Patventure
Registered user
hi there y'all.
just back from my european trip on me 12GSA.
ferry to Scotland, then Newcastle - Holland and Cherbourg - Rosslare to get back home.
As i was travelling alone, my itinery was non-existant. I have a brother in Frankfurt who i was planning to stay with for 2 nights, but the partying and early morning beers meant i stayed for a week!
The riding through Germany wasn't great, i probably stayed on the main roads too much, but without a Michelin map, I wasn't sure which roads were the best (does anyone else follow the green routes on Michelin maps? They're almost always accurate in pointing out the best biking roads).
One into France/Spain/ The Pyrenees, things picked up with mountain passes being absolutely perfect on the GSA, (although they are great on any bike). Keeled over as far as i would dare with top box, tank bag and tent bungeed, it must've looked awesome! It certainly felt that way, and wearing the flatspots form tyres (autobahns) helped justify riding that way, as if i needed an excuse.
I had a stag do weekend in Madrid which was great and lucky due to the weather and cold. I was caught out in some terrible storms at the time, the worst experience being a hurricane of a crosswind whilst crossing that huge viaduct in the south of France. I knew all about the side-on aerodynamics of the GSA!
The storms didn't half clean the bike up, though! Even around the rear wheel/swingarm! That's how hard it was raining!
I know i left it a bit late this year, but i wanted my trip to include the stag weekend. A memorable trip for me, no photo's though (I must rig up a camera to the tankbag next time.
Whilst the bike was great in the really twisty stuff, the big, wide open roads aren't great as it seems to be outside it's purpose above 90mph. I've heard the motor will smooth out (7k miles done to date), so maybe i'll see how that pans out.
Patrick.
just back from my european trip on me 12GSA.
ferry to Scotland, then Newcastle - Holland and Cherbourg - Rosslare to get back home.
As i was travelling alone, my itinery was non-existant. I have a brother in Frankfurt who i was planning to stay with for 2 nights, but the partying and early morning beers meant i stayed for a week!
The riding through Germany wasn't great, i probably stayed on the main roads too much, but without a Michelin map, I wasn't sure which roads were the best (does anyone else follow the green routes on Michelin maps? They're almost always accurate in pointing out the best biking roads).
One into France/Spain/ The Pyrenees, things picked up with mountain passes being absolutely perfect on the GSA, (although they are great on any bike). Keeled over as far as i would dare with top box, tank bag and tent bungeed, it must've looked awesome! It certainly felt that way, and wearing the flatspots form tyres (autobahns) helped justify riding that way, as if i needed an excuse.
I had a stag do weekend in Madrid which was great and lucky due to the weather and cold. I was caught out in some terrible storms at the time, the worst experience being a hurricane of a crosswind whilst crossing that huge viaduct in the south of France. I knew all about the side-on aerodynamics of the GSA!
The storms didn't half clean the bike up, though! Even around the rear wheel/swingarm! That's how hard it was raining!
I know i left it a bit late this year, but i wanted my trip to include the stag weekend. A memorable trip for me, no photo's though (I must rig up a camera to the tankbag next time.
Whilst the bike was great in the really twisty stuff, the big, wide open roads aren't great as it seems to be outside it's purpose above 90mph. I've heard the motor will smooth out (7k miles done to date), so maybe i'll see how that pans out.
Patrick.
