270 replies to this topic

[catsbum]

Home last night. Some 2300 miles and the Tenere was faultless. I did manage to drop her and hurt my good leg, the other has a trapped nerve and hindered things

All in all a brilliant tour with good friends. Next time no camping. Will be hotels or BnB. I'm nearly 53 and see no need for it anymore.

What worked:
Tenere
Neotec Helmet
Interphone F5 bike to bike
Lidl Straps
Wine Glasses
HP Netbook
GoPro Hero2

What didn't:
Having a wet tent every morning to put away
Air mattress that went down every 3 hours (replaced with 2 sleeps to go)
GoPro batteries. Having 3 seperate ones was a pain to manage/charge while touring
Walky Talky/Bluetooth. Maximus could set it up, Manx900 and I could not.

Link to pics coming up. Videos at some point

Cats

http://www.facebook....mp;l=d6681e3460

phone pics

http://www.facebook....mp;l=5c94d27a2f

[Matlock]

Great pics Martin, glad you're all back safe & sound.

[catsbum]

Great pics Martin, glad you're all back safe & sound.

Well I hope so. We split into 3 groups

2 went looking for gravel
2 went on from Stelvio to Lake Garda
3 went into Germany

Big Dave
Manx900
Maximus
Cats
I know we are home

Hartside and ChrisG are at the Chunnel as I type
Don't know where Saga is. Last heard from him he was north of Annecy

Cats

[Studley Ramrod]

Some 'crack'in pics there Cats I reckon the phone pics look better than the camera wans, well, the colours are more vibrant.

Shame about the ice ! Otherwise looks like you all had a great trip ! Thanks fer sharin'.

[Saga Lout]

Pleased to hear everyone got back safely. I got home late last night after catching ferry from LeHarve and like Cats did approx 2300 miles.

The 9er, as you'd expect, performed brilliantly and returned on average around 56 mpg fully loaded; although on the last day when I was thrashing it to get the 5.0 pm ferry, and mostly into a fairly strong headwind, it dropped to about 50 mpg, which I think under those conditions is still impressive for a 900 cc bike.

Here are some of my pics, taken with my mobile phone, but not as impressive as Martin's album

http://www.facebook....4...e=1

[RSRocket]

Lotsa good pics and memories there Cats, hope the Tenere isnt scuffed up too much.!

[AliG]

Looks like you all had a great time. I'm not jealous, not me, not at all.
Ali

[babus123]

I agree with Cats about the camping. For my trip to the Alps in June this year (3000kms) I only used Gite d'Etapes or a Chambre d'hote (30 euros a night includiing breakfast and lunch!) The Gites, which can accommodate large numbers, cost me between 8.40 euros to 20 euros. All I provided was my sheets. They provide full kitchen, beds and blankets. Almost as cheap as camping and a lot less hassle, and much more comfortable. Can show pics if you are interested.

Glad you are all back safely.

Edited by babus123, 20 September 2012 - 02:21 pm.

[chrisr]

My one night's camping on the East Anglian G2G convinced me that it was my last! B&B's or hotels from now on!

Edited by chrisr, 20 September 2012 - 03:51 pm.

[MarkyMark]

so no cake then

Realy wish I could have been there.Work - the scourge of the biking classes.

Edited by MarkyMark, 20 September 2012 - 05:04 pm.

[ChrisG]

Just for you Mark (I had the apple tart, one of my five a day surely?)



Split from Mark at the M25 around 2:30 so he should be nearly home by now.

Loads of photos to sort through, then get started on the videos...

Edited by ChrisG, 20 September 2012 - 05:39 pm.

[chrisr]

Nice photos Martin (except the Saga/BD/Bear threesome!)

[Studley Ramrod]

Apple tart = Cake

[ChrisG]

I'm tempted to try a proper writeup, but for now here's a photo of Maximus not really enjoying the trip



I've uploaded way too many photos here
https://www.facebook...mp;l=d63e401b2a


Lots of video to bore you with over the next few weeks

Edited by ChrisG, 20 September 2012 - 10:16 pm.

[catsbum]

Nice photos Martin (except the Saga/BD/Bear threesome!)

Spitroast?

Boys Eh?

[3vd]

What worked and what didn't for me,

Worked

• Firstly the mighty TDM! Cracking bike, could do with a wee bit more leg room and a better screen though.
• Givi luggage - my topbox wobbled a bit but it took all my kit and only put my waterproofs on the back seat.
• HJC IS Max helmet. An inexpensive flip front helmet, very comfy and my favourite helmet (I also have an Arai Chaser)
• Interphone F4, excellent kit, crystal clear comms with a great range. Also music sounded great too.
• Midland G8BT PMR Radio. Martin and Paul didn't get along with it but it worked excellently for me when talking to Chris.
• Toggle Sim - local numbers all over Europe so free incoming calls and only 15p/min to call anyone. Unfortunately I couldn't top it up as my card was blocked due to fraud warning - a long story!
• Motorola Defy - this wee phone has taken some excellent photos, played music to me and survived the rain, snow and ice up GRIMsel Pass!
• GoPro HD2 + WiFi remote. Excellent camera, some amazing footage and photos. Only let down by steaming up a couple of times. Having 3 batteries is essential for long trips, one in camera, one full and one on charge. By the way the WiFi backpack doesn't seem to pull power from the camera battery when it runs low, It just goes off
• My Rock Springs tent, compact stove and Airbed all did a cracking job.
• My 9 year old Konica Minolta Z1 - Still takes cracking photos - approx 10,000 over the years. I'm not replacing it anytime soon
• On bike charging - essential for a trip like this. I had two chargers fail on me - the best charger is the wee Griffin ciggy socket to twin USB.
• Sidestand for lending me his TomTom Rider (Sidestand you have a PM)

Didn't work

• Riding in blizzard conditions - mental and pointless.
• Acerbis Street hand guards. Look pretty but pretty useless and I found out up Grimsel
• Non branded winter gloves, same as above. Never been cold in them in the UK...
• BT - Yes BT. They left me without broadband before I left for the trip, so I've had to make do with 3G on my mobile. This prompted a fraud warning when I tried to top up my Toggle Sim as I was spending money from an unknown IP address! So if I had needed to use my cash card when away I'd have been buggered!
• Sleeping at Livigno, holy crap it was cold! Hotels were as cheap as 30 Euros per night - not camping in those conditions again - brrr!
• TomTom - for losing my Rider V2 - Where the feck is it?

I'll upload photos and videos plus do a write up once BT have sorted their shit out.

[chrisr]

I'm tempted to try a proper writeup, but for now here's a photo of Maximus not really enjoying the trip



I've uploaded way too many photos here
https://www.facebook...mp;l=d63e401b2a
Lots of video to bore you with over the next few weeks

The bloke at the far end looks even colder than him!

[sidestand]

The bloke at the far end looks even colder than him!

I got some like that taken in Andorra

Glad you all had a good time

Maximus - have pm'd you about the TomTom Rider

[Hartside Man]

Didn't work
Riding in blizzard conditions - mental and pointless.

Acerbis Street hand guards. Look pretty but pretty useless and I found out up Grimsel
Non branded winter gloves, same as above. Never been cold in them in the UK...

well if we had'nt crossed the pass where would we have stopped ?? sorry you didn't enjoy it but it was a necessity to get to andermatt. and i bet you had to pass over one on the way to como anyhow !!

perhaps this had more to do with it , you can't compare british winter with a hoolie on the top of a 2400 metre pass

pity you didn't stay with us for the fig 8 passes in glorious sunshine.




and cats we didn't go in search of gravel , more some wee little fantastic narrow scenic tight twisty passes :-)





i am sure i will bore you all with photos and video a plenty, when ive sorted a few other things out.

what worked for me

the tiger was fantastic
the tent great
sleeping bag
the stove
go pro 2 and remote
inserts for go pro to stop the fog :-)
samsung s3 auto panorama mode
working out a start point and a finish point everynight for the next day , then joining them with all the squiggly roads and tracks we could locate on the map)
travelling with people you can relate to and get on with

what didnt work

old knackered laptop and battery
too many maps loaded into garmin , made tracking go to pot so lost quite a few of my route elevations (lesson learned leave a bit of space on there )

the two cold nights we had camping (but then again they were both at above 1500 metres so thats higher than ben nevis ) it wasn't so much the cold that was an issue as much as packing away a frosty tent.

taking way too much gear and clothing (more lessons learned )

buying a bluetooth radio , to find out chris's didn't want to work , and that it may have a problem interfacing with my BT headset :-(

[dapleb]

i am sure i will bore you all with photos and video a plenty,