending to the blue coast again. With our today’s destination (Split) in sight, I spotted a larger-than-life ad of Bauhaus, the big DIY shop. I set my Sat Nav to this location as I had a cunning plan. When putting the rear wheel back in the bike, I realized that the rubber dampers in the rear wheel are quite worn, resulting in a large play. Not always fun to accelerate. In the shop, I purchased a rubber mat, a cutter knife and some clue. Should I get too annoyed by the play, I could add some rubber to the damper.
Some minutes later, we would arrive at the rented room – so we thought. But the place was located in a small street that seemed to be inaccessible for motorized traffic. After some turns, I walked to the place and met the landlord. We could push the bikes there and check in. We were shown the locked parking later. It is a nice room in an old building, one of the few that was left a few days ago, considering the centric location. After the shower and the washing of the riding underwear, we walked through the old town, that is dominated by the old palace of the Roman emperor Diocletian:
What was a bit off-putting was the sheer quantity of people in the streets. How does this look like in August???
Romanes eunt domus???
In the end we place that our landlord recommended to us – a very authentic place, not so touristic like many others. Not fancy, but the food was very good. We had octopus salad for starters and sea bream and Cevapcici for main course. Simple, but very tasty.
Yummy!
The price however was not traditional, but very much adapted to the new reality in town. Wow.
We walked back through the harbour promenade, wondering where all the people came from. Party time!
In case you forgot where we are.
Today, we went through Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. Tomorrow, we’ll make a detour through Bosnia. A new country.
It is time for another little adventurous trip. It’s only a short one, but like the trip to Japan, it was postponed for some years, in this case due to the Pandemic. Three years ago, my mate Stefan and I decided to do a trip together, the concept was fairly simple: visit the white spots (aka unvisited countries) on my motorbiking map. In this case, this means Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania and North Macedonia. Not in three weks. Nor two weeks, no. We plans to do it in 9 days, which is equivalent to one country per day. And of course I ride with my trusted steed, i.e. the old Honda XBR500 with 397.000 km on the clock.
Area of interest.
After leaving the fair in Munich where I worked this week, I returned to my place in Miesbach and changed gear considerably. I left shortly after 5 p.m. in showery rain and picked up Stefan. We filled up and set off for our first long ride together in four years. Our old ladies (a 1985 XBR and a 88 R100GS) go slow, but steady. We had decided to do a short trip in the evening of about 280 km that would save us some riding the next day; we passed Salzburg and crossed the Alps on the Tauernautobahn direction south. We had put on our rain gear at home and finally we passed some strong showers; riding in the sunshine in full rain gear does look somewhat stupid. In the end we profited from our anticipation.
After 2.5 hours we reached our destination for today, Villach in Carinthia. The hotel is “no frills” near the station but ok. We walked a short distance to a nice brewery where we had some good beers and good local food. Tomorrow the heat will start and rain gears won’t be needed for a while.
Sometimes I seem to have good ideas. In this case, it was based on my ability for pattern recognition. I had to do two business trips and some time later a trip to my house in Bavaria. Hmmm, couldn’t I combine these? And then there was this Ride to Eat in Portugal. Hmmm…Portugal was a white spot on my motorbiking map. And there was the Magic 12 rally in Western Germany…
Then I had this plan to combine everything.
The Plan.
Well, I combined two business meetings at the Lago Maggiore and in Valencia by riding with my old XBR500. It was a smooth ride and I was really lucky with the weather. I stayed with family in Valencia and on one day, I went out for a ride with my XBR buddy Johannes, who was by coincidence on a motorbike vacation in the area. I showed him my favorite biking/motorbiking roads north of Valencia. We had a really nice day out in perfect weather.
A nice day out in the coastal mountains north of Valencia. With Johannes and Erwin.
I left the bike in Valencia and returned by airplane. One week later, I returned to Valencia by plane and the next morning I set off for the Ride to Eat meeting in Portugal. I set off at 6 a.m. at some cool 14 degrees. The motorway climbed up to the Utiel Requena region and it started to get chilly. I stopped and put on my sweater. Hmmm, only 5 degrees now. While riding to Madrid, I hoped that the sun would soon warm up Castilla….which it didn’t. When I was west of Madrid, I stopped in bright sunshine and put on my rain suit! There was a nasty cold wind that made me shiver all the time. The rain suit at least protected me from the windchill. Close to the Portuguese border, I stopped in Ciudad Rodrigo, looking for a place to eat. I had not remembered that Portugal is in another time zone so I had another hour to get to the meeting point. By coincidence, I passed by the local Parador in the old town overlooking the plain. Hm, why not. I had some suckling pig (famous in the area) and when I left the restaurant, it was finally warm outside. Before reaching the border, I noticed that the sparse Castilian plain turned into a green land with many bushes, trees and shrubbery. The motorway in Portugal was of excellent quality. I had to book into the automatic toll system that works with number plate recognition (!) The landscape was lovely now and I finally warmed up in the Portuguese sun.
I exited the motorway in Covilhã and was surprised by this neat town situated at the bottom of the Serra de Estrela mountains. The views were very nice, what a difference after the Castilian plains. And the road was very winding and in a good state, this felt a bit like in the Alps!
Higher and higher went the until I reached the highest point in Portugal: Torre in the centre of the Serra da Estrela, just under 2000 m altitude. And there was already the rest of the pack: riders from UK, the Netherlands, Germany and other countries, meeting at 4 p.m. sharp for the group picture of the “European Ride to Eat”, that happens at a special place anywhere in Europe. This time it was in Portugal and a good excuse for me to visit the country: it was a white spot for the XBR, I had never been to Portugal on a motorbike before! After the group picture, we headed downwards to the Hotel in Manteigas where we all stayed for the night.
On the way down I had swapped my new notebook with the one from Tommy who had given me the idea to use it for navigation. It’s a big bricking the front, but it gives the option of using nivation apps (Waze, Maps) in real time. It worked quite well on this first trip, but while riding the tablet does not charge. The swap confirmed that it was not a problem of the tablet; Tommy’s tablet showed the same problem. My conclusion was that the vibrations of the XBR make the flexible contacts oscillate which results in a bad connection. When the motor is switched off, the tablet charges normally.
Ride to Eat, Portugal
After checking in, I discovered an unexpected rider: it was John Young who’d not beet at the meeting point as he had overslept 😆. We had a chat before I checked the shower in my room. The hotel was a very elegant spa with its own fountains. A great pick. This was also confirmed by the good buffet dinner. We had a good evening with a lot of good conversations. After a relaxed breakfast the next morning I left very late at 10:30 a.m. (well, actually at 11:30 Spanish time). I did a little detour and enjoyed the plush landscape and the picturesque villages. I was reminded of riding in Northern Italy and concluded that I definitively have to return to Portugal for some proper riding.
Soon I reached the Spanish border and was back in flat Spain. I filled up in Salamanca and turned north. Only when I turned east and followed the Ebro river, the landscape changed for the better. I was in the Rioja region now and liked to ride through the rolling hills. Mental note: a trip to La Rioja is on the wish list for a long time already.
La Rioja
I made good progress on my route to the Pyrenees. My idea was to visit Andorra the next day. Why? Because the XBR had not been there, so….Earlier, I had managed to book a hotel in Lleida for the night, using the tablet. This might sound scary, but actually it is easy during a slow motorway cruise. I ride quite relaxed on the old XBR that is only a few kilometers short of 400.000 km. 120 km/h is usually the right speed that makes the old lady feel comfortable. I had a moment of suspense when there was no petrol station when I needed one. But in the end you need to have patience. Finally I arrived in Lleida and checked into the prebooked hotel.
I had selected it for its good reviews of its restaurant. You can understand my disappointment when I heard it was closed on Sundays! It was difficult to find an open restaurant; in the end I visited a Chinese-Korean-Japanese restaurant called “Himalaya”…where I was the only guest. I ordered a Japanese classic – Ramen with Gyoza that was actually quite alright. My plan to have some nice Catalan dinner had to be postponed. On the way back to the hotel through the sleepy town I had to make a detour; I was stopped by a policeman who suggested to take another route. Apparently, a big police squad was doing a raid. Not so sleepy as I thought then.
After a good night’s rest without a breakfast, I left Lleida at 8 a.m. and headed north. I enjoyed riding through the soft, green hills, a true pleasure. I made good progress and decided in Ponts to have a classic breakfast in a roadside bar: un cafè amb llet i dos croissants, si us plau! I had a long day ahead of me, so I needed a solid foundation for the day.
I spured the XBR, but the closer I got to Andorra, the more cars with Andorran plates (Porsches, Jags, BMWs) passed me. And not just by a small margin. They seemed to be drawn by a strong, invisible force towards their home principality.
Very often I did not manage to stop when there was a magnificent view, but sometimes I was able to stop the flow:
Finally I arrived in Andorra where I filled with “cheap” petrol. Cheaper, that is. Andorra la Vella is really a special thing, like any other micro states. Only a small patch of land, but the fancy buildings indicate that a lot of money is parked here. I had planned to stop and to visit a wine shop. I wanted to acquire a souvenir from Spain. The shop had an exquisite selection of fine wines from Spain and France, top notch. In the end a bottle of yummy Valbuena was stowed away in my panniers. I decided not to ride over the pass, but through the tunnel towards the French border, I still had a long way to go on that day. After a chilly ride with the mountain tops covered in snow, I crossed the border and descended into France. although I still had to ride on country roads, I made good progress and joint the motorway again near Carcassonne.
The route northwards was simple: follow the A9 along the Mediterranean and the Rhone valley. A petrol and snack stop near Bezières. I planned to stay anywhere near Lake Geneva, best on the French side to avoid pricy Switzerland. However, a lack of vacancies made me rethink this. North of Geneva, only few places were still available, so I booked one with good evaluations. It did not have a restaurant, so I thought to have a stopover before. Unfortunately, it turned out that Monday evening in Switzerland is the equivalent to Sunday evenings in Lleida: everything closed.
An ordinary second hand car shop along the way.
In the end I had to visit the only place that was open: a Chinese restaurant! So no Swiss dinner tonight. Well, the Chinese food was ok and with a full stomach I tried to find the hotel. Hotel? In a residential area?? Let’s check…no, the address is correct! But this is a private home? I rang the bell and was welcomed by the landlady. I had booked a room in a private house! Slowly I realized that the place was listed as “chambre d’hôte”. Private room. Ok, no problem, any hotel would be more expensive. The lady was very friendly and served me a beer with snacks. The place was cosy and in the morning, the charming host served a spectacular breakfast on the little balcony with views on the Lake Geneva and the Mont Blanc.
Room with a view.
I was well fed for the last stint to my home place in Miesbach, Bavaria. In finest sunshine, I cruised across Switzerland to Lindau. I decided to avoid motorways and chose the roads close to the mountains. It was quite fast, and in the early afternoon I arrived on home soil. Before arriving at my house, I had to make a stopover at one of the most beautiful places in Bavaria: Kaltenbrunn over the Lake Tegernsee.
Chillin’.
After this relaxing initiation I rode to my home place where I spent some relaxing days. This is best done in some nice weather, for example like this:
Chillin’, part II.
Of course I also some important things to do. Last year, I had purchased a tuned motor from a Honda NX650 Dominator with the intention to replace the 600cc motor in the grey café racer XBR with it. 680cc instead 600cc instead 500cc. Higher displacement and a hot cam shaft. My mate Stefan had swapped the engines some weeks ago, the idea was now to install an oil cooler to keep the temperature at bay. On one day, Stefan took care of it and organized a new oil hose as the provided one did not offer a proper position. In the end, the result was very satisfactory, everything looked fine.
Old clunker vs. hot shit.
There’s no replacement for displacement.
Honda XBR680
I did a short test ride and the set-up seemed to work, the power is flabbergasting. Everything was tight, no leaks, no issues. So this meant that Stefan and I had to go on a longer, proper test ride the next Sunday. We did nice tour to the Lake Chiemsee and back. I soon noticed that there was something…different. The revolutions of the motor did not match the usual pattern. It was difficult to ride with less than 3000 rpm in the small gears, difficult in 4th under 4000 prm und impossible in 5th gear. The rpms in 4th gear at a certain speed were lower than normally in 5th! What was wrong here? The gear ratio was completely off!
The Dominator has a 15 teeth front sprocket, a 45 rear sprocket and a 520 chain. The XBR has a 15 teeth front sprocket, a 36 rear sprocket and a 525 chain. So I had ordered a Dominator 15 teeth front sprocket, a 36 rear sprocket with XBR geometry and a 520 chain. Seemed logical.
Big mistake.
What I didn’t have in mind was the primary gear ratio of the motor. I discovered that both XBR and NX motors are totally different. With the help of a calculator website and the data from the internet I could confirm my observations. I also could calculate what the right ratio would be. I ordered a set on the internet only to find out later that for this rear sprocket (15/46 teeth) I had overlooked to check for the right geometry (right inner diameter and right bolt circle, but wrong bolt diameter). Right, cancel it. However, there was no sprocket with 15/46 to be found, only a 13/39 combination. According to the calculator, this should be similar. I ordered it with the aim to receive it before I would return north the next weekend. Good plan, but I didn’t count with the bad performance of the parcel delivery. It arrived far too late and left me no option than to do the Magic 12 rally, situated in the federal state of Northrhine Westphalia with this gear ration, an unpleasant ride. On the way up to my individual starting place, I noticed the strong pulling of the chain, caused by the wrong gear ratio. This was not good. I could ride in fifth gear above 130 km/h, but it was not smooth. In the hotel I checked again my well designed plan; we had received the data some days earlier. It was a good plan, potentially a winning plan. Visiting lots of places plus a lot of extra points taking pictures of town signed whose first letters would form the name NORDRHEIN WESTFALEN. All set.
I got up a four and started the 12 hour rally with a petrol receipt at 5 a.m. There was not a lot of traffic in the morning when I whooshed though the country side. The motor does have a lot of oomph, indeed. I visited the storm-stricken town of Paderborn, there a tornado had one day before destroyed the centre of the town. I had passed the storm not far from it; it was so scary that I had considered stopping. In the morning, lots of trees were bent. Ironically, the plaque that had to be photographed was still there.
After the storm in Paderborn
Some places were special and I was riding in the countryside, avoiding the slower parts of the Ruhrgebiet. When do you meet a statue to remember a pig race?
Externsteine
I was way ahead of my plan and soon there would be the mandatory lunch rest. I noticed that the chain had some slack and I planned to tighten it during the break. When I wanted to do. it, I noticed that the rear wheel had some lateral play!! Aaaaargh! What the….!!!! This was it? I still had some hours to go and there was no shortcut to the finish. So I only could hope for the best and continue my plan. Which I did. I rode very carefully for one hour and visit quite some places, but, I was skeptical if I could make it. At a certain point I had to make decision. I stopped and checked the play. It got worse. And the hub of the rim was bloody hot.
Alright. That’s it. This rally was not so important to risk my life for it. I checked my options and phoned a car rental in nearby Siegen. Luckily they had a Mercedes Sprinter left and one hour later I rode the XBR into the van. On the way home, I informed the rally master and went through my options.
I still had an old XBR in the shed that I could cannibalise…I could fix it and return the next day as promised. So I did. After return to Belgium, I pulled the spare XBR out of the shed and removed the rear wheel. Then I did the same with the grey XBR. The wheel play was spectacular. When I removed the axle, removed the wheel and inspected the parts, the problem evident: the wheel bearing cages were destroyed, but the problem had probably started somewhere else: the sprocket wheel bearing. It had given in first which resulted in a play between sprocket base and the rim. Slowly, it destroyed the bearing completely and damaged also the wheel bearings.
Gulp!
With the help of the spare parts bike, I managed to exchange everything, the bike was ready to go again. The next morning, I returned to Siegen and returned to Belgium on the XBR. I learned that that my plan would have been sufficient for first place, but I have won so many rallies that it doesn’t matter. Safety first.
Later, I finally discovered a website that would sell the right rear sprocket with the right geometry. I purchased it and today I replaced the whole kit.
Quite a difference!!
This seems to be the right gear ratio now, the bike seems to ride “normal” in the first short test. All in all, a fantastic bike. My explanation is the the wrong sprocket resulted in a permanent pulling of the chain that made the sprocket bearing surrender. Not a bike for the long haul like the black one, but fantastic for short, intense rides in the Alps. That’s the main purpose.
In the meantime, I had some issues with the K1600GT’s front. But this for another story.
The breakfast in the super-expensive hotel was the best so far in Iceland. Well, it better be, the hotel was all right, but the price is not. It is clear that Iceland is expensive, but this pricing is shameless, taking profit of the tourist boom. I did not know that this would be topped in the evening….
So the plan was to get to the ferry harbour with a little bit of detours and many sightseeing stops. Most of the first destinations were close, at the Myvatn lake. I removed all the double layers of clothes, for today I would be walking a lot (in the end it was something like 5 km!). I started with the biggest exercise first, the Hverfall, an ancient volcano that exploded and left a very particular crater. I walked up to the rim and decided that this would be enough, the walk on the rim would be more than two kilometers, not so nice in motorbike gear. I took my pictures and descended again. The view was really great.
The next stop was only a few minutes away, a place called Dimmuborgir. The area is composed of various volcanic caves and rockformations, reminiscent of an ancient collapsed citadel (hence the name). The Dimmuborgir area consists of a massive, collapsed lavatube formed by a lava lake flowing in from a large eruption. As the lava flowed across the wet sod, the water of the marsh started to boil, the vapour rising through the lava forming lavapillars from drainpipe size up to several meters in diameter. As the lava continued flowing towards lower ground in the Mývatn area, the top crust collapsed, but the hollow pillars of solidified lava remained. The lava lake must have been at least 10 meters deep, as estimated by the tallest structures still standing.
I chose the second shortest itinerary that led through the bizarre formations. There is a cave where in winter you can meet the Yule Lads, the Island version of Coca Cola’s Santa Claus. They are a group of 13 mischievous pranksters who steal from or harass the population and all have descriptive names that convey their favorite way of harassing. They come to town one by one during the last 13 nights before Christmas (Yule). They leave small gifts in shoes that children have placed on window sills, but if the child has been disobedient they instead leave a potato in the shoe.
The next stop was a bit in the north, I had to queue a little bit to step down into the small cave called Grjótagjá. Its popularity has probably increased as it was, like Dimmuborgir, a filming spot of GoT. But apart from that, it is really a very beautiful cave filled with hot water. Bathing is forbidden, as temperatures could suddenly spike and maybe kill some of the abundant tourists. Not good for business. Talking of business, in Iceland, all natural sightseeing spots are for free. Other countries would try to make a fortune by asking admission fees. Here, this is achieved by other means.
Grjótagjá cave
My sightseeing at the Myvatn lake was finished. Now some riding was due. My tank was pretty full, but I filled up to have some peace of mind, petrol stations would be scarce today. The next attraction was not very far way, though. Next to the main road, there was the area called Hverarönd. It is a prototype of such areas, consisting of stinking steam vents, solfataras and boiling mud pits. The whole area is metamorphosed by the geothermal activity and thick deposits of silica, gypsum and sulphur cover the ground. One has to be very careful crossing such areas, because the thin crust might brake. There is an intense smell of various sulphuric compounds; it reminded of my basic chemistry studies, when the courses on inorganic analysis would require the use of hydrogen sulfide that was bubbled through the samples. We students spent months in this nice odour. Those were the days!
After some more riding, I had to leave the Ring Road and ride 25 km to the north where I parked the bike and walked, together with a lot of other tourists, to the Dettifoss waterfall. This was really worth the long walk, an impressive fall. As the water was very muddy, I wonder if the high temperatures lead to an increased melting of the central Icelandic glaciers.
It was midday, but there were no facilities except toilets at the parking, so I hoped for some café along the road. About 30 minutes later, I saw a sign “coffee and cake, 3 km”, pointing to a place away from the Ring Road. I was not really in the mood for cake, but I hoped they had something else as well. So I took the turn. I rode for about 4 km on a terrible washboard track, leading to some houses. It took me a while before I spotted the “hotel” on one door and “coffee” on the other. Closed! The sole cyclist who looked tired and thirsty was surely more disappointed than I was, I could at least quickly get way from this deserted place. After doing the washboard again, of course.
The landscape was very arid now, but beautiful.
Finally there was a small café next to the road, actually quite cozy. I ordered a typical lamb soup that was very tasty.
The road ascended to 600 m now and I realized that the warm period was over. I was on a high plateau where the temperature dropped to 14ºC. After a while, I had to get the inner jacket liner out of the pannier. The whole day, temperatures did not rise again. Back in the east, real Icelandic temperatures reminded me how lucky I was the last days. I descended towards Egilstađir, the largest town in the east. I filled up, bought a pastry in a supermarket and warmed up again a bit. I was underdressed for these temperatures.The last 25 km to the ferry port in Seyđisfjörđur were even more chilly. I realized that this the highest point of the whole trip (630 m) and the same weather and temperature welcomed me back (foggy and 8ºC at the pass and clear and 14ºC at the fjord). I checked into the Hotel Aldan, i.e. the room is in a different building.
Riding down to the harbour
Before that, I quickly walked through the centre of the village…
After having a shower in my “room”, I concluded that this was one of the largest rip-offs ever. An old room of 5 square meters (sic), almost no hot water in the shower and an almost inexistent internet connection…OK, it is clean, but this is a joke. Not the place as such, but it’s at least 100 % overpriced for international standards. Highwaymen?
I went back to the main building for dinner and I must say that the food and service was very good. My last dinner in Iceland….
Tomorrow morning I will embark the ferry back to Denmark and make a concluding report when I’m back at home. It was a short trip, but the right time!
After the simple breakfast I left the hotel in Laugar that had been my home for two nights. The hotel was ok, its personnel was – let’s say authentic and a bit on the robust side. Most of the guests are from Iceland, so that seems to be just right for this purpose. I set off at nine and had to go south again before I could turn eastwards. On this short distance, I overtook a camper van and realized that it was Martin, the guy that I had missed yesterday! I waved and stopped in the next village. What a coincidence! Did I already say “it’s a small world”?
Martin took out his foldable chairs, made tea and we sat there for 45 min, discussing our past, present and future plans. When Martin is not traveling around the world, he is working as a professional tour guide, like right now, herding some other camper vans in a trip around Iceland.
As I wrote yesterday, we met under funny conditions on a road in the outback in Zambia in 2011 and were sporadically in contact through FB ever since. He told me he sold his old Honda Africa Twin – but plans to buy a “younger” one instead. What a nice encounter!
“You meet the nicest people on a Honda”
Honda (1964)
We parted and on the road that should bring me back to the ring road, I had to do 20 km gravel. No problem, I’m getting the hang of it. The next stop was planned since yesterday, in Stađir I met Karin and her husband who are on a long trip with their van. I know Karin from the GB500/XBR500 scene and the meetings for many years and thinking what is the probability to meet here….did I already happen to mention that “it’s a small world”?
We had a nice chat and exchanged experiences and plans – again, I seem to be the exception, going around the island clockwise, everybody else seems to do it the other way around.
The motto of the car is ‘Hakuna Matata’ – I like that!
I continued my ride and started to discover the northern coast. After all the spectacular views and pictures of the past days, it is difficult for Iceland to keep the level that high – but I it still a nice scenery, but I noticed that I stopped less to take a picture. My plan was to reach Sauđarkrókur around lunch time. The XBR was running happily, humming its tune. It was getting warm now, the predictions of the Icelandic weather service are really spot on! I stopped at a spot called Þristapar where the last execution was carried out in Iceland in 1830. Apparently, the news had not yet travelled to Iceland that chopping off heads and putting them on pikes for display wasn’t really en vogue anymore in other parts of the world. The story seems to be well known as there is also a love story behind it.
I realized that I had done a miscalculation – yesterday, my prepayment at the pump resulted in a not completely full tank – something I had not thought of anymore. But as the XBR’s consumption is reliably low, I reached Sauđarkrókur without any problems. I filled up and weighed the options to have something for lunch. The “Hard Wok Café” (sic) seemed to be the best option. I didn’t want to have a large fusion wok dish for lunch so I ordered some humble fried noodles.
I sat outside in the sun and decided to remove the inner liner of the jacket for the rest of the day – I felt roasted in the sun! Remember what I said in the beginning – if there’s a tropical heat wave in Iceland, I’ll still have the space to store away the surplus clothes. This just was happening! I had temperatures between 19 and 22 degrees Celsius in the afternoon, here’s the proof of it:
I rode along the beautiful Skagafjord and reached the Northernmost tip of the trip: next stop North Pole…
Southbound again!
Our of focus, but you get the picture…
I reached the old “herring capital” of Iceland – Siglufjörđur. I visited the Herring Museum that explains the vibrant history of the town. The town grew up around the herring industry that was very strong in the 1940s and 1950s. The number of inhabitants amounted to 146 in 1901 and to 3.015 in 1950, and back to 1.806 in 1989. Herring fishing declined considerably after 1970, and the herring processing plants were closed. Today Herring fishing is no longer productive in the region. The museum explains the living and working conditions of people involved in the business.
I was considering if I should stay a bit longer or to try to get to Akureyri to visit the Icelandic Motorcycle Museum before it closed. Yes, let’s try that! An hour later, I rolled through the second largest Icelandic town – Akureyri. I still had half an hour to visit the small, but particular museum. Lots of “rare” exhibits, such as the home built bike with a ship engine, an old Henderson rebuilt from a scrapyard-piece-of-iron, a Hercules Wankel, old Triumphs and Hondas…
I checked into the pricey hotel and took care of the dinner reservation – conveniently, it was just over the street (Rub23) and was a recommendation from Viktor, a mate I am playing Floorball with and who gave me a lot of tips for the tour. It’s his hometown, so he should know best.
I had an aperitif on the hotel’s terrace, planning the next day when I discovered something that freaked me out for a second. My right elbow felt strange…and it looked funny! A massive bulge was hanging on my elbow! I had immediately an idea and a quick check on the internet confirmed my suspicion – this was a bursitis! I never had one in my life, at least not in the elbow. I went through the options – I did not have an accident or a wound there – so it must be from overstraining. But what could be the cause? Well, there is one obvious one that gave me problems in Russia – the aftermarket carburetor spring is very strong and requires a lot of force – I could feel some strain in the lower arm, but nothing compared to Russia. At least I’m carrying the tool again (cramp buster), that should help a lot. The good news is that there no strong inflammation and no pain.
I directed my attention away from it – the restaurant was waiting. I ordered the full monty, a six-course menu with the “freshest products” they had, accompanied by selected wines. Sushi is very prominent on the menu – no wonder, after all super fresh fish is just at the doorstep. The food was quite good, but not at the same level as the restaurant in Reykjavik. But I enjoyed it. The sommelière was apparently in an apprenticeship, so I corrected her gently that one wine was actually from Spain, not Italy ☺️.
Before entering the hotel, I climbed up the stairs and had a look over Akureyri by night.
In the morning, I had an early breakfast and spent two hours typing yesterday’s report. I was not in a hurry, I had booked a whale watching for the afternoon and because of the bursitis, I decided to cut my route short, today’s program was interesting enough. It was again a fantastic day, plain sunshine and warm temperatures. I stared at my thermometer….21 degrees at 11 a.m….the tropical heat wave was indeed here!
A very typical Islandic summer day…..NOT!
I made a stopover at the Gođafoss, whe water of the river Skjálfandafljót falls from a height of 12 metres over a width of 30 metres. A lot of water, but the height difference is not spectacular.
I rode north and was happy that had put the throttle rocker/cramp buster, this should avoid too much strain on the arm. I could feel that my theory was correct. The annoying thing is that I thought about changing the setting of the carburetor at home, but considered that “it would be ok”. This is definitely the last time this happens now. I’ll take care of it.
Soon I arrived at today’s highlight: the town of Húsavík. Famous for its whales and a recent film….but more about this later.
Húsavík
In the little town, I picked up my tickets, but had to conclude that every restaurant table was taken. So I went to the petrol station and bought me two sandwiches, this should do. At 13:20, the whale watching left right in time. I had managed to sit right in front – best views, but highest seesaw. A marine biologist from Barcelona gave good background information. We went for about half an hour before we spotted the first Minke whales. This was only the preparation for what was about to come.
We discovered two humpback whales that kept us entertained for a long time. Apart from the usual blowing and diving, suddenly the whales started breaching! The biologist told us that this rarely happens here. I tried to catch it as good as possible:
I truly remarkable experience! After three hours, we were back in the harbour where my thermometer showed a whopping 25 degrees Celsius! I visited also the whale museum, an impressive exhibition about the world’s largest mammals.
A Blue Whale that was washed up a beachIn perspectiveYou don’t want to mess with an Orca
The next stop was not far, overlooking the bay…..I give you a hint:
Someone was clever enough to set up a bar in the town that makes people believe it’s the one from the film (it isn’t), but the little “Ja Ja Ding Dong Bar” contains some memorabilia from the film and the film shooting that happened in town (NOT the bar scenes). FIRE SAGA!!!
I filled up the bike and started the last ride for today, about 45 min to lake Myvatn that I circumnavigated. There are some places that I will discover tomorrow.
I arrived at my hotel and despite the cozy room, I was a bit annoyed by several things: despite the hefty price, no breakfast was included, at 7 p.m. I was told the restaurant was fully booked for the day, the nearby alternative was fully packed and I had to queue for 20 min only to sit outside on a windy and freezing terrace, receiving the dessert at the time of payment, standing in line for 15 min to be able to pay….all of this can be optimised. I made now my peace with the hotel in the bar, writing the report and tasting several Icelandic spirits such as Flóki Whisky with and without sheep dung smoked barley and Reyka, a Vodka. For the first time in Iceland I’m surprised by a LOW price of something.
Tomorrow is the last riding day in Iceland. Few kilometers, but many stops, I guess my arm likes this plan.
I knew I had a long day in front of me, so I tried to get up early. At 7:30 a.m., I entered the breakfast room – that was pretty empty. I learned that the breakfast would only start at eight o’clock. Well, I used the time to fine-tune the trip of today. It would be a roundtrip through the Westfjords, returning to the same hotel. This meant that I could leave all my luggage in the hotel. I wasn’t sure yet how big my route would be – I wanted to visit most of this area, but the basic route was already some 560 km. Clockwise or anti-clockwise? Should I add an extra loop to the west? I left without having the answers.
It was a fantastic sunny morning. While riding, I went through the options.The stop would be in Isafjörđur, the largest town in the most remote point of the trip. There, petrol stations were available (very scarce in the area) and I could have lunch there. I decided to go clockwise – for the simple reason that the gravel parts were in the southern part and I wanted to have the trickiest part behind me soon.
After some thorough thinking I concluded that doing the extra loop would be too much for today. Well, I COULD do it, but that would result in a 11 to 12 hour ride. Instead riding 560 km (of which 60 km are gravel), I would have to do 680 km (with 90 km gravel). Possible, but a bit out of the comfort zone. It turned out later that the shorter route was just right.
Soon I reached the first gravel part of some 25 km; I had entered the fjord area. The views were beautiful, especially on such a sunny morning. What a good idea to ride without the luggage, this type of dry gravel poses no problem for the XBR. I made good progress and stopped a lot to take pictures.
Finally, I reached Flókalundur and had to confirm my decision. A short check was enough; I didn’t want to do 90 km gravel today. Here, the road turned to 35 km of gravel again and went uphill to a pass where large machines were building a huge new road. In this area, huge tourist buses were absent, maybe this could change with such a wide road?
I was approaching the sightseeing highlight of today: Dynjandi, the highest waterfall in the region with a height of 100 m. Now this is what I call a waterfall! It doesn’t contain a lot of water, but flows very picturesque down the rocks. There are several smaller waterfalls below it; a small track leads up to the big waterfall. I risked some sweating to get up to the highest point and enjoyed the view from there.
The missing part to Isafjörđur was special in many ways: beautiful sights and a single track tunnel (!) with a Y junction in the middle. I’ve never seen that before.
I arrived in Isafjörđur at 1 p.m. and looked for a place to eat. It is the largest town in the region with a mere 4000 inhabitants. But it does have some shops and cafes. I looked up some suggestions in internet and went to Tjöruhúsið, recommended for its fish and shellfish. I discovered an old cottage with some tables in front. There were two dishes available: fish soup and fish stew that you served inside the rustic cottage. I had to wait a bit as they had to refill the large stockpot. The soup was…delicious! Again! Similar to the soup yesterday, very tasty with lots of cream. I could get a second plate. And some good coffee afterwards.
I entered a chat with the owner (?) who happens to own two motorbikes and 13 cars (!). I asked him about this summer and he claimed “best summer ever!….at least since 2003”. I think he could be right, later it got cloudy, but the stable high pressure over Iceland is unusual and the temperatures are extremely high (later I saw 19 deg. on my thermometer). I filled up and continued my ride along the spectacular fjords, one after the other. I noticed that I had lost my little petrol can on the gravel roads. Luckily, my fuel consumption is very low.
Between the Alftafjörđur and the Seyđisfjörđur
It was riding in the Seyđisfjörđur, when I greeted two oncoming motorbikers. Wait a minute – I know this bike! I turned around and watched up. Indeed, it was the bike of Bodo from the ferry! Henry realized only a few minutes later what had happened and turned around.What a coincidence! We had a chat about what we had experienced the last days and we parted again. It’s a small world! And Iceland is a small part of it. There was no traffic, so I could increase the pace a bit…
The fjords contain whales – dead or alive.
I filled up early, so I don’t have to worry about it tomorrow morning. I was back at a quarter past six and decided to nurse the bike a bit: the chain could need a bit of tightening. That was it. It’s a Honda.
I had dinner in the modest hotel restaurant and I still have to lay out the route for tomorrow. I fled the quite lounge when a horde of American teens turned it into a dance floor (Ja Ja Ding Dong etc…).
Unfortunately, as I had surpassed the connectivity on my mobile, I could not meet with Martin who also was in the area. We missed each other narrowly. I met Martin on the road 2011 in Zambia, when I was going South and he was going North. Did I already say it’s a small world?
This morning I realized that I had forgotten something in yesterday’s report – no wonder, I finished it only at midnight. I wanted to explain why I had left out an interesting location before I arrived in Reykjavik. Reason No.1: It would have taken me a two hour detour PLUS a three to four hour walk (!). Reason No.2: the active volcano Fagradalsfjall, that erupted in March and spit fire during weeks, has been dormant for a while. I checked the webcam yesterday and on top, the only thing visible was some fog. So I arrived some weeks to late. What might have been:
But under this circumstances, it was not worth the long detour. Pity.
I left the hotel shortly after nine o’clock. (Left: plaque in the elevator. In Icelandic and Bavarian 🤪). It was a nice, sunny morning and I headed north, following the ring road. Once I passed under a fjord in a long tunnel. In Borgarnes, I left the road No.1 and followed the road to Snæfallsnes, the large peninsula sticking out like a finger in Iceland’s West. The landscape got more and more interesting, I occasionally stopped and took a picture.
What a beautiful day! This was again a remote place, void of large groups of tourists. I stopped at a scenic place in the west und read curiously a board that was displaced there….:
Gulp! I’m glad we’re not in the 16th century anymore!
At mid-day, I got to Hellnar and took a picture of the beautiful scenery:
Hellnar
I realised that I passed a petrol station in the last village and turned around. In Arnarstapi, I was lucky to have a GPS that indicated me the way to the “petrol station”: a single pump in the middle of nowhere. All pumps in Iceland so far could be operated and paid directly at the pump. By the way, I have not visited any ATM in Iceland, I’m not carrying cash. Basically everything can be paid with plastic money.
I felt a bit hungry, so I stopped at a small place next to the road and ordered a Stapi soup, a local fish soup. It contained fish, shrimps, lobster…and lots of cream. Delicious!!
I did a little walk to the Gatklettur, a spectacular natural arch at the beach:
After a few kilometers, I stopped at the next scenic place and walked towards Lóndrangar. However, this time I had left the camera in the tank bag, so I will nick something from the internet…
I was in the Snæfellnesjökull Natural Park now, and the big volcano is dominating the tip of the peninsula:
Snæfelljökul. According to Jules Verne, the entrance to the centre of the earth.
It was a fantastic day. The views changed once I was on the Northern side of the peninsula, but it was still very beautiful. The main mountain range was covered in clouds and it seemed to rain there. However, at the coast I enjoyed perfect sunshine.
It was a fantastic day. The views changed once I was on the Northern side of the peninsula, but it was still very beautiful. The main mountain range was covered in clouds and it seemed to rain there. However, at the coast I enjoyed perfect sunshine.
And then I reached one of the most iconic mountains in Iceland: Mount Kirkufell. Also famous from Game of Thrones.
“There’s a mountain, looks like an arrowhead. The dead are marching past, thousands of them.”
The Hound
The Hound was right. But no marching dead anywhere to be seen.
The was even a bridal pair, taking pictures. The view in the other direction was not too bad either:
I went on. I knew there were two issues ahead: a 60 km unpaved road and the bad weather ahead of me. When I passed the road sign of a shark museum, it raised my interest and I checked the rain forecast: actually it would make sense to delay my ride a bit as the rain would move on and I could maybe avoid it. So I decided to take a little detour, riding through an Icelandic moss landscape:
I arrived at a remote place that looked like a farm and parked the XBR in front of the building. The instructions were clear:
I paid the entrance fee and joined a tour. As I hadn’t been there from the start, a young lady repeated the most important facts to me. Apart from some shark teeth, the museum consists mainly of fisherman tools and wildlife of the area.
What is really special about this place that it produces a local speciality: the notorious Icelandic fermented shark meat (Hákarl). Not for the faint of heart. Shark meat from fishing by-catch is put into boxes and left fermenting. Then it is dried for months in the air, (and this is important) far from any other dwellings. I went to the drying house later, you don’t want to have this near your house where you live…
I tasted the offered meat, ok, it’s special, a bit salty, fatty and some hint of ammonia…let’s try another one…this one was much stronger. Whoa. Ammonia! Ok, let’s wash it down with the snaps. Right. Not my everyday snack, but I can understand why they like it here.
I went back to the road and soon hit the shortcut road to the East, I did not want to do more than 100 km of detour….
OK, let the “fun” begin. 60 km of gravel, gulp!
In the next hour, I slowly hobbled across different parts of this track. I was glad that the was almost no rain, it could have turned it very slippery. I enjoyed the views and managed to keep my speed between 45 and 55 km/h.
Finally, the track turned into tarmac and some kilometers later, I topped up in Búđardalur. Some minutes later, I arrived at the hotel in Laugar í Sælingsdalur. A simple, but clean hotel with a special feature: a natural hot tub! There is also a small reconstructed geothermal pool called Guðrúnarlaug or Guðrún´s pool. The pool is mentioned in the Sturlunga saga and Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir, one of the greatest women in the Sagas, used to dwell by such a pool at Laugar. Well, if it’s part of Icelandic history, let’s try it out! I grabbed a towel and went up to the pool with the little changing hut. I had to share the pool with other people, so I didn’t take more pictures or videos. The water had about 40 degrees, perfect temperature.
Afslappandi bað með fallegu útsýni – frábær leið til að enda daginn.
The restaurant facilities are simple, but the food was tasty (Gravlax aaaaaand…..yummy lamb! Sorry Shawn, it’s too tasty). Downside: large horde of noisy, American tourists.
Tomorrow, I will remain in the hotel and start a large day trip through the Western fjords. A very long ride, but the weather looks good. Keeping fingers crossed.
I had not set an alarm and got up at half past seven. In the restaurant hall, the tour groups were already choking down their breakfast. For some strange reason I had to think of locusts…Before leaving, I had an issue to resolve. Yesterday, during a short stop, I received a phone call from booking.com telling that my hotel in Reykjavik had cancelled my reservation. They offered me an altertive that I should confirm. I had a quick look and said yes by e-mail. I sent three messages in increasing urgent tone asking for a confirmation. I received nothing. In the end I called the new hotel myself. Yes, the had received my name, everything was ok. Good, so I had a place to stay. This was important. I had checked the internet and discovered that Reykjavik was sold out! Well, unless you want to pay 500 quid for a nice suite….
I set off at nine and my first destination was not far away: Dyrhólaey, an extension of yesterday’s beach. The sea has formed holes into the rocks, forming arches. The area is also important as a reserve for the local bird population. The was a track to the voewpoint of the great arc, but it was closed for construction…
Dyrhólaey.
Today I experienced a more typical Icelandic weather: cloudy with some rays of sunshine and later some short showers. I continued my ride along the south coast. The landscape was changing again. I had not planned a stop there, but the setting was beautiful, so I decided to make a stop at the Skógafoss. Definetely a good idea. The waterfall is very beautiful and I played around with the Halide app if I could change the settings in rhe right way (longer exposure times). I should have tried at home. So I took more or less ‘normal pictures’. Anyway, a very pretty waterfall.
Skógafoss
I moved away from the coast and rode inlands. I arrived at the Gullfoss, one of the iconic Icelandic waterfalls. Well, it is big, but I honestly had expected some ‘more’. On the other hand, it would be unfair to compare it with bigger streams like the Niagara Falls or the Victoria Falls that I had the pleasure to visit. Anyway, when you think that all the water comes from a melting glacier, it IS impressive. In the adjacent shop, I found a country sticker for my pannier that I placed immediately.
Gullfoss.Serious business.
The next stop was not far away: Geysir. Yes, this is the mother of all geysirs. I parked the bike and strolled up the hill, surrounded by hordes of tourists. This seems ti he downside of the enormous popularity of Iceland: buses spit out masses of tourists at the touristic spots. In between, there is quietness when riding.
I entered the restaurant/shop complex and acquired two sandwiches for lunch. I never had a lamb sandwich before, a very good idea!
Geysir in action. Why is everybody running away? It’s just a bit of hydrogen sulfide!
Lamb sandwich. Meeeeeeeh! (Shawn is complaining)
The next stop was again a geological one. Kerið is a crater lake that formed when the magma chamber of a volcano collapsed and a little lake was formed by rhe ground water. In this cloudy weather, the colours were not that strong, but it was good enough for some good pictures. I walked around on the top of the caldera, avoiding too much movement. In this cool climate, a warm gear is great, but when you have to walk, you overheat in no time. This was the only place where I had to pay an entrance fee.
Keriđ lake
Now The weather was a mix of of sunny spells and short showers. In entered the Þingvellir National park area, riding through a landscape of bushes and small trees. This is probably rhe closwst you get to a forest here. I arrived at the visitor centre and topk some pictures from the lake. Thingvellir is a special place on Iceland. The lake is the largest in Iceland, home to many species. Geologically, it is located on the rift between the European and the American plate that are constantly moving apart (geologically, but maybe as well politically).
Left: America. Right: Europe.Thingvellir LakeHome of Iceland’s Althings for nearly a millennium.
In the centre, I visited the exposition on the importance of the place as a ‘thing’, or better ‘alþing’, the old Germanic place to hold frequent tribunals to settle disputes and to speak law. The ‘Althing’ meant that this was the supreme court of Island for almost a millenium. At this place, the independent Islandic Republic was declared in 1944. All in all, a place embedded in Islandic history.
I only had a lasr descent to Reykjavik in front of me. Close to the city, I filled up and checked my oil. I topped up the chain lubricant and checked the tyre pressure. After 920 km riding in Iceland, I discovered a novelty: red lights!!! And some Friday evening rush hour. I took a little detour through rhe city centre and arrived at the hotel. The reception was very friendly and I was told that the stay was already pre-paid (a gift from booking.com?). I had a shower and lefr for a walk through the small city centre. It is very nordic, but cozy and apparently lively.
Monument to the unknown bureaucratMr Orbán would not feel welcome here…
I walked to the restaurant I had booked – albeit one hour too early. Luckily, this was not a problem. It was the restaurant ‘Matur og Drykkur’. In Iceland, many places are simply describing what they are. Like in this case, ‘eating and drinking’. Plain, simple. They serve a six course meal and I ordered wine pairing as well pairing as well. All in all, it was very good, using local ingredients. The sea weed tempura was surprisingly good, the roasted lamb divine. I was positively surprised by the Snorri No.10 beer, this is up to the level of a good Belgian Triple! I had the impression that someone must have given a very good recommendation in an American travel guide as almost all guest seemed to be Americans; except the Catalan couple next to me who thought that nobody could understand them. Well, I could. Luckily, the noise increased so I could not overhear their private conversation anymore.
I walked back to the hotel, making a stopover in the centre. In a bar, a live jazz band was performing very well and I discovered that they sold a Talisker 18 years for a reasonable price (considering this was Iceland). I had a dram in front of the bar and continued typing this report.
Reykjavik is the northernmost capital in the world, and a small one. A few minutes later, I was back at the hotel. It’s a small, but nice city.
I’m afraid that tomorrow, I’ll be running out of luck: in the afternoon, some heavy rain will cross my way. The northwest is my destination now.
The first night on the boat was a short one. I couldn’t sleep very well and for some mystical reason I had booked breakfast at seven. 7 a.m. When I had a whole day to kill. The breakfast was….food uptake, not more. I spent some hours in the cabin watching TV or dozing on the bunk bed. I had lunch in the fancy restaurant again, two different sandwiches this time. The Faroese snaps was different, but I liked it a lot (Haviđ, 50 %). I spotted it in the boat shop so I think on the way back I will stuff some in my panniers.
I dozed a bit more in the cabin and moved to the panoramic deck as we would soon make a stopover in Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands. I hoped that I could pick up a 4G internet signal and upload the report of yesterday. I received a message from my provider that I would be charged a daily roaming pass. No problem. However, in a second message I was told that my credit was zero and I couldn’t buy the pass.
Torshavn, capital of the Faroe Islands.
When we left the day before, I sent a few pictures, and as the ship’s wifi did not allow any uploads, I did it with a 4G connection that I believed to be from the Danish mainland. However, I was probably the ship’s 4G network which usually charges a fortune per Mbyte. Within seconds, my credit was evaporated and I was not able to re-charge my credit. Remember, bad upload speed. All of this got crystal clear to me when I could not connect to the Faroese network. I tried and tried to charge the account – until it finally went through! I was connected to the Faroese 4G and could upload the post.
After the boarding of new passengers, we continued the crossing through the Island. Suddenly, the fog lifted and enjoyed a fantastic scenery: steep fjells and little fjords, some spectacular views.
Crossing the Faroe Islands.
Just when we were leaving the last rocks, it was time for my pre-booked five-course in the fancy restaurant, accompanied by a matching wine selection. It was actually quite good, considering I was on a ferry boat. Yummy.
We had to do the passport and COVID test controls by the police on the ship that evening, but seeing the long queue, I decided to watch some news first and come back later. I met Henry and Bodo, the two lads from the boarding queue and we spent the evening together. The checks went quite smooth and we received a green voucher that should substitute the border control.
We went to the lounge and had a couple of beers together, only molested by the solo entertainer that made a conversation difficult.
To my surprise, I didn’t have a heavy head the next morning when I strolled to the breakfast. Everybody had to leave the cabins at 8 a.m., so I tried to have a nap in my gear in the corridors. Finally we were granted access to the car deck and I unstrapped my bike. The other motorbikes still seemed to be in a Zen mode, so I was the first biker to leave the ship. There was indeed no passport control and I entered the little town of Seyđisfjörđur.
To my surprise, I didn’t have a heavy head the next morning when I strolled to the breakfast. Everybody had to leave the cabins at 8 a.m., so I tried to have a nap in my gear in the corridors. Finally we were granted access to the car deck and I unstrapped my bike. The other motorbikes still seemed to be in a Zen mode, so I was the first biker to leave the ship. There was indeed no passport control and I entered the little town of Seyđisfjörđur.
The weather was as expected: cool 11 degrees, foggy with a light drizzle. I started my trip around Iceland! It was a slow start. The surface was wet and I needed to get used to the tarmac, it was very rough and felt it there was some gravel on the road. Most of the time there wasn’t any, but sometimes yes. The road moved upwards into the clouds. I apparently passed a fjell at 500 m and the temperature dropped to 8 degrees. Cozy. In Egilsstađir I turned onto the Route 1, the ring road around Iceland. I encountered a gravel section…how long would this take? The gravel was deep…I learned later that sometimes there are stretches of gravel that is rolled into a dense surface. In this case, the gravel had not been rolled yet…
In the next three hours, I rode through the Eastern fjords, occasionally stopping to take a picture. The problem was to capture the atmosphere on the photos, which was almost impossible, in reality, the landscape was often impressive. Slowly, the temperature increased from 11 to 13 degrees, but I could feel the cold creeping in. This was the real thing now – no fairing, no heated grips, no heated seat, no heated gear – just the fresh wind and I. I realized how much I was spoiled in the last years through the big bikes.
After 280 km, I arrived in Höfn, the largest town in the southeast. Finally the sun penetrated the clouds and temperature rose to 14 degrees. I filled up the bike, but didn’t find a compelling option to have lunch. I ordered a hot sandwich in a petrol station and tried to get warm again, it was quite chilly.
I adapted my riding style to the locals, there were more and more cars and the speed rose. The landscape changed, but in a spectacular way; I approached the Vatnajökull glacier. I could only see some individual glacier tongue, but the sheer size is hard to grasp.
With an area of 7,900 km²,Vatnajökull is the largest ice cap in Europe by volume (about 3,000 km³) and area (not counting the still larger Severny Island ice cap of Novaya Zemlya, Russia, which may be regarded as in the extreme northeast of Europe).
The average thickness of the ice is 380 m (1,250 ft), with a maximum thickness of 950 m (3,120 ft). Vatnajökull has around 30 outlet glaciers flowing from the ice cap.
Wikipedia
Finally, I spotted the first glacier tongues; the white ice cap was shining in the distance. This was genuinely a beautiful sight.
The weather forecast was spot on! This turned to be a nice day with temperatures up to 17 degrees.
Finally I arrived at the Highlight of the day, the Jökulsárlón, a glacier lake like no other.
Jökulsárlón (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈjœːkʏlsˌaurˌlouːn] (listen); literally “glacial river lagoon”) is a large glacial lake in southern part of Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland. Situated at the head of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier, it developed into a lake after the glacier started receding from the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. The lake has grown since then at varying rates because of melting of the glaciers. It is now 1.5 km (0.93 mi) away from the ocean’s edge and covers an area of about 18 km2 (6.9 sq mi). In 2009 it was reported to be the deepest lake in Iceland, at over 284 m (932 ft). The icebergs that calve from the glacier edge move towards the river mouth and get entrenched at the bottom. The movement of the icebergs fluctuates with the tide currents, as well as being affected by wind. However, they start floating as icebergs when their size is small enough to drift to the sea. These icebergs are seen in two shades: milky white and bright blue, which depends on the air trapped within the ice and is an interplay of light and ice crystals.
wikipedia
Of course it’s a tourist magnet and the top location in Southern Iceland. On the other side of the road, there is the second attraction of the location, the DIAMOND BEACH.
The river Jökulsá connects the lagoon to the Atlantic Ocean, meaning that these icebergs eventually drift out to sea where they are polished by the waves before floating back to the black sands of Breiðamerkursandur. The name ‘Diamond Beach’ thus comes from the white ice on the black sand appearing like gemstones or diamonds, as they often glisten in the sun.
As there was high tide, there were only few icebergs on the black beach, but this is still a great sight.
The massive amounts of melted water was transported in large rivers to the sea.
The rest of the was dominated by one gorgeous view after the other, when I had passed the Vatnajökull, the landscape changed and the lofty small green mountains returned.
And then again the landscape changed. A lot of rocks, but covered by a huge amount of Iceland moss!
And finally, after 560 km, I reached Vik í Myrdal, the southernmost town in Iceland. I filled up and went around the big rock that dominates the town.
This is other of Iceland’s highlights: Reynisdrangar
Reynisdrangar (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈreiːnɪsˌtrauŋkar̥]) are basaltsea stacks situated under the mountain Reynisfjall near the village Vík í Mýrdal in southern Iceland. It is framed by a black sand beach that was ranked in 1991 as one of the ten most beautiful non-tropical beaches in the world.
Legend says that the stacks originated when two trolls dragged a three-masted ship to land unsuccessfully and when daylight broke they became needles of rock.
wikipedia
This is really an exceptional place, I let the pictures speak for themselves…
The hotel is only a few kilometers away, the evening sun illuminated the landscape like a painting:
I checked in, had a shower and went to the restaurant, the usual routine. I had a fish soup and a tasty lamb roast. Simple, but good. I think I was lucky to have such a sunny day today, Iceland showed its best side today. This day will be the largest section on the whole trip (580 km). Tomorrow it will be a shorter ride. But this first day was a very good start.
I had a rather frugal breakfast in the somewhat shabby hotel and set off at a quarter pass nine. I passed the “Men at Sea” like the evening before and decided to join them for a minute.
My plan was to go up north at the west coast of Jutland, riding on back roads next to the sea. My first stop was at the ‘Tirpitz Museum’, a bunker of the WWII ‘Atlantic Wall’. It was never finished, but had it, its cannon on top would have had a range of 55 km. The bunker was spectacular, but the museum was a mixture of the history of the bunker, a very simplified summary of the war, local history and information about amber. Very modern and multi-media, but quite family-friendly and on the light side. Despite the hefty entrance fee, I had quickly done my tour and set off north.
I went mostly near the coast, sometimes only separated from the sea by large dunes. In Hvide Sande, a popular tourist resort, I encountered a sort of traffic jam.
I stopped and crawled over the dune to have a look the sea. The wind was quite strong today, a good training for Iceland.
In Thyborøn, I needed to take a ferry to cross that little gap. I passed all the cars and waited in the front to be called, the boarding was already ongoing. I made it on the ferry and parked the bike on the side stand. I climbed up some stairs to have a better view. The crossing is not very long and the sea was rather calm, apart from the wind. Yet the boat started to seesaw strongly – in a worrying way. The captain reduced speed and got it under control again. There was some noise behind the van where my bike was parked. People were calling for a motorbiker. Not good! I was the only one on the ship. Apparently, the bike had dropped and someone put it upright. I could tell by moved mirror, I had to fix it again. Luckily, nothing else was affected or broken.
I continued my ride along the pittoresque coast and decided in Agger to have a small snack. I ordered a Pølsermix, believing it to be a small hot dog dish. I received an enormous plate with chips and sausages, enough to feed an army. I had to leave big part of it, I was not in the mood for that amount of junk food.
I passed Denmark’s largest National Park Thy and stopped in Halstholm to get some needed commodities in a grocery store.
I realized that my chain lubricant consumption was a bit higher and regretted that I left the big bottle at home; I reduced the flow of the Scottoiler and concluded that I could always use motor oil as a second best option. My next stop was Blokhus at the coast, for a particular reason. It’s a nice touristic town and I was surprised that I could ride onto the beach. This was unexpected!
But my real intention was to find the main attraction of the town, I had apparently rode past it, so I had to go back. And then I found it…
Very impressive! Luckily, I could take a picture of the data, so I don’t have to type them 😇
I was considering to make a trip to Skagen, the Northern tip of Denmark but I realized this would get too late today and I didn’t arrive late at the hotel. So my next stop should be the last one for today. It was the Rubjerg Knude Lighthouse, situated in/on a large dune. I had read that it had been moved 300 m recently (!) to save its existence as the waves eat sand for breakfast.
I parked the bike as close as possible to the lighthouse that could be spotted far in the distance. I noticed that there was a kind of tourist trap about to set off to the dunes: a tractor with a trailer to transport lazy tourists. How lame is that, you might think, but it turned out that the 5 Euros for this return trip were the best investment in a long time. During the ride, I realized that the lighthouse was about 2 km away, this would have been a torture in warm motorbike gear. Almost Alpenbutt-esque, haha (this joke is for the knowing).
The tractor set off and it quickly turned out that this was fun: the guy went off-road up and down, criss-crossing through the dunes:
We were awaited by some sheep who were begging for a treat. The farmer would return in 40 minutes, this should be enough time to discover the area. I climbed up the dune and enjoy the fantastic views. I wondered how they could move the entire lighthouse in one go. Unbelievable.
On the bumpy, but entertaining way back in the trailer I realized that any attempt to walk to the dune would have been led to spontaneous self-combustion of my body due to overheating. It was also evident that the detour to Skagen was totally out of question now.
Only 25 km left to the hotel; as usual, watching Shawn makes me smile….
Shawn. The happy lad. And always friendly.
I quickly found the hotel in Hirtshals and the petrol station next to it. I saw the first off-road van and realised that I was at at the hub to Iceland.
I checked into the hotel and was quite miffed when I learned that the restaurant would not serve me dinner tonight. I had reserved the hotel particularly because it had a restaurant, so I didn’t enter the centre of town, and now they wouldn’t be accommodate, asking at 7 p.m. Nope. OK, plan B. I didn’t fancy to take a shower and then to ride anywhere, so I just rode without the hygiene stop. I stopped at a restaurant with a terrace and ordered something that sounded interesting….seafood “tapas”! A massive platter and a lot of work (35 min!)
A modest seafood tapas platter.
I returned to the hotel and finally had my shower, after all I rode more than expected, some 410 km in the wind and sun made me feel tired.
This morning, after breakfast, I met an acquainted coupled from my home town in front of the hotel. How probable is that! We had a chat, they take the ferry to Norway. I went to the harbour and waited until it was my turn for check-in. In the hour before that, I chatted with some bikers in the queue. The amount of off-road, hardcore 4×4 cars is impressive. They will go where I won’t: the rough tracks in the interior of the island. I’d need another bike for that.
In the ship, we motorbikes had to strap our bikes, carrying the luggage to the cabin usually lets the sweat flow, but finally I’m in my cabin….only to find out that I hadn’t been cleaned! The receptionist made a walkie-talkie call: “housekeeping, we have a surprise cabin on deck 6, I repeat, ….” I waited sitting on the floor until my home for two nights was finally ready.
I found a relaxing spot where I could rest a bit until the restaurant was opened.
I had pre-booked all my meals, something that I rarely do. But as everything is breathtakingly expensive, pre-booking gets some discount and I need some food anyway. It sounded not like a large meal – “two sandwiches and a snaps”, but it was a good portion and the quality was very good, including the aquavit from the Faroer.
Later I discovered the Laterna Magica Bar with a fantastic view where I am writing the whole time. They have seats and sofas, what a great idea!
In the end, I spent the afternoon in the Panoramic lounge. I have slow internet, but the upload speed is not enough to post pictures. I hope that I will catch some phone signal on Faroer Islands.
(Indeed, after fixing some issues, I could upload it in Torshavn, the tiny capital of the Faroer Islands).
In the evening, I had an unspectacular dinner in the buffet restaurant. It’s a quiet boat trip.
On the morning of the first day I took it easy, packed the last missing things and set off for a smooth ride on motorways at a quarter to ten. Soon after I crossed the Dutch border, I was passed by three Belgians on BMWs. This is not remarkable as such, I was in a relaxed mood and decided to go at 110 – 120 km/h the whole day. The second rider had a personalised number plate named ‘Siberia’. Was this their destination? I could give them some advice…
I knew that some rain would come in Northern Germany, so I put on the rain gear very early. The predicted rain was not very heavy though and I lost quite some time in road works on the A1 where no filtering was possible. Later I passed Bremen and proper sunshine came back although accompanied by a strong wind. I was joined by my lucky charm – Shawn, the Black Irish sheep. He has joined me through America and Russia, not to speak of many places in Europe. I had washed him in winter and attached him safely behind the windscreen. When in motion, his arms and legs are happily flapping around so it looks as if he’s really enjoying the ride. Every time I look at him, it puts a smile on my face. 🙂
The last 60 km I had to go on nice country roads though the ‘Altes Land’, heading towards the Elbe and the coast. I was about to take off my rain gear when I spotted some dark clouds at the horizon. I left it on and indeed, 6 km before my today’s destination, the rain poured down. When I arrived at the house of Michael and Christiane, I took off my rain suit and….was completely soaked??? This kept me thinking for a while. I couldn’t find a hole….that’s not good news for the rainy climate in Iceland!
My visit was long overdue, for many years actually. So we had much to talk about and the rain did not invite to leave the house. We had a nice meal together, they both are fantastic hosts and I crawled into the bed only after midnight…(there’s a song for every occasion, right, Michael?😄)
I got up not too early the next morning and we had a sumptuous breakfast together. I knew I didn’t have to go far today so I was not in a hurry. I filled up and hoped I would stay dry until I would reach the ferry across the river Elbe. This plan only worked for the first 5 km. Luckily I could pass the long line of waiting cars and roll directly on the ferry. The “Elbfähre” is the only crossing west of Hamburg, connecting Lower Saxony with the Western shore of Schleswig.
Across the Elbe.
At the other side, I did not have to ride wrong very long – a second visit was due. This time it was Ralf and his wife Kirsten. You would think the North of Germany is flat, flat, flat – but they live on the slope of a small mountain that provides them with a view over the low lands.
Ralf joined my first XBR Alpentour in 1994 and was riding a lot with me in subsequent years. He is proof that you can pass many, stronger bikes in the Alps with a heavily under-maintained XBR, failing breaks or many other shortcomings…
The picture at the left is from the epic XBR Alpentour in 2003 when he demonstrated that you don’t need ANY fork oil to master gravel passes in the Alps…
Kirsten made some tasty “Bauernfrühstück” and Ralf and I had a lot to chat about, after all we didn’t meet so often recently. I had never been to this place (no surprise, being up in the North), so it was another, long overdue visit. Much later than planned, I started the XBR again.
Well, the rest of the day was set: going up north on the B5 and crossing into Denmark, leaning into the strong wind. I had enough time left, so I could visit a rapid antigen test centre near Esbjerg. Last week, Iceland decided that a certificate of full vaccination would not be enough to enter the country, I would need another negative RAT (rapid antigen test) result. After some cueing, the testing and 15 min waiting time, I received my certificate. I filled up the bike and topped up the oil, all ready for tomorrow. I entered Esbjerg and check into my hotel. Remarkable here: the receptionist wears a pair of braces and a bowler hat and has a quirky humor. Maybe he’s a fan of Clockwork Orange….(should I be worried?).
In the shower, I tested if the rain suit had a leak, but I couldn’t detect any. I had a good dinner in a nearby restaurant with Tuborg beer from the tap. Rib Eye steak with a freshly prepared Sauce Béarnaise. Being used to Belgian restaurant prices does immunise you a bit when exposed to Scandinavian prices. You realize you’re in Scandinavia when you confess to the waiter that you have left your wallet in the hotel and propose to get it from there and he only replies: “yeah, all right”.
Tomorrow will be another relaxed day along the coast as my destination (Hirtshals) is only 330 km away.
Everything is set. All packed, but I still have that particular feeling that I forgot something….Well, as long as you have your passport and a valid credit card…
I decided to travel light again, although I could have stuffed everything into the panniers, I decided to carry same extra luggage. Iceland is not on a different continent, but I rather carry too many spare parts than too few. The big jug of oil is very likely too much, but I ran out of small bottles, so I won’t have to worry to carry too few oil. And it’s good to have some reserve space just in case a tropical heat wave strikes Iceland and I’d have to get rid of a few layers of gear.
Next stop: Elbe
Tomorrow, I’ll have a smooth, but wet ride to the vicinity of Hamburg, where I will visit Michael, an old friend, ex-colleague, ex-band mate and (ex-?😁) motorbiker. A very overdue visit.
I had planned a trip to the Western Balkans for June 2020 but then a little bug turned the world upside down…so no proper motorbiking trip since the big one to Japan in 2019. I didn’t expect to go on another trip soon, but some weeks ago, I had a brilliant idea….why not go on a motorbike trip to a place where I haven’t been before? I really needed some holidays, not only had the pandemic smashed all my traveling plans, but since I took over a management job in early 2020, I did not have any proper vacations. So what would be a good place to visit? I went through my mental list of ‘white spots’ on the map of Europe…pretty high incidences everywhere….and I had a brilliant idea: the island of fire and ice, home of elves and trolls, fjords and hot springs….Iceland!
I quickly booked the ferry from Denmark to Iceland and put together a ride for a seven day round trip. All set! Well, I just needed to wake up the XBR out of her hibernation. Not that there would be a lot of things to do (it’s a Honda!), but the bike had to be nursed a bit. Luckily I had already done an oil change and welded my luggage rack. The tires were still in a good condition, but I decided to swap them for new ones for I have heard of the abrasive roads on Iceland. I noticed that the front break worked not smooth enough and cleaned all moving parts of the break caliper, but still no improvement. Was it the brake master cylinder? In the end I discovered that the bolt in the break lever was rusty. I had also exchanged the front indicators as three brackets disintegrated when I tried to install them: the plasticizers had evaporated and the material gets brittle and breaks. Attaching the indicators to the lamp solved the problem. I also re-installed the small windshield and fixed the seat lock assay.
I did a test ride and concluded that the good ole XBR was ready for another trip.
Ready to rumble.Test ride: the Northernmost point in Belgium.The planned highlights to visit in Iceland.
Next weekend, I will start my ride to Hirtshals in Northern Denmark, easy going. More information will follow.
When I last took the K1600 to the dealer, I saw an announcement of a test ride day: riding some new BMW models. I have no intention to change my big beast, but why not try out things. The interesting temptation was to ride the biggest BMW ever built: the massive R 18. Let me quote the official advertisement by BMW:
“The R 18 Classic is a modern cruiser with a nostalgic sense of BMW design. It reminds one of the beginnings, of the first cruisers suitable for touring. It also invokes timeless marks of our motorcycle history, such as with the white double lining found on the R 18 Classic First Edition. The heart of the machine is obviously the boxer with the most displacement we have ever built. It stands for relaxing tours and pure enjoyment. For the R 18 Classic First Edition, we brought back to life distinctive characteristics from BMW Motorrad tradition: The First Edition is characterised by its white double lining and chrome design options as well as the sticker and logo.
An early, high torque ensures the powerful cruiser torque: The 1802 ccm twin-cylinder boxer engine of the R 18 Classic is the boxer with the most displacement we have ever built. An engine you can see, hear, and feel: It delivers its maximum torque of 158 Nm at 3000 rpm. From 2000 to 4000 rpm, it always delivers over 150 Nm, meaning a consistently high torque with the typical running characteristics of a boxer. At 4750 rpm, the Big Boxer delivers 67 kW (91 hp). Start every tour with some zip.”
I had reserved two slots today: one hour with the R 18 and one hour with the S1000XR, pretty much the opposite of the Big Boxer. I had to ride to Antwerp for this. Unfortunately, I learned that I had to ride in a group behind a guide that lead us for 30 min on some back roads. Not really what I had expected, but ok.
I had read a series of articles about the R18 and my impression was immediately: it’s all true. The seat it very low, like the centre of gravity. The bike is very easy to ride, despite its curb weight (345 kg). The design might be from the 30’s, but the ride is very smooth, super stable. The highlight is of course its massive motor. 900cc per cylinder. Oomph! >The sound is great, not too loud and annoying like so many other BMWs, but solid and quite attractive. I had the “Classic” model, i.e. with a wind shield and soft bags. And some flat boards. I had quite some trouble to shift the gears upwards. It was only after the ride that I realised that it had a heel toe shifter! The only thing that I noticed negatively: the max lean angle. I got the feet boards scratching on the ground by simply turning into another road! This is not a bike for canyon surfing…
Apart from the fantastic motor, what it so special about this cruiser? Well, unlike the Nine T, this is true retro. A truly beautiful bike. Full of citations, the quality is outstanding. Almost no plastic. Dedication for details. And what I like very much: simplicity. Modern bikes are full of bits and pieces that were somehow attached to the bike, without taste or aesthetics. This is back to simple design. Simply great to watch. I add a few pictures.
The next ride was with the S1000XR. Of course too slow in the group. The bike is the opposite of the Big Boxer. Plastic, high seat, TFT monitor, 4 cylinder high rev engine. Enormous power. A true fun bike.
So, would I buy a R 18? Well, I’m not a cruiser guy. But if I had to make a choice, the R 18 is a great bike to ride, with a great personality. And the looks are just great. Finally a modern retro bike that makes sense.
I rode home on my K1600 and concluded that it was a fantastic bike as well. One that suits me much better. Cruising or bombing along, it’s up to me.
This year’s review is a quite different. Well, the whole year was „different“. Maybe you noticed that the heading is not called „motorcycling review 2020“, but „a 2020 review on two wheels“. There is a reason. It has something to do with a small virus that changed many plans, also mine. It had planned to do a trip to the Western Balkans with my mate Stefan in June, visiting all the white spots on my imaginary maps. But this trip had to be postponed like so many things.
First, it started quite normal. End of January, I visited John’s gathering at the Pottal Pool House. I took the Chunnel train Friday evening and stay at the same cozy Inn in Thurnham like the year before. In the morning it was very cold and I had to de-frost the BMW before I could set off. With rising temperatures in sunshine and the heated gear, the ride to Cannock was a piece of cake. When I arrived at the roundabout next to John’s house, I thought I heard a starting jet plane. What the…? Before I entered the yard, it occurred to me what was going on….surrounded by some 50 bikers, John had started his „Easy Rider Jet“ moped. A curiosity. Impressive. Madness. Fun.
January 2020, bikers meeting at Pottal Pool House, Staffordshire.
I met a lot of known English riders and had a lot of nice talks. I stayed for the night at John’s place and his hospitality was very generous as usual. The next morning, I returned home, not knowing that this weekend was my only multi-day motorbike trip in the whole of 2020.
Last evening ride before Belgium went into lockdown…
Suddenly, the pandemic kicked in and just before Belgium went into lockdown, I did a final short ride with the „6“. Over the next weeks, I kept myself busy with a hilarious attempt to paint the panniers of the old Pan and another cowl for the one seater. I had found one in ebay and wanted to replace the one with an auxiliary tank. Do you know „oil change for men“? It slowly turned into this…
Still optimistic!
After the grinding and filling of the panniers, I applied a layer of primer, I realised that I had ordered the wrong colour!
Wrong colour!
Right, I had to order the correct primer and topcoat paint. After the base layer and the top layer, I realised the the colour was not the correct tone.
Closer colour, but again wrong!!
Bad quality. I ordered ANOTHER set of spray cans from another supplier, this time the colour should be right. I applied another layer of base paint. A first layer of top paint. And then happened what had to happen. Dust, flies and paint tears made the parts look like….. dung. I ordered special products to grind down of all the imperfections. Another top layers (several). Looked good.
The final result. Painting for men.
However, the last step (colourless varnish) did not seem to have worked properly, maybe the hardener did not do its job. Anyway, the job was finished. Looks ok, but I could have carried the parts to a professional painter, saving a lot of time and money. But, as I said, it was like an oil change for men….
I did a nice test ride with Pan. In June, I did a test ride with the cleaned XBR. In the following months, I did two short day trips to Luxemburg (I wanted to see some winding roads) and one quick ride to the Netherlands. And…..that was it. This was the motorbike year. Less than 3000 km. Never in my whole life since I was 15, I had done less kilometres in a year. Thank you, SARS-CoV-2!
This could be a short post, but remember, the article is about „two wheels“.
I always liked to cycle a lot, but in 2020, I was on fire. I cycled more than ever. During the last Christmas holidays, I did a lot of cycling in the mountains north of Valencia. When I climbed up the mountains on my old, but trusted Stevens hybride bike, an idea ripped in my brain: what about an e-bike? My intention was to cycle more to work, and this should lower the bar to cycle more and more often. One thing was clear: I wanted to have a speed pedelec (max. speed 45 km/h). I did a lot of research and tested extensively two brands: Stromer (the Swiss cycling equivalent to Mercedes-Benz) and M1-Sporttechnik (the Bavarian cycling equivalent to an Audi Sport Quattro S1). In the end, I ordered the M1 Spitzing, for a number of reasons. The bike is a multi purpose tool: I can blast to work if I want, or I can ride off-road on single trails. It is a full suspension, top-notch mountain bike with premium parts. The most powerful motor on the European market. AND it is produced 7 km from my Bavarian home place. Named after my favourite home mountain area, I had no other option than buying it :-) .
But first, I needed to order and wait for it. In the emerging COVID crisis, I cycled a lot with my old Stevens bike. I am using the Komoot app a lot, but this year I started to discover a lot of mountain bike routes in Belgium. Crossing the nearby border to the Netherlands wasn’t an option for most of the year, so I did a lot of cycling in the provinces of Antwerp and Limburg.
As I publish a lot of trips on my Komoot page, enriched with comments and nice pictures, I collected a lot of followers and points. Over the year, I visited lots of very nice places and routes.
Finally, I received by new bike on April 24 at noon. Wow, what a sight! I managed to get one of the last bikes of the old series that still has a higher top power than the newer „Evolution“ model.
I had to wait until after work to make my first test ride. I set off for a ride on the nearby mountain bike track. In the next hour, I blasted 28 km through the forest on small and large tracks. What a performance! Breathtaking! I was flying over the bumps. Deeply impressed, I returned home. Hmmm, I should still go to the grocery store. Why driving if I could take the new bike? Grab the backpack and take off, it’s only 30 minutes until they closed. I zoomed down my dead end street and wanted to turn around the corner. What happened next seemed like a film in ultra slow motion…to my surprise, there was an oncoming car in my trajectory!!! I did what I was used to do on my old bike: full slam on the breaks! While this might be a good idea on a hardtail bike with hydraulic rim breaks, it it is a very bad idea if the bike is equipped with brutal, hydraulic, four-piston disc breaks. Add this to a still unadjusted, too low damping suspension, and you get the perfect recipe to turn a kinetic energy of 9500 J directly into rotational motion, ultimately heating temporarily the impacted surface of the street by an estimated 1.2 degrees centigrade.
During my flight, I realised that the car was….a police car! F……k!!! I remembered that my bike did not have a road registration yet, there was only an empty number plate holder…meaning I was riding a not road legal vehicle….damn! After my salto, I quickly picked myself up, picked up the bike and leaned it against a wall with the empty number plate holder facing away from the two policemen who got out of the car, asking if I was alright. I mumbled something like „yeah, alright, no problem, I’m fine“….“but you’re bleeding“…“Oh?“ I touched my chin…indeed, the pulsating pain correlated with a big patch of blood in my hand. I felt in my mouth that at least two teeth were damaged…„ah, no problem, that’s nothing!“ I wanted to keep them away from the bike. „Can we help you?“…“Nono, I’m fine, I live not far from here in this street“….“Should we bring you home?“ Hell, no! „Thanks a lot, but I live 50 metres from, see, there, down the street“. They seemed convinced and wished me well…I pushed the damaged bike back home. Next stop hospital, emergency room. In the middle of a corona crisis, fantastic!
In the next two hours, I filled in the papers, by bruises and scratches were treated by some fantastic professionals and the big wound on my chin was stitched with three stitches. I also established contact with a dentistry help line, arranging a corona test and an emergency appointment at the University Hospital of Leuven.
Back home, I had a look at the poor bike: the control display shattered, the left break lever brace broken…the bike needed some thorough fixing!
Meanwhile, at the butcher, the young lads in the dental faculty in Leuven chiseled the smashed tooth out of my jaw. Yes, they chiseled. Pulling didn’t work, apparently they didn’t have a cutter…so they chiseled like some berserks. BAM – BAM – BAM!!! A traumatic experience, not to be repeated.
So the start with the new bike was suboptimal and I had to wait ten weeks (!) until I got it back from the dealer. In the meantime, I did more riding with my old Stevens. My bruises healed slowly (my right index finger still isn’t fully recovered) in the meantime. I understood was was going on: I had slammed so hard on the brakes that my chin smashed against the handlebar? lamp? and split one molar tooth completely and ruined another one partly. The latter could be saved, but the smashed one required a pontic later in the year. My first buy was a full face helmet, the bike’s top speed merited good protection. I had found out that the inner shell of the old helmet was completely smashed, gulp!
Later in the year, I got more and more protection. If you really want to blast on bumpy tracks with a 30, 35, 40 km/h or more, you better want to protect your head, knees, elbows, shoulders, back and chest. In November, I got me a closed downhill helmet with googles. Snugly for very low temperatures around the freezing point. I also invested a lot in optimising the outfit of the bike and the rider. As I had basically no expenses for motorbiking, I could afford it easily.
I finally could ride more advanced tracks and I was enjoying it. For the first time, I had a top notch full suspension mountain bike. AND the most powerful e-bike on the European market. A fantastic combination! In the past five and a half months, I rode a lot with it, in total 4300 km(!). As it was my intention, I commuted to work a lot (that’s some 28 km per day) AND I discovered a lot of new tracks in north-east Flanders. In September, I finally convinced MJ to do some long-distance touristic weekend rides together. We did a ride to Leuven and one to the Maas at the Eastern Belgian border. Each of the rides was a 160 two-day roundtrip and we both enjoyed it a lot. To be repeated next year!
I found out that I could push the range of my battery with a low speed. Now I know that the range depends if I go in „Hooray!“ mode (range 35 km) or in „Snail“ mode (range 90 km), anything in between is possible, depending on the riding style. Later in the year, I got me a second battery, from now on, I don’t have to worry about my range and just can have fun. And what a fun it is! Most people think that an electric bike rides on its own. Very wrong. The more you push, the more power you get back. You don’t realise how much you are pushing yourself. Very often, I arrive panting at work although I thought I had an easy ride.
The bike just asks for more, more, more. Pretty much like a juicy KTM motorbike. And it’s fun, fun, fun. Over the year, I lost quite some kilos without getting knee pain from stressing the joints too much under high load.
As some normal holidays were impossible, I spent twice two weeks at my someplace and did also some nice rides there, taking the „Spitzing“ bike to the Spitzing Mountains. I enjoyed blasting up the mountains. Unfortunately, too many stupid bikers have ruined mountain biking there and biking is only allowed on fire roads. But still, you can get up to visit some huts and have some fantastic views.
Spitzing!SpitzingseeHome Sweet Home…
At the end of the year, I have to conclude that I did some 3000 km on motorbikes and some 6000 km on the two bicycles! I’m sure there will be better motorbiking years again, but I definitively want to keep up the strong biking performance, it has given my fitness a boost that I want to keep.
For all the non-German speakers: here is the English translation of the text:
Of course, three decades connect, and the man would never give up his half-litre bike. Nevertheless, nobody thinks that Robert Koeber decided out of gratitude to make the pilgrimage to Kumamoto with an XBR 500. Across Russia to the Japanese Sea, then ferry, finally photo in front of the Honda plant. No, this Bavarian does so many crazy things with his motorcycles that the Honda shouldn’t think too much about it. Perhaps its origins were just an excuse to finally go to Vladivostok by land – and then across the Japanese Sea. After all Koeber has, among other things, an old Honda Pan European and a posh BMW K 1600 GT and acknowledges with a smile: “If I want to arrive somewhere for sure, I’ll take the XBR.”
So it is in his good books? Even before the Far East trip, this judgment was based on well over 350,000 kilometers together. Correctly read. 350,000 kilometers, collected on countless alpine tours, extensive trips through nearby and distant countries. The old lady had even traveled to North America, but more about that later.
So Japan then. The idea had been conceived while studying a world map many years ago, but had to wait for various reasons, until it finally materialised in spring 2019. One of the bureaucratic monsters that unfortunately affects any long-distance trip was that Japan does not allow motor vehicles registered in Germany on its roads. But it does accept them from Belgium, and that’s a solution, because Robert now lives and works there, and so he sacrificed his 32-year-old number plate. Otherwise, he trusted the tried-and-tested set-up, to say: a fully standard engine, but ventilated by a new Mikuni flat slide carburettor, a standard fork, Ikon struts and a massively reinforced frame. Not to forget the taller handlebar of a Honda Bol d’Or and the lush day-long seat, a part custom-made by the US specialist Russell that even takes into account seating position, size and weight.
When he leaves on May 30th, Robert is not alone. As planned three years earlier, the Englishman John Young, an old hand on an almost as old Triumph Trident, accompanied him. The men know each other, are friends. “Otherwise you can’t do that, trust is important.” The planned trip is ambitious, 17 days should suffice to get to Vladivostok. But John has to admit that this tight travel plan overwhelms the Triumph as well as himself at this point, and trust pays off even in such hardships. He doesn’t need to spend a lot of time to explain himself, he just quits in Moscow, amicably. Until then, crossing the border into Russia had been the greatest adventure. Waiting over twelve hours with a growing fear of possibly not being able to cross. The road conditions east of Moscow would soon be entertaining.
The XBR knows that. Syria, Namibia and Malawi are not exactly known for consistently smooth asphalt. These and many other countries in the Middle East, Europe and Africa have taught Robert that long-distance travel does not require a large enduro. “But a light, frugal motorcycle.” A simple system, the monitoring of which has became second nature, the mechanical sounds that are as familiar as your own breath. Actually a matter of course since motorcyclists have gone on long journeys, unfortunately this has been somewhat forgotten, because electronic assistance systems nowadays promise comfort. Until the first fall, when the whole cart goes on strike just because it has lost a turn signal.
Can’t happen with the XBR. But it also needs tyres, and because of the tight schedule and the expected thin workshop network, Robert drags two complete wheels through Siberia. He carries spark plugs, hand levers, clutch cable, speedometer cable, brake pads, ignition coil and CDI box on spare parts; He can leave the rocker arm and camshaft at home: Because the valve stem seals had to be replaced shortly before the start, he has a clear view of the condition of the cylinder head. If anything, the XBR engine can cause grief in the sophisticated control of its radially arranged four valves. Most likely a rocker arm or the camshaft itself. But not with this engine …
And anyway: Even with the rocker arm completely ground away, this XBR has already brought him home. He has never ever broke down with it since 1987. It was a used vehicle, two years old, just a few kilometers. The student Koeber had still enjoyed the test ride with a nominal 44 HP, but as he only had the small license, the power had to be reduced at first. Little by little the money borrowed from the father was paid back. The XBR fits. It also fits while studying chemistry, because nothing ever really broke, the Bavarian-born was able to spend the little money he had left in the Alps. He finishes the first 100,000 km five years after the purchase, and needed another seven for the second.
When Robert reached Lake Baikal on June 9, 2019, the speedometer of his XBR was almost four times around. The two of them pull off between 700 and 800 kilometers a day and are fully on schedule. The system works, in the evening the XBR gets around 0.2 liters of oil; when the road is smooth, it is allowed to run at a good 110 km/h and feels extremely comfortable. Only the carburettor that overflows from time to time is a bit worrying. And sometimes the construction site density or long deep gravel sections. They can mess up the average quite a bit, then it will take longer to the planned hotel – and writing the blog. “Actually, I’ve always written a travel diary,” reveals Robert, but this time he takes it very seriously and reports on the latest news. Maybe because so many – “Often over 700!” – are following his trip?
In Vladivostok, horse and rider take a short break, the ferry via South Korea to Japan only leaves in three days. Time enough to take care of the good Honda and mount her spare wheels. So it would not have been necessary to drag them along, because there are plenty of workshops in Japan.
„Well, not really.“ The experienced long-distance traveler has to smile. “Just because you don’t need a part on a trip, you can’t leave it at home. Spare parts work like insurance. “Okay, we understand. This time Robert needed insurance against broken speedometer cables somewhere behind Krasnoyarsk, which he booked with the wheels under necessary expenses. And he tells his followers right away that the old Comstar wheels, including the worn tyres, have landed in a scrap yard in Vladivostok.
He no longer needs them. In addition to its Japan-XBR, there is still an almost new one with only 3000 kilometers, another with a really brisk 600 engine and lots of parts. Once it became clear that this Honda belonged to him, Robert struck time and again. And so there were always good engines that he only had to install. His number one XBR is currently running, blubb-blubb-blubb, with engine number six. “The engines never went, but the new ones just ran better.” And he immediately added that a good buddy had made over 155,000 kilometers with the first engine.
In Japan, he has to discover that the bikers there pay more attention to Yamaha’s SR than his beloved Honda. No problem, he dived into the breathless collection of cultural and historical impressions anyway, experiencing enchanted landscapes, Japanese warmth and perfection, enjoying wonderful food. “A fabulous travel destination full of polite people.” In between, he still pursues the goal of his trip: The XBR 500 is supposed to see its place of birth, the large Honda plant in Kumamoto. Robert would love to visit the factory and did some research on the way. This is theoretically possible, but requires a written application months in advance. In Japanese. His attempts to arrange something via Honda Germany had resulted in deep frustration with the Offenbachers. Unfortunately, the gatekeepers on site remain unaffected by his history and long journey, and so he glances to the factory just as wistfully as the XBR. No entry.
This journey took a full 40 days, and since October the Honda is back in Belgium. Mileage: 384,000 km. A brand new engine is stored next to her parking lot in Robert’s garage. So the story will continue, of course, and preferably again to North America. To the Iron Butt Rally. No, to THE Iron Butt Rally. Robert already contested in such a scavenger hunt with his XBR in 2002 and was immediately enthusiastic. Planning, discipline, perseverance – everything made for him. The old guys will remember that the legendary Scout trophy once fascinated many leather butts in Germany. Iron Butt works in a similar way: Between some more or less distant waypoints, there are destinations whose documented visit brings more or fewer points.
The mother of all Iron Butt rallies is held in the United States and lasts eleven days. You have to be invited to it. Because Robert and his XBR already were successful in Europe, they were allowed to start in 2013 in the hopeless class. If you want to win, drive Pan European, Gold Wing or Yamaha FJR. Robert just wanted to get there at the finish, be a finisher, and he gave it all: changing tyres had taken him many hours, finally he could leave Pittsburgh. He paused at the Mississippi, and at some point he looked for a hotel. There was none. When one popped up, he was wide awake and continued. A storm kept him awake in Wyoming; when he got off his day long seat in Salt Lake City, he had rode 3500 kilometers in one go. He arrived at finish without being an official finisher due to a lack of sufficient points, because at some point the transmission went on strike and only knew third gear. On his XBR! On THIS XBR. When it was over, all the gears came back little by little. Nevertheless or precisely because: the XBR owns him one.
This year was dominated by one big trip, the one to Japan. But some other things happened as well, although in a more limited way: when you spend almost six weeks on a big trip, there is little time left for other things. But that’s all right.
If 2018 was a K1600GT year, 2019 was a XBR500 year. The „beast’ rolled only 10.000 km this year. This is not a problem, it means it stays longer „fresh“ and if I would do every year 36.000 km like in 2018, the nice new bike wouldn’t stay nice and new. Instead, I did some 20.000 km on XBRs, more than in many years.
As I had committed myself to develop and run a 12 hour Magic12 rally in Belgium, I started in winter and spring to scout and visit the rally locations. The plan was to include a lot of weird places in the rally. In this process, I discovered a lot of bizarre spots in Belgium, these were funny trips.
Some of the planned bonus point locations of the M12 Rally later that year.
I used my ST1000 Pan European for the first time since 2017 for these trips. I had fixed all issues after the Iron Butt Rally in 2017, at least I thought. I had placed a new after market fuel pump, but the bike was running too rich, in the end it even „extinguished“ the sparks. Well, it turned out that the pump built up too much pressure and as it didn’t fit into the hose, the pressure restrictor could not be used. Thanks to Johannes and his provided original pump, the bike was running fine again.
Finally the Pan is back on track.
In March and April I was busy with preparations for the Japan trip: as Japan does not allow German registered vehicles into Japan, I had to give up my 32 year old classic number plate and ask for a Belgian one. What a sacrifice. But as it turned out later, this was necessary to get the trip done. I had to build the tyre rack for the XBR, one of the most ingenious and crazy ideas I ever had. Thanks to Stefan, the problem of the smoking XBR was resolved last minute and the big trip could start.
Just before the trip, I attended my 9th Brit Butt Rally in May. After winning the previous four rallies between 2015 and 2018, I wanted to have some fun and go to Scotland. This wish materialised and my cunning plan included going to Inverness, Skye, Fort William before returning to Wales and England. In the first 12 hours, I was well following the plan which in retrospect should have resulted in another win this year.
Rua Reidh Lighthouse on Scotland’s North-Western coast.
However, a leaking front tyre on the K1600GT destroyed this plan as I had no electric pump with me (’tis broken). As regular inflating did not work well, continued riding in the rainy Highlands was not possible. I called the day early in my pre-reserved hotel in Fort William.
Here we go again…
Martin Buck gave me his electric pump, this was so much appreciated. Some phone calls revealed that I could not get help from a tyre shop until two days later. This meant the rally was over, the objective was now to return to the rally HQ. Cold-heartedly, I increased the tyre pressure to over 4 bars (80 psi) in order to get to Glasgow. Quite breathtaking, riding like this on wet Highland roads. In Glasgow I inflated again. At the next service station on the motorway, I discovered that a huge oil puddle was forming under my bike which resulted from a run-over kerb of a petrol station in Fort William where I had spotted a pump. This was the end of the trip for the BMW. The famous John Young rescue service jumped in action and some hours later, we loaded my bike in his van; I took his bike, retrieved my luggage from the rally HQ and returned to Belgium on his bike. John delivered my bike to the local BMW service in Wolverhampton where it received a new oil sump. It was also discovered that the root cause was a not perfectly fixed tyre valve, I had my tyres changed just before the rally. When I was in Japan, John brought my bike in this van to Belgium and picked up his own bike. In other words: WOW!
Russian road code…
I have written enough about the fantastic trip to Russia and Japan this year, but here is the recap again. If it wouldn’t be such a long trip, I would like to repeat and visit the Northern part of Japan as well. The XBR arrived late in Antwerp, but it arrived in considerably less time than in 2017/2018, i.e. in three instead eight months. With papers this time.
Shikoku coast, Japan.
Back at home, I finally finished the project to get my grey „Café Racer“ XBR500 on track. The bike had received a 600cc motor, a new Mikuni sports carb and a big, open sport air filter in lieu of the big, bulky air box. New, stylish indicators needed a new electronic relay. Now I wanted to pass the „HU“ („MOT“) for the first time in 12 (!) years. Choosing the right station (young examiners have no idea of old motorbikes anymore) and attenuating the mighty sound coming from the air filter (with the help of a towel) were key in obtaining the needed sticker. The bike was in an excellent shape for the next trip: another XBR-Alpentour in the Alps (obviously).
From 1994 to 2014, I had organised a yearly XBR-Alpentour in August, ranging from four to ten riding days per event. After a decline in participant numbers, I stopped in 2015. This year, my old friends and I decided to revive it again and to do another tour together in the Northern Italian Alps, just the highlights of the Trentino and Veneto. Great roads, great biking, great company. The only downside was that we had to deliver Mario to a hospital with a broken clavicle on the last day. This was a bit of a bummer, but he’s already back on track. The sporty, grey XBR ran fantastic, what a fun! It felt indeed like in the old days.
After a lot of final preparations, I acted as rally master for the Magic12 rally in Belgium. I hosted Bob Stammers who introduced me into electronic scoring with his software. The rally lasted 12 hours, only on Belgian soil, had individual starting points and a common finish on a boat where we also had dinner and the ceremony. Apart from some hiccups (nothing ever runs perfect), the rally was a success IMO and I received good appraisal from participants. The rally was overshadowed by the accident of John Young on his Triumph Trident in Antwerp the day before the rally; he had also broken his clavicle, in a painful way. During the rally, the rally team sorted out his repatriation to England and arranged the storage of his bike in my garage.
Here we go again again…
Three weeks later, I participated in the smallest rally in the yearly rally calendar: the eight hour Jorvik Rally in Yorkshire. I wanted to participate at least once successfully in a rally this year. I could kill two birds with one stone: I rented a big van, put John’s Trident and my XBR600 in there and returned John’s bike. The next day, I participated in the rally. I was quite nice to ride with the small XBR through the scenic Yorkshire backroads. When the rain was gone and the roads got dry, it was real fun! The finish was located at the famous Squires Café. The little XBR won its first rally, but the motor already its third. Power is not decisive in short rallies, agility is much more of the essence.
Back in Belgium, I started the planning for the next Alpenbutt Rally in 2021 when something very unexpected happened. Out of the blue, I was confronted with a wave of allegedly very negative feedback about the rallies I had organised as a rally master so far. Allegedly, they were so bad that the future of IBA Germany’s rallies was supposed to be in question. It sounded as if all my contributions to the work of the IBAG in the last years were a total disaster.
I know that nothing is ever perfect and that you never can please all people. I was aware of some shortcomings that should be improved and had plans for it. I am always open to constructive criticism and had always been super transparent about the rally planning in detail. I had always announced to make demanding rallies so no-one should be surprised when they actually are….demanding. The wave of positive feedback I had received, especially for the Alpenbutt Rally in 2017, had been so overwhelming that no grumpy hecklers can take this away.
However, what took me by surprise was the negativity, aggression and breach of trust I was confronted with. I am always prepared to discuss anything in a fair and open way, but when things turn sour, intimidating and personal, that’s where it ends. That’s the moment when you have to take a decision. And there was only one option: to stop any activity for the IBA Germany. So no more organisation of rides or rallies for me. No more Alpenbutt Rally. Enough is enough.
It is not a look back in anger. I had invested a lot in this during the last years and it was fun while it lasted. I realise now how busy these activities kept me in the last five years. It’s time to move on and to close a door behind me. Let’s look forward.
In October, I spent some days in Barcelona and as my plan to ride down there
Costa Brava
could not materialise, I rented a new BMW 1250 GS for two days. I rode up and down my favourite roads at the Costa Brava and its hinterland and had a great time. At a certain point, I got „sea sick“ after surfing through myriads of fantastic bends. It is understandable why the GS has won the „Alpenmasters“ trophy by MOTORRAD so many times. A very balanced motorbike that is a very good compromise for different riding styles and roads. I really enjoyed it. But it is also clear that there are better bikes for this kind of roads. It’s its versatility that makes it so attractive.
Back in Germany, I managed to get the HU (MOT) for my 2000 km, collector-item, brand-new looking and riding XBR500, for the first time since 2004 (it’s basically only standing in the shed)! And I managed! I rode some 200 km with it, more than in the last 18 years. It’s fantastic to ride with this bike when everything is working perfectly and has the feel of a bike fresh from the plant.
And this was already the end of this year’s riding for me. No winter riding for me currently. Anyway, it should be time to get my gear in order. All of it needs a thorough wash and some repair (I burnt my trouser legs on the XBR).
In late October, I got a visit from Fred Siemer, a known journalist from MOTORRAD CLASSIC. He visited me a whole day and asked me lots of questions. Thanks to choice from mainet.de for arranging this contact. Fred plans to write an article about the XBR’s trip to Japan this year. Let’s see what comes out of it.
So what’s on the menu for 2020? Well, I have realised one thing: from 1994 onwards, I was always busy arranging some great motorbiking for others, be it the Alpentours, IBA rides or rallies. I like to share my knowledge with other people.
In 2020, it is the first time that I have no plans for this. My calendar is absolutely empty. This opens completely new possibilities! In the long term, I still want to visit South America, but let’s focus on Europe first. There are still some white spots on the maps, countries that I haven’t visited with the XBR yet. I decided to call these places the „missing 15“. They were left aside up to now, so let’s make it an objective to visit them all, without a time limit. Countries include: Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Bosnia-Hercegowina, Cyprus, Estonia, Iceland, Kosovo, Malta, Moldavia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, San Marino, Ukraine.
What about a trip to the Western Balkans next year? Seems very attractive :-)
When I sat in front of a world map some 15 years ago and asked myself which travels I should add to my bucket list, a journey to Japan came to my mind. As I prefer to ride and not fly to distant places, the route was basically determined – there is only one direct route to Japan – and it leads through Russia, passing Moscow and the Lake Baikal, leading to Vladivostok at the Pacific coast. Another idea was to bring back the XBR to its home place. It seemed something obvious.
A higher priority had to trip through Africa, I wanted to do this first. The third trip was a journey through South America, this is the one that is left now.
It took many years to make this happen, but now it’s over. Let’s have a look back what has happened in these 40 days. 40 days are an important number in mythology, many famous trips of askesis and alleged enlightenment took 40 days. During the actual journeys, you encounter a lot of situations when you say to yourself: ‚I need to remember this!‘. However, many of these little anecdotes get lost along the way. Often they are forgotten or later not deemed important enough to make it to a daily report. There is also the daily pressure to write a report in the evening, sometimes you’re just too tired to remember everything. When you’re travelling alone, you can maintain a daily reporting schedule. What really drives you then is the pressure that you run into a back log of reports, and that’s what you want to avoid. In order to note down the impressions during a trip, I had been thinking of a technical solution based on speech-to text recording while riding, but this has not materialised yet.
Let’s approach this look back in a Japanese or German manner, properly structured, in an organised way!! LOL
The preparations
In contrast to the trip to Africa in 2011, my preparations started rather late and in a relaxed way. After a series of long distance journeys in the last 15 years with no or manageable problems (Syria and Lebanon, Tunisia, Oman and Iran, Ironbutt Rally in USA and Canada, Kenya to Namibia), I had apparently gained so much confidence in the XBR, that I felt very relaxed about the upcoming adventure. I would have liked to do more testing kilometres before, but the set-up was well known, except for the tyre rack. This was the part that I was most nervous about. Luckily the problem with the valve seal popped up just in time and I’m so thankful to Stefan that he could make some time and help me fixing this. Apart from this, the making of the tyre rack (thanks to Heinz for his help) was the most time consuming preparation.
For the rest, I was carrying lots of spares I knew that I would not need them, but, just in case….it could be a show stopper when a small part breaks down and you cannot replace it.
The change from the German to the Belgian bike registration was tedious, but necessary. Without it, I could not have started nor ended the trip. This bureaucratic procedure absorbed much of my attention in the months before the start.
My decision to leave a lot of luggage at home was absolutely right. I had already some overweight due to the spare wheels, but the riding was so much better. I could wash part of my clothes, so carrying only a small selection of clothes is absolutely sufficient.
So this low level of preparation was absolutely appropriate.
The performance of the bike
Well, what can I say…Could it be any better? The only ‚repair‘ in 15.000 km was a worn speedometer cable, one lost and one loose bolt! OK, one bolt of the rack I could not tighten, but it didn’t matter. The biggest nuisance was probably the occasionally leaking carb, but this is an after-market part and should not have given me this problem, after all it was new. As long as its happened only occasionally, I tried to avoid opening the carburettor.
The gear box is XBR-untypical clunky, but it is doing its job! The rest….close to perfection. The oil consumption was ok, in the midrange with 5 L in 15.000 km. It’s an air-cooled one cylinder motor from 1985 that was pushed through Russia, not at top speed, but not very smooth either.
The motor did what a XBR motor does all the time: its job. Steadily and reliable. I treated it with care though. Not so much out of consideration for the motor, but for all the other parts.
What surprised me more was the quiet suffering of the other moving parts that are not related to motor or transmission. Wheels, bearings, the frame and above all the suspension took a million hits. The bike had seen worse roads, but it was the sheer quantity of bumps, potholes, ramps and gravel that put the shocks under great pressure. I’m really impressed by this. I’m using reinforced after-market IKON shocks, but still, they are more than 90.000 km old and deserve some proper maintenance now.
Was it really necessary to carry two entire wheels through Russia, carry the extra weight and risking a fall on slippery roads? In retrospect: no. But still my thinking was correct. I had assumed that the tyres would last until Vladivostok, but the decision was subjected to a rigorous prioritisation. This is also the basis for good rally results: What are you top priorities? Getting to Vladivostok in little time without the risk of a huge problem due to a lack of tyre changers or flat tyres in Eastern Siberia? There you go!
Splitting the team
John asked me some years ago if he could join the trip and later he changed his part to a RTW trip. I welcomed him as a team member as I knew he is a tough guy and has proven his endurance in a lot of rallies and trips. We have always good conversations and get along with each other very well. This is an important point when you go on an adventurous trip. Group dynamics can destroy any party but the personal component was on track in this team. His bike had finished the Ironbutt Rally in 2011 and proven its durability.
However, it was some months before the trip when things did not go so well for him. You can plan things for years, and then life takes a different turn. The circle of life is something nobody has control over and fate always strikes at the wrong time. So John had other, more important things to do that kept him busy in the weeks before the start of the trip. Not only was he delayed in looking after his bike, but also his mental balance could not be unaffected. So the last weeks before the set-off were not optimal for him. It was worrying me a bit as I knew that we had a tough ride in front of us, we had no other option than to catch the ferry in Vladivostok. This was quite some psychological burden for me, but it was even more for John.
During the three and a half days we rode together, I noticed that this was not the normal John Young I knew. He was quickly physically and mentally exhausted and the tough part of the trip had not even begun. I tried to cheer him up and hoped that he still would find his way into the trip, getting into the flow.
I know that it must have been a tough decision for him to pull out so quickly, but I know it showed great quality. He assessed his situation, considering the performance of his bike and took the right decision at the right time. This is an important quality of long distance riders to know when they have to pull the plug. It’s never an easy decision, but there are more important things in life that play a role. An exhausted rider is a danger to himself and to others. During the rider meetings of the Ironbutt Rally, riders are strongly reminded that they are not alone in this world, it’s their families and loved ones who want them to return safely. So when a rider takes the difficult, but correct decision to pull out, it shows great responsibility. I know that John also did not want to affect my trip as well and I am very grateful for his consideration. This trip together did not work out, but there will be other opportunities.
The roads
It is normal to be nervous before large, adventurous trips. You don’t know what is ahead of you. You can read about it, but you’ll only know when you finally get there. For this trip, no gravel roads were planned, but I had heard frightening stories about the roads in Eastern Russia. That was a reason of concern for me. My bike is small and carries a lot of weight. Its luggage rack is reinforced, it has the best front and back suspension you can get for this bike, but every material can only take a certain amount of physical stress before it breaks. Slippery surfaces were also a big concern, the front wheel could lose grip and any fall, as small as it fight be, could be the end of the trip. Remember the priority setting?
In the end, roads were much better than expected in Russia. The construction of the trans-Siberian highway has made a lot of progress and road surfaces improve every years. There are still a lot of contraction sites, but they will be gone in the next year. New ones will come, but the quality of roads improve quickly. The part between Ulan-Ude and Vladivostok was a nightmare, but now most of these 3000 km are quite ok and no problem for adventure bikes. My XBR may be adventurous, but one has to be careful though.
As expected, Japanese roads are excellent, also in the mountains. The only annoying thing is the slow traffic in urban areas, it is very safe, but painfully slow. Motorways and rural roads are ok though because nobody respects the ridiculously low speed limits of 40 or 50 km/h on normal roads and 70 or 80 km/h on motorways.
The weather
My initial plan was to go in August/September. The reason was to have warm temperatures in Siberia and avoiding the humidity in Japan. However, John could only go in June, so we set the start date to end of May. It could have been much worse, very cold in Siberia and permanent torrential rain in Japan during the rainy season. However, it wasn’t.
There were a few cool days in Siberia, some rainy, but I never had a whole day of rain. In Eastern Siberia, temperatures were ok. In Japan, it was very warm and humid. The first days were quite nice, but then the rainy season started. Rain was not too hard and lasted only for some hours. It could have been much worse.
So overall I think I was quite lucky.
The priorities
Well, the priorities were very simple during this trip:
Don’t fall.
Stay healthy. (this is linked to 1.)
Have fun.
I am very happy that I accomplished all of them. Despite many critical situations, I managed to keep the bike upright and the black side down.
I stayed healthy, Mr Montezuma could not find me. I am even healthier than before.
And I had a lot of fun, saw and experienced a lot of new things and made the acquaintance of great people.
Statistics
~15.000 km
No fall
5 L motor oil
~ 0.8 L chain lube
One motor oil change
One speedo cable
Three Russian tickets with ‚supplementary‘ fees
One Japanese warning
A whole travel budget well spent
Lots of new people met
Highest number of daily visits of my blog ever (724, July 2nd)
Problems (‚challenges‘ in Newspeak)
Well, very little actually.
The border crossing into Russia. The 12.5 hours set my own new personal record.
The annoying theft of my left side cover in Nizhny Novgorod. Had no consequences.
The aggressive watchdog of the hotel in Ufa. Escaped.
The horror road avoiding Kasachstan. Stayed on the bike.
The loose and broken luggage rack. Solved, I carried cable ties.
The rumble in the jungle in Ulan-Ude. I carried imodium.
The supposedly failing gearbox. It wasn’t. M10 key is your friend.
The unclear situation at the drop-off. As usual, it all turns out fine.
The people along the way
Although I crossed seven countries during the ride, there are only two where I truly met people: Russia and Japan. I’ve spent over five weeks in both countries so I it is safe to say that I gained a little insight into the mentality of the two countries. It is of course only scratching the surface, a first impression. Overall (as usual), I met a lot of nice and friendly people along the way, in line with the famous quote of Mark Twain: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” I try hard to remember negative encounters and it is really difficult. Hmmmm…my stolen side cover in Nizhni Novgorod…the bloody watchdog in Ufa….the unfriendly ladies in the hotel in Sayansk…same for the hotel in Skovorodino…some ladies in some petrol stations in the Russian east…cheating petrol stations near the Baikal…the Japanese bus driver that shouted at me “あと!!! (ato/later!)” when I got on the bus and made three attempts to pay for a ticket without understanding that you had to pay when leaving the bus. But….I think that’s about it.
On the other side of the balance, however, there are many nice memories of meeting people such as…the Austrian bikers in Lithuania…the people in the queue at the Russian border…little chats with Russians at the petrol stations….chats with Russian riders…Alexandr from Moscow on his ST1300…the super-friendly receptionist in Krasnoyarsk…friendly pedestrians…lots of friendly waiters/waitresses…Yuri, the great fixer from Vladivostok…Tatiana and Ryo, two perfect fixers from DBS Ferries…Timoteo, the Spanish-speaking Russian in Vlad…the Japanese hospitality in ryokans…Japanese bikers…the people from Café Tippel…Japanese British car drivers…the mechanic from the Bike Bomber garage in Hida…the staff of Ryokan Yatsusankan in Hida…the papermaker in Ainokura…the taxi driver in Matsumoto…the policemen in Tokio….Aki and Toru from the “Desperado” bar in Tokio…Mrs Omiya and Mrs Takada from DHL in Nagoya…Ryo the bike guide in Kyoto…Seung and Rosalind from Singapore…the chef from Kashin in Kyoto…Professor Hidenaga-san from Tokyo…just to mention the most obvious.
Except the “grumpy” part between Ulan-Ude and Chabarowsk, people in Russia were very friendly and helpful. The attitude of the Japanese is just fantastic! Outstanding kindness and hospitality. Everyone tries very hard not to annoy other people, this is very relaxing. Interacting with other people is all about respect.
The food
The food in Russia was quite good. I enjoyed the soups, the dishes, even in the Far East it was all right and had I no reminiscence of the behind-the-iron-curtain kitchen back before the fall of the Berlin wall.
Japan is paradise for foodies. It seems that Japanese think all the time about food, food, food. It’s everywhere, in different forms and levels, but always good. You can spend lots of money for fine dining or just have some simple, but delicious street food. Staying in ryokans means you have to skip lunch, the very elaborate breakfast is equivalent to a full English breakfast, only so much more delicious and sophisticated. The dinners there were always surprising and showed a reference to Japanese aesthetics. Many different styles and dishes offer something for everyone. The quality is ranging from good to outstanding. Freshness of ingredients is unmatched.
The feedback
This blog exists for a while, eight years so far. There have been peaks of interest during longer trips (Africa, the Ironbutt Rally in 2013 and 2017), but I had not expected such a wave of visits, comments and positive feedback! A lot of people seemed to be pleased with it and I could see that there were not only regular, returning visitors, but also a spreading of the reports to the vastness that is called “the internet”. Much to my surprise, I received a lot of positive to enthusiastic comments from readers, especially from native speakers. This is very flattering, because I think that my English leaves a lot to be desired as I can’t express myself in the same way as I could in German, I am missing a lot of eloquence when writing in a foreign language. But a lot of the readers seem to have liked it, so I take notice with a pleased humbleness. Thank you all very much for your feedback!
Most memorable moments
The moment when 750 min of waiting time were over and we could finally leave the Russian border post…
The short visit to the Red Square in Moscow, having successfully made a picture…
Saying goodbye to John in Moscow, knowing it was the right decision for him…
The moment it rained for the first time in Russia on a terrible road and my adrenaline reached new heights…
When I realised that my “plan” for Russia was realistic and I could ‘pull this one off’…
Crossing the Volga in Nizhni Novgorod…
Riding through the endless taiga with grassland and birch trees…
Dealing with Russian policemen…
Leaving the horror road in Бердюжье (Berdyushye)…
Seeing the Lake Baikal for the first time…
Crossing the Amur River in Chabarovsk…
Riding 400 km of the last 700 km to Vladivostok in permanent alert mode…
Looking down on the Zolotoy Bridge in Vladivostok…
First view of the Japanese coastline…
Leaving the harbour in Sakaiminato…
Walking through the Peace Park in Hiroshima…
Eating Okonomiyaki in Hiroshima…
Visiting Miyayima island…
Riding around Shikanoshima island…
Eating Teppanyaki in Fukuoka…
Arriving at the Honda factory in Kumamoto…
Talking to the family of Café Tippel…
Riding in the caldera of Mount Aso…
Riding through the Iya valley on Shikoku island…
The oil change in Hida…
The stay in the ryokan Yatsusankan…
The thatched houses in Shirakawa-go and Gokayama…
The valleys in the Japanese Alps…
Ginza and the Tsukiji market in Tokyo…
The fun with Aki and Toru in the Desperado bar…
The successful goodbye to the XBR…
The ride in the Shinkansen…
The walking and cycling through Kyoto…
And many more!
Conclusion
A ride of a lifetime. Like my previous big journeys in the last 13 years, without any big issues. I arrived back home well rested and relaxed. This is due to a good planning, a careful execution of the plan, the absence of bad luck and a reliable motorcycle that carries you anywhere you want to go. Compared to what could have gone wrong, a perfect outcome. Before the trips, the adventure always seems so overpowering, but in retrospect, it was so easy to do. This is probably the broadening of one’s horizon that Mark Twain spoke about. With every journey, the world gets a bit smaller, but more familiar.
Saturday: My hotel provided a very elaborate breakfast – it is a small hotel, but they put a lot of effort in details, such as breakfast. Not too big, but prepared with quite some inspiration. A good start into the day. I had booked a guided bicycle tour for today. I went to the main station and had some trouble to find the meeting point, but I arrived on time. There was only another couple from Singapore, Seung and Rosalind. Our guide was Ryo, a young student from Kyoto who does these tours frequently. Her English was very good as she had spent 6 months in Canada.
On the program were to visit to a Buddist and a Shinto temple plus the ‘Philisopher’s path’. In fact she showed as a little more. Her explanations were very good and we learned a lot. Seung and Ros were also travelling in Japan for two weeks and it turned out that they were also adventure bikers! Seung was even planning to do his first Ironbutt ride in Malaysia.
A bicycle is the perfect vehicle to get around in Kyoto and there are lots of them. We went also to an aqueduct, built some 100 years ago in “European” style. It is something exotic in Kyoto.
Our guide Ryo told us many things about the city and some details that were very interesting. For example, she suddenly stopped at a vending machine like you see one at every corner in Japan, they are everywhere. But this one was different. It contained booze. That’s new! One of only two in the city. Very interesting for teenagers.
Luckily it was cloudy, but the humidity and going uphill let the sweat flow again. After the Philopher’s path (where an ancient philosopher used to walk to his faculty), we stopped for some tea and local sweets.
We passed by another temple as we got closer to the touristic area. I asked Ryo if the ladies dressed in Kimonos in the streets were locals or just tourists who rented a kimono. She said “100 % tourist!”
We went back through small roads to the place of the bicycle rent. This was really a nice and very informative trip in good company! Seung, Rosalind and I decided to have lunch together. Thanks to Ryo for the good guided tour!
A good trip with nice people!
We three went to the station and found the restaurant recommended by Ryo closed. But there are restaurants in abundance, so soon we were sitting in a cooooooool place and ordered good food. We chatted for more than two yours about motorbikes and our trips.It was great fun. And of course they both ride Honda! They had been already to the Honda museum in Motegi that I deliberately had left out. Well, you can’t have it all. We exchanged our social media locations and said farewell.
As I was already in the station, I visited the Isetan shopping centre. The food section is mind boggling. A “I wanna try it all’ place.
I bought some souvenirs and was impressed by all the different fancy shops. Well, I’m easy to impress, I’m just a hillbilly, haha! I walked back to the hotel and had a well needed shower. I planned my last real dinner in Japan. All the good places were north of the station, but I was not in the mood to walk a lot again. But then I discovered a place very close to the hotel. A family-run business with classic Japanese Kaiseki cuisine and excellent reviews. Let’s go there!
The chef of Kaishen (“good time”) at work.
It was really classic, taking off shoes, a small place and I got a place at the counter, directly opposite of the the chef, a young lady and her father who were preparing the dishes in front of me. The place was full and the lady seemed stressed and tired, but both prepared the dishes with great routine and dedication. I ordered the big Japanese dinner, after all it was my last Japanese dinner of the trip. It was really great food and great fun to watch its preparation.
Next to me there was a man at the counter and I started a conversation with him. It turned out he was an ophthalmologist and professor who gave a talk at a conference in Kyoto. He presented some work on drug delivery using drug-releasing contact lenses. Very interesting. I told him that I also had worked once on novel drug delivery systems and we had a good conversation topic.
Merited my highest appraisals: very tasty yellowtail with vegetables (the fish is a bit hidden).
As I had ordered the large dinner, I was the last guest in the restaurant. I had a conversation with the chef and it seemed she finally could relax, having a funny talk with me. I told her that I was impressed by her good English, having in mind that she never had left Kyoto. She told me that she was not the boss here. Her boss was her father. And her father’s boss was her mother! I praised her good food and she was very thankful, this honours the cook. It was a classic farewell in the street, with waving and bows. An excellent choice.
Sunday: I had another good breakfast and checked out. I walked to the station and left my two bags in a locker. I took the metro and visited the Nijo-jo castle. It is an UNESCO world heritage and played an important role in the history of Japan. The centuries under the Shogun power and the samurais started and ended in this castle.
Nijo-jo Castle. The entrace portal to the palace.
In the old palace rooms, no pictures could be taken. Inside the palace are several masterpieces of Japanese art, most notably the painted screens of the main chamber. In this room the shoguns met the daimyo (high-ranking warlord-administrators) who sought an audience. The screens were painted by artists of the Kano school and employ rich colors and large amounts of gilt to depict flowers, trees, birds and tigers. They were meant to impress. Also in the palace are the famous “nightingale floors,” which were designed to squeak when steped on and thus alert guards to any intruders.
I walked around in the garden started to melt again. In a ‘rest area’ I bought a green tea ice cream, so I could enjoy the freshness of the air condition.
The garden with the pond.
I took the metro and went back to the station. I entered a place where they make Otonomiyaki, Kyoto style, different from Hiroshima’s. But tasty as well. I got my bags and embarked the Shinkansen. It was Sunday, so the train was pretty full ( I had no reserved seat). I was sent to the correct wagon by the conductor. By the way: when the conductor enters or leaves the wagon, he/she bows first. I have met quite some different conductors in my life…
In Nagoya, I had to change trains, the stations are even separated. Finally I arrived at the Nagoya airport again and walked to the same hotel I was three nights before. In the restaurant, they had only American food….not bad, but what a contrast to the last two weeks!
Tomorrow morning, I will fly back to Europe and a fantastic trip will come to its end. As I will spend a lot of hours in the seat during the flight, I plan to write a bit of a summary of the trip.
I was nervous this morning. After breakfast and check-out, I had to ride 40 km to the harbour to drop-off the XBR. There was not enough petrol in the tank and I feared that the bike was losing much petrol with the fuel tap in reserve mode. When I was about to take off, it started to rain. I went back to the reception and took my rain suit out of my luggage that will stay here for two days. There was a petrol station and I decided to put five litres in the tank. This was way too much but I had clear priorities: number one – get to the warehouse. Whenever I stopped, the carb was overflowing, so I rode opening and closing the tap all the time. I could ride in normal tap position and it seemed that the carb lost less petrol. I rarely had to switch to reserve during this trip, so I rode mostly with a half-opened tap to avoid the overflowing. After 30 km, I realised that the carb was holding the juice again – I would arrive with too much Petrol. I had been instructed, to my bewilderment, to drain the fuel completely. DHL had suggested to drain the petrol at a station next to the warehouse. My request was received with astonishment by the staff at the petrol station. I asked if they would have a jerry can for the petrol, they could keep it. Their comment was that this is illegal…
Well, I went to the warehouse, I could take care of it later. There was already a employee waiting for me.
Good-bye to the XBR, you served me well!!!
I explained him the problem and his comment was that it had to be sent as a dangerous good. Well, that was exactly what I wanted to hear. He explained it to the DHL people on the phone. I had to park the bike in the warehouse , disconnect the battery and remove the number plate (?). I received a call from DHL that the vessel would have to be changed. Well, fine with me. Then I had to wait for the ‘customs number’ after the processing of my case in the system. The employee and I had a long talk, his English was very good as he had worked in Chicago. Finally the paper was ready and he accompanied me to customs, some 100 m away. There, my contact officer was already waiting. My passport and
Shinkansen train.
carnet de passage received the necessary stamps. In the meantime, another officer friendly asked me about my trip. Both officers showed me the way to the bus stop in front of the building and wished me a good trip. What a service and treatment! When I think of certain European custom officers….
I took the bus and 40 minutes later, I arrived at a metro station. I had to change the train once and then I was at the Nagoya central station. I bought a ticket for the high-speed Shinkansen train to Kyoto. The ride was very interesting. Everything is super organised and efficient. The acceleration and speed of the train through urban areas is impressive.
In no time I arrived in Kyoto and checked in my hotel near the station. It’s a small, not expensive, stylish and new hotel. Very chic. I decided to go for a walk. But first I needed some food. Some ramen in the station. I walked through the small streets of Kyoto, passed shrines, rivers and shops. I even got as far at the hip quarter of Gion where the tourist density increased and where you can see women in Kimonos. I even spotted one Geisha (actually a maiko). Gion is the Japanese centre of the Geisha culture. A lively quarter with narrow alleys, shops, restaurants and traditional buildings.
It seems to work, despite the appearance.
A headless Geisha?
A bit of an open-air museum. When after three hours my feet told me that they had enough, I took the metro back to the central station. I needed desperately a shower. After some rest, I went for some dinner in a Yakitori bar, eating some weird skewers (I remember chicken skin and other funny body parts). 100% authentic.
Yakitori bar.
My room has a little kitchen and a washing machine so I could wash some clothes which means I will have clean gear for the flight back.
In the morning, the rain was pattering against the window. I checked the rain radar: a large rain front was moving over my area. If I waited long enough, it would pass by. So I had a late, very traditional Japanese breakfast. When I had packed my luggage, indeed the rain had stopped. Not need to put on the rain suit. The road was still a bit wet, so I rode carefully. It was only a 260 km to Nagoya and another 50 km to the hotel at the airport. After 30 minutes, I was already riding on the highway. The tricky part on this day was to arrive at the hotel with the right amount of petrol left in the tank. I was instructed to have no fuel left in the tank at drop-off, so I had to time it wisely. At a point, I was approaching a service station with petrol and the next announced was 65 km away. Hmmm, that’s maybe a bit far. Maybe I should stop here and think it through. The bike seemingly had heard my thoughts and was running out of petrol. A quick shift to reserve did not work immediately and I had to stop on the exit lane. Finally the bike started and I made a short break and decided to fill 7.4 L in the tank. I had 100 km left to Nagoya, another 50 km to the hotel and a 40 km the next to the drop-off point in the harbour.
The time was right to approach Nagoya: no traffic, expressway to the centre and few red lights. I found the block where I had to meet the people from DHL. It took me 30 minutes to find the right entrance. I first thought I had found the Marunouchi building – until I found out that every second building in the area was a Marunouchi Building. Finally I met my contact persons, two friendly ladies who checked my papers and gave me very detailed instructions for the next day. I will have to deliver the bike, wait for a customs number and walk to the customs office. Plus some telephone calls. The tricky part will be to deliver the XBR without petrol. And get to the station to take a train to Kyoto. As I can’t stay until the customs inspection, they will ship in a dedicated container for the XBR only. No crating needed which means I can leave the panniers on the bike.
I rode the last 50 km to my hotel at the airport where I will leave on Monday. It was carefully chosen because I can leave my luggage there and travel light to Kyoto. I also spotted a car wash close to the airport where I could wash the bike a bit. Some 15 km before the hotel, I had to switch to reserve. 4 km later, the bike would sputter again and stop.
What’s going on??? Luckily, there was a petrol station opposite to the junction where I investigated the problem. Maybe there was some water in the tank? I removed the petrol line and wanted to collect some petrol with an empty water bottle. No petrol was coming out of the tap. Hmmm? I opened the lid….there was petrol inside, right? I used the light of the mobile phone….well, I had to conclude that the tank was empty. This was impossible! I just had switched to reserve! Was there a problem with the tap? I filled up 3.5 L, this should be more than enough. When stopping at red lights, I noticed that the carb was overflowing massively. It occurred to me that I rarely had to switch to reserve during this trip. I stopped at the carwash. Again, the bike was massively losing petrol! For the last 7 km, I had to close the tap when stopping. But finally I found the hotel at the airport and checked in. I had a look in the tank again….a lot of petrol was missing, I’ll have to buy petrol again tomorrow! Right now it seems to me that the bike might be losing a lot of petrol during riding, even it is not in idle speed. Does it have something to do with the tap and the reserve position? Anyway, I have 39 km left to the harbour. In the worst case, I have to open and close the tap periodically. Maybe the XBR wants to tell me that she is tired and wants to go back home now? We’ll master this last challenge tomorrow.
After a well deserved shower, I entered the airport terminal for I had a brilliant idea. I could buy some cheap suitcases and put everything in there, without the need to find another solution to have only two pieces of luggage plus the motorbike gear. I bought two big suitcases, the cheapest special offer I could find (horrible colours), but it seems that this is an elegant solution. I hate to spend 15 hours in stinking motorbike trousers. But now there’s no need for that, I packed already the suitcases and it seems everything will fit.
I notice that I didn’t take any pictures today, well only one from an orange Baumkuchen I had as a snack. But this is really not very spectacular. I booked a guided bicycle tour in Kyoto on Saturday, it will be good to do some exercise again.
So tomorrow has to challenges: getting to the warehouse and getting from the warehouse to Kyoto Station. But I think I will master this test as well.
Monday:I left Matsumoto with a clear stop in mind: the Hakushu Distillery on the way to Tokyo. Of course I had done my on-line reservation for the guided tour and I was there in time after hour of riding. When I was at was at the ticket counter, it was concluded that I was a driver and could not participate actively in the whisky tasting at the end of the end. Well, we’ll see, I was thinking. I had to download an app to follow the tour in English. It was a classical whisky distillery tour: ingredients, mashing, fermentation, casks, ageing. Some things were particular: the situation of the distillery in the woods, the large distilling room and the large warehouse.
I estimated space for 20.000 casks in there. My estimate was confirmed, but the distillery has 15 warehouses with room for 200.000 casks.
Hakushu stills.
No whisky must touch my lips or the police will lock me up and throw away the key. But why can corpulent women not try the whisky???
That’s an incredibly high number. When we entered the tasting room, there were no glasses for the “drivers”. So they did take this seriously! What a bummer! But it got worse: in the adjacent bar, one could order all the old whiskies (18 and 25 years), but no purchase for “drivers”. Aaargh! Und adding insult to injury, all whiskies were sold out in the shop! How is this possible?? So many casks and nothing left for a little shop? This was disappointing!
I returned to the parking. The lady from the ticket counter came to talk to me. Her English was excellent as she had worked in New Zealand. We had a good talk. She understood the problem, but the distillery was bound by law that no alcohol would touch my lips. Well, case closed, let’s get out of here.
I went back to the highway and rode towards Tokyo. I stopped at a large service area and had some good noodle soup there. My initial plan did not work – I had planned to visit the National Museum in the afternoon, but I realised that it was closed on Mondays. Hmmmm. What could I do instead? Well, I could visit the Hamarikyu Gardens instead, this was planned for the next day initially. I was surprised that the highway to Tokyo’s centre was so fluid. Maybe the early hour helped a bit. It was a bit tricky as the sat nav always wanted to send me on the shortest route. Finally I arrived close to the gardens, but there was no place to park. Finally I found a spot in a corner and walked to the entrance of the gardens. Humidity was around 90 % and streams of sweat were flowing. I strolled through the beautiful garden that contrasted with the surrounding skyscrapers.
I returned to the XBR and rode to the hotel. I followed the sat nav’s instructions and at a junction, I turned right. At the same moment I heard a loud voice shouting via a loudspeaker. When I had finished the turn, I heard massively loud sirens in the back. Hm? What’s going on there? I rode on, calmly. Only two more turns to the hotel. The sirens came closer. The sirens were behind me. The loudspeaker talked again. I turned around.
Exemplary picture
The cop was talking to me! I stopped around the corner. The police car behind me with flashing lights. The two cops tried to explain me (with the help of an app on their phone) that I shouldn’t have turned right at that crossing. Oh, really? Hm, I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware. Yes, it was forbidden between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. And then started what I hoped never would happen. I had to present all my papers. Driving licence, international driving licence, its Japanese translation, my passport, the carnet de passage, its Japanese translation, my Belgian registration, its Japanese translation, my Japanese insurance…The officers looked at everything, trying to understand all the documents. It was clear that they never had such a case and were overwhelmed by the situation. The younger officer was very polite and excused himself. They needed to call HQ and check if I was allowed to ride Japan. Oh vey! Well, of course, but they were apparently confused by the German/Belgian mixture. I was content that I had changed the bike’s registration to a Belgian one. Assuming someone manages to enter Japan with a German bike, this would be a total disaster. But I was confident that everything was in order and tried not to smirk too much. The officer was very courteous and asked for my patience. I tried to explain the situation a bit. Slowly, very slowly the cops understood the Japanese papers. In the end, they were satisfied with the information. I explained that I had not seen any sign. They told me that I was very important to respect road sign. Yes, of course, officer. Very much. In the end they gave me a warning, I said sorry for having wasted their time. We bowed several times and I was free to go. My hotel was only 50 m away. There was no place to place to stop, so I stopped on the pavement. I entered the hotel and hoped that the passing cops wouldn’t mind that I had stopped there. But there were no sirens again.
Punch line: I checked the next days twice, there was no sign! Only for the direction where the police car came from. The cops were wrong, haha. They would have lost their face!
I checked in and brought my luggage to the small room. It was a small, but new hotel with very friendly staff. I wanted to park the bike. Er, motorbikes cannot enter. What? But I had booked the hotel because it had a parking. Motorbikes cannot enter, we had informed you. What? Well, yeah, AFTER I had booked the non-refundable room. Great. They had suggested a parking, but could not reach anybody. OK, I take care of it myself. All parkings I found in the area were not suited for motorbikes. Finally I left the XBR next a small parking, but still on the parking’s premises. When I returned to the hotel, I had developed a bad conscience and asked the staff again. They (finally!) explained me that their suggested parking was a parking for motorbikes. Aaaaah! I went there (500 m) and it was a complicated system with a long lock and a payment terminal. I didn’t understand the machine (only Japanese) and left the bike there. In the hotel, they explained me how it worked. I walked back and put the lock around my lock. I walked back and FINALLY could have a shower! It was late and as the hotel had no restaurant, I strolled around in the hip quarter of Ginza. In the end I chose a foodbar with the kitchen in the centre. I had some good meat in soy sauce, but that was not enough. I noticed that the famous Kabuki-za theatre was just next door. But I was too little time in the city to watch one of its long plays.
I had a beer in an Irish pub (only Japanese, that’s strange). In the whole quarter, there were many European food places. But not for me! In the end I went to a famous ramen chain restaurant from Fukuoka. When I was there, I tried teppanyaki and not its famous ramen. Well, then I needed to try them here in Tokyo! And they were delicious, with roasted pork. So the day had found a good end, after quite some hiccups.
Tuesday: I had no breakfast in my hotel, but went to the famous Tsukiji market. The famous fish auctions have recently been relocated to another quarter, but the wholesale market stays here in Ginza. It is quite a lively, funny place, lots of shops trying to attract tourists with delicious snacks or proper restaurant food. I tried some fish yakitori and some Toro sashimi. I walked criss-cross around the market and found the halls with the fish mongers. In the end, I chose a restaurant and had breakfast/lunch: some bluefin tuna and sea urchin. It’s definitely not something for everyday, also seen the endangered status of the fish, but once it’s ok to try it here. I walked around again and slowly the market filled with tourists, time to get of there.
I walked through the shine and glitz of Ginza and its shops. I crossed several shopping malls to cool down a bit. It was not the temperature, but the high humidity that made me sweat like a….well, you know. All luxury brands were present, several times. Some malls had nice ideas like a book shops with fine food or nice Japanese pottery. But I resisted to buy anything, as a matter of principle. My luggage is too big anyway and I’ll have to reduce it before I fly home.
Oh là là!
If you’re in a spending mood, why not invest 10.000 Euro in a Katana?
Book shop for foodies.
If you need a new nose – nose shop!
Skateboard Deluxe
Medical assistance from Elephants for Elephants!
The quarter is bustling with activity, work and shopping, shopping, shopping. Consumerism to the max. Interesting.
I walked to the adjacent Imperial park where the Emperor’s palace is located. It cannot be visited, only the public part of the park. I wandered around and took some pictures. Slowly I walked back to the hotel, with a break in a coffee bar (air condition!). It was a long and interesting walk today. You feel a bit like a classic naturalist, studying the exotic behaviour of distant tribes. The staff at the hotel was very nice and printed some papers I will need for the drop-off of the bike in Nagoya.
Imperial Gardens.
What is he going to do???
Not the car that followed me.
I went to the little onsen in the hotel and dressed up, I had reserved at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Finally my clothes bought in Vladivostok would come into play. It was still casual, like the place itself. Two tables and one counter where the chef prepared the dishes. Many little dishes were served. It was all very good, of superior quality. Well, the source for this freshness was only one kilometre away. First-class ingredients next door. But to be honest, today’s dinner would not merit a star. It seems that Tokyo is flooded by Michelin stars. 149 of them I counted. That’s…. a lot. But no regrets, I was a good meal.
City of blinding lights.
I was thinking about having a whisky before hitting the sack. There was no bar in my hotel. I checked Google. There was a bar very close called ‘Desperado’ (cozy whisky bar). Sounded good. I entered the small bar where there was only the bartender and one couple. They left soon. Well, I sat at the counter and started a conversation. I tried his suggestion from Hokkaido. Good! We chatted a lot, also about my trip and then I needed to try the Hibiki 21 years. Excellent. The bartender laid the Japanese Tarot cards for me and concluded that my future looked rosy, I only needed to have an eye on good communication. OK, this can be arranged. Aki had worked at a big luxury hotel, but has now started his own business, this bar.
And then the late evening took a funny turn. A new guest arrived. It was Aki’s (the bartender’s) friend Toru. We discovered that we had many common interests (motorbikes, wine, music taste) and had really a good laugh. I tried another secret tip from Aki. Some other friends came and went and the conversation became more and more hilarious. Toru knew the German singer Nena and her armpit hair. Why was this hilarious? Well, not because Nena was very ‘natural’ (and why not?), it was the very detail a Japanese guy remembered after almost 40 years. They invited me for a glass of wine and we discussed the wine subject. Then a new guest showed up. According to his accent, I correctly asked him whether he was Austrian (no, not Australian!). Touché! And then Aki and Toru were very generous inviting for some more rounds of whisky. It was great fun together, but at a certain point I called it a day, I knew it was already very late and I had things to do the next day. I said farewell to he guys, it was really good company laughing together with two great Japanese fellas!
Hibiki 21. Yup!
Good news for me.
Good company!
Wednesday: I woke up at eight with a heavy head. Not a bad handover, but I lacked some freshness until the evening. I packed my stuff und fetched the bike. I could have left without paying, but so what, I had parked there and why not pay your dues. It was again hot and humid. I quickly mounted my luggage in front of the hotel and rode to the Ueno quarter. I rode along a road that choice had suggested to me. Many motorbike shops should be there. But as Aki and Toru had already told me, things had changed. There were only few shops left and no parking space. So no stop there. I went to the National Museum and visited the highlights of Japanese Arts section.
Pre-historic artefact.
You could spend a whole day and more there, but I still needed to go to Mount Fuji today. So I decided to enjoy only the great section of the highlights. But it was worth it. I was striking that delicate artefacts were produced in Japan when Europe and its artists were still in the grip of the dark Middle Ages. Some drawings from the 14th century were so realistic and comic-esque that they seem to be from the 21st century. Great paintings, calligraphy, sculptures and other things.
When I returned to the bike, I found a paper, probably a parking ticket. Well, no parking spaces, but if nobody is bothered….I left Tokyo (after some detours, my sat nav is really stupid here) and headed Westwards again. I stopped at the Mount Fuji Museum and visited the exposition, a good documentation of the history of the iconic mountain and its role for the Japanese people.
Fuji-san. Um, yeah, a copy.
I had planned to ride half-way up, but as it was cloudy, I decided against it. Well, I only had to get to the ryokan for today. I tried to get a view on Mount Fuji, but when I finally found a good spot, Fuji-san was in the clouds. A pity.
“Wie Sie sehen, sehen Sie nichts”. A tiny bit of Mount Fuji’s flank.
I had the usual programme, arrival at the ryokan, friendly welcome, check-in, Yukata and a long bathing session in the onsen. After that, buffet dinner. No Kaiseki today, but I had to find out for myself which kind of species I ingested today. The place is less chic than the last ones, but everything is there that you need. And the price is ok.
I received a message from the Japanese contact person of DHL who seem to have some problems to get my shipment on track. Now they told me that the customs inspection can only happen three days after I will have left the country. But they need the passport for the inspection. Well, no. The German HQ confirmed that there will be a solution, but the Japanese section is struggling. But hey, that’s their problem not mine. I will visit their office tomorrow in Nagoya, let’s see what they tell me, haha.
As I had a ‘rest day’ in Matsumoto, I was in no hurry in the morning. The rain radar told me that the rain would disappear in the course of the morning. And indeed, when I stepped out of my conveniently cooled hotel, sun was shining which pushed humidity to some felt 110 %. I had a good idea in that moment. Why walking to the Matsumoto Castle when there was a taxi in front of the hotel? So I had an entertaining ride through the city with a communicative taxi driver. At least I would be bathed in my own sweat some time later and not immediately.
Matsumoto Castle is one of Japan’s premier historic castles. The building is also known as the “Crow Castle” due to its black exterior. The keep, which was completed in the late sixteenth century, maintains its original wooden interiors and external stonework. It is the oldest wooden castle of Japan and listed as a National Treasure of Japan.
Together with many other visitors, I queued to climb the steep wooden stairs. Many instructors surveilled this actions so that nobody did anything stupid. The preparations to defend the castle were very thought through, when looking at a wooden castle I wonder why nobody would set fire to it. Was this considered unsportsmanlike?
Matsumoto Castle
View from the top floor.
Nothing can happen to me anymore – I’m backed by real Ninjas!
It is a well-preserved castle but in contrast to European medieval castles, rarely anybody seemed to live there, I seems it had more a purely defensive role. It was getting hot now and I walked back to the hotel through some back roads of central Matsumoto. At the wine festival I tried a Japanese Sauvignon Blanc and was a bit under-impressed.
Frog street.
I wonder why someone would name his company after a toxic and persistent polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, hmmm….
In the hotel, I checked my options for the afternoon. It seemed that the weather would remain stable. There was a sculpture park called the Utsukushi-ga-hara Open-Air Museum on the top of a mountain that was 30 km away. Sounds interesting, let’s go!
When I was climbing up the mountains east to Matsumoto, I noticed two things:
sunshine disappeared and clouds rolled in
the XBR ran richer and richer.
This is not a surprise per se, as clouds tend to gather in mountains, especially at high altitude and carburettor-driven combustion engines lack oxygen in higher altitudes. It was remarkable that this started already at the bottom of the mountain. This points to a totally dirty air filter that really needs to be exchanged. However, from today on, I will go down to sea level and the remaining 650 km can be handled by the bike. Despite the low weight without all the luggage, I went very slow. Finally I reached the top of the mountain at a 1959 m altitude, the highest point of the whole trip. And there the clouds were pushed away partly like a curtain. What a view on the valley. The views are surely spectacular in good weather, but this was impressive. I parked my bike at the big museum entry/restaurant/souvenir shop complex, paid my ticket and walked for about one hour between 350 sculptures in a fantastic landscape. I let the pictures speak for themselves.
Slowly, clods rolled in and the curtain was closing again. I bought a snack and started my descent. When I was standing at a junction reflecting if I should go the same way back or take another route, a Japanese biker in Jeans on a SR500 talked to me. He suggested going the same way back. One kilometre later, I knew already this was a bad decision. It started to pour down as I was at the backside of the mountain. Too late to put on the rain suit. Patience. I noticed that my back tyre slipped a lot and I went extremely careful. At the next junction (it was pouring down massively), the SR rider asked me if the XBR was losing petrol. The colourful puddle below my bike said yes. Aaargh. Bloody carb. It does not happen often, but it does.
After some long 15 km, the rain stopped and it got warm again. Yet I was totally soaked on the exterior, this would enrich the flavour of my hotel room again.
Last kilometres to Matsumoto.
I noticed that there were vineyards right and left to the road. The funny detail was: it was cultivated in the Pergel technique like it is traditionally used in Southern Tyrol. I looked it up and actually this system is called Tanazukuri in Japan.
In the hotel, I made some plans for the following days – I will go to Tokyo tomorrow where I will stay two nights. Another night close to Mount Fuji and then I will approach Nagoya where I will drop off the XBR.
I had selected a Yakitori restaurant tonight, however it was closed. I needed to improvise. There were a number of interesting bars with Japanese bar food, but without a menu in picture or English, I would be a bit lost. Well, anything can be arranged. I found finally a bar with an interesting menu:
Mmmmmh, should I try the “dainty a delicacy tidbit’? Well, I went for the safe stuff, mackrel, diaphragm, chicken skin and cheeks meet.
The mackerel was quite good, the skewers however….I needed something else. Next door was the wine festival were I purchased a Merlot and some Gyoza that were quite good.
Tomorrow I will leave rural Japan and enter the Moloch called Tokyo. As I said earlier, I’m not a big city guy, but leaving it out completely would be a pity.
I woke up early today. Yesterday I was so tired I couldn’t finish my report. I wrote it before and after (the rich Japanese) breakfast. Just before the allowed check-out time, I left the ryokan. To my surprise, it was cloudy and dry! For today, no sightseeing was planned apart from the scenic mountain ride. I rode down to Toyama and even rode on the highway for a while. I had to cross the outskirts which was painful as usual. But when the road turns into a mountainous road, things change. The road went uphill in a river valley, mountain tops were in clouds. A nice road again. It seems I have adapted myself to the low speeds here. It was thinking that I will have to re-adapt again when I will go on a tour in the Alps with some mates in August. But that usually goes very quick.
After two hours, I reached a junction high up in the mountains. It was time for a short stop. I purchased a local milk as a drink which was very good. When I wanted to throw away the cardbox, I had the same problem again: Japanese seem to dislike waste bins. They are so difficult to find. Looking at the mountain tops in clouds, I had a premonition and put on the rain suit. A wise decision. Although there was a shortcut via a tunnel to Matsumoto, I wanted to go the long way over the mountain. I wanted to ride once over a mountain pass in the Japanese Alps!
That’s what it looks like without rain…
It’s a hub for the hikers.
Soon the rain started. As it was still early, I wanted to do a little detour over a mountain plateau. Slowly I crawled higher and higher. The rain really set in and I saw some LED announcements in Japanese…hmmmm…no idea what they mean. Then a little man jumped out of his cabin and indicated me ‘closed’. I made the sign for closed (crossed arms)? Yes, closed. Then he ran back to his cabin and came back with a laminated paper. The access was for buses only, no cars or motorbikes were allowed!
I had to laugh. A mountain pass that is only accessible for….buses??? Crazy Japan! I had to go down in the heavy rain. At the junction, I could have chosen the easy route via the tunnel. But I was stubborn and wanted to ride a Japanese pass! And so I did. I was pretty alone on that road. I reached 1800 m altitude and many hairpins led back to the main road. Soon the rain stopped and I was riding in the dry again.
Spooky.
On the descent, there were many barrier lakes, not just one, no, several.
Finally I reached Matsumoto and arrived at the hotel Buena Vista (!). I checked in and parked the bike in the garage. I was wearing the rain suit, but you still are a bit damp. I was not smelling like a wet dog. No, I was smelling like a pack of wolves after a week of rain. But there’s little I can do to mitigate this olfactory insult. Well, I gave it a try. In the small hotel room, there was a pump spray of odour killer. Let’s see if this helps a bit. After a needed shower, I walked to the centre. Quite a lively, modern town with lots of European, ‘exotic’ places. I discovered a wine exhibition on a square. Wines were divided into ‘red’ and ‘white’ and ‘light bodied’ and ‘full bodied’.
Wine Fest.
On the opposite side, some stands served exotic food, like Spanish or German or Italian. Funny!
No comment.
It smelled not so bad, but I had something else in mind. According to Tripadvisor, there was one top Sushi bar in town. I want to try many different food styles and I didn’t have Sushi so far. So I walked through the more quiet part of the centre and finally found the very small bar Sushiten. I entered the tiny place and was offered a place at the counter. I ordered a sushi menu and some sake. The sushi was prepared by an old lady who must have passed her 75th birthday a long time ago. She was treated by the young waitresses with great respect. The sushi was maybe not high-end design, but the quality and and taste were fantastic. So Japan ruined European sushi for me as well.
Sushi prepared by an institution.
The good-bye was very friendly and the old lady was very charming when she waved and shouted ‘bye-bye!’.
I walked back to the hotel and went to the bar where I am currently empirically expanding my knowledge about Japanese Whisky….
After another sumptuous breakfast, I prepared my luggage. Everybody of the staff asked me if the motorbike was ok. Yesterday, I thought it was a good idea to place the jacket in the shelter of the XBR for drying – but it wasn’t. The humidity was so high that the jacket was still damp. It paid my bill, grabbed an umbrella and walked round in the town of Hida. This ryokan was really outstanding, very welcoming staff, good facilities and fantastic food.
It was raining a bit, so I returned soon to the ryokan and set off with the XBR. The Garmin proposed a different route than I had expected, a more direct route over the mountains. Well, I had lots of time, I thought, why not. After 15 minutes, it stopped raining, maybe this route was not so bad! But half an hour later, I was stopped by a big, closed gate. I seemed to be a closure for winter, but maybe something had happened up there. I turned around and remembered that the alternative route I had seen in the valley below was also closed.
Dead end.
Luckily, there was a little detour and I could continue my ride to the West. There was no traffic, roads were ok, mountains were covered in clouds and I was riding next to a long barrier lake. This was not so bad! The deep green water was totally quiet and lay there like a mirror. My sat nav however, brought me the news that I had to do a 40 km detour, as I had to get to the entry of the highway going south. There was no other possibility to go north. But as I said, I had a lot of time, today’s itinerary was very short and there was only one (or several) planned stop to visit some old houses along the way.
These houses form part of the common UNESCO world heritage of the Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama. Located in a mountainous region that was cut off from the rest of the world for a long period of time, these villages with their Gassho-style houses subsisted on the cultivation of mulberry trees and the rearing of silkworms. The large houses with their steeply pitched thatched roofs are the only examples of their kind in Japan. Despite economic upheavals, the villages of Ogimachi, Ainokura and Suganuma are outstanding examples of a traditional way of life perfectly adapted to the environment and people’s social and economic circumstances.
It started to rain again, I got nicely soaked. But when I reached my first stop in Shirakawa-go, the rain had stopped and would not return the whole day. A sensation of dampness remained though. I parked the bike and noticed immediately that this was a touristic place. Loads of tour coaches, lots of people. I noticed that I stayed away from mass tourism since the Red Square in Moscow. Not my cup of tea. I visited the Folk Museum where some typical Gass-ho houses with their typical thatched roofs were located.
Interior of a exclusive Gass-ho house. This was not an ordinary farmer’s house.
Some signs leave you a bit clueless.
The Gassho-style houses found in the Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama are rare examples of their kind in Japan. Located in a river valley surrounded by the rugged high-mountain Chubu region of central Japan, these three villages were remote and isolated, and access to the area was difficult for a long period of time. The inscribed property comprises the villages of “Ogimachi” in the Shirakawa-go region, and “Ainokura” and “Suganuma” in the Gokayama region, all situated along the Sho River in Gifu and Toyama Prefectures. In response to the geographical and social background, a specific housing type evolved: rare examples of Gassho-style houses, a unique farmhouse style that makes use of highly rational structural systems evolved to adapt to the natural environment and site-specific social and economic circumstances in particular the cultivation of mulberry trees and the rearing of silkworms. The large houses have steeply-pitched thatched roofs and have been preserved in groups, many with their original outbuildings which permit the associated landscapes to remain intact.
I walked around in the village where many international tourists stumbled around. I had already noticed that many Chinese tourists visit this area in the mountains.
Ogimachi village.
The village was nice, but let’s move on. Some 25 km down the road I stopped at Suganuma and I am glad I did not miss it (almost I did). What a contrast! Only a very small village, but precious! Embedded in the surrounding mountains, it appears as a little gemstone between the mountains. And there were only fey tourists. No busloads.
I visited a small museum in a Gass-ho house that had typical items on display that were used by the people in this region. Household items (no Hondas, John), silk production, farming tools.
A now even the sun was shining! I was glad to have developed this ‘cunning plan’, it really seems to work. If this is the rainy season, I can live with it.
Only after 8 km, the last of the three world heritage villages was waiting for me: Ainokura. Like Suganuma, it is a small village where actually people do live. There is an occasional shop or a small restaurant, but that’s it. I walked around between the houses, admiring the thatched roofs that are almost one metre in thickness.
Ainokura.
I had a little snack in a little shop and decided to visit a papermaker. They make hand-made artistic paper there, really beautiful work. But nothing of it would survive five minutes in my panniers. So I bought two nice paper covers for chopsticks. I chatted with the owner and when I had revealed my trip to him, he was laughing and shouting “crazy! crazy!” He also took a picture of me, saying that would be for his facebook page.
I walked back to the bike. I only had another 25 km to go to the ryokan. What a relaxing ride today! But in the end it turned out a very beautiful day, and the historic villages are really stunning. I went on the National Route 156 that follows the Sho River. Some marvellous views there.
Traffic at roadworks is controlled with flags: red for stop, white for Go!
Japanese like to paint their bridges in blue or red. THis was apparently a brand-new one.
“Warum ist es am Rhein so schön?” My ryokan is situated on the upper left corner.
I checked in and of course my first action was a walk to the onsen. The stench of my biking gear gets worse every day, when I open the wardrobe….you don’t want to know. As there was nobody inside, I took some pictures.
Washing place before you enter the pools.
I guess the water must be saturated with salts (iron sulphate/carbonate?), it is forming a rock landscape.
I took my time in the bath, it was still early. Even without my beauty case, it is easy to bring yourself in shape, a lot of items are provided in the changing room.
I like this Yakuta!
What can I say, the Kaizeki dinner was very good again, but I put only one picture after yesterday’s overload.
Japan is really ruining sashimi in Europe for me.
After dinner, I started to write the report, but at 10 p.m. I had to stop. The bathing and the dinner (and the sake?) did their job and put me to bed.
Let’s not jump to conclusions and do a little scribbling first.
I had asked for a late breakfast at eight. I stayed in the same place so why rush things. The breakfast, however, was fantastic. In quality and quantity. I am sorry for the mass of food pictures today, but the food in this place is exquisite.
Breakfast at Ryokan Yatsusankan
This delicious meal provides enough energy for the whole day til dinner. I needed to look after the bike. I removed the sprocket cover (that was attached so effectively in Novosibirsk). One is always prone ‘to hear the fleas coughing’ as the German saying goes, i.e. imagining all kinds of things based on a vague sound. I had a critical mind but in the end I had to conclude that the sprocket, the chain and the transmission output shaft seemed to be ok.
Only the best.
So I rode to the recommended garage called Bike Bomber that was 4 km away. The mechanic seemed to have waited for me and I tried to explain him my conclusion with many gestures. When I touched the shift lever…..it was moving! WHAT?
The shift lever was loose! Of course I had thought that there was something wrong with the gearbox! The bolt was quickly tightened, but I asked him to do an oil change. He did it right away. The garage was small, but his equipment was astonishing: SNAP-ON tools everywhere. He was a nice guy and we did a little bit of chatting while he was quickly doing the oil drainage.
Quick and very competent service: Bike Bomber in Hida. Note the elegant solution to drain the oil from the tank.
The oil indeed resembled liquid tar. Unfortunately, he did not have the right oil filter, but the new oil should do some good to the motor and gearbox. I asked him to put 20W50, he asked back and I explained something like ‘it’s an old motor’. He immediately understood. He had inspected the motor quickly and within a fraction of a second he had seen that the carb was not original, hehe. I did a quick test ride and of course the shifting was better with a fixed lever, but I think it was a bit better than before. It is still quite clunky for a XBR gearbox; BMW Boxer riders would consider it smooth. But it changes a lot of things. I paid my bill and said good-bye to this friendly lad. So I could do an excursion to the town of Takayama that was very close. It started to rain now – rainy season was finally here! I went first to a museum village that was located outside town. This was really a nice place; old building from the region had been disassembled and put up again at this place.I chose the long walk. Everywhere, good explanations in English were given.
Takayama Folk Village.
Under the roofs, the poor farmers had found another source of income: herding silk moths.
The history of the houses and the daily life of the farming people were explained. It was a tough life up here in the mountains, with bitter winters. Some professions were explained and artists showed their work on display. I was interested in wood carving and the exposed pieces were fantastic. In the shop, there was the artist….sleeping with a knife and a piece of wood in his hands. This would have been a fantastic picture, but very disrespectful at the same time. It was raining strongly now and I checked the internet for options. There was a funny museum in the town, displaying all kind of artefacts from the Japanese 50s and 60s. Sounded good. But first I had to enter the centre. This was difficult, as all parkings explicitly excluded motorbikes. In the end I simply parked the bike in a side street where it didn’t bother anybody.
The museum was indeed very funny. They had created a little town with products from daily life of Japanese people.
Still a classic: Honda Cub.
This was fun. Outside, I was still pouring down. I strolled through the shopping lane with all its shops, galleries, bars, cafés. I tried a Hida beef skewer (street food) and one of the many ice cream cup variations of a shop, I think mine was based on soya milk and red beans. Rain wouldn’t stop so I went back to the ryokan. Finally I had time to do a long visit to the onsen, without the time pressure of a riding day. I tried all the different pools and tubs, indoor and outdoor, and proved the provided sake.
Then it was time to think of a plan. What to do? I concluded that the XBR would be ok to go on. It will be raining a lot, but maybe less in the first half of the day. And if I ride only three to four hours a day, visit interesting stuff along the way, put on the rain gear, then the weather will be bearable. I booked another ryokan for tomorrow and a hotel in Matsumoto for two nights. After that, I could visit Tokyo and the Fuji region. The distances are not very big, so I can always change the plan and return easily to Nagoya. So the cancellation of the bike trip has been cancelled.
A possible plan for the next week. Easy going.
And then dinner waited for me. I had ordered Sukiyaki yesterday: cooking meat and vegetables in a sweet soy sauce at your table. But there was much more…it started with some appetisers:
Sesame tufu: shrimp, snow pea, wasabi, tortiseshell sauce Sushi pocket, Teriyaki of scallop, Sirugeni of beef Chicken loaf.
Bamboo shoot with Miso dressing
I had ordered a tasting of premium sake from the region. They were all excellent!
Then it continued with (my best ever?) Sashimi:And of course a hot fish dish:
Late at night, I had reserved a charming ryokan in Hida in the Japanese Alps. 570 km away on the shortest route. That sounds a lot less than the days in Russia, however riding in Russia is much faster. I was in the middle of the beautiful Iya Valley and needed to get to the motorway first. I had a very typical and good Japanese breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Of course the bike was already prepared, but I didn’t dare to go to breakfast with my dirty biking gear; the smell is climbing on the ‘nastiness’ scale. I was wandering if I should return to the Koboke Canyon and head north to central Shikoku and heading east, deeper into the Iya valley. I would have to ride on very small roads again and cross the mountains. The problem was that I needed to arrive at 6 p.m. latest in the ryokan. In the end I asked myself why I came to Shikoku. Right, because I wanted to ride on the mountain roads! So eastwards I went. The landscape was very scenic and indeed the road turned into a single-track road that climbed up the mountain. I was passing a lot of roadworks and I was impressed how much work the Japanese invest even in these small roads. I got closer and closer to the clouds, but at an altitude of 1500 m I reached a pass.
落合峠 Pass
The next hour meant endless bends and corners, mostly on a single track. Finally I got to the central valley. Here, the basic problem of my Sat Nav showed up again. As Garmin does not provide a maps, I had some opensource maps installed. The map itself is brilliant. However, the information linked to the roads is not available. That means the device does not know what is fast and what is a slow road. So it sent me on the slow national road when there was a quick expressway running next to it. I have to take the clever decisions. Finally I managed to get on the expressway, but the Garmin did not know a bridge and wanted to send me on a 200 km detour. But there are a number of huge bridges that connect Shikoku with Honshu. The largest looked like the Golden Gate Bridge and was really impressive. I can’t stop to take pictures on the bridges. The wind gusts from the side were hefty, one almost blew me off the bike! The large bridges are very expensive, but the next toll booth took me by surprise…for 90 km of toll road, I paid…60 Euros! I think that I paid something like 150 Euros in tolls today. Wow. Expensive. But the national roads are unbearable. In Kobe, I encountered some traffic jam and was surprised to find a service area right in the city centre, under all the elevated highways. A bizarre place. I managed to order some sweet-sour dish ( always looking for new dishes) which was quite good. Although the information was given in Japanese only, I understood that from tomorrow on, there will be road closures in Osaka due to the G20 summit. I was lucky, being one day too early. I made good progress andiIn the vicinity of Gifu, the sat nav sent me on the national road. What a pain! At a certain moment, I noticed that changing gears had changed. Normally, after having shifted gears, you feel a resistance in the lever. This was gone now…what does this mean? Is the gearbox starting to fail??? I remembered the Iron Butt Rally 2013 when I had to pull out because of a clunky gearbox. I could still change gears, but it felt different. The gearbox did not like city traffic since Russia. The basic problem is that I did not know how old this motor/gearbox is. You simply assume that it coincides with the odometer reading, but this needs not to be true. The fact that the timing chain starts to rattle a bit at cold motor temperature, indicates more a mileage of 70.000 – 90.000 km instead 40.000 km. XBR gearboxes are normally rock solid, but you don’t know what previous owner(s) have done to it. So I was shifting gears very carefully. I managed to guide the XBR back to a highway up to the mountains. Good! I had already feared that I would have to ride 150 km on this crowded road. After a while, I stopped at a rest area and checked the oil level. Well, I could top up half a litre. When I left the area, gears shifted very hard. Hmmmm…..not good. Luckily I had only 45 min to my destination. Hida is situated in the Japanese Alps and luckily I saw them still in a bit of sunshine – tomorrow the rain season will catch up and one week of rain starts. It will be heavy rain here tomorrow, so my plan to do a little bit of sightseeing will be washed away.
Hida.
I arrived at the beautiful ryokan and was welcomed very warmly. It is a very elegant house with very friendly staff. The man who had shown me around does not work here anymore, but he spoke good English, so maybe they asked him to come. When I told him my problem, he called some mecanics and gave me some suggestions. I had thought of an oil change – until I heard a strange noise from the sprocket when I pushed the bike. I had no time to investigate – this will be a job for tomorrow, it will be a true rest day, as an excursion would be too wet.
I had a quick visit to the bath with its beautiful rotemburo (outdoor pool). Just in time ready for the excellent kaiseki dinner (Japanese gourmet food). I had many delicious dishes, but the highlight was the Hida beef. It is derived from Kobe beef and equally exclusive. I was sitting at a Western table (thank you) in my own compartment. Later I tried the massage chair in the lounge. A very elegant and welcoming place.
So what’s the plan? Well, in the worst case, I’m only 200 km away from my final destination in Nagoya. If no miracle happens, I’d just have to ride down to the coast on the highway. I’d park the bike at the Nagoya airport and rent a car there. In a week, I’d ride the bike to the harbour and drop it off there. Two days later, I’d return the car and fly back home from Nagoya airport. So this could happen. Let’s see tomorrow. If it would still be nice weather, I’d maybe risk it and ride on. But it makes no sense to ride around in the mountains in pouring rain with a sick gearbox. The XBR has performed outstandingly well in the last 14.000 km. She met the objective of getting to Kumamoto. The rest is only an extra.
Last night, I was checking my options of the ferries from Kyushu to Shikoku. All options led to the same conclusion: I needed to skip breakfast for it was only served at 8 a.m. The best connection was the ferry at 9:45 in Beppu. It was a 1:20 min ride to the harbour. And I still needed to buy tickets. At 7 a.m., I packed the bike and paid my bill. I explained the problem and was offered an early breakfast at 7:30. Hmmmm, ok. I ate very quickly, but I still needed 15 minutes for it. But at least I could still make it to get t the ferry.
It was a lovely morning again, I rode through the mountainous landscape, passing rice fields and forests. There was little traffic and I made good progress. At 9 a.m., I reached the coast and Beppu came in sight. I entered the town, but there was no sign to the ferry. I decided to follow the sign to the port. Here, there was also a total lack of information, at least in latin letters. I used Google Maps on my phone and found the right ship. I entered the terminal and had a ticket in 15 minutes. The bike’s front wheel was fixed with a clamp, I haven’t seen this on a ship before. I went to the passenger lobby and had a relaxing crossing, watching the great scenery, checking internet, reserving a ryokan for the night, drinking, eating. I discovered a massage chair and cleverly invested some 200 Yen (1.5 Euro) for a 15 min massage. Brilliantly invested money.
I introduced the accommodation in the sat nav and followed it almost blindly. 12:30 and only 200 km to go. The next hours were very scenic, they reminded me very much of the Southern Alps, like the Trentino, for example. These are the XBR’s favourite roads, from normal mountain roads to very winding single tracks in the forests. It was very slow at times, but these were the roads why I had come to the island of Shikoku. A perfect afternoon. Roads were perfect.
I made a rest break and forced me to sit down and drink something. Ryokans expect their guests to arrive early, but there was plenty of time left. I changed the route and did an extra detour through the Oboke and Koboke Canyon in order to enter the Iya Canyon from the north. A fantastic ride, like back home in the Alps. Though the mountains are different, more lush and green.
Manneken Pis’ Japanese cousin. He has a much better view.
I arrived in Nishiiyayamamura Kanjo at a quarter past five, in a small valley between high mountains. The check-in went quick and soon I put on my Yukata and walked to the bath. This one had a bubble bath and a very nice little outdoor pool with mountain views. As nobody was around, I took some pictures.
At 7 p.m., dinner was served in a small compartment. The Sukiyaki soup was excellent. Well, everything was very good (again). And having in mind that dinner was relatively cheap in this place.
In my room, I needed to come up with a plan. Tomorrow would be the last day without rain. Forecast predicts rain for a week now. I even checked the options taking a long-distance ferry to Hokkaido because there, less rain is expected. But it will rain as well, only much colder. So I decided to ride to the Japanese Alps, I found a nice ryokan there and would have booked for three nights, however only two were available. Well, unless you take the royal suite and pay five times the price. With two nights, I can make some excursion in the next morning, hoping that the rain will only pour down in the afternoon. Then I could enjoy the onsen in the ryokan. After that, we’ll see from there. Maybe some city visit. Tokyo, Osaka, anything is possible.
This morning, something unusual happened: I overslept. That means, I woke up after seven o’clock. But why rush it. Now I’m in vacation mode. During breakfast (again a large buffet selection), I got some news with problems of my airbnb guest back at my home place. That needed immediate response and kept me busy for a while. And the keys of the mobile phone keyboard seem to get smaller and smaller. In the end I left the hotel only at 9 a.m. I opted for the (expensive) urban expressway, but it would take me out of the city quickly. I was heading south, in beautiful sunshine. The trip’s highlight was only 100 km away – the Kumamoto Honda factory where the XBR was built in 1985.
This was one objective of this trip, seeing the place where the XBR came from. In the past weeks and months I had tried to establish contact – but I couldn’t. The respective websites are in Japanese. There is a ‘homecoming” event in October and I wrote a message to the e-mail address – no response. I wrote a message to Honda Germany – no response. I called Honda Germany with two questions: where was the XBR built and how to establish contact. I received a message back: we are sorry, this information is not known to us. “Are you really telling me’ I wrote back, ‘that Honda does not know where its motorbikes were produced?’. A while later, I got another message: ‘the motorbike was built in Kumamoto’. ‘Yes, thank you very much, and is there a way to establish contact the factory? I’d like to visit it.’ Silence. Roaring silence.
Some two weeks ago when I was in Russia, I discovered that a lady offered tours through the factory via airbnb. I contacted her. She explained to me that the information was only available in Japanese and reservations had to be made at least one month in advance in Japanese via fax or letter. Impossible for foreigners, that’s why she offered this tour. She contacted the factory, but no free places were available anymore. I nevertheless wanted to give it a try, maybe there is a way….
British car lovers like Honda
I stopped at a rest area and wanted to buy something to drink. I stopped next to three Caterham Super Seven and an old Mini Cooper. The owners were curious and started a chat….you know…from where, how, when…I revealed the facts bit by bit (the itinerary, the bike’s mileage, the concept) and they were more and more impressed. When I told them I did Hiroshima to Fukuoka yesterday (300 km), they were impressed as well. So you can imagine how a 13.000 km long trip must sound to them. They were really nice people and we had a good laugh. I had a look at their British cars as well, that’s not something you would expect here. Finally we said good bye and I started the final approach to Kumamoto.
I had no trouble getting to the factory, and there it was, THE sign to be photographed. I approached the entrance, parked the bike and walked to the security booth.
It is accomplished.
The security guy did not speak English, but another man in a Honda suit asked ‘reservation?’ I denied. I explained that I’d come a long way from Europe. ‘Yes, I know’ he said. No chance. The last hope vanished with a puff. Ok, I had at least tried it.
“Du kommst hier net rein!”
What’s next? It was later than expected, but at least I had more time for the second highlight of the day: the Mount Aso volcano. I introduced a GPS waypoint and set off.
“Look, that’s where you came from!”
This was disappointing, of course. It would have been great to enter the site, at least out of curiosity. But it was not the guard’s fault. Kumamoto is one of many production sites and the guards have clear instructions – entry only with a reservation. They are just doing their job. But I felt I was mad at Honda Germany – their customer relation management is despicable! When I bought my XBR, Honda was market leader for many years. Now it’s rank three to five with only half the market share than BMW. Coincidence? BMW has the less reliable products, but excellent after market management. I think I’ll have to write a “nice” letter to them when I’m back home.
I rode on back roads through a green landscape – rice fields, grass land, fields, trees – and soon I spotted large mountains on the horizon. I got closer and closer to Mount Aso, the mighty, largest active volcano in Japan. The views got more and more scenic and suddenly I realised I was going downhill again – this was the ridge of the large caldera. As I learned later, the caldera of this ancient super volcano is 25 km long and 18 km wide! And this is only the part that collapsed. My next destination was the mountain road to the active crater. But what was this? A German flag?? “Holahoo”? A German looking house with a German flag? Hm, I was behind my plan, but this looks interesting….Let’s check this out! I entered the frame house in German style – so this was a Café…
Hmmmm….this looks very German…
I greeted the lady in German, but she didn’t speak it. English went quite well. The next hour was making a very nice and lovely acquaintance with a family that dedicated their life to German products. The couple told me that they are travelling every year to Germany for 15 years already, mainly to Seiffen in the Erzgebirge. It is known for its wooden figurines, mainly produced by turning. In Germany, the objects are mainly sold in Christmas markets.
Baumkuchen! In Japan!
They sell a lot of these products plus served German coffee and….Baumkuchen! An old German speciality that you can rarely find for it is very time-consuming to make. They make it on their own and of course I had to try it. Delicious! Everything in this place was carefully selected, this was no tourist trap, only good quality items. Of course I told them where I was from and in the end we were watching promotional videos from my beautiful home area on the large TV. This was almost surreal. We had great fun in sharing stories.
A very warm welcome – Café Tippel
When I told them about my trip, they were more and more amazed. Really very nice people!
“You were in Africa with this???”
I had to say farewell and when I left the parking, waiting at the road for the cars to pass by….I saw the three Super Sevens plus the Mini pass by into the other direction! What a funny coincidence! It took a while until I could stop laughing.
I got closer and closer to the volcano. The routing of the GPS in Japan is not brilliant, the sat nav always wants to take the direct route. I ignored it and had to find out that it had shown me the right way. It paid my foolishness with 5 km extra single track roads in the forest. Finally I was on the ascent to the crater. The XBR felt mountain air – that’s what she likes! The views were more and more scenic – often you can’t really put it in a picture – even in panoramic mode you can’t reproduce the ‘depth’ of the visual impression….wherever you look, there’s the caldera ridge. Finally I was at the junction to the top – but soon I had to stop. The toll road to the crater was closed! I had seen some smoke before and there was this helicopter in the air. Apparently, the volcano is waking up and it is too dangerous at the moment to get closer than 1 km.
A riding couple. The colour on the picture is not the true one. In reality, this colour kills cells on your retina.
I walked outside and had another nice talk with a biking couple, she was riding a very pink bike! I mean, pinky-pinkish pink. Or just PINK!!! I see that the information about my trip sinks in when I show the GPS track, the eyes go wide.
A few km down the road, I visited the Mount Aso Volcanic Museum. Not hyper modern, but sufficiently informative to be appropriately amazed about the formation of this huge volcano. This must have been a really big BANG then! The pyroclastic streams covered a large part of the island of Kyushu!
This is a ‘volcanic bomb’, i.e. the debris during an eruption!
The caldera on a map
Kumamon and Mount Aso
I still had less pressure to arrive at my ryokan before five o’clock. The views down to the bottom of the caldera were spectacular again. Fantastic. And from the bottom of the caldera, up to the ridge again. I followed some bikers on a nice, winding roads. But…they could go …a bit faster. I noticed that changing the spark plug was the right thing to do, but the bike still felt like running too rich. What could this be? Classic diagnosis procedure: what needs a combustion engine? Fuel, spark and – air. Maybe I should check the air filter.
A look back.
I passed the ridge with a beautiful look back and sooner than expected, I arrived at my ryokan, a traditional guest houst with its own onsen (spa). I checked in and was first shown around, when I came back to my room, my luggage was already there. I went back to the bike and had a look at the air filter….indeed, it’s very dirty. Normally, I would have carried a spare one, but I left it at home when I reduced my luggage. As the filter is symmetrical, I turned it around, this should help a bit. I guess it is possible in this country to find a new filter for this bike. I mean, where else, if not here?
Special parking.
My ryokan. You can see the path to the outdoor pool.
So I jumped in my Yukata and went to the bath (my bathroom has only a toilet). I tried first the small bath (after a thorough cleasing, of course), then I changed to the outdoor stone pool, next to the river. Ahhhh….relaxing…After that, I put on the jacket, changed slippers and toddled through the village, like many other visitors in town. It was a nice walk before dinner, very orexigenic.
Dinner was served in my room. As I was alone, I could stretch my legs under my table. I don’t know how I could do this, kneeling all the time. Then the food was served by very nice guy….dish by dish…and everything was excellent! I never had raw horse meat before, but it was fantastic. Classic top Japanese cuisine.
Raw horse meat. Delicious.
When I had finished, my futon was rolled out and prepared for the night. I ordered a Japanese whisky that was filled very generously.
Tomorrow will be the last sunny day – everybody, including the forecast, tells me that the rainy season will hit later. I have a plan for tomorrow, but to escape the rain – almost impossible. I’ll need a good plan.
The breakfast this morning was smaller than the day before and more Western style. And you had a spectacular view over the Hiroshima peace park. I went relatively early, as I could see from the long queue when I left. Of course my bike was in good shape as I left it in the street the day before. It was Sunday morning and the traffic was noticeably reduced. It was a sunny morning, only a few more will come, then the rainy season will hit me after all. But today was a really nice day with highs at 25 degrees.
Ferry boat ride to Miyajima.
I only had to ride about half an hour until I reached my highlight for today, the historic shinto shrine on the island of Miyajima. I entered the ferry parking and had a chat with the elderly parking attendant. He was very pleased to hear my story. I had a brilliant idea that I would appreciate afterwards:
Beer made from deers? That really goes a step too far!
Hidden image puzzle: find the boy in the Bayern München dress.
I left my helmet and jacket attached to the bike and could walk more freely. The crossing took less than ten minutes and I was glad that I arrived so early, I guess during the day many more (domestic) tourists can be expected.
Sorry lads, I really don’t have any cookies for you!
Darling, are you sure you’ve booked the table here?
Local speciality: oysters
Five storey pagode
Artisanal cookie machine.
I strolled along the promenade until I reached the iconic highlight og this world heritage site: the Torii (gate) located in the water. It is one of the most famous views of Japan. I passed several shines, among them the Itsukushima Shrine.
I entered many tourist shops, not that I was particularly attracted by them (although their products were not too bad), but I was in search for stickers for my panniers. Finally I found what I was looking for. As usual, shopping is very pleasant, the elegant kindness of the staff makes you feel very welcome. I continued strolling through the small alleys of the village and detected their main product: filled cookies/waffles called momiji manju. There were produced on the spot by big machines and sold in boxes. I purchased a single one to try them. Very good. On the way back to the ferry, I spotted some deers on the main street. I took pictures and was surrounded by them. They were of course in search for food ( no wonder, with all the cookie smell in the air). I started to talk to them telling them that I had nothing for them. This must have caused attention, because I was approached by a gentleman with a young camera team. He asked me where I was from and if we (in Europe would eat deer or rabbit). I affirmed this, they are quite tasty. He asked me what I thought about the deer in the streets in Miyajima. I told him that this was amusing, but they didn’t show normal behaviour in the village, for they never would get so close to humans. He explained me that the film team were his students and he was interviewing people about the deer situation in the village. I deduced from this that he wasn’t entirely happy about it. He thanked me exuberantly and I continued my walk to the ferry. 20 minutes later I was on the bike again. Today’s itinerary was very simple: get to Fukuoka, the capital of the southern island of Kyushu. It was another 250 km of motorway in front of me. I rolled at a 100 km/h and found time to stop at a service area again. I ordered some noodles with meat and omelette at a machine, paid and got a numbered ticket. As I couldn’t understand the numbers that were called, I informed the ladies at the counter and was served when it was my term. Good, simple food.
I still needed to fill up, but the attendants explained that there was no more petrol, I should try 30 km further down the road. I still had enough juice in the tank so this wasn’t a problem. Actually, it was a 40 km to the next station, but this wasn’t Russia anymore. My consumption was surprisingly low. After another hour, I enjoyed the luxury to stop for a coffee and another cookie. I wasn’t in a hurry. I thought about making a detour….checking the map….there was an island north of Fukuoka that looked interesting, let’s go there!. Of course I got stuck in the traffic when I left the motorway…I noticed that the XBR wasn’t riding as smooth as she should be….like before I nursed her for the first time in Russia. Maybe I had to do a bit of care-taking this evening.
Finally I arrived at the island that was connected by a small road with the mainland. What a nice view! But it got even better. The road lead around the island with many gorgeous views.
At the tip of the island, I noticed a parking full of motorbikes and stopped there. With interest, I examined all the classic Japanese bikes. Café-Racer SRs or VT250Fs and all the lot. I was also a centre of interest and was the focus of questions and pictures as well. I guess they don’t see foreign riders so often. The Eastern side of the island was more rocky. I entered the interior and discovered a motocross track and a tower with great views on the coast.
Shooting pictures of his Katana.
View on Fukuoka.
But finally I wanted to get to the hotel. It took a while. Studying the habit of some bikers, I decided that I had to ride a bit more ‚normal‘ and did even a bit of filtering. Finally I arrived at the five star hotel. I had forgotten what a posh hotel I had booked, but the rate came with a large discount, so it was not so different from the previous days.
When you enter a luxurious lobby in your filthy and stinky gear, sweating and looking tired and noticed all the looks on you – priceless, haha!
I was shown my room and went back to the bike to park it in a large parking garage. Although I felt lazy, I forced myself to take care of the XBR – tighten the chain (first time since Moscow), fill up oil and scottoiler and exchange the spark plug. I was right – it was not brown but totally black. No wonder after all the dodgy Russian fuel and the overflowing carb. Tomorrow, the XBR should be running much better, just in time for her big her day.
I had a shower and cancelled my initial plan to go to the city centre for some local food. The hotel does not provide two or three restaurants, nor four or six…..No, eight different restaurants were located in this huge building! And then I had a (crazy?) idea….There was also a Teppanyaki restaurant..wasn’t this the moment to try it? With excellent Japanese beef…One thing was clear….this would be terribly expensive….but why wait? If I want to try many things in Japan, isn’t this one of the things you should have tried in your life? So I went to the Teppan. The menu was indeed…hmmmm….not exactly a bargain. I went for the less breathtaking menu, but ordered the premium meat. I was later told it was from Miyazaki (at the same level of Kobe beef). And then what to drink? No beer, of course. I asked for the wine list….excellent wines for sale…I saw La Tâche and Richebourg from Romanée-Conti and had a hard time counting all the digits….Well, luckily they also had half bottles and less aristocratic wines, a humble Gevtry-Chambertin was pricy, but without heart attack risk.
I was apparently the only guest today. With three teppans, this might look odd, but I am not in a big group anyway. So I sat at the hot plate, waiting for the spectacle to come…the cook was very friendly, showed me the meat and started the preparations. I was served appetisers and a salad (jellyfish!). The way the chef grilled the vegetables and later the meat on the hot steel plate was not a big show, rather more a cautious piece of art. It was a pleasure to watch. And then the steak and the vegetables were ready. Grilled to perfection. The meat ‘melts’ in your mouth. Exquisite. After this dish, he prepared a fried garlic rice and at the end was the Miso soup.
I was led to another room and was served the lemon curd dessert and a cup of good tea. And then it was time to pay the bill. I had basically dynamited a large part of my weekly food budget, but it was worth it. Would I repeat it? Well, not very soon. An interesting experience, but limited for special occasions. Such as a motorbike trip to Japan.
I had another Japanese whisky in the bar and started to write this report. Today is the big day for the XBR! She will finally meet her birthplace….
I woke up early, but I took it easy. So I arrived at 7:15 in the restaurant. By that time, it was already full and I (and more people) had to wait to be seated in a separate compartment. The breakfast buffet was outstanding, I had my phone charging in the room so I couldn’t take any pictures. An immense selection of Japanese dishes and snacks…plus a small Western section that was the exotic part for the Japanese. Impressive.
I applied finally a SmartPacking™ technique…One bag was prepared with stuff that I wouldn’t need for a while, which would reduce the luggage to be carried to a hotel room to only two pieces. The tank bag is then left in the empty pannier. I packed the bike and watched the armada of personnel (in suits and kimonos) wishing the guests farewell. A long bow until the guests are out of sight. As it was very cloudy, I went in full gear. I had decided to visit the Izumo shrine after all. The distance to Hiroshima was short, so I could “afford it”. However, I need 70 minutes for the 36 km to the shrine, the traffic is painfully slow. I remembered the information that Seven Eleven has ATMs for foreign cards and I filled up my cash reserves. The ATM had a menu in German and after each step, a pleasant jingle sounds. In the end, a voice said (in German!): ‘thank you very much for your visit, we are looking forward to seeing you again’.
Finally I made it to Izumo and parked the bike. A man in a suit asked me where I was from. He was also a biker and wanted to take a picture with me. The Izumo Taisha shinto shrine is the oldest in Japan, the largest, 24 m high building cannot be visited. There are smaller shrines for dedicated gods around it, it is said that once a year in autumn they get together here and have a party together.
I went back to the bike and decided that I would not cross the mountains on small roads, but on the ‘expressway’. There was some occasional light drizzle and it was already 11:30, later than planned. First I had to get to the expressway. It turned out that this was not a dual carriageway, but a normal road with separated lanes with a speed limit of 70 km/h. But at least it was not 50 km/h. I climbed up the hills with a very lush forest consisting of picturesque Japanese pines. At a toll booth I asked the clerk if there was a petrol station on the road, but he sent me down the exit where I was served at a station. First fuel stop managed without accident. I went further up and stopped at a service area. I was curious how they would look like, I read some good things about them. Indeed it was a nice area, with lots of sweets shops. I found a small restaurant and after some waiting time, I was admitted. We could not find a common language, but we managed. I ordered a delicious selection for about 10 Euro value. It was very good…if only German Autobahn service areas could provide meals that are half as good!
Up on the mountains I crossed a long tunnel and on the other side it was sunny with clouds. The landscape looked very nice and I was tempted to ride on these rural roads….however, I wanted to arrive quickly in Hiroshima and this would have slowed me down a lot. This was also the reason why I skipped to the sake town Saijo. I wanted to do the Hiroshima visit today, otherwise my plan for tomorrow might not work. I reached another motorway with four lanes. The indicated speed limit of 80 km/h was ignored by everyone and I followed Ryo’s advice to do what everybody else was doing. So I ‘pushed’ the XBR to a breathtaking 100 km/h – and she liked it! Finally breathing freely again.
I arrived in Hiroshima at 3:30 p.m. and passed by the iconic peace memorial, the so-called A bomb dome. I took a picture and rode 500 m down the road where my hotel was conveniently located. A small single room, but that’s all I need. The hotel has no parking, but I found a motorbike parking space close to the hotel. I had a quick shower and walked 100 m to the Hiroshima peace park. This is the area where on August 6th 1945, the first atomic bomb detonated over Hiroshima. I visited first the peace museum where many objects and photos were exposed in a black tunnel. A large crowd of visitors moved from artefact to artefact, in depressed silence. The whole museum gave a very accurate background with a focus on the suffering of the people of Hiroshima. The pure facts are painful, but feeling the pain of so many people that died on this very spot is difficult to swallow. It is one thing reading about it and totally another being at one of the biggest mass graves in human history (besides the Nazi extermination camps or the Cambodian Killing Fields). What I found the most touching part in the museum were the drawings of the survivors. Where no camera was present, they recorded the horror after the explosion and tried to deal with it for the rest of their lives.
In the adjacent peace park, many memorials commemorate the event. It is a beautiful, solemn park. But at the same time a very sad place. It is hard to understand that 74 years ago, a 2000 degree hot plasma turned this place into an inferno. I walked to the river opposite of the peace memorial and sat on a stone, watching the building that was not blown apart when the bomb exploded over it. I sat there a long time, letting the impressions sink in.
Children’s memorial
Cranes made by school children all over the world.
Memorial mound. The ashes of tens of thousands cremated people lie here.
I continued my walk and visited more memorial, for example the children’s peace memorial. It was a sunny evening and I watched the local people enjoying it. They have learned to live with the past and have turned Hiroshima into a vibrant city. Ok, let’s follow their example. I checked Tripadvisor, checking for good local food. Actually there was a very famous place nearby, Okonomiyaki Nagaya. Indeed there was a long queue in front of the restaurant. But they are known for Hiroshimas’ speciality, okonomiyaki.
Promising…
Mmmmmmh!
After 25 minutes, it was finally my turn. As I was alone, I got the best place, directly at the teppan plate where the food is prepared. And soon mine was ready, of course with the local speciality: oysters! You add some sauce and mayonnaise à volonté, and cut the big thing with a metal spatula. Delicious! And the entertainment for free! I was eating quickly, the queue was still impressive. I walked down a shopping gallery and back to the hotel. Lots of interesting food places. I think this will be some interesting two weeks.
I went to the hotel bar and tasted two Japanese whiskys, Taketsuru 17 years and Yamazaki 12 years.
Happiness is a nice dram.
Excellent drams. Part of the cultural programme, of course. I think I slowly get into the desired ‘relaxing mode’. This was my plan.
Wednesday: in the morning, I had a preventive shower in the hotel. Who knows when I would have the next opportunity for it. I put on my motorbike gear and grabbed my two bags. When I paid the horrendous hotel bill, I was hesitating if I should take a taxi to the port. But, I wasn’t that far and I was walking downhill. So why?
After 200 m, I recognised that my preference for walking was a bad idea. Yes, I was walking downhilll, but it was moderately warm. But the humidity felt close to saturation. In motorbike gear. When I finally reached the passenger terminal in the port, I was already drenched in my own sweat. Pacific climate.
My First Class cabin for the first night
After some investigations where to start the procedure, I entered the security check and passed customs and passport control. And there was the gangway! I entered the ship and got the key for the cabin. As I had feared, it was a room with four mats and sheets. SO this was my „first class’ cabin. Luckily no-one else showed up so I had it for my own. Later I learned that the difference to second and economy class is the fact that i) it’s only for four people and ii) it has its own bathroom. Very basic, but at least you don’t need to share it with everyone. Until the 4G network would fall away, I made use of it and had a noodle soup in the bar.
The promotion video of the Korean DBS company is in sharp contrast with reality. This is no luxury sea cruise, but a very basic and pretty run-down ship for budget travel. You can buy basic things, but compared to any European ferry, it’s only about getting to your destination. The Koreans who travel in families or large groups seem to enjoy it. At 6 p.m., there was an announcement about dinner that would start now. I bought my ticket for it and went to the „restaurant“. Well, feeding place would be the more appropriate term. Take your soup, a bowl with vegetables, rice and some chilli sauce, accompanied by a cup of water. In 20 minutes, everything was over, everybody gone (except me) and the place was cleaned again. Wow. Restaurant, yeah.
Korean feed, er, food.
The whole day I was reading my large Lonely Planet travel guide, almost 1000 pages. I tried to get an overview on possible places to visit and itineraries to go. However, in the end it will depend on the weather where I will go. It looks that my plan to go south first will make sense, the weather seems to be all right for the first days. This means visiting Hiroshima and the island of Kyushu where the Honda production site of the XBR is located in Kumamoto.
In the evening, I had a beer in the bar (more reading) and walked around the ship again (not that there’s so much to see). There was music coming from the night club. There was music coming from there so I had a look. I watched the end of a live rock concert played by staff from the ship. Immediately, disco music was started and all the ladies and gentlemen (age 60+) rejoiced and jumped onto the dance floor. Amazing.
In my room, I tried to get some information out of the 10 Korean TV channels (impossible), read a bit more and switched off the light.
I had put three mats over each other, but after some hours, I woke up with a terrible pain. What was this? My back? No. It was coming from the left side. I don’t know what had happened, but somehow a nerve must have been pressed. For the rest of the night, I tried all positions to reduce the pain. In the end, I managed to get a little bit more sleep.
Thursday: after the announcement, I trotted again with the herd to the feeding place. No rice and Kimchi for me, please. Some corn flakes and a bead roll will do. And a cup of complementary water.
I realised that my mobile phone must have caught (a South Korean) signal again and loaded some messages. One of them was a message from my telephone provider that I had passed my data volume and extra costs were charged. But this was impossible as I had a package large enough for the whole trip. Despite the coverage, I could not check my data usage. Bloody Proximus!
I had received a message from a DHL coworker in Japan who are supposed to ship back the back. Giving the details about the drop off, he also mentioned that the bike would be transported a non-DG (dangerous good) only. WHAT???
Donghae port.
This would mean that I have to drain petrol AND oil completely??? How am I supposed to do that? I seems that my experience with transport providers will be enriched by another tale. Aaaaargh!
My second class cabin for the second night. The better choice.
Why is it only in Russian?
While almost all the other passengers left the ship for a visit of Donghae in South Korea, I stayed on the ship as I had to change my cabin from first to second class. Actually, despite sharing it with other seven people, I had a proper bunk bed. The day was not very exiting, reading, a nap, eating, looking. Informed via SMS texting, MJ found out that South Korea does not enter my phone plan, so this was the reason of my connectivity and billing problem. I made acquaintance with a Swiss family and we chatted a lot. A wave of a lot of middle aged, very excited and loud Koreans embarked in the afternoon. For them this is apparently a sea cruise for fun. I overheard a Korean talking in English, saying that this ship was very old, it reminded him of the nineties. So this was not only my impression. I did not go for the Korean dinner at 6 p.m., but had some fried chicken later in the bar. I checked quickly the night club again – yes, the Philippines were doing their group dance and all Koreans were watching – and I hit the sack. I slept quite well until I woke up because of the heat. They must have stopped the airco!
Friday: I got up already at half past six and had a shower in the common shower room. Excellent. We were close to the Japanese coast and internet worked again. This was a relief, but it showed how dependent we have become on this little device. I had breakfast with the herd and packed my luggage. It was sunny, warm and very humid.
Japan in sight!
We disembarked at 9 a.m. and the Japanese passport control was very quick. The customs officer wanted to see everything, but he helped me to put the stuff back again. After the exit, Tatiana from DBS Ferries was already waiting. I had contact with her for many months and took care of all the paperwork that was now in front of me. She welcomed me and explained me again the procedure. First, I had to get the XBR out of the ship and into the customs zone. I noticed that the people who had ridden it into the boat had not closed the fuel tap again – luckily the carb did not leak!!! In the customs zone, the bike was inspected and luggage was checked. I was glad that I had changed my motorbike pants to some trekking trousers – the air was getting sticky now. In the waiting time, I had a chat with Tatiana, her service in preparation of this day had been really outstanding. The drug swipe test was also negative, so now the next step could begin. In principle, I needed to get a taxi and drive to the town of Matsue (30 km), where I needed to pick up a translation of my carnet de passage and a translation of my driving licence from the local branch of the Japanese Automobile Federation (JAF). However, Tatiana had arranged that a colleague would bring me there for much less money than a taxi (everybody’s happy!). My driver was a very nice guy (I think his name was Ryu, if I get the spelling right). The drive was quite long, so I got my first lessons about Japanese traffic rules. First of all, respect the rules. Speed limits are extremely low. 50 km/h in cities, 60 km/h outside cities, but often it is limited to 40/50 km/h. Japanese make Norwegians look like reckless drivers! After 40 minutes, we arrived at the JAF where all the papers were prepared, I just needed to sign everything. And we drove back. Ryo invited me for a coffee and gave me a lot of good (survival) tips. We had really a nice conversation. Back at the harbour, I needed to present the paper at customs again and got my Carnet finally stamped. Then I needed to pay all the fees and the motorbike insurance with Tatiana. I went outside to prepare the bike. A few minutes later, I got the green light. Tatiana and Ryo passed by to say good bye and I was free to go. What a fantastic service by both of them! If all imports would be that easy!
So I set off…driving on the left. I noticed indeed that riding in Japan is riding in slow motion. Slow. Sloooooooow. I will not cover great distances, but it will take time, that’s for sure. My first stop was the famous black castle of Matsue. It was on the way to the hotel. I had decided to ride in the trekking trousers, but as it started to rain, I put on the rain suit. I had troubles to find the parking so I found a place that I defined as a ‘parking’ and left the bike there. I walked up to the mighty castle. Built in the early 17th century, it is (apart from the foundations) made entirely from wood. There are several floors that one can climb and the view is great from the top. I was drenched in sweat again. Below the castle, there is a shrine and an old historic guesthouse for official visitors.
You are entering the toilet-free sector!
I only had 9 km to go to the hotel Katsuien Minami that is located in the Tamatsukuri Onsen (i.e. Spa). I finally found the entrance and was already awaited. I got a shaded place for the XBR and I was led into the lobby. There I made first contact with Japanese hospitality: under a lot of greetings and bows I was led to a table where I was served tea.
Japanese ryokan check-in procedure.
A young man in suit kneeled down in front of me and arranged the check-in. I booked already dinner as I read that these traditional ryokans (‘guesthouses’) serve good food. The place is run like a ryokan, but has the size of a large hotel. There is a large shop with local products, a beautiful garden with ponds, three different baths, a restaurant, (karaoke) bars…I was now welcomed by a young woman in a traditional Kimono who spoke good English and she showed me the room. She explained me everything and with great respect. My room is in traditional style, but with modern amenities, i.e. real beds and an own bathroom. I had a quick shower and dressed for my first visit to a Japanese onsen (bath). I put on the Yakuta (garment) and tied it with the obi (belt). Using the (much too small slippers), I toddled to the bath. I left my stuff in a basket in the changing room and entered the bath with my little towel. You wash yourself on a little stool. Then you enter the hot water in the pool. It is so hot that you only stay for a some minutes, but it’s quite nice, similar to a sauna. I washed myself again and went to the outer pool in the garden where dragon-flies flew on the water. There was some water from a fountain dripping into the pool – and it was very hot! Yes, you’re directly sitting on the Ring of Fire! A great experience – to be repeated.
Prepared for my first Japanese bath!
Of course I couldn’t take pictures from the inside…
At 7 p.m., I went to the restaurant and was attended by the same lady (probably her English is the best). She explained me the menu and gave me some tips how to eat what. What to do with the cook-your-own-soup-at-your-table, for instance. I had some interesting new dishes I did not know yet. The raw fish dish was served on ice and was super fresh, a delicacy!
Tomorrow will be a short ride to Hiroshima. I got the suggenstions from Tatianan and Ryo to visit the Izumu shrine at the coast. If it’s not raining, I will do that. I booked two more hotels. It seems that the weather will be good for the next days, but then rain will catch up. I’ll have to be flexible then.
Well, the last days were meant to be resting days – and that included blogging as well :-) This doesn’t mean that nothing has happened, quite the contrary.
Saturday: it was my plan to stay in the hotel, relaxing. And actually this was a very good idea. I was glad that I had gained one day on my plan as it was raining the whole day. I woke up early, like usual, but forced myself to stay in bed. I was woken up by a phone call by the reception at five to nine. If I still would come to the breakfast. Yes, of course. I only understood the next day why this happened. There are only few guests in the hotel and all had had their breakfast already. The buffet was put away and when I showed up in the breakfast room, I was served ALL the contents of this buffet in sequential order. That was a lot! But I got used skipping my lunch the last weeks so this should last until dinner. I returned to my room and forced me to be lazy. I used the laundry service. I studied possible destinations in Japan and watched Japanese television to get prepared for the next weeks. In the afternoon, it was time
Pit stop time at a playground
to get working. As it was continuously raining, I parked the bike under a pavilion of a children’s playground where I found the perfect cover from the rain. I swapped both wheels and could even work seated, LOL.
Dirt all over.
Back tyres
Front tyres (is there any difference?)
Although I was wearing gloves, the work was very dirty as the bike was covered in a mixture of mud and oil. I took my time and in the end the bike had new tyres. I replaced the missing nut of the pannier rack and adjusted the wind shield. That was it. Not a very big service after 12.000 km.
After this, I needed a shower. After some more relaxing and later a dinner in the huge log restaurant. This time I tried something new: bear stew with prunes. Interesting.
Sunday: this time I got up earlier and all the mystery of the breakfast buffet was revealed to me. I had an appointment with Yuri, the fixer for the transport to Japan. At 10 a.m. I arrived at his office in the centre. With the help of the translation app I could get to his office. I did not know how much money I needed to bring so I carried all my remaining Rubles.
Yuri Melnikov, THE man for Vladivostok international vehicle transport.
I had forgotten my Euros in the hotel and in the end after having calculated the sum of all the individual costs (passenger ticket in 4-8 person bedroom, custom charges, handling charges, and and and…), I was 300 Rubles or 4 Euros short. I would give it to him another day. We had a long chat and he told me some stories of other travellers he has dealt with. Apparently he organised the transport of a Swiss biker to Canada who got to Vlad in ten days and is attacking the world record for a fastest round-the-world trip (19 days, 4 hours, Nick Sanders). Other people will join me in the customs procedure on Tuesday.
I went to the south tip of the city where there is a small causeway to a little lighthouse. The path is so small that the waves wash over it. A funny place. The wind was very strong and many surfers enjoyed it. I wanted to go to the southern tip of the big island called Russky. To do this, I had to cross the big Zolotoy brindge and the even mightier Russky bridge. After some kilometres, the dual carriageway ended and a muddy, bumpy track continued. Now this was too annoying. But the real reason why I came to this island was a more sinister one. I spotted a small road into the woods and followed it. I stopped at a little clearing. This was it. This was the perfect place.
I found the perfect spot….
No surprise, after brutal Siberia…
An illegal waste dump. I removed my wheels from the back and removed the special tyre rack as well. I noticed that the lower rack that is carried to carry the big aluminium box was broken on both sides, like once before. I had actually expected that. However the rigid set-up had avoided that this had turned into a problem. It would have been a miracle if nothing of the pannier/rack system would have come out of this unharmed……all these bumps….thousands and thousands of bumps, under the heavy load of the two wheels. I used some of massive cable ties to keep the broken rack together. There won’t be a large weight on it anymore, so this is not critical. I placed the stuff next to the other dumped waste and really felt sorry about it.
Goodbye! 😢
They had served me well, and I would abandon them just like that? Well, another fact is that I want to ride much more lighter in Japan, enjoying mountain roads and stuff. And the (expensive) transport back is calculated by volume weight, i.e. the dimensions of the bike do count. So, it does make sense….apart from the fact that I still have 10 rims lying around at home. Was it really necessary to carry the wheels? No, in retrospect no. But I was playing it as safe as possible. In the end, the result counts.
While I was still feeling sorry, the XBR appreciated the new freedom, breathing freely now. A few kilometres down the road was the large Oceanarium of Vladivostok. Why not spending the afternoon there. But first some exercise. It was a 1 km walk from the parking to the entrance. What? Using my own legs? Let’s see, I can do this….left….right…left….right….right….aaaaargh!
Slowly I realised the dimensions of this place, and I even had skipped the dolphinarium. It’s not only a large aquarium, but also a kind of science museum that explains in great detail the evolution of sea life and the respective habitats. Really impressive. I let the pictures speak for themselves.
On the way back, I found a car wash and had the XBR cleaned in view of the ferry embarkment. I insisted to do the high-pressure work myself, the water pressure was massive!
What was left? Well, dinner in the log restaurant.
Monday:
Leaving Villa ArtE, the essence of all European artistic styles as people in the Far East imagine it.
I needed to change hotel and move to the Lotte Hotel in the centre. It was booked for a long time and a cancellation was not possible anymore. John and I had booked it as a reward after the long trip through Russia. So I packed and left this kitsch palace. As I had a lot of free time, I decided to purchase some motor oil, I had used all of the oil bought in Novosibirsk. I located a shop near the centre and rode there. It was a small shop, but had a good selection of oils. I bought one litre of oil and went outside to the bike. The guy from the shop came outside, saw my bike and we started a conversation. It all took a funny turn when he mentioned that he was also speaking Spanish.
Timoteo, speaking Argentinean Spanish. In Vladivostok.
From there on, this turned to one of the funniest conversations I ever had on my travels. We talked in Spanish from this point on and probably the most funny thing in this situation was his Argentinean accent; he had spent part of his childhood in Argentina. His name is Timoteo and he had lived in many places, Spain, Montenegro and others, and now works in this motorbike accessories shop in Vladivostok! You can’t make this up. What a bizarre, but entertaining talk. He offered me his help should I need any.
I continued my ride to my new hotel. It is run by a Korean company and has all the facilities you would expect. Rather a sober interior, but elegant.
Zolohoy bridge again, in proper sunshine.
View from my hotel room (using the zoom).
You know you are in a first-class hotel when the mini bar anticipates all kind of cravings…
It was time for my planned shopping tour. I had deliberately not carried a lot of clothes, only some light trekking trousers and some t-shirts. I was clear that this was enough for this roadmovie-style trip through Russia. But in Japan, I want to dress up a bit. My plan is to visit nice restaurants as well. Showing up in biker gear is probably counter-productive. So I strolled through a shopping mall where I had some trouble finding clothes in my size. But at least I found something, quite impossible in Japan I guess (unless it’s a shop for sumo ringers). Three shirts, some trousers and a pair of shoes will have to be stuffed onto the bike. However, I come prepared. As this was all a planned move, I carry a light bag that can be filled with light stuff and will be attached on the rack where the wheels had been.
I walked down to the harbour and around the central square. I spotted a souvenir shop and went inside. I finally got what I wanted: two stickers for my motorbike panniers. But before I had to endure all kind of grades of horrors for tourists. The way to hell is paved with souvenirs.
Little shop of horrors…
In good company…
For whom the bell tolls
Two Siberian tigers.
I returned to the hotel and prepared my luggage that had to go into the bike’s panniers the next day. I will only keep some hand luggage on the ferry. Later in the evening, I visited the Korean restaurant in the hotel. For lunch, I had some Korean Udon fast food in the shopping mall which was so-so. Now I ordered a full menu and was expecting a lot from the cook. I received some kind of starters…pickled stuff, Kimchi, raddish….and then a meat dish with some rice…hmmmm….no progress….was that all? I was still hungry! After a while, I asked the waitress….it turned out that her colleague had made a mistake and noted down one dish instead the menu. I light of my complaining stomach, I ordered another dish. All in all, I was not very convinced of the Korean cuisine so far. The Kimchi stuff keeps my guts very busy (although it is claimed that lactic acid fermentation is very healthy), a little bit too busy.
Tuesday: I was surprised by the large breakfast buffet this morning – the hotel tries to accommodate Russians, Asians and Europeans, an enormous selection! I handed over a laundry bag to the room service, I will only have clean clothes this evening, this should be enough for the next two weeks. At a quarter past nine, I was picked up by Yuri who carried more customers in his van. We went to the harbour and into the customs area. I met some of his other clients: a New Zealander who ships his Cross bike to Magadan and wants to ride the road of Bones, Mongolia, the Stans and finish in Bulgaria. Another German couple went many months with their bike through Georgia, Azerbaidshan, Kasachstan etc and wants to cross to Canada now. Talking with these genuine globetrotters, I always realise how much my trips resemble a trip through the park.
Crab lasagna, this ain’t no crap!
The workflow was very quick and after 90 minutes, Yuri drove us back to our hotels. I though it was a good time to consider lunch. I discovered that there was a wine bar in a close-by yard: this was a nice discovery! A fantastic wine selection (for far eastern Russia) and some excellent dishes. I enjoyed the crab lasagna a lot. Never had this before. A good Sauvignon Blanc and a good espresso made the imaginary trip to Europe complete.
I strolled around, downwards towards the harbour. I visited the exposed submarine S-56, the „unsinkable“. It is a museum now containing a lot of memorabilia of the Soviet era.
Travel in style: a new experience.
When I was walking back to the hotel, I had a surprising idea….I had seen a barber shop yesterday….are there any around? Yes! Only 8 minutes away. My beard was growing for some weeks now and quite wild. Should I, for the first time in my life, enter a barber shop? Hmmmm….why not? What could possibly go wrong?
I entered and tried to explain my wishes to the guys in there. Interestingly, all three barbers showed no facial hair. No, no hair cut, no shave, only some trimming, please, look, very wild. Equipped with a series of electrical trimmers and razors, the lad started his work. And it was clear that he knew what he was doing. After 15 minutes, I looked a tiny bit more ‘hipster’ than before, but definitely more “decent”, LOL.
Astonishing effects of a barber’s visit: Before (left) and after (right)
In the evening, I wanted to visit the “European” restaurant in the hotel. However, the menu was not very appealing (I could eat most of the dishes at home), I decided to give the Korean restaurant another chance. So I ordered the menu I had not been served yesterday. Lots of dishes were served, always in pairs. Was this Noah’s ark? I asked if this menu was for two persons and I got a positive reply. What?? Yesterday, I had asked if the menu was for one person and the answer was “yes!”. Fantastic. The table must have been bent under the weight of the served plates….I tried my best, but I left deliberately a bit less than half…why passing a sleepless night? Apparently, the chef is from Seoul and provides a real Korean taste. Well, I am underwhelmed. If this true Korean cuisine, then I direct my hopes towards Japan. Tomorrow, I will embark on the ferry to Japan. It will stop in South Korea on Thursday and arrive on Friday morning in Sakaiminato, Japan.
At five to seven I was ready for breakfast. The bike was already prepared. I started the ride at a quarter to eight. “Only” 750 km to go. It drizzled. Not unexpected, but according to the forecast, it should soon be dry. That’s why I didn’t put on the rain gear. The roads were wet and very slippery. I forced myself to slow down and to avoid any calamity. I went at 30 km/h in the city and ignored all the traffic behind me. Outside Khabarovsk, I increased the speed to 60-70 km/h, it was incredibly dangerous. The drizzle got stronger and stronger and turned into proper rain. This was nerve-wrecking, any slip and fall could mean the end of the trip, so close to Vlad. After 45 km, the road got better. I had seen a sign in Khabarovsk: Road construcction project for 232 km (!). Later I saw another one: 430 km (!!). This meant that basically all the road between Khabarovsk and Vladivostok was scheduled for a make-up. There were a few good parts, but mostly it was difficult. Not as long as it was dry, but in the wet, all the liquid tar that was used to fill the cracks turned the surface into a skating track. About half the day I had to ride extremely careful.
This is an average part of a bad surface. At the real bad parts I was too busy to stop and grab for my camera in the rain.
Then it stopped to rain and there was even same sun rays sometimes. People are definitively more friendly down here. I saw more and more signs of “civilisation”, even a lot of writing in latin letters. More international flair. Finally I entered the larger Vladivostok area. I could not get to the sightseeing point over the Zolotoy Bridge, it was closed off. So I had to improvise, I found a good spot along a main road.
It was done, After 12040 km from home, I had reached my first destination: Vladivostok. Without any major problem. The XBR performed spectacularly. Again. (Later at the hotel, I detected one missing nut. One. Nut. That’s all). Incredible. In a bit more than two weeks. Nothing broken, nothing bent. Honda XBR500.
Sorry, I thought I was at the Rossky bridge, but actually I was at the Zolotoy Bridge :-)
It returned north to the hotel, but not via the direct route. An accident in the north had collapsed the traffic out of the city. I went south over the bridge and did a huge, but quick detour and arrived at the hotel 30 min later. The hotel is a Kitsch palace like I I have never seen before. Tomorrow will be a total rest day, I’ll write more about the hotel, hehe.
I had some excellent dinner in a huge hall made of logs, accompanied by Russian live music.
Of course I woke up at 6 a.m. And at 7 a.m. Difficult to change a habit when you’ve been preparing your bike during
14 days. Finally I got up at eight and had breakfast. The rain front was moving slower than predicted, it was still dry! I decided to leave already and at a quarter to ten I was on the road.
With the rain clouds behind me, I cruised slowly (90 km/h) towards Khabarovsk. A very relaxing ride. After more than two hours, I reached the banks of the dominating river in the region: the Amur.
Another big river crossed. I stopped for petrol before arriving at the hotel Paros at noon, right before the drizzle started. It is très chic, the right place to relax half a day. I went to the restaurant and had some very delicious seafood. I checked the touristic possibilities in Vladivostok, because I will spend some time there.
Tomorrow is the final day (750 km) to Vladivostok!
In the morning, I had my bike ready at 7 a.m. The cleaning lady asked for the keys, but I insisted that I first needed to bring down the luggage. As the restaurant was not open, I asked for the breakfast. With the help of the translator app, the receptionist asked: „did you order it yesterday?“ Er, no! „There is no cook“.
Excellent. No breakfast. A fantastic establishment. I left with the plan to get something on the highway. At the first „Café“: opens at eight….the mini market had the cashier behind the typical bullet-proof glass…OK, let’s try later down the road. After an hour, I gave up and ordered a heated coffee can and some biscuits from a cashier in some other bullet-proof petrol station. OK, now let’s see….I had a booking only 430 km away, a dull hotel in probably a dull forest. I would arrive far too early at lunchtime. What to do the whole day? Wasn’t there an alternative?
Road works of horror. Deep gravel.
When I arrived at the junction at 12:20, I made a decision. I filled up and reserved a hotel in Birobidzhan, some 590 km away. Sat Nav said arrival time 19:30, including the jump to the next time zone, so in principle six hours. This should be possible, the road was very good and I made good progress. I had the wind from the front now, but still I kept the speed at 110 – 120 km/h. Btw, I get passed by cars at 140 – 160 km/h, so I’m not going particularly fast. It was sunny with clouds now, the initial cool temperatures had risen to some nice 21 degrees.
As scenic as it got today.
An unexpected landmark on the way.
A well oiled machine. PS: this is no motor oil, but the scottoiler oil from the chain that is coming off the sprocket.
I moved very quick, only very few road works slowed me down now. I was even considering to move even further to Khabarowsk, 170 km more, where I had my booking for the next night. In the end, I decided against this 1200 km monster trip, my 1030 km today were already a lot. When everything looked so rosy, I passed a sign….construction works for the next 320 km…..WHAT? And immediately, the road got bad, longitudinal groves that are not a problem for cars, but for bikes! And heaps of sand! Potholes, 15 cm deep! Huge missing parts of the surface, liquid asphalt all over the place….what was going on here?? This was dangerous! I needed to slow down. Focus! Luckily, it was dry….But I would have to do the rest of this road tomorrow in the rain! Ouch…I filled up again, Mars bar, Red Bull, juice. The magic mix to push for the last 130 km. I arrived at the hotel in Birobidzhan at 19:45 and was immediately involved in a chat about the bike. I had already noticed that people got gradually friendlier again, the grumpiness had disappeared. The climate? I checked in, parked the bike, filled up oil and was surprised how nice my room was. After a shower, I entered the restaurant and with the help of a friendly waitress I ordered dinner, some very good 97-98 degree celcius hot soup covered with yeast bread and some kind of very good Cordon Bleu variation. And a Bavarian Wheat beer! During dinner, I read about the history of this town. It is the capital of the Jewish Autonomous Region here. Started as a project some 100 years ago, it was a safe haven for Jews before the founding of the state of Israel. First the settling was voluntary, later forced under Stalin. Due to emigration, the share of Jewish population decreased from 25 %in the 1950’s to about 1 % today.
Seeing the weather forecast for tomorrow, I considered leaving early tomorrow, banging towards Vladivostik, hopefully avoiding the rain front that will come in from the west. But on second thoughts, why the stress. I am on minus 1 days anyway, I don’t need to arrive at minus 2 days. And this would mean four days too early! So, I have ridden 11000 km in the last 14 days, have done some 1030 km against the wind today….why the hurry. Ok, I’ll have to ride two hours on this dangerous road tomorrow to Chabarowsk….take it easy. And a couple hours of rain during Friday, so what! I’ll arrive more relaxed on Friday in Vladivostok. So tomorrow it will definitely be a late departure, a short ride in the rain to a plush hotel where I can relax more. I’m glad I did these 600 km extra today so I don’t have to do them tomorrow in the rain.
When I woke up, everything seemed normal – but then I had a strange feeling….and two seconds later, I rushed to the bathroom. I made it in time. Only just. What was that??? Had I eaten something bad? I follow strictly the “Cook it, peel it or leave it” motto. And I take daily my Saccharomyces capsules to fortify my guts against any attack. So what went wrong? Hard to say. I went in counterattack mode and swallowed another capsule plus one Imodium pill, just to be on the safe side. I packed my stuff, got the XBR out of the parking and went for breakfast. This time, I was incorrectly on the ground floor while breakfast was served on the 11th floor…I listened to my guts….everything seemed to be under control…let’s go! At a quarter to eight I left the place. My GPS guided me to the right road, the Amur highway. The road was very good again, leading through green hills and valleys. It was a scenic ride today, lots of forest. There were some occasional road works, but I made good progress. I filled up every 225 km, 100 km and 170 km. Petrol stations were rare, but available. I noticed today, that east of Krasnoyarsk, people seem to be more grumpy (with exceptions). It was hot and I tried to drink plenty of water. After 400 km, the good road seemed to have more and more ‘dips’, deepenings in the surface. In contrast to low speed bumps, these were dangerous at high speeds – the bike’s shocks are compressed to the max. One technique is to ride slower…..or to stand up and dampen the hit with your own body like a cross rider. This was tedious at times, but often these dips were marked by truck skidmarks before them.
High speed bumps: the degression is 20 cm lower than the normal road surface
14:45, Mogotcha junction: too early!
At a quarter to there, I was already in Mogotcha. Much too early! I reserved a room in Skovorodino, some 320 km down the road. The bike rode fine again, I made good progress, the weather was fine and I could go further tomorrow, During the last 10 km, the sat nav sent me on a shortcut, which meant 5 km on a very bumpy piste. Thank you, Garmin! I filled up and arrived at the hotel. It had the worst ranking I ever have booked, but at least I had a room. As I didn’t want to have a shared bathroom, I had booked a suite. I paid half price as I need it only for 12 hours, not 24 h (?). It’s quite shabby, but reasonably clean and I have enough space. In the restaurant, I managed to order a Gösser beer from Austria (!), Borshtch and Shashlik. It’s quite hot in room, the airco doesn’t work and choosing between heat or mosquitos, I chose heat. I realised that going 200 km further tomorrow than planned doesn’t make much sense, as I can’t find a better accommodation than the already booked one. This means I will have a short day (450 km) tomorrow. Then there will be two full riding days to Khabarowsk and….Vladivostok!
I got up at six in the morning, took the bike out of the parking and parked it in front of the hotel. I was waiting when the breakfast room opened at seven. At 7:25 a.m., I was on the road. I expected it to be a long day, only 665 km, but the tales of the road from Ulan-Ude to Chita are numerous. „The worst road I’ve ever seen“, „horror road“ and other globetrotter statements shock the curious traveller. I rode south, into a dry country. Was this a Mongolian climate already? After a while I turned east. The road was quite all right, maybe the first part was already renovated. I wondered when the bumpy part would start. As I had heard about few petrol stations along the way, I filled up after 130 km. I wanted to order 8 litres and showed eight fingers to the lady at the desk. However, she apparently understood „5.3 litres“. Actually, that was the right volume that fitted into the tank. The landscape was hilly and dry, with small mountain tops. Basically no traffic and a smooth ride. There were green valleys with rivers and floodings. This was quite nice actually. When would the bad part start?
South of Ulan-Ude
After 270 km, the road got very bumpy. This must be it! Still 380 km to go! There were no holes, butone bump after the other. I slowed down to 70 km/h to make the ride bearable. After 5 km, this bad part stopped and a perfect new tarmac welcomed me back. I hoped this would last as long as possible….Suddenly I entered a very long construction site…the road turned into an off-road piste! 5 km later it was all rosy again.
Where is the bumpy road???
After 210 km since the last fuel stop, I stopped at a dodgy petrol station. I ordered more petrol than I needed, just in case…this pump worked accurately, I filled up the tank to the max. This should bring me to Chita. Only 5 minutes later, I was hopping through a 7 km road works section. Bumpy bumpy bumpy….But the XBR has seen worse. The road ascended up to 1000 m and I was thankful for the coolness up there.
I was rewarded with an excellent road afterwards…the wind was blowing strongly from the back and I had to slow down the XBR, it wanted to go fast, fast, fast! Brrrrrr, hold your horses! 120 km/h is enough! I was hot now and this was more than enough. But the XBR seemed to like the ride, it purred like a cat.
In a good mood today! (and no leaking)
It took several attempts to find a „Mini-Market“ in a petrol station where I could buy some water and a snack. Only two hours to go. The road was fantastic and slowly it occurred to me the notorious horror road has been turned in a quick high speed road between the to cities.
“Why should WE move?”
😳
At 5 p.m., I filled up again in Chita and after a short ride through the city’s rush hour, I arrived at the hotel. Communication at the reception was difficult (no English). I parked the bike underground and walked the incredibly long way to my room. 210 steps, I counted them. That’s about 70 m. Including a ride in an elevator. The restaurant was a bit strange…first, I ended up in the wrong one (closed), it is situated next to the strip club „Roxy“ on the 11th floor. Actually, the Café is downstairs.This is a weird hotel indeed. According to booking.com, it’s the best in town, but I have seen better ones during this trip…
I have booked accommodation for the whole stay in Russia now; in Vladivostok, I could not stay earlier in the booked hotel, apparently a lot of places are booked now and prices (compared to the rest of the country) are very high. If I stick to the new plan, I will even accelerate to plan A -1 day, arriving on Friday night instead Saturday. It is slowly time to have a rest day, so the earlier I get to Vlad, the better. The only night where it was impossible to book something is tomorrow.There is very little touristic infrastructure in the Amur region. I will try to find a hotel somewhere, maybe in Mogocha, 600 km from here. 9150 km lie behind me, only 2850 km to go!
During the night, my right lower arm was aching which kept me a bit worrying. I got up early and left the hotel as soon as possible. The receptionist was as grumpy as yesterday. When I was about to take off, I read a message from Johannes about the carburettor spring, it can be changed to a softer position. I remembered this vaguely, but it was too late now, I was about to start. At a quarter to seven I left the parking. It was sunny and quite mild, probably another nice day was in front of me. At first, the road to Irkutsk was quite good, but then the unavoidable road works started. At least it was dry. Today, there would be to time zone change and the sat nav indicated an arrival time of 14:15! Well, I knew this would not be true, there would be road works, fuel stops and and and and….I estimated 5 p.m. But even this would be fantastic, the earliest arrival on the whole trip so far. My hand started to ache again. A cruise control would be nice now….But then then I had a fantastic idea, the best idea of the whole day: some days ago, I had spotted in one of the side bags of the tank bag a tool that was lying there since….the Ironbutt Rally 2013? It is called a “cramp buster” aka “throttle rocker” and helps to relieve the force on the throttle hand. You’re basically pulling the cable by the weight of your hand. No more pain the whole day, fantastic!
So I took the time and stopped for the first time at a works section. This picture shows and average construction site with the typical groves and some gravel. Real bad ones would consist only of coarse gravel.I made good progress and soon I had to fill up near Irkutsk. I had a little second breakfast and even the possibility to check the tyre pressure: everything still ok! I took the road to the west and slowly the road ascended towards some mountains. I realised that I had switched from plan B to plan A now! In my initial plan, John and I would have started in the morning from Listvyanka at the Lake Baikal shore and passed here at the same time. After one week, I had caught up the lost day resulting from the disastrous border crossing one week ago. Excellent. The road went over a pass of 999 m altitude before it descended again. Finally I spotted the great landmark of this trip: the Baikal Lake.
I descended to the lake and was surprised by the temperature drop of 10 degrees! I was fresh down here, only about 12 degrees. I rode along the southern shore now and I expected to find a certain touristic infrastructure, with some cheesy souvenir shops where I could purchase a sticker for my panniers. Nothing could be farther from reality. Along the whole shore, I couldn’t spot anything that could be related with trapping tourists….any tourist. I crossed the town of Baikalsk, where I found at least some nice motives:
Comrade Wladimir Iljitsch. The only statue I saw so far in Russia. And this one was rather in a back yard.
It was difficult to get a clear shot on the lake and apparently the lake shore was not as important to the locals as in Europe. I took a decision to make a turn and enter a town where there was access to the lake. Finally I got to the shore and asked a Russian to take a picture of me. I learned a new Russian word today: “откуда (atkuda)?” meaning “from where?” My response is “Бельгия! (Belgium)”
Lake Baikal. Another iconic place.
I went back to the main road and found another spot with a view on the lake
Soon it was time to fill up again. It was a rather dodgy station with only two pumps and no tarmac. But stations got more and more rare at the south side of the lake. I ordered 13 litres (which was in principle too much)….and the tank was not full at all! Did I make a calculation error? I ordered another four litres….and the tank was not full! I started to worry….yes, the carb was leaking again, but had I really lost so much petrol during riding??? During the next hours, I was concerned about the leaking carb….I was still in a safe zone, but in the next days, petrol pumps will be rare. I stopped 130 km later again and filled 9 litres again…still not full! But then I started calculating….the only explanation was that both stations (Rosneft) had non-calibrated pumps that delivered less petrol than indicated. The 17 litres at the first station should have clearly overfilled by tank….but they didn’t. Cheaters!
The roads were sometimes excellent, sometimes horrible, and everything in between. Roads works came back. Suddenly I was stopped by the police. For the first time in Russia, I saw a cop with a speed gun! Uh-oh! He showed me that I had been riding at 97 km/h….so? He told me many things and then showed me “5”. “500?” I replied. He called his colleague and both of them tried to explain me the penalty. In the end I understood “5000”.
I laughed humbly. You’re joking, right? Ok, here we go….I took out my fake wallet with many bills of little value. Look, I only have….1500 Rubles….They gave in and typed “1000” on their phone. Deal! And off I went.
When I left the shore of the Baikal, the temperature rose immediately from 16 degrees to 26 degrees. Wow! So the lake acts a an enormous fridge in summer. At the second petrol stop I saw a young girl asking the clerk what braking fluid she should take. I indicated: “it’s either DOT 3 OR DOT4, don’t mix!” Outside, the girl was talking on the phone, otherwise I would have tried to explain that topping up braking fluid will not revolve her problem, whatever the problem was.
Towards Ulan-Ude. Another train.
I was getting hot now and the vegetation changed as well. At the entrance of the big town Ulan-Ude I filled up again. Now I could see that everything was all right with the XBR, the two petrol stations were simply cheaters.
My humble room. I can jump half night on one bed, and then change to the other.
I activated my mobile phone navigagtion to the hotel and at 5 minutes to five, I arrived at the Mergen Hotel. A plush five star bunker with all amenities for the price of a modest single room in Europe. The next days will be shorter and the accommodation will be very simple. I had a shower and washed my riding gear. For the first time in the whole trip, I could relax for an hour on the bed. What a luxury. 8400 km. Eleven days. Like the Ironbutt Rally that will start in a few days. At least the distances will be shorter now.
OMG! I left my beauty case at home!
Tomorrow will be a hard time, the road is notoriously bad and I expect a long day.
Mongolian horse stew.
I visited the restaurant and chose some local specialities. Ulan-Ude is the capital of the Burjatian Republic and there is quite some Mongolian influence here. I ordered a fish soup with delicious fish from the Baikal, and, English ladies and gentlemen, please grab your chairs, Mongolian horse stew. Excellent.
I have some time to plan the next days. The most tricky thing will be to find accommodation after Chita where I will be staying tomorrow. But something will show up.
When I was writing the last post yesterday, I sat close to the reception for best internet coverage. I got to chat with the receptionist and told her a bit about the trip. Apparently, the hotel is frequented by Russian celebrities and rock stars. Unfortunately, none of them was known to me. I learned some new words in Russian and my plans for the next days were received with a certain smirky disbelief. It was a nice conversation but I had to hit the sack. In the morning I had breakfast at seven and got a cooked one: a massive omelette and some pancakes. Everything delicious, so I didn’t want to leave any. This took a while, so I left only at 8 a.m. Not without thanking the nice and friendly people from the Hotel Kupecheskij, their friendliness is outstanding.
The sky was blue but the huge flooding in Krasnoyarsk indicated that there must have been massive rainfall during the night. Luckily it was Saturday morning, so the traffic was bearable. Nevertheless it took quite some time before I hit the Transsib highway again. It was a lovely morning and with a bit of luck, I would finally escape the rain today (spoiler alert: I didn’t see a single drop today). The road was good and the views were relaxing. Nothing to report until I hit Kansk. The sat nav and the road signs were diverging again and this time I followed the GPS. Supposedly the shorter route, but I hadn’t counted on the road in the city. Very bumpy. And flooding. And a bit of mud as well. But at least the sun was shining. After 220 km, I had my first petrol stop. The distances between them gets shorter as there are less and less of stations.
Karsk
Two hours later I noticed that my speedometer wasn’t working anymore. I stopped at a petrol station and investigated the problem. Yes, the cable was broken. Of course I carried a spare one. Fixed after 10 min. I decided to fill up already. A friendly old man tried to talk with me – from where, where to….petrol talk. I managed quite well the get the message across.
The highway was excellent now. Mostly in perfect condition. The bike was running fine at 110 – 120 km/h. Of course I was still passed by many cars. The bike seemed to like the new spark plug.
Into the great wide open…
Trains were one reason to lose time; they are enormous! Road works are another. More and more stops were
Any ideas why this car is there?
necessary; every thing you lose about 5 min. I am riding a tight schedule, I knew I would do the 800 km in 11 hours and so it was. Clock went one hour forward again; this also costs one hour per day. I filled up in Nishneudinsk and had a „Danish“ hot dog. Not too bad actually.
Although the bike rides fine and the views are realaxing, there is a certain tension building up. I’m getting closer to the tricky part – the road between Ulan-Ude and Chita and the five days between Chita and Vladivostok where accommodation is very rare. If I’d have a technical problem there, I’d be in trouble. But let’s enjoy the nice ride now! In Tulun I changed the batteries of my spot, but as I found out later, I had pressed the wrong button the whole time, instead switching on the tracking, I sent OK messages all the time. Hmmm, is my attention going down? I don’t think so, but I have been riding 7700 km so far in ten days without a break, a certain tiredness wouldn’t be strange.
Another 140 km to go….the leaking carb was mostly under control, the (mostly) good roads avoided my back aching, but in the last two hours, my right hand and lower arm started to ache. The carb has a strong spring and you need quite some force to open the throttle. Do this 10000? 20000? 30000? times in ten days….
Again!
Worth the delay….
The road work got annoying. I was tired and had to stop many times.Once the guy was missing so I entered the passing and found some oncoming trucks who weren’t very happy about me.
…until the next road works come….
Finally I took the turn to Sayansk and hopped a bumpy road for 10 km. I filled up at a dodgy station and arrived at a quarter to eight. The personnel at the Hotel Ermak is in sharp contrast to the previous night – they have a quite „robust“ attitude when it comes to pleasing the customer. Actually I felt more like an intruder spoiling their evening. I turned out that I had canceled not John’s, but my room which caused a bit of confusion, especially as there was no English spoken.
There was a big party in a hall, the people were not the greatest singers, but compensated this with devotion and volume. When I passed by the room, I was exposed to a toxic atmosphere of ethanol. But that kind of ethanol that had already passed the body once and was exhaled again. Impressive!
I had a quick shower and presented myself in the restaurant 20:20 as it was announced that it would close at nine. My request was received with some annoyance and the proposal „fish?“ was readily accepted by me. No beer though! Water then. A carrot salad as entrée, salmon with mashed potato and a pastry. For the tenth of the money like yesterday. But apparently not every hotel can be like Kupecheskij’s, eh?
Quick dinner, hurry, hurry, we’re closing!
Later I changed the setting of the throttle cable on the carb, hoping this will give less pain in the hand. Normally, without the delay at the Russian border, I had planned a short ride to the Baikal from here, with a relaxing afternoon for John and me as a reward for the last days. Also the next day would have been short. Now I will do the trip to Ulan-Ude in one go tomorrow, without stopping at the Baikal. A pity, but it means I will be finally back on track of the PLAN!
I will be another 800 km tomorrow, without a time zone change, but I don’t know how many road works await me. I better leave early. 7700 km done so far. 4100 km still to go.
You know what? This country is big…..really big. I mean BIG!
This morning breakfast was served only at 8 a.m. – too late for me. I had ordered a pastry in the restaurant the night before and made some tea in the kitchen. At 7:30 a.m., Alexander was waiting outside the hotel and we took off. Not without leaving a puddle of petrol before the entrance, ahem.We left Novosibirsk behind and rode in the sunshine, for a change. The road was not too bad and we made good progress. After a while we stopped and Alexander had his breakfast. My carburettor was overflowing like hell, uh-oh….what to do? It had done this before the trip once. As the behaviour is not constant, I don’t suspect the floater valve, but the floater itself. I continued, playing with the fuel tap, finding the right position to avoid overflowing during riding. After a while, I managed. At the next petrol stop in Kemerovo, the situation was ok again. During the rest of the day, the carb would work more or less, but only very little with the barely opened tap.
“I’m sorry Robert, I couldn’t hold it!…”
After Kemerovo, the roads changed from excellent to „mmmh, ok“. I could slowly feel my back aching. All these bumps and the saggy seat, not a good combination. Dark clouds surrounded us, but it wouldn’t rain yet. The road was wet, though. During hours! No problem with a good surface, but when the tarmac was in a lousy state….when entering Mariinsk, the city greeted us with a slipping back wheel! Oooooaaaaaahhhhh…
The bypass around the didn’t really seem like a good idea, but careful riding is the top priority. The road was rather slow, with mixed wet surfaces. Road works and railway crossings slow you down:
Alexander said that he had an appointment in Achansk for the tyre change, I would continue another two hours to Krasnoyarsk. The drizzle started and finally we got soaked a little bit. In Achansk, Alexander must have stopped and I lost him. And then I got lost, as the road signs and the sat nav were contradicting. It took a while to find my way out the city again.
Still 170 km to go, pfffff. It is the ninth day of the trip, and I’m constantly under pressure. Catch up with the plan. On day 9 in the Iron Butt Rally, many people have their low point. Well, it would be nice to have a rest day, but….actually, after three more „relaxing days of around 650 km, this is the first of four hard days of 800 km each, and the forth is the notorious Ulan Use to Chita piste (650 km). At least, the rain had stopped now…four days with rain, where is the promised weather change? Along the road, many dealers sold furs and had stuffed, entire bears in front of their tents. With about 30 km to go to Krasnoyarsk, the landscape and the temperature changed. The green grass land turned yellow and the air was suddenly warm….
Krasnoyarsk. And don’t stop on the hard shoulder.
I stopped at a petrol station and after a difficult communication, I filled the tank. However, the safety valve did not work and with a huge gush I distributed one litre of petrol over the tank and the hot motor! Aaaaargh! In panic, I pushed the bike away from the large puddle under it. I filled up the oil and 10 min later I arrived at the hotel. Not situated in a chic environment, but it is very charming with friendly personnel. To celebrate the first 6900 km, I changed the spark plug!
Welcome, Mr Hutzlmandl!
The restaurant is fascinating! It is equipped in Siberian style and appears like a museum. I am the only guest. The menu was very delicious, in the end I ordered Siberian dumplings and fried white salmon, a speciality and very expensive for local standards. But at least I have tried it once, it was very delicious. I washed it down with German beer…
Siberian restaurant
Alexander will only get his tyre changed by noon tomorrow, but I have to leave early. I have informed him about my plans the next days, maybe he can catch up. It will be another 800 km trip tomorrow!
In the morning, I had breakfast at seven and started the day with sunshine. I could not leave before it was checked that everything was ok with my room. This was the case so I entered the Omskii morning rush hour. I had to cross the whole city and slowly, very slowly it occurred to me that I had made a mistake. As usual in the morning, the sat nav did not indicate the exact routing, but only the general direction. The road leading out of the city was very bumby. This should be the road to Novosibirsk? Probably I was doing a “shortcut”? And so it was. The roads was very bumpy, with lots of cracks and potholes, but in contrast to one day earlier, there were no huge bumps and it was sunny! So I went hopping for about 50 km, crossing a small town before I finally reached the Transsiberian Highway again.
One missing, one loose – bolts!
What a relief! I rode again through the Siberian grasslands with lots of birch trees. After two hours, as predicted, the sunny weather ended and for the rest of the day, Banana Man was back. I noticed that the cover of the sprocket (where I had lost a bolt some days ago) was very l loose – the second bolt was almost gone. I tightened it, making this the first “repair” on this trip. Soon the rain welcomed me. For the rest of the day, short sunny periods alternated with light rain or even heavy rain. No reason to remove the rain suit.
When the turn from the Transsiberian Highway leads to….nowhere?
Where do we come from? Where are we going? Two possible answers could be i) Omsk and ii) Novosibirsk.
After I while, I passed a Russian rider at the side of the road, exchanging friendly waves. Some time later, when I was (as usual) singing anything that comes to my mind (they had a 80’s Greatest Hits tape in the breakfast room this morning, soooo…), I saw the Russian biker with his ST1300 behind me. He made no sign to pass me, so we rode together for a while.
Alexander from Moscow with his ST1300
After half an hour, I needed to fill up and stopped at a rather shady station. The cashier was hidden behind a blackened, secured window, spooky. I had a chat with the friendly biker who spoke English. This makes communication so much easier than usual. His name is Alexander from Moscow and he said he was going to Vladivostok as well! We chatted a bit about our plans and continued our ride. It was strongly raining again and this time he was in the lead. When I followed him overtaking a truck, I noticed that the surface in front of me was cut away, leaving a myriad of little groves! There was no chance to stop the overtaking due to oncoming traffic, so I had to move back to the right lane! WOOOOOOAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!
The XBR turned into a Rodeo horse, kicking out with its back wheel. The front wheel was more of my concern, because this definitely mean touchdown. With adrenalin up to the eyeballs, I managed to keep everything under control. I had to reduce speed considerably and was soon overtaken by the truck again. Rule number one during all trips: keep the shiny side up! Don’t fall down!
A while later, we decided to stop for lunch and so I had my first typical road restaurant in Russia.
Russian highway restaurant.
A pork chop with mashed potato and cabbage. Very good. Alexander told me that he has two months for his trip and that he spends the nights in ‘Biker Posts”, some hostels for bikers. He told me that the road would be fine, except between Ulan Ude and Chita. This I also read in other places, and Google Maps confirms this. We might ride together these days, although I have a series of pre-booked hotel rooms that I do not want to cancel. We’ll see how it goes. In any case, it is an advantage to have someone speaking the language and riding in front with a big bike.
We continued after filling up and the weather was the same mix as before. However, close to Novosibirsk, we got into heavy rain! Shortly after, our ways parted, but we’ll stay in contact. I headed to the local Honda dealer, Johannes had sent me the address yesterday. Much to my surprise, it was a combined Honda/Triumph dealer! Very shiny and modern!
Could there be more irony? Honda/Triumph dealer in Novosibirsk
I asked for a bolt to fix the sprocket cover, and please use some Locktite as well. Done! I chatted with the manager and bought two litres of oil. Yes, like the ones I left at home. They only had the modern stuff, like synthetic and 10W50. But ok, this will do; I’m using tractor oil now: mineral 20W50, haha!
They also had a fashion section…100 Euro for this shirt? Hmmm….
I was disappointed with my new BMW rain suit. !49 Euros and I have wet pants??? Really? Grrrrrr……It was very warm now and I got cooked in my Banana suit. And I still had to survive the Novosibirskii rush hour as well! Lots of filtering through the traffic, one more petrol stop and then I was at the Ramada, where I left a little puddle of petrol in front of the entrance….it seems the carburettor float valve is not closing well, hmmmm. Closing the tap helps. One bolt of the pannier rack is a bit loose, I can’t tighten it…but with some of my monster zip ties, at least the tyre rack does not move anymore. Another oil check in the big parking garage…and finally I could strip my clothes in the room, I felt like a boiled egg! I have a whole appartment suite, not that I need it, but it is spacious. And for the price of a shabby pension in Western Europe.
In the restaurant, I wanted to order a beer from Andechs in my home area (haha), but there was nothing left. So finally it’s a local beer.
Today, I have ridden 6100 km since I left. Half time! Only 5800 km left to Vladivostok. And these will be the tougher part. But I have 11 days left, so this should be feasible if no technical problems occur.
This morning, the sky was grey and rainy. I had the luxury of a proper breakfast again. I advised that I wanted to remove the bike and that they should take care of the “Sabaka” (dog), I wanted to come out of the parking alive. The guy walked with me to the yard, but then walked away. So it was me against the dog. What can I say, I outpaced him. But it was a close shave.
I hit the road at 7:45 a.m., in full gear, including long johns this time. The weather was dull, occasional rain kept the road surface wet. After an hour, I was passed by the three Russian riders while waiting at some long roadworks! I catched up with them when they were having a break. I may ride slow, but constant. In Makuschino, I had to leave the main road, as it would lead into Kasachstan. The shortest way to Omsk cuts through there. As I have only a single-entry visa, this was not an option. So I had to go around and do some extra 150 km. When I turned, a nightmare started to evolve. It seemed to me that this was the worst road I ever rode on and that can still claim to be a “tarmac” road! Cracks, potholes, bumps and above, in wet conditions! It was so bad that I only could go at 70 km/h, or even 60 km/h. And then the temperature was 6 degrees with strong, icy gusts from the side.
Yeah, in the sunshine and dry….not!
What a ride! I spotted a petrol station and decided to fill up after only 185 km! I needed a break. Then I was at the pump, the other three Russian riders showed up as well. I “chatted” a while with the Gold Wing rider. Lots of petrol talk with little common words..
And on I went. How long would this road take? All the missing 350 km? This can’t be. I tried to ride as careful as possible, but I couldn’t avoid all the bumps the bike had to take. Morale was at a low. Why, why why am I doing this in spring? In the icy rain? Why????? Why Siberia in June?
What??? There?
Then, in Berdjuschje, I had to turn and the road got slightly better, but I still had to be very careful. Only when I finally reached the main road from Tjumen, the things changed. I rarely welcomed a proper road so much! But a doubt started to haunt me….could it be that my shocks were starting to fail me??? On the good road, nothing was noticeable, but with bumps I could feel the hard bump. My lower back started to ache….What if I was losing the shocks? I needed to act. I would stop at the next station and contacted Johannes by Whatsapp. This took a while….50 km and no petrol station in sight! Finally, one turned up. It was pretty old school, mainly for locals who needed Diesel. There was even no 95 octane petrol. I filled up with 92 (actually I was served) and was returned the surplus as I had erroneously asked for 16 instead 13 Liters at the pre-pay.
The vehicles that left the station seemed to like blue smoke, this was incredible! A tractor and a two-stroke motorbike left the station in a blue haze. In the meantime Johannes had provided some options: No chance to send new shocks, no much time, too risky with customs. But apparently some Harley models have the same shocks! There are HD dealers in Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk! I decided to look at this option later in the hotel. This problem troubled me the whole afternoon.
Siberia. Mosquitos. Thirsty ones.
Slowly the temperature went up. Sunny with heavy rainfall in between. No reason to get out of the rain gear. I passed a strange landscape – grassland and trees, but whole birch forests standing in water with no leaves. A bizarre sight. I had to empty my bladder at a certain point and stopped next to the road. Only a small part of my body (ok, not THAT small) was exposed to the air in this process, but immediately many blood-thirsty monster mosquitos tried to have a picnic! What a mess! I tried to flush away some of them, but rather opted for retreat and fled this place!
I got closer and closer to Omsk. It was still early and I congratulated myself for changing the plan yesterday. These distances were feasible and give me enough time to rest. Some 20 km before Omsk, I was stopped by the police again. But….did I do something wrong? I wasn’t aware of…Ok, documents….I reached for my licence….and could not find it! Panic!!! Where was it? Then I remembered I showed it yesterday to the policeman….maybe in the fake wallet? Yes, there it was! Oufffffffff!!!! The policeman looked at it, showed it to his colleague and gave it back to me. Go!
The road not taken.
In Omsk, it was sunny and warm now and i got slowly cooked in my “Banana Man” gear. I could still feel the strange effect when the shocks had to work. I had changed the setting to the max and this seemed to improve things a bit, but this was strange…I had the feeling that I was sitting on a board….and then I had an epiphany! What if the saddle was worn out? It’s a Russell Day-Long saddle, but…..what if? I had to stop for petrol again and checked the saddle….this was a possibility! I had noticed earlier that the shape had changed….I had bought the saddle in 2013 when I was a lot lighter…in a non-heavy duty version…I was sitting very much in front, due to the wheels in my back. When pressing the saddle, I could feel the hard plastic below. Can it really be? I called Johannes and told him the good news. He suggested to put something on the saddle if the feeling would change. So I rode the last 3 km to the hotel on my gloves and my fleece….and it felt great! Really? Well, this is definitely the smaller problem! Thanks Johannes anyway for the great help I hope I don’t need it and it’s only the saddle.
The hotel’s pride.
I arrived at the Hotel 41 with its iconic helicopter in front. At 6 p.m., although the clock had turned forward one hour. A relaxed evening? It was about time! And tomorrow the same distance like today! I really like my cunning plan.
My soup of the day was a classic Borshtsh, followed by some mixed meat platter. I’m sufficiently far from home to apply the “no fresh vegetables” rule now. No risks taken. Tomorrow I head for Novosibirsk!
Before going to bed last night, I had a brilliant idea….what if…I would consider the idea I had the first morning after our border disaster? Instead of desperately catching up the lost half day – what about falling back a half day and be in accordance with the initial plan, only one day late. It would make things so much easier – no monster rides, no desperate search for accommodation in the middle of nowhere, staying in nice hotels in the bigger cities….Instead riding like a berserk in three days to Krasnoyarsk, I could do it in four… But would I really be behind one day? I had had planned a short day between Kemerovo and Krasnoyarsk, and a very short day when getting to the Lake Baikal where I had planned us to pass a quiet day after 10 days of hard riding. If….I would skip the stay at the shore in Listvyanka (that includes going there and back from Irkutsk) and ride directly via Irkutsk to Ulan Ude??? This could work! I would be back on plan! What a cunning plan! It also leaves me one option: I could stay at the Eastern shore of Lake Baikal instead ot going to Ulan Ude, falling only 200 km behind the plan. With 3600 km to go and 8 days left, this should be no problem at all!
This meant that I could have proper breakfast this morning. No rushing in the early morning. It does not mean that the daily rides will be a piece of cake, but there is no need for monster rides of 1000 km or more per day. Not very appealing nor safe under these road conditions.
Sim in the Ural mountains, close to the imaginary border between Europe and Asia.
Finally I hit the road at 9 a.m. and first got lost, riding north instead east. Lost 20 km. But no need to worry, my daily plan was to get to Kurgan, only 720 km away. It was cool and cloudy. After half an hour, I got stopped by the police again! I was sure not to have crossed the white line…but maybe I overtook a car within the lane. Same game game again…do not understand…showed my licence…but the policeman also wanted to see the bike papers. I opened the left pannier and sighed loudly…the registration paper was buried somewhere in there….the policeman showed some mercy and said it was ok. But, I had to pay a “Straf”. Oh, this was different! He typed something on his phone…70? Oh, that’s cheap! Oh wait….Euro???? Ok, if he tries to play foul, I play foul. How much in Rubel? 5000! I grabbed for my fake “hold-up purse”…..look, I only have 4000 Rubel left…..He accepted and sent me away. Without a receipt, of course….Mental note: next time, put only 2000 Rubel in the fake purse…
This time I was wearing all my proper gear. But on the way to Chelyabinsk, I noticed that it got colder and
Warming up…
colder….chilling! I checked the altitude…oh! 440 m! I was riding up the Ural mountains. And then it started to rain lightly. This was the weather for most of the day. Dry, but with patches of rain that made the riding….interesting. I crossed the border between Europe and Asia without knowing where it was; unlike the route further north between Perm and Jekaterinenburg, there was no monument. This was touch, mountain roads, drizzle, and a gusty, icy wind from the west. Luckily, for the whole day it was blowing from the back, but when I had it from the side, the bike shook like a leave in the wind. I crossed several passes, the highest at 823 m altitude. This does not seem much, but the temperature was already low in the lowlands. Up there it was 7-8 degrees, but the strong icy wind made it feels 5 degrees less. And the XBR is not a spoiling bike, no fairing, no heated grips, no heated seat….I started to shiver….this was f*cking cold! When I had to fill up (Lukoil), I spent some time in the interior to warm up. I had another “Grill Dog” (LOL) and decided to put on the rain suit, not because of the rain, no! It keeps the wind out. Slowly it got warmer when I decended from the mountains…I saw some “working” ladies next to the road…in hot pants! And I was freezing inside my gear…two shirts, fleece, jacket, rain suit….brrrrr.
Down in the plain, it was less icy, but the wind still blew strongly from the back. The road turned into a dual carriageway and I took the long ring road around Chelyabinsk. When I got the wind from the side, I noticed how strong it was. I had to remove one ear plug, as the wind pressed so hard against the helmet that the ear plug got pressed into the ear…that did hurt! Without the ear plug, it was ok again.
“You meet the nicest person on a Honda”: two classic Honda owners (XBR 500 and VF250F)
The long road to Kurgan was filled with trucks that had to be overtaken…endlessly! I stopped for petrol again….warming up again. It was less cold, but still chilly. I got into a conversation with a guy from the station…without understanding all the words, we managed to get the message across….bike talk! From where, to where, he had a Honda as well, very good, etc etc. A nice guy!
The landscape had changed.Less forest, more grass land. But also some swamps. And mostly birch trees. Slowly the clouds vanished and the last hour I rode in sunshine. Interrupted by enormous road works. But at least I could pass to the front easily.
Nursing the XBR
Just before Kurgan, I filled up again. When I returned to the bike, I was shocked: I found a puddle of liquid right under the bike! It took a while until I realised that it did not come from my bike and was probably water. I checked the oil level….a lot was missing! I filled up 0.6 L, quite a lot! On the other hand, I was riding hard yesterday, and in 1200 km, this is possible. I left most of my oil at home. But, in the worst case I buy some car oil, there’s plenty of it. No worries.
The XBR may sleep next to the big boys!
I arrived at my hotel, the “Cosmos Business Hotel” on Gagarin Street, next to the “enormous” airport. Four stars, haha. But clean and with everything you need. I parked my bike behind the hotel, guarded by a barking dog, gulp!
I had dinner with another soup, Solyanka this time. Not very local, but delicious. And some sizzling lamb meat, with some Russian red wine. Tomorrow will be a relaxing 650 km ride to Omsk, around the Kasachstan border. I did a check today, I have ridden a 4800 km so far. I only have 7000 km left to Vladivostok!
In the morning, we decided to change the plan of the following days. The cunning plan so far had fallen into pieces. Instead of Kazan, I booked a hotel in Nizhni Nowgorod. Still a 900 km to do today. In the evening, we would decide on the next days.
We started at a quarter to eight and rode through the green landscape. Sunny weather, a relaxing ride. After an hour, I spooted a petrol station and we stopped there. I wanted to pre-pay the petrol in the little house, but nobody was there…finally I found two woman: “no petrol!”. John used his jerry can to be on the safe side. Soon we discovered a shiny, new station where we finally could fill up. The next three hours saw more and more traffic the closer we came to Moscow. I spotted a car on the hard shoulder with a lost wheel. While I was still wondering how this happened, I saw two guys after one kilometre rolling back the wheel! Unbelievable! I was glad not to be the victim of this exemplary driver.
Someone is apparently exhausted…
With a hundred km to go to Moscow, we had to fill up again and found even a working air pump. I told John that we could visit the Red Square for a picture, despite the massive loss of time. John then told me that he would quit in Moscow.
Well, this didn’t come as a surprise. As much as John is an experienced IBA veteran and one of the few people capable of doing this ride under these circumstances, this is not the perfect time for him. He had a loss in his family that kept him focussed on that matter for quite a while. I understand perfectly well how this affects your mindset when you should focus on something else. All his preparations were delayed. I guess he felt under pressure the last four days. And this can drain the energy from your body. I think he couldn’t manage to really enjoy the ride, and then he realised that he probably had bitten off more than he could probably chew. His old bike and he himself are perfectly able to do this trip, but this would need more time. My concept of the trip was always “get through Russia as quickly as possible” and then enjoy the riding in Japan. But this requires a tough ride. With our modern bikes, this would be a walk in the park (not really, but…), but on these old bikes, this is a totally different story. I fully understand his decision and under these circumstances, it’s the best he can do.
We rode to the centre of Moscow and took THE picture so far.
Red Square, Moscow.
We made it!
The Kremlin from a ride-by.
John asked me to guide him to the hotel we had booked the day before, he wanted to stay there. He checked in and then it was time for goodbye. I am sure John will design a new Plan that will make this a memorable ride (Murmansk? Nordkapp?). Good luck, John!
Sunset in Nizhni Nowgorod.
It was already 3 p.m. and I still had to ride 420 km! The traffic in the inner ring of Moscow and getting past the outer of the three rings around Moscow took quite a while, lots of traffic, lots of filtering. Argh. I noticed that my chain needed some tightening. I stopped, had a drink and fixed this. Aaaah, this is different! The next four hours were a wild ride, mostly dual carriageways, but many red lights, lots of traffic and crazy drivers who thought they were race drivers (real race drivers don’t drive so aggressively, though). I pushed the XBR to a new speed window of 110 – 120 km/h (70 – 75 mph). In the rays of the setting sun, I filled up just before Nizhni Nowgorod. I had booked a plush hotel in the centre to relax and to have good facilities. I crossed the Volga in the dusk, but had no possibility to stop for a picture. It felt like crossing the Mississippi….I checked in at the hotel (the receptionist spoke English!), had a shower, washed my riding underwear under the shower and went to the restaurant.
“Ra-Ra-Rasputin….”
They had Belgian Affligem beer (!), and I ordered Schtschi soup and a Beef Stroganoff. All very good. I tried to figure out a plan for the next days, but the only certain thing was the next day and the ride to Ufa. Nice hotel in Ufa booked. Went to bed after midnight. It was a tough day (900 km plus the centre of Moscow).
Got up early today, had a shower and packed my stuff. At 6:30 a.m. I met John at breakfast. At 7:10 a.m. we started our day in nice sunshine. The hotel was conveniently located next to the motorway, in no time we were rolling towards Warsaw.
Riders from Austria – four people, seven legs
The road to the north east had a nice surprise: all the road works were gone and we could roll on a new dual carriageway. We could make up some time in relation to Garmin’s calculation. I had estimated a 10 hour ride for today. After three hours, we stopped for our first fuel stop. We could go much more, but we decided that this pattern (stops every 170 – 200 miles) gives us a good structure during the day. We met some bikers from Austria that are on a trip to Murmansk and the Norwegian west coast. But what was particularly different about them was the fact that one rider had only one leg! I have never seen this before. We saw them a couple of times today, they rode faster, but we more steady. After a friendly chat we continued our ride. The nice road ended in the north east of Poland and from there is was mostly a normal road to Kaunas in Lithuania. Which means overtaking, overtaking, overtaking. We might be slow on motorways, but we are quick on these type of roads as trucks block a lot of cars. But not us. Not for long. We stopped at the Lithuanian border sign as John did not have that picture. Close to Kaunas, we met a dual carriageway again. Riding was very calm. I didn’t find the time to take a picture of the many picturesque stork nests along the road…
Mr. Young’s immediate reaction when stopping the bike…. :-)
In Kaunas it was time to fill up again and a quick Bratwurst hot dog. The motorway turned into a nomal country road again, but we made good progress. After the first massive bump at the village entry, we learned to enter the towns. A quick stop at the Latvian border. The clock turned forward one hour. In Daugavpils, I decided to ignore the bypass around the city and entered the city. I was simply curious. We saw our first Lenin statue and orthodox church, which golden tops were in stark contrast with the dull city. We arrived in Rezekne and filled up again. I had booked a new hotel that is really nice and well run. Glad I did that. The rest of the city is quite….hmmmm, dull? So finally a shower tonight nd a proper change of clothes. We had dinner together (rabbit liver, quite good) and pork chops. We had for the first time some time for a longer chat. While going through the plan for the next days, we realised what is ahead of us! Days 5, 6 and 7 will be massive! But we are seasoned Iron Butt Rally veterans, if we switch into the right mind set, we can do this. We just need to leave early on these days.
Tomorrow morning, we’ll hit the Russian border after 30 min. After the bureaucratic hassle, Moscow is calling!
This old, cheesy Schlager from the 70ies came to my mind when we entered Poland today.
In the morning, John arrived a wee bit late – he had not slept very well, he was too nervous. I could perfectly understand this, in the morning, my nervousness reached its peak. So after so much time, we’re really doing this!
A last goodbye and we set off at 8 a.m. There was a light drizzle that stopped soon. Riding together with a 50 year old bike needs some adaptation. We rolled at 94 – 100 km/h (60 – 63 mph) the whole day.
But the funny thing is – you still make some progress! We limited our stops to filling up and a necessary drink. Plus a sandwich at lunchtime.
For a while, I was nervous for different reason – I spotted that the voltmeter indicated a system voltage of 14.5 V! I remembered my problem in 2016 when a defect rectifier grilled some batteries…again?? But later, the value went back to the correct cut-off value of 14.4 V and didn’t rise anymore. Phew!
We decided to increase your distance between fuel stops. At this low speed, the consumption of the XBR is very low, about 4.5 L/100 km (52 mpg), this would give me a range over 400 km (250 mls)! But in the end we stopped every 300 km, it’s good to stretch the legs from time to time.
At our third stop, already in Poland, some Durch HD bikers started to chat with us. They claimed to have visited Irkutsk. And having ridden a Harley Davidson through the Gobi desert. Sure…
Our bikes will be cuddling tonight…
Before getting to the hotel close to Łódz, we filled up again. We checked in and John told me that he would go directly to bed. He got up very early today and we have done quite a distance, 1100 km in total! This will be the longest stint of this trip, at least by distance. I didn’t bother to change clothes and went directly to the restaurant.
Polish dinner
I got what I wanted – good old Polish classics: Barzcz, duck breast and pivo (beer). Now I am pretty tired – some good sleep is needed. Tomorrow will be another long day – like so many that are ahead of us. Breakfast will be served at 6:30 a.m., so an early start is possible. Next stop is Latvia!
The XBR was refurbished some 18 months ago – another used, but younger motor and a lot of goodies and new spare parts. I rode it for 1000 km last year and had no issues (of course). As written in the last post, I had the crazy idea to build a tyre rack to carry two whole wheels. I had welded a plate for my rack in the back. This means that this time I will leave my big box at home. I had the idea to keep the rims in place by attaching an axle to the rack. My friend Heinz helped me and even sacrificed an old front axle of a CX500! The diameter was exactly turned and adjusted to my rims:
Together with some rubber plates (thank you Mark!), I built a rather stable rack that should keep the wheels in place:
The final reserve wheel setup. This picture includes a broken wheel for test purposes. I will of course carry a front wheel with a proper braking disc…
Old and new type plate. Some progress.
I discovered another problem…the type plate had suffered during the ‘fairing period’ in 2013 when I had attached Harri’s Habermann fairing during the 2013 Ironbutt Rally. The clamp broke the plate apart and entering Russia in 2016, I had to discuss with the Russian officer that yes, the plate is not entirely visible, but it’s the VIN in the frame that counts, doesn’t it? I got away with this, but I expect the Japanese customs officials to be more bureaucratic, so I needed a replacement. My friend Ton managed to get me some printed copy of my plate, thanks for that! However, I did not look exactly like an original type plate. In Europe, this should not be a problem, but what about Japan? I played it save and ordered a generic blank plate in Germany. The numbers needed to be hammered in the plate, and it almost looks if it was the original plate…
I did quite some test rides with the two wheels in the back, visiting Germany and England. Over this 1000 km, the rack proved to be stable (to my surprise, actually). I bought a scooter seat cover that I will use to cover the wheels and disguise them a bit.
Old vs. new Mikuni carburettor. Does the trick.
During the test rides, I noticed that the carburettor gave me some problems…idle speed was not fine and once during one ride the throttle would not return to the idle position! I had a closer look at the carb…indeed, it seemed that the throttle did not move back smoothly. Hmmm, could it be that the Mikuni carb was already worn too much? After only 100.000 km on four continents? Maybe yes. But I still had the grey, Café Racer XBR with a new Mikuni carb, I could change it completely, together with the throttle cables…well, it was almost new. The only person who actually rode this bike after its refurbishment was – John Young when he had troubles with his Explorer and he borrowed the grey XBR from me to get back to England. Finally I swapped the carbs and…the bike ran fine in idle…very stable. Later, I visited Choice from Mainjet.de, the Mikuni expert, and he opened it. Indeed, many parts were worn. It did make sense to change the carb after all.
On my first ride to work, I ended up in a puddle of petrol, the carb was overflowing! Luckily it was a singular event. An additional fuel liter was installed!
I visited my GPS shop in Zolder and they provided me with some open street maps for my Zumo 590. Garmin does not provide maps for Russia nor Japan…I do have limited search function capabilities, but at least I I have proper maps on my Sat Nav.
As I couldn’t find my rain suit (!), I bought a new BMW rain suit at my local dealer. It is expensive, but it comes now with an integrated hood. This means that in heavy rain, no water can run down your neck any more, what a great improvement!
When I returned from my ride, I made a worrying discovery:
New valve stem seals.
The bike smoked worse than a two-stroke Trabant running on a 33:1 mixture! But only from the left exhaust, only basically at idle speed. Hmmm…this pointed to some worn valve stem seals…A bit rare with the XBRs, but after 34 years, any seal under permanent heat stress can get too hard and lose its function. Only three weeks to go, and now this popped up! One thing was clear: the seals needed to be changed. In theory, I should be able to do it myself. However, my stress level was already increasing, not only because of this trip, but also because of all the other things I had to finish. If I would just ride around in Europe, I would have done it myself. I applied some risk assessment: during this trip, nothing can go wrong. We’ll be too far from home, under too much time pressure to reach Vladivostok to take any risks. I tried to contact some Honda garages, trying to get an appointment for this surgery….no chance. In my despair, I called my old mate Stefan, the best mechanic I know. He squeezed in a short visit to help me with the replacement, ten days before our departure. A 1000 mile trip for him. I ordered some specialised tools for the seal replacement, and got the seals and joints. The plan was to change the seals without removing the cylinder head. This is possible if you blow up the cylinder with compressed air. My spark plugs are smaller than the usual tools for cars, so Stefan sacrificed an old spark plug and turned it into an adapter for the air line. We worked together (compressing the valves, removing the valve collets, removing the valve springs, removing the old seals, putting on new seals, putting back the springs and collets) and after the first valve we got some routine and the seals were changed very quickly. The motor was closed and with great anticipation, the motor was started:
No smoke! The whole intervention was successful! Kudos to Stefan for his help! With the bike finally in good order, this gives a lot of peace of mind…
I have packed a lot of tools and spare parts, much more than I actually will need, but on this trip, nothing should go wrong. It goes into the tank bag to build up some counter weight for the wheels in the back.
The bike received new tyres, four in total. The cost less than the two tyres for the BMW K1600…
So the bike should be fine. For the next 12.000 km. Or 15.000 km. Or 18.000 km.
I still had to some paperwork…I needed to get a Carnet de Passage de Douane (CPD) for Japan. It took some weeks and a deposit to get the important document. The transport back is also arranged. For the bike and for me. I requested the insurance green card for Russia. I contacted Honda to find out where the XBR was built. After many attempts, I was told that is was produced in Kumamoto. So I will ride to the south of Japan as well.
I had started to learn some Russian online, but I couldn’t find enough time. My plan to study some Japanese was not successful. I did some basic study of Japan places to visit. But in the end, I will have two days on the ferry to make my final plan, having a look at the weather forecast.
Before I start to pack my bags next week, I go for a little ride to Britain – same procedure as every year! As the defending champion, I will ride the Brit Butt Rally 2019 this weekend, starting in Leicester. The little XBR still has to wait, this weekend it’s time for the beast again – the BMW K1600.
I think I was in 2006 then I was reflecting which long motorcycle trips I would like to do in the next decades. I looked at a world map and I identified three big journeys: a trip through Africa, a trip to Japan and a trip through South America.
The whole track in Africa 2011 – 9583 km
This should do for a while. In 2008, I inserted another trip through Dubai, Oman, Iran and Turkey. About 10.000 fantastic kilometres. Later I realised the trip through Africa in 2011, another 10.000 km. Then I had planned to do to the trip to Japan next. However, in the following years I had other projects. I got active in long distance rallies and spent three weeks each in 2013 and 2017 in Northern America riding the notorious Iron Butt Rally, the longest motorcycle rally in the world. In the meantime, I had also to renovate my parents house in Germany. This meant I had neither time nor money to embark on a long and costly globetrotter trip in these years.
But slowly I felt the need for another adventure. I focussed on a ride to Japan, crossing Russia via Moscow and Vladivostok. Sometime in 2015 , I told my English mate John Young about the plan. He proposed to do it together. I agreed and since then, we were wondering when we could actually do the trip. In 2016, we had the plan to do a test ride. The plan was to ride through Belorussia and Russia, visit Moscow and Kaliningrad and return home. We met at the XBR meeting in Germany, but my XBR showed some problems. I swapped the generator and battery with Hans and one day later than planned, we started our trip. However, the transit visa for Belorussia was not valid anymore so we had to skip the trip to Moscow and planned to use at least the Russian visa and visit Kaliningrad and the Curonian Spit. The trip went quite well, we also visited Riga and Vilnius and got terribly soaked in Poland. On the trip home, my electrical problem re-occurred, Later it seemed that it was simply a bad regulator that roasted the batteries. Bad luck, but the trip itself was a good dress rehearsal.
In late 2017, the XBR was completely refurbished and received a newer motor. I did a trip to the XBR meeting and the bike went quite well.
My start at the Ironbutt Rally 2017.
We had planned to do the trip to Japan in 2017 – however, I wanted to ride the 2017 Ironbutt Rally which meant that there was no time and money left.
This was still a problem in 2018 as I first needed to “save” some leave days (and money) before I could think of a long trip like this. So we had to postpone the trip in 2018 again. But 2019 is finally the year where it should happen.
My basic idea is that the XBR500 should go back where it came from – its production site in Hamamatsu. Today, no motorbikes are produced there any more. In principle, the itinerary is simple: Moscow, Omsk, Irkutsk, Vladivostok. Some years ago, I had the idea to cross to Sachalin and to take a short ferry to Hokkaido. However, the ferry stopped to transport vehicles. At the moment, taking the ferry in Vladivostok via South Korea is the only option to get to Japan.
The planned itinerary to Japan.
But first of all, we’ve got to get to Vladivostok. It’s just some 12.000 km. What could possibly go wrong?
I contacted a company in Vladivostok in January to get the latest information about the ferry crossing. At the same time I realised that there is no possibility to enter Japan with a German registered vehicle. Germany did sign the 1929 and 19668 Conventions on Road Traffic, but not the 1949 Convention on Road Traffic. But this is the one Japan asks for. What now? Well, there was only one chance out of this problem….I could change the registration from a German to a Belgian one…Belgian vehicles are permitted in Japan…but this would mean I would loose my old number plate that my bike carried for 32 years and was in more than 50 countries! What a sacrifice! When the ferry confirmed that they wouldn’t take only German registered vehicles on board, I knew I had no other choice.
So I started the procedure…Visit customs and get the import paper….get an insurance paper and send all the papers and old documents to the DIV, the Belgian registration office. I expected to have the number plate soon. However, I received all my papers back, together with a letter that I had to get a validation or homologation number for the motorbike! The XBR was never officially sold in Belgium, so I assumed this would be the reason for this extra procedure. I called the DIV what I had to do. They told me to contact the office for homologation. I called the office for homologation. I needed to send copies of all documents. Then there was silence. Another ten days lost…And then I received the letter with the validation number. Now just send the papers again…Another ten days later….I got the new number plate!!! During these two months, many things were put on hold, because the Belgian registration was the crucial step.
I have also ordered the ferry ticket for the boat trip from Vladivostok to Japan, with a stop in South Korea. I wanted to have a ‘first class’ ticket for the trip, but I only got ‘second class’ for the Korea to Japan trip as ‘the Koreans don’t want to share the rooms with Westerners’, whatever that means. This sounds interesting… I also established contact with the ferry company and learned a lot of things. Customs procedure will be tricky in Japan, including a – 45 km round trip to the Japanese Automobile Federation for a paper and the translation of my driver’s licence.
I had asked for a quote for air freight transport back from Japan. A whopping 6200 €. My next request was for sea freight transport, this was much cheaper…so the bike will return my ship and I by plane, obviously. And there’s a lot more to do, taking care about insurances, ordering tyres, installing open street maps on the sat nav, applying for the Russian visa…
Home-made tyre rack. Still needs some work.
Voltmeter: a poor measurement if the alternator can’t cope with the energy drawn, but it’s a good indicator when the voltage collapses.
The XBR is in pretty good shape, it got a younger motor last year and was brushed up last year. So I could think of some modifications…I had bought a heated shirt (42 W) from warm’n’safe as my heated jacket (90 W) would draw too much power for the XBR’s tiny alternator (170 W). I connected a harness and a controller, together with a digital voltmeter that lets me check if the energy drawn is too high. First checks suggest that this seems to work nicely. I’m prepared for the chilly Siberian tundra!
I had a crazy idea about the reserve tyres. One set of tyres could last until Vladivostok, but then I would have to change tyres. I’d have to carry both tyres in the back. Nasty. I’d have to find a shop to change the tyres in Eastern Russia…..and then I had the idea: why not carrying whole wheels? It’s more weight in the back, but apart from that, it gives a lot of advantages. No stress to find a tyre change solution and if I’d have a flat tyre or dent a wheel in a pothole, I could just swap the wheels and continue. Sounds easy. I have enough rims in the shed, when reaching Vladivostok, I could just dispose of them. I decided to tinker a tyre holder, it doesn’t look too bad for my limited welding skills.
No big aluminium case, but two wheels. I apparently need a lot of weight in the back.
And then there was a change in John’s plan. He had the idea to skip to trip to Japan and to go directly to Canada and to the American east coast, creating a round-the-world trip. I think this a good solution as he is more interested in Russian and I am more interested in the Japanese part of the trip. So he will leave the ferry in Donghae, Korea. But we still will have some loooong way to go together.
Another motorbiking year gone, time to look back. It was a good year with many new impressions. It started with my new bike, the new K1600GT. A true monster bike. There’s plenty of everything. At the end of the year, it has 38.000 km more on the odometer. It could have been more, but more about this later. This is still a good distance, the average biker needs ten years to achieve that. For the first time, I rode quite a lot in winter, enjoying the heated gear.
Meeting at Pottal Pool House
The first winter trip led me at the end of January (!) to John Young’s bike meeting at his house in Staffordshire. I had never done such a long trip in the middle of winter before, but the heated gear makes winter riding a walk in the park. It was also the start of a series of rides to visit some places as part of the 50-50 Challenge, a 2018 programme to visit many places related to the 50th anniversary of the Triumph Trident triples.
Only three weeks later, I headed over to Britain again, this time with Gerhard and Thomas. The reason was a more serious one: we formed part of the large motorbike group that accompanied Bev Kilner, the late wife of Chris Kilner at her last ride to the crematorium in Aberstwyth in Wales. Bev and Chris had developed some great Brit Butt rallies. The ride behind the hearse through the sunny Welsh mountains at -1 degrees was unforgettable. I rode to Harwich, took the ferry to Rotterdam and attended the European Ride to Eat. Chilly, but as I said, the heated gear makes riding at the freezing point a piece of cake…
On the 28th of February, my ST1100, the bike that successfully finished the Iron Butt Rally 2017, arrived at home. It had taken James Cargo almost 8 months to return it back to me. Eight months!!! But that’s not all. All my belongings that were still in the panniers were mouldy and rotten. AND: James Cargo had lost my bike registration papers not only once, no, but twice!!! As a consequence, I declined the payment of the transport. My expenses had summed up considerably, not considering the reserve bike I had to buy (K1600GT), hahaha! I checked the bike and discovered that it was only riding on TWO cylinders…Resistance measurements showed a problem with one ignition coil. When I wanted to exchange them, I found a broken ground cable of the coil. A new cable later, and everything ran fine! No need to change the coils, as the resistance values were within specs. How lucky I was at the Ironbutt Rally 2017 when I ran the last 50 km on only two cylinders and made it to the finishing line!
At the end of March, I did a long trip to Andalucía in Spain and could test the K1600 for the first time on proper warm roads. It was a mixture between sporty riding and tourism, visiting Granada, Ronda, Gibraltar and the White Villages. I made another holiday stop in Northern Spain near Soria where it was considerably cooler. A really nice trip to welcome spring.
In April, I received an Emergency call from John Young from Holland: his Triumph Explorer had a problem and he feared he wouldn’t make it home. Without a second of hesitation, I wanted to help him to get back home. Hmmmm….this wasn’t easy…the BMW was at the dealer for a service, the Pan was still not running properly on all four cylinders after the IBR17, the black XBR had a small problem I can’t remember, soooo…..this is an example why you need more than one bike! In the end, the newly re-built cafe racer XBR was the only bike at hand….but it took John to his home place where he took his van and returned to pick up his bike.
In late April, I finished my bike preparation: a new Russell day-long saddle, the Maple platform with my old tourtank in the back, wind deflectors on the handlebars, and the Clearwater ‘converts night-to-day‘ Sevina lights. The bike was in proper rally mode now. I did a first test ride to my hometown in Bavaria and everything worked to my liking. I went to Viena, from where I repeated the ‘Viena – Hamburg Triple Run’ of May 2nd, 1968. Fifty years ago, the new Triumph Trident managed to do the distance in one high-speed trip, only interrupted by petrol and chain-servicing stops. As I tried to repeat the original ride, I started in Viena at 5:45 a.m., crossed through Munich and arrived in Hamburg at 2 p.m. after 760 km. In 1968, the testers of MOTORRAD had achieved a riding average of 140 km/h. With the Munich traffic, all the speed limits on the A7 and all the road constructions, it was impossible to achieve this. In the end, my average was 138 km/h, this was quite quick under these circumstances, but it demonstrated the exceptional, venturous ride of 1968.
The weekend saw a short ride to a German Ride to Eat at the end of the river Rhine in Holland. The special thing was that I rode two-up! The test of rider, pillion, gear and new bike in preparation for the common holiday trip in summer was considered successful.
Glenfinnan, Loch Shiel.
The end of May saw the first rally with the new bike, the Brit Butt Rally 2018. It had a controversial new format, i.e. not claiming points at the end of the rally, but sending the pictures directly by e-mail. Again, apart from finding the best route to get most points, some mathematical puzzle using multipliers had to be applied. The ride was great, the bike performed fantastic, I visited Scotland, mastered a lost flag and found the right spots to take pictures from.
When the rider loses his flag, he has to appear in EVERY picture….
For the forth time in a row, I finished first place. The bike had passed the test.
XBR/Clubman meeting.
In the beginning of July, I did my only trip with my old XBR this year, the ride to the yearly German XBR/Clubman meeting. On a short trip in the morning, my old buddy Jo was riding in front of me and overlooked a car that ran right into him! Luckily he could avoid the worst and only some light material damages were the result. A close shave!
At the end of July, it was finally time for some big holidays! First, I went with Gerhard to England again to participate in the Brit Butt Light Rally 2018. The last two years, I could not join and the BBL2015 was the last European rally that I couldn’t win…the bike performed well again and although I had some troubles during the rally, I told me not to give up and was rewarded with a first place. I returned home and started the trip to Kirkenes where I met MJ.
Lake Inari, Lappland.
We started a fantastic Hurtigruten cruise from there and explored Western Norway on bike after arriving in Bergen. Really beautiful. Our journey ended in Oslo, from where I rode to Jönköpping where the European Tour 2018 started. After three exciting days, I was declared winner and managed to get home despite some cut-outs of the bike.
The problem came back during the Wolfhound rally. I had planned a winning route, but the cut-outs returned in Dublin, so I had to abandon the rally. I jumped on the ferry to Wales and made it to the house of John with some cut-outs. He offered me his van to return home the next day. What a generous offer, especially when he had to change his plans and picked up the van himself! So much appreciated. The BMW garage still could not solve the problem and when I just wanted to leave for the German Butt Rally in Austria, the bike stalled again. I received another generous offer, this time from Gerhard. He lent me his new GS1200 Adventure! Wow! I went down to Austria and built an easy route that was worth lots of points. What stroke me later was that nobody else saw this simple and quick route worth of lots of points. So I visited Upper and Lower Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Carinthia and Salzburg. I had lots of time left to spare, but the clever route gave me the fourth and last rally win this year.
Oldie, but goodie.
As I stayed in my home region, I could do finally a nice trip with my mate Stefan, still on Gerhard’s GS. We visited Austria again and discovered nice roads in Styria that even I didn’t know so far. In fairness, the GS indeed is a nice bike for the Alps, no wonder it won most Alpenmaster trophies by MOTORRAD.
A lighthouse at 2000 m altitute? Only in Switzerland!
At the end of October, it was time for a last long trip: the German Ride to Eat to the Rhine source in Central Switzerland. I tried again the BMW and tested it with my new diagnosis tester: no error recorded. What had the garage done? BMW advised to disconnect and connect the main connector of the central computer ten times. This worked. Strange, but true. All this fuss because of a bad contact in the connector? The answer seems to be “YES!!!”
It wasn’t a motorbiking event, but many biker friends showed up at my big birthday party and covered my with funny presents. Thanks, mates!
The last ride out in 2018 was ‘The Long Ride to Peace’. I had invited British, German and Dutch friends to join me one weekend to visit the Flanders Fields around Ypres to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the armistice of World War One. We met on Friday evening and set off on Saturday to visit places like Hill 62, Tyne Cot, Langemarck, Yorkshire trenches and dugouts, Menin Gate and the Flanders Fields Museum.
On Sunday morning 11/11, we met at 11 a.m. at the Pool of Peace to commemorate the end of the slaughter 100 years ago. A very impressive and touching weekend.
Concluding, a very good year indeed. Kept the rubber always down and had no big issues with the bike (excluding a stupid connector). It was a good rallying year, four starts, four first places. Have seen a number of great places, especially in the Nordic countries.
What’s on tap for 2019? Well, definitively less riding with the BMW, it will be a XBR year again. I haven’t done a long journey since 2011 and I had to postpone my next planned trip many times. Next year, it will finally materialise: a trip to Japan on my old XBR. The one that rode the Ironbutt Rally in 2013. A long ride through Siberia and a ride to the XBR’s origins in Japan. I had this trip in mind for more than 10 years, so it’s time to happen. Three years ago, my mate John Young proposed to join in and to do this journey together. We still had to postpone the project twice, but 2019 it’s time making it happen. Stay tuned!
In the rider meeting, it turned out that this rally had a certain twist. In addition to the usual bonus points and some extra points for combos, there were also extra points for time spent on ferries and there were additional points for so-called “flexi-combos”. There were thematic categories, just like combos, but the more locations were visited, the more extra points could be achieved.This seemed familiar from the latest Brit Butt rallies. The thing was that these extra points were very high in relation to combos or normal location points. This meant that the flexi-combos had to be the backbone of any successful route. There were massive points for 4, 6, 8, 14 or 20 locations of one category. It was clear that 20 locations were not doable or requiring too much time. So doing one or more 14 points in a category would get 20.000 extra points each, that’s quite a lot when normal locations were in the range of 200 – 400 points. I was well prepared to take ferries across the Baltic sea, but it was obvious that despite the ferry bonus, there were not enough locations for flexi-combos over there. The tedious thing was that the locations of each of the flexi-combos were given in a gpx file and had to be imported individually into Basecamp. All 23 of them. I changed the symbols so I could better distinguish them in the bigger picture. And then I became aware of the key element of any good route here: some flexi-combos shared the same points! This meant that the challenge was to visit these points and build a route around them, ramping up the numbers in as much categories as possible. There was another important twist: apart from three documented rest break of four hours each, the participants had to return with three souvenirs purchased in three different countries in order to be a finisher. Tricky, because my first plan envisaged riding in Sweden only. The only options were Denmark and Norway, Finland seemed too far away. So I planned a stop in Copenhagen and just across the border on the Göteborg – Oslo highway where I went on that morning. I selected the two categories with the highest number of locations and added other categories to it. In the end, I had a route of planned 54 hours of riding time in the 60 hours window (72 hours minus 3 x 4 hours rest time). That seemed doable. I had included an option for a 3 hour extra loop to Luleå, but this was a decision for the afternoon of the second day. The plan was to do a loop in Southern Sweden, visit Copenhagen (buy souvenir), go up to the Norwegian border (buy souvenir) and go up North in central Sweden. Then turn to the coast and return to Jönköping. A solid, rather low-risk plan. I prepared my luggage and found some good night rest, as the start was only planned for 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. However, as I wanted to stay in Karlstad the next night, my plan suggested to leave early.
The bonus point locations of the ET 2018 and my planned route.
The next morning I left at 7:41 a.m. on a sunny morning. Weather forecast was nice for the first day, wet for the second day and sunny for the third day again. My first stop was not far away, but it gave me a glimpse what was ahead of me in this rally: I had to do a little walk to find the right plaque at the entrance of a national park. But my schedule was still ok, this was also promising.
The plan for the first day.
In the course of the morning, I went south and picked the first locations. For a Saturday morning, this went quite smooth and I was ahead of my plan, providing a buffer for the rest of the day. I saw many golf courses, I even had to cross one to visit the Falsterbo lighthouse. The next stop was a bit uncertain: I needed to buy one souvenir in Copenhagen and I had no idea where. I hoped I would find something in a petrol station near the airport. But first I had to cross the Öresund bridge. This cost some precious minutes, the queue at the toll booth was very slow. For a ridiculously small amount of 30 € I could cross the sea towards Denmark…one way. On the other side, to my delight, I found a small corner in the petrol station with Danish souvenirs….no, the Italian olive oil did not fall under the requirements…finally I spotted a plate with “handmade Danish chocolate”, wrapped in lots of plastic. It was enormous and expensive. But the best suited item. I purchased also some lunch that I munched on the way back to Sweden (another 30 € toll).
Tycho Brahe fountain in Helsingborg.
The next location was on the coastline again, a steel drum or something like that. Great weather, great view. The next stop was in Helsingborg, one of the few locations in a town. I stopped at a fountain and realised that it was in memory of Tycho Brahe, the great astronomer. I concluded that Helsingborg was a beautiful town and made a mental note about it. My trip along the coast was not finished yet, along some small roads I headed for a tip of land called Kullen. It was announced that there was a 400 m walk. A lot of traffic indicated that the place was very popular. As indicated by a GPS points, a road sign at a large parking suggested to leave the bike and to walk to the place of the “Fyr”, the fire place that served as a beacon in the old days. I left my helmet there, took off the jacket and strolled to the GPS location. After 300 m I noticed that some motorbikes did park near the beach. Hm, lucky ones. As the temperature was close to 30 degrees, my sweat started to flow in streams. Finally I reached the spot and tried to take the required selfie. Maybe I should buy me a selfie stick for these occasions. I had to be in the picture and this required several attempts.
Kullen lighthouse. Not cold.
After a sweaty return to the bike I continued my ride, hoping that the indicated petrol station would indeed exist. It did. However, I had a fight with the card terminal and needed to change pump twice to get some petrol.
Meet Erich, the Elk.
I was happy when I joined the E20 again, going up north on the motorway now. In a certain attack of brilliance, I exited and hoped to find a Swedish souvenir at a petrol station. My good nose was right: I found a Swedish Elk that I baptised “Erich”. Second souvenir bagged. East of Göteborg, I had to do a little detour to take a picture of another natural park information panel. I was getting cooler know and the ride was more enjoyable. North of Göteborg, I visited the Bohus Castle. Like everywhere else, I had to be very careful. The high points for the flex-combos allowed no mistakes as I was aiming for two big 14-locations-extra-points. I also have my instructions in my tank bag, but in this rally, like in the Ironbutt Rally, I looked up the instructions at every location. This helped me to prevent errors. So here in Bohus, I had to walk up to a panel and I had to be in the picture as well. Luckily, there was a girl I could ask for this favour. That’s why this is one of the “decent” pictures. I was well in time and decided to book a hotel as planned in the town of Karlstad for the night.
For the next hour, I was going up North on the E20. Time to switch on the radio to have some entertainment. Swedish radio can be quite ok at times, though it is often interrupted by lots of conversation that I could only follow in a very rudimentary way. In the westernmost Swedish town of Strömstad I took a picture of the hotel Skagerrak in the centre. From here it was only 15 minutes to the Norwegian border that I had crossed already one day earlier. I exited at the first exit and hoped to find an appropriate souvenir there. I walked into the shop and discovered immediately a furry little bear with a Norwegian flag on its chest. Perfect. I filled up petrol and as I was 50 minutes ahead of my schedule, I decided to have a little break with “dinner”. I ordered a pølse, i.e. a hot dog that I was munching while I put on warm clothes. The day had been hot, but the sun was going down and I expected a cool evening. After a generous 20 minute stop, I hit the road again, but I misinterpreted my GPS and went back south on the motorway. I had to turn around at the next exit for my sat nav had tried to tell me to turn right at the petrol station. Grmpf. Another 10 minutes lost. The evening ride through the Norwegian hilly landscape was a nice change and I enjoyed it very much. But before that, I discovered a Scandinavian phenomenon that was explained to me by a Swedish colleague after the trip. In the town of Halden, there lots and lots of US classic cars from the fifties and sixties with people often dressed in Rockabilly style. This slowed me down a lot as hundreds of cars were promenading through the city. It seems this was an organised meeting, the Grense Treff. Apparently, this is based on the subculture of Raggare. Interesting.
It was slowly getting dark, but I still had to take two pictures. The first one had still enough daylight to make a meaningful picture and the second was already in the dark. I was riding on backroads now but thanks to my illumination (Xenon low beam plus 2 x H7 high beam plus 2 x LED fog lights plus 2 x Clearwater Sevinas with 7500 lumen LED each), I turned night into day. This could be fun, but I have quite some respect for any kind of wildlife at night, and in Scandinavia it can get quite big! (hello Erich). So I was happy to get back on a main road and I arrived in Karlstad at a quarter past 11 p.m., perfectly in the time window to start the night rest. I got my first petrol receipt of the station close to the hotel and checked in. 1300 km on the first day, not bad. Unfortunately, the hotel reception had no proper food to sell, so my second dinner consisted of some crisps, a filled knäckebröd and a chocolate wafer which I had purchased with some discount as the receptionist felt sorry for not being able to provide me some proper food. At midnight, I had prepared everything for the next day and was in bed.
The two planned options for day two.
The alarm rang at 3:20 a.m. and after a very quick breakfast with coffee and a candy bar, I left the hotel 15 minutes later and got my second receipt documenting the 4.5 hour rest break. What a luxury! Half an hour more than required, but I thought that I had arrived 20 minutes before schedule the night before so I deserved some indulgence, LOL. But the true reason was that the next location in the morning required daylight so it made no sense to be there too early.
The hotel had been a very strategic location outside town and from here I had to turn north towards Filipstad. The daylight bonus location was an airfield that required riding on gravel roads. Usually, I trust my older Garmin Zumo 660 over the Zumo 590 when the routes diverge, but now it wanted to send me over barred gravel roads. Finally I arrived at the propeller that had to be in the picture. More gravel road and after a combination and applying some common sense in interpreting the GPS data I was back on the main road.
The modest memorial for the founder of Ericsson, John Ericsson, in the middle of a cemetery in Filipstad.
When I review my whereabouts during the next hours, I find some disturbing issues. I thought I had passed the town of Filipstad twice, but indeed I passed it three times. After the first passing-by, I visited a silver mine before I returned to Filipstad where I had to take a picture of a memorial that was located on a hill. When I went uphill, I realised that in was in the centre of a cemetery! But as it was only 5 a.m., there was nobody around to complain. It started to rain heavily in that moment, so I tried to take my picture quickly and leave the cemetery. When I went downhill, I noticed something strange. The bike would not respond properly and when I was back on the road, it had no power and some warning symbols in the dashboard were lit. Confused, I switch the bike off and on and it seemed to work again. On the way to the next location, it happened again. And again. Worried, I stopped at a parking next to a lake. There was little shelter from the rain, so I decided not to take out my bike manual, but to consult the internet about this problem. However, there was no phone coverage! OK, this was serious. I decided to try to get back to Filipstad, there would be a petrol station and better coverage. On the way there, the bike would stop once more, but after 10 km, I reached Filipstad again and parked under the roof of a petrol station. It was almost 6 a.m. now and the station was about to open; I explained the problem to the attendant and he invited me to the warmer inside of the station. I checked the manual and learned that the symbol meant that there was something wrong with the emission control and that it was not a very serious problem, this would have been indicated by other yellow or red symbols. There was no proper internet coverage, so I used the wifi of the station. However, I didn’t get any more useful information so I decided to continue. If it would get too bad, I could still try to limp back to the HQ, it was “only” some 300 km away…I switched on the BMW…..no warning message! OK, I had lost 55 min now, but let’s give this a try. I sensed that my “extra loop” to Luleå was under pressure. Some 15 minutes later, I realised how close I had been there before when I arrived at the next location. It took me some minutes to find the right spot as my Garmins insisted to send me by a “shortcut” where there was no road. Finally, I found the memorial for John Ericsson’s birthplace and left happily. In retrospect, I almost committed a terrible mistake there: nasty rally masters, me included, have the tendency to choose two locations that are very close together so that one can be overlooked during planning if the route is not checked in high resolution. It was a location just some meters away and of the some category! What a mistake!
Everybody makes mistakes: I planned to visit JEB, but not LBA….
For the next 90 minutes, I only had to ride through sylvan Swedish countryside until I reached Mora. The last 50 m to the Langlauf statue I had to walk, obviously preparations for a sport competition were on the way. The statue remembered the famous Vasa Run that ends in Mora. The rain continued and the fine drizzle got stronger and stronger. It was only 13 degrees warm, but the temperature would not rise….I rode another hour through the forest until I reached the old cobalt mine of Loos. It reminded me of the long history of metallurgy in Sweden. Suddenly the forest changed and looked….burnt! I realised that I was passing an area where some days ago the large forest fires raged. All the under-brush was burnt, only some of the high pipe tops were still green. A bizarre sight.
In Ytterhogdal, I took a picture of an iron statue of a blacksmith. Did I already mention that it was raining? The temperature did not want to rise. 40 minutes later at 11 a.m., I had enough of the cold and the rain. I had to stop for petrol and I decided to change the fleece jacket for the heated Gerbing jacket. I noticed that water had already entered the gear, probably by the collar. I permitted myself the luxury of a quick second breakfast, still shivering. But then I enjoyed the warmth of the jacket. What a delight! I still felt very damp, be at least my body temperature and mood started to rise again. I felt content about the fact that I had tested the K1600GT in this kind of weather and bought it also for this feeling of safety under slippery conditions. I made good progress and at 1 p.m. I took a turn from the E45. After 20 km of bumpy road I took another turn. I ignored the Garmin’s advice to use a steep gravel “shortcut” and followed 4 km of even more bumpy road. Then I did have to turn on a gravel mountain road. Did I mention it was raining? Gravel was ok, but partly the track was also slippery. The sat navs told me to stay on this road for 4 km. Fantastic. On the top of the mountain, I knew I had to park the bike somewhere and walk 400 m to the very top. Luckily the GPS locations were very exact in this rally. Very much appreciated in these remote places… I finally reached the clearing where the GPS point was. From the rally book, I only knew that I had to take a picture of a kind of balcony….but then, I spotted this between the clouds and mist…
Tåsjöberget Torn. The mountain top is not the end…(obviously taken from the www).
What??? I had to take a picture on the top??? Bast…..!!!!! The stairs were steep and wet. Did I already mention it was raining? And on a mountain top, you get also the wind. I grabbed the rally flag and rally book in one hand, stored the camera and GPS in my jackets and started the ascent with one free arm. Holy crap, this stuff was slippery! This was impressive. When I finally reached the platform, I was afraid that the wind would blow away my book or flag. I managed to take a decent picture after several attempts. There was no time for enjoying the non-existent beautiful panoramic view….just get down from this bloody tower! But as it is with climbing, it might be easy to get up, but it can be more tricky to get down…
Tåsjöberget. The very top. Note the tight grip on the flag. The bottom of the flag is not in focus because it was shaking vigorously.
I went down in the same way I went up, facing the stairs. One step at a time. Did I already mention that the stairs were fecking slippery?
Yes, a very nice construction. On a sunny day!
Phew! This was done. I strolled back to the bike and went down the gravel road. Veeeery carefully. It would be stupid dropping the bike here. When I rode back on the bumpy road I concluded that under these conditions, this was one of the most tricky locations I ever visited in a rally. I mean, riding up a mountain on a gravel road. And walk to the top. And climb on a tower. But a great memory.
Really?? Am I already in Lappland?
Soon after I was back on the E45, I passed some drenched Italian bikers and then I saw this sign. Lappland? Was I already up that north? The sign said yes. I had the feeling that the rain got stronger and stronger. For the next hour and half: forest, forest, forest. Then finally I reached the next bonus point location near Storuman. It had to be a kind of log hut on a pole. It took a while to find it but then I had found it. It was still raining continuously and although I felt warm, I could feel that I water had entered my gear from the top. My feet also felt a bit wet as I had stopped in places where I had to put down my feet in large puddles. My gloves were totally damp, despite the hot heated grips. I was 70 minutes behind my plan. I had planned to take a decision in Storuman whether I could do the extra loop via Luleå. I decided to look for a petrol station and to assess the possibilities. But first I visited a small location in Storuman. I stopped at the only petrol station and filled up as I didn’t want to stop for petrol anymore on that day. I entered the station and met two other German riders that were also trying to find out what do to. They came from the North and were soaked as well. I sat down, had a sandwich and used my laptop to check the options. After the break, I would be almost two hours behind my plan. The extra loop was based on three buffer hours, I had already spent two of them. This didn’t look very good. But the main concern was that with this weather, I did not want to ride on back roads to Luleå. I preferred to ride on the main road towards Umeå and hoped that the rain would stop at the coast and that temperatures would go up. I just wanted to find accommodation for the night. This turned out to be difficult because all available hotels in the vicinity of Kramfors required arrival before 9 p.m. Impossible. So there was no other possibility than to make a detour and stay in a hotel in Härnösand. Right. Booked. However, as I had to visit one location just around sunset, there was no time to lose. I had decided to play it safe and continued on the E12 towards the coast. Indeed the rain slowly vanished and the temperature went up degree by degree. The fun came back.
The Norrfors Rock Carvings. 4000 to 5000 years old.
After more than two hours, I reached the next location, a place where I had to take a picture of prehistoric stone carvings. However, I was confused. The GPS point was 100 m from the parking and it took a while until I realised that I had to walk down the hill and a wooden runway along a river. The carvings were of course at the end of the long runway. I had lost some time here and needed to speed up now, the location at sunset hung like a sword of Damocles over my head. I needed to bag this point today, otherwise I would lose a lot of time the next day. I needed to go a bit north for the next point (a yellow cabin) and back to Umeå. I was on the E4, the long North-South motorway through Sweden. In this part, however, there were mostly only three lanes so trucks were slowing everybody down. Nevertheless I could gain some time and it seemed more and more realistic that I could reach the next point just around sunset. My sat nav told me that there was a parking position and the GPS coordinates were somewhat away from that point so I deduced that I had to walk a bit. The location was closely to the E4 and I reached the place right after official sunset time. But no problem, there would still plenty of time to take an official ‘daylight’ picture, wouldn’t it?
At the parking position, I looked around….so this was a chair lift….hmmm….the point seemed to be on the top of this “hill”….hmmm….but the rally book said nothing of a walk. Then it must be nearby. I followed the signs “Toppen” (the top), carrying my camera, flag and GPS. It was a steep path through the forest, as it was already late, I was more running than walking. I started to swear…this was clearly not close to the parking position….there could have been a clear message in the rally book! Luckily the blue marks were very clear, otherwise you could get easily lost. At a certain point I was about to hyperventilate. I forced myself to slow down a bit, I needed to get some air in my lungs…after 15 minutes, I stood there panting….this was not possible….instead getting closer to the target, I was moving away from it!
Skuleberget. NOT a walk in the park.This was leading nowhere!
There was something wrong. I was on the wrong track. But there was something going on here. There were no instructions in the rally book. This was no hill, this was a mountain! It started to get dark! I needed to turn around before it was too late to see the track!
Skuleberget. On the way back down. Retreat.
I decided to take a selfie with the flag and to return. I had done some 150 height metres in just 15 minutes. This was the double speed of a good hiking pace. In motorbike gear! I was exhausted. I realised I had left my mobile phone in the tank bag. Great. No phone, no light. So, better get down quickly! But better be careful, if you would slip and hurt yourself, nobody would find you until the next morning….if at all! But finally I was back at the bike. I took some additional pictures from the signs and the area. When I could breath normal again, I called the rally master. This was a disaster, but I wanted to have the points! When I explained the situation, Benny explained that there had been an error in the rally book. It should have been mentioned that one had to go with the chair lift inside restricted hours. However this information was missing. …..[…]…..OK, but do I get the points??? The answer was yes, so all of this was not in vain. I noticed that I had lost the electric cable for the heated jacket at the carvings point….superb. I hoped I wouldn’t need the Gerbing jacket any more on this trip.
Skuleberget. There was another track to the top. The red one was my walk. Best option: the chair lift.
I was dark now and I was happy that I had a booked hotel room and only needed to ride 50 minutes on the E4. Petrol station ticket and ready for check-in. It was about 11 p.m., just the right time. Another 1500 km ridden. When I entered the lobby of the hotel, I took off my helmet and opened my jacket. There was a stinging smell….where did this come from…slowly it sunk in that the source for this smell pollution was nobody else than me….this was no surprise….I was soaked for half the day and even after drying, I maintained the notorious “wet dog” smell. And then I had run up a mountain and was drenched in my own sweat. An explosive combination. The two ladies at the reception professionally kept their countenance. As the day before, no proper food, my dinner would consist of wafers, apples and candy bars. When I entered my room, I ripped off my clothes and put everything on hangers to dry a bit during the next three hours. I decided to take a full shower, I couldn’t stand the smell of me. ’nuff said. After that, I had “dinner” and checked my route for the next day. The weather forecast looked good. The alarm was set on 3 a.m.
The plan for day three.
I was on the road by 3:30 a.m. Another petrol ticket and I was going back north to the first bonus point location. Half an hour later I was there. The next location was called Häxberget where I had to take a picture of two memorial rocks. It was the place where in 1675, 71 persons were accused of witchcraft and burnt on this site. Unbelievable.
Nämforsen rock carvings.
I needed to go westwards into central Sweden, forest, forest forest. After one hour, I reached another river where I had to take a picture of another rock carvings. When I walked across the site, I realised that I had to find a very specific carving. Tricky! But in the end I found the right place. Up, up and away! I was ahead of my plan, this looked good! The next location was another hour away….more forest! I was a nice morning ride, I made good progress and the landscape was nice. My excursion to central Sweden was not so bad. When I rolled on the parking of the Döda Fallet, an official exited his car to see what bike entered the place so early in the morning. I realised this would be another walk again and grabbed my stuff. I passed the guy with a friendly “God Morgon” and I could see how his brain was trying to process all the information. I had to walk down a hill and take a picture of a platform with a beautiful view.
Döda waterfall. Where is the waterfall?
Back to the bike, pffffff….good morning work-out. From then on the clouds disappeared and now I was riding under a beautiful blue morning sky. Great views! This was compensating for the wet day before! The euphoria lasted for half an hour, until I had to turn from the main road 86 in Liden. Hey, this was a gravel road! It will stop soon….1 km….2 km…5 km…hmmmm…the GPS indicated the next stop in 76 km….I hope this won’t all be gravel???…..10 km….come on!….15 km….bloody gravel!…..tarmac! there’s tarmac! In the end, I didn’t drop the bike, my autosuggestion worked well, it is mumbling “arrive! arrive! arrive!” which means I am virtually kicking myself in the ass reminding me not to do anything stupid.
In the end I followed a narrow road uphill. I parked the bike and walked to the wooden construction on the hill…ah, so this was the centre of Sweden. Sometimes it ‘s a pity not to have time to read the rally book in advance.
Sweden’s geographical centre.
Right, now it was time to get back to the coast. I was well on schedule and soon I could join the E4 again. I thought that I had time to fill up and a quick breakfast around 9 a.m., after all, I had been riding for more than five hours already. The traffic was flowing well on the way south. There were bonus point locations to the left and right, but they didn’t fit into my plan. Good rally planning asks for sacrificing time-costly, low-points locations. It was a nice sunny and warm day again. Close to Gävle, I had to exit the E4 and head for the Fjärnebofjärd. I visited a nice, quiet place next to the river and took my picture of the wooden pier. The rally master was very strict and insisted that, should the rally book not ask for the rider to be in the picture, nobody else should be in the picture. So I had to ask two tourists to leave the platform. Sorry.
The next location was in Uppsala, the famous university town. It was a bit tricky to get close to the picture point as most roads in the university district were for pedestrians only. But finally I found the right spot and took a picture of the university church tower. The temperatures were high now and I was happy that I could take off some of the warm clothes now.
The next target was Stockholm. By that time, I was something like three hours behind my initial plan, but I still had three hours of buffer. However, I knew that some rain would come in the evening, so I wanted to save time. I decided to leave out Ytterby, east of Stockholm. I knew it was part of a smaller combo flex worth merely 1500 points, but I preferred to gain some extra time. I wanted to visit three additional places in Stockholm instead that were next to my planned route. The first stop was an installation in the atrium of the university, the second was a clock in a pedestrian zone in the centre (very tricky to get to), the third a big “ball” building with elevators on the outside. Here I lost some until I realised I had to walk to take the picture. The last stop was a park that is also a UNESCO heritage. Good, this was the maximum “traffic” I would get on this rally. Piece of cake. I went to the south of Stockholm where I took a picture of a place that once had been the first Swedish nuclear reactor. Next was a rune stone. Suddenly I realised that of lot of motorbikers were on this nice road east of Södertälje. And they were not going like typical Swedish bikers…no, they were going at full throttle! Bizarre. Suddenly my journey came to a halt. “Take the ferry”, my GPS told me. I realised that both GPS thought it’s not a good idea to take the easy road around the Himmerfjärden, but a ferry that runs every 30 minutes. Great. A break of 20 min plus the 5 min ferry trip. I felt somehow weak and a bit sluggish. Then I realised that I had no food since my “breakfast” more than six hours ago. I just needed some food, that was all. But first, I had to do another walkie down at the sea: At the Stendörren nature reserve, I had to walk to a bridge take a picture of it. From the correct side. Good, this was achieved, but I needed food. But first a trip to the Uppsa Kulle, a 55 m wide, round ancient grave that I simply took for a hill. But finally I found food in a petrol station. That was better. For a quick moment, I joined the E4 again and went south on the E22 towards Västervik. The weather forecast had been very accurate and just before the Town, the thunderstorm started. When I rolled through Västervik, I remembered that I forgot about the two text-in bonus that were scheduled for that day. When I stopped at the bonus point location and consulted the rally book, I found out that I had missed both time slots for the day. A stupid mistake! Usually I add this in my to-do-list, but forgot to add it last night. Maybe I had been stunned by the smell.
OK, so I took my picture of the beacon’s door and started the my approach to the last important location of today. I “only” had to head west towards Jönköpping with some detour to the north. It was raining, but I knew that my plan had worked, I just needed to get to the rally hotel, spend my rest break there, and visit two more places in the morning before the finish line. Easy peasy, but I had learned that the rally ain’t over before it ain’t over. Hold your horses. I rode through a wet forest when my GPS had me turn on the road to the last BP. I passed a sign that said something of a ferry… looked at the GPS and saw at the top of the screen: “take ferry”, next to the distance of 9 km. WHAT? I stopped and zoomed in and out. Yes, Just before the location, I had to take a ferry! Bloody hell! Had I known this, I had taken a different route (I should have selected “avoid ferries” in the GPS). I turned around and studied the sign….ferry operating until 10 p.m. Hmmm, it was 8 p.m. now…that could work. And it made no sense to go around the large Sommen lake. OK, let’s do it! I arrived at 8:10 at the lake….the ferry was not far away, but on the other side.
A short distance for mankind, but a long distance if your bike can’t swim. The Sommen ferry.
Hmmmm, how did this work. “Push this button to call the ferry”. No reaction. Then I studied all the papers on a board. Ferry operates every 30 minutes. Hm, 20 minutes to go. This gave me the opportunity to make a phone call, put on warm clothes and empty my bladder. At 8:30, the boat would start the engine and slowly move to this side of the shore. Finally I got to the other side and visited the bonus point location that was right there, a cow sculpture. The tricky thing was that I needed several attempts, maybe I should buy a selfie stick for this.
Sommen Lake. It’s getting dark. And fresh.
Ok, so I “only” had to get to the hotel, maybe pick some two smaller bonuses close to the hotel. This would take me some estimated one hour and a half. It was getting dark, the road was wet and winding.Take it easy, there’s no need to rush. Suddenly, the “emission control” warning lamp came on again and the power was gone. WHAT? I stopped, switched the bike off and on and continued. But only for one mile. The bike stopped again. You feel that Mr Panic has awoken in the cellar and is about to come upstairs. What is the matter??? I repeated this game two more times. It wasn’t raining now….what was in common with the incident the day before?…..Wait, in both cases I was going downhill when it first appeared….and then I also remembered that two times the bike sputtered a bit when I had just filled up and had not closed the shut-off valve of the auxiliary tank. Could this be related? I looked at the fuel gauge…the main tank was completely full. Could it be that it was overflowing? Would it stop again when I closed the open valve? Let’s try…..In the meantime, Mr Panic was already at the first floor….I closed the valve and at the same time, the bike stopped again. Well, this could be coincidence….try again. And from this point on, Mr Panic disappeared and was not seen any more on this rally. This was it! I don’t know how to explain it, but the overflowing main tank must trigger an electronic warning that sets off the emergency programme. What a relief! The root cause was that I had opened the auxiliary tank too early in both cases. Problem solved.
Another car meeting in Tranås!
But in rallies, you solve one problem and you encounter another. In Tranås, I ran into another “bilträff”, i.e. car meeting. The same story. But this time, the main road was closed so the old rust buckets could go in circles. I had some trouble to find my way around the city. Finally I arrived at the Vättern Lake and went on the E4 towards Jönköping. Close to the hotel, there were two small locations that I wanted to visit. The first one was an illuminated wooden giant and the second one a sea monster. Unfortunately, I was supposed to take a selfie there, but I didn’t manage in the dark. I decided to come back the next morning. I got my rest break fuel stop receipt and at 10:30 p.m., I rode on the rally HQ hotel parking. To my surprise, many other riders were already parking there. Had they already finished their ride? I still had work to do, for I had to visit two locations that would give me two 14th locations that were worth 20.000 extra points each. I checked in and bought a salad and a sandwich, said hello to other riders and entered my room. What a great idea to stay here! I could just return in the morning, have a shower and have a little nap before leaving for the ferry. I checked again my plan for the morning and prepared my claiming sheet. It made no sense to leave too early, the two locations were daylight bonuses. I decided to go first to the one farthest away.
The plan for the morning of the fourth day.
I left around 3:30 a.m., got my last rest break ticket and went westwards. It was still pitch dark, there was some drizzle and I was happy to have my Sevina lights that turn night into day. I permanently told myself to keep the speed down, there was no point in risking anything such as overtaking trucks. I had enough time and I just needed to stay patient. One and a half hours later, I arrived at this Hornborgasjön visitor centre, however, here in the south, sunrise was later than in the north, so it was still a tad too dark to take a “daylight” picture. I parked the bike and made use of the public toilet.
Hornborgasjön Visitor Centre. A make or break point in the plan. According to the rules, a perfect ‘daylight’ picture.
When I stepped out again, I was surprised to see that it was so much brighter now and I could go and visit the picture point. I found the pier and took my picture. Yes! Now for the last big location. After 30 minutes, I arrived at some stone ring and took my second 20.000 points picture of the morning. My big plan had worked! I just had to ride back to Jönköping. No hurry! Enjoy the last kilometres. I still had time to visit the happy sea monster in Huskvarna and took my final picture. I was one hour early and would even have enough time to push back the bike in the worst case. I arrived at the HQ, checked in and the rally was over for me. I had breakfast and left my stuff in the room and went with my documentation to the scoring room where I had to present my claiming sheet and pictures to my two scorers Hampe and Jens-Olof. Two strict scorers, gulp! I had forgotten to introduce one mileage for one location and lost 80 points, no problem. The clock in Stockholm was supposed to be a selfie, ok, no points for that. Then there was a discussion about the Hornborgasjön picture. It turned out that the picture in the rally book was taken from a different angle; as the house was symmetrical, it looked almost identical, only the pier in the foreground was somewhat different. I protested, this picture was worth 10.000 points! The rally master took a wise decision: the picture was basically the same as in the rally book and proof that I had visited the place as it was the intention. Phew! Then there was another issue that I had claimed more points for a 8 locations combo flex, however, I had only visited 7; that makes 3000 instead 10000 extra points. I could not visit the 8th one as it was a daylight bonus during the night. Maybe I had also counted with the extra loop on day three. Well, more than 74000 points sounded a lot and I had only lost about 200 points. I had forgotten the text-in bonuses and left out the Ytterby BP, which means I would have had 3000 points more. And then I did not do the extra loop to Luleå. Without the problem in Filipstad and the rain, I would have done it, securing me the 10.000 instead the 3.000 extra points. But again, 74.000 points was something to be happy with.
I went back to my room, had a shower and a nap. Then I packed my luggage, put it on the bike and checked out the room. Then it was a long wait in front of the scoring room. A lot of time to chat with other riders and to exchange anecdotes. Finally we were called in and waited with anticipation. Some riders had crossed the Baltic Sea, some ran into troubles while photographing nuclear installations…
Well the ceremony went quick and in the end, only three riders were left…
Place three: Scott Miller’s route.
Scott on third position, what a surprise! Then there were only two…
Place two: Daniel Duvskog’s route.
What a route! Up to Norway and back! More than 72000 thousand points! Wow!
But then there was only one rider left…
The nice trophy.
Oops, I did it again….What a nice rally! Thanks to all the organisers, the helpers, the scouts. Well prepared and executed! It was a pleasure.
Epilogue
Right after the ceremony, I had to leave to get to the ferry in Trelleborg. I had more than one hour of buffer, but I preferred not to be in a hurry for a change. I said goodbye and went down the E4 again. More or less half way, I stopped for a fuel stop. Shortly after, the bike lost power and a warning message came on! WHAT!!?? AGAIN??
Not what you want to see on your dashboard.
But this time it was different, the symbol was not the ’emission system’, but the motor symbol itself, plus the yellow warning sign. I switched off and on…and it worked! I accelerated….and stopped. I accelerated more carefully and by using the cruise control, I increased the speed incrementally. It would stop at 105 km/h again. OK, I still had 150 km to go and three hours to the ferry left. I decided to roll at some 93 km/h. A totally different experience. This worked. With some 50 kilometres to go, it stopped again and I lowered the speed to 85 km/h. I was slow, but I was rolling. Please, please, please get me to the ferry and on the boat! Tomorrow is another day, I could visit garages around Hamburg…
I crossed all my imaginary fingers and got closer and closer to Trelleborg. The motorway ended and just before a roundabout, the bike stopped again. It still rolled through the roundabout, but then I tried to do the same thing again, switching it off and on. But this time the error wouldn’t go away and the motor was only turning in idle speed. Aaaaargh! It was only 7 km to the ferry! Well, I had no choice: I started to roll in first gear and switched bit by bit to sixth gear. The bike rolled with some 30 km/h. Like a moped. But I got closer and closer to the harbour. 6, 5, 4, 3 kilometres….this could work!…2, 1….there it is! I checked in and rode through the harbour. This was a challenge, as I had no accelerating power, it had to be done by the idle revs that slowly pushed the bike forward. But the biggest problem was still ahead: the ramp up on the boat deck! However, the bike’s motor has so much torque that it chugged up that ramp without missing a beat. I was on the boat! I parked the bike and carried my stuff to my cabin. There, I immediately called the number of the BMW mobility card. As it was a Belgian number, I could chose between Dutch, French and German. Let’s try German. I had an operator whose first language was obviously not German, but we managed to address the issue. He promised me that the next morning, the ADAC would be waiting for me at the harbour. If they could not help, further steps would be taken from there. Good. That was all I could do for now.
I had my buffet dinner when I remembered that I hadn’t switched off the alarm on the bike. I rushed down to (still open) car deck and brought this in order. Back to dinner. That was it. The next morning, I had an early breakfast and when we were about to reach the harbour, I was called by the ADAC guy and we arranged a meeting point. This time, I was ready when the boat opened its bow. I rolled down the ramp and I saw the yellow car waiting for me at the harbour exit.
He immediately started the diagnosis and connected his computer to the OBD connector. “Faulty throttle sensor signal”….oh dear…..this didn’t sound very good. I saw myself riding back home in a train. He muttered something to himself and checked the throttle. “Is it working now?” yes, YES! But what…?
It was the cable connector between the throttle and the harness, it had some play and did not deliver the ride-by-wire signal of the throttle position to the system. A zip tie solved the issue. Incredible. What a guy. Thanks a lot!
I filled up the bike again and started my trip back home. I arrived well in the afternoon. No problems.
A great rally and some fantastic vacations! We had a great time.
At night, I played around with my camera until I had an acceptable night picture of the Geiranger Fjord. Could be improved still, but the necessary lens would cost more than the whole trip.
Geiranger by night.
The view in the morning was breathtaking again. What a view. We started late and followed the Geiranger road south. After a while, there was the turn to the Dalsnibba road. 25 years ago, I had marked in my travel diary that the road toll was legal robbery and did not ride up. Well, I was a poor student then. Now, the indicated 14 Euros make you blink for a second (In fact it was 10 Euro for motorbikes), but after two weeks in Norway, there is a certain fatalism when it comes to Norwegian prices.
View from the Dalsnibbba.
The ride was nice and in the end you are on the top of a 1500 m high mountain. With a fantastic 360 degree view. The blue glaciers. The deep valley. The Geiranger Fjord. The Eagle Road. Top! Luckily it was dry, but I had to note the temperature:
Put the heating on!
From there on, it was a long ride down. I got warmer and warmer. I had thought of an alternative route for today, instead going down the road down to Oslo via Lillehammer, I thought of a nicer route, more to the west and in the mountains. There should be less traffic and a nicer scenery. So I went up the Lemonsjøen Fjell where we stopped at the Fjellstua house for some lunch. Nice views over a lake. The road south led through a very forested area, with mountains and occasional lakes. Very like. And at times, the sun made its way through the clouds. We went uphill and suddenly we were on a mountain pass called Valdresflye (1389 m), a part of the mountain plateau of the Jotunheimen. Nice views. From here on, it was all downhill to the sea in Oslo. In Fagernes, the bike needed some fuel and MJ a break. After some rest and two coffees, the battery was charged again and we rode on beautiful roads towards Oslo. Lots of forets first, lots of slow riding cars close to Oslo. Finally we arrived at our hotel where we stay two nights. It is a plush Golf Resort Hotel but the irony is that due to some large discount the place is the cheapest on our whole trip. After dinner we did a little walk and watched all these funnily dressed people practicing their driving, putting etc…interesting.
Our temporary residence near Oslo.
The next morning we had a late breakfast on the sunny (yes!) terrace. Weather looked good today. We rode casually dressed to the museum island to visit some museums. The first was the viking ship museum, a building that hosts the best preserved viking ships in the word. The ships were buried as a burial object of local chiefs, that’s why they are so well preserved. Very impressive, also the artistic objects that were added to make the chief’s travel to Walhalla more pleasant. Vikings were often depicted as rude barbarians, but this artistic craftsmanship tells a different story. In front of the entrance, we met the Bavarian couple we talked in front of our hotel in Kirkenes. What a coincidence. One kilometre down the road was the Fram museum. It was even better tan 25 years ago.
The Fram Museum honours Norwegian polar exploration in general and three great Norwegian polar explorers in particular—Fridtjof Nansen, Otto Sverdrup and Roald Amundsen. The museum also exhibits images of the fauna of the polar regions, such as polar bears and penguins. The Fram Museum is centered principally on the original exploration vessel Fram. The original interior of Fram is intact and visitors can go inside the ship to view it.
On board of the Fram.
The exposition makes you aware of the achievement at the turn of the 19th century – Nansen, Amundsen, Scott, Shackleton… A large part was dedicated to Fridtjof Nansen – the Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. What a life.
Would you jump? On the Holmenkollen ski jump tower.
The last touristic stop was a visit to the Holmenkollen – the famous ski jump tower and a temple of Norwegian skiing. It hosts also the ski museum. You can get to the panorama platform on the top. It takes somewhat longer when a busload of Koreans has just arrived before you. On the top, there’s a 360 degree view. If you’re in a hurry, you can zooming down on a rope, but we weren’t.
We made a stop at a nice Sushi restaurant and had some very nice plates, a nice farewell to really fresh fish. And to Norwegian cuisine.
In the hotel, it was time to pack the luggage. MJ will take a plane back home today and I will be heading for Jönköping in Sweden.
Today, the ride to Jönköping was not very spectacular. I left Oslo after MJ left with the taxi for the airport. Rolling down the E6, take a shortcut via Trollhättan, and after four hours, I arrived at the rally headquarter of the European Tour rally. It was a 34 degrees hot now, in the middle of Sweden. Luckily my bag with the fuel cell was still in the luggage room where I deposited it two weeks ago. I mounted the tank in the shadow of a tree and went for petrol. I checked in, both in the hotel and the rally, and here I am sweating in my hotel room on the south side with no airco. At 5 p.m., we will have dinner (!) and at 6 p.m., the rider meeting starts. After that, it’s planning time and tomorrow morning we set off for a 72 hour ride. In theory, any of the countries around the Baltic Sea could be visited. I should know more by midnight.
Thanks to the drying room and the Austrian drying/ozonator device, our gear AND helmets were perfectly dry in the morning. Very well, because it started to drizzle again. After our breakfast we said good-bye to this time capsule of the fifties. We headed north and as predicted, the drizzle stopped. It was a nice winding road between steep mountains. We reached the Sunnylvsfjorden and the fjord lived up to its name – a ray of light burst through the clouds. What a view!
Sunnylvsfjorden
We continued our ride through the mountainous landscape and stopped in Stranda and took the rapid ferry over the Storfjord. When we arrived, it started to rain, as predicted. The landscape was still beautiful, although it was raining quite thoroughly. And there was already the next ferry in Vestnes. And an enormous queue. After waiting for ten minutes, the thing moved and we embarked the large ferry. We had come right on time, because we were one of the last to enter the boat, the rest had to wait for the next in 45 min. On the trip we had THE Norwegian snack: pølser aka hot dogs. After 35 min, disembarking also went very quick. I followed the signs for Atlanterhavsveien, the big highlight of today and the reason to go so north now. It is also known under the English name “Atlantic Road“. The signs guided us through farmland and along the coast.
Didn’t know that there are also Troll sailors…
It was less rainy here on the coast, but with some stiff breeze. A very relaxing ride. We finally approached the section of the 8 km that leads over bridges and small islands….and there we go! The Norwegians are very proud of this construction work, it was elected “construction of the century” and is advertised in almost all tourist publications. And I have to say it is…….very disappointing. I’m sorry to say that, but given all the attention, it is disappointing. The first bridge, the Storseisundet bridge, is quite impressive in its shape and twisted angle, but that is about it. the rest are small, short and low bridges. I have seen much more impressive ones, even in Norway.
The Atlantic Road. Yes. That’s about it.
OK, this is the view from the other side that is always displayed in the brochures….
But ok, been there, done that. Soon after, we reached our destination for that day, Kristiansund. The city is nicely situated on several islands with typical Nordic style houses in bright colours. We stayed at the Thon Hotel, a modern, but functional building, we even had a view on the harbour.
Sushi with mango sauce. Why not.
After some personal hygiene, we decided to try a sushi bar in the centre, after all the fish should be fresh here, shouldn’t it? Although the employees didn’t appear Japanese, actually more Phillippinian, the sushi was quite all right, the fish was really fresh. The combination with mango sauce was interestingly savoury.
On the next day, the harbour was filled with sunshine, in the background big black clouds. We had breakfast with a great view on the harbour, again with a very generous breakfast buffet.
Breakfast in Kristiansund.
The start was very late today, only at 11 a.m., but the weather was rather mixed and it was only a 260 km ride to Geiranger. The ride was very beautiful, although we had a very “Irish” weather first. Riding along fjord shores with great view on the surrounding mountains, there was even a little pass (500 m)! I did not take a lot of pictures, the weather was unfortunately not the best for great photos. There were occasional showers, but we were dry and warm in our fantastic Stadler gear.
Lunch in Åndalsnes.
We stopped for a late lunch in Åndalsnes (home of “the Andals and the first men”?) in a funny place. Very familiar, very easy-going, very casual and organic food. The food was good though. Interesting place. From then on, the highlights of the day were lined up. However, the weather got worse and it rained continuously. This might not be unusual for Norway, but I didn’t have bad weather for four consecutive days for I don’t know how long.
More rain to come!
The Stadler suit hardly had seen any rain, even at the Iron Butt Rally. But I was glad to have it. The heated grips and seats also improved the wellbeing. Posh riders, LOL! The Trollstigen was next. Not gigantic compared to some roads in the Alps, but quite impressive for Norway. A number of hairpins and the mighty Stigfossen waterfall, quite a sight. I had done it in sunshine, so now it was time for heavy rain. Normally, you would stop to take pictures with a view, but in the driving rain, there’s no point. It was chilly up there, only 7 degrees.
Trollstigen with Stigfossen.
One the way down, we passed the waterfall at the Gudbrandsjuvet, but were too lazy to leave our cozy place on the bike. Down in the valley, we rode on the ferry to Eidsdal. Only a few minutes later, we continued on the last ascent for today. Still in nasty rain. The landscape was nevertheless beautiful, without the abundant clouds it would have been magnificent. Finally we got to the Ørnesvingen viewpoint with a panoramic view on the Geirangerfjord, another UNESCO heritage. The eagle road down to the fjord is one of the most spectacular roads in Norway. Some minute later, we arrived soaked on the outside, but dry on the inside at our hotel for today, the traditional “Utsikten Hotel”, or View Hotel, in other words. I had reserved something special: a rook with a panoramic view on the Geirangerfjord. The hotel might be in need of a refurbishment, the rooms are small, but the view on the fjord is fabulous. If you don’t have a room with a mountain view.
Room with a view. And what a view it is. Hotel Utsikten, Geiranger.
Tomorrow, it will be a “long” ride to the capital Oslo. Very likely in nice weather.
The Trollstigen on a “perfect” day (according to the Norwegian Tourist Board.
We arrived in Bergen at lunchtime, but had to wait until 2:30 p.m. until we could finally leave the ship. As everything else, this very well organised. We rode the 2 km to the Hotel right next to the main highlight in old Bergen: the Bryggen quarter. It was partly sunny and 23 C warm – but in our motorbike gear, this was definitively too hot. We changed clothes and left for a walk through the harbour and Bryggen. The fish market is still there where I last found it in 1993 – not very big, not impressive – but a nice motive for tourists. It seemed that many of the vendors were Spanish (?). There was even “home-made” paella. Kind of. We entered then the of quarter of Bryggen. I want to quote my old friend Wik I. Pedia:
The city of Bergen was founded around 1070 within the original boundaries of Tyskebryggen. Around 1350 a Kontor of the Hanseatic League was established there, and Tyskebryggen became the centre of the Hanseatic commercial activities in Norway. Today, Bryggen houses museums, shops, restaurants and pubs.”
The area is not very big anymore, but it is quite charming to stroll through the narrow passages between the old wooden buildings. Lots of them have been taken over by other merchants now – dealing with jewellery, stones, hand crafted items…you could even buy seal furs there!
We had a break with a small beer and enjoyed the sunny weather, knowing it would not last. After a return to the hotel, we were prepared for the complimentary dinner at the hotel restaurant. We had some expectations as the hotel was not cheap, but had announced this free dinner. Well, our deception was remarkable. Not only ours. Everybody who entered the room had the same look on the face. “This is it?” A little bit of salad, potatoes, a kind of IKEA-kötbullar-hamburgers with gravy and crumble pie for dessert. The biggest disappointment was written in the faces of the Japanese guests. Well, at least it tasted ok.
Do you surrender now??
You can imagine our surprise when we entered the breakfast room the next morning. What a change! Any kind of warm and cold dishes, fruit, juices etc etc. Very, very good and tasty. After that, we set off for the fjord land. Soon it started to drizzle and MJ’s new Stadler gear could prove it water tightness for the first time. Riding in Norway is deceleration…the normal speed limit is 80 km/h, but there are many zones of only 70 km/h or even 60 km/h…..OOOOMMMmmmmm….on the positive side, the fuel consumption dropped to 4.5 L/100 km (63 mpg )!!! I haven’t seen this consumption since I went with my XBR500…..to Norway? LOL. After two hours, we arrived in Gudvangen. We didn’t follow the E16 where the next 51 km would be riding 43 km in tunnels (!). No, I had (luckily) pre-bøøked the ferry through the scenic Nærøyfjord. It took us for 2.5 hours through a fantastic scenery, starting first with the Nærøyfjord and then crossing the largest fjord of all, the Sognefjord.
This was a pleasant boat trip, even in the rainy weather. Some villages are only accessible by boat. Huge waterfalls were falling down the fjells. It seems obvious where Alan Lee got his inspiration from when he sketched his paintings of Rivendell…
Nærøyfjord.
Look! Only one leg!
From the ferry port in Kaupanger, we only had half an hour to get to our hotel in Solvorn at the Sognefjord. The Walaker Hotell is the oldest hotel in Norway for nine generations now. It keeps a an atmosphere of the 1900s. The interior and the furniture, decoration and even the bed made you feel like your grand- or grand-grandparents. And the situation and view on the fjord is also very special. MJ stayed in the hotel and I made a trip to one of the side tongues of the largest glacier in Northern Europe, the Nigardsbreen. I first had to ride up the valley to the parking at the lake, then I took a little boat towards the glacier. However, in contrast to 25 years ago, I had to walk much more up. It was more than half an hour of climbing and walking over polished rocks before I reached the mouth of the glacier. I couldn’t get to the very last rock for my boots were no climbing shoes and the rock was very slippery. So I used my zoom to get closer to this deafening thunder of the glacier river that came spurting from underneath the ice cap. An impressive sight. At the same time, it is depressing to see how the length and thickness of the glacier has decreased over the last years. Despite the cool temperatures, I was soaked in my own sweat. Three quarters later, I was back at the parking and I rode back to the hotel.
We had booked the hotel together with the dinner so a delicious four course menu was waiting for us. In good old Belgian tradition, we opted also for the wine package that was accompanying the food very well. We were asked if we wanted to meet the hotel owner at 10 p.m. in the hotel’s gallery and curiously we said yes. It turned out to be a very good decision. The owner presented himself as Ole Hendrik, asked for our and the other guests’ whereabouts and started a conversation that was equally entertaining and funny, explaining the history of the family and the buildings, why he doesn’t fancy rich Russian tourists etc. It cumulated in the hilarious story of a prank robbery of raspberries at night together with some rich CEOs from Oslo. The guys from the capital didn’t know the raspberry farmer was informed so the noise of the shotgun was part of the comical plan to fake a kind of adventure. The way it was told was truly hilarious and we all snorting with laughter. Later Ole showed us around in the gallery and, as nobody else was able to play the piano, played some piano music in the background for us. A memorable finish of a great day.
In the morning, we had another great breakfast buffet before we packed our stuff and took the first ferry right in front of the hotel. It lead us to the other side of the fjord where the oldest wooden church in the world is located, the Urmes stave church. We were happy to escape the rain and listened to the guide in the inside explaining the interesting history of the building. Dating back to 1130, the church is entirely made of local pine wood and has some exterior carvings from the 11th century in a Celtic style that survived the weather for almost 900 years. An impressive building.
We followed the single track road along the fjord until we were on the main road to the highest pass in Northern Europe, the Sognefjellet (1440 m). It was raining more and more and the temperature dropped from 19 to 11 degrees. The weather was too bad to stop and take pictures, only on the top the views of the blue glaciers made me stop twice.
Sognefjellet. Shitty weather.
We descended eastwards and metre for metre, the weather improved and the temperature went up. We almost saw some sunshine in Lom where we stopped for a long lunch break. We went north-west and in Grotli, I turned left on the old Strynfjellet Road, the alternative to the modern road. However, after riding 4 km on gravel and dirt, I decided to turn around. I expected the rain to come back and going 23 km downhill on mud with a 600 kg flying fortress did not seem the most clever thing to do.
The modern road was mostly in tunnels and it turned out that I had made a very wise decision, this could have been quite nasty and potentially dangerous. The rain was back so we made no stop until we reached the Visnes hotel in Stryn. Normally, the landscape is one of the best in Norway, but rain and clouds covered our view. At the hotel, we put our gear in the drying room (skiing area!), what a good idea. The hotel is again very rustic, but this time it has a 1950s feeling. Our room looks like from the fifties. Funny.
Veranda at Visnes hotel.
We had an aperitif on the veranda before we had our dinner in the nostalgic dining hall, very much in a traditional Scandinavian style. This is a bit like time travelling.
Going with a Hurtigruten boat is very relaxing. It is basically constant eating, interrupted by sightseeing, taking pictures, cultural and other lectures and excursions.
On the third day on the boat, we entered the Vesterålen, a large group of islands north of the Lofoten. The boat is going always very close to the coast, passing many small and islands to the left and right. The views can often only be called spectacular – pictures often don’t catch the atmosphere.
In the late morning, we passed the first of the Vesterålen bridges that connect the islands with the main land:
The bridge over the Risøysund canal.
The mountain get quite steep with tops over 1000 m, sometimes there’s snow left or a glacier on the top.
You can spend the whole day on deck or behind the big windows and watch this great landscape. Slartibartfast did really a good job! We were stopping in many little places where the Hurtigruten ship is the most important connection with other ports. In the afternoon, we stopped at the historic centre of the Hurtigruten lines in Stokmarknes. There is also the Hurtigruten museum including the old Finnmarken ship that gives an impression how the journey was in former times.
In the afternoon, we “set sails” for the highlight of the whole cruise: the passage through the Lofoten. We went through the majestic Raftsund, together with many little local boats. Everybody was on deck and people tried to get the best locations to make their shots.
Raftsund.
The Midnatsol made a sharp right and a sharp left turn and we entered a very short and narrow side arm: the Trollfjord. Breathtakingly beautiful, but as you go against the sun, it is very difficult to catch this on a picture. Very steep rocks to the left and right and at the end of the short fjord, the small boats are chased away so the big Midnatsol can make one of its impressive 180 degree turns in no time. Truly masterly.
The Trollfjord. One of the highlights of the whole trip.
I have taken hundreds of pictures of which almost all are doomed to sink into digital oblivion. But the best scenery will be recorded in our minds anyway. That day we seemed to have many day tourists that just joined for the day and wanted to enjoy this part as well. In the evening we arrived at the capital of the Lofoten, Svolvær. We have booked (or as the tour guide on board would put it: “we have bøked”) only one guided expedition, and this is a special one: a trip with a speedboat! We received some waterproof gear and got on board of the RIB, equipped with two motors and 600 hp in total (!):
Ready for action!
The fun boat – first row for me, please!
Well, this WAS FUN! We zoomed out to visit some iconic places and harbours and even watched sea eagles.
Sea eagles
Not easy to take pictures at 90 km/h.
The boat made up to 48 knots (90 km/h) and jumped over the waves. It was cloudy now, but the scenery was nevertheless very spectacular.
After 1.5 hours, this was over and we returned to our ship with a grin on our face. We concluded the day with a local beer on the panorama deck. The Lofoten are really a special place and worth returning. The problem is, it’s quite a long way up here…
The next day was very relaxing and there’s little to report apart from some great views of the shores of middle Norway. At lunch, we passed an iconic part of its coastline: the Seven Sisters (NOT the ones in Sussex).
In the legend, Botnkrona (3,517 feet), Grytfoten (3,497 feet), Skjæringen (4,202 feet), Tvillingene (the Twins) (3,215 feet), Kvasstinden (3,314), and Stortinden (2,986) were all troll daughters of the Suliskongen, who kept them under strict control far up north. One night he fell into such a deep sleep that all seven maidens were able to sneak out.
The Seven Sisters – picture stolen shamelessly from the internet. It was lunch time and was I too lazy to storm to the cabin to get the camera. It’s much more impressive in reality. And there’s no snow in July.
But Hestmannen, the son of another troll king on the islands who had been eager for a wife, was lying in wait. He chased them. The sisters fled south down the coast, with several trolls chasing them, some of whom were trying to save them and some who were trying to capture them. But none of them thought of the sun, which turns all trolls to stone. When night eventually turned to morning, the troll sisters and their pursuers were petrified and became the mountain range that comprises the Helgeland coastline.
Somewhat later we stopped in Brønnøysund which is the middle of Norway; the southernmost and northernmost points are equidistantly apart. I was quite hot, close to 30 degrees and locals seemed to enjoy the good weather. I walked around a bit before I entered the ship again.Soon after we took off the next iconic view was on the list: Torghattan. Rising 258 metres vertically from the sea at Brønnøysundet betweed Brønnøysund and Rørvik. The mountain, with a distinctive hole right through it, is said to be the Brønnøy King’s hat. Remember the story of the seven troll sisters? The sisters were fleeing from Hestmannen, who was desperate to capture a wife. The King heard them and came to the rescue of the young maidens. However Hestmannen, who was infuriated that he could not catch up, shot an arrow towards the last fleeing girl. The King threw his hat towards the maidens to protect them. Just as the arrow pierced the hat, the sun appeared and its rays turned the trolls, hat and all into stone.
Troghattan with the hole in the hat.
There is another, more scientific explanation for the 30 metre high, 25 metre wide and 160 metre deep hole in Torghatten. The mountain may have been pushed upwards after a period sitting at a lower level, during which the sea had gradually worn a hole through its layers of rock. It’s up to you to believe this version. But it seems much more rational to accept the version of an enormous troll knight that bangs an arrow through a hat mountain.
Later we watched the sunset on deck and went to bed early, this cruising is really exhausting!
Bakklandet, Trondheim
The next morning we got up early. The boat was already in the harbour of Trondheim. At 7 a.m. we started our walking tour through the city. It was a Tuesday, but Trondheim’s rush-hour felt like a village on Sundays. People commuting on bicycles, few cars and few people in the streets. We walked through the picturesque Bakklandet quarter and crossed the old bridge with the portals of the 17th century.
The old town bridge
We walked around the Nidaros cathedral and as it was not open yet, studied its western front. Although the foundations are from the 11th century, it burnt down several times and was totally reconstructed in a neo-gothic style over a hundred years ago. We strolled back to the ship and concluded that Trondheim must be a nice city to live in.
Nidaros cathedral. 11th to 20th century.
The rest of the day was a quiet cruise with stops in Kristiansund (we’ll come back here in a few days) Molde, Ålesund and Florø. There also time to wash our dirty laundry on board.
We had fantastic weather the last days, but now our luck seems to change. First clouds are coming in and tonight we will have rainy weather. Tomorrow at our arrival in Bergen the weather with be ok, but the following days on the motorbike will be more mixed. But maybe the end of the heat is very welcome!
I had hoped to see the midnight sun and was already disappointed that despite the good weather, there were a lot of clouds on the horizon. When I arrived 25 years ago at the Nordkapp with my little Honda XBR500 after a long trip, some clouds impaired the unobstructed view of the midnight sun. Nevertheless, I went on deck at a quarter to midnight.
Shortly before midnight: yes there are some clouds, but they actually enhance the colours.
Well, this was not so bad after all. It was a matter of playing around with the camera.
Focal length 250 mm, bring out the colours.
Some people preferred to watch it from the inside on the panoramic deck:
After midnight, the sun started to rise again:
At last, a “I’m the king of the world!” moment before hitting the sack:
This morning, we made a short excursion in Hammerfest. Instead of joining other boat people, we went on our own and walked up to a viewing point, overlooking the bay.
Our little boat.
Hammerfest
Hammerfest still uses the term “most northern town of the world”, although Honningsvåg has been elevated to a town some years ago.
On its way to the largest liquified gas factory in the world in Hammerfest.
It also used to be the starting point of many famous polar expeditions. We also did a visit to the Ice Bear Club, but did not become a member.
Ladies and gentlemen, please meet Bjørn. Isbjørn.
Back on the boat we had lunch and a relaxing afternoon watching the mountains and glaciers rolling by. Fantastic.
Gladly accepted this free drink with the compliments of Hurtigruten.
I kind of overslept this morning, but this was not a problem. I had found out that a rain front would pass by so the later I would leave, the less rain I would see. This guess turned out to be correct. I had a spectacular breakfast (no picture) and left only at 9:15. I was prepared and had put on the inner liners. Temperature was 20 degrees as I continued my ride on the E4. One hour later I crossed the border to Finland and got aware that the sat nav switched one hour forward. I though that the people along the border must have a ball on new year’s eve: they welcome the new year in Finland, walk over to Sweden and repeat this one hour later. I took the E75 to the north and rolled through Finnish landscape.
Cute, isn’t it?
Soon I had to fill up and continued. I reached the city of Rovaniemi that appeared much bigger since the last time I passed by (25 years ago). Then I found the place where Santa resides (at least as claimed by the locals):
I have discovered Santa’s stash! It’s well hidden in a mountain.
HO-HO-HO!
Soon after I reached the Arctic Circle. I remembered a memorial there, together with some houses. I think it was also one of the few places on that seven week trip where I afforded a hot meal. I had my first reindeer goulash, how can I forget that. Well, I was a poor student then. You can imagine my surprise when I found no polar circle memorial, but an enormous complex with dozens of shops, restaurants, entertainment, etc…
Horrified, I fled from this place. I continued my ride through rural Finland. Soon after, I had to stop as a big reindeer was quietly walking in the middle of the road. Big antlers! In Sodankylä I wanted to stop for lunch, but the restaurants did not look very appealing and due to the Eastern time it was already quite late. In the end I had a shabby kebab in a shabby restaurant in a shabby petrol station. You could also buy repair sets for car exhausts there. Or fish hooks. Authentic.
I went on and after two hours, I decided to stop for a last petrol fill in Ivalo at the south shore of the Lake Inari. I decided to put on some extra T-shirts for the temperature had dropped to some 14 degrees. Soon after, the best part of the ride began on that day began: the road had bends and suddenly the sun appeared! Instead a dull ride under cloudy skies, this was really impressive now.
Inari Lake. I was immediately surrounded by blood-thirsty mosquitos.
The large Inari Lake to the right, the sun to the left and thousands of little lakes or ponds everywhere. This was spectacular.
I still had 200 km to go and when I turned from the E75 to the direction of Kirkenes. I hadn’t seen a policeman the whole trip, so why would there be any on this last stretch to the Norwegian border? I switch the suspension to “Dynamic” and let the horses free. This was fun! Of course, you had to scan the horizon for reindeers.
This guy just walked over the road as if he would own the place!….well, I guess he does…
I arrived at the border and from now on, I slowed down considerably. Norwegian speed controls are notorious. I was riding down to the coast and when I hit the E6, I passed the Neiden waterfalls.
Neiden waterfalls. 12.5 degrees Celsius air temperature. Water temperature unknown.
The last 44 km to Kirkenes where bathed in sunlight again and quite beautiful. After a certain point, many boards announced that taking pictures was forbidden for military reasons. Actually, this region used to be the only place apart from Turkey where NATO and the Soviet Union shared a common border.
At 18:30, I met MJ in the hotel in Kirkenes. The 770 km went faster than expected. I looked for an ATM to get some Norwegian money and gave the BMW a good wash. After a quick shower we went to the hotel restaurant and were whacked in the face by reality. You know that Norway is expensive, but when you’re sitting in an ordinary hotel restaurant and looking at the menu, staring, sweating and hyperventilating, you know you have finally arrived there. However we decided that we live only once and that the numbers on the menu are not real. We chatted with the Spanish waiter and enjoyed our dinner, grilled salmon. We had not chosen for the local speciality: king crab. The next time after I have successfully robbed a bank, I will order one.
Fresh king crabs. 200 a piece. A true bargain.
We chatted with a Bavarian couple at the bike outside for a while and did a little walk through the town. This was very quick as the town is….not so big.
Sun set in Kirkenes.
Time for a night rest!
The next morning we left the hotel and rode 1 km to the pier where the MS Midnatsol was already waiting for us. We checked in immediately and after one hour of waiting time, I could finally ride the BMW on board. We investigated the ship for a while. It is the usual postal ship that runs the same route for decades, every day.
It’s also a cruise ship, albeit not a luxury one. Easy going. We soon enjoyed the buffet lunch and had a relaxed afternoon. Soon we visited the first stopover on the boat trip, Vardø, the most Eastern town of Norway. We only had 30 minutes on land which meant we could not visit the witch hunt memorial. It is an impressive memorial for all the women that were burnt as “witches” in the 16th and 17th century. Compared to other places in Norway, the death toll was highest here: Out of 3000 inhabitants by that time, 91 were burnt at the stake. We visited the old fortress instead where two guys dressed as soldiers ripped off tourists by selling them entrance tickets. Funny.
The fortress on Vardø island.
Vardø, sea gull paradise.
What? Tourists again?
The moment the ship horn sounded…panic!!!
When we returned on the ship, we noticed a sign “upgrade your cabin to a suite” with a big number (representing Norwegian crowns) next to it. They haven’t filled them, so they offered the upgrade for a fraction of the normal price. Naaah, too much money. But MJ had asked already if we could look at them. Yeah, what can I say. When we stood in the room, I knew that the decision was taken. What did we say? You only live once? Absolutely.
Our new “cabin”. Holy moly.
So know I’m sitting next to our enormous window in our enormous room watching the coastline drifting by. This is gorgeous.
The oncoming sister ship
I had planned to take pictures of the midnight sun, but just like 25 years ago, some clouds on the horizon seem to foil this plan.
This morning I got up early and had the bike ready to go when I went to the breakfast at 7 a.m.
Breakfast at the Stallmastaregården.
The good selection reconciled me a bit with the dinner experience yesterday. I sat on the terrace and started to sweat already – 25 degrees and high humidity by the shore.
Felt like breakfast at a shore in Italy.
I only had half an hour for I needed to leave for my appointment: after a 20 min ride, I stopped at the BMW dealer in Upplands Väsby, where I had agreed a tyre change for my bike. They had a separate waiting area with a airco device – very much appreciated! I chatted with another customer, asked for advice on regional speeding enforcement habits and studied the current selection of Ducati bikes on sale (it’s also a Duc dealer). Very nice bikes, but the crucial question is: would you take an Italian bike and immediately set off for a round-the-world trip? See?
Is my bike treated well?
At 10 a.m. the bike was ready and by wallet was (virtually) a lot lighter. 30 degrees now. But I still had to fill up and what now followed was the most bizarre petrol station workflow ever.
The pump wouldn’t work so I asked inside if I had to do a prepayment. The answer was yes. So I grabbed a bottle of refreshment. However, I had to pay it separate. In cash. Then I had to provide a payment card AND my identity card. These stayed inside while I filled up the bike. Then I was returned the card and the ID and I could make the payment. Very strange.
I entered the E4 again and went north. Little to report there. Occasionally, I passed little lakes with falun red houses, but there was never a possibility to take a shot. That was pretty much the sightseeing of today. I hoped for fresher air, but the temperature climbed up to 32 degrees. While moving, this was bearable, with all openings open at the max.
Well, I did ONE shot. That’s the result. ….don’t complain.
I stopped in Sundsvall after three hours to fill up again and decided to visit the next-door Pizza Hut. With airco. All you can eat including drinks for only 10 Euros, that’s quite a bargain for Sweden. Don’t expect a pizza a la napolitana though. But fair enough.
I continued my ride, and slowly the temperatures went down a bit. Another three hours later, I had to put petrol again. I had texted a mate from the floorball team in Belgium to meet in Luleå as he was on home leave in the area. However, he told me he had just started to drink Belgian trappist beer and was waiting to meet Thor with his hammer. So this was a non-starter, LOL.
When I arrived in Luleå at 8 p.m., I had barely escaped a thunderstorm on the way. 25 degrees and humidity. Tropical feeling. I had a shower in my windowless room and had a very good dinner in the rooftop restaurant, overlooking the Luleå bay. Enjoying the sunset.
Relaxing…
Road kill of the day. This winter, Santa will have extra work to do, as his furry, but very tasty companion went missing….
Tomorrow is the last stretch to Kirkenes. I expect a drastic weather change. 15 degrees cooler and occasional rain. The rest of Europe is drenched in sweat.
This morning I got up before the wake-up call and had breakfast with a view. The announcement to go to the vehicles surprised me a bit so I was the last to exit the ship from my deck (everybody else seemed to know). It was before 8 a.m. and 24 degrees with high humidity welcomed me. I started to sweat immediately. I took a while before I had passed the control and I turned north. I know the motorway E4 well from past Scandinavian rallies. Lots of forest. I switched on the radio so the ride got less unexciting. Before Jönköping, I remembered a bonus location I had visited at moonlight: Taberg. As it is close to the motorway, I decided to do a little detour. It is a small mountain overlooking the forest. It is particular as it stands out of the plain for it is a rock that contains a lot of magnetite, together with titanium and vanadium. The high concentrations of the latter lead to its discovery in the ore.
View from the Taberg
After a few minutes I arrived in Jönköping at the hotel that I had booked. It will be the rally hotel of the European Tour and I had booked a night for today. However, I had to change my plans as I have an appointment for a tyre change the next morning north of Stockholm. The booking is non-refundable, but so be it. At least I can leave some luggage until the rally in two weeks: I dismounted the auxiliary fuel tank and put it in a large bag, together with some other stuff I don’t need until the rally.
Remove the fuel tank….
…and continue with only one bag.
It got really hot now and I decided to have some lunch snack inside a petrol station, they had an airco!
I opened all the openings in my gear to get some fresh air while riding. On my way to Stockholm, I had temperatures between 31 and 33 degrees. Along the Vättern Lake, many birch trees had brown leaves. In July! And the heat wave is only starting….
For the off-road lovers….
I saw an exit sign to Trosa and I remembered that I had passed by there during my first trip to Scandinavia in 1993. As I lacked the knowledge that I have now, a damaged valve rocker made me cancel my route through the Baltic States to St. Petersburg. I took the ferry from Gdansk to Sweden to have it repaired in Stockholm. Trosa is a cute little town with one channel with many boats. A kind of mini-mini-mini-Amsterdam , so to say.
Saab, indestructible.
Trosa
It was only one more hour to Stockholm. I arrived at the elegant hotel I had booked with a huge reduction….just to find out that my reservation was for the day before (!)….
[…]
Well, this set a new record. Three hotel bookings for one night. Well done.
As it was still early, I visited the Gamla Stan (Old Town) and walked around a bit. Horrified by the masses of tourists, I looked for the quiet streets that have much more charm.
Stockholm
They told me I’m still not on the list…
If this reminds you of matutinal passing of water, you’re probably male and over sixty!
Very, very narrow.
Evening in Stockholm. Feels like Italy.
I returned to the hotel and finally had a shower, more than needed. I had dinner in the highly acclaimed hotel restaurant with a view on the like lake. Unfortunately, the food’s quality was rather disappointing. Any good quality Belgian restaurant makes this look like amateurs. But you don’t go to Scandinavia only for the food, do you? ;-)
Tomorrow morning I have the tyre change and then a long ride to Luleå.
On Friday I went to the Eurotunnel train to meet Gerhard. Together we embarked on the train (without delay) and went northwards towards the Midlands.
With IBA Germany’s president and friend Gerhard on the Eurotunnel train.
On the way to Stoke-on-Trent we made a little detour to pick one of John Young’s Triumph Trident 50-50 Challenge. I took a picture to the Mallory race track entrance. We arrived in a relaxed mood at our hotel in Stoke where we joined other fellow riders for dinner. The next morning, we gathered at Rick the rally master’s house and received final instructions. As usual, the had a last-minute twist for us: the option to bring him back a bottle of selected beers was not optional, but compulsory! Luckily, I had this in my plan. My route was ambitious, but left me with enough options to shortcut in cases of problems. So I set off for Wales, picked some locations there; got furious about the Garmin sat nav that lead me over single track gravel farm roads instead telling me to turn around; got stuck in some massive road closure where I lost 30 min riding single track roads again trying to find a proper detour; and had a nice riding. Usual things, you could say.
The Dragon in Ebbw Vale, a really nice sculpture. (I took the picture from the internet as I don’t have my rally pictures at hand right now).
After having visited the last location in Wales, it was time for some motorway riding to London, interrupted by a visit to Whitchurch, good for some massive points. I visited the Pinewood film studios west of London and assured my compulsory bonus by buying a bottle of “Death and Glory” ale at the Tring Brewery in….Tring. Just one kilometer away I visited the National History Museum where I had to find the greyhound “Mick the Miller” and take a picture of him. A long walk to the right gallery, but I had asked a guard for the way so this could be done quickly. Now I only had to ride back to the finish. I managed to fit in some extra locations – the Santa Pod race track, a statue in Lichfield…to boost my points. close to the finish, I decided to make a little detour a pick another location. Everything went fine, I even could visit one more last point close to the finish. than I discovered that the bike should have been in the picture, turned around, visited the place again and got the complete picture. In Stoke I visited the Titanic brewery for another 150 points and arrived after 11 hours with three minutes to spare at the finish.
After the scoring (I hadn’t lost any points), I joined the other riders in garden for the usual exchange of anecdotes. After some food and drink, the ceremony was due:
Results of the Brit Butt Light Rally 2018
That clear result came a bit as a surprise for I had left out 1-2 planned locations. I received my certificate and a trophy and was a happy bunny. Thanks to rally master Rick and his last seven rallies, this one was also very nice! Great job!
I returned to the hotel and spent the evening with the other lads that stayed there. The next morning I went with Gerhard towards Folkestone, but not without visiting three locations of the 50-50 challenge: the old BSA factory, Triumph’s old development centre in Kitts Green and the National Motorcycle Museum. There I took a picture of “Slippery Sam”, the Triumph racing bike that keeps the record of five consecutive wins at the Isle of Man TT in the seventies.
Slippery Sam
We took the Eurotunnel train and 2.5 hours I was back home, not without some detour due to all the Belgians returning from the coast. I still had to pack most of my luggage for the big trip, but this was quickly arranged.
The trip to England and Wales (Brit Butt Light 2018).
The next day, I started after lunch. I have mounted the rear crash bars last-minute. They look ugly, but the bike is so heavy with all the luggage, one little slip and a dropping bike would result in a heavy blow to the vacation budget.
Cpt. Hutzlmandl and his “Flying Fortress” (>500 kg).
I hit the road at 32 degrees which accompanied me the whole day. Luckily I was listening to the radio in my helmet so I was aware that there was a massive road blockage on the planned itinerary on the A1 to Bremen. In the end, the Autobahn was completely closed and the retention mounted up to 20 km! But I had chosen to go via the A2 and apart from smaller traffic jams, I arrived quickly in Travemünde where I embarked on the “Peter Pan” to Sweden.
Hello? Anybody here?
After a quick shower, I was ready to hit the dinner buffet (first in line, LOL) where I am waiting for the take-off of the boat.
Tomorrow it will be time for some real, relaxing summer vacations. I think it’ll be some 12.000 km on the BMW and some 3.000 km by boat.
Wait a minute – did you say “boat”???
Yes, it will be relaxing motorbiking and a relaxing boat cruise.
As an appetizer, I will first do the 12 hour Brit Butt Light Rally starting in Stoke-on-Trent in England. I haven’t done it in three years and the BBL2015 was the last rally I haven’t won (in Europe). Sooo, it’s a kind of “unfinished business” although I had won the rally in 2014 on the little XBR500.
As the rally book was handed out one week before the start, I have already prepared my route and printed and laminated my own rally logbook. Sorry, my route is still confidential, but these are all the possible bonus point locations:
All bonus point locations of the Brit Butt Light Rally 2018.
After the rally, I will return home for one night and leave for Sweden the next day. Three days later, I’ll arrive in Kirkenes at the Norwegian – Russian border. I’ll meet up with MJ and on the next day, we’ll embark on the postal ship of the Hurtigruten line, carrying the BMW in the ship.
The boat trip with the motorbike
After the arrival in Bergen, we’ll start the bike trip through Western Norway – fjords and fjells. In Oslo, I will continue on my own and ride to Jönköping where this year’s European Tour will start.
The logo of the European Tour 2018
This ET will be a three-day rally all over the Nordic countries. I had won the European Tour 2016, but this one will be different. I don’t have the local knowledge that the locals have.
After that, it’s a back to the barn ride. Three weeks in total. Sounds like a plan.
Just a quick message before I set off back home. My eighth Brit Butt Rally was tricky. I started it without enough data volume on my phone to send the pictures, but this was resolved after 2 hours, so that’s why you couldn’t see the progress in the spot track in the morning. I had planned an ambitious route through the North-West and North-East of England and the whole of Scotland. There was no room for larger problems or large delays. In the end I sticked to plan within 5 minutes for both days. The K1600 performed marvellously, what a great bike!
In the end I was rewarded with the 1st place, for the fourth consecutive year now. Now back to the Eurotunnel. More info later when I’m back home.
My Brit But Rally 2018. First two hours are missing on the spot. 1582 miles in 30 hours net. Cracking.
Some last words….if I can’t find a solution, I probably can’t activate the spot track today. I am short of data volume and need to save the data volume for the pictures I have to send. My provider had technical issues and I can’t extend the volume. Great, isn’t it?
So the technical inspection and the odo ride went well. After that I filled up the bike with 40 litres of petrol and returned to rally HQ. I hadn’t checked the tyre pressure! The built-in pressure sensor indicated only 2.6 instead 2.9 bar. The close-by petrol station didn’t have any pump, so I had to look for a different station. I first had to get some coins for the machine. But instead inflating the tyre, it was more and more deflated. Together with the shop clerk I discovered the source of the problem: the nozzle was too short for my modern valve. With only 1.2 bar in the rear tyre, I limped back to the HQ where Bob Clark borrowed me his little 12 V pump. Thanks, now I’m ok!
The rider meeting was quite interesting…A totally different format:
All bonus points locations with all the nine thematic categories of the Brit Butt Rally 2018.
81 locations, divided in 9 regions and 9 thematic categories. Apart from the points value of each point, you get extra points for more locations in the same region or the same category. A difficult nut to crack….I’ve put together a challenging route, but I don’t reveal yet where I’ll be going…just follow my SPOT track.
It is quite a while since I last published something. It’s not that there was no material, oh no, quite the contrary. It is just that publishing means a lot of work. Writing a report of the Iron Butt Rally 2017, for example. But as the quote says:”when a man says he will do something, he will do it. It’s not necessary to remind him every six months”.
So I showed up yesterday here in the rally HQ in Leicester after a quiet ride up from Belgium. Had dinner and some chats. This morning I had some extended discussion with John Young about our planned trip to Japan next year. As the registration is not open yet, it still gives me some time to write before the busy afternoon begins.
This year’s Brit Butt Rally is somewhat different. First of all, I’ll be on my new bike, the BMW K1600GT.
The new rally beast.
It does the same thing as the Pan European – a comfy ride, a very balanced bike, heavy but steady, a great tool to cover large distances. With the difference that the BMW is so much more dynamic – if you want it to be. I’m looking forward to riding the British country roads this weekend.
The neat auxiliary tank
Then there is a new rally format. Instead taking pictures with a digital camera at the bonus point locations and presenting them at the scoring, pictures have to be taken with a smart phone and be sent immediately by e-mail. This change did not go down well with some riders and I wonder if this a reason why there are a relatively low number of participants. Let’s see how this goes. I do prefer the old, traditional style, though.
The weather forecast is quite good and as every year I hope to be able to go up North to enjoy riding in Scotland – great scenic roads and no traffic. By midnight I should know more. Now, I’ll have to register, present the documents, do the technical inspection, do the odometer calibration ride and return to the room. After that, there will be the dinner with the subsequent riders meeting where instructions will be given, the rally books will be handed out and the files with the bonus point locations will be sent. After that, we will be sitting in our rooms, trying to develop that cunning route that gives the maximum points….
After having won the rally three times in a row, I am in a very relaxed mood. I just want to have fun and enjoy this brilliant bike. There is the usual auxiliary tank and the additional LED lights that make night rides fun, but the only thing that is missing is the comfy Russell Day-Long seat that makes 36 hours of riding absolutely painless. As it is still in production, I will have to suffer a little, but this is nothing I could not handle.
This year, I have decided to provide a public track again, you can follow my GPS track from tomorrow morning onwards (6 a.m. British Summer Time)…
So, let’s see if this registration has already opened….more news later!
The ceremony is over…as predicted, it was a very special event with many stories and stunning performances at the bottom, middle and top of the standings.
As already mentioned, I had a lot of issues and did not ride the rally in a competitive, but rather in a “holiday” mood. I had tons of long rest breaks in nice hotels. I finished one day early and had too chose my route based on the temperature forecast. Considering all this, the 32nd place out of 87 finishers and 106 starters is a very good result. Had I not have to stop rallying so early, a finish around place 20 would have been possible. And this without pushing anything. I can be very happy about this result, it even gives me an unexpected, official “silver medal finish”.
The finisher plaque – I will get the name tag later :-)
Hi everybody, I’m back at the “barn”, i.e. the rally finish. I was there 20 hours too early as the bike gave me some additional problems. I arrived basically with a dying Honda; I had to coast the last 30 miles on three cylinders and had almost no power left when I entered the parking of the hotel. After a rather “short” route of only 9000 miles in about 10 days.
As I was still technically in the rally, the social media curfew still applied to me so I still had to remain quiet. This morning, I went to the scoring and got all my points except some 500 penalty points for a lost emergency contact tag that came off the latch of the hanger I was wearing for 11 days.
I got more that 55000 points for Leg 3 – this was the minimum points value to be a finisher of the WHOLE rally. Adding my points from Leg 1 and 2, I have about 85000 points. Considering the fact that I had a very relaxed rally in a non-competitive mood with lots of long rest breaks, a bike I had to nurse, numerous petrol stops, technical problems and a very close shave to get to the finish – this is a very good result, it should give me a mid-field result and finally the desired three-digit membership number that only IBR finishers can obtain. In about one hour from now, the banquet will start, followed by the ceremony.
Thanks for your support and your comments – I was reading them daily and they were a good read. Yesterday, I added quite some drama to the game…I left at 2 a.m. for the last 1100 km….I filled up every 90 – 100 km, but soon I realised that the stuttering was not due to the fuel pump. As it got worse and worse, it became more clear that the bike was losing one carburetor ( at least that’s how it felt). It got worse and worse and I went the last 30 miles on three cylinders only. The bike was slowly dying and had no power left. Finally, with the last power the bike had, I entered the parking of the finish and had done it! I couldn’t have done another 10 miles….this was a close shave! Maybe the E10 petrol (10% Ethanol) was killing my old carburetors? It’s a possibility…The bike was picked up already and is on the way back to Europe.
Apart from the scoring today, I basically was chatting with other riders, veterans, staff etc…there are so many stories and dramas to exchange…you’ll hear about some in the following official bulletins.
I also want to say a big THANK YOU to (quote) “this fat, balding, middle-aged, accountant from the UK” that did a great job in entertaining you during the last days: John Young. He also helped me to stay focused on the main objective of this rally: to become a finisher. This worked almost all the time except on Wednesday when I nearly ruined the project by changing the plan and turning north into Michigan.
THANKS FOR ALL, MATE!!!
And now off to the banquet where new tales of heroism, boldness, despair and drama will be told….
Soooo, in one hour from now, there will be the riders meeting, very early at 2:30 p.m. I had to attend the rookie meeting (haha), as I was considered “technically” a rookie (no previous finish). It was a very good presentation by route master Jeff Earls who reminded the audience what will be ahead of us the next 11 days. I took notes of ideas for the rookie meeting of the Alpenbutt Rally later in July.
Jeff stressed many things that confirmed my views on this rally: the only objective is to arrive safely at the finish and to be (hopefully) a finisher. That’s all. After my DNF in 2013, that’s the only goal for me. I know that many people in Europe think that after my track record in Europe lately, I should do very, very well in the Iron Butt Rally. Well, this is absolutely nonsense. This is a totally different story. As they say: “you only know what the IBR is about when you have ridden it”. So I will try to stay as relaxed as possible in Leg 1 and Leg 2. I want to have a good time and I don’t care which standing might come out of it in the end. Period. The weather waiting for us will be an enormous burden. Fatigue and exhaustion will build up over the 11 days which could get very dangerous. And I agree with Jeff Earls, in the end it doesn’t matter which place you achieved; being a finisher is a huge achievement. There are only a handful of guys who can win this and they’re completely nuts. That’s not my thing. I will stick to the speed limits, for this reason I have installed the cruise control on the bike. I want this to be a ride of a lifetime and not be ruined by some over-pacing.
I don’t know if I will be able to post more tonight or if I will be barred from social media already. In this case, talk to you in 12 days and I wish you fun with the entertaining posts of John Young. However, I must warn you: you might be exposed to hard-core British humour, you better be prepared for it…. :-)
Yesterday morning, I packed my stuff and moved 10 miles north to the rally hotel. I checked in and started to exchange all the broken spare part that still needed to be changed after the drop of the bike during the Brit Butt Rally. I mounted a new right mirror together with its housing. I installed the fixed, big 2×7500 lumen LED Sevinas that Gerhard had brought from Clearwater Lights for me. I also swapped the clutch lever switch so that the cruise control will work again.
European riders at the Bauhaus Brew Lab
I spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with other fellow European and American riders. I convinced a pack of people to visit a special place in the evening: The Bauhaus Brew Labs, a small microbrewery in Minneapolis.
It produces a lot of German style beers and seems to be a special meeting place for the younger part of Minneapolis. A colourful place with music from the seventies, an open space where people can bring their own food or buy something from a food truck and drink the beer in the brewery. I tried the Münchner Helles, Bohemian Pilsner and German style Schwarzbier (sic!) and they all were very good. The beer mats/coasters explained German words and how to pronounce them. We really had a good time and a good laugh. We even entered the wrong taxi, but the driver noticed immediately when he heard us talking German. Unfortunately, there won’t be another opportunity to come back to this funny place.
This morning, I got up in a good mood and before going to breakfast, I wanted to collect all the papers I needed for today’s registration day. I looked for my bunch of papers and documents – and found only a part of it! I searched everywhere, no stone unturned, until I had to conclude that I had left back papers in the hotel room yesterday! The problem was: I was missing the contract of my medical repatriation insurance that is mandatory. I started to panic. Without a proof of this rally, I could not start the rally on Monday! I called the Allianz hotline in Belgium…as it was Saturday today, the normal help desk was not open and the medical hotline did not have access to the data base. Then I called the last hotel, they did not have anything, but they promised to ask the cleaning lady and to call me again (which never happened). Now I really had reason to panic. I had been stupid enough not to make an electronic copy of these papers, something I usually do before I go on long trips. Damn! In a desperate mood, I went down for breakfast. I met Lisa, the rally master and confessed my problem. She told me to stay cool, I still had two days until the start tot find a solution. At the breakfast table, I discussed the problem with the other European riders. Kevin told me that he had an insurance from Geos that was obtainable online. Hm, I could try this. I looked up the website and indeed, the conditions seemed even to excel the required ones.
The logo of the 2017 Iron Butt Rally. Is this the roadkill we have to expect???
I immediately bought the policy for $175 and was happy that I was back on track. I joined the other riders and passed through the different stations…paperwork, video recording of my acknowledgement of the liability specs, GPS Spot track, rally pack, camera and SD card check….then I met Lisa again and told her my positive news. She said that the insurance from Geos was not acceptable for there were some issues with the transport by airplane. We sat down and I tried to find the right terms and conditions, but I failed. I was too nervous.
Did I already mention that rallying is an emotional rollercoaster? My mood was close to zero again. Lisa suggested to print the conditions so they could be studied. With desperation, I tried to find the documents online and luckily the computer in the hotel lobby had a printer connected. What I found in the made me hope for a happy ending: the conditions seemed to fulfil the rules so I was slightly optimistic.
However, the check of the insurances would be right at the end of the whole exercise. I had to do the tech inspection next. The bike was checked and everything was fine except the fuel tank. WHAT??? It was not compliant (you bet where my mood was in that moment…). However, the “problem” was easy to solve…the venting hose that I placed next to my number plate needed to be extended below the number plate. I received a piece of fuel hose and attached it with zippers.
Tape-covered “commercial” stickers…
Another issue was that the bike had “commercial” stickers….there are from the previous owner and were Castrol Oil stickers and the name of the bike dealer….I had to cover them with tape….The next thing was the odo route to check the accuracy of the odometer. A 28 mile ride later, I returned back and had finished the technical part. Now I had to do the final part: the SPOT check again WITH some data points in it, the insurance and medical repatriation coverage. SPOT was fine (I had to engage the “show speed” option), the repatriation was barely looked at (!) and my tourist motorbike insurance received the exemption for foreign riders as a domestic insurance is not legally to obtain with the required insurance limits. And than I had to talk to Jeff Earls, the Rally Master who checked last things and welcomed me as a starter of the 2017!! Yes! I did it! But mentally, I was exhausted. This was an unnecessary stress that normally would not have happened. I needed a rest…But first I filled up the bike and bought some food reserves.
In the meantime, my new wind shield had arrived on time and I mounted it. I had some lunch and after that, Peter tried to help me to get me the North America map in Basecamp on my computer, because I don’t want to connect the GPS device all the time when I want to do the routing. We struggled a long time, but in the end it was Gerhard who had the solution: he gave me his SD card with an old map on it, this seems to work. Excellent. Fewer worries.
Finally we gathered for a self-paid dinner of dubious quality. Some of us Europeans decided to go to the bar instead. So the day is over and tomorrow morning, I have to go to the rookie meeting for I was not a finisher last time. In the afternoon, the rider meeting will take place.
And on Monday morning, I will be among the starters of the Iron butt Rally 2017!
“Gemütlichkeit” will soon be over…and we will need a lot of “Flüssigkeit”…
OK, I’m back in the hotel. As John has correctly put it, today’s objective was to get my bike through customs and out of the warehouse.
I got up early and prepared again my papers. I had been instructed by the shipper that it was extremely important to obtain a stamped form 7501 from customs, otherwise the bike couldn’t be re-exported. I had a broker in stand-by in case customs would insist on a broker. So in a nervous mood, I went by taxi to the US customs and homeland security office in Bloomington.
It was a very quiet place, I sat there some minutes before somebody passed by and asked me if I was being served. I heard this question another four times and I realised that these people were very friendly and helpful. A friendly officer took my papers and took them to his office. There were no other customers. A quiet place. Finally, the officer returned. He had retyped all my documents and stamped also form 7501. That was very quick, after 45 min I was out again. Wow. This went quite well. I called the same taxi driver again and he drove me to the warehouse near the airport. I presented my papers and waited, reading a book. I was relaxed, this went much better than expected. Then a girl explained me that the customs clearance was not in the electronic system. I explained that I just had been to the customs office in Bloomington. The warehouse looked puzzled and told me that the correct customs office was in the airport terminal! But…..my mood changed rapidly. This was just a small glimpse what will be ahead of me during this rally: the usual emotional rollercoaster. Great. Get a taxi first. This almost failed as I was waiting at one entrance of the compound without realising there was another one where the cab would wait…but the driver found me. In the airport, I went to the CORRECT customs office where a massive officer took my papers. When he asked for the purpose of my stay, it turned out he was a biker as well and knew about the Iron Butt Association. We had a nice chat and finally I received the correct form 7501. He told me that there was an issue: the shipper had deleted an intermediate transport from Chicago to Minneapolis, this still needed to be fixed. Great….I took another taxi back to the warehouse where the validation of the change took ages, I felt. In the end, I could pay the warehouse fee and access the crate.
There it is…
The problem was that the bike still was in the crate. I had to rip the box open and with the help of the warehouse people I managed to get the bike out of the crate. I attached the screen to the bike, mounted the panniers and put on the rain suit. The workers refused my tip and wished me good luck. I went back to the hotel in the rain and I was happy the the whole thing took less than 5 hours.
Yes, it is cool and rainy today. We soon will miss this mild weather. Checkpoints 1 and 2 are located near Dallas, Texas. Massive thunderstorms are happening now between Florida and Texas and in the South-West, thermometers are reaching temperatures of 45 to 50 degrees celsius!!! If you want to do well in rallies, you cannot consider what weather you will encounter. But in this case, I think I will have to monitor the elements very closely. The heat wave in the South is just too much. To be avoided.
People have been asking me about the password for the link to my GPS track. But the link for the track is still missing. Here it comes:
It will be active from Monday onwards. The start will be 10 a.m. local time.
I also learned some things today:
Officials in Minneapolis are very friendly and helpful
Taxi drivers here are mainly from North-Eastern Africa, such as Ethiopia or Eritrea
I need to switch off my mobile internet and use it with great care. I have a good roaming daily pass for 5 Euro per day that gives me 80 MB of internet per day. However, every 1 MB on top is charged with 14 Euros (!!!!). The problem is if you receive the warning messages very late. That’s how I lost over 100 Euros (!!!) today…..
I have another night booked here, but I might pass by the rally hotel this evening….
So here I’m sitting at Brussels Airport, killing time before I take off for Minneapolis via Amsterdam. The first obstacle is past me: I arrived here without problems. After yesterday’s terror attack at Brussels Central Station, it was questionable if the trains would run normal, but luckily they did. I also passed the security check at the airport, despite my bag full of cables and electronic devices. Suspicious, isn’t it? In the end, the security guy was only interested in one item…..”It’s a motorcycle mirror!….”???”…..Apparently it was deemed inappropriate to blow up a plane so I was waved through.
Yesterday I received my second Sat Nav from my GPS shop; they had managed to install the North America map properly on it. After more than two weeks of struggling with the Garmin support (the map had been assigned to the wrong GPS device), I gave up and bought another map that I installed on the Zumo 350….and it didn’t work properly. But in the end, it seemed to work yesterday. The problem is that I can’t transfer the maps to Basecamp on my computer, the monitor is too small (that’s difficult to explain now), so I need to have a device connected to the computer in order to see the map in Basecamp. But this wouldn’t work yesterday! A brief moment of shock. Without a GPS map, there’s no rally. In the end, a re-boot seemed to solve the problem….
My biggest concern is now to get the bike out of customs tomorrow in Minneapolis. Air freight is usually straightforward, but I have been told by my shipper that US officials increasingly insist to deal with a broker and not a private person. In this case, I’d have a problem. I have Thursday and Friday to get the bike back, if I don’t manage, there’s no rally for me. I want to think that I have seen worse and even getting the bike out of Dubai harbour did not take more than two days…Let’s keep fingers crossed.
As usual, I will provide a link to my GPS track the next days….if you want to know the password, contact me and I will send it to you.
After 2013, this is my second attempt to become a finisher of the notorious Iron Butt Rally, the toughest long-distance motorcycle rally in the world. I will leave on Monday morning, 26th June from Minneapolis and will return 11 days later, after some 11.000 gruelling miles, having seen many corners of North America. This time, I start this adventure with a “proper bike”, i.e. the Honda ST1100 Pan European. I bought it in 2014 for very little money with the purpose to ride the Iron Butt Rally 2015, but in the end I cancelled my participation back then.
The bike is optimised for long distance rallying and has an impeccable track record: out of nine rallies since 2015, it came second once and won all the rest of them. A good recommendation for the Iron Butt Rally. In the last months, I optimised many features and spent a lot of money to revamp the bike. With support from Mart!n, Bavaria’s best motorbike mechanic, the bike got a complete make-over: a new (almost new) motor, a new drive shaft, refurbished alternator, new brake discs with brake pads and refurbished pistons, new water pump, new wheel bearings, refurbished fork, steering bearing, a new cruise control, and and and….not to mention all the improvements (farkles) I had installed earlier: the highest wind shield, a day-long Russell seat, a new, smaller auxiliary tank, handle bar risers, heated gear, improved suspension, 14000 lumen LED headlights, 15000 lumen auxiliary Clearwater LED flood lights….
I will write more before the start of the rally, but I want to take the opportunity to introduce my back-up writer for the duration of the rally: my friend Mr John Young, probably the fiercest Triumph fanatic east and west of the Mississippi. He did the blogging four years ago during my first Iron Butt Rally. I will be banned from social media during the rally so he will keep you updated on my adventures. Knowing John, this could be quite entertaining…
OK, the Brit Butt 2017 is over and finally find some time to write some lines. This is what I had prepared before the rally:
Well, here I am. Sitting in the hotel room, trying to work out the challenge that the rally master of the 2017 Brit Butt Rally has thrown at us.
I arrived yesterday here in Leicester and have passed all the tasks today (registration, odometer check route, technical inspection, rider meeting). It was an unusual hot day here, but unfortunately the weather will bring some thunderstorms to the British Isles tomorrow; Sunday should be fine again.
I have finally enrolled for the rally with the aim to use it as a shakedown or dress rehearsal for the big Iron Butt Rally I will ride in June/July in North America. The bike was prepped considerably and this will be the last test before it will be shipped over the big pond. As I have won the two previous Brit Butt Rallies, I am in a very relaxed mood. I have no pressure at all and apart from testing the bike, I want to have fun during the rally.
I had already had an idea before the rider meeting what the rally could bring, but it was even worse than expected: there was no rally book, just a list of towns that could be visited, all of them starting with the letter “Y” or “Z”. There were no predefined locations, you had to find the name of the town on a sign or board to prove you were there. Every town had a value that was doubled if you visited another Y town in the same county, i.e. 1 – 2 – 4 – 8 – 16 – 32 – 64. Every county visited acted as a multiplier for the obtained points.
The possible locations to be visited in the BBR17
So this was a complex equation, although there was a simple solution to it: Get some high point counties and visit their 6 or 7 locations and visit many single-location counties to increase the multiplier coefficient. A very mathematical rally, but not my cup of tea. I had decided to enter the rally to test everything. The route planning templates were useless in this case. This was not the rehearsal I was prepared for. I was considering to cancel my participation, but decided that I still could test the bike. I always loved the BBR for the big points, great rides, scenic places, spectacular locations. Searching for signs or other written names of the place in little villages, maybe at night, was not what I expected from this rally. Well, in the end I had designed a route and planned to ride it until Saturday evening and would then decide if I continued the rally.
We left at 6 a.m. as usual and I headed for Wales. In some villages, no signs were available, so I had to take a picture of a town sign, knowing that only a total of five town signs were allowed. In Wales it was cool and cloudy.
Welsh – a book with seven seals.
After three hours, I parked my bike in front of the Yarpole parish hall. I was sure that the bike was standing safely. Five seconds later the bike had crashed into a railing, smashing the windshield and right mirror. I need the help of two men to get it upright again. I quickly taped all the broken parts and continued the ride, much more chilly without the big windshield.
The route in Wales.
When I left Wales at 6 p.m., I was more than one hour and half behind my very ambitious route. I decided to skip one point for I had booked a hotel in Swindon and my plan said I would reach it 1 a.m. However, it was clear that I would be late. I visited all seven points in county Devon and bagged 127 points, visited one point in Cornwall. I had to ride for one hour against the setting sun, swearing about the single track farm roads with grass or dirt in the middle and the shadow on the road that made the riding extremely risky. Finally it was dark and I could switch on the floodlight I had installed: 14000 Lumen H4 LED Cyclops lights plus the 15000 Lumen Clearwater Sevinas. And night turned into day. This makes night riding rather quick. Until the mist slowed me down. A lot.
In Exeter it was clear that I wouldn’t get to the hotel before 3.a.m., so I asked in a Travelodge motel for a room. Fully booked. I checked the booking.com website: In Exeter, 100% booked. OK, let’s continue. I bagged many points near Yeovil, but the fog was very nasty. Finally, I arrived at the hotel at 4:30 and spent my 4 hour rest break there. After a refreshing 2 hour sleep, I had a quick breakfast and continued my ride. I knew that my initial plan to go to Yorkshire was impossible, but I wanted to continue it as far as possible.
A typical picture of a “Y” village location
I visited Oxfordshire, rode on the M25 and visited Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. I realised that I could not get more counties so I decided to sit down in a Costa Cafe in a shopping mall and did my paperwork, as it had to be presented at the finish before 5 p.m. The scoring was not perfect, despite my double checks I missed to claim one county and some more points. I had visited more than 60 locations. But 13250 points sounded not too bad, should be good enough for the podium. Unfortunately, John Young had to drop out due to an infection, but there were still enough rivals for the top. At the ceremony, I was called with the Horsefall brothers to the podium. They both had formed a team and had obtained about 8200 points….oooops, this meant….I had won the Brit Butt for the third time in a row! Unfortunately, I had no time to celebrate, as I had to hit the road for I had to work the next day.
My GPS track of the BBR17.
At home I discovered that the rear wheel bearing made a screeching noise….luckily, I have discovered it. Just image if this would have happened during the Iron Butt Rally! Apart from that, I think I am well prepared for it! :-)
So 2016 is over…many things happened, but how was my motorbike season? Well, it was a special one, maybe unique. Again, there was no big, adventurous trip. But there were many smaller trips and lots of rallies.
In early 2016, I announced the biggest motorbike project I ever have planned. I had convinced Gerhard, the IBA Germany’s president, to organise the Alpenbutt Rally in 2017 with me as the responsible rally master. It is supposed to be nothing less than the toughest long-distance motorbike rally ever organised in Europe.
Rally scouting lets you discover new places.
Six days of almost constant riding is already a big challenge, but riding the six days entirely in the Alps opens a new dimension. I had planned to visit more than 400 possible locations in the Alps to check if they were suitable to be bonus point locations. In the end, it skipped about 80 places, but still more than 350 were left to be form part of the fiendish rally book that will be handed out to the participants. I had already done a lot of scouting trips in 2015, but 2016 saw again a lot of trips – finally I could visit Slovenia, covered most of Switzerland and did the Western Alps as well. I had seen a lot of the Alps in my life, but visiting many of these places was new to me and I made some great new discoveries.
Interesting places wait for the participants of the Alpenbutt Rally!
All the hotels at the start, checkpoint and finish were booked when I finally announced the rally together with the publishing of the Alpenbutt website. Together with Florian, the IBA Germany’s web designer, we managed to establish a professionally looking page that should reflect the high expectations of this event. The response so far was overwhelming. I had arrangements for 50 participants, but in October I arranged to increase the capacities to 75 starters. By the end of the year, 60 participants have registered already and I think there are more to come.
There was only one purely „touristic trip“ this year: the trip with John on our old bikes (86’ XBR500 and 69’ Triumph Trident) to Russia. Actually, we lost one day due to a supposedly dead alternator of the XBR, so we had to skip the plan to go to Moscow.
In Riga with John Young.
At least we wanted to make use of our visa and see Kaliningrad and ride over the Curonian Spit. So we did and visited also Latvia and Lithuania and got really washed in a massive thunderstorm on the way back in Poland. It was a nice, very relaxing trip that proved that we can form a good team on a longer trip as well.
And then there were the rallies. In the end I participated in all European IBA rallies but one. I skipped only the Brit Butt Light Rally in 2016 because the burden with the scouting trips and the rallies was getting too high at a certain point. But nevertheless, I participated in five of them. In 2015, I had the crazy idea if it would be possible to win all the (big) rallies in Europe in one year. This seemed presumptuous – nobody had ever done this, it just seemed too difficult.
In May, I went to the Brit Butt Rally as defending champion – in 2015 I had won the BBR as the first non-British with a spectacular ride.
London. Sunday mornings are the best time to visit.
So this year everybody wanted to beat me. Although I didn’t find my way into the rally, I secured the first place narrowly with a high-risk last 30 minute finish. Title defended. Sometimes you need a bit of luck on your side.
The next rally was the Scandinavian Rally. I had some mixed feelings – my last participation in the annus horribilis 2014 brought me my last non-podium finish, but also changed things from then on.
Second attempt after returning again to Växjö. This time with me in the picture.
It started and ended in Södertälje and led me through beautiful Southern Sweden. I had my first encounter with a moose at night – luckily I was going very slow so I could admire this massive animal without getting in danger. In the end it was again a very close shave for the first place – turning around to get back to a bonus point location to take a second photo WITH ME in the picture secured another narrow first place.
Then I skipped the Brit Butt Light, but already one week later I did the Magic 12 Rally leaving from home, starting in Brussels and finishing in Krefeld. The rally book was sent one week in advance so everybody had a lot of time to find his own personal route.
Magic 12 Rally.Düsseldorf. I hadn’t realised for 20 min that I had parked the bike right next to the photo location.
Mine started in Brussels early in the morning and led me through the Ardennes, Luxemburg, the Eifel, Düsseldorf and the lower Rhineland. At the rally finish, Gerhard had organised a big BBQ where we awaited the results. My mate John did his best to win his first rally in Germany, but my route gave me more points, so…another first place.
But the most important rally was still to come…unfinished business…in 2014, I dropped out of the five-day European Tour Rally in a virtual top position, so I was eager to do well in the six-day European Tour 2016. It started again in Stuttgart and had Brno in the Czech Republic as the checkpoint. I chose my route via Innsbruck, the Dolomites, Slovenia and Budapest, where I stayed in a hotel for a short night rest. The next day I crossed Slovakia, entered Poland for a short while and arrived at the checkpoint in time.
Ski Jump, Slovakia. Lovely weather.
I knew that the crucial part was the second leg…I had intended to go around the Iberian peninsula, but the numbers in the rally book told me that the place to go was Ireland. So I set off the next morning, crossed the Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium and took the tunnel train to Folkestone. Not without a nerve-wrecking two-hour dramatic delay at the terminal in Calais. I crossed England as quickly as I could and took the night boat in Fishguard to Ireland. The next morning I started my adventurous day in Rosslare, went to Dublin at rush hour, passed Cork and Tralee, went to Limerick and Galway, Roscommon and Sligo.
How to disappoint somebody? Old Irish man: “Aaaah, he was a grrreat Hurley player, do you agree?” Me:”Er, don’t know. Never heard of him!”
Basically, I toured most of the island in one day and bagged almost all big points there. After a tough day, I decided to have a relaxed stay in Sligo as there was no need for a rush: I couldn’t get the early ferry to Scotland in Belfast anyway. I bagged some points in Northern Ireland in the morning and arrived in Cairnryan around noon. After a few stops around Newcastle and Middle England I boarded on the tunnel train and enjoyed the luxury staying in my own bed that night. The last morning I bagged some more points in Belgium, Luxemburg, Alsace and Germany before I headed aback to the rally hotel. All seemed lost again when the bike stopped some 20 miles before the finish, but luckily it was only some under-pressure in the fuel system. The toughest contenders John and Giel shared my fate of 2014: they dropped out of the rally in Denmark and France, respectively. But as I was the only one to choose the winning route to Ireland, no-one could beat me this time: with a tremendous 30 % lead in points I won the European Tour 2016.
Finally arrived after 7900 km through 14 countries in six days.
As a last treat in 2016, I joined the short Iceni Rally in East Anglia in September. Instead taking the XBR500 this time, I rode the big Pan European, but as a handicap, I chose to take my mate Johannes as a pillion with me. With an estimated total curb weight of about 550 kg, this should be enough handicap for the small roads in East Anglia. When we the saw John’s rally bike, the Triumph Explorer, and not his clunker Trident at the start, we knew that he took it serious this time, no handicap from his side.
Johannes the quick pillion!
All right, best case scenario would be a podium finish. During the 8 hours of the rally I missed my little XBR when I had to manoeuvre this big battle ship called Honda Pan European over some single track farm roads. In the end, I changed my plan with a smart little move that was quite risky, but gave us 175 more points… enough to win the rally with a 80 points lead over John. Incredible, the first two-up victory in the history of the European IBA rallies!
I really felt sorry for John and the other riders at the end of this year…All these five rallies were won by the same guy! I know that this gets a little boring for the other contenders. During the European Tour I was already wondering if I should take a break from rallying, should I win the rally. The last two and a half years were an incredible achievement – bagging records one by one. Since June 2014, I have won all rallies but two (DNF in the European Tour 2014 with a crushed BMW gearbox; second place in the Brit Butt Light 2015). Winning the Brit Butt as first non-Brit and defending it; winning two rallies on a non-farkled Honda XBR500; winning the first rally with a pillion; having won all four 24 h German Butt/European Road Runner Rallies since 2005; and last but not least: having won all (regular) European IBA rallies at least once (German Butt, Brit Butt, European Tour, European Road Runner, Scandinavian Rally, Brit Butt Light, Magic12, Iceni Rally). There is only one record left that will not be broken: Rob Roalfe’s six consecutive wins of the Brit Butt Rally 2008 – 2013. So what is there still left to do? Shouldn’t this be the best moment to retire and let others have some part of the cake as well?
Yes, it would be the best moment. However, I like this sport too much to renounce it completely. But a break would be a good idea.
And here comes the outlook for 2017. As I see it now, there is little chance that I will participate in a European rally. The biggest thing will be the Alpenbutt Rally anyway where the best riders will fight for the crown of the best rally rider in the Alps. But as the rally master, I can’t participate. Oh, I forgot to mention that I never was beaten when a rally covered the Alps. So this will be a nice hand-over. I have put all my 30 years riding experience in the Alps in this rally, all I can recommend and show to others, this is my legacy to the rallying and motorbiking community. This is as good as it gets.
And then there will be the other big project in 2017: after the drop-out in 2013 and the cancellation in 2015, I want to participate again in the mother of all long distance motorcycle rallies, the Iron Butt Rally in the USA. I feel it is probably the best time to try it again, I have gained a lot of experience and I’m at the top of my rallying performance. The European Tour 2016 was a good test. Unlike 2013, I’m not overwhelmed by this enormous task anymore. There’s still a lot of respect, after all it is a hell of a rally, but I sense it is not as frightening anymore as in 2013 when I was struggling to become a finisher on a small Honda XBR500. At the time being, my bike is refurbished by Mart!n which should give me peace of mind that a technical breakdown will be as unlikely as possible.
There is a small possibility that I might use the Brit Butt 2017 as a shakedown rally before the big Ironbutt to test the bike with all its old and new farkles and upgrades…. But I think I will decide this late in spring.
So there will be a big change in 2017. The last years were marked by intense rallying, maybe it’s time for something else? We will see…
Back at home. Yesterday, I did the eight our Iceni Rally in East Anglia with Johannes as my pillion. We had quite a good plan worked out and started at 9 a.m. from Cambridge. The morning was basically a long ride on farm roads until we reached Norwich in the early afternoon. Here we were enough ahead of the plan to add another big point at the coast. Last year, on the XBR500, this seemed so much easier, but riding with a ~630 kg bike on some back roads is a physical challenge.
Team Pan, East Anglia North Coast.
I was often not very well focused and missed quite some turns. As a consequence, I could not add two smaller extra locations close to the finish, the was only time for one. And then I had a cunning idea: instead visiting the closer and more obvious one for 150 points, I decided to skip it and get to the other location worth 285 points. Only a small difference, but from my personal experience I knew that rallies are decided in the very end and a few points can make all the difference. The problem was that this route would result in getting four minutes late and thereby getting 200 penalty points. So, if I could catch up two minutes, I would still have a benefit. 30 minutes to go, give it a try! It worked, Johannes was a quick pillion at the bonus point as before and in the end we even arrived before the normal finish time. I counted 12.623 points, that sounded quite a lot; I had been optimizing the route during the last days. In the end there was no extra trophy for the best team (I was hoping for that one), only for the best newcomer. Third place went to Steve Eversfield, and then there were only John Young and us left. The difference between first and second place was a mere 99 points!!! Finally, the risky stunt with the last bonus point location had paid off and we came first! John was very disappointed coming second like this, but he shouldn’t be, because he rode a great rally and missed the first place by only 0.8 %! That’s basically a draw.
After the ceremony, we headed with both bikes to the Tunnel and arrived at 2 a.m. at my place. And interesting experience riding with pillion in a rally, but riding in East Anglia is better done on the small XBR! :-)
After a very successful rallying year, it is time to have some fun. Last year, I had won the new Iceni Rally in East Anglia on my little Honda XBR 500, despite a “veteran” handicap. The rally is the shortest LD rally with only eight hours but is supposed to hook new people to LD rallying. It is a nice day out with the opportunity to practice new things, especially at bonus point locations, because there are many compared to the total rally time.
This year I want to try something special. I have never ridden in a team or with a pillion before – why not trying this? So my mate Johannes will join me as a pillion and we will ride the rally together on the Honda Pan European. I removed the auxiliary tank and installed the original seat again. The idea to ride with the XBR would have been more work and I was simply too lazy. But that is still another option for the future. We rode only two-up once: when after the legendary XBR Alpentour 2003 his XR600 broke down in Liguria, we went back on my XBR with double luggage, crossing the Alps, having big fun chasing much bigger bikes.
The rally book was provided in advance and I have to say that finding the optimum route was a tough nut to crack – a good chance to test your planning approaches and tools. Rally master Mark Fowler has put together an interesting rally for newcomers and veterans.
The bonus point locations of the Iceni Rally 2016
If you want to follow our track in real-time from Saturday morning onwards:
That’s it. I knew it could be a very good result when I realized that nobody had went to Ireland as well. Apart from the problems at the Eurotunnel and the “breakdown” just before the finish, the ride went very smooth. I think it was an excellent training for the “big dance” next year, the mother of all LD rallies, the Ironbutt Rally in the US. I think I found the right balance between riding and resting, I never was really tired and always felt I was under control (after from the panicking moments mentioned above).
So the ceremony came….
3rd place Dave Winter
2nd place Daniel Duvskog
1st place Robert Koeber
The podium finishers of the ET2016.
A very nice result and congratulations to Daniel and Dave!
I am back in the hotel room and I am waiting for my scoring. I arrived well at the finish in time. That is the most important thing, a clear improvement over the ET2014.
These were some intense 6 days. I’ve ridden 7860 km (4885 miles) in 5.5 days and have seen 14 countries. The name “European Tour” is well deserved. I have taken two ferry boats and two Eurotunnel trains. I have visited 66 of the 400 bonus point locations. I was soaked and I was sweating. I pushed my bike uphill on an Autobahn. I had moments of frustration, panic, and content but above all I was in a very good mood most of the time.
My plans worked very well and I could get the points I wanted to visit. In the end I chose a route from Stuttgart to Brno via the Alps, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. I was caught in a heavy thunderstorm and could not dry my gear for 1 day, riding damp to the checkpoint. From there, I chose the route to Ireland as it seemed to provide much more points and offered rest breaks on the ferries. I had not been to Western Ireland on a bike in 28 years.
But before I was trapped at the Eurotunnel where I lost more than two hours due to broken trains. Luckily I could still catch the ferry boat from Fishguard to Rosslare in the night. On Wednesday, I visited many points all over Ireland and did the rest on Thursday morning before I crossed from Northern Ireland to Scotland. I visited the Eastern coast around Newcastle and headed south via Leeds. I adapted my plan, crossed the Eurotunnel at midnight and spent the next rest break in my own bed. On the last day, I picked smaller points in Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Germany before I headed for the finish. It was 40 km to go to the finish when the bike that went so well during the tour stopped on the Autobahn and wouldn’t start again. I knew it was a petrol problem, but I tried to push the bike uphill to the nearby exit. When I needed a break, I tried to start again, it would fire and I would go very slowly to the finish. What a drama! I discovered that it is an under pressure problem in the fuel system, maybe a blocked tank vent, but nothing serious. But it was enough to start panicking, because I had done so well and now I would drop out???
Luckily I didn’t and this time I am a finisher! Unfortunately, my mates and strongest rivals John Young and Giel Kerkhof dropped out of the rally like I did in 2014. John had a broken final drive bearing and Giel bent his front wheel rolling over a kerb. I can only understand their frustration too well as this happened to me in the 2014 rally. The did excellent routes and it is a pity to miss them at the ceremony.
In one hour, I will be scored and I hope I will keep all of the many many points I have gathered, they seem to be a lot….
At 7 p.m., there will be the banquet and the trophy ceremony….
My GPS track from the European Tour 2016. Obviously the spotwalla server was down when I crossed Great Britain, because the same happened with both devices.
After midnight. Route of the first leg of the ET2014 is planned. It will be a flower picking ride despite the rain. Leg 2 will bring a monster route, but I will decide it at the checkpoint hotel in Brno on Monday night. Yes, Brno in the Czech Republic.
This is what we received as bonus point locations for BOTH legs. Note the accumulation of high points in Ireland and the Iberian Peninsula.
So Stuttgart to Brno is just a warm-up before it gets….spectacular!
Today I will start my detour to go to the starting place of the European Tour 2016, the only real multi-day rally in Europe, this time organized by IBA UK. I do have unfinished business here: two years ago, at the European Tour 2014, I was in first place after the first leg and had an excellent second leg, when at the end of the fourth day, the gearbox of my BMW decided to initiate an irreversible, quick process of disintegration in the orange fields near Castelló de la Plana:
Breakdown place during the ET2014:$£%!”&?£!!!!
In the very second when I put the broken BMW on the main stand I had only one thought:
“That’s it! I’ve had enough!”
I never would ride a BMW again in rallies. The second time I dropped out during a rally in a virtual top position, the third time I needed a towing truck, countless problems with this bike. Finito. Aus, Epfe, Amen.
The statistics are very clear whether this decision was a good one: since that point, I rode 6 rallies with the new (old) Honda Pan European, came second once and won all other five rallies. Ah, and no technical problems whatsoever. No more questions, your honour.
I managed to be back at the rally finish in time, but not without a clear statement:So this time we meet again at the same place near Stuttgart. Rally check-in on Saturday, Start on Sunday morning. After 6 six riding days, we’ll arrive again in Stuttgart on Friday evening. Anything is possible, Ireland to Greece, Estonia to Portugal. More news on Saturday!
If you want to follow my GPS track from Sunday on, here is the SPOT link. I have set up an alternative track based on my phone which I run for experimental reasons. In both cases you’ll need a password that I’ll provide you if you drop me a short e-mail.
In the morning, we did a little walk to the nearby old cathedral of Königsberg (Kaliningrad), a brick-style church from the early 14th century. It was still closed. At one corner of the cathedral, the tomb of one of the greatest thinkers of all times is located: Immanuel Kant.
Standing on the shoulders of giants: Immanuel Kant’s tomb.
We returned to the hotel and met a guy from Chemnitz, East Germany who goes around the entire Baltic Sea with his little Simson moped. Chapeau!
Even slower: a Simson in Kaliningrad.
We started our riding day and with a mixture of good orientation skills and my smartphone we navigated to one of the most bizarre landmarks in Europe: the Curonian Spit. It s a 98 km long, thin, curved sand-dunespit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea coast. Its southern portion lies within Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia and its northern within southwestern Lithuania. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared by the two countries. Entering the spit, we had to pay a toll and could then ride through the pine forest until we reached the border with Lithuania. The crossing was relatively quick (one hour) and the contrast with the Russian territory was remarkable. John described it as “from black and white to colourful”.
The High Dune in Nida.
At the border we saw a German couple with a strange BMW sidecar. We stopped in the next town (Nida) and had a little lunch. The great dune was close, but we didn’t want to lose the time climbing on it so we took a picture from the distance instead.
Nida is a nice, touristic town with lots of traditional fisher houses, partly painted in blue.
I tried to find the former house of Thomas Mann but gave up quickly; we had a big plan for this day, we wanted to get to Riga. We continued on the spit and reached the ferry that carried us in no time to Klaipeda on the mainland. The weather was sunny now, but a very chilly, strong wind blew from the West. The A-roads were in a good condition and we made good progress. We reached the Latvian border and the XBR claimed its 45th country visit. In Liepaja, we filled up petrol and booked a hotel in Riga for the night. The remaining 220 km were quick – the road was good and the wind pushed from the back.
Latvian countryside: forests and fields.
Finally we reached Riga and found our hotel in the old town. We checked in and went for a long walk through the beautiful historic centre. Partly it’s a bit over the top in touristic terms, but the historic heritage is for real. We had a Latvian degustation menu in a restaurant and discussed our plans for the next days. Tomorrow we plan to head for Vilnius, Lithuania.
This morning we enjoyed a very long and rich breakfast and left only at 9:30. We headed north and soon the heat returned. Our bikes hummed and despite riding on b-roads, we made good progress. At midday, we needed to pull petrol and decided to have a snack in the cool station. Like yesterday, we were surprised by the good state of the Polish roads. Still riding at 110 km/h, we are passing everybody else on B-roads and are passed by everybody else on dual carriageways. When we got closer to the coast, we turned eastwards and passed Malbork. Normally, the old Castle of the Teutonic Order (Marienburg des Deutschen Ordens) is a UNESCO heritage and a must-see as it is the largest castle in the world by surface area. But we needed to get to Kaliningrad today and had the uncertainty of the border crossing. So we continued. For two kilometers, there was a basically four-lane cobblestone road that seemed endless. We were in the polish part now that was known as Ostpreussen. The road to the border was quite empty. We left it to get petrol in the last town (Braniewo), went back to the main road and headed for the border. At the polish side, our papers were studied carefully and our VINs were checked. My damaged plate caused some confusion, but I could convince the female officers, that the important number was the one stamped in the frame. We could move to the Russian border. Not without leaving a big puddle of petrol from some Triumph carburettors. At the Russian control, again some paperwork. We had to notice that for some speculative reason, a lot of handsome female officers worked there. The more tedious process was the customs declaration. We filled in two pages each just to learn that we made a mistake and had to do it again. And another paper. Unfortunately, the big thunderstorm had catched up and it started to rain. One officer did not believe the Triumph’s model year first…”1969???”. Yes. Finally we could leave. We managed to escape the rain, but the huge thunderstorm followed us. We entered Kaliningrad without any map or GPS, because our GPS maps do not cover Russia. The difference to the Polish driving style was remarkable.
Borschtsch and Wodka
We managed to get to the Centre where I used my phone to navigate us to the hotel. It started to rain and when we got to the Hotel Heliopark, we managed to park the bikes and seek shelter just in time before it was pouring down. After a shower, we had dinner in the hotel restaurant and I could not resist to have a real Borschtsch. We decided to have a quick visit to the cathedral the next morning and to head to Lithuania and Latvia via the Curonian Spit. The hotel is quite posh and in contrast to most buildings in the city centre. You still can see many concrete blocks from the Soviet era. Communication with the waitress was close to zero but we managed, “odno pivo” always works..
Yesterday the XBR appeared to be fine. Today I left before 7 to meet John near Fulda. It took us more than 1 hour to find us; a road block on the A7 and some deviations were the root cause for this. In the end, we could finally start the trip at half past nine. We headed towards Berlin at a constant 110 km/h (65 mph) and stopped for an enormous lunch break. It was a totally new feeling – no hurry, no pushing, just enjoying the ride, looking around, with plenty of time…discovering slowness…We passed Berlin and filled up before the border. It was quite hot now, some extra stop was quite welcome. We entered Poland and I was quite surprised to see this brilliant new motorway. Still at 110 km/h. After 800 km we reached Poznan, our destination for today. I had made a booking on the fly and we enjoyed the air-co inside the building. Our bikes had to be hidden from the public view in the underground parking. Bike issues: one dropped XBR with a bent brake lever and a Triumph owner desperately looking for his keys. The XBR still runs fine, I’m inclined to believe that it was a combination of an alternator with a dead battery.
Tomorrow we will head for the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.
Yesterday on the way to the XBR meeting, my battery died. I bought a new one which was dead by the end of the day as well. At the meeting, Hans and Johannes swapped the alternators of my bike with Hans’ bike. Today, my electric system still had a problem. I checked the electric components and in the end everything seems to be ok with a different battery. Did I buy a bad battery? A little trip this afternoon should clarify this.
John’s bike had issues as well which seem to be sorted at the moment. One thing is clear: it’s too late for Moscow now. I cancelled the hotel bookings and came up with a plan F or G: if everything works ok tomorrow, we try to go to Kaliningrad and visit Riga and Vilnius. A shorter program, but still entertaining enough.
After all this rallying, it’s time to go on a short long trip. A long distance ride of a different kind. Not really a real touristic trip, although some hints of tourism might be involved, if there is sufficient time. Actually it is a kind of “shakedown” ride to test the bike and rider. Well, actually for the bikes and riders. For the first time in 10 years, I will be accompanied on an “exotic” trip.
My English buddy from the “Black Coontry”, Mr John Young, will join me in this ride that is supposed to be a test for a much bigger adventure in the future: a trip through Russia to Japan. What is particular about that trip: we want to do it with our old clunkers, i.e. my 1985 Honda XBR500 with 362.000 km on the clock, and John’s 1969 Triumph Trident that had also (in contrast to my XBR successfully) participated in the Iron Butt Rally in the USA. This means that also the test ride should be done under similar conditions.
It’s not only a test for the bikes (they have shown their reliability enough in the past), but also a “compatibility test” for the riders. The planned trips are (very) challenging with time limitations; add some unforeseen problems, bad road and weather conditions and some usual group dynamics and you quickly end up with a potentially critical situation. However, we both are used to a tough riding, rain, wind, weather and what the road throws at us.
Our test starts on Saturday morning at the 25th Honda GB500/XBR500 Meeting in Germany and will lead us to Minsk, Moscow, Riga and Kaliningrad. For the mentioned obvious reasons, this trip is called
TTTT – The Tronda Test Trip
You can follow our journey via my SPOT tracker: https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=117cc577d54b2eebd2.
We will be riding most of the time (the trip is supposed to take only 8 days), but I hope I will find the time for short updates. :-)
It was a nice rally through the South of Sweden, my planning on quick roads made it a fast one as I could use a lot of motorways. But also a lot of back roads. Closed roads. Gravel roads. Winding roads. Roads with rabbits. Roads with hares. Roads with moose (!). I had developed a good plan and just needed to execute it. This worked quite well, but many locations required me in the picture as well…I missed in three of them but managed to re-do two of them. However, I had lost a big point and I knew this could be decisive in the end…I performed my plan in an very efficient manner and at one point I was almost two hours (!) ahead of my plan. This allowed me to extend my plan with two smaller locations that in the end made all the difference (again!). Petri Myntti came third and Daniel Duvskog, – who missed his chance by overlooking a second location close to another one – came second. Phew! Another close shave! Another rally won. A good weekend :-).
After two years, I have decided to run the Scandinavian Rally again. Start and finish is in Södertälje near Stockholm. Everything is prepared, the locations are loaded on the computer and in 30 min we’ll get the rally books in the rider’s meeting. Only then we’ll know the point values of the 102 (!!) bonus point locations. They are located mostly in south Sweden. It looks like this will be a “squirrel” rally, i.e. jumping from bonus point to the next nearby bonus point and trying to collect as many as possible. Mostly on back roads. Sounds like fun.
Yes, I have done it again. I thought I had only a chance for the second place, but with a very small difference of around 0.3 %, I defended my title and won the BBR2016! This was a close shave that cannot be explained in a few lines. Out of the top 3, I was the lucky one. There is also a video of the ceremony that explains some stuff, but I can’t upload it at the moment. Will be postponed until tomorrow.
More to follow. They have closed the bar already. Bugger.
So here I am, about to go to bed, because in 5 hours we will set of for this year’s Brit Butt Rally. For the first time, I’m the defending champion. Rally master John Young has prepared a tricky rally again, I had to do a lot of number crunching, but I think I found a good route. Lots of nuts to crack. The only problem is that I have to go the only place where there will be the only rainfall in the UK: Cornwall. And then the bank holiday traffic. And some boat trip as well…My Pan is ready and so am I.
Well, there was a reason why I was posting so little during the last year. I was on many secret scouting trips in the Alps to verify possible locations for a project that I had on my mind for years. As you might know, I was organizing many “Alpentouren” in the last 22 years, but after 20 years, the concept wore out a bit, so I looked out for new challenges. With my knowledge of beautiful and strange places in the Alps, why not organizing a rally that nobody had organized before. After all, the area is nothing less than the best riding place in the world. So the goal was to plan the toughest rally ever held in Europe, covering basically the whole region, leading riders to all the highlights that I know. And look for more. I still have a lot of work to do, many planned spots still need to be visited, but last year, I have been to so many great places, but I couldn’t share this with anybody. Not yet. Sometimes I had a grin on my face when I visited a very challenging place and I imagined how the riders will be cursing and swearing. I could convince Gerhard, the IBA Germany president to do this together. And here it comes, ladies and gentleman, fasten your seat belts:
So you think you have seen it all. Done your long distance rides, the SS1000, SS2000, BBG1500, BBG3000 and all of this. Participated in all these great LD rallies in Europe such as the Brit Butt Rally, the German Butt Rally, the Scandinavian Rally….or the multi-day rallies, the European Tour Rally or even the American LD rallies, the Iron Butt Rally, the Butt Lite…..Well done. But there is something that you haven’t seen yet.
The best roads of Europe in an area that is unique in the world. The Alps. The highest mountain roads. The greatest views. The deepest valleys. Marvelous bends all over the place. The best riding place in the world. Now imagine to visit this area under rallying conditions. Getting sent to all these great places by a rallymaster. But not for one day, nor two, nor three….more than five days you’ll be enjoying the highlights of the Alps.
But be warned. This is not for the faint-hearted. This rally will ask all of you. Your planning skills, your riding skills, and above all, your endurance. This is not a relaxing cruise on highways. You’ll be riding rarely in a straight line. From dawn to dusk. And more.
The Alpenbutt Rally is designed by IBA Germany to appeal to novice rally riders and those with multi-day rally experience. You can ride as many or as few miles as you wish. You may be happy to simply finish the event and gain Finisher status.
Or you may wish to test your abilities and aim for a high place finish. It’s up to you. No matter what your game plan is, you will have the opportunity to tour the Alps like you’ve never toured Europe before.
Riders assemble on a Saturday afternoon, register, and are then issued with part of the rally information in a short rider briefing. An evening meal is followed by a final rider meeting where important instructions and explanations are given by the rally team. After that, the riders will be busy in their hotel rooms planning their route for the next days…
All riders all set off early the following Sunday morning on their individual routes. At the checkpoint, riders will be scored after the first leg. They have dinner and a good night’s rest.
The next morning, there will be a short briefing session and the hand-out of the rally book for the second leg of the rally. Riders will plan the route for the second part and leave the checkpoint whenever they are ready.
At the end of the sixth day, riders arrive back at the finish and are scored again. There is enough time to get a shower in the hotel room before everybody meets at the banquet ceremony: after a tasty dinner, the ranking is announced and trophies are handed out. And there is enough time to share your countless anecdotes with your fellow participants at the bar…
Rally facts:
Rally time: July 30 – August 4, 2017
Start and finish: south of Munich, Germany
Multi-day rally: 6 days
One secret checkpoint in the Alps
Rally area: anywhere in the Alps and beyond
More than 300 bonus point locations
Maximum 50 riders admitted.
Rally fees (payable by PayPal):
Single rider:
480 € (registration before December 31st, 2016),
530 € (registration after January 1st, 2017)
Extra pillion:
220 € (registration before December 31st, 2016),
270 € (registration after January 31st, 2017)
The rally fee includes a room in the secret checkpoint hotel including breakfast, two dinners, the ceremony banquet, the rally T-shirt, rally book and the rally flag.
More information, including registration and the rally rules, you can find on the dedicated website www.alpenbutt.com
It is quite a while ago since I published my last article. I have been a bit lazy recently so I thought it’s about time to give a little update.
2015 was quite a good year for rallying. Actually the best ever. I started in four rallies, came second in one and won the other three. It can’t get any better than this. I have another three nice trophies in my ‘cabinet of fame’. I had planned to write two reports about the Brit Butt and the German Butt Rally, but so far I haven’t found the time. But it is definitely on my list.
There was also another reason why I published rather few articles last year. I started a very big project that will keep me busy for three years. It will be a big rally in 2017. I mean, really big. Really, really big. I am developing the toughest long distance rally ever hold in Europe. The scouting process to visit and verify about 400 bonus point locations will keep me busy in 2015 and 2016. I have visited 200 locations in 2015 during many trips. Obviously I cannot not publish my interesting experiences of my trips. However, the rally will be announced soon and a website with nice pictures will be launched as well.
Apart from these trips, there will be 6 rallies in Europe in 2016. Let’s see if I will be able to ride them all. The highlight is the European Tour 2016, this time organized by IBA UK. There should be a higher probability to finish the rally – unlike in 2014, I’ll be riding a Honda, not a BMW…
There is also a plan to do a ‘short’ trip to Russia, together with my friend and hardest rallying rival John Young. It should be a dressing rehearsal for the big trip we intend to do in 2018 – a trip through Russia to Japan.
Well, this type of posts get a bit repetitive. But this year has been quite a successful one.
Again, my SPOT stopped working. Hm, maybe I should get a batch of NEW batteries for a change….
We all set off at 9 a.m. yesterday morning in Cambridge. 36 riders, many of them novices, had prepared their plans for this 8 hours rally. This was possible as the rally book was issued to the participants two weeks ago. As this rally was designed to attract new people for this type of rallies, the “veterans” from previous IBA UK rallies received a handicap. How much? Mark, the rallymaster did not want to reveal this before the rally. And I had already chosen my 1985 XBR 500 for this rally. Shouldn’t this be enough handicap? This was not demotivating at all, quite the contrary. Key elements of my plan were: except along the coastline, quick roads with little delays. A basic route with optional points. Perfect little bike for cities and winding country roads, keeping delays in crowded cities to a minimum. Avoiding sucker bonuses this time. Two short fuel stops. Keeping food uptake to a minimum. Keeping luggage to a minimum à la Phil Weston. My buddy John Young had promised to take his 1969 Triumph Trident, so I had my “newest” XBR made ready, including the technical inspection (MOT/TÜV). I know what it is capable of; in basically original state with no farkles but the Russell seat and one Sat Nav.
I had a detailed, plastified plan in my tank bag and started to execute it. That was a problem in the beginning as I wasn’t focused enough. I missed the right entry on the M11 and headed south instead north. Great! What a start! Only eight hours and already 10 minutes lost! Despite this hiccup, I did not push the XBR more – I had discovered earlier that I had topped up the oil too much – and I didn’t want to cause any unpleasant situation that involves hot oil in places were it shouldn’t be.
Before getting to the first location, I met John and other riders. So I was behind my schedule..and others have had the same idea. After the second stop in Rutland Water I saw John again – but now he was behind me??? For the next hours, I simply followed my plan. It was working well and I always was a couple of minutes before my plan.
Sutton bridge.
Along the north coast of East Anglia, the roads got smaller and winding, but luckily the XBR was the right match. The same was true when I crossed towns. Why is Saturday noon always such a pain? The cities are congested to the max, but with the XBR, this is fun. I had refined my “swimming through the cities” skills when I was living in Barcelona, so this was the place where I can gain some time on other riders. I knew that the second part of the route would mean quicker roads with fewer obstacles and so it was. Slowly I was getting more and more ahead of my plan. East Anglia presented itself as I remember it from the past: long straight roads with lots of traffic (where do they all want to get to?) that had to be passed. With a very narrow XBR: no problem. Later, the roads got nicer, a bit hilly even a bit scenic. When I reached Braintree station, I had gained 40 minutes on my plan which meant that I could execute my option 1: going down to the Southend Cemetery. Again many cars, but now I was in the “flow” and sailed just through the crowd. You remember the scene from “Man in Black” when Agent Jay and Agent Kay drive through the tunnel and Agent Kay sings? “You know, you need to relax and take some joy in your work. You like music?” Left my home in Norfolk, Virginia….I always must laugh when I remember this scene with singing Agent Kay when I surf through the crowd.
When I returned from this detour and came to North Weald Airfield, I was right back on my schedule. I would have arrived right on time after 8 hours. BUT, the rules allowed another hour at a penalty of ten points per minute. Normally, these penalty points are much higher and any coming late is punished heavily. This meant I could execute detour number two: picking two pubs to the west of the quickest route back to the HQ. This would mean I’d arrive about 36 minutes too late and get 360 penalty points, but I count bag another 1350 points which results in a net benefit of about 1000 points. In Duxford, I expected major problems, as a big air show was going on, with an enormous old Flying Fortress circling at a scary low altitude, gulp! However, I could easily access the site and take my picture. Another stop in the heart of crowded Cambridge and at 18:37, 37 minutes too late and one minute after my plan, I arrived at the finish, just after John.
The Iceni Rally 2015.
We scored quickly (I lost no points) and soon the ceremony started. John, Dave Clarke and I were called to the podium. John and I lost 1000 “handicap” points, Dave 100. The results were:
John 9180 points, Dave 9280 points, Me 11219 points
Wow! Another rally won this year. Well done everybody! The little XBR did it again. Second rally, second victory. Not bad for a 30-year-old lady :-) . After some chats, I thanked the organizers and left the place, for I wanted to return the same day. After a chilly ride back, I arrived at home at 1:30 a.m.
A nice “short stint” rally that hopefully attracts new riders to try the longer rallies. A joyful day with the XBR!
At the end of a successful year, why not riding a new little rally just for fun? In two hours, I will start on a 8 h rally through East Anglia that was designed by Mark Fowler to attract newcomers. As a veteran, I’ll get a handicap. And I have already chosen another one by riding with a 1985 XBR500. Yes, the one that won the BBL 2014, hehe.
I just woke up after a seven hour nap on the sofa – just before moving to bed, I need to drop some quick lines…
First, my apologies for the not working SPOT link. I had picked two packages of batteries, but unfortunately both of them contained used ones. I hoped that the old batteries would still work, but no.
Well, I had opted for the route to Poland and had a good ride. I had a good ride to the Baltic sea and stayed even 30 minutes in the sea, 3 m under sea level :-)
I could follow my plan and I knew that my choice was right – the option of Denmark was too tricky and included very bad weather. I never had ridden so carefully in a rally, my long lasting rear tyre was a nightmare to ride under wet conditions. Although there was only one hour of rain, the roads were wet for many hours. So I had to take it easy, especially riding for hours through polish back roads at night. Arriving well had top priority.
I was called to the podium together wich Peter and John. The order of the BBL rally some weeks ago was reversed and John came second and I defended my title – again. For the third time in a row, I had won the German Butt Rally.
A great rally that deserves a report. But later, I first need some more sleep :-)
Ok, so it’s time to get to bed. My route is planned. When you read this, I will be already on my way.
We start after 6:15 in the morning near Bielefeld (D) and will return 24 hours later. There are basically two winning routes: to Denmark or to Poland. I chose one of them.
the rally is over and as I suspected, John has won it with a cracking ride. My planning was very good, I had spent a lot of time in the optimisation of it. It was based on a one hour buffer that should give me the possibility to bag a lot of points at the end of the rally. And if something should happen, I would still have the one hour buffer.
Yorkshire Dales – how to keep a 57 mph (91 km/h) moving average here???
In the end, I was able to maintain the hour despite all the bonus location stops, text-in-bonus, spell-a-word-game, fuel stops. But at 4 p.m., with only three hours to go, my misery began. It was based on my lack of knowledge of the English geography. I had never been to the Yorkshire Dales and did not know that this was a “sucker bonus” area. I did not know that Basecamp and the Garmin Sat Navs would would give me a totally underestimated travel time between the A66, the Tan Hill Pub (England’s highest pub) and the White Scar cave. I had never shouted the word “Bastard! BASTARD! BASTAAAAAAARD!” with more fervour during a rally. But this only means that the rally master did a good job and laid out the trap. And I walked right in it. My buffer melted away and when my predicted arrival time was 5 minutes past the finish time without penalty, I decided to skip the nearby White Scar cave worth lots of points and went directly to the M6 to return as quick as possible.
The route. I realised after one hour I hadn’t switched on the SPOT!
It was a good ride though, Rick the Rallybas….Rallymaster! did a very good job. This rally would have deserved much more attendees. John has restored British faith, I mean, a Kraut winning three British rallies in a row…. :-). Well done, mate!
A couple of hours and I will ride this year’s BBL Rally, the little brother of the Brit Butt Rally: it’s only 12 hours instead of 36 hours, but it will be a short, but very demanding rally. At the moment, I am still the champion of the BBR15 AND the BBL14. Will I be able to defend the title? Rather unlikely, in this short rally, everything has to run perfectly and I miss the local knowledge.
I slept great that night. I got up late, had a long, relaxed breakfast and hit the road at 9:30 a.m. I went east on the same I-80 I rode west two days earlier. I entered Wyoming, but this time I crossed it under blue skies. In Cheyenne, I kept on straight and crossed the border to Nebraska. Nevada was arid, Wisconsin was hilly, but Nebraska was grassy. Only grass, grass, grass. And the road went straight forever. I basically stopped only for petrol every five hours and combined it with some food uptake so I could keep changing gears to a minimum. It was still a mess to get back in fifth gear, but I had regained confidence that I could make it back to the rally finish. I wanted to be there when all the riders would return. It’s a special atmosphere; no wonder the event attracts so many spectators. I estimated that I could arrive on the evening of the eleventh day; I had already my booking and I would be able to watch the arrival before the dead line of 8 a.m. the morning after. That meant two days of straight riding…..riding….riding….riding…..OMMMMmmmmmm……..
You think you would get bored a lot; you’d have a lot of time to think, to cuss and lament your past decisions. Or to drown yourself in self-pity.
None of all this. My mind was blank as I rode through these endless plains. Before the rally, I had set up the electronics so I could hear music while riding, but so far I hadn’t made use of it. And even now, I didn’t need, I didn’t want it. Just riding…..riding…..riding…..ommmmmmmm……
On day 9 of the rally, weird things start to happen to the riders. I had read all kinds of stories about this. I heard veterans talk of the weirdest things that happened to them. Apart from the physical effects that are mainly caused by sleep deprivation, it’s the mental effects that haunt the riders. Taking wrong decisions, confusion, unawareness and the like. Your internal battery is simply running out of energy.
But this was not a problem for me any more, wasn’t it? I was basically out of the rally and I could stop any time. Around 7 p.m., I got hungry and decided to stop in the next town. I was a bit exhausted, it had been a hot day and I felt like toast. Let’s enjoy the shelter of an air-cooled McDonalds and its delicious products. When I was sitting there, I looked at a counter opposite of me.
Hm, I thought, they installed it badly, it’s not vertical, but a bit tilted. Hm, actually, the whole wall is tilted. Wow, what a crap work. But how can a whole ceiling be lower at the right end than at the left end? I looked to the right. There it’s the same. And the left side? As well. Was the whole building tilted?
Wait. Again. Look straight: (skewed lines), look right (skewed lines), look behind (skewed lines), look left (skewed lines)…that didn’t make sense! All right corners were lower than the left corners!
I looked at the semi-transparent cup with Coke in front of me. The liquid surface level on the left wall of the cup was higher than the one next to the right wall….
This…..was….creepy. Very.….creepy.
I tried not to freak out. Let’s be logic. Unless the laws of Newtonian physics had ceased to exist inside this building (and I had no reason to assume this), there must be a proper explanation. Let’s see…in the past 9 days, I had ridden way more than 11000 km (6830 mls) with minimum sleep on a small bike, had barely had time to eat or rest, was roasted by the sun during the last three days, felt physically and mentally tired…what could possibly go wrong????
By stepwise exclusion of the more unlikely explanations (I skipped the assumption of a crack in the space-time-continuum very quickly), I came to the conclusion that something must be wrong with me. Hmmm. Assess yourself! What’s your name? Where do you live? What’s your birthday? Why are you here? Etc etc. The answers I gave to myself seemed quite reasonable so it must have something to do with my perception or vision. For the rest, I felt quite OK, it was just that I had the impression that everything leaned a bit to one side. Like on a ship that rolls to the right. OK, maybe it was a good idea to call it a day soon.
I mounted the bike and went back on the I-80. The next hotel stopover is the only hotel of the whole three-week stay in the US and Canada that I can’t remember any more. According to my spot, I must have stopped in Ogallala one hour later. I remember that I noticed on the road that all posts were leaning 2 to 3 degrees to the right and all bridges over the highway were higher at the left side than at the right side. I had concluded it was time for a rest.
The next morning, after a long, refreshing sleep, I woke up and I studied the ceiling of the hotel room. Hm, it seemed to be vertical. A good sign. I had a relaxed breakfast and left again at 9 a.m. There is little to report from day 10. The only change in the landscape was the arrival to Iowa: suddenly it turned into green farmland with occasional trees. I hardly remember anything of that day apart riding on a straight highway.. After a while, the optical illusion came back. As it was better in the morning, I concluded that it must be a stress symptom or a bad posture on the bike. The effect wore off after the rally so I guess it was a matter of brain overload. After the rally I had dinner with two other riders and told them this story. They confirmed both that they had observed similar effects.
I passed Omaha, Des Moines, Davenport…at 8 p.m. I entered Illinois and one hour later, I stopped at the Hampton Inn in Peru. No, not in South America. Peru, Illinois. I had a relaxed dinner and I knew I could make it back to the rally finish the next day: only 810 km (520 mls) left.
The next morning I got up even later than the other days. At 10 a.m. I left the hotel. As I knew that I would pass Chicago, I finally switched on the iPad and my head set and listened to The Blues Brothers when I passed Joliet and Chicago. This was the first time I listened to music. But the landscape was not monotonous any more and I had only a few hours to go. However, a well-known effect occurred: if you are not under pressure and you know you’ll arrive in time, the final stretch gets eeeendless. I stopped for lunch at a rest area and found this interesting place cover on the table:
A funny advertisement…the largest ancestry group in Indiana is German….however, the language has apparently undergone some transformations…
At 4 p.m. I crossed the border to Ohio, 440 km (275 mls) to the finish. The remaining miles seemed endless….Hello Pennsylvania, only 77 km (48 mls) to go….So in the end I would make it back to the finish! Bravo, little XBR! I had done it! I rode the toughest motorcycle rally in the world! I would not be a finisher, but I knew that without the transmission problem, I would have made it. Of course there remains always a certain bitterness about the bad luck, but this is part of LD rallying. Failure doesn’t bring you down, but it teaches you a lesson about modesty. It draws your attention back to what your priorities are, in life and in rallying.
When I exited the I-76 with only one mile to go, I thought that the shuffle mode on the iPad had selected the most appropriate song for the finish: “nada de esto fue un error” (none of this was a mistake). Laughing and giggling, I sang the song full-throated. At 8:29 p.m., I arrived back at the Marriott in Cranberry Township, after 10.5 days and 8596 miles (13830 km). Nobody was there to cheer and welcome me. But this was no surprise, I was almost 12 hours too early. When I parked my bike on the parking, I saw the little green Ninja 250 standing there. Poor bugger, I thought, so we share the same fate in the hopeless class. While I write this, Kurt Wolden is still going in Leg 3 of the IBR2015 with 24 h to the finish – let’s hope he makes it this time!
I checked in, had a shower and went to the restaurant where I had an entertaining dinner with the rally’s daily poet Bob Higdon who could not believe it when he saw me there eating my large chunk of steak accompanied by a glass of nice red wine:
“Robert went missing a few days ago after he began to experience gear box problems with his Honda XBR. Imagine our surprise last night when we went into the hotel’s dining room and found one of our favorite German riders contentedly eating dinner and having a glass of wine. Excuse me? Where did you come from? He explained that he had never been able to get the bike repaired, so he just learned how to jiggle the shift lever around enough to keep rolling toward Cranberry Township. He’s a non-finisher, but he’s here and that’s all that matters to us.”
A whole paragraph in the final concluding report of the rally. For the wrong reason, though…LOL.
From there on, I was able to blog again, so I don’t want to repeat myself, but I just want to refer to my posts from that time:
So, no IBR for me this year, but as I still have some unfinished business there….what about 2017? ;-)
I hope you enjoyed the reports over the last days. I surely have forgotten a lot of the details in the last two years, but the great moments did not fade.
The IBR riders have reached the second checkpoint hotel in Tennessee in some extremely bad weather. By this time, they have already left the checkpoint, starting Leg 3 to end the rally back in Albuquerque.
In 2013, the morning rider meeting was similar to the one of the first leg, but Tom Austin made a surprising announcement: to be a finisher of the Ironbutt Rally 2013, you needed to have at least 60.000 points! I had expected a threshold of only 45.000. That was a huge blow to my aspirations to become a finisher. I checked the standings: I dropped from 36th to 74th place (out of 90 riders that were still in the game). The reason was that I missed the huge points (>8000) from Pikes Peak. The ranking was not the problem: I had 30362 points at that moment which meant that I needed almost another 30000 points! My hopes were that I could choose a northern route back to Pittsburgh to avoid the heat in the south. I had followed John’s advice to cut the lower part of the fairing to prevent overheating, but still I preferred to avoid the big heat. When I checked the rally book for Leg 3, I learned very quickly that the northern route via San Francisco and Vancouver would not give me enough points. In a frustrated mood, I built a southern route that would give me enough points, but would be difficult to arrive in time:
Planned route for Leg 3
I needed to go down to New Orleans and it was clear that a similar effort like in Leg 2 would necessary to achieve this goal.
In retrospect, I made a a horrible mistake in my planning: in order to speed up the selection of locations in the GPS program, I took all locations from all three legs and deleted the locations from leg 1 and leg 2. As a result, I would have all the locations from Leg 3, wouldn’t I? It did not come to my mind that point from Leg 1 or 2 would be re-used in Leg 3 with a higher point value. This error I will never commit again.
All I needed was to leave. It was a nice and sunny morning with moderate temperatures (the previous afternoon had been very hot). In the parking I changed some words with a spectator that was interested in my bike. I mentioned that I should have got me lighter gloves for such a hot climate – he said “wait a minute”, went to his car and came back with some used DIY gloves. He insisted that I should use them instead my warm leather gloves. Thanks, mate! I still have the gloves.
I left the checkpoint at 8:45 a.m. Los Angeles, here I come! My plan was to bag four big bonuses going south in California. I was riding on a freeway with a 60 mph limit in some congested traffic, when suddenly Giel Kerkhof passed me. In the US, filtering/lane splitting is forbidden, except in California. I remembered this now and I thought “it’s still cool, let’s have some fun!” and tried to follow Giel. His huge Harley zoomed through the line of cars and I tried to follow. Not an easy task, but I managed. This was indeed fun and lasted about 20 minutes when we needed to take an exit. When we went on a ramp, I wanted to switch down gears, but I couldn’t! What was this? I managed to get over the ramp with a sliding clutch, but then I had to stop next to the road. The fifth gear would not move. Yes, this has been a quick ride, but not faster than usual and the temperature was still moderate…I couldn’t shift the gears any more.
There comes a moment when you know: “that’s it. It’s over.”
I knew that the rally stopped here. I would not be a finisher of the Ironbutt Rally 2013.
But there was no time to be disappointed. My brain switched directly from “rally” to “survival” mode. I had to fix this. How could I do this? Where’s the next Honda garage? I asked two guys with a pick up truck who told me an address. Later they even offered me to take the bike there after they had delivered something. I tried to shift gears again. BANG! Fourth gear! It worked! BANG! Third! BANG! Second! First! Hmmm, maybe the thing healed itself? (Desperate escapism, isn’t it?). I wanted to give it a try…after 1 km, I stopped again…the first three gears worked, but I could not engage the fourth one. All right, that’s that. I made some phone calls and informed my lady at home and Lisa the rally master. I wanted to go back to Sacramento to find a garage. With MJ’s help, I planned to go to a dealer on the way back. Lisa had warned me that on Monday, dealers would be closed.
I went back to the freeway and rode in third gear to that address. Of course, it was closed. What now? Let’s go back to the rally hotel…John responded to my text message and phoned me, so I pulled over and talked to him. I never will forget the moment when a motorbike cop stopped next to me, his facial expression motionless behind his aviator sunglasses…”John, wait a second, there’s an officer that wants to talk to me….yes, Sir?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Er, no Sir.”
I was afraid I had broken some unknown law by phoning on a bike on the side walk, but apparently I didn’t, for he rode off not without giving me this “I’ll remember your face, boy” look. So I went back north to Sacramento. In third gear. The rally was basically over for me, but that was not the problem at the moment. The problem was not to get back to Pittsburgh, the problem was to be at Toronto airport in seven days! That was my goal now. What would I do if the bike would break down? A 27 year old bike that was never sold in the US? Even if I would find an open garage, what could they do? Was this caused by overheating? Well, the rally was definitely over, I would not dare to cross the Mojave desert with this problem. And there weren’t enough bonus points on the way back to the finish. So Toronto airport became my objective. What’s the direct route? 2500 miles (4000 km)…six days and nights….if I would go in third gear, I could do at 70 km/h (43 mph)…that would be tedious, but possible. Crazy, though. But what options did I have? I needed to take that plane, or otherwise I’d be confronted with a massive financial and logistic disaster. Maybe I should try the fourth gear?….I tried it, but the fourth gear wouldn’t stay in it’s position….until it worked! The fifth, gear, however, would not remain in its position. But at least my riding speed was increased to 100 km/h (63 mph)!
Some minutes later, I tried the fifth gear again, and after some jiggling, the fifth gear stayed in it’s position! Yes! Let’s roll. But when I had to switch down gears with some terrible noise, it was difficult to install the fourth and firth gear again. But this was less of a problem: after Sacramento, I turned eastbound on the I-80 again: the sat nav made a distance calculation to Pittsburgh I’ll never forget: “follow the road for 2489 miles”.
I went back on the road that I came from the day before. Up in the mountains, I took one of the few pictures on the way back.
A Honda never gives up: gear box sick XBR in California
On my way through Nevada, I had a lot of time to think. I went at some 65-70 mph (105-112 km/h) as I was not in a hurry any more. What had happened? I still have no answer. Gear box problems of XBRs are basically unheard of. Well, my first gear box lasted 232.000 km (144.000 mls) until the second gear died. I had expected that something similar would happen one day to this gear box as well. Since I had placed it, it never had the smoothness of normal gear boxes and lately, the second gear would jump out a little bit too often. But problems with fifth AND fourth gear, out of the blue?? That doesn’t make sense. Was I riding too hard? Not really, I was going faster than usually during the rally, but in Europe, I ride a lot harder than that. The temperature was still cool in the morning, so overheating is unlikely, the oil temperature was hot, but in a normal range. I categorised this as “simply bad luck”.
The gearbox was tricky to use, but slowly I learned to engage the fourth and fifth gear. The bitter thing is: the bike made it back, and I was riding it a couple of thousand kilometres in Europe afterwards. I still haven’t replaced it to this day. It’s tricky to shift gears, but it’s possible. Should I have tried to continue the rally? In retrospect: yes! But you have to assess the situation always under the light of the moment. I had taken the right decision. Would this rally have taken place in Europa, I would have risked it. But not on a different continent.
So I went slow, but steady and at half an hour past midnight, I arrived again at the Hampton Inn in Salt Lake City. The lady at the desk was surprised again. “You’re back? from Sacramento??”. This time, I was not in a hurry, I did not set the alarm clock….
On that day, I was mentioned in the Bob Higdon’s daily bulletin of the rally: “Robert Koeber lost the top gear in his Honda XBR500. Since his initial report we have heard nothing further from him. Something makes me believe he has an international following. I got an e-mail today from a fan of his in Sweden.” Unless you are a top rider, it’s usually not desirable to appear in Higdon’s brilliant reports. It means something unlucky, terribly stupid or very embarrassing has happened to you.
The riders are heading east. It’s interesting to follow the spots and the bulletins from the rally HQ. Day 6 is an intermediate day, time
to go for the big mile. Day 7 means getting to the checkpoint in time. In a couple of hours, the riders will arrive in Kingsport, Tennessee.
My planned route for Leg 2
I started my night shift from St. Louis. I followed the I-70 to the west. The cone of my 22W LED headlight illuminated the highway. The traffic got more and more quiet and soon I was in a steady-state mode: the road, the dark night, the humming XBR and I. This monotonous rhythm was my companion for the next hours. Thanks to my Russell seat, I did not have any pain, it was like sitting on your sofa at home. I was going at 80 – 85 mph (130 – 138 km/h), that means at a speed that was over the speed limit, but would probably not cause the road police to act. At least this was the recommendation I got from the IBR veterans. I was not carrying the radar warner and at that speed, it did not seem to be necessary.
I noticed that another bike was catching up. It followed me for a while and I could feel the curious looks of the rider in my back. Then the bike passed me slowly, the rider greeted me and then he opened the throttle. Wroooooooom. The bike disappeared into the darkness. Whoa. I looked at my speedometer. 85 mph. How fast was this bike?? I had recognized the bike, it was one of the top riders (no name revealed here). OK, so this was how it worked.
I still was not tired so I continued my ride. I passed Kansas City and the big plains welcomed me again. After half an hour, I did note that I got tired. Well, I was in the middle of nowhere. The only chance was checking in the “Ironbutt Motel”, i.e. sleeping by the side of the road. But there was no rest area. I continued, slowly fighting against the upcoming sleep. I had slept only a couple of hours the previous night, fix the tyre problem and had ridden about 900 miles (1450 km). No wonder I was tired. On the other hand I had still at least 1800 mls (2900 km) ahead of me. And only about 40 hours left. On a little XBR 500.
It began to dawn on me that there was no time for a stop at a hotel. OK, the Ironbutt Motel then. Finally, at a quarter to 1 a.m., I stopped at the Topeka service area and looked for a quiet place. I found a dark spot under a tree. I set my “screaming meanie” 120 db alarm clock and laid down in the grass, leaving the helmet with my earplugs on. I was really tired, but I needed my time to come down. Approximately 30 min. After another 30 min of sleep, the infernal alarm clock went off. A powerful power nap. I felt refreshed. I continued my ride.
At 3:20, I needed to stop for petrol and had a light breakfast. I was still tired, but I had to push on. Finally darkness faded – but bad weather turned up. I stopped and put on my rain suit. I considered to stop at a motel but again, there was nothing out there. I was tired, but I had some distraction: I needed to fight against the rain and the wind. And where was a toilet when you needed one? Finally I tried my luck in the open desert – assessing the right wind direction is essential! The rain vanished slowly, the arid landscape got a little greener again. And the I-70 continues in a long line. At a quarter past eight, I stopped for another fuel stop. What, another 500 km have passed? I took another real breakfast. It was sunny, a lovely morning, but I felt very tired. Probably I needed another power nap.
At 10 a.m., I gave in and stopped at a parking area and looked for a spot in the shadow of a tree. The same story. 20 minutes to come to rest, 30 min of sleep. But again, the nap was refreshing. Soon I left the I-70 and took the Highway 24 towards Colorado Springs.
Airplane Restaurant, Colorado Springs
Around noon, I got to the first bonus point location since 18 hours ago. It was the airplane restaurant. I met Kurt Wolden there; he and his Kawasaki Ninja 250 were even more “hopeless class” then I was. Respect! I went north to Denver and I wondered why the XBR showed signs of lost power. Was there a problem? But then I had an idea…I checked the altitude on my GPS…I was riding at 1800 m (6000 ft)! Whoa! No wonder the XBR rode a bit sluggish. I t would have been the moment to opt for Pikes Peak, but this convinced me that this was no match for my 498 cc, one cylinder motor with carburetor.
In Denver I visited the Forney Museum of Transportation, i.e. I took a picture from the exterior. I was impressed by a rider who had a peli case as a top case wich a connected laptop inside. He opened the case and checked quickly his route. And I felt like a geek because I was simply carrying a laptop in my luggage…There was some bad weather approaching. I looked to Rocky Mountain range….bad weather! If I had chosen to go to Pikes Peak….oh dear! The next stop was not far away. The Colorado Railway Museum was a few miles to the west. When I got there, I met Giel Kerkhof exiting the site. He shouted the directions to me and was gone. I knew he was in true rally mode for he shouted in Dutch. No problem for me though…
Railroad Museum, Denver. Strange contact with locals.
I entered the site and followed Giel’s instructions. I could see building where I had to take a picture of. There was a family car in front of me that just stopped. I waited for a while, but then I passed him on the left and parked my bike to the right in front of him. I needed to be quick as the thunderstorm could break loose any second. I took out my camera and had a look the rally book.
“YOU FUCKING MORON!”
Hm! What?
The driver of the car seemed to be particularly unhappy about the fact that I parked my bike on the last available parking space. He was foaming at me and kept yelling. Well, why was he hesitating so long? Under different circumstances, this would have been a good start for a fight. But sorry, I didn’t have time for that. So I chose a totally different strategy. Without even looking at him, I said in a relaxed voice:”You have not flashed your indicator”.
He gasped. He was not prepared for this. It took him totally by surprise.
“Well, um, OF COURSE I DID!!”
No, you tosser, you didn’t. Why would you?I didn’t speak out my thoughts but took my picture, checked its quality and put everything calmly in my tank bag, still not looking at that guy.
“Well, I couldn’t see any flashing light…”
He gasped again, this time he was speechless. I mounted my bike, left the irritated twat behind and within a couple of seconds I was gone.
Not a moment too early because now the heavy rain started. I went back to the main highway and continued north.
I crossed the border to Wyoming visited an old train in Cheyenne. It was 5 p.m. and I needed to arrive in 27 h in Sacramento that was 1100 mls (1760 km) away. This seemed feasible; I had made some good progress. I check my maps. It seemed wise to plan a stopover in Salt Lake City, this would be the perfect timing. Only 440 mls (710 km) to go. Not bad, for an “evening ride”…
The land got hilly now, after all I was crossing the Rockies. It turned also more dry and arid. Many times during Leg 2, I had to think of that particular episode of the iconic old Bavarian TV series “Münchner Gschichten”. The episode was called “Der lange Ritt nach Sacramento” (The long ride to Sacramento): “only two days to Sacramento”
Slowly, some clouds came up. It was indeed a long way to Sacramento, but for this evening, I had no more bonus point to collect and the only stop would be at a petrol station. I rode on the I-80…Laramie, Rawlins, Red Desert, Rock Springs….I had to stop for fuel and it was right on time, a strong wind blew a massive thunderstorm right in my direction. When I wanted to fill petrol at the pump, I had to grab the bike with one hand. The wind was so strong that the bike would have toppled over! I was hungry, but under this circumstances I wanted to move on, it would get dark soon and it was still far away from Salt Lake City. I returned on the I-80 and then hell broke lose. The wind and rain made me slow down a lot. Sometimes I had the sensation that my front wheel was lifted in the air. But also this massive thunderstorm passed by.
I entered Utah and got to a lower altitude again when it got dark. I was really looking forward to staying in a hotel again. I had covered 3400 km (2125 mls) in 36 hours since my tyre change – this was a true BBG (Bun Burner Gold) pace – on a XBR 500! I checked in at a Hampton Inn hotel for I had made a very good experience with them: they provide check-in and check-out tickets, both of them carry a time stamp. That means I needed not to look for electronic tickets to document my rest stop.
The lady at the desk asked where I came from. Why didn’t she believe me when I said “Pittsburgh”? The restaurant was closed, but I purchased some snacks, I didn’t want to leave the hotel so I had a rather simple meal in my room. I planned to have a long 8 hour rest break, it would even give me some extra points. I slept very well that night.
Bonneville salt speedway (under water)
The next morning was a sunny one. I had a real breakfast at the hotel and left at 7:30 a.m. What a luxury! But I had more than 12 hours and 1050 km (650 mls) to go. The next bonus point was easy: it was just around the corner. Piece of cake. I joined the I-80 again and two hours later I reached the Bonneville Salt Flats International Speedway. A small point in the salt desert. Actually it was not completely dry at the moment, but a salt lake was still present. The next location was about two hours away, an old hut of the Pony Express. The Pony Express combo definitely a must for the top ten riders, they had to visit more than 30 location for this huge combo. Before the stop, I had been overtaken by Kevin and Lyn, but after it I was off first – I was working well that day. Of course, I was overtaken by them after that. Nevada is a very dry place – hardly any green around. And not very populated: there came a moment when I was running out of petrol! An enormous range, but almost no fuel left in the tank! I rolled slowly towards Battle Mountain and luckily, I made it to the petrol station, pffffffff. At 1 p.m., I stopped in a town called Winnemucca, a generous 30 min rest break at a Jack-in-the-box. This was OK, I had 300 mls (480 km) ahead of me and more than 9 hours left. This meant I was a bit ahead of my plan. Great! This meant I could collect some smaller bonus around Sacramento before arriving at the checkpoint hotel. It was hot now and the hot air from the motor was directly deflected on my legs.
North of Sacramento
Three hours later I passed Reno and soon I crossed the border to California. The road climbed up the Cascade Range Mountains and soon the Nevada desert changed into some very lush, green pine forest. After a bonus point stop near the Donner Lake, the long descent to the Pacific began. This was a good feeling, I had four hours left and only 45 mls (70 km) to go.
In the next three hours, I visited nine (nine!) bonus point locations around Sacramento. Finally some small bends again and as I’m quite quick at the bonus point locations, this was quite some fun. I even passed the checkpoint hotel before making another loop around and through Sacramento. At the last location, I met Matt Watkins who had left first at the start of the rally as he had won the “haircut contest” – he had ridden a hell of a leg 2 and had done the complete Pony Express and Pikes Peak – impressive! With 20 minutes to spare, I arrived at the checkpoint. The parking was already full of people. I grabbed my stuff and my arrival time was registered. I was lead to a large where also other riders were already preparing their scoring. I got me something to eat from the buffet and filled in the my scoring sheet. I forgot to include a stop in the right order and corrected it. Finally I was ready and after some waiting time I could enter the scoring room. This time, I was scored by veteran Jeff Earls who gave rookie meeting. This was a different atmosphere now than in the first meeting: everything was taken with a grain of salt. The corrected bonus point? Minus ten percent penalty. But then he wanted to strip me off a huge bonus – I can’t remember what it was exactly, I guess it was a general bonus like fuel log or something similar that did not have a particular time. However, he stated that without a claiming time, the bonus would be lost. I protested. This did not make sense. But Jeff acted so self-assured that I started to hesitate. Then he asked how this was handled in the first leg and we looked it up….it was done in the same way as I proposed it….he mumbled that there would be a problem. Finally I insisted in a clarification. We called co-rally master Tom Austin and explained the situation. Without any doubts, he confirmed my opinion. Phew! Losing these point would have made it very difficult to become a finisher.
I didn’t have to fix anything at the bike, so I could spend my time preparing my stuff for the next morning. I had made it to Sacramento! In the hopeless class! I had hoped for that, but Leg 2 was really the test for me and my small bike. If it could do this, I could also survive the next and final leg. I had already achieved quite a lot and I was on a good way to become a finisher. The only thing that was worrying me was the heat of the deserts in the south-west. Would the bike survive it?
The riders have left for the second checkpoint in Tennessee. But that’s not it; many bonus point locations need to be visited. After all, this is not a flower-sniffin’ trip. From now on, the real thing starts. Leg 1 was just a warm-up. The mental and physical stress will slowly come creeping in during this leg…
I woke up at 5 a.m. and I knew immediately that this was not a good night. I should have rested well, but instead I got only very little sleep. I shambled to the breakfast room where the riders were already under tension. An atmosphere full of energy. I talked to Bob Lilley at the table and learned that we had done the same distance – except that he did it in miles, not in kilometres! Very soon some announcements were made and President Mike Kneebone announced the standings of the first ten riders.
We had received the rally books for Leg 2 and everybody rushed to their rooms to start the planning. In contrast to Leg 1, the planning for Leg 2 had to be done while the rally clock was ticking! On the way out, the standing after Leg 1 were provided on some lists. Everybody needed to have a quick look…I expected myself to be in the lower quarter, as I deliberately had chosen to ride a very relaxed Leg 1 and to get a lot of sleep before I would start the challenging Leg 2. And anyway, I was not compatitive; with this small bike in the “Hopeless Class”…I couldn’t find my name…. I looked higher in the ranking and there I saw it…place 36! 36! Out of 94! That was a nice surprise! But this leg was more the “European type” part of the rally, the next two legs would include more riding on long highways, with increasing speed limits from 65 mph to 70 to 75 mph. But anyway, this was reassuring.
I started the planning in my room. The basic route was from Pittsburgh, PA to Sacramento, CA. Some gruelling 2500 miles (4000 km) and only 64 hours to go…And this did not include the stops, visiting the bonus locations, rest breaks…I picked some bonuses along the basic route. I knew I had some points buffer from the first leg, but for it was also challenging to reach the minimum points in the end to be classified as a finisher. The biggest chunk of points was going to the top of the notorious Pikes Peak. A massive amount of points could be earned here. In retrospect, I am not sure if I took a wrong decision here, but at that moment, it just seemed right. I decided not to get there. Firstly, I thought it would be too far away from my route and cost me too much time: the way to the top, taking the picture of the cable car, all the way down…remember, I was under time pressure anyway. I overestimated the distance from my basic route, it wouldn’t have been very far from it. Definitely less than I thought. Secondly, and this was maybe seemed more important to me in that moment, the altitude was tremendous: a (literally) breath-taking 4267 m! The road started at 2800 m, that’s the altitude of the highest pass in Europe (Col de la Bonette). There, the XBR has lost a lot of its power, coughing its way up to the top. How it would react at 4000 m? I preferred not to know. So I left Pikes Peak out. Today I think that I should have given it a try, but the prime objective for me was to play it safe and to arrive at the finish.
So my route was designed quickly and I left already at a quarter past seven. I realised that I was one of the first. Well, that was no surprise, because I had chosen a very simple route. But I needed still to change the tyre. I went to the near-by tyre shop I had spotted the day before and asked for their service. 7:32 a.m.: “No, Sir, I’m sorry, the mechanics arrive much later, we can’t help you, but try another garage north of here….” 7:42 a.m.: “No, Sir, I’m sorry, we don’t do motorbike tyres, we can’t help you, but try another garage north of here….” 7:52 a.m.:”No, Sir, I’m sorry, we don’t do motorbike tyres, we can’t help you, but try another garage north of here….” 8:05 a.m.: “No, Sir, I’m sorry, we don’t do motorbike tyres”. “But it’s not different from car tyres” “Naah, wouldn’t touch that stuff! And no, there’s not another garage north of here, maybe you try the ones in the South.” I thought I heard the sound of galloping panic coming closer. Was there no darn garage that could change a simple tyre??? I decided to return the 15 miles to the hotel where I could access internet. I searched for motorbike garages, but the only one that could help me was the BMW garage in Pittsburgh, but they would only open at 10 a.m.! And I had already lost 3 hours of my 64 hour time window! So I decided to start the rally, maybe I could find something along the way. I texted my buddy John Young if he could search for a garage along my route and then I took off…almost at 9 a.m.. By this time, most of the riders had already left.
Lindberg’s landing – hope for my tyre problem
My first stop was in Moundsville, West Virginia. It was the place that Charles Lindbergh visited after his Atlantic crossing and where he was welcomed by 140.000 spectators. I arrived after one hour and was surprised that two spectators were already waiting there and welcomed me. As I said, the IBR is a big thing in the US. After I had taken my picture, I had an idea. Why not asking them if they knew a place to change a tyre? So I asked one of them and they considered the options. The other one rode a Gold Wing and knew a Honda dealer and was convinced by the first rider to escort me there. What I didn’t know at that point was that the first rider was nobody else than the famous LD rider Robert “Hoagy” Carmichael, founder of the “Hoagy’s Heroes” charity organisation.
I followed the other rider who brought me to the Honda dealer and explained my situation to the shop assistant. OK, they agreed to change the tyre immediately. Yes! YES! I thanked the Gold Wing biker and had high hopes that I would be back on the road very soon, probably in half an hour. Weeeell….it went slow….veeeery slow. The mechanic worked in a kind of slow motion way. I had time to call home and explain the situation and I also informed John to stop searching for a garage. In the end, I helped the clumsy mechanic because I could feel the time running away…when I got close to him, I could smell the reason why he was so slow. I had to watch out and lend him a hand so he didn’t drop my bike off the platform. Finally the tyre was changed and after one hour, I was back in the saddle. One HOUR! I hand only 58 hours left and 2450 miles (3950 km) to go! The challenge got just bigger and bigger….
Two hours later I arrived at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum in Pickerington, next to the I-70. I was lucky: I didn’t have to look for an old BMW in the museum, I just needed the printed confirmation that it was temporarily not on display. I went back on the highway and turned south-west. I took my picture of the old boat museum at the Ohio River, right on the border between Kentucky and Ohio. Before, I had enjoyed some small bends and showed another rally rider what a little XBR is capable of, hehe. Unfortunately, most roads are different there… I spotted a fuel station and decided to fill up the bike and the rider. In the station, some delicious fried chicken was offered and I did not miss that chance, who knows when I could get some hot meal the next time.
I crossed Cincinnati and entered Indiana. At a moment when I was riding at 80 mph (130 km/h), I was passed by Bob Lilley who gave me thumbs up when he spotted me. This showed me clearly that the XBR could easily keep up with the low speed limits and beyond, but played in a different league than the cracks. I passed Indianapolis. Hello Illinois! The weather was fine, the XBR hummed and I was making good progress. I continued on the I-70 again and by 8 p.m., I crossed the Mississippi in the light of the setting sun. There are moments in your riding life when a picture is carved into your memory. This was one of them. “I’m a poor lonesome cowboy, and a long way from home…” I felt like Lucky Luke on his Jolly Jumper.
Monster truck in St. Louis
I had to take a picture of a monster truck in St. Louis and of a train. The latter was in a museum that was already closed but I spotted it and with my zoom lens I could take a picture before it got too dark. I had to fill up the bike again. Well, again…with my auxiliary tank, I had now a range of 600 – 700 km (370 mls – 440 mls). That’s quite impressive. So I planned to stop for petrol and have some food before I would start my long night shift riding through Kansas. Due to the many hours lost already on that day, I decided not to stop at a hotel yet, but to try to ride as long as possible. But first I bought some snacks in the station and munched them in the cool building. When I spotted the name of the station attendant, I needed to ask him where he was from. And indeed, as I had supposed, he was an immigrant from Iran. The next 15 minutes, while munching and choking my dinner, I told him of my trip through Iran 5 years earlier. This was a surreal, but funny situation: there were a German and an Iranian in a gas station in St. Louis, Missouri, discussing my trip through Iran and the general situation there, while the Americans were paying their fuel. Another memorable moment.
I was ready for the next challenge. It was 10 p.m. and I started my ride into the dark of the Kansas plains…my first real riding after midnight in America…how far would I get before I needed to stop for sleep?
In a couple of hours, the riders will come back to Albuquerque and finish Leg 1 of the Iron Butt Rally 2015. This was only the beginning, but already at this early stage, first riders will have dropped out. Actually, when I watch the spotwalla page right now, I wonder if all of them will make it in time. Hurry up, boys and girls!
In 2013, in the morning of the fourth day, I could leave late before 7 a.m. because I had plenty of time to arrive at the Ford Museum in Detroit. On my way there, I stopped at the Buick Gallery and Research Center in Flint. Yes, THE Flint that was in the centre of “Roger and me”, the film which started Michael Moore’s career as a documentary director.
Detroit, at the river
The closer I came to Detroit, the more the decline of the automotive industry with its impact on the cities became visible. Take the potholes in the road, for example. I took a picture of an anchor at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum on Belle Isle. The funny is, it is actually visible on Goggle Earth! My next stop was nearby, a memorial at the banks of the Detroit River. I did not want to enter the pedestrian zone, even at this early hour, so I had to walk a bit. I wouldn’t care too much in Europe if I don’t bother any people, but in the US…
A couple of minutes later, I arrived at the Henry Ford museum. It was THE location to visit on Leg 1, giving a massive amount of points. The twist was: we had to take pictures of 25 artefacts! 25! And the trouble is: you have to find them in that big museum! In the next 90 minutes (after a hefty 20$ admission fee) , I had quite some fun, this was a real scavenger hunt now. At least a dozen riders were running around in the museum trying to find all the cars, motorbikes, planes, trains etc. This had a certain slapstick touch to it. But like on the road, riders help each other. So we managed to find the iconic artefact somewhat quicker. The European connection with Kevin and Lyn worked quite well.
Some of the stuff to be found the car in which JFK was shot, the first bike to cross the USA, the first “Otto” motor (it looked more like a steam engine), classic car models, the bus where Rosa Parks set the spark of the black civil rights movement, speed record rockets, a replica of the Wright Brother’s plane, an entire DC 3 hanging in the air (!) and and and…
Kennedy’s car
An old VW “Brezelfenster Käfer” (Beetle)
A DC 3
Ford T
This picture made me hungry, but the snack bar was still closed…
Finally I had my pictures together and I could plan the rest of the afternoon. I concluded that I had enough time to follow the Lake Erie up towards Cleveland and beyond. I took a picture of a horse carriage in Ohio and wondered how I could pass by all this places in only a couple of miles: Milan, Berlin Heights, Florence, Birmingham. Again, where was I? I went up to Erie and took a picture of a ship in the harbour.
Erie
Tricky, if there’s a fence in the middle and the flag has to be on the picture as well. I met Phil Weston, IBA UK’s president and we exchanged a few words.
I still had some buffer left and decided to go to the first oil well drilled in Pennsylvania somewhere in the hinterland. I arrived well on time at the hotel in Pittsburgh, registered myself and went to my room to prepare myself for the scoring. I had to wait a while because many riders did the same. First anecdotes were exchanged and the waiting time was used to get some hot meal from the buffet. Finally it was my scoring time. In the big hall, many scorers were waiting at the tables. Impressive. First, my pictures had to be extracted from my card. It was a rally rule that the resolution of the camera had to be very small. I had particularly bought a small camera that still had this possibility, but it turned out that these settings were lost after I had used the zoom for the first time! Gulp! And now? Luckily all my pictures were accepted despite the large size. I moved on to my scorer who was also my technical inspector before the rally. Everything went smooth and in the end I leave the scoring table with all my points! None lost! I had successfully finished Leg 1! Everything I hoped for after my fuel problems. We would only get the rally books for Leg 2 in the next morning, but the preparations started right away.
My Leg 1 – 4700 km (2920 mls) in some relaxing 80 hours!
I went to fill up the bike and discovered a tyre shop that would open at 7 a.m. the next day. Perfect! To my surprise, my rear tyre was already worn! After half of the estimated distance! I couldn’t explain this, was it the rough tarmac? Only later, a lot later, I discovered back home (I carried the tyre always with me, as a spare tyre, just in case) that my tyre dealer had made a mistake and sold me a front tyre instead the needed back tyre…..Truth is stranger than fiction. I needed to prepare all my stuff for the next day and to quickly take care of my bike. I wanted to fix that throttle problem, so I took off the throttle rubber and cleaned the handle bar. From now on, this should be solved. It was already dark and I still needed to prepare everything, including some personal hygiene. I realised that there’s not a single minute to relax in the IBR – you’re under stress during 11 days. Time was flying and finally my luggage was packed and my rally planning devices prepared for the next morning. Finally I crawled in my bed. Now, get some sleep for the alarm clock will go off at 5 a.m.
[…]
[…]
No way. The brain would not come to a rest. Sleep! SLEEEEP!
Brain says: no.
This went on for a while until I finally fell asleep….until I was woken up again at 1 a.m. by the !*^%”?£!!! iPad that makes an annoying noise when it’s fully charged. The same game again. My conscience did not make the situation any better: I knew Leg 2 was a killer. 2500 miles in about 60 hours! From Pittsburgh to Sacramento, California in one go. For a small bike like the XBR, this was really the ultimate test. So, get some slcchhhrrrrrrrrrrrr……
Yesterday I returned home from my fourth scouting trip during a hot day and I was too lazy for a write-up of my second day in the IBR 2013. Hell, I thought, I’m not in a rally, so relax. The guys that are riding on the third day will probably still be in a good mood, circumstances permitting.
As I now have access to pictures and the internet, I want to provide some pictures before and at the start that I couldn’t access during my trip in the Alps.
Here is a professional picture where I just started the odometer check trip on the day before the start. Note the tyre.It is funny, but the IBR is a big thing in America and gets a lot of attention. It’s no surprise that later I discovered a picture of me at the start of the rally:The full article can be read here: http://www.theridesofar.com/2013/07/the-2013-iron-butt-rally-theyre-off/
Ready…steady….GO!!!
After half an hour, I passed Kevin and Lyn Weller, I didn’t expect that Lyn would take pictures in the rain. If I had known, I’d have sucked in my stomach! :-)
After a couple of hours, I woke up on day 2 and left before sunrise. I had a luxury 7 hour rest break near Burlington. In IBR terms, this was a huge break. But as I said, I took it easy during leg 1 for the leg 2 would be quite the opposite. I set off east, passing Montpelier and Berlin (wait – was I really in the US?) until I finally arrived at an old cog railway called “Old Peppersass” that was the first mountain climbing cog railway engine in the world. I took my picture and moved north. The crossing into Canada posed no problem and soon I could remove my rain suit, the wet weather was over. By midday, I reached the Montreal – Québec Highway that I drove on a week ago when we had spent some holidays in Canada. Familiar territory, so to say. I passed Québec City and needed to switch from my auxiliary tank to my normal tank. And there it was again – the stuttering that had haunted me during the Brit Butt Rally and also on the way to Pittsburgh! I had not found the root cause for this, but for the next two days, it appeared occasionally again and limited my top speed. Luckily I was in Canada where the speed limit is only at 100 km/h. But it is quite nerve-wrecking. I stopped at an old fuel station and realised that I was in the French-speaking area again. If only the Québécois accent would be easier to understand! The weather was sunny now and I reached my most eastern points in the rally along the St Lawrence River. First it was a ship and secondly a sign of a motorbike museum.
The ride was enjoyable now and I needed to go back and past Montreal. However, I got stuck in the rush hour in Montreal. Oh, dear! I was relieved when I finally could ride on the “deserted” highway towards Ottawa. Before reaching Ottawa, I had to turn westwards again. It was already in the evening and I wanted to reach a location in a small village called Merrickville before sunset. When I got there, I met another female rider. There’s no time for a chat, so it’s about taking a picture and get on the bike again. An elderly man tried to start a conversation with me and when he heard where I was from, he said:”Oh, my wife speaks German!”. He called her and it turned out that she had immigrated from Germany some decades ago. I would have been nice to chat a bit more, but I needed to move on. There was another reason why I wanted to leave: the next stretch of about 200 km would lead me through a forest area on a small road and I had a lot of respect for the wildlife that could cross the road. On top, it soon got pitch black very soon and myriads of flies covered my visor. I did not dare to wipe them away for I expected them to turn into an ugly slime. My LEDs light on the XBR were not the brightest, but I trusted in my Krista lights that I had bought for a bunch of money. However, there was a bad contact: instead illuminating the road, they merely flickered! Great! These 3 hours required all my attention for I expected to see a deer on the road at any time. Finally I checked in a hotel in Peterborough before midnight where I had a 5 hour rest break.
Canadian Canoe Museum. There’s a museum for everything.
In the morning, I started with high hopes into day number three. It was a lovely sunny morning and things were moving well. I took a picture of the Canadian Canoe museum right in Peterborough rode towards a location where I took a picture of a plaque in honour of Robert McLaughlin, the founder of the McLaughlin Motor Company that later turned into General Motors. What a nice morning it was! Canadian countryside, no traffic, morning sun…until at 6:30, on the Regional 57 Road, near a farm in the middle of nowhere….the XBR did not advance any more!
[…]
What the…???….It took only 2 seconds to realise that the throttle cable was ripped! Well I was carrying a repair kit…..no I wasn’t! I followed the advice in the rookie meeting: “leave half of your luggage here. You won’t need it!”. Yeah. Until you REALLY need it. Fantastic! A little problem, a huge consequence. How to fix that without a new cable? Far from a town? Think! THINK! And in the back of the head, the rally clock is ticking….
Then I had an idea. It was the opening (main) cable that was destroyed, but the closing cable was intact. And you don’t really need that one…so let’s cannibalise it! Problem was that I could not unscrew one screw with my tools. I don’t remember what I did exactly, but I resisted the emerging panic and worked a way around it. And the clock was ticking. I could finally remove the cables and reverse their order. The closing cable did not fit very well and had a tremendous play in the throttle, but I could ride again! After one hour, I was back on the road. What did I write earlier? Frustration and euphoria – they can be so close.
On my way north, I visited the Trent-Severn Waterway and the Big Chute boat lift in…Big Chute. Very well. The riding was a bit odd with the wrong cable, but it worked. I started to get an idea what had happened. I was almost losing the rubber of my throttle from time to time. This was a consequence of spraying some silicone on the handlebar to push the rubber it. However, some water had entered during the rain on my way to Pittsburgh and “lubricated” the throttle rubber. While riding, I pushed back the rubber by closing the throttle. By doing this, I also buckled the throttle cable and in the end it wore too much. Lesson learned.
In the meantime, I had discovered “Beef Jerky”, the dried meat which could be eaten quickly at a fuel stop. And you can continue riding with a mouthful of meat, slowly chewing like a cow….The petrol problem came back and prevented me from breaking the low speed limit. Very annoying. My next location was far up north. I surrounded Lake Huron and arrived in the afternoon in Sault Sainte Marie, an important crossing at the border to Michigan/USA. I pulled some petrol and I was flabbergasted when I saw the interior of the station: anything you could possibly need in the wildlife was available to purchase there. AND a slice of hot pizza! Mmmmh…it was not comparable with a real pizza from Napoli, but it was the first hot meal in three days. I went further north until I reached a memorial plaque at the Batchawana Bay of the Lake Superior. The views were spectacular. But no, no time to take touristic pictures. I planned to enter the US on the same day. I went back to Sault Saint Marie and took a picture of the plane in front of the bushplane museum. After that I crossed the large bridge over the St Marys River. A long queue awaited me at the border control. Better do not jump the queue here…When it was my turn, I answered the questions of the border officer. I had realised that the naked truth is the easiest way: a participation in a motorbike rally sounds rather credible, despite my looks. When I was asked “Where you’re from?” I spotted the name tag on the officer’s uniform: Vogt. A good old German name. No wonder that the process was finished quickly.
Mackinac Bridge, Michigan.
My last picture for the day was the huge Mackinac Bridge over the Lake Huron o the left and the Lake Michigan to the right. Very windy there. I checked where I wanted to stop for the night. I had to be in Detroit the next morning, so I could take it rather easy. Finally I stopped in Saginaw for the night and had a long, extra-points-collecting 8 hour rest break. One more day, and I would be back in Pittsburgh after a successful Leg 1.
So the riders have taken off. Eleven long days are ahead of them. Eleven days of happiness, frustration, surprise, soaring muscles, boredom, euphoria and pure joy. As the famous quote says: “you don’t know what the Iron Butt Rally is like unless you have ridden it.” True. It’s difficult to explain, but it is definitely an experience of a lifetime.
Two years ago, the riders had to gather at 8 a.m. in the bike park. Two hours of agony before we could take off. Last preparations…did I think of everything? It was raining and some bike were under some rain covers. I wondered why bikes that will go on a 11.000 miles adventure needed to be sheltered from the rain….another culture shock was the provision of ice cubes…riders put them in their big water jugs on their bikes. At high temperatures…OK! But it was rather cool and raining…weird. I put on my flashy yellow rain suit and together with my fluorescent helmet I stood out of the crowd in the last minute rider meeting. Some guys were laughing at my sight but I knew that I would stay dry the whole day. The other riders in their Roadcraft suits probably wouldn’t…
We had been instructed to leave immediately then the finger would be pointed at us, because the whole pack should leave within four minutes. The police would stop the traffic for us, and the start should be very quick. So it was 10 a.m. and the riders that had participated in the “hair cutting contest – oh my dear!” were out first. You’re nervous when it’s your turn and don’t want to cock it up…finally Warchild’s finger pointed at me – wrooooom! What? No propulsion? Ah, The bike was in neutral gear! And with an enormous “WHACK!!!” I hammered the first gear in its position. Off I went! Through an applauding crowd, through lines of policemen keeping the traffic stopped. A special moment.
From the first day, I remember rather little. It was partly raining and rather cool. I went on not so crowded roads in Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont. I learned soon that there was a huge difference with Europe: when riding on highways, there were no parkings where you could stop and empty your bladder….After the first bonus point location ( an old locomotive), I couldn’t hold it for longer and I disappeared in the high grass…..ouffffff. I visited some locations and enjoyed the countryside roads, especially in Vermont. I had a lot of pressure during the whole day for I wanted to visit a location before sunset and there was little time to spare. I was pushing for the whole afternoon, but in the end I arrived with the last sunlight…but I found out that the access was closed already….aaargh! I rode along the site and could see the boat from the distance. This should do. However, it was getting dark very quickly and I needed a lot of shots before I had an acceptable picture of the boat and my rally flag. 5 minutes later, it was pitch dark…..I put some petrol and finally could have snack. I checked my next locations and decided that I better stayed in this town for I needed to go to some remote places and it didn’t make sense to do this at night. So I checked in a hotel and had a good rest for a couple of hours. I took it easy, I knew that the first leg would only be a snack compared to what was ahead of us and I wanted to sleep a lot to be fresh for the second leg.
….will start tomorrow morning. But this time, without me. I had a place at the start for this year’s rally, but in January, I had decided to pull out of the rally. I had to make a decision and it was not easy. But in the end I had no other choice than to set my priorities. I simply had to save my holidays this year to realize a long-term objectives: developing a multi-day rally in the Alps in 2017. This will take a lot of time and actually while I am typing these lines, I am on my fourth scouting trip. Many more will be needed. But maybe I can follow the rally, remembering what happened two years ago when I was in this place…
I always had in mind to write a report of the IBR 2013, but it never materialized. During the 11 day rally, riders are not permitted to communicate with the outside world, so it was my buddy John Young who posted some news during that period. Anyway, there wouldn’t be time to write a blog post.
The atmosphere is tense before the rally. Some riders are relaxed and easy-going, but most are full of tension and some have already put on their game face. Even I was a bit nervous, although I was not on a competitive mission. With my old XBR500, I had achieved the “Hopeless Class” status and I only wanted to arrive at the finish. I had received a lot of wishes from spectators that were studying bikes in the parking.
In a couple of hours, riders will gather in a large hall in Albuquerque. After some words of the IBA president and the rally master, riders will be called one by one and will receive a big envelope with the rally book and the electronic GPS data. They will rush to their rooms and load the GPS data onto their laptops. I had received all the data for all three legs, but only the first rally book. It took me quite a while to sort and re-name all the data for the first leg. More than 100 points to visit. This looked massive. And then there were the minimum points. After a first, shy calculation, I realized that I had to plan much more ambitious for I would not have had enough points in the end. So I designed a 4700 km ride for the next three and a half days. I discarded NYC and planned to go to Vermont, Quebec, Lake Superior and Detroit before returning to Pittsburgh. It was getting late, but at least the start was only at 10 a.m. the next day. But still, the planning took a long time…and in the end, it’s always the same story: when you’re finally in the bed and should get some precious sleep, the brain is still working and your ideas are spinning in your head….
Well, I was on a nice day out this morning and when chasing a Hayabusa at some 225 km/h (140 mph) on the Autobahn :-) , I suddenly noted that something was wrong. I noted the steering was harder and I immediately pulled over on the hard shoulder. Not a second too late. I had a flat font tyre. Gulp. I had to call the towing truck and when the Pan was loaded, I could hear John Young giggle in my head: after 460.000 km (300.000 mls) on Japanese bikes, I finally had to be towed away, for once! So Hondas could break down? But then I had a closer look. First of all, a flat tyre is not related to the bike per se, this can happen to anybody. But what had happened here? The valve looked strange. Where was the cap? And where was….the metal stem, including the valve??? Gone with the wind! GULP!!!I had the tyre changed last week – I’ll have a serious conversation with my tyre shop tomorrow!!!
The Pan has definitely passed its test. After four years, I could finally win the BBR today. Some of the best riders were missing today, but I made a very bold move today and played “podium or bust” when hunting for bonus point locations in Scotland. The high risk in terms of routing paid off and I arrived with 12 mins to spare at the finish, bagging an enormous 92000 points that game me the lead in this rally. Check my GPS track (for the link, check my previous post) for more details.
Here I am, sitting in my room, reflecting where to go.
Preparing (charging) all the electrical devices…
I arrived yesterday evening at the rally hotel in Coventry. The check-in, technical inspection and odometer calibration ride went very smooth today and in the last hour, I have renamed all the GPS locations that were provided to me according to my system:
90 possible bonus point locations, six more possibilities for a combined extra bonus….where to go in the 36 hours this weekend?
As expected, rally master John Young has prepared a thrilling rally with lots of options….Scotland? France and Belgium? Wales and Cornwall? Staying in the Centre? The answer can only be given after a thorough calculation that keeps me busy tonight. In about two hours, we will have to rider meeting and receive final instructions. Tomorrow at 6 a.m., the pack leaves and only returns 35 – 36 hours later.
As usual, if you want to follow me, here is the link:
Well, it took quite a while….I had purchased the Pan with a certain purpose: it should become my bike for the Ironbutt Rally 2015. Well, I decided to pull out from the rally for various reasons, but I still wanted to do all the modifications (farkling). It is a perfect long distance bike with a big asset: reliability.
I started with the windscreen and ordered a Clearview – the largest one available. It gives a perfect protection against wind and rain. There is also no backdraft or turbulence. A real improvement.
I wanted to install many electrical devices in the cockpit, so I installed my Dispatch One box in the back of the bike. Together with the wireless remote control on the handlebar, I can control all devices centrally and adjust the level of the heated jacked steplessly. Very comfy. It is difficult to mount things in the cockpit so I copied a plan for a dashboard shelf from the internet and planned to construct it myself. I chose aluminum as light material and cut it out of a big plate.
I added also a bracket under the plate to give it more stability. As the aluminum plate was rather thin, I needed to reinforce the whole construction. I painted it with primer and black paint. I’m not brilliant at painting, but it does the trick. I mounted the two sat navs and a mobile phase box on the dashboard.
Together with the Dispatch One controller and the SPOT GPS tracker, the Pan cockpit looks like a decent LD bike now. Next were the brakes. I installed new brake lines. When checking the calipers, I noticed that they wouldn’t move a millimeter. I removed them and was shocked: the previous owner did not place the dust seals! There was an enormous amount of dirt on the piston. No surprise that they wouldn’t move! I cleaned the pistons well and placed new piston and dust seals.
I head reflected a lot about a possible solution for an auxiliary tank. My friend Heinz gave me the right inspiration: why not looking for a back seat cowl and place it there? The Pan was sold as a police bike with a special cowl based on a special mounting plate. I needed also the respective single seat and found everything in the UK. The question was which tank to take. First I had thought to have an aluminum tank constructed, but in the end I discovered that the mounting bracket and the tank of the BMW fitted more or less on the police mounting plate on the Pan.
Well, some bending and drilling was involved, but in the end I had successfully cannibalised the mounting system of the BMW. I wanted to integrate it in the cowl, but this was a bit tricky. I had found a very unique cowl, a kind of tower shaped one. In the end I decided to cut it. I ordered the original paint and painted the cowl in the original wineberry
candy red. In the meantime, I had sent the single seat to California to have it turned into a real Russell seat. I have one for the XBR and in the opinion of many, this is the most comfortable seat you can get for a bike. It took quite a while….and in the end the seat got stuck at the customs for weeks. I was on tenterhooks, for I could only mount the tank if I had the seat ready.
The mounting took quite a while…it was tricky to mount and fix everything. But it seems to work at the moment. I had also installed my floodlights, the Krista Lights from Clearwater Lights. They have been outdated by the latest LED light generation (Kristas: 2 x 2800 Lumen; Erikas: 2 x 7500 Lumen!!!), but they are still more than three times as bright as the normal head beam lights.
I had tested them again during a recent trip and they actually saved my life: they gave me enough time to evade the enormous deer that was standing on the road in the middle of a bend. A close shave!
Did I already mention the handlebar risers? An even more comfortable riding position….
The bike received also a big wellness program at Mart!n’s garage: a new timing belt, a refurbished fork, new radiator hoses, new brake and clutch master and slave pistons, new wheel bearings, a new stainless steel manifold, and and and….the bike has not been in such an excellent state for at least 10 years….or whenever the previous owners decided to give up a proper maintenance…
The bike runs very smooth now, also the rough gearbox performance is history ( must have been the leaking clutch slave piston). A smooth cruising speed is 160 – 180 km/h (100 – 112 mph), but even at 210 km/h (130 mph), the ride is still very easy, no buffeting or weaving. Well, a little bit, but that was due to the worn front tyre. This is also solved.
Right on time, the bike is now ready for its first real test – the Brit Butt Rally next weekend!
When I was reflecting what type of rally or ride could be done in Belgium, things seemed to be complicated: the country is simply too small to do a SS1600 there (1000 miles in 24 hours). Anyway, what could be the theme for a ride? What do most people think when they hear “Belgium”? Chips/Fries, chocolate…..and beer! Why not visiting some of the most iconic places related to Belgian beers? I sat own and tried to develop a ride on the computer…trappist and abbey breweries and monasteries, famous beer makers, the Belgian Brewers Museum….there are many places to visit. After all, Belgium has 180 breweries. I had already proposed this ride to the IBA Germany for 2015, so I needed to check out all the locations I had on my list. I had thought of a special twist, apart from visiting more than 20 locations in less than 24 hours, some tickets of purchases should be collected in shops near some locations. The crucial problem is that the opening times need to be known – some of them change a lot from day-to-day and month to month. So this will be the tricky part of the planning – the route itself is doable even for beginners, but the receipts will require a thorough preparation. In the end, this was what it looked like:
As it was already end of November, it was evident that I needed at least two days to visit and verify all the different places as I needed to take the pictures at daylight. I realized that my place in Belgium is not necessarily the best place to start the ride, but I was just scouting and in the end, I visited all the places in four different days. The nearby abbey of Postel was visited by car before I took off on the next Saturday morning with temperatures slightly above the freezing point:This was a good test for my new Clearview screen, the largest windscreen you can order on this planet for the ST1100. I had also wired the electric jacket to the bike. This would be a good test for the low temperature capabilities of the Pan. I set off for Achel, a monastery that is right on the Dutch-Flemish border. I mean, literally. It is situated partly in The Netherlands and partly in Belgium. I only noticed after 5 km that I had missed turn to the abbey. Well, for the first time in a long time, I used a map for navigation as I had not yet connected the Sat Nav to the bike. I kept the GPS in the tank bag and used it only for the last 1 km to find the exact location, if needed. A strange feeling. Riding just with a map like in the good old days. At least I’m still capable of doing it. The next generations will have troubles with this archaic technique. I took a picture and bought a nice big bottle of Achel Trappist that I stored in my panniers. I was carrying the panniers, the top box and the tank bag: I was prepared for a fat loot.
For the next place, I had to cross the Netherlands and get back to the North-eastern part of Wallonia. I had a great view from the top of the before descending to the Abbey of Val Dieu.
Landscape around Aubel. Coming from the flat country, this is really “hilly”.
At the abbey, I took a picture of the entrance and purchased a big bottle of Val Dieu. If this would continue like this…I enjoyed riding through the hills before I entered the motorway to the South. This was an easy ride through the Ardennes now, but soon I had to turn for the next brewery: not far from the exit, there is the rather young brewery of Achouffe, which is known for its dwarf on the beer label:
There is a shop at the nearby restaurant where they sell a lot of merchandising, including beer. I bought a big bottle of…..something special: the 2014 Château d’Ychouffe. The beer is made with some added grape must from Sauternes. I opened the bottle as an aperitif on New Year’s Eve…and was surprised! Delicious stuff! Try this en lieu of Champagne.
Trappist monestary Orval
I continued my trip on the motorway and reached the very South of Belgium. I followed the winding roads on the border with France and reached the next famous Trappist monastery: Orval. I remembered the red post box on the outer wall from the Magic 12 Rally. I entered the shop where people left with happy faces and two boxes of beer under their arms. Orval is not one of my favorites so I picked a cooking book with advanced recipes using Trappist beers as ingredient. Yummy!
The next stop was Rochefort: the fog in the South vanished and I could cruise through the Walloon countryside to my next destination. The monastery and brewery of Rochefort cannot be visited. This is a pity, a nice café serving this great beer would be a good idea. I took my picture of the very red entrance building and moved on.
Abbey of Rochefort.
The temperature in the afternoon climbed to about 5 degrees, but I felt nice and warm. The wind protection was excellent and the heated jacket did the rest although I did not need more than 50 % of the maximum power. This was a nice and winding ride now. Soon I reached the abbey of Maredsous. This abbey can’t be visited either. Again I went southwards towards the city of Chimay. A closed road made me have to improvise and use some small roads. Remember, I didn’t use any GPS.
The bottling factory of Chimay.
I had selected not the abbey itself, but the place where the beer is bottled. However, there was no shop where beer could be purchased. However, I found a shop in the vicinity (called “Discobeer”, haha) where I bought a Chimay Grande Réserve…a big bottle, of course. Now it was already time to return home. On the way home, I planned to visit the two locations in Brussels although I knew that I’d have to visit them the next day again. I approached Brussels from the West through the ‘colorful’ quarter of Molenbeek. It was Saturday evening and I experienced for the first time something like ‘traffic’ on that day.
I found the Brewery of Cantillon closed. Of course, as it was already almost 7 p.m. I took my picture and went on to the centre of Bruxelles, passing the Xmas market in the streets.
Light show at the Grand Place in Brussels (copied from the website of the city of Brussels)
Finally I had to park next to the Grand Place and walk to the square. An enormous sound and light show welcomed me. The old houses were illuminated with constantly changing colours. When I flipped my helmet open, I realized in my face how cold it actually was. At the end of the square, I found the Belgian Brewers Museum – of course closed. As it was dark, I planned to come back the next day. On the way back, some women asked me the way. I told her I wouldn’t know either. “Oh, I thought you’d be police. Your helmet….”.
I mounted the Pan and returned home. It was apparently quite chilly, but I felt quite comfortable with my heated jacked. I spent the night at home and left again before sunrise. My first stop was the abbey of Westmalle. Another iconic Trappist brewery, it cannot be visited, so I had to take a picture from the outside.
The symbol of De Koninck and Antwerpen:the hand.
The next destination was in Antwerp; the brewery “De Koninck” is the most famous beer of the largest city in Flanders. I needed several attempts to find my way through the confusing system of one way streets. Remember, I carried no GPS. It was Sunday morning, so traffic was basically absent. On my way to the South, I passed the Brewery Duvel. I decided to include it in the ride on the spot. The large storage facility carries the big letters “Pssst….here ripes the devil” (Duvel). The next step was not far away, the best amber beer in Flanders: Palm Breweries. The next spot in Brussels was not far away and as it was still Sunday morning, I could get to the city centre easily. I noticed that slowly I was getting cold. Had the electric jacket stopped working? Must be a contact problem of my distribution box. I would fix it at the next stop. I returned to the Grand Place in Brussels and finally took my picture at daylight. The museum was supposed to be open – but apparently the Belgium brewers still had a handover for the large doors were still closed and nobody answered the doorbell. I returned to my bike and was approached by a Turkish tourist. He asked me the way to his hotel. As his English was rather non-existing, this was a difficult task. With the help of my battery driven GPS, I located his hotel I tried to convince him to take a taxi, as crisscrossing through the Centre of Brussels did not seem to be very successful. When he went away, three ladies took his place. They asked with a familiar accent so I asked where they came from. “Catalunya”. Aha, so I dug out my rusty Catalan for the rest of the conversation. “Bon dia!” Amazement stage 1. How can I help you guys? The way to your hotel? Let me check the GPS… Amazement stage 2. Why do you speak Catalan? Well, I lived in Barcelona. Amazement stage 3. No, actually I’m not a policeman…yes, I know, my helmet…Amazement stage 4. No, I’m not Belgian. I’m a tourist…I’m German…yes, on a Belgian bike. Amazement stage 5. “Adeu!”
I went again to Cantillon, but the museum was closed on Sundays. So I went westwards in the direction of Oudenaarde. I soon noticed that the two funny encounters in Brussels had distracted me from finding the problem of the not working jacket.
Liefmans Brewery. Oudenaarde.
Temperatures were about 3 degrees at the moment. Fresh, but I missed the cosy warmth of the jacket. Finally I stopped at the brewery Liefmans. The are known for their fruity beers and exposed a big copper mash at the entrance. I took off the seat and checked the trigger wire of the Dispatch 1 box if the plus tapping still worked. Aha! The tools bag moved position when I had rattled over the Belgian cobble stones and disconnected the trigger wire. I connected it again and – aaaaah! I was “electrified” again. I went south and entered Wallonia again. I had specifically looked for a point in south-west Belgium to extend the circle a bit. I had selected the Dubuisson brewery near Barry. The was some drizzle now, but I felt nice and warm again. I took my picture of Dubuisson and hesitated for a moment if I should make a break in the warm café. But I had my plans. The next stop would be the highlight of the day.
I travelled back to the Flemish side and passed Kortrijk and Ieper (Ypres). It was cold, misty and raining and I remembered that hundred years ago, the advance of the German army came to a halt in these fields in the Westhoek. For four more years, the Youth of Europe was butchered here and almost 500.000 victims soaked the soil with their blood.
Luckily I was on a much more peaceful mission and headed towards the centre of beer pilgrimage in Belgium (according to many): the Trappist abbey of Westvleteren. Being elected as “the best beer of the world” several times, it is probably the most sought beer in Belgium. Extremely hard to get, you can only buy it at the abbey after a long procedure, or buy it in the abbey shop…or drink it in the abbey café. Finally I had found the parking of the abbey in the fog. I took my picture of the entrance and realized that people left the shop with a happy smile on their face…and some boxes of beer under their arms. Oh, there was the possibility to buy the beer! I queued up and when it was my turn, I was allowed to buy 3 boxes of Westvleteren12; 18 small bottles of beer in total. For the tiny price of 60 Euros. Gulp. I sat down in the Café “in de Vrede” and ordered a Westvleteren 12, from the tap – an opportunity not to be missed. I checked my route and concluded that it could be difficult to visit the last two Trappist abbeys in The Netherlands by daylight. So I contacted my fellow LD rider Giel north of Antwerp and arranged a visit instead.
Brewery De Halve Maan, Bruges
I continued my trip and entered Brugge (Bruges). I needed to reactivate my non-GPS orientation skills as road signs is not always a core competence of good old Belgium. I could avoid the tourist area and found soon the brewery “De Halve Maan”. The next stop was near Gent and while riding there, I thought that the constant temperature of 3°C didn’t bother me. The Pan really passed the test. I had first some problems to take the right motorway exit (again, no GPS), but in the end I found the brewery Huyghe in Melle.
It is known for the beer Delirium Tremens with the pink elephant. A large brewing kettle is disposed in the front of the brewery. This was my last location for that day. I went to Antwerp and visited Giel. To my surprise, I arrived soaked as it started to rain! Luckily I could warm up at Giel’s cosy place and enjoy his hospitality.
Abbey of Maria Toevlucht: last of the 21 locations.
I visited the two missing places on the following weekend: the Dutch(!) Trappist breweries of Maria Toevlucht and Koningshoeven. The two monasteries have only recently started up the brewing of Trappist beers. At Koningshoeven, there is a nice Café where one can try all the beers along with a nice snack.
At home, I had to sit down and prepare all the documents. As usual, this took a while :-) . I had to save and check all the coordinates, write the general description of the ride and describe each of the 21 locations providing some background information. Finally I had everything together and sent it to Gerhard for proofreading. Minor typos were corrected and Gerhard and Frank prepared the announcements and a fancy patch that a successful rider will receive after the ride is done and documented successfully. As to the purchase receipts, I decided that six tickets should be presented after the ride; this gives enough headaches during the planning, but should be achievable even for a not so experienced rider. In the end, this ride should be fun and not doable for a few riders only.
This is really a nice ride and I’m looking forward to riding it myself this year. The IBA Germany has decided to start a series of “ride of the year” with this one which means that this ride will only be certified in 2015. The riding documents are presented here.
Day 1: Customer decides that a new steering bearing is needed for his bike. He identifies the closest Honda dealer and rides there. He makes an appointment for day 5.
Day 5: Customer arrives at the garage before opening time. He is told that the bearing hasn’t arrived yet and is asked to call in the afternoon. Due to the late opening hour, customer arrives late at work. He calls in the evening and is told that the bearing will not arrive until day 11. Garage blames Honda for this late delivery. Customer makes appointment for day 11.
Day 11: Customer arrives at the garage before opening time. He leaves his bike and gets an old, rotten BMW K75 to get to work. Due to the late opning hour, customer arrives late at work. In the evening, customer picks up the bike and pays 297 Euros. On the way home, customer notices that something was wrong. At home, customer realizes that there is quite some play in the fork that causes a clicking noise when breaking or riding on bumpy roads.
Day 12: Customer arrives at the garage before opening time. He asks the garage to check the play in the fork. Garage proposes to tighten bearing adjustment nut in the afternoon. Due to the late opening hour, customer arrives late at work. Customer comes back during lunch break; garages tightens bearing. Customer makes a remark that now it’s very tight as the handlebar barely moves. Garage tells customer that this might improve after a while.
Day 14: Customer arrives at the garage before opening time. He tells the garage that noise is still hefty, something must be wrong. Maybe a bearing wasn’t installed well and shows bearing play? Garage suggests to tighten bearing adjustment nut. Customer tells garage that this was already done and that it is on the “too tight” side. Garage is confused and proposes a new appointment for day 19.
Day 19: Customer arrives at the garage before opening time. He leaves his bike and gets an old, rotten Yamaha Fazer to get to work. Due to the late opening hour, customer arrives late at work. He tells the garage that noise is still hefty, something must be wrong. Maybe a bearing wasn’t installed well and shows bearing play? Garage suggests to tighten bearing adjustment nut. Customer tells garage that this was already done and that it is on the “too tight” side. In the evening, customer passes by the garage and is told that the bike is not ready and that he should call the next day.
Day 20: Customer calls and is told that bike would be ready on day 21.
Day 21: Customer arrives in the evening at the garage and is told by the garage that they spotted the problem: a bushing of the anti-dive system is worn and would make the noise. Customer is sceptical but agrees to exchange the respective part of the anti-dive system.
Day 26: Customer arrives in the evening at the garage and is told that this wasn’t the problem. Customer suggests that maybe a bearing wasn’t installed well and shows bearing play? Garage mumbles something. Will look into that. Customer should call on day 28.
Day 29: Customer calls at garage. Bike is “100% ready”. Customer rides to garage with old Yamaha Fazer. Customer’s bike is ready. Garage explains the problem: the lower bearing showed play (!) and the outer race of the bearing was replaced. Customer pays 22 Euro for anti-dive spare part and rides home. Finally, everything is in order.
Time for customer to look for another garage in the future.
I went with the new tyres on my first trip with the Pan: an IBA Germany Ride to Eat to the Black Forest. Within a wink of an eye I passed Karlsruhe – wow, what a comfy, but quick ride! OK, there are small optimizations to make – an even higher and wider windshield and some risers to bring the handlebars more to the back…I was early so I enjoyed some of the nice roads in the Black Forest – and got acquainted to the new BT023 and I liked it a lot! Gives a good feedback and provides enough grip. I arrived to Triberg well in advance and rode to the world’s largest cuckoo clock. There was another only. After a while, we wondered if we were at the right place – there should be 40 riders and nobody was around…I checked my GPS and realised that we were waiting at the “1st world’s largest cuckoo clock” and not at the “world’s largest cuckoo clock”. We rushed to the right place – just in time to be in the picture:We visited the interior of the large clock and left individually for our accommodation in nearby Rottweil. We spent the evening chatting in Pizzeria – a nice finish for the event. The next day I headed back north. Rushing on the Autobahn with 180 to 200 km/h is quite comfortable and the top speed of 220 km/h can be considered as sufficient. On my way home, I passed by the INTERMOT in Cologne, the largest motorbike exposition in Germany. It was a quick visit, but very interesting. The booths of the large bike producers, useful gadgets, spare and tuning parts and and and….top news were the new BMW R1200RS, The KTM Adventure 1290 and the Kawasaki H2 motor concept: turbo power is back!
The new BMW R1200RS.
The future Kawasaki H2 turbo motor.
Well, that’s definitely the future….Kawasaki concept bike.
Back home I had received some parcels. Spare parts and something special…When I was talking to Heinz about installing an auxiliary tank, he had a brilliant idea.
A police seat pod to cover a future auxiliary tank
What about turning the bike into a mono seater and install the tank in the pillion position? The Pan was used in many countries as a police bike and had a special seat cowl that housed the bike’s radio electrics. I had bought such a cowl in the UK and placed it on the bike for a try.
The mounting plate that should carry the aux tank…one day.
This will be a tricky project. I’ll have to build a cardboard model first, order a customized aluminium tank, connect it to the main tank and paint the pod. Challenging. But it would give me another 200 km range.
I installed also the original Honda mirror and fairing deflectors that will give me some more wind&weather protection. Nice.
The original Honda mirror deflector
The original Honda fairing deflector installed (left) and not yet installed (right)
Finally I received my numberplates and could ride the bike officially. I had already ordered new tyres for the old ones were really old (11 years). I printed the relevant pages of the repair manual and started to remove the front and rear wheel. The front wheel was easy, but the real wheel gave me a hard time. When I had it out, I spotted that the parts of the final drive flange were rusty and completely dry.
The final drive flange. Where is all the grease that’s supposed to lubricate here??
A quick look in the service papers did not reveal any evidence that the wheel was removed in the last 11 years. The bike was initially sold and serviced at Honda in Germany, but when it was registered in Belgium, the “services” were done in no-name garages. The most important maintenance was apparently done (oil changes, filter changes etc), but I wonder if the bike was always maintained according to the Honda maintenance plan. The bike appears to be in good condition, but I realised that I need to do a lot of (preventive) maintenance in the next months. A checklist will be a good idea.
Now that’s better…
Luckily, the repair manual gives detailled information how to lubricate what and with what. I cleaned all the dry, rusty parts as good as I could. The female part of the drive flange was difficult to clean, for a perfect result one would have to disassemble the final drive. But this not really necessary, my cleaning was already a big improvement. Luckily the parts were not really affected by this lack of maintenance. I cleaned all part, applied MoS2 grease where necessary and assembled the rear wheel and placed it back.
Clean and greasy – ready for assembly.
I have already ordered a full set of brake and clutch tubes, 18 year old rubber is not the best to maintain a good pressure. Other things have to follow. While the rear wheel was removed, I inspected the most critical part of the frame: the swingarm. Mud and dirt get disposed there and many STs have the problem that swingarm get so rusty that it needs to be replaced (expensive) or welded (quite some work). Like the exhaust, the swingarm only shows some superfial rust. So my first impression was right.
Only very light, superficial corrosion of the swingarm – good!
I did some test rides and was very pleased with the new BT023 tyres. They give a good confidence and I soon made the footpegs scratch on the tarmac. I visited the next Honda workshop and arranged a change of the totally damaged steering bearing this week.
Lots of ideas for maintenance and farkling, interesting times ahead!
Well, I still have to write my report of the ET2014 Rally, but there are already some consequences…before the rally, I had spotted a bike by coincidence….It seemed to be the right bike for the Ironbutt Rally next year in the USA – very reliable, excellent wind protection and fuel economy, and a very comfortable ride. In the end, I made a good bargain and obtained a big bike for the price of a XBR! You can see that it is already more than 17 years old, but for a ST1100, a mileage of 75000 km is nothing. A perfect long distance bike. The riding is very smooth and comfy. The BMW is still in Spain and waiting to be transported back. Its fate is not yet decided, but its rally days are probably over.New tyres are ordered and the only urgent repair is a new steering bearing. Some heavy farkling will be needed to prepare it for the IBR2015, but the basis is a better one than 2013.Looking forward to do some serious test riding!
If some of you wondered why my spot point didn’t move in the last 24h, here is the explanation. I had a brilliant ride yesterday, saw a lot of Spain. Picos de Europa, Gijon, Santander, Salamanca, the heart of Madrid, Cuenca, Valencia….everything was going extremely well and according to my plan. During my planning, I had spotted that Spain would give more points than the Baltic States or Greece….I had also considered to go to Lisbon, but a careful evaluation revealed that a shorter route through Spain and picking almost all points there was much safer and resulted in more total points. I had informed the family of my lady that I would pass by the centre of Valencia and much to my surprise when I arrived at the town hall, there were 10 people waiting for me to support me and to provide me with food and drinks. Overwhelming! In high spirits I left Valencia and had to pick one point near Castellon and to get to Vinaros where I had reserved a hotel room. The plan was to pick a lots of points along the Catalan coast the lat day and to return already at midnight at the rally finish, maybe even picking some more points near Stuttgart. But when I reached the location near Castellon, the gearbox made heavy noises before it finally died. No more propulsion. The good side: the recovery was quick, I was transferred to Valencia quickly and could stay with my “parents-in-law” and fly back home today.
The frustrating part: I had already a 170000 points and my plan included at least a 213692 points for the total rally…sounds massive. I really hope someone has more points than that or my frustration will be enourmous…my hottest candidate is John Young, as he also found his way to Spain. So it is another DNF in the most important rally in Europe ever. When I was standing with my BMW in the dark in the plantations, I remembered that is was the third time I was waiting for a towing service for my BMW…three more than with all my other bikes….I knew that there must be consequences…and I was so content on that day, everything was running so smooth, a rally of a lifetime, so to say. The bike had just passed the 100.000 km mark and I was happy that it ran so well. But what is a nice performance if in the end you are waiting for a towing truck? Maybe I should look out for Japanese bikes again?
Well, the rally was great fun up to that point and I visited so much iconic and scenic places in such a short time. This was gorgeous and will stay in my memory. Here is my track of the gorgeous leg 2:
My gorgeous route in leg 2 until my gearbox crashed.
I will try to get to the ceremony tomorrow, although it will be tough, but I owe this to the organisers who did a fantastic job! Thank you for this outstanding rally! It set a standard in Europe!
A few lines before I finally go to bed. My first leg was very good. I went to Rome and back to the Alps where the checkpoint hotel is. standings see me in front (check the IBA Germany forum).
As expected, leg 2 is massive!! I needed a lot of time to come up with something very promising. A first glance revealed that Greece or the Baltic states is the place to go, but to my surprise I found a third option :-)
Keep fingers crossed!
Follow my spot!
Talk to you in four days.
I am on my way to the rally highlight of the year – the European Tour 2014. It is organised jointly by the IBA Germany and the IBA Ireland. On Sunday morning, many riders will start from Stuttgart. Where to? None of the participants knows. We only know that we have to be at a secret checkpoint location on Monday evening. From there, we will start again on Tuesday morning and finish again on Friday morning in Stuttgart. With 36 hours plus 76 hours, this makes it the first true multi-day rally in Europe!
There will be excellent riders from all over the world, i.e. all over Europe, USA, Canada, Australia…. For most riders who have not ridden a multi-day rally before, this will be a tough new experience.
In principle, 425 bonus point locations will be distributed all over the European Union! The tricky part is to choose the right ones. The points will be revealed tomorrow afternoon, after that the riders will go to their rooms and start the planning of leg 1. We have a pretty tight schedule!:
If you want to follow the event, you can do this here:
Recently, I was invited by Germany’s largest magazine for motorbike travelling to write a few lines about somebody that is very loyal to a single motorcycle brand….well, it was immediately evident I knew a guy who falls in this category.
John Young is not simply devoted to a motorcycle brand – he lives his love for Triumph through and through. It is not because of the brand per se or the fact that Hinckley located only 34 miles from his home. John is a proud Briton and therefore only a British motorcycle came into question.
Over the years many motorcycles accumulated, some bustle in his large garage – but only for everyday use. In an outbuilding he has placed his museum, a place of worship with an attached living room. John’s collection includes ten perfectly preserved pieces from the sixties and seventies. The museum’s splendour is complemented by all sorts of pictures, posters, rally certificates and other devotional objects. Not only his motorcycle clothes and cups, rugs, T-Shirts, everything in John’s daily life breathes the spirit of Triumph.
Many of his machines have a special story He has some production racers who wrote racing history, including the “Son of Sam”, a Trident T160, which was used in the TT on the Isle of Man. Likewise, a Daytona T150 No.8. These particular artefacts don’t wear their tyres flat, but are used in classic events. By this, John met the former riders of the bikes who were the heroes of his youth.
John is a passionate endurance rider, he regularly takes part in the rallies of the Iron Butt Association. He often participates with an old Trident T150 from 1969 and often receives a sneer from other riders who do not know what it is capable of. On a 36-hour Brit Butt Rally he was on a virtual podium position, just six miles from the finish when the bike’s electrics failed him. On the other hand he wrote history of the legendary Iron Butt Rally 2011, when he successfully finished the rally after eleven days and 14,000 kilometers on that old Triumph, having visited all 48contiguous states of the USA. At the Magic-12 Rally in Germany in 2012, his 955 Daytona could not start because of a technical problem. He was offered a spare bike which he refused with thanks – it was not a Triumph …
John’s next project is the participation in a desert rally with an old Triumph off-road side-car – a likeable loony, who can arise not only from Britain.
Die letzte XBR-Alpentour ist Geschichte. Bis zu 11 Mitfahrer, 8 XBRs, 3700 km feinster Alpenstrecken. Alle Teilnehmer sind wieder heil und zufrieden zurückgekehrt. Eine unvergessliche Tour. Die Aufarbeitung der 50 Stunden an Videos wird Monate brauchen, aber hier ist ein schnell zusammengeschustertes Video, das einen kleinen Vorgeschmack bietet.
The last XBR-Alps Tour is history. Up to 11 participants, 8 XBRs, 3700 km of the finest alpine routes. All participants have returned home safely and satisfied. An unforgettable tour. The processing of the 50 hours of videos will take months, but here’s a quick cobbled together video that gives a little foretaste.
again only very little time. We have done out first 5 days of the Alpentour and we had partially some wet moment, especially yesterday. But we also had a good time. Lots of good roads and so many bends! I recorded so many videos that will take me the whole winter to extract something condensed out of them. But here is some quick example how this could look like:
Pure fun! It looks like the weather will improve the next days. Today we had gorgeous weather in Switzerland. Beautiful scenery. We had no technical troubles so far. Yesterday we had to change the route considerably as there was some heavy thunderstorm across the Italian Prealps. But in the end, I found some acceptable substitute roads.Tomorrow we head to the West. The Spot tracker does not reveal all the small roads we are riding :-).
Der grosse Tag ist endlich da – heute startet die Anreise zur finalen XBR-Alpentour! Morgen früh starten wir von Villach aus zur längsten Alpentour aller Zeiten. 9 Tage und 4300 km später werden wir in Menton an der Côte d’Azur ankommen. Was werden wir so erleben? Na, ich zitiere mal aus meinem Rückblick über 20 Jahre:
“Geschätzte 50000 km. Unzählige Kurven und Pässe. Etliche Rutscher. Fünf gebrochene Rippen. Eine gebrochene Hand. Eine gerissene Kette. Ein gebrochenes Hinterrad. Ein Kolbenfresser. Ein zerschellter Chopper. Verglühte Bremsen. Verlorene Koffer. Zermürbte Schwingenlager. Ein gekrönter Apfel. Fehlendes Gabelöl. Unzähliche Panoramablicke. Vergessene Tankrucksäcke. Kaffeebraune Tänzerinnen. Lockere Federbeine. Volle Campingplätze. Ein Sternerestaurant. Tausende von frustrierten, weil von leistungsschwachen XBRs überholten Motorradfahrern. Wütende Wanderer. Zentner von wohlschmeckender Pasta. Ein Vampirhotel. Ein vernichtetes Getriebe. Tonnenweise caffè. Schweiß, Schweiß, Schweiß. Adrenalin. Flow. Schnarchorgien. Fotos. Fährfahrten. Sonnenuntergänge. Zigarettenpausen. Rollsplitt. Eine Zugfahrt, eine Gondelfahrt, eine Zahnradbahnfahrt. Gesperrte Forstwege. Schotter. Schotterstraßen. Schotterpässe. A-Gruppe und B-Gruppe. Veitstänze. XBRs im Nebel. Benzinmangel. Verölte Lederkombis. Knackige Abendrunden. Rosso auf der Brücke. Prosecco aus der Karaffe. Messer zwischen den Zähnen. Hitze. Noch mehr Hitze. Ein Striptease. Wolkenbrüche. Eine verdammt gute Zeit!!!”
Ich habe versucht, ein spektakuläres Programm zusammenzustellen, das die meisten Höhepunkte zusammenfasst. Ich muss sagen, ich bin gescheitert. Um das zu schaffen, wären nicht neun, sondern 30 Tage notwendig gewesen. Aber neun Tage bei diesem Pensum sind eh schon eine Herausforderung. Wir schaukeln nicht 200 km bis 300 km am Tag herunter. Nein, es sind 450 km bis 500 km pro Tag geplant. Das wird auch den härtesten Alpentourfahrer weichkochen. Einen Strich durch die Rechnung könnte uns das Wetter machen. Um diese Jahreszeit ist eigentlich bestes Wetter die Regel, aber dieses Jahr scheinen wir nicht soviel Glück zu haben wie 2003 oder 2008. Im schlimmsten Fall habe ich gemütliche Unterkünfte ausgesucht, in denen wir uns wieder trocknen können.
Es sind maximal 10 Teilnehmer anwesend, die Zahl der Fahrer schwankt zwischen 6 und 9. Ein sehr gute Zahl. Die Fahrer selbst sind alte Alpentourveteranen und starke Motorradtreiber. Das ist von Vorteil, denn das Leistungsniveau ist sehr hoch und homogen, niemand wird sich also überfordert fühlen. Meine vorsichtige Schätzung ergibt ca. durchschnittliche 8 bisherige Alpentourteilnahmen pro Fahrer. Ein paar Dinge werden anders sein dieses Mal. Zum Beispiel werden relativ wenig unbefestigte Straßen gefahren werden. Bei dem ehrgeizigen Programm halten sie zu sehr auf und würden zu Lasten anderer Schmankerl gehen. Wir werden meistens von Hotel zu Hotel unterwegs sein, aber zweimal auch Tagesausflüge unternehmen. Ich werde auch versuchen, so viel wie möglich die Reise zu dokumentieren, ein paar schöne Erinnerungen wären nicht schlecht.
Es ist natürlich möglich, uns zu folgen! Mein Spot wird ab Donnerstagmorgen sichtbar sein unter
Ich werde auch versuchen, immer wieder Statusupdates zu geben, sofern das technisch (Internetz) und zeitlich möglich ist (Ankunft am Hotel, Zimmer beziehen, ggfs Mopedpflege, elektronische Geräte aufladen, Duschen, Essen, Trinken, Babbeln, Videos und Fotos sichern, und dann vielleich noch was tippen…).
Heute geht es erstmal mit dem Autozug von Düsseldort nach Villach in Kärnten, zusammen mit Harri und Ralf. Dort treffen wir auf Jo, Hans und Gernot und starten die Tour. Mario, Thomas, Richard, Peter mit Milo (wuff!) stoßen später dazu. Bis auf zwei geduldete Fremdfabrikate sind 7 XBRs durch die Alpendörfer unterwegs, der Klang der Posaunen von Jericho war ein laues Lüftchen dagegen!
The big dayis finally here–todaystarts thejourney to thefinalXBR–Alpentour! Tomorrow morningwe’ll startfrom Villachto the longest XBR-Alpentourof all time.9 days and4300 kmlaterwe will arriveinMenton on theCôted’Azur.Whatwill we experience?Well,I quotefrom mylook backover the last 20years:
“Estimated 50000 km. Countlesscurvesand passes.Severalfalls. Fivebroken ribs. A brokenhand.Abrokenchain.A brokenrear wheel.Apiston seizure. Asmashedchopper bike.Burned upbrakes.Lostpanniers.Worn bearings. Missingforkoil.Countlesspanoramic views. Forgottentank bags. Coffee-browndancers.Loosestruts.Fullcampings. A Michelinstarrestaurant. Thousandsof frustrated (becauseovertaken byunderperformingXBRs)motorcyclists.Furioushikers.Tonsoftastypasta.A vampirehotel.Anannihilatedgearbox. Tons ofcaffè. Sweat, sweat,sweat.Adrenalin.Flow.Snoringorgies.Photographs.Ferry rides. Sunsets.Cigarettebreaks.Gravel. A train ride, a cable car ride, a cog railwayride.Blockedforest roads. Gravel. Gravel roads.Gravelpasses.Group A andgroup B. St. Vitusdances.XBRsin the fog. Lack of fuel. Oilyleather suits. Crunchyeveningtours.Rossoon the bridge.Proseccofrom the carafe. Knife between teeth. Heat.Even moreheat.Astriptease.Downpours. Adamn good time! “
I have triedto put together aspectacular programthat summarizes mosthighlights.I have to say, I failed. Todo that,it would have been necessary to ride not fornine, but30 days.Butnine daysin thispacearealwaysa challenge. We’ll do notan easy-going 200 kmto 300km per day. No, I planned450 kmup to 500 kmper day. Thiswill exhaust eventhehardestalpineriders. A problem could arise from the weather.This time of yearis actuallythe best time to go, but this year we do notseem to have as much luck as2003 or2008. If the worst case happens,I havechosencozy accommodations where wecan dry up again.
Therearea maximum of 10participantspresent, thenumber of driversvaries6 to 9.A verygood number. Thedrivers themselvesare oldAlpentourveterans andstrongriders.This isadvantageousbecause theskillslevel is very highand homogeneous,sono one willfeel swamped. Myconservativeestimate isaboutaverage8previousAlpentours perrider. A fewthings will bedifferent this time. For example, relativelyfewunpaved roadswill be ridden. No time for that. We willbe mostly ride from one hotel tothe the other,but there will bealsotwo day trips.I will alsotry as muchas possibleto documentthe journey, a few nicememorieswould not be bad.
I will alsotry to givestatusupdates, provided that there is internet andtime for it.
Today, we ride with thecar trainfromDüsseldorfto Villachin Carinthia,together withHarriand Ralf. There wemeetJo, Hansand Gernotandstart the tour.Mario,Thomas, Richard, PeterMilo(wuff!) will joinlater.Except for twotoleratedother manufacturers, therewill be 7XBRsblasting through smallAlpine villages, the sound of thetrumpets of Jerichowasa gentle breezeagainst this!
Old pictures of the last 20 years can be found here.
just a few lines from the house of John Young who has me as a guest.
We’re back safe from the rally and I still can’t believe it – I have won my first rally on British soil! :-)
Well, second place (Giel Kerkhof) and third place (John Young) were very close, in a wink of an eye. But thanks to a very, very, very bold move in the last minutes of the rally, I scored only a handful of points more. I gambled also with the petrol – after the finish, the XBR stopped without fuel after 1 mile!! John had to play the rescue team getting petrol for me.
We were washed today, masses of water came down from the sky! I crossed London in the afternoon twice – the traffic was nightmare! But I had chosen the right bike for that task! I felt like a fish in the water and swam through congested London, where no other bike could follow me.
Probably I was overcompensated today for a lot of bad luck in the last years. The XBR definitely has passed the test and is ready for the Alpentour ;-)
I thought I need some more rally practice before the big European Rally this year, so I enrolled for the Brit Butt Light Rally. It is similar to the Brit Butt Rally – but instead 35 hours, it only lasts 11 hours. A sprint rally, so to say. It will start on Saturday morning and finish in the evening. The participants have already received the rally book and have prepared their routes. I will not reveal mine yet, of course :-) . What is special about this rally: I will use a XBR500. But not my old black ‘naughty little rascal’…..ta-taaaaaaa!
I’ll ride with the new red XBR with only 5000 miles on the clock. The background is that I want to use the bike in this year’s final Alpentour and I need to check if everything is OK.
It’s a kind of ‘back to the basics’, no frills! Of course I need a Sat Nav, but the only farkle is the Russell seat. I gave the bike a thorough service – new brakes with a new tubing, oil change, new filters, new tyres (the front tyre was the original one from 1985!), the superlight LiFePo battery…..I guess it is at least 30 kg lighter than the black and its performance is great fun.
The other day, I cleaned the shed and finally could access my collector’s item…my 1986 XBR in new condition. Well, I saw I had to take care a bit of the chrome parts, so I polished them. I took the opportunity to gather all the XBRs for a family picture :-)
The XBR family. In the front: Black Beauty (2.000 km), the red newcomer (7.000 km), the grey café racer (37.000 km) and the ‘Tourenschlampe’ (touring bitch, 360.000 km). Humbled by so much beauty and trustworthiness, the BMW (91.000 km) stands bashfully aside.
I noted that there is a lot of maintenance due, that’s the problem when the family gets larger and larger. I ordered and have received a lot of spare parts, a lot of work ahead :-)
After a dry and chilly ride to Germany (!) and Denmark, I have returned to the rally base in Örebro. The ride went according to plan, I just lost some points at the scoring table, but that’s ok because I shouldn’t have claimed them in the first place.
Now there is still some time until the ceremony, maybe I can find a quiet place for a little nap….
Swedish country is great, but I had rather little of it. With 1955 km I stayed just under the limit of 2000 km, constantly checking the predicted KMs during the rally.
Update: I was called again to the rallymaster and lost another enormous 2000 points as I was not included on two pictures where this was asked. That is correct, but it is good practice to accept the scoring result from both sides when the rider leaves the scoring room. Changing results after the scoring due to whatever reason (exception: cheating or misconduct) is not good style.
Ok, so I lost 9 % of my points, this won’t be a good result then…
OK, everything is ready and prepared. The route is fixed and this time I go for a bold move. There is a maximum limit of 2000 km for the rally, but I will be close to that (hopefully). Unfortunately, the route will not be very scenic, but if my plan works out, a massive number of points wait for me. If…if…if….let’s hope for the best, keep fingers crossed. ;-)
Tomorrow at 7:30 we start from Örebro.The spot track link is given below. I’m back on Sunday 7:30. Now let’s get some sleep!
So here I sit on board of the ferry boat to Sweden, watching the Baltic Sea.
I just have finished the Smørgåsbord (Swedish buffet). Today was I sunny and quiet day. I went from Belgium to Kiel in a very relax manner, trying to get used to the Scandinavian speed limits….In the harbour, I received an unexpected visit from a XBR500 (I recognised the sound immediately)! It was Style Kyle, a follower of this blog, who saluted me and invited me for a beer. Thanks, mate! I had to wait 90 minutes to be able to board the ship (!&@?€¥%#!!!!!). Now I struggle with the slow, but free internet on board. Just before entering the ship, I noticed that I lost one screw of the aux tank plate. So my first in Sweden will at a DIY shop….the weather forecast looks brilliant for the rally!
Tomorrow morning I will leave for Sweden to participate in the Scandinavian Rally. It is the first time for me to do a rally in Sweden and it’s the first time in 21 years to visit Sweden. I haven’t been there since I went to the Nordkapp. I will take a comfy ferry tomorrow evening from Kiel to Göteborg and will arrive in Örebro on Friday. The 24 hour rally will start on Saturday morning and I am looking forward to ride through the beautiful Swedish countryside! You can follow my spot tracks: The rally https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=a1865394abb5f0196 The usual track including the trip to Sweden https://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=7a6f521748fad9ef4
Just a quick note before I leave the rally venue. I had a good ride, almost a perfect one. Due to a transcription error, I lost many points at the scoring table. So instead finishing 4th, I ended 6th. I had a good performance, but my planned route was not top of the pops.
John Young (my co-commenter during the IBR last year) won the rally with a cracking performance. Congratulations, old chap!!
Later more…some more rain is waiting for me before I get to the Eurotunnel….
I have arrived with the ferry in Hull this morning, accompanied by my old motorcycle chap Jo. We had a full English breakfast in Hull and decided to ride directly to the Rally HQ in Castleford, as the weather was not too good. We were very lucky to have our rooms at 11 a.m. And we could start our preparations very early. At 2 a.m., the check in opened, followed by the technical inspection and the odo check ride to determine the odometer calibration factors. The four German riders rode together, accompanied by rain showers.
A fuel refill, stocking up of food supplies and last preparations and there’s still time until the dinner and the subsequent riders meeting where we will be handed out the rally books and when the bonus point locations will be revealed.
I will try to use the spare time for a little nap; the night will be short with the route planning and the adrenalin kicking in….Tomorrow at 6:00 GMT we take off.
As announced in my previous post, you can follow me via my GPS tracker.
when you read this, I’ll be on the ferry to Hull and on my way to Castleford where the rally starts on Saturday morning. More information will follow tomorrow.
Die WordPress.com-Statistik-Elfen haben einen Jahresbericht 2013 für dieses Blog erstellt.
Hier ist ein Auszug:
Die Konzerthalle im Sydney Opernhaus fasst 2.700 Personen. Dieses Blog wurde in 2013 etwa 15.000 mal besucht. Wenn es ein Konzert im Sydney Opernhaus wäre, würde es etwa 6 ausverkaufte Aufführungen benötigen um so viele Besucher zu haben, wie dieses Blog.
Well, after a 600 km back home and some 60 hrs without real sleep I am too tired for a long report.
This was a great rally! My idea that the route through the alps was the winning one was correct.
I visited Slovenia and Italy and saw a lot of small roads there. I spent half the night riding over alpine passes. Thanks to the Krista lights, this was fun.
3rd place went to Hans (XBR500, yeah!), 2nd to the Wellers (two-up!) and this beautiful trophy is mine since this morning:
Check my SPOT track (see last post) for my route.
Later more.
When you read this, I have left already for the European Road Runner Rally 2013. This year, the “German Butt Rally” has a certain twist. It was jointly organised by IBA Germany together with Homer Kraut who organised the first long distance rallies in Germany. I had participated in my first two rallies that were organised by him. As I had won the previous rallies, i.e. the last EuRR back in 2005 and last years’ German Butt Rally, I am a kind of double defending champion. An unfamiliar situation, I admit. I feel a bit like a fox on the run: the hungry dogs are pawing, waiting to hound and catch me. In other words: there will be excellent riders from all over Europe in this rally and they all want to do very well.
The rally will be a 24 h rally starting in Bamberg, Germany on Saturday morning, 8 a.m. Tomorrow there will be the usual check-in procedure: odo-ride to calibrate the odometer, technical inspection, paperwork, hand-out of rally book and the rider meeting. There should be plenty of time for the planning, at least compared to what I have experienced during the Iron Butt Rally.
I left my BMW at the dealer for a 80000 km service and needed a substitute for a day. Much to my surprise, they provided me with the new R1200 GS LC, the totally revamped new ” water boxer” model of BMW’s most sold model. I was anyway interested in arranging a test ride and now I had 24 h to check out this bike – “the best GS ever” as many commenters say.
I was expecting quite something, but I was overwhelmed by the sheer riding pleasure. This is not a bike for the elderly rider who wants to have a comfy motorcycle for cruising (that used to be the image of a typical BMW rider before the 4V motor was built). This is a funbike that cries for full throttle riding!!! Assisted by several electronic riding modes (my favorite: Dynamic :-) ) and the automatic Electronic Suspension Adjustment. And the ride-by-wire throttle that transfers the commands of the right hand directly into propulsion. The riding is….impressive. To say the least. The motor is sensational, but you have directly 100 % confidence in this bike. Narrow bends are ridden in a spectacular lean angle. Finally, you can feel what your front wheel is doing. The BMW engineers have done an impressive job. Pure adrenalin. The bad roads in Belgium pose no problem – just bang over all potholes and grooves. They only drawback – a BMW gearbox is a BMW gearbox. Shifting gears is not a subtle process – it’s difficult to engage the first gear without the neighbourhood noticing it.
The problem is – the Adventure model will be released only next year and I have to get many many piggy banks to fill…
I had planned to visit the points of Grim’s Motorcycle Legends Trail in Britain and Ireland, but this year, I have taken the opposite decision than last year. The weather forecast was not very promising and so I decided to try finally the Four Corner ride this weekend.
Cumulated precipitation for the next three days. It is obvious that the ride through Germany will be less humid than a visit to the British islands.
The aim is to visit all four corners in Germany within 24 hours. North, East, South, West – that’s the plan. I will start in the North and go clockwise. To make the task even more challenging, I want also to visit two of Grim’s Motorcycle Museums in Germany that are part of his charity ride 2013.
Planned route for the Four Corners Ride
The whole trip is considered an extreme ride by the IBA Germany and should be close to 2200 km (in less than 24 h), not including getting to the starting point (700 km) and returning from the finish (100 km). Weather should be sunny, except for the start and the finish.
On Friday, I rode to Tonder just across the Danish border. The reason was that there I could find accommodation and a petrol station that would be open the next morning. I stayed in a small motel and started the ride at 7:15 in the morning. I couldn’t start earlier as I needed the witness signature at the start and the cashier was so kind to agree to sign the paper. After 20 mins and small roads along the border, I reached the northern point at the sea where I had to take a picture of the border stone.
German – Danish border. First corner point.
The weather was as expected, light drizle, but not really a problem. The secondary roads to the motorway were straight and allowed a quick pace. I reached the A7 and headed southwards to Hamburg. The shortcut to the motorway to Berlin was closed without proper indication and in the end I was lost on some roads losing about half an hour!! I was angry about the bad road signing and almost produced a highsider when I opened the throttle a bit too early in a wet corner and drifted around the bend. Woah! A clear message to calm down. I found my way to another highway and a couple of minutes and a U-turn later, I was back on track. The weather improved and close to Berlin, I had to stop and take off some warm clothes. I headed direction Cottbus and the Polish border. Now it was time for some 50 km of secondary roads along the Neiße. To my surprise, this was quite fun and I enjoyed the ride through the forests. I knew that the eastern corner was in a remote place and I had to ride on small farm tracks. Instead walking to the point in the heat, I decided to ride on a little path through the field. Tricky, a Sportboxer is not a GS. I parked in the shadow and took the picture of the second corner point.
14:17 h. Easternmost point in Germany at the border to Poland.
I knew I was drinking too little as I left my drinking bladder at home. So my lunch consisted in a bottle of water and a candy bar that was far beyond its melting point. Back to the main road and soon I was on the motorway, heading westwards. I had to stop for my second fuel stop and munched a …yes, a sandwich. Close to Chemnitz I overlooked the right exit, but finally I found my way to the first location of Grim’s Museums Trail. Very nice roads led me to the picturesque Augustusburg, famous for its motorcycle museum and its winter motorbike meeting. Apparently, there was a meeting of pre-war motorcycles, but I had no time to walk around and to have a look at them.
Schloss Augustusburg, home of another motorcycle museum. But no time to visit
When I was riding downhill, some of them tried to get to the hill. Some didn’t. It took a while until I was back on the Autobahn. I felt to stop and to get over a typical low point in the late afternoon: A Red Bull, an Aspirin and lots of water. It worked. I pulled the cable until it was time for another fuel stop. Again on the A7, but now down in Bavaria. I was approaching the Alps and hoped to be able to Southern Point with the last rays of daylight. And I managed! It is located south of Oberstdorf when the public roads ends for motorised traffic, surrounded by high mountains.
Southernmost point in Germany: end of the (public) road.
I had a problem to locate the right sign, but I realised that it was changed a bit and looked different from the picture. I headed back before it was pitch black. I knew that I was a couple of hours ahead of schedule so I could take it bit more easy. Northwards again. Earlier than expected I had to put petrol before Stuttgart and I calculated that I would need another fuel stop in the night. I also questioned myself if I really needed to stop the ride right after the last point or if I continued directly to my home. In Heilbronn I exited the Autobahn and visited the NSU museum in Neckarsulm, another Grim Trail location.
NSU museum in Neckarsulm
I stopped at a rest station at 1 a.m. to get finally something warm in my stomach. I took it easy, no need to hurry. I realised that I also could have tried a Bun Burner Gold in addition (2500 km in 24 h), but I didn’t have a second witness signature that you need in that case. When I went to western Germany, I was expecting the forecasted rain, but luckily it stayed dry. At 4 a.m. I reached the Western point at the Dutch border.
Westernmost corner, Dutch border, 4 a.m. last point.
I had some problems with my camera, as it decided to record a video and I was not able to switch it off :-) . Finally I returned to Belgium and after one hour I wanted to get the final fuel receipt. The same thing as during my SS3000 happened: no ticket!!! I had to ride to the next station and put another two litres. Finally, after 21h 50 mins and 2315 km I ended this funny ride. I never had seen so much different places in Germany in one day :-) . It was easier than I thought, but good planning is essential.
Finally, my favorite roads are on the menu: from Saturday on, I will guide my 20th XBR Alpentour. As the XBR still has the sick gear box, I’ll take the Sportboxer. Which is OK, because I neglected her this year. My favorite roads in South Tyrol and Trentino need another visit. Some good riders will accompany me: Gernot, Martin and Hans. The weather will be very good, only 10 degrees too hot, with highs close to 40°C.
My spot is visible under SPOT Alpentour 2013
…is before the rally ;-) . The European Road Runner Rally starts in 10 weeks… :-D I attended the final banquet and the award ceremony. It was announced that the minimum level to be a finisher was lowered to only 55000 points. hmmmm, what would have changed things for me. Not that I had a chance to collect enough points on my direct way back, but my routing for leg would have been different. And: without the gear box (and any other problems), I would have been a finisher, I am very convinced. They probably have lowered the limit because too many riders would have DNFed.
And then the success story of the European riders began:
62. Giel Kerckhof
35. Kevin and Lyn Weller
23. Gerhard Memmen-Krüger (president IBA Germany)
14. Phil Weston (president IBA UK)
Brilliant results! Congratulations to everybody. On that evening and also during the next day, I had a lot of nice chats with other riders discussing what had happened. Gerhard and Giel also stayed another day.
I was mentioned even in the conclusive report of Bob Higdon:
“Robert Koeber went missing a few days ago after he began to experience gear box problems with his Honda XBR. Imagine our surprise last night when we went into the hotel’s dining room and found one of our favorite German riders contentedly eating dinner and having a glass of wine. Excuse me? Where did you come from? He explained that he had never been able to get the bike repaired, so he just learned how to jiggle the shift lever around enough to keep rolling toward Cranberry Township. He’s a non-finisher, but he’s here and that’s all that matters to us.”
I decided to do a little “service” on the bike which consisted in …changing the spark plug. I also found out why the Kristas lights did not work anymore…the cable at the battery was simply broken. I needed to put petrol and to clean the bike and when I went to town, there where some girls offering a car wash….Do you also do motorbikes? Yes, of course! This was hilarious, my XBR was cleaned by a bunch of young cheerleaders…including drying with towels. They were apparently fund-raising for some charity. I had to assist a bit with the dirty, oily parts…not perfectly clean, but the bizarre situation was worth a couple of bucks.
The next day I left for Toronto…a hot day and I got stuck in a one hour traffic jam at the border in Niagara. I felt being cooked alive. I removed jacket and helmet before getting a heat stroke. A woman in a car had mercy with me and offered me a small bottle of water! The border control was quick and friendly – the officer said that she also had been to Kenia. I arrived soon at the hotel at Toronto airport and dropped my bags, but the riding was not over yet! I still had too much petrol in my tank! The ride from Pittsburgh did not burn enough so I had to ride 130 km (!!!) up and down the airport highway to bring down the fuel level to a level that was acceptable for the bike transport (dangerous goods regulations allow 1 gallon max…and not three). I found a car wash and cleaned the bike and the still dirty parts with high pressure until I considered the bike clean enough for transport.
I thought I was very clever to check in the Sheraton directly at the terminal. The cargo terminal was very close by, I wouldn’t need a taxi, the internet rate was OK…but then the rip-off began…$21 taxes, $5 local taxes, $20 breakfast, $15 wi-fi, $28 parking and not to mention the dinner last night. Ouch! A taxi to the terminal would have been cheaper. I dropped off the bike this morning, the agent was very friendly and allowed me to leave my motorcycle gear incl. helmet and a lot of tools on the bike. This saves me another €75 surcharge for the second piece of luggage and I don’t have to carry all the stuff next Friday to Paris when I will pick up the bike.
So now I am killing time before my plane leaves in four hours. A great trip is slowly coming to an end…
So I am sitting here in the hotel lobby and welcome the riders entering the building. The European riders seem well, except for Giel Kerckhof, who seems to have stopped…due to a broken gear box! This is ironic, because my problem appeared when I tried to follow Giel after the start in Sacramento. After a couple of miles, we had to exit the freeway and it was there when I couldn’t shift gears anymore…we must have caught a gear box virus in Sacramento ;-)
I immediately knew: “that’s it”. I had to stop for I couldn’t switch down gears. First I thought to get back to a Honda garage in Sacramento and with the help of MJ I found one – but on Mondays, services seem to be closed in the US. That’s also what Lisa Landry, the Rallymaster, had told me on the phone. After a while, I managed to use the first three gears and while back to Sacramento, I learned how to put forth and the fifth gear, carefully, avoiding to have them jump out again. One thing was clear immediately: I couldn’t ride my planned route to LA, Tucson and New Orleans. I seemed simply utter madness to cross the Mojave desert with a broken gear box. A breakdown there could get really serious. But if I could not go that route, I wouldn’t get enough points to be a finisher. So the most logic conclusion was to try to get back. First, when I only could use the first three gears, I was calculating the time I would need to get back to Toronto Airport going at 45 mph….6 days? That would do…When I managed to get the fifth gear back, I changed my objective to “Let’s try to get back to the finish line in Pittsburgh”. So I entered the Interstate 80 near Sacramento and followed it for the next four days. What kept me thinking a long time is why this happened. I still have no answer. Gear box problems of XBRs are basically unheard of. Well, my first gear box lasted 232.000 km until the second gear died. I had expected that something similar would happen one day to this gear box as well. Since I had placed it, it never had the smoothness of normal gear boxes and lately, the second gear would jump out a little bit too often. But problems with fifth AND fourth gear, out of the blue?? That doesn’t make sense. Was I riding too hard? Not really, I was going faster than usually during the rally, but in Europe, I ride a lot harder than that. The temperature was still cool in the morning, so overheating is unlikely, the oil temperature was hot, but in a normal range. I categorised this as “simply bad luck”.
A Honda never gives up: gear box sick XBR in California
In the end, I have achieved my prime objective: Arrive safely and healthy at the finish. The second objective, “be an official finisher”, I cannot meet for I could not collect more points. Well, with some detours, I could have bagged some, but it never would have been enough. So why taking a risk. The gear box still could fail completely any time. And there was also another problem: risking a total breakdown would have gotten me into a big trouble: How to drop off the bike next Monday morning at Toronto airport? This would have been a major logistic (and financial) disaster. So under the circumstances, I am happy to be here, safely and with a (more or less) running bike.
Rob Roalfe and others have mentioned that the ride back must be very frustrating. That just seems logical. The funny thing is….it wasn’t. I am surprised myself. I did everything I could do, but when force majeure happens…you only can make the best out of it. Was the whole project worth it? Yes, it definitely was. It would have been nicer to finish the rally properly, but I was already very happy to reach the second check point in Sacramento. I learned of things during this rally and it was big fun. Remember, when I had the fuel problems in the beginning, I was hoping to make it at least to the first checkpoint. By the way, these problems did not come back after I bought always top grade petrol….Things could be worse. Eric Jewell, a top rider who was also very close to win this rally many times…but never managed, was leading after leg one and two until he had a small accident during leg 3 that took him out of the rally. I am sure, he would finally won this time. THAT is tragic.
Could I have been a finisher? Yes, I think I could. But it would have been very close. There is a reason why this is called “the hopeless class”. I learned that my pace was good enough for the first leg where I did quite well. But when it came to cover big distances…the XBR is not strong enough. Not in terms of constant pace. I did obey the speed limits in the West, going at 75 mph (122 km/h), but I was constantly passed by other riders, often with a considerably higher speed. That was also the reason why I lost so many positions after the second leg. I had not done Pikes Peak that was worth 8000 points. It was a mixture of several factors: I thought it would be tougher to get there (missing experience of regional geography), I didn’t know that the difference in altitude was not that big to the top and I thought that the road was still partly unpaved (it isn’t anymore). But my considerations were correct at that time: I simply had no time! Remember, on leg 2, I did 3500 km in 37 hours (including one hour tyre change in the beginning) in one go! My calculations left simply no room for Pikes Peak. With a more powerful bike that is not subject to power loss at higher altitudes, of course I would have done it. Also because I would have got quicker to Colorado Springs in the first place. So, summarising: Leg 2 was already a hell of a ride for a XBR500, 4600 km in 59 h total time.
Leg 3 would have been similar. When I heard that the minimum points to be a finisher were set to 60.000 (I had expected 45.000), I thought “UH-OH, this will be tough”. My route that included enough points was 6200 km long, to be ridden in four days, with tricky daylight bonuses that probably required a lot of night riding to get there on time. It appears to me that this rally was maybe the toughest ever – I wonder if there will be finishers with less than 10.000 mls. Something previously unseen. I had initially estimated to do some 9000 miles, but my planned route would have forced me to go more than 10.000 mls. Well, there is a reason why it is called “the toughest motorcycle rally in the world” ;-) I am happy that I did it.
Riders are still at the scoring table. Tonight, there will the banquet and the ceremony. I’ll report about it later.
these are my first words since 11 days ago…I have reached the finish line despite my sick gear box. But, as you know (Skye and Hampe, does this sound familiar?) :
“A Honda never gives up until it is burning up”
Despite a sick gear box that needed very careful shifting, the XBR made it back to to finish. So far, this bike never stopped in 356.000 km and still keeps running!
I am quite tired and I need some sleep now because I have to get up early for the scoring (which will be very short ;-) ). I will write more during Friday. But first of all let me thank John for his excellent job during the last 11 days. He did this during his trip to Norway, trying to find access to internet, was woken up in the middle of the night by my status updates…..thank you very very much John, the comments posted show that your reports were very much appreciated by the many readers….maybe your writing makes you a potential successor of Bob Higdon in the future ;-) ?
As Thomas commented correctly, you shouldn’t be worried about the restaurant – it will be definetely above fish ‘n chips level :-D
OK friends, this is my last post for the next 11 days. The rally rules do not permit me to publish anything during the rally (“You’ll have no time for that!”).
I have finished my planning which I cannot reveal now. I only can say that I will go where I wanted to go, Some relaxed 4700 km in quiet surroundings…just follow my spot or if you don’t have the password, follow the public SPOT site on http://www.ironbuttrally.com. I think you will soon find out which is my tag.
You will also find the daily reports from Robert Higdon there that comment the rally every day.
And I hope that John Young will be able to entertain you until I’ll be back on air. So pop in every now and then. Yesterday, the blog received 326 hits, impressive! Thanks for your interest.
When I logged into my account, I was stunned: to this point, the blog has 239 hits today! And the day is not over yet! This topped the record back in 2011 when I reported during the Africa trip. Thanks for your interest!
I received a lot of good wishes from many friends, but also from people I don’t know…be it via the blog, in the bike parking from the many spectator, from other riders, from rally staff, or from people on the street who wave at me to stop!
I went to the Walmart today and bought some food and water. I couldn’t get a pre-paid phone card there, this was already tricky in Canada. So I will reply that the data roaming will work. I had planned so many things around my electronic farkles, but as often, I might not really use them, including the radar detector. I’ll just stick to the speed limits and that’s it.
I also bought me a E-Z Pass, a transponder for the tollways system in the Eastern States and activated it. I filled up the tanks and everything should be prepared now. I followed the advice of Jeff Earls during the rookie meeting yesterday and I will leave half of the luggage back here. The stuff is already in the panniers, and the bag including the spare tyre that I will leave here are also prepared. Maps are unfolded on the bed and the electronic devices are prepared for the routing this evening/night. At 4 p.m., there will be the rider meeting with the banquet. The riders will be presented one by one and the layout of the rally will be explained. Then the rallybooks will be handed out and the riders disappear in their rooms to do the planning of their routes for the next 4 days (leg 1). Tomorrow morning we have to be in the park at 8 a.m. and will start at 10 a.m. Leg 1 ends on Thursday, July 4th on 8 p.m., right here in Pittsburgh. There will be a bank holiday in Canada (1st) and in the USA (4th), heavy traffic is expected and the weather forecast for the Northwest predicts rain, rain, rain. I plan to take it easy and to ride some 3000 mls, the top riders will surely do some 5000 mls.
I took some pictures in the car park this afternoon:
Little XBR playing with the big boys :-)
The bike of Ken Meese, one of the top riders and a candidate for top 3
This morning, I had a light breakfast and started my day of registration. I got me my registration papers that should lead me throughout the day. My first stop was a video recording of my statement that I understood all the risks of the rally and was aware of all the liability issues. Second stop was at technical inspection of the bike. Apart from some comments about loose cables (that have no function) my bike was approved, also my insurance and bike documentation. Good! I am getting a lot of positive reactions about the selection of my bike, the Americans can hardly imagine you can do long distance riding with a bike with less than 1000cc. My next stop was at the camera station, my memory cards and the settings of the camera were checked. Next was the odometer check. We had to ride a 50 km route on the highway to calculate a calibration factor. During the ride, the bike went perfect. I had received a lot of friendly offers for help with the carburetor, but at the moment, there is no problem anymore. One reason more to be relaxed. I removed the fuel tube and cleaned it, just in case. Finally it was time for the compulsory rookies meeting. We made aware what is ahead of us. This will be nothing we have ever experienced before. It is challenge to ride 1 to 2-day rallies, but no comparison to 11 continuous days of about 18-20 hours riding per day. This really serious. We were presented the statistics of rookies in the last years: DNFs (did not finish), accident, hospital stays….to remind us this is no piece of cake and that the most important task is to return safely to the finish here in Pittsburgh. Anything else is less important.
In the end I had to pass the final station with some of the most important guys. My emergency information sheet was not there and also my notarised liability waver. I sent it by e-mail, but apparently they had waited for the originals. Finally, this was accepted. I sorted the issue about my Spotwalla track with Mike Kneebone, the IBA president and thanked him for his invitation in person. I had to answer final questions by Ira Agins and after asking, he told me that I was granted the status of being in the “hopeless class”. Yes! My first achievement! I will start the rally on Monday morning!
I didn’t have time to get to the Walmart again, so tomorrow it has to be. I attended a reception for all riders plus the subsequent dinner. I was with the other riders of “Team Europe” and had many chat. Tomorrow is supposed to be a relaxing day, however, I’ll be busy with the visit to Walmart, preparing my gear, my luggage that I will take with me, the luggage I will leave here…and at 4 p.m. there’s already the rider’s meeting!
It is a very warm welcome here, people are impressed that riders from other continents show up here, despite all hurdles. And a 500cc thumper get’s some extra attention, of course :-D .
Before the storm…
…the luggage also still needs to be prepared…
Many people think that the poster shows the (still unknown) motto of the rally: planes, trains and cars.
Well, was could possibly go wrong? Usually the things one does not expect…
In the morning, I left somewhat later than planned as the cup of tea I took in the room was so strong I felt like a hit in the stomach. Woah. I left the hotel, turned onto the Rainbow Bridge over the Niagara Falls and I was already at the border. I was sent into the big building. I carried my document box and I was asked several times what was in there. I showed it finally to an officer…look, only papers, papers, papers, and…oooops, a copy of a swiss army knife…and a letterman. The officer took the two items from me and then I was admitted to the upper floor. I was interrogated about many things, whereabouts, when, where, why, who. I had expected this, after all I carry some picturesque visas in my passport, such as. syrian, libanese, iranian, egyptian, moroccan and many more.
“So, what did you do in Syria?” “The same as here – tourism”. “But why Syria? Couldn’t you just go to…France?” “Well, I do go there..a lot”.. Again, the officer was interested how many leave days I had. Do I sense same envy there? I was finally interrogated by a second officer, had to leave my fingerprints and finally received my visa. After one hour, I was already on the road again. I didn’t put on my rainsuit and I regreted it half an hour later. There are little possibilities to stop and put on your rain gear. Finally I stopped at a service area and dressed properly before I got even more wet. But what was much more annoying…was the carburator problem. Well, that’s my guess.I had problems to go 65 mls, sometimes only 60 mls uphill. Over time, it got so bad, that I couldn’t do more than 5000 revs/min. A nightmare! And this time, it was independent from the front or rear tank. 2000 kms without problems and now it’s that bad? I was deeply frustrated and tried to think of a plan B. Could I get another bike for rent for the rally? I wouldn’t be able to do the rally like this? Suddenly, sunshine was back and I stopped for a drink. The bike behaved really bad. OK, let’s at least get to Pittsburgh. At 25 mls left to Pittsburgh, the bike suddenly made WROOM and accelerated like normal…more than 80 mls! This stayed until I arrived at the Marriott Hotel near Pittsburgh. This leaves me really clueless…I tried to fumble around at the bike, but I was interrupted by a heavy thunder storm. I finally said hello to Phil, Gerhard, Michiel, Kevin and Lyn from Europe. All arrived well, despite smaller incidents (lost sat navs, stolen tankbags). I also didn’t visit the Walmart due to bad weather. Tomorrow then.
So, what to do? I have cleaned the fuel filter (plastic chunks) and will investigate more tomorrow. I have recalibrated my objectives: arrive well after the first leg back here in Pittsburgh on next Friday. From there on, let’s see. At least I want to start the rally. What comes then…let’s hope for the best. You can also finish with this handicap, but I would require lot’s of luck and a massive amount of patience.
This morning, I drove to the bike and fixed all the luggage. I returned the rental car in the airport and I had to take leave of MJ who returned today. I returned to the bike by shuttled, put some petrol – and I was on the road. It was a very short stint today, I had booked a hotel in Niagara Falls on the Canadian side of the Falls. The riding didn’t take very long, however, I experienced similar problems as during the Brit Butt Rally – limited top speed at 70 mph (116 km/h) and this time I have no clue what is the reason, seems to be independent from the tank. However, it also stopped again and everything was back to normal. I’ll check the tubing in Pittsburgh again. But in the very worst case – I’d have to take it more easy. John Young has demonstrated that you can finish an IBR with a 60 mph cruising speed…right, John? I had very often small problems during my long travels, but in the end I always ended up where I wanted. So, no worries, all will be fine.
I was starting to get nervous today: now I’m on my own and every minute I’m closer to the start, THE question is more and more evident: What on earth have I gotten myself into? It’s not the sheer distance, it’s not the little time, it’s not the conditions that await me, it’s not the fact that I have almost no tolerance for problems…..it’s the combination of it all!
During the last 10 minutes, the rain still caught me, but I noticed that my cleaned gear was very well treated with a water repellent. I checked in the hotel and made a quick to the Niagara Falls just around the corner. A lot of water, but a lot less spectacular than the Victoria Falls I had visited in Africa two years ago. But worth a (quick) visit.
Niagara FallsAs Johannes always complains that there are too few pictures with the XBR on them: XBR in front of Niagara Falls!
My first task tomorrow morning will be to cross the US border right here in town, then head for Pittsburgh!
Some important information: The official IBA bulletins will be available from Friday/Saturday on under
The official public SPOT site with the locations of all riders will also be linked there.
My personal SPOT track is protected with a password. If you want to follow my track in real-time, please send me an e-mail on time (e.g. before Sunday noon) to hutzlmandl(at)t-online.de and I will send you the password. Sorry, but the IBR rules are like that!
Let’s see if I can get some decent food in this town….
Last week passed quite quick and after a couple of relaxing days in Canada, we are back in Toronto and our common holidays come to an end. We had rented a huge Chrysler (I like to call him ‘Big Daddy’) for a comfy ride, but the main reason was that it has a large trunk: all the luggage plus the complete luggage for the IBR plus my complete motorcycle gear had to go in there. So we have visited Montréal, Québec and Toronto, with Québec probably being our favorite. Where Montréal seems to be an American city with a European touch, Québec is like a European city with an American touch. At least the Old Town. It was probably the highlight of this short trip. I can’t resist to share this anecdote: when standing on the historic citadel of Québec ( the only one in Northern America), looking down to the St. Lawrence stream that converts into a fjord, a US tourist asked the guide: “Is this the US, on the other side of the river?”. The tour guide stayed calm and replied with a very subtle amusement in his voice:” No Ma’am, the border would be some 2 hours driving from here”. The historic part of the city is very beautiful, even for European standards. The French spoken in the province of Québec gave me a hard time, the accent is quite different from the French spoken in France, sometimes I had to ask a lot to repeat the last sentence….
Ville Basse, QuébecChateau Frontenac (actually it’s a hotel)
It was quite hot and humid these days, with heavy thunderstorms in the evenings. But today, we got a nice, sunny day in Toronto, going up the huge CN tower, visiting the Steam Whistle micro brewery and the St Lawrence market.
Let’s hope the breakfast was not too heavy this morning…
This is a real big Willie! CN Tower, Toronto, 557 m. We were in the upper ring (447 m)!
Toronto downtownI admit, I didn’t expect this…(St. Lawrence Market)
I have now prepared all my luggage for tomorrow, the first real (short) riding day on American soil.
Soooo, I had no time to write during the last days…or I was just too lazy :-). I’m in Montreal, Canada now and things are on track. But what happened during the last days?
As the requirements for the transport of the bike say that the bike has to be clean for the shipment and I know that Canadian customs authorities are very picky when it comes to bugs or dirt on the bike, I decided not to ride myself to Paris, but to rent a truck and to deliver the bike with it. So I did. I borrow some wooden planks from a friend and manage to push the bike myself in the enormous Mercedes Sprinter. I went to a village north of the Paris airport where I had booked a little room. The area was gastronomic wasteland and so I had to deal with an ‘Italian’ restaurant that set new limits….on the lower end. The next morning, I went to the cargo area of CDG and I presented myself at the shipper office. To my surprise, everything was finished after 30 min, they even went to customs for me. I only had to drive to the warehouse and to drop off the bike. This could have been also very quick, but the inspector had some problem with the weight that the company had put on the dangerous goods form and the paper had to be printed again in the office which took some time. but in the end the whole process was very quick and professional. I could start my return trip, putting the pedal to the metal. Quite a good truck, this Sprinter. When I had left the day before, Heinz had called and had asked me one question:”very nice, the cut fairing. But where are the vertical forced now going to?” And suddenly I realised that by cutting the fairing, I lost also the lower holders that gave a lot of support to the whole construction. And this was gone now. This meant that most of the weight is carried by the small bars in the cockpit – bound to break. I passed by Heinz and I returned with some iron bars that I planned to put between the fairing and the older lower holders – something to be done in Canada. Another last-minute task. At home, I had to start to pack my things – very late! But in the end, everything was ready: divided into the luggage for the rally and for the vacation. MJ and I will pass a couple of days in Canada, touring around with a rental car.
Finally, the big day was there and we took the plane from Düsseldorf to Toronto. apart from a very windy landing (woooops!), a regular flight. Surprising how the manufacturers of the stewardess puppets manage to give them this human touch. At the border control, the welcome was not particularly very warm and, treating me like suspect and not like a guest. Dropping the luggage at the hotel and taking a taxi to the cargo airport. I hoped that this would be as quick as in Paris but I soon learned that this was asking too much. I got my papers from the warehouse, but I had to pass customs. How to get there? Oh, it’s at the other end of the airport, you need a taxi. 33$ later, I arrived there and told the cab driver to wait because I didn’t to call and wait for another taxi. The customs official also had an interrogative style in the beginning. The best moment was:
“why are you staying such a short period?” ” Because I do not have more holidays” “But you guys do have three months of vacation, don’t you?” “Three months??? I wish I’d had…”
I was explained that the inspector had to go to the warehouse and to check the bike first. After an hour, the official explained the paper documents and told me that he had helped me because he had convinced his boss to give me the paper already now and not in one or two days (!!!). Incredible. 50$ customs fees and I finally could leave after more than one hour. The meter in the taxi seemed to be glowing due to overheating ;-) I had to pass by the hotel and grab a tool I had forgotten and finally I was back at the warehouse. The taxi fee was astronomic. Some paperwork later and 80 $ later, they delivered the bike at the gate and I helped to untie it in the crate.
Pick up in the warehouse
OK, just connect the battery and let’s get back to the hotel. The starter turned, but the motor wouldn’t start! I tried for a couple of minutes, but no success. I felt some panic coming around the corner. What now?? Let’s try a jump start. I pushed the bike up the ramp….and realised that the kill switch was pushed a little bit. Argh! The bike started immediately. How embarrassing!
Back in the hotel I made an arrangement that I could leave the bike for the next week in the parking.
The next morning, I fixed the two prepared bars to the fairing, drilling holes in the fairing…manually!
Manual drilling takes somewhat longer…
Heinz had also prepared me for that, making a hand drill.
…but the result counts. Not made to win a design prize, but form follows function.
After less than one hour, the work was finished and I feel relieved now, the fairing should be stable again now.
I picked up the rental car and we Toronto eastwards, heading for Montreal. Straight highways with 100 km/h speed limit…my daily business during the next weeks. We made a quick stop in Kingston, the former capital of Canada with some historical buildings.
Kingston, Lake Ontario
Now I might not be very familiar with Canadian engineering, but I would have thought that this artefact is from a past century…
In the evening we arrived at our hotel near Montreal and talking to the concierge at the reception I realised that Québecois is different from the French spoken in France. A totally different accent. At the dinner, I was so jet-lagged that I hardly could keep my eyes open. At first sight, this looks very much European than in the Ontario province. Next task: visit Montreal.
The Brit Butt Rally was over, but some preparations still had to be done. Firstly, what had happened during the rally? It was not a bent tubing, but another obstruction in the fuel flow….
I had a presentiment during the Saddle Sore 3000…when I had lost the original fuel tap of the auxiliary tank, I bought a temporary fuel tap made of plastic. Every time I removed the tap, small chunks of plastic were cut off from the fins of the tap and fell into the tank. When I saw this, I thought that this would give me problems later….As a precaution, I had installed a fuel filter that should prevent that these chips would reach the carburator. So far so good.
Some of the plastic chips that obstructed the flow in the fuel filter during the Brit Butt Rally.
When I opened the filter, the problem was obvious…the filter worked perfectly and collected all the chunks….and reduced the fuel flow just little bit, but sufficiently to give me problems. It was also logical that the problem was more pronounced when the fuel level in the tank was lower as the hydrostatic pressure was lower compared to a a full tank. And this was the reason I missed my chance to win the rally…Ironic, isn’t it?
During another trip to my home town, I visited Mart!n who exchanged the clutch of the XBR despite the bunch of work he had because he tried to save a couple of motorbikes that had been drowned during the floodings in Bavaria. I had never before seen collector’s bikes that after opening the drain screw first spit out litres of water before any oil. Or those cylinders were completely filled with water. Thanks, Mart!n! No more slipping clutch below 60°C oil temperature.
I had noticed before, that the XBR showed some strage behaviour when rolling slowly. I checked the steering head bearing – and was scared stiff! The bearing showed clearly a notch in the middle position. And yet another moment when disaster strikes…A nightmare! 10 days to go and I have to change the bearing! But it’s not as simple as that…it was a Emil Schwarz bearing that Mr Schwarz had installed two years ago. The particularity is that the bearing is not driven, but glued into the steering head. This is the best you can get for your bike in terms of bearings, but an exchange is not a piece of cake….I had an idea…I called Mr Schwarz the next day and explained the problem. His garage was on the way back home…I must have had some convincing arguments…and in the end he proposed to change the bearing the next day, on a Sunday morning! This was fantastic news! The next moning, after an early departure, I stood in front of his garage and he took immediately care of the XBR. During the next four hours, I had to cope with his bad temper as he hadn’t expected the fairing. It was difficult to work and after ruining a puller, he was pretty angry. I decided to shut up and in the end, Schwarz’ mood had improved and he listened to my plans, grinning and waging his head. Finally the bearing was changed and I could happlily continue my journey back home.
The new bearing seat. Glued, not hammered.
At home, some tasks were still on the list. New tyres, new breaking pads, new air filter. All changed.
Apart from technical issues, more paperwork. An excerpt from a forum post of mine:
Well, the insurance matter is slowly turning into a nightmare….
I had bought an insurance from my shipper who ships the bike from Europe to Canada. I thought I had fulfilled the requirement of the “500 CSL” policy as it was the highest policy I could get from that company and it said 250000/500000/100000. When Kevin raised this point again, I was confused and thanks to Ed Otto I learned that this policy is not according to the IBR rules that ask for a 500000/500000/100000 coverage. The problem is that all the temporary insurances offer a maximum of 250/500/100 and it’s only a company like Progressive that provides a real 500 CSL coverage. So far, so good. When I filled in the online order form of Progressive, I got stuck when I had to fill in the VIN. My old Honda has a 11 digit VIN that is not recognised by the system that expects a modern 17 digit number. Another problem: you need to provide an US address. How can I provide an address if I’m not a resident?? Well, I managed to use one of a friend who will have to forward me the papers to sign. At first, the agent wanted to cancel the talk immediately when I mentioned that would be less than 30 days in the US. I had to persuade him that in this case I would stay at least 31 days…. He gave me a price of 290USD, seemed reasonable….but this VIN is not recognised by the system, so it’s a 640 USD !!! That was not the end….when he realised that I have a foreign driving licence, the price went up to $1012!!! Under different conditions, I would have told him to , but I had no choice but to accept.
Today was the day of last preparations. I had taken a difficult decision: The lower part of the fairing had to be cut off. A very, very painful decision, but I saw no other choice but to do this. My legs would be burnt and the motor would collapse in the heat. When I rode at 25°C a week ago, my legs were getting very hot. So I took the electrical saw and…..
Before….
…and after…
…the amputation!
When I discussed the subject with Mart!n, I argued that it would be a pity to cut the fairing as it is so rare…and his pointed remark was: “there’s a reason why”…hmpf. John commented my action as “I’m glad you’ve done this as I was seriously concerned that your bike would have seized crossing the desert”. Well, I save 2 kg on the front, the XBR should be easier to drive now. Finally I had access to the motor and I could change the spark plug and adjust the valves. And as a last preparation, the bike was cleaned so everything should be prepared for the drop-off.
The positive side: I didn’t expect that, the small XBR left all the big bikes behind. It was a very challenging, but a beautiful ride. Great!
The tragic side: I was about to win the rally, but I decided the end the rally when I still had four hours left because I thought I had a carburettor problem and the XBR would not make it back. Wrong, it was just a bent fuel tubing of the aux tank. I didn’t visit the last bonus point worth a 1000 points. In the end, Rob Roalfe won by 200 points difference….
Detailed report will follow!
Everything is prepared….let’s have dinner, get the rally instructions and then the planning starts!
Tomorrow morning at 6 p.m. we will all start from Castleford. It looks that the weather will be better, what a strong wind and heavy showers today! Will I drive south or to Scotland? I’ll know around midnight….
When I left work on the XBR today, I noticed immediately that something was wrong. I looked at the cockpit and…..was shocked! The holder that connects the upper part of the fairing to the steering head was broken! A nightmare! In other words: Drama! Disaster! My worst-case scenario for the Iron Butt Rally: Remove the fairing, throw it into the ditch and ride on. At a closer look, I realised that the thick steel bolt was neatly broken through:
Broken steel pin that holds the upper fairing in its place.
What could I do? This was the end for the Brit Butt Rally this weekend, wasn’t it? Maybe I could remove the fairing….or try to fix the auxiliary tank to the BMW in a night-shift and leave with more Boxer power? But maybe there was still hope….I would pass by the house of Heinz, the magical mechanic. Maybe he had an idea. He had helped me two days ago to get my baggage rack welded, what a relief! But this would be too delicate to fix….Let’s give it a try. I met Heinz in front of his house, walking his dog. I expressed my frustration and we investigated the problem. The pin was actually a kind of screw that was screwed into the large nut. Heinz is a man who likes challenges and he immediately was looking for a solution. He drilled out the remaining bolt with the thread and looked for a larger screw that he could transform into a bolt. He luckily has a turning machine…and he can do miracles with it!
First, the screw was turned into a steel bolt with the right dimensions…
…then a thread with the right pitch is carved (turned) into the bolt…
…correct measurements are important…
…et voilà! Old broken vs. new bolt.
And this is the final product!!!:
Finished new bolt, screwed and glued into the screw nut!
A masterpiece of fine mechanics! I’m so grateful that Heinz could help me out of this mess!
THANK YOU!!!
This means that tomorrow I can leave for my third Brit Butt Rally!
Planned route for Saddle Sore 3000 – 3000 miles or 4827 km in less than 72 hours.
I left on Wednesday evening after work and had planned to reach Poitiers after a 750 km (466 mls) ride that night. In my hometown, I had to put petrol and to document the start of the Saddle Sore 3000 with a receipt. But…the machine was out of paper! I rushed to the next station and tried hectically to put another litre of petrol in the tank, this time I received the receipt I needed. Quick, quick, I wanted to get going. Three hours later I passed through Paris, fighting with my new Zumo 350. As it crashed the fourth time, it erased all the data and programmed waypoints. Luckily I had still the Zumo 660. The rules for the IBA rides specify that unlike in rallies, a fuel stop has to be every 500 km at latest. I had programmed a stop after 480 km and when I got off the bike I realised that the bag of the auxiliary tank was open?? And the tap of the tank as well??? Where was the tap? I realised that I had lost it: Normally, I follow a strict routine when putting petrol, but the missing receipt had distracted me. This meant I had ridden with an open tank for about 500 km! Gulp! I found an emergency tap in the shop that should work for the moment. At 23:15 I arrived at the hotel, checked in, had a quick shower and had a sandwich I had purchased at another petrol station before. I had a five-hour sleep and after a quick cookie breakfast I checked out, put my rain suit on and was back on the road at 6:20. The morning was fresh, but dry. Before Bordeaux, I had another fuel stop, as I only had filled the main tank. I passed the famous Pilat Dune, the Landes and Biarritz. I entered the Basque Country and passed San Sebastian and Bilbao. The atlantic climate welcomed me: rain and wind. I passed a truck and a wind blast almost made the bike slip when I rolled over a wet arrow on the tarmac. Woah! I rode along the Cantabrian coast and soon reached Santander, the capital of Asturias. Rain. Soon I had to stop at the planned petrol station before the 500 km limit. When I filled the tanks, I noticed a strong smell of petrol – and noticed a growing puddle under the bike….what the…? Instinctively I closed the fuel tap. What was this? The carburetor overflowing?? I made my planned lunch break and munched a sandwich, the usual riding diet. When I went back to the bike to make an oil check, I noticed that there was again a petrol lake under the XBR. Damn! I had forgotten the second tap of the aux tank! The friendly owner provided me with a funnel for the oil…and looked worried when he saw all the petrol on the floor. I started the engine, but the petrol kept flowing. “your motorbike….” “I know, I know, but I have to leave!” Brooooooom. When riding, the carb was fine, just stopping resulted in a mess under the bike. Rainy Asturias had me back again. I continued to Oviedo and turned southwards towards the mountains and the Pajares Tunnel. It got colder and colder and finally I disappeared in the fog. On the other side of the tunnel, the rain stopped, but it was still pretty cold. I passed León and rode through the high plain of Castilla, still accompanied by some occasional showers. I finally understood what happens sometimes to the Dispatch 1 distribution touch box. When I touch the light switch that triggers the distribution box, the display sometimes would not recognize the box. I have to try another time and to switch on all the devices via the display as the box apparently does some “hard reset” and erases the settings. At least now I know how to handle this.
At the toll booth before Madrid, I had to do some multitasking: close the rear fuel tap, grab the toll ticket, find the credit card, open the front fuel tap a bit, pay the toll and close the tap. An official walked around my bike and seemed to be very curious. Suddenly he pointed to the side: this way! Ooops! I realised that this was a control by the Guardia Civil. And I was listening to music on my iPad and couldn’t hear what the cop was probably telling me. I tried to switch off the music, but I couldn’t manage as I had put the rain cap on the tank bag. Finally I took off the helmet. Not too late, because the cop was apparently already pissed off. “Hooola!! De donde vienes?” (Where are you coming from?) “De Alemania!” “Qué bandera es esa en la matrícula?” (What’s that flag on your number plate?)…[….]..
Oho! So that’s were the wind is blowing! I’m close to Madrid, in the middle of a raid of the Guardia Civil and this guy wants to know what that flag with red and yellow stripes is on my number plate. Sooo, if I tell him the truth that it’s the Senyera, the catalan flag? Although I had placed it upside down, so that it was basically the flag of Barcelona. I had put it there 13 years ago when I lived in Barcelona to make it clear I was not a tourist. Nobody ever complained about it. Hmmmm….so the truth would be like a red rag to a (Spanish) bull. This would mean they would shake me down, for sure. Something I wanted to avoid, as I carried the Valentine One in my cockpit, ehem. Two of his colleagues were already curiously watching my gadgets…..OK, let’s try this… “Es de la Provenza” (It’s from the Provence [it’s actually the same flag]) …”De donde? (Where?)….”de la Provenza”….”Quééé?….”de la Provence“……[…..]…..”Eso está en Alemania?” (That’s in Germany?).
Ouch. At least this conversation had confused him so much that I could go on. What a strange encounter! I chose the M50 that lead around Madrid in a large circle, but at least I avoided the traffic jams in the city. Suddenly I was riding in the sunshine! On the way down to the Valencian coast, the air got warmer and I only had to ride one hour in the dark before I reached the place of my cuñados in Valencia after another fuel stop at 11 p.m. We had to chat a lot and I was served some delicious food, what a change after all the sandwiches. I had some 5 hours of quality sleep and on 6:20 in the next morning I was back on the road again. It was a lovely morning and I was more than one hour ahead of my schedule. I made good progress and at a quarter to ten I made my first fuel stop in Andalusia in the sun. My next stop would have to be in Sevilla for a fuel receipt as it formed the turning point of my ride. At noon I reached the planned petrol station in Sevilla, got my fuel receipt and munched again …a sandwich. I took off my warm underwear for it was hot now. I could feel it in my legs: the heat of the motor was channeled by the fairing and transferred directly to my legs. Hmmm. An interesting experience, I’ll have to find a solution for this problem because the temperatures in the IBR will be higher than this 30°C.
I had reached my turning point and continued north to Extremadura under blue skies. The highway was lined with many of the famous cork oaks, a beautiful sight. The ride was very relaxing, good weather, scenic sights and no traffic. It was still warm, but when I passed the border to the Castillian high plain, the temperature dropped and the air was rather cool now. Past Salamanca, I had to stop and to put some petrol, oil check, drink and ….munch a sandwich. In the morning, I had reserved a hotel at the border in Irun, so I knew that I had to ride 1600 km on that day. My calculations showed me that I was 90 minutes ahead of my planning and that I would reach the hotel already at 9:30 p.m. Without a reservation, I would have continued two hours more, but I still would have enough time on the next day to the Ride to Eat meeting point in time. I passed Valladolid and Burgos and when I entered the Basque Country again, the temperature dropped from cool to cold. The weather was sunny but this was a bit too chilly for my taste now. I was still riding in the same gear as in hot Sevilla, but the temperature had dropped some 25°C. When I missed an exit at Vitoria, I had to take the next one, so I could stop on the secondary road and put on at least a jumper. Before that, I had passed a special force raid. Not just a police control, this was really serious. Equipped heavily with bulletproof vests, big machineguns and determined looks, it was obvious it was better not to make a wrong move. [Apparently some ETA terrorists were captured on that day]. The road down to the Atlantic sea was winding, but very beautiful. Very scenic, this reminded me of Switzerland: densely wooded mountains, deep valleys, picturesque villages. At least it got a bit warmer now. Finally I stopped for another fuel stop and bought my breakfast for the next morning. The booked hotel was not far away from the motorway and after the check-in I took a quick shower and enjoyed the luxury to go down to the restaurant and to have a real dinner. I was well in time, but I better wanted to leave early the next day. The distance to the ride to eat meeting point, the western tip of France, was some 900 km away and I wanted to be there on time at 4 p.m. I got up at 5 a.m. and by 5:45 a.m. I hit the road again. The weather was cool with some occasional short showers and a stiff breeze from the Atlantic sea. After 400 km, I stopped before I had to and warmed up 5 min with a hot coffee. I was still almost two hours ahead of my plan and could enjoy a relaxed pace on that day. When I reached the Bretagne, the speed limit was only 110 km/h, but I was not in a hurry. Some 150 km before Brest, I stopped for another fuel stop and munched the sandwich I had bought the evening before in Spain. Disgusting, there should be some physical punishment for people who produce or sell things like that sandwich. Some kilometers later I realized that the speedometer did not work anymore! Not again! Was it the same problem with the speedometer gear like in South Africa? Luckily, I had still the odometer reading from the GPS. Finally I arrived at 14:30 at the hotel in Brest and left my luggage in the room. It was only here when I realized that I still needed a fuel receipt to document the end of my Saddle Sore 3000! I had 2996 miles so far; this meant that I needed a petrol station between the hotel and the Pointe de Corsen, the meeting point. This was not that easy, but finally I found one in the Sat Nav and a couple of minutes later, after 3005 miles (4835 km) and 71 hours, I had finished this task and had only some 20 minutes to go to the Pointe de Corsen. I arrived some minutes before 4 o’clock and found many people there. We made the obligatory picture, without rain! After the picture, Jo turned up with this new KTM 690 Duke and was about to finish a Bun Burner (1500 miles in 36 hrs). Jo and I did our first Saddle Sore 1000 during the EuRR Rally in 2002 – both on XBRs. So it seems he’s back in business *g*.
Pointe de Corsen, end of the Saddle Sore 3000 – mission accomplished!
We both went back to the fuel station where he could also get a final receipt for his ride and then we changed bike back to the hotel. I knew that the KTM is no ordinary thumper, but this….WOAAH! Amazing! It has a punch like a hot small V2 combined with no weight and excellent shocks. Heidewitzka!
After some quick check, I tried to fix the speedometer gear (I couldn’t) and a shower later we all met for dinner and a lot of petrol talk. Frank’s 1100 GS was losing oil from the rear drive so he was busy to find another mode of transportation to return home the next day (rental car). The next morning, everybody left home and after another 900 km and a lot of traffic jams, I arrived back home. To my surprise, this was an easy trip and I was not tired at all. 7 hours of sleep were very refreshing and I concluded that the fairing and the day-long saddle really change it all. Staying 17 to 18 hours on the bike riding pose no problem at all.
Ridden track – first I wanted to save battery power and only sent OK messages, at the end I switched on the tracking modus.
This was exactly what I wanted to know and I’m looking forward to the Brit Butt Rally next week. The only technical problems were the odometer and the overflowing carburetor. In the meantime, I realized that the root cause for the damage speedometer gear was the cable. I have cannibalized the caferacer XBR for the time being and the speedometer is fine again. I have opened the carburetor (seemed to be clean) and I have installed a petrol filter. A new rear tire was installed and a problem was detected: When I removed the auxiliary tank (I wanted to move it a bit to the front), I realized that two bars of the holders were broken.
Broken luggage/petrol tank rack – some welding needed!
This means I need some quick welding before next Thursday, because I’ll be leaving for the Brit Butt Rally then.
Conclusion: My confidence in the endurance of the bike and also in mine have increased a lot, if I get enough time for sleep, the pace of the Iron Butt Rally should be no problem.
Tomorrow it’s time for another test ride through Europe. As I will have 72 hrs to the Ride to Eat meet in Brest on Saturday, why not trying a Saddle Sore 3000 (3000 mls in 72 hrs)? It is exactly the pace I’ll have to face in the Iron Butt Rally and it should be a good training of my endurance skills.
The bike has received a fork oil change with more viscous oil (what a difference!) and a last-minute oil change. After 2500 km of error messages, the Zumo 660 stopped showing these messages when I went to the Sat Nav shop this evening. Spooky. I discovered the problem for non-charging of the new Zumo 350: a broken ground (!) cable.
I have received my new headset from AKE: good-bye SRC! Superior quality, a high volume and clear sound will give less problems. I hope.
Another feature I am testing for the first time is the Spotwalla homepage: You can follow my test ride live here:
So it was time to go for a first real long test ride. I had done some minor modifications, trying to fix problems and to do some maintenance. I changed the brake fluid and installed a new chain with new sprockets. The Dispatch 1 gave me same problems – the iPad and the smartphone wouldn’t charge! After a discussion with the manufacturer it turned out that the USB connections supported the USB standard, i.e. 5 V at 0.5 A. However, the iPad requires a 2 A current. So, I had to find another solution: I connected a 2 A USB socket to a 12 V output (normally used for heated garments) – and it works! So this is solved. I had another problem with the new Zumo 350: the cradle wouldn’t work, so I had to change it for a new one – but it didn’t work either.
I was quite worried about the fairing, the upper holders are vibrating a lot and I thought to spot some play in the system. In a short test drive I had to admit that the fairing touched ground way too early and I bent the lower holders to bring the lower fairing closer to the bike. A bit of fairing had to be cut as well. The fairing was slipping downwards and damaged the label with the chassis number. So, would the fairing be stable?
The temperature sensor of the Dispatch 1 that is connected to the oil hose seems to work well and reflects very well the temperature in the oil tank.
So I went on the 3000 km trip to Avignon where the Ride to Eat of the IBA UK was scheduled. I started on Friday afternoon and planned to get to Dijon where I had reserved a hotel. I started in the rain with a full tank and envisaged to avoid a fuel stop. In Luxemburg, heavy rain was bucketing down and I realised that the bike showed some heavy vibrations at 130 km/h?? I continued at 110 to 120 km/h (speed limit in France in the rain: 110 km/h) and tried to forget the nasty rain. After 560 km, I had to stop for the first time: my bladder refused to resist any longer. Anyway, it was the longest stint ever on a motorbike without any stop. In Dijon, I had a problem to leave the motorway: the ticket was wet and I had to call for assistance to be able to pay the toll. Before reaching the hotel, the Zumo 660 started to give me error messages that I still haven’t managed to get rid of (the accessory is not supported). I checked in the hotel and had a small dinner.
The next morning the rain had not stopped. I first had to escape Dijon to ride on the national road through one of the best vineyards of France – Gevrey Chambertin – Vougeot – Nuits St. Georges – Vosne Romanée to Saligny-lès-Beaune where I bagged one location of Grim’s “Motorcycle Museums” ride.
Savigny-les-Beaune’s motorcycle museum – another Grim Trail location
The gate was closed, but I took a picture of the entrance and continued my way to the motorway. Rain, rain, rain. While riding through Lyon, the oil temperature reached only 41°C! I thought I had enough time to stop for lunch in Montelimar, but the situation in the service area was chaotic. The stop took longer than expected so time was running out and I had to push a bit to arrive in time at 4 p.m. in Avignon under the famous bridge. The group was small but we were happy to have reached the destination – not big fun after temperatures around 5°C and all the rain. Michiel made only a stopover and continued to the Pyrenees!
Sous le pont d’Avignon – Ride to Eat
After the obligatory picture the remaining 6 riders went to the hotel where we met for dinner after a refreshing shower. We had a nice evening with the usual “petrol talk”. I received a lot of useful information about the Iron Butt Rally from Gerhard, the IBA Germany president. It was so interesting that I didn’t realize how late it was and how many beers I had. Only the next morning I tried to remember and I concluded that the beers were OK, just the red wine was probably the factor in the equation that shouldn’t have been there. So I decided against the planned early start and gave my stomach a couple of hours more rest. When I finally got up for breakfast, everybody was already gone, of course. It was only after 10 a.m. when I hit the road, direction Côte d’Azur. Of course in light rain. The toll booths with its long congestions were a bit annoying, but a slim XBR can pass quicker than an average car….Finally I was in Italy and went on the nice coast motorway to Genova with its tunnels and nice sea views. And the horrible metal slits in the bends where the bike is drifting a bit, releasing some adrenalin into the bloodstream every couple of seconds, woah! I was surprised when I had to turn the fuel tap only after 690 km (429 mls)!! 20 km later I stopped at a service area, after 710 km (441 mls) with one tankful! Another record. As usual, the cashier was flabbergasted when I had to pay more than 35 L of petrol (“is this correct??”). As I was in Liguria, I had to eat a pasta dish with some real Pesto Genovese. The rain had mostly stopped, but now the motorway was jammed and I had to filter for about 50 km between the cars, urgh! Finally I could turn north, direction Milano. In the Padan plain, I had some tailwind and the XBR wanted to run faster. As the vibrations at 130 km/h were annoying, I decided to go at 150 km/h. Temperatures were rising and finally I was riding in the sunshine. Time to stop and to take off all the excess winter pants, sweater and winter gloves. The bike liked the high speed and I saw the oil temperature raising to 105°C, still a very good value. At 120 km/h, it was immediately down at 90°C (air temperature 20 °C). I passed the Garda Lake and stopped in Kurtinig in the well known Hotel Teutschhaus that I had reserved in the morning. Bueno, bonito, barato, as the Spanish say. Some relaxing 850 km were sufficient on that day. The next day I continued to my hometown in Germany where I had some issues to take care of. My SRC headset again went nuts and refused to work properly. That’s enough. I had returned it 4 times within the last 2 years.
I arranged a short-notice visit to Mart!n’s garage where he exchanged all the wheel bearings – a preventive maintenance action.
Wheel bearing change by Mart!n
I discovered the reason for the vibrations: I had lost a screw that secures the front axle. Ooops. The next day I went north to Belgium, not without visiting Johannes in Fürth, I had to show him the Naughty Little Rascal in personam. The XBR enjoyed the German Autobahn and I went again at 150 km/h, once I even banged at 170 km/h (105 mph). This would be enough to end up in a county jail in the US.
After 3000 km, I returned well and the bike is in an excellent state. I can’t say this of some electric gadgets. The Garmins…annoying, as usual. The SRC…will be replaced by a deluxe headset from AKE. But overall, this first test ride was successful. In three days, the next test is about to start….
I used the Easter holidays to work on the painting of the fairing and the electrical wiring. I installed the Dispatch 1 distribution box under between the battery and the (new) saddle. Lots of cables needed to be attached to the bike. As I didn’t want to cut them, they had to be placed somewhere.
Wiring between the distributinon box (left, in the black dry bag) and the cockpit.
The only place near the frame is under the side covers. Using all the little space there, I crammed the cables under the right cover and the auxiliary fuel line and the CDI box under the left cover. I had to move the CDI box, as the distribution box needs quite some space. I am considering to reduce the box in height, another 3 mm would be good so it is not pressed down by the saddle.
Under the left side cover, the new home for the CDI box. Tight.
In the last post, I had no picture for the Krista auxiliary LED lights. I did a quick night ride test to take some pictures that demonstrate the massive light output of these flooders. During the ride, a rabbit crossed my way, its eyes were brightly glowing red as I had the Kristas on full power. Probably its retina was melting in this moment…an impressive sight. It gives some piece of mind knowing that I can detect the critters a lot earlier before they jump on the road.
The normal, low beam LED light.
Low beam plus high beam LED light
Low beam plus high beam light plus Kristas at lowest dimming setting
Low beam plus high beam light plus Kristas at 50% power
Low beam plus high beam light plus Kristas at full power. 116 W LED power equivalent to some estimated 400 W halogen output. Bambi, beware!
This brings me to the next topic. All the wiring had a purpose, of course. I installed the distribution box of the Dispatch 1 under the saddle and connected the electrical devices to it: The first GPS, the second GPS, the V1, the iPad, the smartphone and a LED lightning for the roadbook holder. They can be swiched on or off individually via the display that is placed in the cockpit. I mounted the holder of the new second GPS today when a small pin of the power supply broke .
The display of the Dispatch 1 in the cockpit, showing time, battery voltage and temperature.
The main display shows the time (not needed here, but useful), the temperature (very useful, I have attached the temperature probe to the oil hose to monitor the oil temperatur and hopefully prevents engine breakdown in the soring heat of the desert ) and the battery voltage (veeeeery useful, it gives me valuable iformation about the condition of the battery). The latter is needed to check if the electrical system is in good health. It does not substitute a proper measurement of the charging current that I will do at a later stage to investigate if the alternator produces enough energy for all the electrical appliances, but it is a good indication. Remember, the max. output of the alternator is only 170 W. A 2012 R1200GS Adventure has an output of 720 W, that’s 4 times more! I have connected a lot of additional farkles and heated garments are not possible to use. The additional Krista lights draw most of the power and have to be used wisely. Another advantage of the Display 1 is that I can easily switch off the devices, even during riding. This means I can use all farkles while riding with low beam and switch off the ones with an internal battery when I need full lightning power at night on winding roads. As I said, I need to measure the exact uptakes and their effect on the total power using a clamp meter.
I mounted the auxiliary fuel tank again, together with the little puke tank and the vent tube. The whole system worked very well on my BMW during the last two years and is very reliable.
The fairing…well, er….looked horrible after the wrinkle desaster (see last post). I tried to mend it by grinding the worst bits, add another layer of black paint and two layers of clear varnish. Before the last step, I applied the stickers and lettering. In the end, it looks quite OK :-) if one doesn’t look too close at the finish. I mounted the fairing holders and fixed the fairing. A test ride today showed me that I will have to modify the bottom of the fairing, it scratches on the tarmac way too early.
Sooooo….what does the baby look like now?
[…..]
Ta-daaaaaaaaaah!!!!
Looks quite OK :-) .There are still some things to fix and some preventive maintenance to be done, but the bike is getting ready for the thousands of kilometers of test rides that I want to do before the start of the Iron Butt Rally on July 1st.
What has happened??? Well, I had decided to start the painting of the fairing. At the same time I needed to change back the bike to a normal state to pass the road test. It is only due in June, but I want to continue to change the bike to ‘rally mode’ and switching back later is too late. So I went to Germany today and passed the test without any problem. On the way back it was snowing! Chilly, chilly.
New All-day-long seat from Russell (right) compared to the normal XBR seat (left)
It was also a test ride with my new Russell seat that has arrived this morning from California. Wow! It not only looks big, it IS enormous. But what a comfort! I only rode 215km today, but this felt very, very comfy. I even didn’t get a comment about the Bol d’Or handlebars I had mounted replacing the original ones. My seating position is more upright and relaxed, not to speak of the new seat. Now I just need to put back the fairing and I’ll be in LD heaven :-) . Well, in the meantime I was painting the fairing: grinding, two layers of primer, one layer of black (all applied manually) and then one layer of sprayed black – and then the disaster happened – the freshly applied layer wrinkled within seconds!!! All the hours of work for nothing…I ground the wrinkles after drying, but I have a 3D painting now. Whatever, not everybody has such a unique fairing, ehem …The reason was most likely that the first black layer was not dry enough and/or the two paints were not compatible.
The prepared fairing….
…after two layers of primer…
….after the first layer of black paint…still everything OK………
…and after the last sprayed black layer! Buaaaa!
What else? I had received the Krista LED light and mounted them. Unfortunately, I had not taken a picture, but I will post one later. The lights are amazing, night becomes day! This is some serious stuff.
I also tried to squeeze the Dispatch distribution box under the seat, but this is tricky despite the smaller battery. this will be one of the next challenges. I have also changed tyres and I have spare tyres for the next months. I have received the temporary insurance for the bike in June/July.
From now on, the serious preparation on the bike starts…
You can spend the whole day on deck or behind the big windows and watch this great landscape. 
In the afternoon, we “set sails” for the highlight of the whole cruise: the passage through the Lofoten. We went through the majestic Raftsund, together with many little local boats. Everybody was on deck and people tried to get the best locations to make their shots.
Somewhat later we stopped in Brønnøysund which is the middle of Norway; the southernmost and northernmost points are equidistantly apart. I was quite hot, close to 30 degrees and locals seemed to enjoy the good weather. I walked around a bit before I entered the ship again.
Soon after we took off the next iconic view was on the list: Torghattan. Rising 258 metres vertically from the sea at Brønnøysundet betweed Brønnøysund and Rørvik. The mountain, with a distinctive hole right through it, is said to be the Brønnøy King’s hat. Remember the story of the seven troll sisters? The sisters were fleeing from Hestmannen, who was desperate to capture a wife. The King heard them and came to the rescue of the young maidens. However Hestmannen, who was infuriated that he could not catch up, shot an arrow towards the last fleeing girl. The King threw his hat towards the maidens to protect them. Just as the arrow pierced the hat, the sun appeared and its rays turned the trolls, hat and all into stone.
We checked in immediately and after one hour of waiting time, I could finally ride the BMW on board. We investigated the ship for a while. It is the usual postal ship that runs the same route for decades, every day.
omething from a food truck and drink the beer in the brewery. I tried the Münchner Helles, Bohemian Pilsner and German style Schwarzbier (sic!) and they all were very good. The beer mats/coasters explained German words and how to pronounce them. We really had a good time and a good laugh. We even entered the wrong taxi, but the driver noticed immediately when he heard us talking German. Unfortunately, there won’t be another opportunity to come back to this funny place.
I do have unfinished business here: two years ago, at the European Tour 2014, I was in first place after the first leg and had an excellent second leg, when at the end of the fourth day, the gearbox of my BMW decided to initiate an irreversible, quick process of disintegration in the orange fields near Castelló de la Plana:
So this time we meet again at the same place near Stuttgart. Rally check-in on Saturday, Start on Sunday morning. After 6 six riding days, we’ll arrive again in Stuttgart on Friday evening. Anything is possible, Ireland to Greece, Estonia to Portugal. More news on Saturday!
I started with the windscreen and ordered a Clearview – the largest one available. It gives a perfect protection against wind and rain. There is also no backdraft or turbulence. A real improvement.
I added also a bracket under the plate to give it more stability. As the aluminum plate was rather thin, I needed to reinforce the whole construction. I painted it with primer and black paint. I’m not brilliant at painting, but it does the trick. I mounted the two sat navs and a mobile phase box on the dashboard.
The bike received also a big wellness program at Mart!n’s garage: a new timing belt, a refurbished fork, new radiator hoses, new brake and clutch master and slave pistons, new wheel bearings, a new stainless steel manifold, and and and….the bike has not been in such an excellent state for at least 10 years….or whenever the previous owners decided to give up a proper maintenance…
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![20130827_115022[1]](https://hutzlmandl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/20130827_1150221.jpg)
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!!! 
, but I had no choice but to accept. 
We made the obligatory picture, without rain! After the picture, Jo turned up with this new KTM 690 Duke and was about to finish a Bun Burner (1500 miles in 36 hrs). Jo and I did our first Saddle Sore 1000 during the EuRR Rally in 2002 – both on XBRs. So it seems he’s back in business *g*.
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Hutzlmandl On Tour 
