Time for TLC!
As long as it looks like this outside, despite plus-degrees, one should spend some time in the garage and give some time, love and care to the bikes.
On Elisa I have to install a new contact breaker, and on Hugo, the v50III the oil needs to be changed. The latter is a piece of cake. The contact breaker on Elisa is probably put on fairly easy, but adjusting both of them to the correct distance as well as adjusting the ignition timing will be a bit tricky.
Never did that before, and despite having read a lot about it, doing the stuff is usually a totally different story.
So let’s see how far I get!
The Swedish Guzzi Club turned 40!
Last year that was. But that does not mean we are our of the anniversary mood. It was too good for that, and finally I manage to post a few impressions.
It was the last weekend of August when we celebrated the 40th birthday of the Swedish Moto Guzzi Club. Quite an international event it was, with visitors from Finland, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.
Here some pictures, some of them will have seen them already on Facebook.
Really great people were there. Like i.e. the crazy peeps of the Finnish club 😀 which
was really enjoyable, and we hope to be able to visit them next year on their turf. May I just mention that I love their blue Guzzi club logo?? There must be a way to get a T-shirt, blue is after all one of my favourite colours 😉 .
Then there was also Giorgio di Marco and of course we did not miss the opportunity to get his book “Northern Feelings”, signed by the master himself.
And Elisa? Well, she met her friend the little red v50 Monza again, which also lives together with his owner in Norrköping. And then there were lots of other Guzzis, but also a greatly renovated BSA that a Danish guy decided to take with him.
So many great people and so many great bikes, that’s how one could summarize that weekend. Thanks to all of you who made it a really special couple of days!
Back towards the North
Now it is time for the final post on our summer holidays 2010 – about time I’d say… I did not expect that it takes me that long to post everything.
Anyway, there were two last legs. Number one was just above 600 km from Neuenstadt am Kocher to Quakenbrück, after two nice days with our friends there, and another fruitless attempt to repair Swedephotog’s clutch. We knew we have to stand that probably until the end of our journey.
This stretch up to Northern Germany we did in one go, almost all the way on Autobahn. And guess what, on that day the temperature was more than bearable! The famous “Kasseler Berge” felt like a walk in the park and were in fact very enjoyable, in comparison with the Splügen Pass definitely.
So we whizzed Northbound, visiting my family. Another anecdote there. During the entire time of travel I was always careful not to catch a sunburn anywhere. Not that fun when one has to squeeze into a leather suit. Guess who fell asleep in the sun then and caught the most gorgeous sunburn on the legs? Yep, me. Man, did that hurt when pulling oneself into the leathers. And even now in January I can still spot the marks… 😀
After a couple of days in Northern Germany, Quakenbrück and Wilhelmshaven, leg two started. In two days with a stopover in Majbölle, Denmark, we went back mostly on small roads through Northern Germany and Denmark to Sweden. Mastering the challenge of Swedephotog’s broken clutch (the traffic lights in Neumünster were not our friends) and – rain. Yes, you read it, rain. It started already when crossing the Elbe by ferry at Glückstadt/Wischhafen (recommendable alternative way to Autobahn!) and we had it pretty soon again next day as soon as we came a bit past Ljungby in Southern Sweden. First we had to put the rain gear on because it was to cold (!!) otherwise, and then we also got wet. And even wetter, since the entire way from Jönköping up to Norrköping seemed to be swallowed by fat rain clouds.
But we were glad! So glad that apart from minor things (and we decided to let the clutch be a minor thing since one could drive with it) we had some great holidays, with no break downs and no further repairs or what not. And weatherwise, well, we really had quite a range, but mostly it was what summer should be like. Hot and sunny.
Home again - wet, but hey, who cares?!
Here is our route again, in case you’d like to check out the last stretch we went.
“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.
Stau and Bed Hunting
Part two of the Splügenpass-day, late afternoon to late evening, we spent first tackling heavy congestion in Bregenz, Austria at the Southern end of Lake Constance. Literally no “green wave” at the traffic lights, and I think I never experienced such a long “Stau” (German for congestion) since the time when I used to ride home in London’s rush hour… And that’s also how the old filtering skills came in very handy… Until a very kind Austrian scooterist made us aware of the fact that the police station is right around the corner and that there are hefty fines on filtering…
Well, since the Red Lady’s motor was cooking, means it indicated over 130 Celsius motor temperature, we kept going filtering, especially since we almost got out of the Stau and out of Bregenz. That seemed the better alternative than just staying and waiting until the motor cooled off – at about 30 Celsius…
We continued to Lindau, Germany in the hope of finding a bed & breakfast or hotel somewhere in that area. However, that was supposed to be the real challenge of the day. Splügenpass was almost forgotten while we went bed hunting…
Wherever we stopped and asked, no rooms free, literally all was packed. We went from Lindau to Ravensburg – nothing. In Ravensburg I think a lady at a hotel told us that there was a huge fair about outdoor equipment going on in Friedrichshafen and that therefore everything was booked. Outdoor fair…. Ok, so why don’t they go camping???! It was getting dark already when we followed the advice to go to Wangen where there might be soma place to stay… Might be, might not, whatever. We needed somewhere to stay and followed the advice. Wangen was all the way back we came, we rode a triangle almost – take a look at the map of our detour below and you see what I am talking about…
Wangen was even smaller than Ravensburg, the hotels in town booked, it was by now almost 10pm and pitch black. No youth hostel in sight either. On the way to Wangen we came past some ‘hotels’ with pink lights and where you can book rooms with special service, though. If you know what I mean… Well, that program we mastered, no worries….
Right. So what does one do? Knackered and hungry from the day as we where and no bed in sight? Pulling up at a petrol station and asking there of course. The man behind the counter was not from the area, so he had no clue he said, but there was a customer who could help. Which he did, after first checking me out in my leather suit and almost trying to chat me up. No chance obviously, not in general and certainly not when hungry and tired. Then I live up to the animal of my star sign, a leo. And I made him understood. ‘Do you know a place where to stay or not?’ I asked him directly and almost a bit too impolite. But it had the effect that he all of a sudden remembered this restaurant a couple of kilometres away that rents out rooms. ‘But they are Greek’, he added in an almost warning voice. ‘Oh dear’ I thought about this comment, and ‘Oh marvellous’ about the fact that they actually were Greek. Because that meant that we would finally get a place to sleep, worst case on a bench in their restaurant. They won’t turn us down like some of my country fellows might do if they cannot offer an appropriate room to stay at. And I should be right.
We followed the way description he gave me – seriously, without it we would never have found the place, that hidden it was! The restaurant was still open (it was now like 10.20pm) and – oh joy – we could even choose between two rooms!!! Trust me, after such a day and such an Odyssey we felt like arriving at paradise. The paradise feeling got stronger when the kitchen chef offered us to make a nice salad with some fried fish – a huge portion of that and a big glass of beer was the perfect finish to this somewhat surreal day, the longest one in terms of riding hours during this journey. Remember, first Splügenpass, then Swiss Motorway, Austria, Germany and hotel hunting… Think we left Olcio at about 9.30am.
We both had this incredibly happy, silly look on our faces... Here the piece of Milka chocolate adds to it 😉
To particularly Swedephotog’s joy there was even a piece of chocolate on the pillows… Is it necessary to mention that we slept like logs? Breakfast next morning was also really good, and so we nominated our Greek to be the motorcyclist saviour – and we’d like to recommend him to anyone who passes!
We also would like to mention that apart from Leipzig and Verona we did not pre-book any places, it was never a problem to find a place to stay at a reasonable price.
Elisa Travels 