Dolomites & A Wee Bit More

[kirky1298]

Day 4
3rd August

Invading Italy , or so the original plan had been

Having fallen a couple of days behind already we resolved over a couple of sherbets the night before to try and push on through Baden Baden today and make it down the infamous B500 to Berg just outside Ravensberg .

we woke early to the tune of " Wish you were here" by Pink Floyd . is there any better alarm tune ???

Having pre booked our breakfast I was looking forward to a full British including fried egg , sausage , black pudding , tattie scone , sausage , bacon and beans . with a couple of slices of plain bread and butter (google it ) and a strong mug of sweet tea .

what we got was slightly dissapointing to say the least but it filled a hole never the less . Breakfast consisted of ..........
4" of french breadstick or 100mm as they say in europe .
a choice of nutella , strawberry jam , butter or plastic cheese as a filling & a cup of lukewarm coffee .
yum yum , now let's shoot this nowhere scene and make some real progress today .

We packed up and set off about 09:00 with a new fire in our bellies
( pitty it wasn't a nice fry up )

This would prove to be our most successfull day to date with no breakdowns or problems to report and although we rode for 12 hours solid we did make Berg by nightfall .

A couple of shaky on bike videos just to prove we actually made it .


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[kirky1298]

DAY 5
4th August

After the success of day 4 and having no major dramas we were comitted to making it into Italia and down to our basecamp for 4 days .
our trusted Pathfinders from the Joybringers tour had being staying in some lovely hotels btw which we enviously navigated to and stood outside every night before moving on to our modest campsites . After all the shoestring firemen simply couldn't afford such luxuries .
I have to say though , Mark done the group proud with his choice of hotels This time next year Roddney !!! lol . the initial plan was to shoot up past Hotel Cristallo , hoik a right and camp at camping Sas Dlacia about 8 clicks beyond the hotel . However for some unknown reason during the day I talked Karl into heading for Belzano ( Bossen ) and basing ourselfs there for 4 days .
Bad move .........

We left our campsite in Berg early and headed for our first pass of the day . I can't remember it's name but what I can tell you is that Fritz shat in the nest again . We had been following Mark's routes and waypoints and every now and then Jane , our trusty phone satnav was sending us on wrong routes . We eventually figured out that either Marks group were stopping for Lunch at some spectacular spots 6 times per day or that my old phone with its 600mhz processer was lagging behind and kept trying to navigate back to the last waypoint. we overcame this problem by stopping as we reached villages and towns mentioned on the original routes and deleting all previous points prior to this location . It took a wee bit of working out , but from this point on the satnav routes worked flawlessly .

we made it about 25 miles from Berg and during one of our satnav re-direct moments my bike chucked it . we had stopped in a layby to delete some waypoints and when i went to restart the bike it wouldnt go . Prior to this it had been running sweet as a nut .

I pulled the tank back and wiggled the Hall sensor plug as i turned the bike over but it made no difference .

I then went on to systematically check the bike . injector out , turn over , check ,
other inlector out , turn bike over , check !! wiggle some more wires , check , wiggle the plug leads at the coil , , vroom vroom , turn bike off , try again , no go , fuck this shit !!! I said to Karl , plot the nearest dealer , I need a new coil .

It turns out we were 7 miles from a main dealer so , I dispatched SUZUKI ASSIST again to get me a new coil .

Karl tore down his bike , plotted our location ( he's got it now ) and fucked off in search of the dealer .

as he dissapeared into the distance I thought to myself OH YOU FUCKER !!! IT'S A SATURDAY AFTERNOON we have no chances of getting spare parts . Davy from SUZUKI ASSIST phoned soon after this to advise me that the dealer didn't have a coil in stock but could have one for Tuesday afternoon . Fuck that I thought . Ask then if the service department can test the resistance of my own coil . I'm willing to pay over the odds for the service .

Davy phoned me soon afterwards to inform me that the owner of the dealership had turned up and spoke perfect English , Davy said that the walls of his office were full of trophies and that the walls of the dealership were covered with photos of this guy competing in BMW enduro races

He offered to take a coil off of a customers bike if I agreed to pay for a new replacement . At 90 euro it was a no brainer . Davy arrived back within 30 minutes an we were soon on our way again .


PAGING Karl , SOME BREAKDOWN PHOTOS PLEASE , I CAN'T FIND ANY .

 

[putbinoot]

As if by magic.

Unpacked ready to go. Had to unpack as Kirky was also using along with Suzuki Assist, Suzuki Parts Delivery and Suzuki Fuel Delivery Suzuki Tool kit loan feature.

 

[blobbs]

Hooked

 

[geordie156]

Brilliant, keep it coming

 

[Allan F]

Class

 

[LimeTree.]

Hooked!

 

[Deleted account 210609001]

What's happened to the reports? Hope all is ok...

 

[kirky1298]

What's happened to the reports? Hope all is ok...

All is fine , just been busy decorating and We're both back to work tomorrow .
I'll try and get the next installment started tomorrow night .

 

[Archie Beag]

Teaser !

Looking forward to the rest

 

[kirky1298]

Day 5 Continued
4th August

Id just like to take a moment to thank Karl from Suzuki assist once again for his prompt and efficient service

and also the owner of Motorrad Schek GmbH, Südring 2, 88239 Wangen im Allgäu, Germany .
I don’t remember his name but he was also a life saver .

After finally getting the bike fixed up and re-packed we were off on the road again . It was now mid afternoon, we were still just outside Lindenberg , a maximum of 35 miles from Berg (our start point ) This was the day that we were supposed to be Invading Italy . Fuck it !!!! we decided , supposing it took us until midnight we would be in the Dolomites tonight . So , off we charged . We made it to our first Mountain pass . Well I think it was our first pass, Possibly the Oberjoch ?? If anyone knows the area and could help out here , we drove past a small spar shop on our left hand side then immediately turned left onto the start of the Mountain pass . We had planned to stop at the top of the first pass and have a spot of lunch , but due to the breakdown we had forgotten to stop and get supplies . As we progressed up the pass the beautiful clear blue skies gave way to ominous looking storm clouds ahead and as we rounded a corner onto a short straight we couldn’t believe our eyes ........ it was mental , a perfect line across the road , lovely and dry one side and 2 inches of massive hailstones laying on the other.
Naturally, we decided to stop on the dry side and review the situation , give it 10 minutes and see what panned out .
A quick rummage through our top boxes found 1 snickers bar , 2 nectarines , 1 apple and 2 half empty bottles of flat tepid coke . Not quite as fulfilling as yesterday’s German breakfast , but a close second prize .

After about 20 minutes or so the epic storm of biblical proportions passed over and the sky lightened to a paler shade of grey , so , we decided to push on .
We made slow progress through the hailstones with the fully laden bikes slipping and sliding about
As we rode on I was trying to remain calm and mellow listening to some early Pink Floyd and taking nice relaxed breaths repeating over and over to myself . “ ok big chap , try to remain calm , these things are sent to try us and so far we have overcome all the obstacles in our way . It’s no big deal , only another 30 minute delay that we need to make up “
As the sky lightened and the hailstones thinned out my mood started to lift and I decided “fuck it !! just roll with the punches, It can only get better from here on in”

“OH DO YOU FUCKING THINK SO ?? “


Says the big fella upstairs



“ STICK THIS IN YER PIPE AND SMOKE IT !! “

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AAAAAARRRRrrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhhh !!!!!!!!!!!!! ya bastard !!!!

Can we ride over it ???

We could strip the bikes , carry the luggage over and just go for it ,after all it’s just a big pile of type 1 hardcore ,right ??

Wrong , very very wrong .

Karl tried to traverse the mound on foot and ended up sunken to the baw rit !!

The best way to describe it’s consistency is to imagine 500 tonnes of angel delight or Blancmange with a sprinkling of rocks on the top .

OK , FUCK IT , I’VE HAD ENOUGH !!!

I clicked my heels together three times ,and said “ There’s no place like home Karl “ ...... opened my eyes and it sure didn’t look like Coalburn , never mind Kansas . OH BOLLOCKS !!! . WORTH A TRY THOUGH !!

Out came Jane our trusted navigation device , Ok Jane , get us out of this shit .

Calculating alternative route
.................
........................
.........................
Oh no , Jane is taking her time calculating an alternative route , This is going to hurt !!
...........................
............................
...........................
.........................
Loading route ...................
.........................
.........................
85 mile detour adding nearly 3 hours to the journey .


I Think I actually had a mental breakdown at this point . I just started laughing out loud hysterically and dragging my arse up the middle of the road like a dog whilst howling at the sky. WIBBLE WIBBLE , THE MOON’S A BALLOON !!!! .

I pulled myself together and Jane navigated us back down the pass in the direction we had just come from . oh well , at least we’re heading back into the sunshine ......................




OH NO YOU’RE NOT !!!






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We stood under a motorway flyover for what felt like about two hours but was probably only 30 minutes .

Karl pipes up “ those trains that are going over the bridge aren’t half making some rumbling noises “

I think to myself , “ no , don’t bite , he’s yanking your chain “ but the serious look on his face said it all

What did he think the massive forks of lightning were in the sky ?? sparks from the overhead line equipment ?? I didn’t have the heart to tell him .

It eventually dries up and we decide that we have no option but to hit the auto routes and make some progress . we arrive in Innsbruck Austria at around 19:30 and grab a cola before pushing on . No time for food , must make progress .
Somewhere down the road we stop for fuel and get some munchies and red bull down our necks then its off again .
I honestly don’t know what route we took beyond Innsbruck but i do remember it involved a toll road which was about 11 euro for less than 20 miles of road and a tunnel .
Our destination was Bossen and we reached there around 21:15 .

We decided to find a cheap hotel and sort out camping in the morning .
It appears that Bossen and cheap don’t normally appear in the same sentence as the cheapest we could find was 140 euro each for the night plus 15 euro each for bike parking , oh , and would sir like breakfast in the morning ???

We had pissed about that long trying to find digs that it was now 22:30 and pitch black . Fuck this , lets resort to our original plan and head for Camping saas Dlacia , about 8 clicks outside Badia . It’s only 20 odd miles away and won’t take long to get to.

We head off and it soon becomes apparent that it’s going to take longer to get to Badia than we thought . It’s pitch black we’re both knackered and the Red Bull is wearing off big time .

I felt like I was in the film TRON , It was actually quite a trippy feeling . Surreal , calming and yet inherently dangerous . especially when we hit the mountain pass that we weren’t expecting .

Knowing that the campsite bar closes at 12 we chap on determined to make it in time for a beer.............
Wait for it ........... wait for it ..................
We arrive at .............
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
00:15 hrs !!!

The guy is just locking the door and hunts us on our way

We pitch our tents on a red ant infested rubbish tip and by 01:00 we’re both giving it big ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz’s


WHAT A FUCKING DAY !!!!!!!!!

 

[Deleted account Cooperman]

I'm getting stressed just reading this

 

[Deleted account 210609001]

Brilliant!

So much more memorable than "had a great ride to the Dolomites, everything went well."

 

[mcinlb]

No much different fae a ride up the 'Rest an' be Thankfull'

 

[markymark]

Keep it coming

 

[kirky1298]

I really should finish this report some time .
Hopefully I'll get back to it over the next couple of weeks .

 

[glenn2926]

Brilliant

When in Saarbruken you should have stayed at the fire station we did about 15 years ago. They even have a swimming pool. Keep it coming. I'm glad i'm not the only daft bastard that sets off straight from nights.

 

[Biffabacon]

Finish this great report off

 

[jamesv]

Herbert Schek

is a German Dakar and ISDT/enduro legend, famous for riding BMWs:

“On Epiphany Day, January 6, 1951, I started my motorcycle competition career at the ice rink at Isny,” remembers Herbert Schek (shown here at age 45). “It was my first opportunity to race, having just gotten my motorcycle driving license a few days before,” Schek adds. And at the end of the day, the tall, 18-year-old youth held his first winner’s cup. He explains with a laugh, “The others were so fast that they all fell. I was slow enough that I made it to the finish line without crashing once!” Now, 57 years later, this 75-year-old German motorcycling legend is still active in off-road competition, consistently placing highly in vintage enduros. Week after week, he pushes his red BMW to the starting line while his contemporaries go walking with their grandchildren.

He is worth a google.

Great ride report!!

 

[kirky1298]

Day 6coming soon .