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My first ride in Europe!!!

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busarider1

busarider1

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Joined
Feb 16, 2006
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Location
Sumter, SC
First Name
Russ
Last Name
Thomas
Thought I'd share this with my Texas brothers and sisters!

Well, me and a buddy (Matt) decided to take our steeds (me=V-strom, Matt=Vulcan 900) for a ride. We originally planned on heading to Austria, then Northern Italy, and finally to Switzerland. However, due to running behind and some very heavy traffic (Staus) we had to nix the Italian and Switzerland Alps.

Here's my strom getting unpacked and ready for some European adventures:
StromGettingUnpacked.jpg


Here's the two machines:
DSC00672.jpg


The Strom is a sucker for Wooden Covered Bridges:
Stromexitingcoveredbridge.jpg
 
Kirchgasse1065345EltvilleGermanytoB.jpg


We did the first leg of the trip to Baden Baden on the autobahn. After some good Thai food in Baden Baden and then shortly entered route C500. The Scenic Road thru the Black Forest. One of the best roads I have ever been on. Unfortunately, we were following a rain storm as we rode thru it.

We then made it to Schramberg, Germany, where we got a room, ate some good German food and then racked out for the night. Next day we got an early start and headed to Lake Constance.

Here's me in front of Lake Constance:
LakeConstance.jpg


We then headed into Austria thru Immestadt and then to Fern Pass. That's where we ran into some serious holiday traffic. We eventually tired of watching other motorcycles pick thru traffic and lane split so we decided to give a try ourselves. I must say, it was pretty fun. The drivers would actually give us room when traffic was coming the other way. No fist waving or shouting. They expected us to do it and actually helped facilitate our lane weaving. After Fern Pass, the traffic opened up again and we had a great ride. We stopped at Route 66 in Tanheim, Austria for some yummy burgers!
BurgersatRte66Tanheim.jpg

Rte66inTanheimAustria.jpg
 
We then headed south all the way to the border of Italy. We realized we didn't have the time to make our original route and decided to turn back at this point.

Here's a shot of the Austrian/Italian Alps:
AlpsNItalyandAustriaii.jpg


We then back tracked and got some rooms at Bergfriede in Hugen, Austria.
TheBergfeldPension.jpg

The owners were kind enough to put our bikes in their "garage". I didn't get a pic but the garage was an old barn. Very cool and nice of them.

Got some great food and rested up to finish our trip the next day. I have to get some ZZZ's so I'll add some more pics tomorrow.
 
Cool, you rode right by my home town. I grew up in the Darmstadt/Frankfurt/Mainz/Wiesbaden area, my mom still owns the house I grew up in in Koenigstaedten which is smack in the middle of it all.

Looks like you all are having a good time.

What made you decide to take your own bikes over there? How long are you staying?
 
Thanks for the ride report, I look forward to more pics :bigokay:.

A V-Strom makes for a great riding tool in that area. And I envy you living so close to the some of the best motorcycling roads in the world :rider:

I took an 11 day Swiss/Italian Alps ride two years ago, incredible riding and sights. The highlight of the trip (and that's hard to define) was the ride up the Passo Del Stelvio.

busarider1 said:
We then headed into Austria thru Immestadt and then to Fern Pass. That's where we ran into some serious holiday traffic. We eventually tired of watching other motorcycles pick thru traffic and lane split so we decided to give a try ourselves. I must say, it was pretty fun. The drivers would actually give us room when traffic was coming the other way. No fist waving or shouting. They expected us to do it and actually helped facilitate our lane weaving. After Fern Pass, the traffic opened up again and we had a great ride.
Click to expand...

Aint it great, the riding atmosphere has to be experienced to believe it. Motorcyclists are held in much higher esteem/respect than here in the states, that attitude makes up a big part of my memories.
 
Nice report! :thumb: Great roads. I would be interested on how you transported the bikes over there? I tried to bring one into the US from Europe and found it wasn't possible.

I am looking forward to the bit where you decided to take the Vulcan round "The Ring".
 
Looks awesome. It seems you had better luck getting your stuff over there than a friend of mine has has who just got stationed in the UK. Good luck in your future rides and keep the pics coming.

Oh yea, does this mean you are now too far away to make the pie runs?
 
Good stuff, Russ! :clap:


Faylaricia said:
What made you decide to take your own bikes over there? How long are you staying?
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An extended stay courtesy of Uncle Sam. (I don't think I would complain, though) ;-)

gixxerjasen said:
Oh yea, does this mean you are now too far away to make the pie runs?
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He did make the PR in Celina last year when he was stationed in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. :eek2:

Go get 'em, Russ! :rider:
 
No pie runs unfortunately. Being stuck in Iraq is going to put the kibosh on that. My mid-tour will probably be in Palau again. Either that or Chuuk.
 
On another note: It was a tough choice between taking the busa and the strom. Hands down, I now am 100% sure that I took the right bike. Don't get me wrong, the busa would make the autobahn disappear quick fast, but that's not what riding is all about. The busa corners much better than the strom but the strom holds its own in the very tight stuff. Plus, I can pack soooo much stuff on my strom.

I saw a few stroms (all v's, no whee's), one beautiful orange KLV1000, tons of varedos, billions and billions of BMWs, and about every other motorcycle in between. What surprised me was the amount of riders in the Alps (especially in the early morning hours) who rode without gloves. Fricken brrrrrrr!!!

Plus, I finally found a use for the stroms 5th gear!!! The autobahn is perfect for it.
 
Very nice, indeed. So, are you just tooling around Europe with Kansas plates?
 
Germany is backroad heaven!!! I got around over there in the 70s on a Yamaha 360 Enduro. Kinda loud, but hey.... And road south of Baden Baden through the Black Forest - that's one serious set of curves. I've only been on it in a tour bus. Can't say we made very good time.
 
Here's a pic of my riding buddy, Matt. He's a chopper jockey by trade but other than that he's an okay guy:
DSC00675.jpg

Matt has been riding for just over a year now and had an epiphany while at the border between the Italian and Austrian Alps.

"Women in full leathers on sportbikes are hot". I nodded sagely, and replied, "yes Matt, yes they are".
 
busarider1 said:
Here's a pic of my riding buddy, Matt. He's a chopper jockey by trade but other than that he's an okay guy:
MyChickenStrips.jpg

Matt has been riding for just over a year now and had an epiphany while at the border between the Italian and Austrian Alps.

"Women in full leathers on sportbikes are hot". I nodded sagely, and replied, "yes Matt, yes they are".
Click to expand...
Um, your buddy should work out more, looks like a little bit of a spare tire there. :rofl:

*edit* nice edit, you almost got me! :rofl:
 
"HK MS 845" and "HK MS 848". Looks like you guys went and registered your bikes at practically the same time. :-P
 
We did register our bikes at the same time. Took the written and road test as well. I have to take the MSF (for the 5th time) since my last one is 3 years and 5 months old. It has to be less than 3 years in order for us to ride here.
 
Russ, great to hear from you and see that you are getting in some riding time.
 
Fantastic ride. I love that part of the world. I was stationed at the former Lindsey Air Station in Wiesbaden back in the early 80's. I got to visit some old German friends there for a day in February 08 and wish I could have stayed longer.

All the best . . . .
 
I am in awe of you guys. Nice job. Good thing is that now you have an EU license you can ride anywhere from the tip of Norway to the bottom of Greece on the same license. You gotta lot of ground to cover!!!!
 
bmwonder said:
I am in awe of you guys. Nice job. Good thing is that now you have an EU license you can ride anywhere from the tip of Norway to the bottom of Greece on the same license. You gotta lot of ground to cover!!!!
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Yup, it's a motorcyclists dream come true. I've already rode the Alps (one of my top 5 dream rides) and now I have my front wheel pointed towards the south of France! My other dream ride is to go back to Brcko, Bosnia, where I was stationed as a young (ish) 2LT. I loved the country and the people and can't wait to go back for a visit.
 
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