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Euro trip

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Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 5:48 pm

Wrote up my euro adventures for an Irish biker forum not going to re-write it for on here so here it is:

Went to Adria near Venice this month for the eurolambretta, here's my story.

Set off on Saturday morning, Indian GP200 all packed up with camping gear, spare 5litres of petrol, 5 litres of 2stroke oil and 500ml of gearbox oil, shades on, 100 miles to the ferry in Dublin.
Started to drizzle on the motorway near Drogheda but it wasn't too bad so I didn't stop to put the waterproofs on.
Got a complete soaking and it took until sunday afternoon for my leather jacket to dry out.

Ferry to Cherbourg is advertised as the budget option and it's basically the same as the Belfast-Birkenhead one so there's bugger all on it apart from the small bar. Met up with a few of the LCI and ULC lads for a drink, went to bed early and was sick as a dog that night.

Sunday lunchtime we dock and I say goodbye to the others and meet up with Shane who's from northern Ireland but lives in England. 245 miles today and our route avoiding motorways taking us along some nice roads through the Perche regional park, stopping to strip off a few layers and to take photos outside a French airforce base, probably not the wisest move considering my travelling companion's jihadi beard. By the time we reach Orleans that evening it's 35 degrees and Shane's already run out of petrol and I'm on fumes due to most of the petrol stations we found being diesel only, good job I've the jerry can.

Monday morning we've about 260 miles planned to get to a town in the Massif Central called Le Puy-en-Velay that I'd stopped briefly in on the way to Avignon eurolambretta a few years back. We were under no pressure as we had tents and weren't booked in anywhere so could stop earlier if we felt like it. brief stint of non-toll motorway and soon we were heading through Vichy and Thiers then on into the Livradois-forez regional park's fantastic roads, wide sweeping bends, forests and hills. Stopping in a town called Billy simply because we liked the name and on to Le-Puy where my schoolboy French got us a good deal on the camping, should have been 8 euro each for a tent, motorcycle and person but we got it for €12 as we shared a plot. Easy walk into the old town for a meal and an explore of the medieval part. As we were up amongst the old buildings it started to get dark and the illuminations came on along with loud choral music, we'd turned up during a religious festival and it's a pilgrimage town. Magical.

Tuesday the plan was to get as close to the Riviera as we could. Loads of photo opportunities and avoiding the motorway meant we didn't make as much progress as we could have but when you land on Mars or go to Die you simply have to stop and take pictures. We missed the turning for a campsite near Entrevaux and were cursing ourselves as we passed a sign advertising a motorcycle museum in the town but we pressed on to Puget Theniers where we found a campsite across the river from the town centre with 2 minutes to spare before the reception closed, stroke of luck the toilets and showers were immaculate but more importantly the wifi was good enough to phone my wife and daughter back home on WhatsApp.

Wednesday we headed for the coast and after getting caught up in Nice's traffic, even filtering didn't seem to get us anywhere, we got to the promenade des anglais and tried our hardest not to look at the topless beaches. On along the coast where we met up with one of Shane's mates from England who's a fellow scooterist but rides a BMW RT1200 in Monaco. After a quick bite to eat he took us into Monte Carlo and gave us a guided tour of the GP circuit, dropping a gear and opening her up through the tunnel has to be one of the highlights of the trip. From there we headed into Italy then turned inland from Ventimiglia, crossing the French/Italian border a couple more times. Coming up to a line of 4/5 cages at a traffic light I saw the countdown clock reading 24 seconds, plenty of time to filter to the front of the queue. Oh right 24 minutes... helmets off, time for more pictures and a bit of socialising with a group of Austrian bikers who came along. Made it to Milan that evening, had a meal and met up in the hotel carpark for a carry out with some of the LCI and Liverpool SC boys.

Thursday we visited the Lambretta museum on the other side of the city, taking photos of various exotic scooters and a prototype 250 v-twin motorcycle that Lambretta produced. The story goes that some of the Italian bike manufacturers were threatening to muscle in on the scooter market so Innoccenti made that bike to scare them off. From there it was a quick spin to what's left of the old lambretta factory for a bit of sticker bombing and souvenir scavenging, a visit to Via Lambretta where there's a real scooter as a sculpture in the middle of a busy roundabout, then 180 miles to the rally at the racetrack in Adria.

3 nights of partying. Highlights included a free session on the track along with the Italian regional clubs having stalls handing out their local cheese, salami and wines.

Sunday we left the carnage of camp ULC and headed north. Our usual lunch of a supermarket picnic was a lot more glamorous taken beside lake Garda rather than the carparks of the previous week. From there we rounded the top of the lake and crossed the mountains to our hotel for the night in Tirano. Having to weaken our carbs on the Crocodomini pass as they simply refused to work at that altitude, filter off and raise the clip one notch worked for me, not sure what Shane did but it was too much, more on that later.

Monday morning we looked out towards the Bernina pass and it looked like the weather might hold, some extremely expensive cages were passing through the town as part of the cannonball run and I caught sight of a 1950s Lambretta being used as a pizza delivery bike, sprinted through the town to get a photo and a chat with the owner. A couple of miles into Switzerland shane's re-jetting bit him on the bum and his engine suffered a heatsieze, not to worry he's got a spare piston, we'll still make it across the alps. Bugger! He lifted the wrong one! Once we decide it's terminal and that his breakdown cover is on it's way I say farewell and head on towards the Bernina, by this time it's the afternoon and it's raining. 2 miles up the road I spot a flashing sign with a picture of a motorbike crashing. Must be Icy up on the pass I say to myself before realising the road dog-legs to the right onto the tracks of the bernina express train. Faced with oncoming traffic or having to cross wet tracks I take it really slowly and don't make it, the scooter just flips out from under me and I'm sliding down the road. Have to straighten the headset and bodge a makeshift lens out of a waterbottle and gaffa tape before carrying on, shaken but determined not to be beaten. Despite getting onto the Swiss motorways after the Bernina and Julier passes I was cold, wet, tired, hungry and miserable I finally got to the guest house in southern Germany at half ten that night.

Tuesday was another long and wet day, crossing the Black Forest on my own apart from a brief encounter with a couple of English lads in the arse-end of nowhere also heading home from the rally but only going as far as Strasbourg, I had to get to Luxembourg so pressed on alone. Wasn't in any mood to stop for photos that day.

Wednesday the weather turned nicer if still windy but at least the wind was behind me so the scooter was performing well, riding through the Ardennes the forest looked just like in the band of brothers but without the snow thankfully, made it to Amsterdam where I'd booked myself into a wagon for 2 days. Lambretta was chained up and covered and I started to plan the next day's sightseeing. Knock on the door, open it to find one of the Scottish club wondering who's scooter was under the cover, after a bit of catching up I headed to bed early and slept for a very long time.

Thursday I didn't even look at the lambretta, just went into town on the tram and went exploring.

Friday, up, packed, start scooter, ignore tosser who's complaining about the noise, go to ride off, flat front. Ah well it'll kill some time sticking the spare on, ferry isn't until the afternoon. Get to Ijmuiden in plenty of time and meet up with some more of the Scottish club, have a bite to eat with them then we head off to watch one of their friends fix his scooter about a kilometre from the port, not exactly sure what it was but he ended up changing the stator plate twice, the cdi unit then stripped and cleaned his carb before it was running again.

Smoothest north sea crossing I've ever experienced, got off in Newcastle, head down and cane it across to Cairnryan to catch the earlier ferry home, overtaking the Manchester branch of HOG who we'd been chatting to waiting on the ferry the previous day.

Made the ferry with half an hour to spare and checked myself into a cabin so I could strip off my wet kit and lie in bed to warm up for a couple of hours, home just after 7 that evening.
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 5:49 pm

day 1
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 5:50 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481150]Day2

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Ernest from Biker.ie
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 5:53 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481152]too hot
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right what's French for cold beer?
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 5:54 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481153]day3
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the 2 amigos
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The Billy defence association??? Just like home LOL
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 5:55 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481154]Le Puy-en-Velay
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 5:55 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481158]Day 4
doc marten's, not the wisest choice of touring boot when I've a pair of goretex SIDIs at home.
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arty-farty sunrise shot
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handy campsite for the town
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searching for life
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 5:56 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481159]we came here to die
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mindless vandalism
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them there's the alps in the distance
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made it by the skin on our teeth
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 5:57 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481161]day5

friendly and spotless campsite
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Our guide to Monaco.
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A Nice view
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couple of scooterboy bikers spoiling the Nice view
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even on a scooter the induction roar through the tunnel is awesome
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 5:58 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481164]Image

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having a chat at the traffic lights
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Made it to Milan
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 5:59 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481166]day6
lambretta museum

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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 6:00 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481167]Lambretta's motorcycle prototype/threat

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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 6:00 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481168]twin cylinder lambretta engine that never made it into production

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model of the factory
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 6:01 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481169]the factory gates (a side entrance)
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 6:03 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481171]day7&8

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the rest is censored[/QUOTE]
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 6:04 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481172]Day 9
lunch by lake Garda
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running well up in the mountains
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 6:06 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481173]Day 10 started so well...
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 6:10 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481174]Image

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sums up the second part of the day...
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 6:19 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481175]day11 no pics
day12&13
the Ardennes
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Amsterdam
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warm and dry
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Re: Euro trip

Postby Marty ULC » Sat Jun 17, 2017 6:20 pm

[QUOTE=Marty LCI;3481177]days14&15

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obligatory "made the ferry" shot Image

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cabin on Belfast ferry
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nearly home
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