The All-Star Motorcycle Circus & Expedition

Over the next week we break new 2-wheel ground (for us) — Poland, Lithuania, Lativia, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Norway, & Sweden

Our goal is Nordkapp, Norway, Europe’s northern end-of-the-road!  It is considered Europe’s northernmost point.  It is also considered one of the start/stop points for rider’s who are riding across the European/African continents. Just saying…

Fri-May 18, 2012

Location: Bamberg, Germany Lodging: Home Base Euro: $1 USD = €0.75 or €1 = $1.33 USD Gas/Fuel in Bamberg: €1.68/l = $2.24 USD/l or $8.28 USD/gal! Weather: Clear blue skies today over Bamberg!  14°C/57°F

NO RIDING TODAY!

There will be three riders going to Nordkapp.  Martin Thomas, Germany, will join us AND has ridden to Nordkapp before.  Get this, Martin will be riding a HD Sporty! The other big decision was no tent camping on the Nordkapp loop.  We kinda got our schedule pinched so we may end up with some 500+ mile days.  Tent camping and the possibility of riding a couple big mile days are not compatible!!  This is the only part of our ride in Europe where we have a defined window to pass through.  Our Russian visa is for May 23-26. Up to Russia we stay in small hotels, after Russia we stay in “camping houses”.  Not sure what these are but I’ll be sure to include photos when the time to stay in “camping houses” happens.

Today is prepping for Nordkapp day.

A.  Since we pack our tents wet in Garmisch-P, we open our tents and lay them out to sun-dry.  Mine still had enough moisture on the surfaces to mildew if not dried.

B.  V-Strompasourus maintenance. Refill Scott Chain Oiler Clean, oil and adjust chain Adjust headlights (raised up 1” at 10 feet) Checked radiator fluid level Checked engine oil

C.  GPS: My riding partner is using a Garmin Zumo 665 loaded with City Navigator Europe NT 2011.  He’s routing with a PC laptop with Garmin BaseCamp. I’m using a Garmin Zumo 550 loaded with City Navigator Europe NT 2012.  I’m routing, and creating waypoints with a MacBook Air with Mac Garmin BaseCamp, Google Earth, and the internet for research, etc. We are creating a list of waypoints to dump into our GPS’s using Garmin’s POI Loader. Interesting enough, routable GPS map is not available for St Petersburg and Russia. This is our Plan A: East then North Bamberg, Germany Treuen, Germany Warsaw/Warschau/Warsawa, Poland Bernotai, 26 km N of Vilnius, Lithuania, The Center of Europe Riga, Lativia Narva, Estonia St Petersburg, RUSSIA! Virolathi or Lappeenranta, Finland Nordkapp, Norway South Norway (down along the west coast) Sweden Denmark Germany Of course all is subject to change.

D.  Made 3 photo copies of everything for border crossings - Passport photo ID page with Russia visa - International Drivers License, Cal Drivers License and Cal Vehicle Registration - Cal Vehicle Registration and Cal Drivers license - Cal Certificate of Ownership (pink slip)

E.  We reorganize our entire load for the Nordkapp loop.  We are cutting anything that we have not used. Tomorrow we’ll do this all again out of nervous fidgeting.

Sat-May 19, 2012

Weather: Second day of clear blue skies!  23°C/73°F at 5:21 PM. We are essentially packed.  Around noon we took a 3-hour 100-mile shake down ride through the countryside to GoBweinstein for apple strudel.

Apfelstrudel (Apple Strudel) from GoBweinstein. This was the best ever! Opps! Goofy helmet hair day.

Since we are riding through so many countries, we are packing: - portable fire extinguisher - reflective vest - reflective triangle - first aid kit The above items are, in part, required in motor vehicles in the countries we pass through.

Tomorrow, Sunday, we head east to Treuen, Germany where we meet up with Martin Thomas and continue on through Dresden, Wroclaw, Lodz to Warsaw/Warschau, Poland.

From here on out, our days in the saddle will be long and my ability of blog will be limited.  If you want to see where we are, keep an eye on the “CURRENT LOCATION”, SPOT Sat Track.  This is our actual tracks +20-30 minutes.

PHOTOS:  If you want to see the photo’s full-size, click the photo, it isolates to a new page and click it once again.  Use browser’s “back” to return to blog. CURRENT LOCATION:  Upper right corner is my SPOT Satellite track provided by SPOTwalla.  When activated, it provides a real time track of my travels.  The tracks are archived back to my arrival in Heidelberg, April 25. Tue-May 15, 2012 Location: Garmisch-P Lodging: Tent Camping Euro: $1 USD = €0.75 or €1 = $1.33 USD Gas/Fuel in Garmisch-P: €1.68/l or $2.24 USD/l or $8.28/gal! We are out of here!  The forecast for Bavaria is afternoon thunderstorms, sub-zero freezing nights, and snow tomorrow!   We are packing up our tents and scootin’ back to Bamberg. It was a chilly, crisp, beautiful morning as we broke camp.

We are moving by 10AM. After a 2-hours of country roads heading to Bad Tolz.  We just finish climbing a series of moderate switchbacks and at the summit my riding partner’s HD slows down and moves over to the right edge of the road.  On come the emergency blinkers.  He’s looking for a safe place to pull over but ends up coasting downhill ~2 kilometers to the edge of Bad Tolz. The HD pulled over at the first safe spot after coasting ~2 km. A right turn at the signal light is the town of Bad Talz.

It was 12 noon.  The RoadGlide’s engine sounded normal but the bike had no forward movement in any gear!  This is typically not a good symptom .  Out come the HD International dealer book and after two short phone calls … Harley Harley-Davidson Galerie Vertragshändler in Wolfratshausen, Germany calls.  They can send their transport van and be at our location in 40 minutes.  The van with Tim and Manfred load the HD and within 1-1/2 hours of our breakdown, the bike was on the lift and the problem found.  The clutch housing had no splines. The good luck gods smiled on us when the dealer had a clutch in stock, special ordered for another project (on hold).  After 4-hours and a wad of €-notes life is good again. We have more All-Stars to add to the list: - Wolfram Rummel, Geschaftsfuhrer (Boss) - Tim Wilsing, Zweiradmechaniker-Meister (head mechanic) - Manfred Rummel, Sales Manager We depart the Wolfratshausen H-D dealer at 6PM.  It’s 265km (165 miles) north through Munich, Ingolstadt, Nuremberg to Bamberg.  It’s start’s to sprinkle and within 20 minutes we are in the storm!  It rains for the next 3 hours back to Bamberg.

Staying dry in the rain is a combination of several things. What you ride: A Goldwing has a lot more protection from the elements than a basic naked bike.  I’m riding a ’04 Suzuki V-Strom DL1000 with stock windshield.  This moto doesn’t have much frontal protection.  The hands, head and feet are exposed to the elements. Outer Gear: My Kilm Latitude Gore-Tex jacket and pants take direct impact and exposure to rain and standing road water.  The only time the jacket has leaked was when I forgot to zip close a pocket or left a vent open.

Electric Heat: Heated clothing is essential to touring.  I use Gerbing’s heated shirt and gloves.

Boots: The Sidi Gore-Tex Adventure Boots have kept my feet safe from moto naps and several slow-speed early departures.  Some might say overkill but it seems I need more protection than most.  This includes SoCal to Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay down to Ushuaia, Argentina and back to Santiago, Chile.  After the IBA-Germany RTE my boots started leaking.  A coating of Sno-Seal fixed the leak and my 3+hour ride back from Garmisch-P (constant rain) ended with dry feet!

Gloves & Hand Protection 1.   I normally wear armored summer gloves. 2.  When the temps drop and or in rain I put “Hippo Hands” over the hand controls.  These keep wind/cold off the hands!  With heated grips, it’s like sticking my hand inside a warm oven.  I love my Hippo Hands! 3.  In extreme cold, I wear Gerbing electric gloves with the Hippo Hands and heated grips. Yes, my gloved hands still get damp after several hours of rain but the hands are warm and comfortable.

Helmet: Shuberth C2 may be one of the safest helmets available. It does an good job with rain and venting.  My big complaint is the rotating chin bar no longer stays locked up and come down at the worst times.

Thu-April17, 2012 This morning’s Weather Report indicates it’s +/-0℃ and occasionally snowing in Garmisch-P. Some riders might think that I’m whining about the weather.  Other’s realize it is what it is.  I’m just describing our unique experiences in Europe.  Sun, rain, wind, fog, snow, gravel, potholes etc are all part of the moto road experience.  Some days we get more of one than another but it seems to balance out.

Points of interest!

No trucks or 18-wheelers allowed on the autobahn/autostrata on Sundays!  The truck stops are packed.  Trucks with special permits are allowed to continue moving but this rule eliminates 95% of all truck traffic on Sundays.  This eases the free flow of traffic all across Europe on Sundays.

The other unique road visual is quad-runners are street legal on country/rural roads.  The rider must wear the same protective gear as moto riders.

It’s colder in Garmisch-P (5℃/41℉) than Nordkapp, Norway (11℃/51℉!)

Mon-May 14, 2012

Last night I knew it was going to be cold so I put everything I had on before crawling into the sleeping bag. Burrrrrrrrr!  This morning the rain drops that beaded on the tent were frozen.  It dropped down to -1℃ (30℉) last night.

We casually roust up and walk over to a coffee shop to thaw out.  By 9:00 AM we are ready for the day’s local ride.

Our first stop is the Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany.  We ride 5 km to a cable tram which carry’s us up to 2962m (9,718 feet) ASL.  The view is amazing but after 30 minutes the clouds covered half the mountain.

Neuschwanstein Castle

11AM we ride to King Ludwig II of Bavaria’s Neuschwanstein Castle in the Fussen, Schwangau area (~35 km away).  This is the castle that inspired Disneland’s castle.  I just wanted a photo op of my moto and the castle in the background.

Déjà vu

In another life, at a much younger time, I was the USA Team Leader, 1983 FAI World Hang Gliding Championships, Fussen/Tegelberg, Germany (Team 3rd, Individual 2nd).  I spent 2 weeks in the Fussen area and the mountain top Tegelberg hang gliding launch.

Moto Connection

Fussen is also one of the many film locations for The Great Escape. Steve McQueen’s motorcycle stunts and many other scenes were filmed in and around the town of Fussen.  Although McQueen did much of his own riding stunts, he did not do the classic 60-foot jump over a fence. This was done by McQueen’s friend Bud Elkins, who was managing a Los Angeles-area motorcycle shop when recruited for the stunt.

This photo op did not pan out.  First of all, the 80% of the Neuschwanstein castle is covered with scaffolding and canvas for repairs.  So the historic fantasyland castle has limited photo opportunities.  The traffic leading to the castle has changed since 1982.  No free parking!!  All the lots are now paid.  All parking is charged and to get to the castle one could walk or wait in huge queuing lines for trams!  After riding to the top lot, we wanted no part of this and moved on.  I later learned that 6,000 people tour the castle each day!

The Tegelberg hang gliding/ skiing/ tourist tram base is a short 5-6 km from the Mad King’s castle.  High above launch 2-dozen hang gliders and lower a gaggle of paragliders made lazy 360s.  A pilot tells me the King Ludwig Hang Gliding Open starts Thursday.

Schloss Linderhof

From Fussen we crossed into Austria for an hour before crossing back into Germany to arrive at Linderhof. Linderhof is the resident of King Ludwig.  It’s a mini Versailles.  I took the €8.5 “English” tour of the castle and gotto.  The entire day was cool, blue skies and high clouds.

Ettal Basilica

Our last stop was a monastery!   They make beer at this monastery.

Weather turns bad

Two weather reports confirm our suspicions of things getting colder and a dramatic change in the weather here.  The entire Bavarian area is forecast -1 or 2°C and 50% chance of rain tomorrow afternoon.  Below freezing and rain means snow and ice on the roads.

We make the decision to head back to Bamberg tomorrow.  Enough of the cold, I’m gonna go buy some Chilly Willy ear muffs!

Sat-May 12, 2012 – First things first! Bamberg Beer

This is Schlenkerla Smoke Beer Wheat — It’s an ale with light smoky aroma.  As Bavarian wheat beers, it is being brewed with a mixture of both barley malt and wheat malt.  The portion of Barley malt is hereby a classic Schlenkerla smoke malt, the wheat malt remains unsmoked.

Sun-May 13, 2012

Repositioning Day – Bamberg to Garmisch-Partenkirchen area 270 km (167 miles)

We ride from the flat lands around Bamberg south through Munich and ~60 km to Garmisch-Partenkirchen.  Garmisch-P is a mountain resort town in Bavaria, south Germany.

The further south we rode, the more overcast and cold it became.

South of Munich, there is a 2+ km tunnel.  To me riding through tunnels are black and white.  When we popped out the other end, it was like The Wizard of Oz.  Beautiful, technicolor snow capped Alps cover the entire horizon.  OK I exaggerated, I could see the Alps range in the low, overcast, haze.  Garmish-P is 10 km from the tunnel.  This is at the base of the Alps with Austria on the other side.

Making Camp

It takes us 1.5 hours to find our camp site, unpack and pitch our tents.

Dinner at  a local pub and sampled this!  Lowenbrau Triumphator dark beer — 7.6%.  Yaooooowza!

Tomorrow the Zugspitze, highest mountain in Germany, elevation: 2962 m / 9717 ft, Fussen’s Neuschwanstein Castle and Linderhof Palace.

Fri-April 11, 2012

We gotta get out of Germany!  Yesterday’s ride to Rothenburg was not wet.  Today we head for the city of Karlovy Vary, Ceska Republika (Czech Republic).  This city is historically known for it’s hot mineral water spas.  We weren’t looking to take a bath, just go for a ride.

Money:

Euro: $1 USD = €0.75 or €1 = $1.33 USD
Czech Koruna Kč: $1 USD = Kč 19.43 or Kč 1 = $0.0515 USD

Gas/Fuel in Czech Republic: €1.44/l or Kč35.50/l or $1.91 USD/l or $7.08/gal

It was a 2 hour ride, 171 km (107 mi) due east to Karlovy Vary, Ceska Republika (Czech Republic).  My map showed 1/2 Autobahn and 1/2 highway road.  But now that 1/2 highway is all Autobahn.

The German/Czech Rep border is almost invisible.  The immigration and customs buildings were all closed up.

In Karlovy Vary, we parked on the sidewalk near the city center (my riding buddy had parked here before) and had a coffee while watching the police ignore our bikes.

I went to take photo of the spa, Hotel Popp and Casino were the Bond film Casino Royal was filmed.

Apparently, a police lady finally decides to take issue of the moto’s on the sidewalk.

This is were my riding buddy discovered he forgot his passport and International Driver’s License in Bamberg.  This of course is a major no-no and could have escalated into severed relationship amongst the Czech Republic, US, Germany, and the Duchy of Grand Fenwick.

Tensions increased when talks of restitution began and a 500 number was bandied about.

The mind was racing . . . $500 USD?  €500 Euro?

Whew . . . No!

It was 500 Czech Krouna (or $25.75 USD).

Another impasse surfaced when the police woman wanted to be paid in Czech Krounas.  This took another 15 minutes finding a place to change currency.

I was gone for all of this.  I’ve been wondering around for 30 minutes when I get a text message.  ”Come back to the bikes.”

The police lady wanted the moto’s off the sidewalk and she would drive by every 5-10 minutes to see if the motos were gone.

Tomorrow we go to Garmisch-Partenkirchen area rain or shine (at least thats what were saying this afternoon!)  Camping equipment packed and . . .

Fri-May 11, 2012

Money:

Euro: $1 USD = €0.75 or €1 = $1.33 USD

Gas/Fuel in Germany: €1.68/l or $2.24 USD/l or $8.28/gal! You stateside riders quit your whining about gas prices.

Since we’re in flower smelling mode vs IBA power ride mode we’re letting the weather control our direction.  We’re doing 2-3 hour day rides out of Bamburg.

Point of interest

I forgot to mention that many European countries require a road fee called a “vignette” if you’re riding on the Autobahn.  The “vignette” is inexpensive except if you’re are caught not having one.  The Austrian “vignette” was ~€4.60.  If caught without a “vignette” it’s €30-€40 fine!  Vignette’s are sold at border gas stations and you stick the “vignette” on your windshield.

The weather in Bamburg Thu & Fri broke from wet to not so wet!  Forecast was 20% rain.  Last two days were great riding days!

Rothenburg – Germany’s best walled City

I’m neck deep into culture!  Thu-May 10 we rode over to walled city of Rothenburg, Germany, 100 km (62 Miles) southwest of Bamberg.  Rothenburg is one of Germany’s best-preserved medieval walled city!

I found the “Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum” unique and fascinating!  There are 4 stories of law and order through the centuries.

The Käthe Wohlfahrt store is a 365-day Christmas shop.  Everything Christmas from high end gifts to millions of tree ornaments.

All-Stars

A point of clarification.  The All-Star’s are not the clowns doing the ride.  The All-Stars are the people we meet who help make our experience unique.  Here’s who have qualified as All-Stars:

Stefan Knopf of KnopfTours for getting my moto to Germany and offering facilities/tools to switch my dog bones.  This kind of service is available to all who are his client.

Gerhard M. Krüger and Frank Schubert for organizing the 2012 IBA-Germany R2E in Koblenz and the following dinner at Maximilian Brauwiesen in Lahnstein.  Gerhard is also one of the early Europeans to ride the IBR!  IBA# 194!

Norbert Wienck, who earned the title “Germany’s IBA Toughest Rider 2011″

Bertl Paukner, Bertl’s Harley-Davidson, Bamberg for being the German “Grosspappa”!

And the drivers of 3 cars that offered help when the VStrompapotomus took a nap in Italy.

Gonna go round in circles …

Over the last two weeks I’ve been going around in circle at an alarming rate!  Sometimes because I’m lost, other times because I’m confused, but mostly because of millions of European roundabouts.  Virtually every village main road intersection results in a traffic roundabout.  I’ve seen roundabouts as small as 1-meter diameter and as large as 100+ meters diameters.

Apparently the French invented the one-way circular roundabout in 1877.  I’ve been around a couple of traffic circles in the US.  There is a large one in Long Beach, CA on the Pacific Coast Highway.  Basically you enter at your own risk, race around counter-clockwise until centrifugal force spits you out – hopefully at your turn.

After 2 weeks in Germany, Austria, Italy, I’ve learned to appreciate traffic circles.  I’m at one with traffic circles!

Traffic circles:
1) are inexpensive and low maintenance – no electronic gadgetry.
2) eliminates high speeds at intersections.
3) if large enough, can handle many intersecting streets
4) are forgiving if you miss your turn you just keep going around until your turn comes by again.

If the traffic is very heavy, roundabouts suck for cages!  Fortunately, moto’s can ease up the left lane to the front and cut back into the lineup.

GPS’s can handle traffic circles until you miss your turn and go all the way around and it says “recalculating” and it can’t keep up and the screen starts twitching and GPS Jane’s voice start sounding like a Munchkin.

Mon-May 7, 2012

We are in Plan C mode — Local rides in light rain.  Serious rain in the Garmisch-Partenkchn area and the Normandy, France area.  Did a 160 km (100 mile) loop to Kaiser Werksverkauf where they make porcelain stuff.

Tue-May 8, 2012

Rain, rain, everywhere rain.  We gave up and drove a cage 60 km (38 miles) to play tourist at Kunst Sammlungen derVeste Coburg (Fortress of Coburg).  This castle has one of the finest collection and ancient armor and guns.

Fri-May 4, 2012

Local Harley-Davidson dealer, Bertl Paukner, Bertl’s Harley-Davidson, Bamberg invited us to dinner.  He is one of the finest HD dealer in Europe.  His other guest was Manfred K. Krueger, a German who has resided in the US and South Africa.  Manfred is planning a ride around lower Africa.  Since we are heading to St Petersburg, Russia, the arctic circle and Nordkapp (North Cape in English), Norway next week, our interest in Africa was peaked!  Who knows whats next.

Weekend Sat/Sun -May 5/6, 2012 — IBA Germany’s Ride-To-Eat

Several months ago, we learned that Iron Butt veteran Gerhard M. Krüger and friends were organizing a “IBA Germany – R2E in Koblenz”.  The meeting point is “Das Deutsche Eck” in Koblenz, where Mosel and Rhine get together.  A group photo will be made at the “Kaiser Wilhelm Monument” after which we ride several kilos to a beer garden.

Koblenz is approx 350 km (215 miles) due east of Bamburg via auto autostrata through Wurzburg to Frankfurt and rode rural roads along the Rhein River into Koblenz.   We left Bamberg at 10AM and rode in light rain arrived at the Kaiser Wilhelm Monument at 2:30 PM.

By photo time, ~35 riders stood on the steps for the R2E photo.  Rider Norbert Wienck, earned the title “Germany’s IBA Toughest Rider 2011″  and presented with a plaque.

Dinner was at Maximilian Brauwiesen in Lahnstein ~6 km away.  Rain moved the event into the main dining lodge.

Since our hotel was 4 km away and it was raining, we did the adult thing and did not participate in the wonderful German beer.  I can’t believe I’m saying this!

We left the Maximilian Brauwiesen early knowing that most of the riders were staying at the same ibis Hotel in Koblenz.  Once checked-in it was beer time!

This was a fun evening common to all extreme moto riding gatherings with tall tales of rally’s, RTE’s and amazing rides all discussed in several languages.  A particular intriguing ride was from Nordkapp, Norway to the Rock of Gibralter in 3 days!

Sunday morning we left Koblenz riding on the opposite side of the Rhein.  The Rhein River is a major commerical route for large barges and trains carrying anything!  We saw containers (some with motos), lumber, vehicles, RVs, tankers and all forms of process equipment.  The neat thing about riding along the Rhein River is there seems to be a castle on the ridge around every bend.

The difference today … rain was now a steady thumpity-thump on the helmet and during the 215 mile ride back to Bamberg on the autostrata I got water in my boots.  Ahhhh rats … wet feet!

It was a great weekend with the German IBA group.  Gerhardt and Frank had a great turnout and perhaps a couple of these excellent riders might show up for 2015 IBR.

We arrived in Bamberg around 1PM unpacked and reorganized all out wet gear.  Around 2PM the skies darkened and suddenly, it began to hail!

Mon-May 7, 2012

Having a home base is wonderful.  Spent the day catching up on the BLOG, drying out all the outer gear and boots and discussing where to go next.

Plan A was to ride down to the Garrish-Partenkirchen area, camp and spend 4 days riding the Alps between Germany and Austria BUT the long term weather had 50-80% rain all 4 days.

Plan B  was to ride to northwest to Normandy, France BUT the weather report was similar.  Rain in the 30-50% for the next 4 days.

With as much rain as we’ve seen lately, Plan C won out and we’ll ride local day rides to castles, historic sites, etc. and take our time prepping  for our Nordkapp ride.  Nordkapp is considered the “end-of-the-road” north in Europe!

Sunday, May 20th is our start to Nordkapp, Norway.  Our planned route is Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, St. Petersburg Russia, Finland, Norway.  Our return is south through Norway, Sweden, Denmark or ferry to Germany.

Day2-Wed, April 25, 2012

Finalized paperwork with Stefan.
1) International Motor Insurance Card (Green Card) good for 29 days.

Since I was staying for almost 2 months, I had to purchase a second Green Card for the following 29 days.  I also purchased the ADAC PLUS Europe-wide, vehicle-related benefits like assistance following breakdown, accident, vehicle theft Auto/Moto Travel Insurance.

We spent the next couple days learning our camping equipment.  Setting up our tents, firing up a camp stove (no cooking plans, just for coffee in the mornings), getting supplies and relaxing.

Day6-Sun April 29, 2012

Monetary: $1 USD = €0.755 or €1 = $1.32 USD

Gas: Super approx 95 €1.95/liter (3.7854 liter = 1 gal) soooooo 1 gal = $7.38!

Weather: Overcast, cloudy sprinkles

Repositioning Day: Rode from Bamburg, Germany to Tirrenia (Livorno), Italy ~994 km (617 miles)

Camping Tent

I’m using a Redverz Series II Expedition Tent. It’s unique in that it has a huge vestibule that is designed holds a motorcycle along with boots, packs, and other small equipment. In rotten weather, I can move the moto out and cook or hang out in this area.

Day7-Mon April 30, 2012

Location: Tirrenia, Italy out to the Cinque Terre area

Gas: €1.98/liter (3.7854 liter = 1 gal) soooooo 1 gal = $7.49

Lodging: Tent Camping

Weather:  Rain all day!

Ride: Out and back north up coast to Portovenere (La Spezia), Cinque Terre and back.

Cinque Terre

“The Five Lands” is composed of five villages along a very steep mountain shoreline: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggore. Most tourist take the train and it’s 5-15 minutes ride between villages.  The roads to these villages are very challenging.  The roads are single and 1-1/2 lanes switchbacking all the way up the ridge and back down the next ridge.  We did well until Corniglia where the high road was washed out.  There is a low road that goes to Manarola but when we got down there, it was closed too!  We had to back track back to Portovenere.

Day8-Tue May 1, 2012

Location: Tirrenia, Italy north to undecided

Weather:  Rain

Rained all night.  At dawn it was overcast but no rain.  Se broke camp and headed north along the coast to Massa and took SP4 into the Marble Mountains.  This was a great switchback road through the marble quarry’s that ended at Casteinouvo Di.

At Casteinuovo Di SP13 we took SP72 towards Secchi.  We crossed a very steep pass in Italy.  After a series of hairpin 180-degree turns (in the rain) the road was blocked by another stalled bike.

This was the last turn from the top and attempting to get moving again, I dropped the bike on the right side.  It was so steep that when we got the bike up I had to strap the bike to the guard rail to keep it from falling over again.

We ended the day riding in heavy rain to Lazise on the Lago di Garda.  It was raining so hard we stopped at a small hotel.  Camping sucks in the rain!!!

Day9-Wed May 2, 2012

Location: Lazise, Lago Di Garda, Italy

Reposition Day – Italy to Bamburg, Germany

Rode north all the way to Brennero Pass avoiding the Autostrata then it was Autostrata all the way back to Bamberg.

It has rained almost every day since I arrived in Germany!  Totally unexpected but I was ready for it.  Staying dry on most rides.

German Autobahn

Spent most of the day running the infamous German Autobahn.  From casual observation there are three speed bands — subsonic (Higdon 1-veiner ~90 mph), supersonic (Higdon 2-veins ~110 mph) and hypersonic (Higdon 3-veiner ~130 mph). These are roughly associated with lane 3 (right), lane 2 (center), and lanes 1 (left) respectively,.  Most of the  subsonic vehicles stay in the right lanes entering the center lane only to pass.

The supersonic vehicles have lane 1 envy but whenever they tip-toe out into lane 1 they get shooed off by hypersonic vehicles who flash their headlights demanding their right-of-way.  Occasionally someone has a Teutonic tantrum when riffraff stay in the wrong lane too long.

Next, attending the IBA Germany Ride-To-Eat

SECOND NOTICE

It’s not to late to opt out of sometimes boorish behavior and indiscriminate moto shenanigans!  If you do not want to be on this BLOG about me wondering around Europe on a motorcycle, send an e-mail to me, dtanji@gmail.com and you will not be subject to two guys meandering around Europe.  My 2012 riding in Europe is a “smell the roses’ ride which will center around beer, mountain passes, apple strudel, gelato, and most countries between Germany, Italy, Romania, and Norway.

RENT/BUY/SHIP

There are many options for riding in Europe. The first is to rent. But at $150-$200/day, buying or shipping your bike may be cheaper for a longer stay. I wanted to leave a bike in Europe for at least 2 years so I looked for shipping options or purchasing a bike in Europe.  New bike: I was told that I could not purchase a new bike in Europe. i.e: To purchase a new bike in Germany, one has to be a citizen of Germany, have a German driver’s license, and German auto and medical insurance. None of these are available to visiting tourist. The purchase option is buying a used motorcycle stored in Europe usually site unseen from a US citizen.  Buying someone else’s problems did not appeal to me so I looked for ways to ship my bike.  This way I get a ride perfectly set-up for me.

I received several positive referrals about Stefan Knopf of Knopf Motorradreisen, Hardstrasse 78, 69124 Heidelberg, Germany.

The following is his post to me regarding shipping a bike from Orlando FL. All the following is good for April 2012.

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The total export cost is $1,330 US dollars for transporting your bike to from Orlando, Florida, to Heidelberg, Germany.
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This price includes the Custom’s Green Card (necessary for importing the bike into Germany- it is an insurance paper)
Free storage is included through the end of May
Transport insurance 5000 Dollar
(Stefan told me later bIke storage at his facility is $30/month or $300/year)

A deposit of $200 US dollars – a personal check – made out to Stefan Knopf and mailed.

The balance of the payment ($1,130) – a personal check – made out to Stefan Knopf and included with:

The following are required papers/documents:

The original vehicle title – It will be returned in Germany when the bike is picked up.
A copy of the bike’s State Vehicle Registration is not required.
Five copies of the following (two copies of each document are to be notarized)
1 – 5 copies of the title – front and back
2 – 5 copies of the inside of your passport – the one with your picture
3 – 5 copies of your driver license

A statement that includes the following and is to be signed and dated;
1 – Your name
2 – Home address
3 – E-mail address
4 – US telephone number
5 – Information concerning your bike: the make, model, color, VIN, license plate identification, with a statement, “It will be used for personal use to vacation in Germany/Europe”.

Copy the attached Power Of Attorney (POA): Sign and date on the appropriate lines . Leave all other lines blank and include the POA with all other papers. The remaining blank lines on the POA will be filled in by the exporter.

Bike preparation:
1 – Battery disconnected
2 – Gasoline on reserve
3 – Side mirrors and windshield removed and stored/packed in or on the bike.
4 – List of items that are included with the bike – signed and dated

Bike to be delivered to:

HNM Global Logistics
1500 B Tradeport Dr
Orlando, FL 32824

09 March 2012: The bike is to be at the exporter, HNM, Orlando, FL, no later than the 9th March 2012 .

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I spent all of the year getting the VStrom ready for Europe.  One of the change was to lower the bike 1″ by changing the shock dog-bones.  A 3/8″ longer dog-bone lowered the bike 1″!!  My feet almost touch flat now.  Oh happy day!  A short ride an no ill effects.

March 13, 2012 – After riding from SoCal to Daytona with Ray Blair, I delivered and prepped the bike for shipment. I flew home later in the week after the IBA Daytona Bike Week dinner in Jacksonville.  All was not well.  The lowered VStrom enabled the rear tire to rub up against the rear fender.  I had worn a small hole through into the area under the seat.  And the side stand is now too long AND the center stand is 1″ too tall.  RATS.

April 18, 2012 – Container with bikes arrive at KnopfTours, Heidelburg, Germany.

April 25, 2012 – I arrived at Frankfort International at 6AM. A direct Shuttle (approx. €35) delivered me to KnopfTours doorsteps. KnopfTours has a B&B for riders, a shop with tools, air compressor, and two bike lifts. I spend the rest of the day reassembling the VStrom. Then I do the traditional pack then repack and repack trying to make everything fit.

My riding friend, who lives in Bamberg, Germany rides over to meet me.  He helps me put the bike on a lift.  I use an air wrench to break the nuts and switch my shock dog-bones back to stock. The VStrom is once again 1″ higher and I’m on my tippy toes (same height as the TransAmericas Ride).  Side stand works normal and the center stand is manageable.

April 26-28, 2012 – I spend the next 3 days touring the local digs around Bamburg.

European Moto Tip:  Moto must have first aid kit and orange or green highly reflective safety vest.  And in the near future – carry two breathalyzers on their person!

We’re planing our first ride into the Cinque Terre area in Italy. (We actually already rode to the Pisa/Cinque Terre area and returned.  I’m way behind.  Check the “Current Location” in the upper right corner to see our SPOTwalla tracks.)

Finally, thanks for all your kind words and encouragement.  Doing a BLOG takes a lot of time.  This adventure will have more riding and less BLOGGING.  I’ll try to get caught up then post every week.