“Schwäbisch Fränkischer” Forrest – another motorcyclists’ paradise

We left our Greek saviour the day after and set off again, aiming for Neuenstadt am Kocher, where Swedephotog’s friends live. Easy peasy we thought, just hoping for the weather not being too hot so that we manage the about 300 kilometres. After about an hour it was clear, though, that also this day will be aiming for over 30 Celsius – we had 36 at times if one can trust the  thermometers we saw occasionally at the road side…

All went well until about Heidenheim when Swedephotog noticed that his hydraulic clutch just went. Riding without clutch then and trying to figure out where the closest Ducati dealer is. Geislingen, DSM Mayerhofer it was. Klaus, the boss, helped us, and that although clearly being under the weather, not only literally but also because everyone wanted to drop his bike in for service that very day it seemed.

Phew, we'll see if it works...

In addition, Swedephotog had his idea what the problem is, and Klaus had his – it ended with Swedephotog taking apart everything as he was told to do and Klaus being right. It was quite fun to watch two strong-minded males almost clashing under the hot July-sun…

At the time the problem seemed to be that air went into the hydraulic system of the clutch. Klaus suspected that had to do with the extreme temperatures we rode in the day before and that the fluid of the clutch started cooking (remember: motor temperature of around 130 Celsius). That apparently led to that the air that normally stays on top of the system then went into the system, causing problems with engaging the clutch. Air bleeding seemed to solve the problem, and we went for lunch after all was assembled again, like fairings and luggage back on.

For about 20 kilometres all went fine – then the same problem started again. Never mind, we thought, we try to make it to Neuenstadt and look at it then again. At least no fluid was leaking out, that was the most important thing.

And so we set off from Geislingen via Schwäbisch Gmünd right through the National Park “Schwäbisch-Fränkischer Wald”. Gorgeous riding with lots of trees as sun protection. Nice bends awaited us, very long and wide ones that sometimes did not seem to take an end really. Much the opposite to the extremely tight bends we rode on Splügenpass.

While we took them somewhat cautiously, since one could not really see what flew ones way in terms of German cars at  over 100 km/h, the local motorcyclists speeded past us in at least the same speed as the cars. Ahh, sometimes I would love to have grown up with motorcyling in maybe that area or the Alps – people there have the natural hang of all types of bends, it seems…

This is the way we took from Geislingen:

When we arrived at Neuenstadt we were again quite exhausted by the heat, but having passed through this beautiful area compensated for a lot, even for town riding with a broken clutch on Swedephotog’s Red Lady.