tony_tony
Guest
Some photos from this trip can be found here:-
http://f650.com/forums/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=155178
well what was planned as a 6 day retrun trip from london to berlin turned into a 2 week adventure taking in 8 countries and 3000 miles. i spent one night in some countries and a couple of nights in others, including france, belgium, germany, poland, czech republic, austria, and liechtenstein of all places which i had not heard of before this trip, its a small country bordering switzerland bang in the middle of the alps. i used the eurotunnel train under the english channel to get to mainland europe and that took only 30 minutes-amazing.
Without fail, in every country i went to i found the people friendly and hospitable, at border crossings i was only ever asked for my passport and didn't need to show the many bike documents i was carrying or even my driving licence. Highlights of the trip were discovering an ancient spa town in the czech republic called karlovy vary where the hotel owner spoke no english but gave me his mobile phone to speak with his daughter who said that all rooms were gone but i could have a 1 bed apartment for £35.00 for the night-fantastic with free garage parking and views of the village, and of course the alps themselves in both switzerland where I saw an eagle, and austria. i learned a new trick in the alps which involved skirting the mountain passes on a bright sunny day then quickly lifting the visor to lower my sunglasses onto my nose when entering the many tunnels through the mountainside, great fun indeed. I stayed at a place called Interlaken in switzerland and even managed a 1 day hike into the mountains beside the eiger where you can touch the glaciers, it did rain so i missed out on the best views but am returning in 2 weeks for a 3 day break (by plane this time) to take that hike a bit further.
Overall throughout europe i found much less congestion on the roads than in the uk, the lanes seemed wider, and the drivers there seem to give much more respect to bikers. Also, its true what they say, be very careful when venturing into the fast lane on the autobahns in Germany, those BMW cars and Porsche scream past at 130 mph plus, and seem to come from nowhere.
As for the bike, yes on the motorway a bigger engine and screen may have been nice but for 90% of the time the F650 gs was perfect, from country lanes to cobbled stone villages to A and B roads it never missed a beat, my only 'mechanical' moment was in poland when during a smoke and coffee break i spotted a nail in the back tire, after weighing up the options i got the pliers out, held my breath, and pulled that baby free, with no damage done i continued on my way.
Cant wait for the chance for another big trip, hope you like the photos.
tony
http://f650.com/forums/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=155178
well what was planned as a 6 day retrun trip from london to berlin turned into a 2 week adventure taking in 8 countries and 3000 miles. i spent one night in some countries and a couple of nights in others, including france, belgium, germany, poland, czech republic, austria, and liechtenstein of all places which i had not heard of before this trip, its a small country bordering switzerland bang in the middle of the alps. i used the eurotunnel train under the english channel to get to mainland europe and that took only 30 minutes-amazing.
Without fail, in every country i went to i found the people friendly and hospitable, at border crossings i was only ever asked for my passport and didn't need to show the many bike documents i was carrying or even my driving licence. Highlights of the trip were discovering an ancient spa town in the czech republic called karlovy vary where the hotel owner spoke no english but gave me his mobile phone to speak with his daughter who said that all rooms were gone but i could have a 1 bed apartment for £35.00 for the night-fantastic with free garage parking and views of the village, and of course the alps themselves in both switzerland where I saw an eagle, and austria. i learned a new trick in the alps which involved skirting the mountain passes on a bright sunny day then quickly lifting the visor to lower my sunglasses onto my nose when entering the many tunnels through the mountainside, great fun indeed. I stayed at a place called Interlaken in switzerland and even managed a 1 day hike into the mountains beside the eiger where you can touch the glaciers, it did rain so i missed out on the best views but am returning in 2 weeks for a 3 day break (by plane this time) to take that hike a bit further.
Overall throughout europe i found much less congestion on the roads than in the uk, the lanes seemed wider, and the drivers there seem to give much more respect to bikers. Also, its true what they say, be very careful when venturing into the fast lane on the autobahns in Germany, those BMW cars and Porsche scream past at 130 mph plus, and seem to come from nowhere.
As for the bike, yes on the motorway a bigger engine and screen may have been nice but for 90% of the time the F650 gs was perfect, from country lanes to cobbled stone villages to A and B roads it never missed a beat, my only 'mechanical' moment was in poland when during a smoke and coffee break i spotted a nail in the back tire, after weighing up the options i got the pliers out, held my breath, and pulled that baby free, with no damage done i continued on my way.
Cant wait for the chance for another big trip, hope you like the photos.
tony
