A picture a day...biker banter (Vol 5)
Discussion
Stone Cold said:
Biker's Nemesis said:
What’s his plans BN, rally or just a road/track toy? I’d love a Mk1 or 2 as I’m of a certain age
had a Mk1 Mexico back in the day, if only I knew then what I know now 
podman said:
Two iconic Kawasaki's there....did you install the flat bar conversion?
Yes,fairly straight forward and easily reversed.https://www.bikermart.co.uk/Kawasaki-GPZ900R-90~97...
Just returned from over 2 weeks in the road. Our original plan was to reach Istanbul, but with Bulgaria and Greece closed (at least when we needed to cross pre-15th) we re-routed! To maximise time down south, we loaded the bikes onto the Motorail and used Austria as the start/finish point. Because of the favourable train arrival/departure times, we only transited Austria and avoided having to quarantine in Austria. The general itinerary was:
Eurotunnel > Germany > motorail > Austria > Italy > Slovenia > Croatia > Serbia > Romania > Serbia > Montenegro > Croatia > Slovenia > Italy > Austria > motorail > Germany > Eurotunnel > home. In all, we covered 4k miles of some of the most diverse and just fantastic roads on and off-road. Bike of choice? The GS. Forget sports tourers. The roads switch from ribbon smooth tarmac to broken, dirt, gravel, mud (or are non-existent), and the ability to switch instantly is nevessary. No other bike I know can carve fast sweepers at 51degrees of lean, navigate broken tarmac along single lane width mountain roads, or go off-road up and down mud/rocks.
I will let the pics do the talking...
Motorail selfie
We headed south and covered 3 days of the Italian Dolomites taking in all the main passes and some very small obscure ones - especially towards the east including the Forcella Lavardet and others.
Timmelsjoch
Passo Gardena
Forcella Lavardet
We covered the Vrsic Pass in Slovenia and headed up to the top of the Mangart. Incredible views.
Crossed the hard border into Serbia and discovered the vast climb of people out of poverty from years of war.
Then to Romania where we would be based in Sibiu for 3 nights days to explore the beautiful country. Must go back as it needs more time.
From local modern machinery...
To the beautiful tourist squares of Sibiu
To the mighty Transfagarasan
The Vidraru Dam where Clarkson and TopGear spent the night
The Transalpina
And the DN66A through Cerna-Sat where it was 100km offroad through some beautiful but also seriously hard ‘3 people to pull the bikes out of the mud’ mountain routes if you didn’t have full offroad knobblies.
But after a whole afternoon of the gravel rocks and mud, it was soon back to this and more 51degrees of lean
We crossed into Serbia where there were derelict factories and remnants of what looked like the Gulag.
Then onto the stunning sweeping roads of Montenegro through amazing gorges, valleys, and varied terrain
On our return, we came up the Adriatic Sea and spent quality time on and off the bikes in Croatia.
We headed to Krka National forest where over 15degrees incline on deep loose rocks defeated us and we spent ages trying to turn back in 30degrees C.
But we made it out and ended the evening at thr Tiki bar on the beach
Heading north through the forests, we set the bavs back for our return to Austria via the Grossglockner
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/6EGE7pXB.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/RLLuZzWu" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/RLLuZzWu.jpg)
But weather closed in at it was snowing and 1.5C at the top which made it tough going on tyres that were already shagged after over 3k miles of hard riding and were now down to the wear bars.
We loaded up the motorail again and are glad to be home safe and sound. It was an epic trip. So many memories. Still buzzing from sensory overload. Need to decompress a bit, and back to reality!
Eurotunnel > Germany > motorail > Austria > Italy > Slovenia > Croatia > Serbia > Romania > Serbia > Montenegro > Croatia > Slovenia > Italy > Austria > motorail > Germany > Eurotunnel > home. In all, we covered 4k miles of some of the most diverse and just fantastic roads on and off-road. Bike of choice? The GS. Forget sports tourers. The roads switch from ribbon smooth tarmac to broken, dirt, gravel, mud (or are non-existent), and the ability to switch instantly is nevessary. No other bike I know can carve fast sweepers at 51degrees of lean, navigate broken tarmac along single lane width mountain roads, or go off-road up and down mud/rocks.
I will let the pics do the talking...
Motorail selfie
We headed south and covered 3 days of the Italian Dolomites taking in all the main passes and some very small obscure ones - especially towards the east including the Forcella Lavardet and others.
Timmelsjoch
Passo Gardena
Forcella Lavardet
We covered the Vrsic Pass in Slovenia and headed up to the top of the Mangart. Incredible views.
Crossed the hard border into Serbia and discovered the vast climb of people out of poverty from years of war.
Then to Romania where we would be based in Sibiu for 3 nights days to explore the beautiful country. Must go back as it needs more time.
From local modern machinery...
To the beautiful tourist squares of Sibiu
To the mighty Transfagarasan
The Vidraru Dam where Clarkson and TopGear spent the night
The Transalpina
And the DN66A through Cerna-Sat where it was 100km offroad through some beautiful but also seriously hard ‘3 people to pull the bikes out of the mud’ mountain routes if you didn’t have full offroad knobblies.
But after a whole afternoon of the gravel rocks and mud, it was soon back to this and more 51degrees of lean
We crossed into Serbia where there were derelict factories and remnants of what looked like the Gulag.
Then onto the stunning sweeping roads of Montenegro through amazing gorges, valleys, and varied terrain
On our return, we came up the Adriatic Sea and spent quality time on and off the bikes in Croatia.
We headed to Krka National forest where over 15degrees incline on deep loose rocks defeated us and we spent ages trying to turn back in 30degrees C.
But we made it out and ended the evening at thr Tiki bar on the beach
Heading north through the forests, we set the bavs back for our return to Austria via the Grossglockner
But weather closed in at it was snowing and 1.5C at the top which made it tough going on tyres that were already shagged after over 3k miles of hard riding and were now down to the wear bars.
We loaded up the motorail again and are glad to be home safe and sound. It was an epic trip. So many memories. Still buzzing from sensory overload. Need to decompress a bit, and back to reality!
spareparts said:
Just returned from over 2 weeks in the road. Our original plan was to reach Istanbul, but with Bulgaria and Greece closed (at least when we needed to cross pre-15th) we re-routed! To maximise time down south, we loaded the bikes onto the Motorail and used Austria as the start/finish point. Because of the favourable train arrival/departure times, we only transited Austria and avoided having to quarantine in Austria. The general itinerary was:
Eurotunnel > Germany > motorail > Austria > Italy > Slovenia > Croatia > Serbia > Romania > Serbia > Montenegro > Croatia > Slovenia > Italy > Austria > motorail > Germany > Eurotunnel > home. In all, we covered 4k miles of some of the most diverse and just fantastic roads on and off-road. Bike of choice? The GS. Forget sports tourers. The roads switch from ribbon smooth tarmac to broken, dirt, gravel, mud (or are non-existent), and the ability to switch instantly is nevessary. No other bike I know can carve fast sweepers at 51degrees of lean, navigate broken tarmac along single lane width mountain roads, or go off-road up and down mud/rocks.
I will let the pics do the talking...
Motorail selfie
We headed south and covered 3 days of the Italian Dolomites taking in all the main passes and some very small obscure ones - especially towards the east including the Forcella Lavardet and others.
Timmelsjoch
Passo Gardena
Forcella Lavardet
We covered the Vrsic Pass in Slovenia and headed up to the top of the Mangart. Incredible views.
Crossed the hard border into Serbia and discovered the vast climb of people out of poverty from years of war.
Then to Romania where we would be based in Sibiu for 3 nights days to explore the beautiful country. Must go back as it needs more time.
From local modern machinery...
To the beautiful tourist squares of Sibiu
To the mighty Transfagarasan
The Vidraru Dam where Clarkson and TopGear spent the night
The Transalpina
And the DN66A through Cerna-Sat where it was 100km offroad through some beautiful but also seriously hard ‘3 people to pull the bikes out of the mud’ mountain routes if you didn’t have full offroad knobblies.
But after a whole afternoon of the gravel rocks and mud, it was soon back to this and more 51degrees of lean
We crossed into Serbia where there were derelict factories and remnants of what looked like the Gulag.
Then onto the stunning sweeping roads of Montenegro through amazing gorges, valleys, and varied terrain
On our return, we came up the Adriatic Sea and spent quality time on and off the bikes in Croatia.
We headed to Krka National forest where over 15degrees incline on deep loose rocks defeated us and we spent ages trying to turn back in 30degrees C.
But we made it out and ended the evening at thr Tiki bar on the beach
Heading north through the forests, we set the bavs back for our return to Austria via the Grossglockner
But weather closed in at it was snowing and 1.5C at the top which made it tough going on tyres that were already shagged after over 3k miles of hard riding and were now down to the wear bars.
We loaded up the motorail again and are glad to be home safe and sound. It was an epic trip. So many memories. Still buzzing from sensory overload. Need to decompress a bit, and back to reality!
That looks a stupendous trip!! Well done, especially taking some of the "challenging" routes Eurotunnel > Germany > motorail > Austria > Italy > Slovenia > Croatia > Serbia > Romania > Serbia > Montenegro > Croatia > Slovenia > Italy > Austria > motorail > Germany > Eurotunnel > home. In all, we covered 4k miles of some of the most diverse and just fantastic roads on and off-road. Bike of choice? The GS. Forget sports tourers. The roads switch from ribbon smooth tarmac to broken, dirt, gravel, mud (or are non-existent), and the ability to switch instantly is nevessary. No other bike I know can carve fast sweepers at 51degrees of lean, navigate broken tarmac along single lane width mountain roads, or go off-road up and down mud/rocks.
I will let the pics do the talking...
Motorail selfie
We headed south and covered 3 days of the Italian Dolomites taking in all the main passes and some very small obscure ones - especially towards the east including the Forcella Lavardet and others.
Timmelsjoch
Passo Gardena
Forcella Lavardet
We covered the Vrsic Pass in Slovenia and headed up to the top of the Mangart. Incredible views.
Crossed the hard border into Serbia and discovered the vast climb of people out of poverty from years of war.
Then to Romania where we would be based in Sibiu for 3 nights days to explore the beautiful country. Must go back as it needs more time.
From local modern machinery...
To the beautiful tourist squares of Sibiu
To the mighty Transfagarasan
The Vidraru Dam where Clarkson and TopGear spent the night
The Transalpina
And the DN66A through Cerna-Sat where it was 100km offroad through some beautiful but also seriously hard ‘3 people to pull the bikes out of the mud’ mountain routes if you didn’t have full offroad knobblies.
But after a whole afternoon of the gravel rocks and mud, it was soon back to this and more 51degrees of lean
We crossed into Serbia where there were derelict factories and remnants of what looked like the Gulag.
Then onto the stunning sweeping roads of Montenegro through amazing gorges, valleys, and varied terrain
On our return, we came up the Adriatic Sea and spent quality time on and off the bikes in Croatia.
We headed to Krka National forest where over 15degrees incline on deep loose rocks defeated us and we spent ages trying to turn back in 30degrees C.
But we made it out and ended the evening at thr Tiki bar on the beach
Heading north through the forests, we set the bavs back for our return to Austria via the Grossglockner
But weather closed in at it was snowing and 1.5C at the top which made it tough going on tyres that were already shagged after over 3k miles of hard riding and were now down to the wear bars.
We loaded up the motorail again and are glad to be home safe and sound. It was an epic trip. So many memories. Still buzzing from sensory overload. Need to decompress a bit, and back to reality!
Out of interest, how did you find the vanilla GS vs the GSA?
spareparts said:
Just returned from over 2 weeks in the road. Our original plan was to reach Istanbul, but with Bulgaria and Greece closed (at least when we needed to cross pre-15th) we re-routed! To maximise time down south, we loaded the bikes onto the Motorail and used Austria as the start/finish point. Because of the favourable train arrival/departure times, we only transited Austria and avoided having to quarantine in Austria. The general itinerary was:
Eurotunnel > Germany > motorail > Austria > Italy > Slovenia > Croatia > Serbia > Romania > Serbia > Montenegro > Croatia > Slovenia > Italy > Austria > motorail > Germany > Eurotunnel > home. In all, we covered 4k miles of some of the most diverse and just fantastic roads on and off-road. Bike of choice? The GS. Forget sports tourers. The roads switch from ribbon smooth tarmac to broken, dirt, gravel, mud (or are non-existent), and the ability to switch instantly is nevessary. No other bike I know can carve fast sweepers at 51degrees of lean, navigate broken tarmac along single lane width mountain roads, or go off-road up and down mud/rocks.
I will let the pics do the talking...
Motorail selfie
We headed south and covered 3 days of the Italian Dolomites taking in all the main passes and some very small obscure ones - especially towards the east including the Forcella Lavardet and others.
Timmelsjoch
Passo Gardena
Forcella Lavardet
We covered the Vrsic Pass in Slovenia and headed up to the top of the Mangart. Incredible views.
Crossed the hard border into Serbia and discovered the vast climb of people out of poverty from years of war.
Then to Romania where we would be based in Sibiu for 3 nights days to explore the beautiful country. Must go back as it needs more time.
From local modern machinery...
To the beautiful tourist squares of Sibiu
To the mighty Transfagarasan
The Vidraru Dam where Clarkson and TopGear spent the night
The Transalpina
And the DN66A through Cerna-Sat where it was 100km offroad through some beautiful but also seriously hard ‘3 people to pull the bikes out of the mud’ mountain routes if you didn’t have full offroad knobblies.
But after a whole afternoon of the gravel rocks and mud, it was soon back to this and more 51degrees of lean
We crossed into Serbia where there were derelict factories and remnants of what looked like the Gulag.
Then onto the stunning sweeping roads of Montenegro through amazing gorges, valleys, and varied terrain
On our return, we came up the Adriatic Sea and spent quality time on and off the bikes in Croatia.
We headed to Krka National forest where over 15degrees incline on deep loose rocks defeated us and we spent ages trying to turn back in 30degrees C.
But we made it out and ended the evening at thr Tiki bar on the beach
Heading north through the forests, we set the bavs back for our return to Austria via the Grossglockner
But weather closed in at it was snowing and 1.5C at the top which made it tough going on tyres that were already shagged after over 3k miles of hard riding and were now down to the wear bars.
We loaded up the motorail again and are glad to be home safe and sound. It was an epic trip. So many memories. Still buzzing from sensory overload. Need to decompress a bit, and back to reality!
Thanks for sharing a summary of your incredible recent trip. Some 27 years ago, a friend & I rode two (then) big enduro bikes from the U.K. to Greece, taking no toll roads, camping as high as we could get each night, riding on incredible roads, chasing one-another through the Alps and through southern Italy's Abruzo national park, etc. before touring the Cyclades Islands and finally riding home, always camping at highest leaks we could reach along the way. Was the best road trip either of us has ever done. Your's looks like an unforgettable adventure. Life's for living these great moments.Eurotunnel > Germany > motorail > Austria > Italy > Slovenia > Croatia > Serbia > Romania > Serbia > Montenegro > Croatia > Slovenia > Italy > Austria > motorail > Germany > Eurotunnel > home. In all, we covered 4k miles of some of the most diverse and just fantastic roads on and off-road. Bike of choice? The GS. Forget sports tourers. The roads switch from ribbon smooth tarmac to broken, dirt, gravel, mud (or are non-existent), and the ability to switch instantly is nevessary. No other bike I know can carve fast sweepers at 51degrees of lean, navigate broken tarmac along single lane width mountain roads, or go off-road up and down mud/rocks.
I will let the pics do the talking...
Motorail selfie
We headed south and covered 3 days of the Italian Dolomites taking in all the main passes and some very small obscure ones - especially towards the east including the Forcella Lavardet and others.
Timmelsjoch
Passo Gardena
Forcella Lavardet
We covered the Vrsic Pass in Slovenia and headed up to the top of the Mangart. Incredible views.
Crossed the hard border into Serbia and discovered the vast climb of people out of poverty from years of war.
Then to Romania where we would be based in Sibiu for 3 nights days to explore the beautiful country. Must go back as it needs more time.
From local modern machinery...
To the beautiful tourist squares of Sibiu
To the mighty Transfagarasan
The Vidraru Dam where Clarkson and TopGear spent the night
The Transalpina
And the DN66A through Cerna-Sat where it was 100km offroad through some beautiful but also seriously hard ‘3 people to pull the bikes out of the mud’ mountain routes if you didn’t have full offroad knobblies.
But after a whole afternoon of the gravel rocks and mud, it was soon back to this and more 51degrees of lean
We crossed into Serbia where there were derelict factories and remnants of what looked like the Gulag.
Then onto the stunning sweeping roads of Montenegro through amazing gorges, valleys, and varied terrain
On our return, we came up the Adriatic Sea and spent quality time on and off the bikes in Croatia.
We headed to Krka National forest where over 15degrees incline on deep loose rocks defeated us and we spent ages trying to turn back in 30degrees C.
But we made it out and ended the evening at thr Tiki bar on the beach
Heading north through the forests, we set the bavs back for our return to Austria via the Grossglockner
But weather closed in at it was snowing and 1.5C at the top which made it tough going on tyres that were already shagged after over 3k miles of hard riding and were now down to the wear bars.
We loaded up the motorail again and are glad to be home safe and sound. It was an epic trip. So many memories. Still buzzing from sensory overload. Need to decompress a bit, and back to reality!
Thanks for bringing the memories flooding back. I really must do a similar trip again, before I'm in my mid 50's or too old, although I hope I can do such trips with my son, when he's old enough too, someday.
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