As promised to Oli, a little write up of my group trip to Europe last year. I still had Z1000SX at the time, but one of my mates was on his (then) S1000RR, which now belongs to me.
We aim to do 7-10 days trip every year and this time we've taken ferry from Portsmouth to Santander, Spain, and from there we have rode around 1900 miles visiting Pyrenees, c?te d ' Azur, Monaco, Italy. Then Switzerland and beautiful part of the Swiss Alps.
The bikes.
- S1000SX
- S1000RR
- Panigale 1199
- VFR1200
The route.
The trip:
Day 1 - Saturday
Ride to Portsmouth onto ferry and have a few beers :smile-new:
(I am the one on the left)
Day 2 - Sunday - 230 miles, mainly motorways.
Arrive at Santander and ride to Jaca in Spain, which is a good entry point to the best route through Pyrenees N-260
One of us (not me) is not best organised and forgotten to check the most important thing. The tires. As the tarmac in Spain is quite aggressive and we are not a granny riders :friendly_wink: around 2/3 of the way his tire start showing the thread! Ooops! A bit of an issue on Sunday in the middle of nowhere... We have decided to carry on at granny speed and worry about it tomorrow.
Day 3 - Monday - 290 miles, mainly mountain twisties.
Last night we have found out a couple motorcycle shops in town and went the first thing in the morning. Luckily one of the shops was able to supply the tire but 190 instead of 200. Which was fine.
The route for the day was through Pyrenees, Andorra and finish in Carcassone in France.
This was the best riding day. The roads through Pyrenees are incredible! Even better than Alps in my opinion. Maybe because it was still early in the year, and when it was quite warm in Spain, Alps were really cold and some roads still covered is slush.
Day 4 - Tuesday - 340 miles, part motorways part side roads.
This was a chill out day. Early start, early finish and chill out in Nice. So we did.
We have arrived at Nice around 2pm and went to town for good meal, few beers and to enjoy the sun.
In the evening the guy at S1000RR at the time, noticed that actually his rear tire is around 50% worn and he is not sure if it's going to last until we got home. As were not even half way through the trip, it was actually good idea to change the tire there and then. Because there is much more opportunity in Nice being a large city, than later on during the trip.
Day 5 - Wednesday - 240 miles, mainly side roads with occasional motorway in Italy.
After calling into few shops around Nice, we have found the tire shop with the rubber we needed. Upon arrival, when the S1000RR went into the shop, one of the mechanics stared at my front tire. I said WTF? and he pointed out at the tire and his face shown a bit of disapproval. I have got off the bike and all became clear! My front tire was FCUKED! I mean proper slick on one side! Thankfully the have had an appropriate tire and 140 euros later off we go.
I am not sure if this was just coincidence or what but this was the day I almost died... And I think that only the new front tire saved me...
After leaving Nice, and spending some time in Monaco, we have taken SS1 motorway through Italy. Mainly because of the views as this motorway follows the coastline. The problem unfortunately was that big part of the motorway consist of short tunnels, bridges, sharp bends and is very windy. We were doing about 80-90mph throughout. Suddenly as I was overtaking a Spanish lorry on the 70mph left-hand bend literally after coming out of the tunnel onto the bridge, the ******* lorry moved across from his right hand lane onto mine, leaving me very little space! I touched the brakes and felt the front wheel locking and letting off few times. I seriously almost shit myself and my mate behind me saw me almost under the lorry! It was seconds and millimeters! How did I manage to stay upright? I have no idea. But luckily I did. After that I had to stop at the nearest parking to let the steam off. Shame we were not filming at the time.
Anyway, we have finished the day at Lugano in Switzerland.
Day 6 - Thursday - 200 miles, Alps and twisties only
What to say. BEAUTIFUL roads and views! We had to be careful, as some roads were still covered in snow mud and it was really cold but it was worthy. This view says it all.
This, in terms of views, was the best day. Tunnels, mountains, etc. You just need to be there to experience it.
This day was finished in Lausanne.
Day 7 - 600 miles, 90% motorways and every single speed camera in France:glee:
One problem we have had was how to get from Lausanne to France, without paying extortionate money for motorway vignette in Switzerland.
We went through mountains, not expecting temperatures dropping to -5!!! It was so bad, that half way through, we have cut through to the nearest motorway and risked it without buying vignette. The rest of the route was 110-130mph through France to get home ASAP.
This was the end of the trip. Just shy of 2000 miles, 3 tires and 7 day later, tired but very happy we have safely arrived home.
We aim to do 7-10 days trip every year and this time we've taken ferry from Portsmouth to Santander, Spain, and from there we have rode around 1900 miles visiting Pyrenees, c?te d ' Azur, Monaco, Italy. Then Switzerland and beautiful part of the Swiss Alps.
The bikes.
- S1000SX
- S1000RR
- Panigale 1199
- VFR1200
The route.
The trip:
Day 1 - Saturday
Ride to Portsmouth onto ferry and have a few beers :smile-new:
(I am the one on the left)
Day 2 - Sunday - 230 miles, mainly motorways.
Arrive at Santander and ride to Jaca in Spain, which is a good entry point to the best route through Pyrenees N-260
One of us (not me) is not best organised and forgotten to check the most important thing. The tires. As the tarmac in Spain is quite aggressive and we are not a granny riders :friendly_wink: around 2/3 of the way his tire start showing the thread! Ooops! A bit of an issue on Sunday in the middle of nowhere... We have decided to carry on at granny speed and worry about it tomorrow.
Day 3 - Monday - 290 miles, mainly mountain twisties.
Last night we have found out a couple motorcycle shops in town and went the first thing in the morning. Luckily one of the shops was able to supply the tire but 190 instead of 200. Which was fine.
The route for the day was through Pyrenees, Andorra and finish in Carcassone in France.
This was the best riding day. The roads through Pyrenees are incredible! Even better than Alps in my opinion. Maybe because it was still early in the year, and when it was quite warm in Spain, Alps were really cold and some roads still covered is slush.
Day 4 - Tuesday - 340 miles, part motorways part side roads.
This was a chill out day. Early start, early finish and chill out in Nice. So we did.
We have arrived at Nice around 2pm and went to town for good meal, few beers and to enjoy the sun.
In the evening the guy at S1000RR at the time, noticed that actually his rear tire is around 50% worn and he is not sure if it's going to last until we got home. As were not even half way through the trip, it was actually good idea to change the tire there and then. Because there is much more opportunity in Nice being a large city, than later on during the trip.
Day 5 - Wednesday - 240 miles, mainly side roads with occasional motorway in Italy.
After calling into few shops around Nice, we have found the tire shop with the rubber we needed. Upon arrival, when the S1000RR went into the shop, one of the mechanics stared at my front tire. I said WTF? and he pointed out at the tire and his face shown a bit of disapproval. I have got off the bike and all became clear! My front tire was FCUKED! I mean proper slick on one side! Thankfully the have had an appropriate tire and 140 euros later off we go.
I am not sure if this was just coincidence or what but this was the day I almost died... And I think that only the new front tire saved me...
After leaving Nice, and spending some time in Monaco, we have taken SS1 motorway through Italy. Mainly because of the views as this motorway follows the coastline. The problem unfortunately was that big part of the motorway consist of short tunnels, bridges, sharp bends and is very windy. We were doing about 80-90mph throughout. Suddenly as I was overtaking a Spanish lorry on the 70mph left-hand bend literally after coming out of the tunnel onto the bridge, the ******* lorry moved across from his right hand lane onto mine, leaving me very little space! I touched the brakes and felt the front wheel locking and letting off few times. I seriously almost shit myself and my mate behind me saw me almost under the lorry! It was seconds and millimeters! How did I manage to stay upright? I have no idea. But luckily I did. After that I had to stop at the nearest parking to let the steam off. Shame we were not filming at the time.
Anyway, we have finished the day at Lugano in Switzerland.
Day 6 - Thursday - 200 miles, Alps and twisties only
What to say. BEAUTIFUL roads and views! We had to be careful, as some roads were still covered in snow mud and it was really cold but it was worthy. This view says it all.
This, in terms of views, was the best day. Tunnels, mountains, etc. You just need to be there to experience it.
This day was finished in Lausanne.
Day 7 - 600 miles, 90% motorways and every single speed camera in France:glee:
One problem we have had was how to get from Lausanne to France, without paying extortionate money for motorway vignette in Switzerland.
We went through mountains, not expecting temperatures dropping to -5!!! It was so bad, that half way through, we have cut through to the nearest motorway and risked it without buying vignette. The rest of the route was 110-130mph through France to get home ASAP.
This was the end of the trip. Just shy of 2000 miles, 3 tires and 7 day later, tired but very happy we have safely arrived home.
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