This is so funny, I simply had to share it here. Nothing to do with our riding directly, but for sure one of the many things that is hampering our sheer pleasure of freedom on the roads are the darned Cash Cows that they so conceivingly call Security Cameras in England!
They are everywhere in France too (and in Holland), but there at least you’d get a warning sign before one. I hear that THAT is going to change as well. Maybe this guy was protesting against that? Have fun…..
I have added a link to Reisetourer.de, the site and company of Ralf and Helene Voigt of Cologne, Germany. The site is certainly word perusing, but to make things easier, here’s a direct link to one of their tour reports. They visited northern Normandy last Autumn and made a wonderful story AND a great photo report of the trip !
One of the most famous passes for motorcyclists in Europe is the Stelvio. So I thought to have this nice video up here to celebrate the New Year and hoping for the passes to open up again in a few months from now!
Especially now with the slick and slippery roads upon us, be careful out there. The public roads are full with obstacles, not to mention car drivers, and it is NOT a race track. Happened on Mick Doohan’s little video today, and he’s SO right !
EuropeRides is one of my worst maintained sites and I apologize for that. Just not enough time in our lives to do it all…. but still trying !
We’re back from a very busy Summer and Fall. We spent time riding in France, the Alps and the Côte d’Azur this year. And we had our special adventure in the Italian Dolomites, trying to get a new rear tire and hurting the car in the process. Much stress ! But a few good rides on the awesome Dolomiti passes too….. and outside the main season again, so nice and quiet !
Upon return Nina and I acted as the Dedicated Reporters on the yearly Schipper Tour, shooting pictures of it, and enjoying a day’s ride with our old riding school and some of its ex-students!
We then ‘had’ to travel to Paris to attend the Mondial de Simulation (the big (flight) simulation event at Le Bourget) for my main line of work, which is publishing Flight Simulator add-ons.
Then I had another one of such shows, but now in The Netherlands. And right after that we left (on a plane) for Italy to assist in the olives harvest at our friends’ place in Umbria, witnessed the olive oil pressing process, visited Rome and had way too much to eat.
Through all of this I tested the Contour HD helmet camera, found it to be faulty, and only just now had it replaced with a good one. So I’ll HAVE to do all those passes again next year !!!
Winter still isn’t upon us, so I rode the bike to Lelystad yesterday on yet one of my other activities; being volunteer at the Aviodrome, our national aviation museum. Bit cold, but good riding.
Next step will be to get a Michelin Pilot Road 3 on the front tire too, to join the one on the rear.
After that we’ll see what riding will be done this winter !
Last but not least I am adding new links again to the site. I’d like top present Ride-on MotorTours here, the company of Dafne and Bob de Jong, specializing in some wild touring all over the world. You can find their website here, and I’ve also added it to the ‘Links’ page underneath our Partner page !
More news when we have it, and I am sure I’ll add some stuff about the winter road conditions when the time comes !
The plan is to ride to Süd Tirol – or Alto Adige – again in a week or two. Hopefully the weather will allow us to take the motorbike again.
WHY we keep coming back to this part of Italy, just south of the Austrian border ? Check out this short video clip on YouTube and maybe you’ll understand…..
Here’s a great movie (15 minutes !) of the Splügen Pass (or Passo di Spluga, in Italian). This is the ONE pass that gave us a little trouble, of all the 40+ years of crossing the Alps.
We came DOWN on the Italian side, whereas the film maker goes UP.
Also, he has a GS, which obviously is slightly better turning than our RT :-)
I came down through a tunnel and could hence not see below (to my right). Immediately after the tunnel was one of the narrowest hairpins you’ve ever seen, and a steep one as well. A guy in a Fiat (what else) came up fast, so I had to stay on the inside of the turn. VERY cramped. I pulled my front brake ever so slightly with two fingers, but it still was too much. The bike went from very slow to stop… and we keeled over.
Just minutes before I discovered in the dark tunnels that my headlight was out!
After this little adventure we stopped in the next village to have a coffee, examine the one little scratch on the side case, and change the light bulb.
The turn of our little mishap is exactly at 3:50 minutes into the movie ! The one with the cars piling up….. it IS the worst turn of the route indeed !
Oh, and if you want to do the beautiful Splügen Pass but NOT drop the bike on that particular stretch on the Italian side, then take the exit to Isola. It will take you into the valley more gradually and you’ll rejoin the SS36 AFTER the old goats trail !
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As promised, I have started posting new ride reports (and converting old ones too) on our newly setup FORUM ! Although the 3 weeks in France were pretty miserable weather-wise, we did manage to get a ride in to the Meditterranean and had some reasonably good weather on the way.
Here’s the second of a series of photo reports on that trip !
I stumbled upon the new Givi B47 Blade. A topcase with a remote control. Not sure if I need that, but it LOOKS great and holds two helmets. Much unike the ridiculously (mis)formed case of the 1150RT. I’ll be having a hard look at this one, maybe for next season’s riding !
Ever since many of my websites got hacked a year ago, I have been struggling to get the forum that I had back up and running. But there are some files that are corrupted after the repair, the software I used is no longer supported and so I didn’t succeed.
Reason why I decided to set up a BRAND NEW FORUM, this time integrated in the website and not separate, and port over as many of my RIDE REPORTS and TOURS as I can manage. It means I have to copy, alter the code and then re-post them, which is a lot of work. I won’t be able to get everything back, but will try to re-install the most interesting trip reports at least.
You find the new forum under the ‘TRAVEL FORUM’ tab at the top. Enjoy (and please have some patience while I convert the old stories).
Can’t have the thing recommended on your site without actually owning it, now can you. Unfortunately the US manufacturer is very US-centered and hence not very friendly to resellers abroad, so I had to buy one. Still, I figure it will allow us to make you ‘ ride with us’ on our tours, so I think it is money well spent.
I had planned to film our flight over the Cote d’Azur with friend Didier, but that obviously didn’t pan out because of the above. We’re now back in Holland and the BMW is still in France. So, I’ll be testing the setup in the Mercedes and will figure out how to mount the camera on the BMW in a few weeks. Hopefully the weather will be better than the past few weeks!
We’re planning on riding to Italy, so that should make for some good footage.
Meanwhile, here’s some information on what I am talking about…..
If you really MUST go to France, then so be it.
But if you can avoid it, do NOT hit the road the coming Saturday, July 30th, because you’ll be on the road with just about half of the French population, mixed with a good deal of Nordic people all longing for the sun of the Mediterranean !!
Same goes for south of Germany and Switzerland.
If you can….. WAIT. Or go NORTH ! :-)
Keep an eye on the website of the French Road Conditions, called Bison Futé.
Nina and I will be riding south in France, but wait until Sunday and will not take the busy ‘Autoroutes’. We’ll hit the Route Napoleon on Sunday and Monday…. will report here of our travels.
Yep, we’re back on our Alpine Base in the French Alps. Unfortunately it is not really riding weather, with the Galibier Pass having to be cleared of SNOW today, so the Tour de France can pass over it on Friday !
This is one FREAK Summer so far and we’re sitting here watching the rain come down. But the BMW is ready for touring, albeit down in the garage, and we’re hoping for some dryer spells in a few days.
We’ll keep you updated of new tours and new places to visit. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, check our ‘Partners and Links’ pages where I added a few new links !
I found yet another nice ‘motovideo’ on Youtube. This one shows the Passo Rolle seen from the top case of a V-Strom, looking backwards !
We did this nice and ‘docile’ pass by mistake two years ago. Weather wasn’t so good and we decided to go further south than normal. The Passo Rolle turned out to be a very nice route!
We’ll be leaving for the Alps ourselves in a few days again and will post our own reports in a bit. But until then, enjoy the nice videos and other things we find for you on the Net !
… then you can come ride the Alps with us.
KIDDING!
In fact, you can join us if you are only half as good as this guy… and a lot slower! These Japanese motor control events are fun to watch and many of the riders have amazing skills indeed.
But to just enjoy our European Alpine Areas you don’t need to be a motor freak or divine technician. Just a plain, solid riding skill and focus on the road and your own security will suffice.
For some time now I have been looking to get me a video camera so I can store our wonderful rides for future generations to see. Cough. Alright, for ME to re-enjoy then, once I am too old and cranky to hold the BMW any longer.
In any case, this is NOT so easy. There are many video cameras on the market these days, all digital, many expensive, and most not suited to mount on a vibrating and bouncing BMW with boxer engine ! In the end, there seem to be a few good ones, specifically aimed at being used outdoors and in rough conditions. I mention here the GoPro, the V.I.O. and the Contour series. There are more, but these seem to be popping up most.
Doing some comparison on features and pricing, and after reading many forums and user reports, the Contour HD (or Contour HD GPS) seems to be most suited for what I want in terms of use and budget. It is a sturdy little thing that can be worn on the side of your head (either stuck to a helmet or to your ski goggles), or mounted on bicycle, motorbikes and cars in various ways.
Just what I was looking for.
And there are no wires involved. It runs on batteries, has a microSD chip (up to 32 Gb) to store the images on and can be turned on and off with one touch of a (gloved) hand.
The quality looks pretty good too, in HD at 1080 pixels wide! Of course it is not the same as a digital video cam that you would use to shoot your holiday documentary, but for what it is supposed to do it is ideal!
You want one? More info? Click on the ‘ad’ on the side of my site(s) and spoil yourself. And above all, let us enjoy your travel vids once done ! (Only for US customers for now).
I don’t know about you, but there are two things that I do NOT fancy too much when riding: gravel in fast corners and wet weather riding.
Now, the gravel is a given and you can only slow down and/or trust your luck. But the grip in wet weather depends to a large part on your tire choice. So far I’ve been riding Metzeler Z6′s, but I am pretty sure my next set of tires will be the all-new Michelin Pilot Road 3.
Here’s a little video explaining the new tire and having read lots of good reviews on it, I think it is the tire for me…. many longer distances, and riding in the Alps sanding off the sides !
I keep promising these guys that I’ll come by and do a test ride.. and I will. But unfortunately I have too many other things in life that take priority currently. Nonetheless, I keep following the ‘story’ for you, and so I thought to give you a heads-up on their new website.
On their blog there is also mention of going ‘abroad’ this year, so the Track will be available outside Holland soon !
Some time last year I was approached by a gentleman in Denmark, who is trying to get a new website off the ground. It is all about motorcycling, and more precisely, about getting people to contribute their tours and make them visible using Google Maps.
The site has some merit, but needs lots more contributions. As with any Internet Project, if things remain unchanged for longer than 20 seconds, they’ll die! So if you’re interested, HAVE A LOOK HERE and see if you can input your ride report or route to add to the collection !
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