Day 7: Chartres - Isigny sur Mer, 290 km

Made it across France to Normandie. Woke up to a slight and warm rain, which was a welcome change to the previous two days. Wanted a bit cooler wheather and I was not going to be disappointed!

Just when passing into Caen things started to look worrying along the horizon. Stopped and pulled on some rain gear, not a minute too late. From there on it was all thunderstorms and lightning. Hence no pics today or the camera would probably have been long gone. Eventually arrived at Isigny, all soaked despite very good rain gear, and found a marvelous little four star campsite. Still the same horrible toilets of course...

This will be my base for a couple of days, before leaving for England on the third (Roscoff-Plymoth) and then on to Spain via ferry, arriving Santander the 7th.

But before that it'll be the tapestry at Bayeux, Mont St Michel and a bit of the Normandy landings. Yes yes, I know I nagged a bit about war-tourism and Verdun and now I'll be part of it anyway...

Day 7: Morning note

Well and truly into latin country now. What's the point of having a loo where you can't sit down for more than a minute before your legs go all numb? "Be quick, or forever be stuck!"

I hate these!

What a dreadful way to go, eternally stuck at the toilet of a french campsite.  Not mentioning the apparent risk of quite literally shitting your pants...

What I discovered while interrailing some thirty years ago still holds true: the no.1 truly global toilet franchise is run by McDonalds!

Day 5&6: Traversing France, 281+338 km

Did not do my homework, night before yesterday. Result? Some serious misnavigation, getting through Luxemburg and then again getting into France.  As expected, once in France the roads are mighty straight and villages few. However, getting there was a pain. First 100 km took some 4,5 hours. The next 180 took 2...
Also, I find it hard to go beyond 350 km a day right now. It has been 35C plus, which takes its toll when you are riding in full safety gear.

Doing (it) the French way

This made for a stop far sooner than expected and I ended up in Ste Menehould. Passed through Verdun on my way there and more or less everyone at the campsite were going to Verdun.

Bunker at Verdun

Apparently there is something called "the Great War tour", making tourism out of god knows how many dead at the western front. Might be, in a sense, very important tourism, but still...
I did toy with the idea of staying an extra day and go back to see the trenches and memorials, but decided otherwise.

Sunday lunch

I'm glad I did! Had a pretty eventless ride day 6, with a great lunch at a small roadside restaurant in Foret de Fountainebleau (the French does not joke about sunday lunches!) and arrived in Chartres with plenty of time for looking at the old town, the cathederal and attend sunday evening mass.

110 m high cathederal make for some serious AC moves. No haystacks around though...

No picture can make this justice. Truly breathtaking!
Most stained glass windows are 13th century or earlier...

I'm not a very religious man, but this was a truly deep and spiritual experience! Chartres is a highly recommended site to see for everyone. Every bit as good as I had hoped for, if not better!
Plan for tomorrow is Normandie and finding a decent campsite for a two or three night stay, looking at the beaches, Bayeux and Mont St Michel. Also getting tickets for the ferries of course.  England and then on to Spain.

Day 4: Wewelsburg - Zell/Mosel, 359 km

Made it cross the Rhine. Ever since the romans, the divider between the barbaric north-east and the latin south-west. No pics though. Found myself on a freeway without parking lots.
I have not had a feeling of going upwards anything, but today brpught some serious downhill experiences. Very strange. First a marvellous road 480 between Winterberg and Bad Beurleburg. 30 km downwards and all twists and bends. And german hütte.

Typical village. Very scenic.

Then into Moseltal and a rather twisty 3 km  12% slope, in the middle of which was a warning sign for sharp curves...

Hometown of the Schwarzer Katz.

This is great bike-riding, but oh does it take time. The 359 km of the day summed up to some 7,5 hours in the saddle. Arrived at Zell and managed to miss the camping, although I've been here before.

Tent and owner has been here before. Not so the bike.

Newly engaged coffee drinkers.

No problem though, found newly engaged Bianca and Jens, who very kindly bought me a cup of coffee and pointed me in the right direction.
Settling into routines now and always try to take a walk before getting to bed. Need to stretch a bit.  This time I found myself in a Zeller streetparty. All wine from here I guess...

Good wine, sold cheap.

Plan for tomorrow is to pass into France via Luxemburg and on to Chartres (which quite far, so possibly some campsite this side of Paris).
Finally, although I've written it before. So far lucky with wi-fi. I do not promise daily updates of the blog.

Day 3: Heidenau - Wewelsburg, 283,5 km

So, back in the saddle. The day started with drizzling rain and me alone up early at the campsite. Germans on vacation seems every bit as lazy as anyone. Not fun having to pack the gear wet, but what to do. Once on the road things got better and eventually I found myself having ideal riding conditions. And the roads! It does take time to go via Bundesweg instead of Autobahn. You are only allowed to go 100 km/h and there are plenty of villages. But in between those the roads are downright marvellous!

Straight out of the woods!

Did a 2,5 hour stint, filled gas in Hameln and continued straight on. Yes I know, should have stayed and looked for the rat-catcher, but the place was full of tourists and you have to make a choice. To stay and look at everything, I'd probably need the rest of my life. Very light lunch and I arrived at 14:30. Day was planned for transport,  but not longer than giving ample time for looking at the castle and museums of Wewelsburg.

Sort of lunch.

For those not knowing, there has been people around since at least 9000 b.c. and the local museum have a very nice exhibition on that, the knights, bishopry and everything else up until 1934.

Castle and drawbridge, without draw...

VIP parking on the courtyard. 

For the rest until today there is a separate museum. The real fame of Wewelsburg lies in the castle being used by the SS and appointed a center of the world (the SS world that is) by Himmler. Cult, indoctrination, concentration camp, forced labour etc etc. You name it, it all was here. Interesting, horrifying, fascinating and extremely hard to grasp emotionally. Some 1850 prisoners died restoring and rebuilding for the master race. Not a lot compared to the larger camps in Poland, yet very many people. Logically I umderstand it took place and I strongly feel it never again must happen! Still the atrocities commited here and elsewhere are just to big to get your head around. I'm glad I've seen it though. Everyone should, this or any other nazi-concentration camp.

Chryptic driving notes for day 4.

Now then, for tomorrow. Plan is Koblenz and then through Moseltal, as far as time allows. Will be a lot of twists and bends as today, but once through it seems to be straighter roads and less villages on the french side. We'll see...

Day 2 - Heidenau/Hamburg, 26km

Big question of the day: do I go back to Hamburg,  to see the "Miniatur Wunderland", driving in an unfamiliar million people city? Or do I press on southwards?

The morning bread, fresh from the oven. 

Turned out to be a non issue. There was a regional train running every half hour from the next village. Hence the low milage. Only drove to/fro the station today.

Swiss accident

Very impressive place, the Wunderland. World's largest railway model. Although there were cars and a fully functional airport too.

Loggning railyard somewhere...

For tomorrow then. Done some planning over a german beer and aim at Paderborn. Not very far, but in no hurry either. From now on it'll be regional roads as much as possible, rather than autobahn. It's not very fun driving there, bit also the bike consumes a full extra liter of fuel for each 100km...

Day 1: Karlskrona - Hamburg, 592km

On , my way, finally. Last days before leaving was not much more than a long wait. I'm very happy I got to spend a few days extra with my son though!

Not a very eventful first day and there will not be a lot of pictures. I guess most people know the looks of a highway already...

I hit the first rain already in Kristianstad,  not 150 km from home. Soaking wet and didn't dry up until well into Denmark.

Although the plan for today is to visit Hamburg,  I decided to find a campsite on the far side. This turned out so so. Did find a very nice site, but being delayed by "stau" going through Hamburg,  the place was closed.

Geschlossen...

Luckily, there's a restaurant on site. Seeing business coming he opened the gates and let me in. No keys to the service building yet though. And I really would like to go now...

Waiting...

Nothing much happening at the moment. For various reasons I can't leave until the 25th. As the bike preparations are done, all that remains are packing the rest of the gear. Everything lies ready and I've done this any number of times mentally.

So this'll be the task for the weekend, after washing up and cleaning the flat. Tuesday morning early bird and I'll be outta here!

Bike prep's - Ready to go?

Well, one can only hope...

All prepped and ready to go (?)

It has been a long way getting there. Although I did a full service as recent as end of April this year, I decided to re-do it, before leaving for Europe. I've covered some 3500 km already this year and weren't far away from service anyhow.

Three items were the most important ones on the service list; valve check, oil change and tire change. I also knew I needed to change brake pad in the rear.

As it is only so-so fun servicing alone, I booked some time and space in my friend's garage. Although he is very knowledgeable on bikes, the really big plus was having company as well as getting some splendid food now and then. Big thanks M & L, couldn't have done it without you!

The service went well, everything changed that should be changed, cables, hoses, connections etc etc checked and full rebuild of rear brake done as well. After a full day's work I got on the bike at 23:30 to go back home and get some sleep.

I got 200 meters.

Since then it has been all trouble-shooting. For some reason the bike didn't get enough fuel and I couldn't really figure out why. It all has ended with a full fuel system clean-up. Carburetor rebuilt, fuel pump cleaned, fuel cocks, hoses and tank likewise. Finally I've installed a fuel filter. Yes, it's true. KTM has built a splendid dirt adventure bike and not installed a fuel filter from factory! Totally incomprehensible to me...

Yesterday the bike ran as it should again. It still does. Biggest problem though is to regain confidence in the bike continuing to run for the upcoming 8-10 000 km as well. I've done a +200 km test run, high speed, low speed, curves, starts, stops, letting it rest over night and such. Works fine, but I find myself starting to hear noises I can't recall hearing before. Guess I'll just have to do the trip and hopefully along the way me and the bike will get back to the level of mutual trust we used to have...

On the other hand I'm still happy it happened now. Would have been worse in the middle of nowhere, some 3000 km from home. As my friend with the garage put it: "You have a quite intelligent bike you know. It told you that if you (i.e. the bike and I) are going to do a long trip you better check this first!"

The new front bags.

Another upside: I now had the opportunity to do some further mods as well. Figure a good horn won't hurt in France and Spain and also installed some extra bags, hung on the engine bars.

We will continue to do shorter trips the rest of this week, Trüdl and I, to further build confidence. Yes, my Austrian girl has gotten a name now. Don't know if Trüdl actually is an Austrian girls-name, but it sounds like it and given the temper shown over the last couple of weeks it has to be a girl!

Update: As a tip for those who use the same kind of unpainted aluminium panniers I do. Make sure they are dead tight screwed on to the rack on the bike! If not, the paint on the rack will grind away due to vibrations. As the rack is steel, this will lead to serious galvanic corrosion of the panniers. You notice this as an extremely fine grey powder that stains virtually everything. Eventually the corrosion will lead to holes in the cases.
It is very easy to fix. Just make sure that the panniers are galvanically isolated from the rack. In my case, as I didn't have the time to powder coat or paint, I simply taped the rack with duct-tape. It'll have to do until I can make something more permanent.

Spares and tools, are they really necessary?

I was at a friends house the other day. Also a biker since many years, we came to talk about long-haul riding and what kind of riders there are doing this. On one end of the scale we found the innocent and naive, who just buys a bike and rides off into the sunset. Strange thing is that they seem to get away with it as well...

At the other end there is the extremely well prepared, almost professional, multi-competent biker who makes a carburetor out of a coke can in no time. Those people also get home, every time. Might take a bit longer though, as they gladly perform a full service at the side of the road first.

The rest of us fall somewhere in between. Myself I probably belong more to the prepared ones. There is a special kind of satisfaction in being able to sort out a problem by yourself, before getting back on the road again. I limit the things I undertake though and sometimes I do get really frustrated...

Taking this approach does require tools and spares, so next question is what to bring?

The workshop...

The answer I think lie in what I want to be able to do. My philosophy is I should "always" be able to repair enough to get myself to a workshop. Of course this is still limited to the most common troubles; flat tires, blown light bulbs, fuel pump problems, hoses, basic electrics, oil leaks etc. I will not bring stuff enough for full road side renovations...

As the trip is quite long, I will also have to have the bike serviced half way through. Do I want to do this myself, or do I leave the bike with a workshop?
To me the answer is obvious. I have a safe haven in Spain, I have the know how and I am dependent of the bike to the extent that I definitely want to know the exact status and what have been done to it. I do the service myself!

So, getting to it then; what do I bring?

Tools first

• Customized toolset, containing both some special things from the bikes original toolbox, but also some general tools
• Feeler gauges, for adjusting valves during mid-journey service
• A multimeter
• Tire bars
• A set of tie-down straps. Very important for ferrying by boat, but also useful for tying stuff down during service if needed
• The panniers! Heavy-duty type aluminium boxes that double as bike stand if required
• Air compressor, small and cheap 12V type
• Leatherman-type multi-tool (always carried on myself)
• Flashlight
• Funnel for oil change
• Plastic syringe with a piece of tube, for changing/adding hydraulic or brake fluid if required

There are other things packed which might come in handy for repairs as well. For instance I use a petrol stove, which easily heats till some 800-900 C.

Spares then

• Extra fuel filter
• Fuel pump gasket set
• Tube, 21" front only as this one will fit in the back as well, good enough to take me to a workshop
• Tube fixing set
• Clutch and brake levers. I don't bring extra gear-change or brake pedals though. Front brake will have to do if pedal is broken and gear changers usually don't brake fully
• Gas- and de-comp wires, clutch line (have hydraulic clutch, otherwise you'd like an extra wire for the clutch as well)
• Drive chain lock
• Spare bulbs
• Some extra fuel- and vacuum hoses, plus hose clamps
• Electric wire
• Chemical metal
• Gasket on tube
• Air duct-, electrical- and vulcanizing tapes
• Tie wraps
• Coffee filters, for cleaning of fuel or coolant water
• Generic wire set
• Pre-oiled air filter
• Wheel bearings (this is superfluous, but I already had them and they really don't take up much space or weight...)
• Extra spokes
• Valve caps gasket set. The LC4 engine must be one of the last ones not having o-ring type rubber gaskets. One of the few real misses by the KTM engineers!
• Oil filter and gasket set, to be able to do the planned mid-journey service
• Spark plug
• Engine oil
• WD40
• Chain lubricant
• Hydraulic fluid (for clutch)

One thing I don't bring, but maybe ought to, is a voltage regulator/rectifier. If that one blows I guess I'll just have to hitch a ride to wherever I can buy one...

I think that covers it! Quite a lot, but I do have the knowledge to use it and it actually doesn't take up as much space as you might first think. As I don't know where I'll find myself driving I better be prepared...

If you don't know how or have the experience of doing roadside emergency fixes you might as well save the space and weight though (on the other hand you then also better stick to civilized surroundings...)!

Preparations and papers...

I've now been planning and preparing this for almost two months. There is a lot to think about. I'd say the most important stuff, that also take the longest time is having your papers in order. I need to be able to identify myself, bike shall be insured, have a valid registration, I shall be insured etc etc. Traveling only through EC countries of western Europe I in fact probably wouldn't even need to bring my passport, but better safe than sorry. If you plan anything like this, make sure to keep your papers in order and start that process well in advance of leaving!

The library

My "library" for this trip includes:

• Passport
• International camping pass (only needed if you plan on staying at campsites)
• Membership card of SMC (Swedish Motorcyclists Association), a FIA associated organization of Swedish bike riders
• European health insurance card (only for EC citizens)
• Bike registration license
• "Green card", internationally recognized proof of bike being insured
• Protocol of last MoT test, to prove bike is road safe
• Personal insurance certificate
• Certificate of extended insurance, as my regular insurance only covers for 45 days of travel
• Insurance forms, both for bike and person

All of the above as originals! Stored separately (sort of hidden away) I also maintain copies of the above.

Added to this there are also:

• Service manual for the bike
• Notebook / diary
• The "SMC-book", a manual with addresses and other useful stuff for bikers
• Maps. I'm old fashioned enough to stick with the analogous material. I don't have anything against electronic navigation, but a map never runs out of battery and gives a far better overview than a 3" smart phone does...

Also remember to bring pens! Ballpoint for official signing etc, pencil for writing in damp conditions and a marker.

Now then for preps of the bike and packing, but this I will write about in separate articles.

/Yogan.

Welcome!

Travel by bike to Spain? Yeah, why not! I've been playing around with the idea for quite some time and then let it go again. Mainly due to obligations at home. Being a parent, work and other of the everyday stuff sort of got in the way. Then things started to fall into place; my son decided to stay with his mother this year, downsizing at work and becoming redundant (but to be fair I got a good deal, even though I'd preferred to stay of course). Still I didn't actually consider a trip as this one though. It wasn't until some friends of mine, as a casual remark, mentioned the option I realized what a great opportunity I have in life at the moment!

The outline of the trip I've described on a separate pages. Suffice it to say here that this will be exciting!

As I will be all on my own and have limited possibilities to stay in touch with friends and relatives on a daily basis, I decided to set this blog up as a means of following where I am and what I'm doing. I don't know if there'll be any followers, but now the option is there. Another reason is that I hope to be able to share experiences, tips and tricks of the trade, hoping someone might find it useful when doing their own trips.

The update will probably be fairly unregular as it is highly dependent of the communications available. Keeping to GSM/GPRS etc is not cheap when roaming. I hope for the possibility of using W-LAN of the places I visit instead, but we'll see.

The blog will be in English. I've got many non-Swedish speaking friends and also don't want to limit the tips/experiences/tricks content to native swedes of course. Pictures will be included as often as I can and have them available. My main photo equipment is a Nikon SLR, but don't really know how to transfer pics from that one to the Samsung-pad I will use when writing the blog. Probably will have to take a few pics with the pad cam too.

Anyway, once again welcome to Two months of Europe!

/Yogan.