JohnB
Guest
Well, I for one am very pleased to know you're alive and well. Good luck with your new ventures and feel free to drop by here at any time!
John B
John B
Hi Everyone:
Wow, I am speechless, I am very honoured by all everyone has said. Thank you for your very kind words.
Sorry to have drifted away - earlier this year, I took on some additional responsibilities as the volunteer moderator of the VW Vortex Eos Forum (this in addition to my primary activity there, which is moderating the VW Phaeton forum), and those two activities have taken up about all the time I have had for internet forums.
I am still riding a lot, and still testing GPSRs - in fact, I have spent the past weekend riding around in the Black Forest area of Germany, testing a bunch of GPSRs. The motorcycle actually looked kind of funny, with three different GPSRs hanging off of it. One German rider took note of my Canadian licence plate, and told me I didn't have to be that fearful of getting lost - there were no ghettos in Germany that I had to worry about inadvertently riding into.I thought that was funny as heck.
I will have a couple of weeks off between now and the last week of June, I'll try to catch up on what's been happening here in the GPS corner of the UK GS'er forum. Interestingly enough (this proves we really do live in a small world), Paul joined one of the VW forums that I moderate earlier today, noticed my name, and sent me an instant message asking how I was. It's nice to be remembered by friends.
Michael
Never mine that soppy auld rubbish, do the 26xx and 27xx units learn riding styles or not
Good to see you back Michael. 
PanEuropean
Registered user
At one time, they did, in the sense that the GPSR would observe the average speed that the user travelled at on the different classes of roads, and adjust the arrival time accordingly.
However... I don't know if they still do this or not. Every little goodie that gets stuffed into the software slows things down (not to mention leaving more room for errors and problems), and I do remember some discussion taking place about whether or not the benefits of this function justified leaving it in place or not. The argument was that this kind of fine-tuning of the arrival time really didn't make a heck of a lot of difference. If you had one GPSR installed in an ambulance, and another one installed in a hearse (funeral coach), after 6 months of learning the average speeds that the two vehicles move at, the difference in predicted time of arrival would only be 1 or 2 minutes for a 30 mile trip. Realistically, does that add any value? Most people would say "not really".
Michael
Michael,
Great to see you back. Must be time for another lunch if you're coming into Kidlington again. (I was worried I'd caused your absence ).
Paul
Great to see you back. Must be time for another lunch if you're coming into Kidlington again. (I was worried I'd caused your absence
).Paul
JDH
Registered user
Like to add my 'welcome back' to the others Michael, you certainly helped me out in the past with your advice. Now, at the risk of sounding mercenary, any tips for the Black Forest? Off there in July and just planning a route at the moment. BTW, love the interior of the VW
John
John
Popeye
Registered user
If you're dying and waiting for the ambulance, yes. If your dead and waiting for the Hearse, then no - but point well made and taken !!
Welcome back Pan
PanEuropean
Registered user
Hi John:
Well, that whole area of southwestern Germany is quite delightful, and you don't have to worry too much about "Planning a Trip" - just pick any road and ride it, if you don't enjoy the ride, you get your money back.
To me, the "Black Forest" extends all the way from the Swiss border in the south up to about Karlsruhe in the north, beginning about 3 to 5 miles east of the Rhine valley and extending probably about 50 to 80 miles inland. Economically, it's a logging area, so there are tons of very nice twisty secondary roads everywhere (fully suitable for a street bike like my ST), and if you are fortunate enough to have a dual-sport machine like a GS - wow, you can go anywhere at all and have fun.
I recommend you get a high quality 'regional' map of the area, ideally a Michelin map, and use that as your primary planning tool. The larger maps - the ones that show all of Germany - just don't have the level of detail you need to get a good feel for what is out there.
There are lots of 'motorcycle friendly' hotels in the area. Because the whole Black Forest area is pretty compact, my own personal preference is to pick a place in about the middle, stay there for 3 or 4 days, and just ride out from that location every day, heading in a different direction each day. This eliminates all the stress of packing up every night and moving somewhere else. This past weekend, I stayed at a really delightful simple hotel called Klosterle Hof in the tiny village of Bad Rippoldsau. It is very clean, very quiet, the kitchen is awesome, and the price is something from the 1960s - €30 a night including breakfast. The clientele is made up mostly of 'adult' motorcyclists - folks over 30 who ride GSs, STs, that kind of stuff. It seems that the hotel is always fully booked when the 25 year olds on the crotch rockets show up looking for a room.
The staff at the hotel don't have an excellent grasp of the English language, but they are certainly very nice, very gracious hosts. This place is a gem. So, my suggestion is head there, set up camp at that hotel for 4 or 5 nights, and just explore a different direction each day.Enjoy...
Michael
Hurray 
Welcome back Michael
Welcome back Michael 
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