Too old? No! R1100GS on the road.

ThreeDawg · Oct 6, 2025

Just a small selection of photos from the current trip. Me and Mrs 3D are once again on the 1100, this time heading from Scotland to Turkey, and then maybe Morocco. It's been a blast so far. We normally travel a bit further afield - the last trip on the 11 was from Santiago Chile to Bogota, Colombia, but this year we shut up shop six weeks early so we could see a bit more of what is only a ferry ride away.

All loaded up and ready for the ride down to The Toon for the DFDS ferry.

We slabbed it across Holland and Germany, but things got much more pleasant when we hit Austria and the Dolomites in Italy. The trip really began for me in Trieste as I had not been to any of the countries on the Adriatic.

My first sight of the Adriatic.

En suite garage, Trieste.

JohnnyBoxer · Oct 6, 2025

Lovely pics

Keep them coming

jetjock · Oct 6, 2025

Now that’s what I call en route accommodation.

ThreeDawg · Oct 6, 2025

Trieste is lovely, and the apartment with the en suite garage was just a short walk from the waterfront.

This bit of Italy is right on the border with Slovenia, a country I know little about other than its habit of producing world class cyclists. There were certainly plenty of people puffing their way up the mountains on their bicycles towards lake Bled. Me, I was glad to have an engine, the road was steep and very twisty. It would have been nice to explore that area, but a large storm came in, and it rained all day so we hid in our room and planned our route down the coast.

The streams in the Slovenian mountains are crystal clear. Apparently it's very good for trout fishing.

Anyway, the storm passed and the following day we were off again, heading back down the coast to the pretty town of Rovinj. This is far less touristy than places like Dubrovnik, and I liked it a lot. Just the place for gentle strolls and leisurely beer drinking.

Blackblade-rry · Oct 7, 2025

ThreeDawg said:
View attachment 449459

I've always said that if I lived on my own, my accommodation of choice would be a one bedroom flat with a triple garage.

dub 24 · Oct 7, 2025

Fair dues to you both ,amazing trips in the past and this one looks as equally epic. Keep the report coming I'm in

Oldrat · Oct 7, 2025

Excellent reporting, thanks for taking the trouble to document your trip.

Rovinj is one of my favourite places.

Stay safe

ThreeDawg · Oct 8, 2025

The ultimate destination for the first leg of this trip is Turkey, so we continued down the Adriatic in the general direction of northern Greece. By now we were starting to rack up countries I'd never visited - because we are busy in the British summer we tend to head south of the equator when our work ends in October. But this year we decided to hell with it and have been on the road since the begining of September.

Continuing down the coast towards Albania, we stopped in the small town of Senj, then Split and Dubrovnik. The riding was straightforward, nothing much to report. There is clearly a fair bit of rural poverty here, but the roads are in good shape. Weather was a bit crap out of Senj as we climbed up into the mountains towards Split, but today is 29 degrees and baking. Found a nice shady cafe bar down a back street in Split old town to escape the heat and crowds.

Roadkill, our rubber mascot comes out occasionally.

We continued south towards Dubrovnik, but headed inland as soon as we could to enjoy the quieter mountain roads. I think these are a much better bet than fighting the traffic on the coast, no matter how alluring the Adriatic might look.

Dubrovnik was hoachin' as you would imagine, but a circuit of the city walls wasn't too bad ( you all go anti clockwise) and it was easy to find quieter back lanes in the old city. It is creaking with history, gorgeous, but I think better visited out of season.

Heading into Montenegro we had to do our second border check after Imujden. We were called forward by the police, so skipped a long wait. Motorbikes eh? The route we'd planned initially took us round the coast, which was lovely, but then we headed towards the mountains of the Durmator National Park and our overnight in the alpine resort of Zabljak.

The following day we went for a look at the Tara river gorge (some interesting walking conditions for those of us wearing motocross boots, before turning east to the border with Albania, through delightful mountain scenery.

Everything was going swimmingly, until we pulled over to fiddle with the GPS. The bike refused to restart, in an exact duplication of my issue a while refuelling in Inverness a while bike. Dead fuel pump. HES sensor AGAIN? Surely not.

This might be tricky, we were in the middle of nowhere, bad phone signal and the day was getting on...

dub 24 · Oct 8, 2025

I'm so envious of yere trip ,photos and reports are great. Love the list of countries on the front beak.

I've a repaired HES ( new wiring) for an 1150 I can post/ courier to you if that's any help might be handier coming from Ireland rather than UK brexit

Let me know

ThreeDawg · Oct 8, 2025

Thanks for the offer. I had my original one rewired by GSaddict in Canada some time ago, but when I thought it crapped out I bought a new pattern one from Motobins. Bit of a long tale, but I think my issues actually go back to shite roadside fuel in Bolivia. I will elucidate in the next post ...

dub 24 · Oct 8, 2025

No panic. If you feel your going to elucidate in your next post take some immodium

ThreeDawg · Oct 9, 2025

So, there we were, actually stranded by the side of a pretty busy road and considering our limited options.

Phone signal wasn't great, so I'd got on to a mate back in the UK via Whatsapp who contacted my insurers to see if they could help. Best they could do was a maximum 20km recovery to the nearest settlement for a mere 550 quid or so. Or how about leaving the bike at the supermarket nearby (a roadside shack selling drinks and crisps) and taking the train from the non existant station on the disused freight line? OK... Useful. NOT!

Anyway, along comes a bloke (Vassilije) on a small KTM and he stops. He's a mechanic, but speaks no English. He fiddles a bit, to no avail. But he does know a genius mechanic in Podgorica, the capital, some 90km away. And he has a mate with a flat bed truck who can get us there for 200 euros. Deal!!!

In the meantime he talks non stop. About what, I don't know, but he stays until his mate turns up to take us to BMW Podgorica, while I book a hotel next door. Sorted!

Try to be like this bloke.

Bike loaded. A sorry sight indeed

But we were moving again, and that was good. The bike was dropped off at the main BMW dealership and we headed to the hotel's bar.

The following day I walked down to the dealers for a chat. They seemed quite surprised that BMW was manufacturing bikes in 1997, and explained that anyway they couldn't look into it for a few days and it might be weeks until parts arrived. Pretty much what I was expecting really. Fair play to them though, they did suggest a bike shop nearby who might be able to help. They couldn't either, but put us in touch with a guy named Soko, who as it turned out was Vassilje's genius mechanic friend. Things were looking up! We booked another night in the hotel and loaded the bike into Soko's disreputable looking van and headed for his workshop in the hills above town..

ThreeDawg · Oct 11, 2025

So there we are, in Soko's workshop. I think it might be the Hall sensor, I venture. Shut up, you know nothing came the reply. OK, he was much more diplomatic than that, but he had a point. Soko tested various important wires, I learned something, and after draining as much fuel as possible, off came the tank and then the plate on which the important stuff inside the tank lives. Our maestro plugged in the pump, switched on the isnition and gave the pump a tap with a hammer. Off it went! Bloody hell, was it shit Bolivian roadside fuel did for it? Who knows, but the nub of the problem was right there in front of us.

Duff Bolivian fuel?

I got the Bosch part number off the internet, Soko made some calls and his dad offered us some home made Rakia fire water. Things were definitely looking up.

Presently a girl on a moped turned up clutching a new pump, and then Vassilje joined the party with much back slapping and hugs.

All back together, and it was back to the hotel for several beers and a slap up meal to celebrate. One day lost, two new friends found and our faithful steed back in action. Onwards!

ThreeDawg · Oct 14, 2025

The following morning we packed up (we just about have the hang of it now) and continued the journey, next stop Albania. Being in Podgorica meant we had to use one of the busier southerly
crossings, but it was pretty straightforward. We had to buy insurance, but this was easily done at an office there for fifteen euros.

Under Enver Hoxha car ownership was effectively banned, and I think the Albanian people may be over compensating after his demise. I have never seen so many Mercedes cars (of all vintages), petrol stations and car washes in my life. Many of the petrol stations had cafes attached so that newly laundered cars could be parked up and admired over a brew.

There also seemed to be a large number of very vulgar looking hotels, including one with a vast statue on the roof which apparently has never been used.

To get to our guest house in the hills to the east we had to ride through the middle of the capital, Tirane. The Montenegrans had warned me about Albanian driving, but there were no problems and the going was easy. Clearly money is coming into the country, as there were lots of new apartment blocks next to dilapidated soviet-style dumps, and plenty of 'western' brands on show in the form of car dealerships and so on.

The bike was back to its old self, which pleased me immensely.

Our destination was the village of Lin, which has been a settlement for literally thousands of years. It's a lovely spot, unspoiled but with just enough tourist infrastructure. Garmin wasn't much use in Albania, but because I run a phone on the bars I was able to switch to Google maps. It might look daft, but sometimes having a backup or second opinion on navigation is useful ..

Unused. Why?

Commie era bunker under the dome on the point now a chapel

Byzantine mosaics

Korca indeed!

We found the Albanians very friendly and hospitable, especially compared to the rather offhand attitude in Croatia. Mrs 3D was handed a hat full (literally) of grapes at one point, and the lady running the guest house could not have been more helpful, but we had to be on our way, so after a couple of nights we pointed the bike east again in the direction of Greece and Meteora, famous for its cliff top monastaries.

Toshack10 · Oct 14, 2025

Making memories is great thing.

Udders · Oct 14, 2025

Excellent result with the bike! :clap

barak666 · Oct 14, 2025

Excellent report and some brilliant photos - I'm in....

ThreeDawg · Oct 20, 2025

Lin was a lovely place to stay, but we needed to keep heading east. The ride to the border with Greece was easy, with little traffic through rural Albania. The border was a breeze and there we were in Greece. The plan was to ride to Meteora, home to the famous cliff-top monastaries.

Our apartment was right under these cliffs, and we were assured by our host that the path up to them was OK. It looked impossible to me, and by the way, do I look like some sort of Ironman athlete?

Well I wasn't about to clump around a monastary in the heat wearing my big daft boots, and I can't get on the bike unless I have all the gear on, so the following morning we yomoed up the cliff. It was quite a climb, but crampons and ropes weren't required.

We visited two monastaries, which were very interesting, if a little crowded, and the views were amazing. The first one was used in a Bond film (For Your Eyes Only I think). There are rules about how much skin you're able to display, so vests and short shorts are out for both blokes and ladies, and mini dresses are a big no-no. You are given something appropriate to cover up with, but Mrs 3D always has her sarong with her, so used that. Bloody useful piece of kit really.

In the afternoon we visited a Byzantine church in the village, and in the evening took the bike out to watch the sunset. Garmin took us down a rough track which eventually led to a very narrow timber bridge which I didn't dare cross.

ThreeDawg · Nov 1, 2025

Made it to Turkey and Asia Minor! Last couple of days it was blowing a hoolie, which has made the riding somewhat trying, but we have passed through some fine coastal and mountain scenery in northern Greece. The sea was indeed wine- dark, as Homer would have it, and the cotton is ripe and being harvested.

Our ride was mostly a squirt along pristine and empty dual carriageways to the border. We queued for a bit, got stamped out of Greece and into Turkey, bought some insurance and within 80 minutes we were on our way. Not bad.

We're now in Canakkale in the Dardanelles for a few nights as Mrs 3D was keen to see Gallipoli where her great grandfather, grandfather and great uncle took part in the Anzac invasion. Incredibly, given the carnage they all returned safely. The bike has had to be parked on the pavement of a busy street street due to us not paying attention when booking our accommodation. It's locked and under a cover with CCTV covering it, but this is not a mistake I am keen to repeat.

No pissed up UK louts, no problems.

Our next day was a bit of an education (for me, at least) as we visited Gallipoli. We decided to take an organised trip, and this turned out to be a wise choice as our guide filled us in on all the horrific details. It really was a massive cock up from start to finish, with so many young lads losing their lives for zero gain. As I saw it the operation was like a modern assault (as opposed to a battle where two armies faced each other like Culloden), but lacking proper means of communication, navigation and air cover, along with a terrain that really worked against the ANZAC forces and pure bad luck meant it was doomed to fail. Something like 10000 ANZACs died, and many more Turks were killed.