When you tossers were much younger…

[EVskiy]

I have some good stories but I won’t digress

In a way this is the exactly the point of this thread Simon, so please free to chuck it out there...

 

[er-minio]

The closest was in Morocco where we’d been misdirected by some weaselly Frenchies, and we ended up in Ahmed’s front room well after dark, up somewhere in the high atlas.

In my case it was the floor of the spare room of a hotel receptionist along the French riviera, late at night. 80 euros cash in hand.
I was traveling with my girlfriend at the time, so the 80 euros was purely to pay for the sleeping space

But this was fairly recent (around 2012 I think) and we had GPS and my current GS. Just bad planning on my part.


Still recent years: in 2005 we traveled to Spain and Portugal. Crossed Portugal by its length. Beautiful trip (even if a tad hot at 40 degrees in the south). Again planned with mostly Lonely Planet guides, Michelin maps and paper maps.
Towards the end of the trip we wanted to do some sea time. We arrived in Albufeira where we found a house to rent taking to someone in the square. We chained both bikes to a light pole nearby and wrapped them in blankets to protect them a bit from the sun, and fucked off to the sea by bus for the following few days.
That was also one of my first contacts, at the time, with Brits

 

[leadfarmer]

In a way this is the exactly the point of this thread Simon, so please free to chuck it out there...

OK then, one of my favorite “adventures” was getting back from Morecambe Bay scooter rally in 1986

First, a bit of background…

A mate of mine had a habit of going as fast as he could go on his kitted Vespa PK50, downhill past the police station on the high street. As he got to the cop shop he’d change down to 1st gear and dump the clutch, resulting in a screeching skid for about 50 yards accompanied by the engine reving to about half a million rpm. This amused him much

Anyway, due to similar abuse at the rally in Morecambe Bay he blew his engine up, in those days we didn’t have AA cover and it was a long walk home

We very fortuitously found a long piece of rope from some roadworks, which I tied to the backrest of my scooter and tied the other end around the headstock of my mate’s scooter, off we set to tow him home, 130 miles with my 3 speed Vespa 100, 2 up with tent etc.

Halfway back I’m running out of petrol, it’s Sunday and nothing is open, this is long before GPS and 24hr petrol stations
So we took my petrol tank out of the frame and bungeed it onto the back of the scooter of the other lad riding with us, he went off to find petrol as he was the only one with any left.
Luckily, a bit later he came back having found somewhere open, so I put my now full tank back in and off we went again

Sometime later, on a bit of dual carriage way, I felt my scooter start pulling left and right violently. I looked around to see what was happening.
My mate, who had decided to zigzag back and forth from one side of the double road to the other, like a fecking water skier, was now sitting in the middle of the road watching me drag his scooter down the road on its side TWAT !

We eventually got him back, his scoot was in a sorry state, with severe road rash and a blown engine, but I got him home

This is the beast I towed him with, my first road legal bike, pictures from other rallies
Note : the reg plate bears witness to my inability to pull wheelies

 

[Redboots]

I think our first trip was '72. The Belgian 500 GP was always the first aiming point, followed by Heidelberg.
Wife had the map and signalled with taps on the shoulder for direction. Camping was the order of the day unless foul weather forced us into a Gasthof. Never once did we book anything.
After Heidelberg, it was usually "head south", Italy, Yugoslavia and the like.
Got as far as Calafell on the Norton 750. A full days ride from Geneva

 

[G&T]

I have noticed, this year, a lot of scooter rallies. Pure coincidence, who knows, but they do seem to have a good time. I even wave to them now - well why not!