I’m feeling a bit sheepish writing this in the shadow of so many brilliant ride reports from others who've been to many faraway places; but hey-ho, we all have to start somewhere.
I've driven abroad quite a bit, but now this Grumpy Old Man finally has some time to ride a bit more than in recent years, so I got a pass out and took a short trip to Germany late in September. The idea was to get a feel for how to pack, how much ground could be covered easily each day and generally just have a practice for something a bit longer next time.
I started out booking first and last hotels, but ended up booking them all. A fine assortment, from cheap and cheerful to rather nice.
Booking-dot-com is your friend a lot of the time.
The Newcastle ferry is an easy hop from north of the border and a 5pm ferry makes for a very civilised start. I was in good time and rode straight on to the ferry; last in a line of about 20 German and Dutch bikes.
Tip 1 - keep passport handy and don't drop your gloves. (I did and I didn't)
Tip 2 - Don't waste time as a novice trying to tie down across the seat, using the old towel I brought with me. The RS frame makes it easy to pass the DIY tie down straps through the frame to get a secure both forward and backward straps. Sorted.
Thankfully the weather gods were favourable and the North Sea was a flat calm in both directions. Cabin was fine, but would be cosy for 2.
Landed at Ijmuiden and ready to go. Slow getting off and through passport control.
Tip 1 again - keep passport handy and don't drop your gloves.
First hotel was a bit Fawlty Towers with a young Romanian caretaker lady with an Italian partner. Very old fashioned building. Creaky floors and all. Very hospitable. Room was good.
The aim was to catch the Frankfurt Auto Show then have a spin round the Harz area, with some nice countryside in between. Sun shone every day with a cool start to most days. Only on day 1 when I crossed the border into Germany did the heavens open big time – not very pleasant. But thereafter the sun shone every day, without ever being too hot.
Initially I was going to stop north of Frankfurt (Diez) and take a train down to the Auto Show, but I changed my mind at the last minute when I looked at the details, so I enjoyed a rush hour sprint into Frankfurt with the high speed commuters. My tame Zumo 660 took me right to the exhibition halls within yards of the free bike parking area on the plaza. Leaving boots and trousers in the panniers and my jacket and helmet in a cloakroom, I was free to stroll the show unburdened.
Tip 3 - practice wearing lightweight Rohan troos under bike troos.
And what a show. 11 halls. Mega displays with Audi, Mercedes. BMW/Mini having a whole hall each.
Living the dream on the road. Burger King opposite fuel stop, so couldn't resist sitting in sun for a while drinking coffee.
That’s more like it - my kind of roads.
Then some daft bint nudges into the back of the bike just after I’ve fuelled up – barely an apology. Almost dented her door
Tip 4 - a very good reminder why you get OFF the bike to refuel - there are several other good reasons.
My Shangri-La – aka Pension Koala Bad Grund where Vicki looked after me. Cheap and cheerful.
Tip 5 - always carry a bar of soap
See a separate thread about the infamous Hotel Harmonie Biker Hotel in Bad Grund, which could not accommodate me, but recommended another couple nearby. A kind gent called Olaf (a regular customer) on a Blackbird took me on a Saturday ride with his wife in tow (on her Triumph) for 190 miles which covered almost all the Harz area it seems. Stunning roads, quite unlike our local scenery. Must go do it again. Being a weekend there seemed to be thousands of bikes on the move, but luckily we never got caught up with them. Some folk ride up and down their favourite section over and over. Saw groups of 10 or more, which must be scary.
My Zumo mementos
Tip 6 - keep your distance at high speed. 2 second rule my arse! You need more than 300 feet at 100+ mph
Some of those local commuters must use up several sets of brake pads every year
Tip 7 - do more track days so you can keep up on very tight hairpins. I swear some are more than 180 degrees.
Leaving town on beautiful Sunday morning with more country roads
Next stop Mohnesee and the number one Dambuster Dam. But first a look at the PS Speicher transport museum in Einbech on the way. Super place in a converted 6 floor mill.
https://ps-speicher.de/
One of the most unusual exhibits was this one with a 5 cylinder radial engine in the front wheel. It looked like the carb was concentric on the hub. A VFV – Veteranen Fahrzeug Verband.
And I took a spin in the Porsche racer simulator too.
Tip 8 - save your money unless you like spinning. There is no feel at all and on a strange circuit you need to keep trying to look at the moving map to figure things out. Made me smile though
Mohne is a lovely lake and I struck lucky with a lakeside hotel with nearby pizza palace. Sorted. Again, Sunday saw the place very crowded, but Monday morning dawned sunny and quiet so I returned for a quieter look at the dam. Unfortunately some Bob the Builders had closed it to pedestrians. The few tourist display boards I saw referred English speaking tourists to local offices. No mention of Guy Gibson and co. visiting a while ago
Noticed a loaded Park Lane plated GS in the car park belonging to a couple who had jumped on the boat trip, leaving all their gear tied on the bike. Very trusting. Anyone from here?
Tip 9 - don't leave an expensive jacket trailing on the ground.
My last night was in a very nice hotel in Bocholt on my way west, aiming for a look round the Arnhem Hartenstein museum, plus the Bridge Too Far itself of course a few miles away. There was a very interesting little display in a 1 room museum by the bridge where the story of the 10 day battle was told via a large story board with light and sound. A very nice gent holding the fort there ensured I got the English language crib sheet with the real life stories of many individuals who were there and had photos on the walls.
Having learned my lesson on the outgoing journey, I was quicker to get the bike tied down coming home. Even ended up advising a couple of first timers how to do it. I chuckled as I told them it was only my second ferry ride
The North Sea gave us a nice sunset coming home before the gloomy grey of Tyneside in the morning.
Luckily the sun came out again as I hit the A1. Almost home – a nice wee café on the border on the A697. Was idyllic sitting in the sunshine scoffing roll and coffee. Guess who was glad not to be going to work on Monday?
And the bike? I’m loving the R1200RS.
It does what is says on the tin for me. 200 mile range, around 55 mpg, adequate performance.
With taller screen, highest seat, hugger, fender extender, crud catcher, hot grips, cruise, power shifter.
My old soft bags fitted the panniers OK. They can be fat, but you have to squeeze the top corners in
My new Klim Apex jacket with Badlands trousers performed well. Kept me warm and dry. Plus the Element short gloves were much warmer than my old gloves. I used the hot grips far less than before, even on cool mornings.
I used a credit card 3 or 4 times and it seems the hit is about the same whether the purchase was in Euros or once, un-noticed, it converted to GBP.
Otherwise a pocketful of Euros came in handy, filling up was always under 20 Euros.
Tip 10 - carry even fewer clothes - the good lady ain't there checking up on you
Tip 11 - practice downsizing photos and kicking the shit out of Phuckitbucket to make this kind of input easier
Bring on 2016
I've driven abroad quite a bit, but now this Grumpy Old Man finally has some time to ride a bit more than in recent years, so I got a pass out and took a short trip to Germany late in September. The idea was to get a feel for how to pack, how much ground could be covered easily each day and generally just have a practice for something a bit longer next time.
I started out booking first and last hotels, but ended up booking them all. A fine assortment, from cheap and cheerful to rather nice.
Booking-dot-com is your friend a lot of the time.
The Newcastle ferry is an easy hop from north of the border and a 5pm ferry makes for a very civilised start. I was in good time and rode straight on to the ferry; last in a line of about 20 German and Dutch bikes.
Tip 1 - keep passport handy and don't drop your gloves. (I did and I didn't)
Tip 2 - Don't waste time as a novice trying to tie down across the seat, using the old towel I brought with me. The RS frame makes it easy to pass the DIY tie down straps through the frame to get a secure both forward and backward straps. Sorted.
Thankfully the weather gods were favourable and the North Sea was a flat calm in both directions. Cabin was fine, but would be cosy for 2.
Landed at Ijmuiden and ready to go. Slow getting off and through passport control.
Tip 1 again - keep passport handy and don't drop your gloves.
First hotel was a bit Fawlty Towers with a young Romanian caretaker lady with an Italian partner. Very old fashioned building. Creaky floors and all. Very hospitable. Room was good.
The aim was to catch the Frankfurt Auto Show then have a spin round the Harz area, with some nice countryside in between. Sun shone every day with a cool start to most days. Only on day 1 when I crossed the border into Germany did the heavens open big time – not very pleasant. But thereafter the sun shone every day, without ever being too hot.
Initially I was going to stop north of Frankfurt (Diez) and take a train down to the Auto Show, but I changed my mind at the last minute when I looked at the details, so I enjoyed a rush hour sprint into Frankfurt with the high speed commuters. My tame Zumo 660 took me right to the exhibition halls within yards of the free bike parking area on the plaza. Leaving boots and trousers in the panniers and my jacket and helmet in a cloakroom, I was free to stroll the show unburdened.
Tip 3 - practice wearing lightweight Rohan troos under bike troos.
And what a show. 11 halls. Mega displays with Audi, Mercedes. BMW/Mini having a whole hall each.
Living the dream on the road. Burger King opposite fuel stop, so couldn't resist sitting in sun for a while drinking coffee.
That’s more like it - my kind of roads.
Then some daft bint nudges into the back of the bike just after I’ve fuelled up – barely an apology. Almost dented her door
Tip 4 - a very good reminder why you get OFF the bike to refuel - there are several other good reasons.
My Shangri-La – aka Pension Koala Bad Grund where Vicki looked after me. Cheap and cheerful.
Tip 5 - always carry a bar of soap
See a separate thread about the infamous Hotel Harmonie Biker Hotel in Bad Grund, which could not accommodate me, but recommended another couple nearby. A kind gent called Olaf (a regular customer) on a Blackbird took me on a Saturday ride with his wife in tow (on her Triumph) for 190 miles which covered almost all the Harz area it seems. Stunning roads, quite unlike our local scenery. Must go do it again. Being a weekend there seemed to be thousands of bikes on the move, but luckily we never got caught up with them. Some folk ride up and down their favourite section over and over. Saw groups of 10 or more, which must be scary.
My Zumo mementos
Tip 6 - keep your distance at high speed. 2 second rule my arse! You need more than 300 feet at 100+ mph
Some of those local commuters must use up several sets of brake pads every year
Tip 7 - do more track days so you can keep up on very tight hairpins. I swear some are more than 180 degrees.
Leaving town on beautiful Sunday morning with more country roads
Next stop Mohnesee and the number one Dambuster Dam. But first a look at the PS Speicher transport museum in Einbech on the way. Super place in a converted 6 floor mill.
https://ps-speicher.de/
One of the most unusual exhibits was this one with a 5 cylinder radial engine in the front wheel. It looked like the carb was concentric on the hub. A VFV – Veteranen Fahrzeug Verband.
And I took a spin in the Porsche racer simulator too.
Tip 8 - save your money unless you like spinning. There is no feel at all and on a strange circuit you need to keep trying to look at the moving map to figure things out. Made me smile though
Mohne is a lovely lake and I struck lucky with a lakeside hotel with nearby pizza palace. Sorted. Again, Sunday saw the place very crowded, but Monday morning dawned sunny and quiet so I returned for a quieter look at the dam. Unfortunately some Bob the Builders had closed it to pedestrians. The few tourist display boards I saw referred English speaking tourists to local offices. No mention of Guy Gibson and co. visiting a while ago
Noticed a loaded Park Lane plated GS in the car park belonging to a couple who had jumped on the boat trip, leaving all their gear tied on the bike. Very trusting. Anyone from here?
Tip 9 - don't leave an expensive jacket trailing on the ground.
My last night was in a very nice hotel in Bocholt on my way west, aiming for a look round the Arnhem Hartenstein museum, plus the Bridge Too Far itself of course a few miles away. There was a very interesting little display in a 1 room museum by the bridge where the story of the 10 day battle was told via a large story board with light and sound. A very nice gent holding the fort there ensured I got the English language crib sheet with the real life stories of many individuals who were there and had photos on the walls.
Having learned my lesson on the outgoing journey, I was quicker to get the bike tied down coming home. Even ended up advising a couple of first timers how to do it. I chuckled as I told them it was only my second ferry ride
The North Sea gave us a nice sunset coming home before the gloomy grey of Tyneside in the morning.
Luckily the sun came out again as I hit the A1. Almost home – a nice wee café on the border on the A697. Was idyllic sitting in the sunshine scoffing roll and coffee. Guess who was glad not to be going to work on Monday?
And the bike? I’m loving the R1200RS.
It does what is says on the tin for me. 200 mile range, around 55 mpg, adequate performance.
With taller screen, highest seat, hugger, fender extender, crud catcher, hot grips, cruise, power shifter.
My old soft bags fitted the panniers OK. They can be fat, but you have to squeeze the top corners in
My new Klim Apex jacket with Badlands trousers performed well. Kept me warm and dry. Plus the Element short gloves were much warmer than my old gloves. I used the hot grips far less than before, even on cool mornings.
I used a credit card 3 or 4 times and it seems the hit is about the same whether the purchase was in Euros or once, un-noticed, it converted to GBP.
Otherwise a pocketful of Euros came in handy, filling up was always under 20 Euros.
Tip 10 - carry even fewer clothes - the good lady ain't there checking up on you
Tip 11 - practice downsizing photos and kicking the shit out of Phuckitbucket to make this kind of input easier
Bring on 2016
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