Travelling again!
After realising yesterday morning that we only have one (!) working bike out of six, we anyway made our way down to Northern Germany. Thanks to Mikko’s willpower and Signorina Pasolina’s commitment we actually arrived in Güstrow as planned in the evening, just in time for dinner.
This was the day: waking up at 4.15. Breakfast, then garage, rolling bikes out, rolling and me noticing that this doesn’t feel right whatsoever with Elisa… Overtaking Mikko, signalling failure (oil in cylinders is never a good sign) returning to the garage, repacking and finally leaving with one bike, 45 minutes late. It was dark and foggy. But the day brightened up.
Two short petrol stops and some fast travelling later, we arrived almost one hour early at Trelleborg. After a 4.20 hours ride. And according to Murphy, since we were early, the ferry that was taking us to Rostock, departed a little late.
Time for food and sleep on the ferry then. Gorgeous!!!
On arrival, Warnemünde light house greeted us, and also the biggest Windjammer in the world, the Sedov!
About an hour later we arrived at the hotel. Unpacking, showering and some nice food meant the world order was totally restored.
I think I am getting old, though. I actually enjoyed being a passenger on the bike, and I even almost nodded off in my space on the “prayer’s seat”. Strange things are happening.
Elisa’s summer premier
The weather and Summer in Sweden has been great on average until now. Mainly quite decent summer temperatures.
So the reason why Elisa only came out this weekend is more due to a lack of time.
We did a summer excursion to Rejmyre today, to the old glass factory and the small shops around there.
It is a round trip of just below 100km, and that probably because we also went to Hultsbruk outside Norrköping on the way back. One more place that one otherwise only passes, but never visits. Part of the “I can always do that but then never get around doing it”- syndrome.
Apart from a halfway famous blacksmith workshop that specialises in axes, they also have nice trekking paths up there. I even saw someone with climbing equipment.
Check it out for yourself some time.
Anyhow, Elisa passes on her regards to you:
This is what always fits into a decently sized bumbag and tankbag:
More pictures from the glas factory area, and their shop (dangerous territory for several reasons):
A bit of bike history!
When I went to the garage for cleaning and polishing shoes, helmet and also the front fairings of the bikes, I decided to put the sticker of the UK Moto Guzzi club into Hugo’s tax disc holder. His last tax disc is from 2009, and he has been living in Sweden since 2010. And in Sweden we do not have tax discs. Which also means that he is registered as a motorcycle, and not as a bicycle, as the UK-authorities insist on… Time for a change.
To my surprise, there was not only the latest tax disc in the holder, but the ones for quite some years back!
It is very interesting to see where he has been during the years, and he has been around for quite a bit:
1992 he was living in Cambridge, according to the stamp on the tax disk.
2002 he was living in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire.
2003 he moved South again, to Bulkington, Warwickshire, where he lived until 2007.
In 2008 he moved to Camblesforth, Selby, North Yorkshire, where he reportedly lived on a farm close to the big power plant.
Well, yes, and in March 2010 I imported him to Sweden 😀
I love it when one still learns more about a bike. After all these years ;-).
Helmet care
Helmet care can be so easy!
No special products are necessarily needed. All you need for gently removing insects and dirt, is a decent amount of Johnson Pledge!
Yep, you read it, classic furniture polish will do. Simple is best. And it also smells quite alright. At least my otherwise so sensitive nose confirms that.
Tip for everyone getting his or her gear ready for the season.
Almost emergency time in the garage.
Now it is end of April!
Which in Sweden means that the season for motorcycles officially starts on 1st of May. May it rain or shine, or buckets of hail coming down – the season starts.
That also means, that the winter is now almost officially over (doesn’t feel like it yet, but it is not May yet either, so there is hope…a bit…). And that means that you should have had enough time to get your bike and gear in tip-top-shape for the 2016- season.
Or?
Well. Maybe. Half of our garage is (hopefully) rideable – my bikes Elisa and Hugo. Hugo I test rode, and he even endured the down-pour of rain we went into during this short 2k test run – without switching of his lights, not wanting to start or other stuff. Even the shock absorbers proved to work as expected!
On Hugo I have the old Koni or now Ikon shock absorbers which you actually fill with air – with the same air compressor you use for your tires. Interesting, I know.
So Hugo seems to be ready, if he doesn’t set his mind to something else. Elisa usually is ready, and I hope that this year won’t be an exception.
We are soon to find out!
Estrella lady, though, she is not quite ready yet. Her carburetor (handily enough just one and relatively easy to mount, as I understood from Mikko) still need to be cleaned, and a general test ride has to be taken once she is dressed again (sorry for the naked pic, thankfully enough, bikes don’t read blogs. otherwise they would probably stop working out of protest more often. Or not, if they are the celebrity characters 😉 ).
However, even she should be ready to go at some point soon! 
Elisa Travels 