South West Bikers | Motorcycle Forum

forget VFR's and bulky triumphs or big kwaks - three gixxer thou's (k1, K3 and K6) - 9 countries and 3300 miles in eleven days

day 1 = plymouth to hastings
day 2 = hastings to the Nurburg ring (germany(via france and belgium))
day 3 = hang around the nurburg ring getting f ucked off with the rain
day 4 = Nurburg ring to small village around Bern (switzerland)
day 5 = Switzerland to lake como (Italy)
day 6 = lake como ride around the countryside then onto Milan
day 7 = milan to Innsbruck (Austria ) via the stelvio pass (absolutely stunning)
day 8 = Innsbruck through germany to Prague (czech republic)
day 9 = Prague to Hamburg (germany)
day 10 = Hamburg and autobahn stupidity filmed from my friends car (he lives in Hamburg)
day 11 = Hamburg to Plymouth (via netherlands, Belgium, france)

I really don’t know why anyone would want to travel any other way - on the german autohbahns we could comfortably cruise at 130/140. I had 181 on the clock fully laden with luggage and 186 without (stopped by the speed limiter the bike is still 1,000 rpm off the redline, it gets up to an indicated 186 in no time)

The final day I did 750 miles odd. I managed the Dover to Plymouth bit in 3 and a half hours!

The hardest bit was tiredness from heavy nights out, getting on a bike at 10pm to get to hamburg from Prague after only getting in at 5.30 am is hard work.

Any way some pics:
laden up in the Uk (note the crappy stock pipes are on to avoid any police problems with stricter noise limits in parts of Europe)


somewhere around the edge of lake como in italy


ferry crossing to get us across lake como for the trip up the mountains to austria


a small part of the stelvio pass - somewhere where you really wouldnt want to crash




somewhere near the austrian border

Wow - looks like you had a great time,that Stelvio pass looks awesome!

Sadly i ride a real touring bike and haven't got out of the UK on it yet.
(but hope to in the future!

yeh Id thouroughly recommend it - its great fun (but I need a holiday to recover)

apart from the nurburgring part we had none of it pre planned we just made it up day by day as we went along. I got home last night the other two are still over there (Copenhagen in Denmark at this moment)

wicked mate. how much all that cost you?

Sounds like a brilliant trip - I too have future plans for a Stelvio / Dolomites / Venice trip


It's true that ANY bike can be used for foreign travel, but from personal experience can vouch that some to it with a bit more comfort than others (especially for pillions )

looks fooking awesome mate - when we gonna get to see the video then?

baskie wrote:wicked mate. how much all that cost you?

quite a bit unfortunately. Not fully worked out the damage yet. At the very least a £1000, possibily a few hundred more (including ferry/petrol/ tires/accomadation/drink/food/strippers etc)

You could do it cheaper though on a more suited bike (with harder compound tires for a start) and also if you camped (Id rather have my teeth pulled than camp when there is a perfectly nice hotel nearby, so thats a non option as far as im concerned) or if you just stayed in cheaper hotels (we tended to lean on the side of luxury rather than scouting around trying to save money)

Austria is expensive, so is Switzerland. Italy is generally cheap though.

TLS-Moose wrote:Sounds like a brilliant trip - I too have future plans for a Stelvio / Dolomites / Venice trip

stelvio blew me away, I have visited alot of places but that rates amongst the most impressive - it was also chock full of bikes staying at hotels around there, and hotels looking for business from motorcyclists.

sonic wrote:looks fooking awesome mate - when we gonna get to see the video then?

my friend who is still over there has the cam corderwith him, but im hoping it will be edited and ready for viewing next week.

Mate, that trip looks the mutt's nuts!
I'd LOVE to do something like that - my Dad takes regular trips to France with his mates, but this must p*ss all over that!