Pexi's Moto Guzzi Weblog

Back to home

This road trip is cursed. After leaving the hotel in the sunshine, I found out that the motorway entrance is blocked... TomTom Rider did its best to reroute, but always adviced me back to the same blocked entrance. After a stop (to set "avoid motorways" option in TomTom) I continued towards Karlsruhe, and then the ever so familiar rain started. I stopped to put on the raincoat and to concentrate on Zen philosophy "when it's raining, men are riding in the rain". Third motorway entrance was finally open and I got back to the faster road. The wind was still quite strong, so I had to ride quite slowly, even though I was planning to reach my house tonight.

I stopped in a service station at Baden-Baden, filled up the tank and ate some sausages and coffee (I know, I know, but german sausages ARE good), then realized that WTF, the rain had stopped!

After the stop in Baden-Baden I didn't encounter any rain no more. I went over to France near Mulhouse, continued towards Lyon before taking the low-traffic motorway from Dole to Bourg-en-Bresse (much faster than the more popular Beaune-Lyon route). The average speed started to stay at the legal limit, 130 km/h as the weather got better and better, temperature rising constantly. Lyon 23 °C. Valence 25 °C. When I reached my house at 21:30, the weather was silky. And I was tired but happy, safe and sound. Zen. Almost 3000 km in 3 days.

Storms hit Germany

Ah, a breakfast at seaside, sun is shining and all that. Life is good. No need to hurry, so I take some photos of the battered Guzzi, she really looks like a war horse by now (pics 1, 2 and 3).

Time to go now, lift the clutch, rise the legs to the pegs and here we go. Whaaaaaat's going on now?! In a fraction of a second I realize that I have forgotten to remove the chain lock from the front wheel, but it's too late, we are going down now. I'm not stupid, just a bit demented. As the chain is guite long, it allowed me move the bike rearwards, and then decently start moving forward before blocking the front wheel. Luckily I managed to soften the drop a bit, so actually no real damage happened, only  a minor scratch on the left hand side pannier scratch bar and a tiny scratch on the mirror. Nothing else. I recheck the bike, but that's it, I can't spot anything else... those side panniers probably saved the gear level from breaking...

After a couple of deep breaths, I'm riding again towards south, and as the V1100 beats with a regular rhytm, my feelings are getting better as I do not know what is ahead.

However, while riding towards Frankfurt the weather starts to change violently. First it starts to rain, then the wind gets stronger and stronger and I start to wish that it'll get better when I reach the valley of Rhin in Frankfurt. Unfortunately, that's the opposite, thunderstorm with hails and violent wind starts just before Frankfurt. The traffic slows down to 40-50 km/h and only one lane is used. The wind is really really uncomfortably strong, scary. Maybe after half an hour the worst is over and the rain eases off. Before reaching Karlsruhe I ride through another storm, which is even stronger, this time breaking tree branches beside the motorway. Sometimes I feel like riding with a 45 ° lean angle, on a straight road. Every nerve in my body is totally tense and I feel really unsecure. Eventually the second storm is gone, too, and the traffic starts moving more freely again. Then, when the third storm starts to rise and the traffic gets totally blocked I decide to take the nearby exit and find a hotel - I'm somewhere nearby Hockenheim now. Incredibly again, while I'm taking a shower, the storm goes away. I have a peaceful dinner at a local Italian restaurant and watch the Eurovision song contest from the TV - incredibly the monster heavy rockers from Finland win! And immediately I understand what caused these storms in Europe.

I think I've never been that scared and that determined to go forward at the same time, as I was today. Maybe that's the feeling of Zen. I will remember this day as long as I live, no doubt.

Through Sweden and Denmark

It's an early start: Silja Europa arrives to Stockholm at 7 o'clock. It doesn't exactly rain in Stockholm, but unfortunately the weather forecast is pretty exact: occasional rain all over Sweden and Denmark. Not heavy rain, but just cold, sad rain. So I rode through Sweden and Denmark with only mandatory fuelling stops, eating sausages and drinking coffee with good appetite (pic 1).

After a short boat trip between Denmark and Germany (Rodby/Puttgarden, pics 2 and 3) the heavy rain started. I carried on about one hour on the flooding motorway, seeing nothing but the rear lights of a trucks in front of me, then decided that it's enough, maybe it's a better day tomorrow. I had made 900 km today, of which maybe 700 km in rain and I was pretty tired. TomTom adviced me to a nice hotel beside the sea (pic 4, 5), I booked in, and while I was in the shower the rain had stopped. Bloody hell, great timing. Beer was good though (pic 6), so at the end of the day I was happy and proud - it was time to make some Guzzi photos (pics 7 and 8).

Leaving Finland

I had lost one bolt from the windscreen while visiting Tampere yesterday (cold ride it was, 6 °C in the morning, 12 °C while riding back, 400 km all together), so while riding from Espoo to Turku, I visited Moto Italia again to find a replacement part. Again, Moto Italia guys were more than helpful: they didn't have exactly correct parts in stock, but they took time to fabricate a suitable bolt and a shim, then fixed the windscreen steadily again and finally charged me nothing. 100% Guzzi people and top professionals.

Anyway, I arrived early to Turku, rode a bit around and it was cold as hell there. 6 degrees. Yet it didn't stop local people having beer, outside, on a terrace, and on a boat! Jesus, they are crazy, that's why they are called "turkulaiset" (pic 1).

I also had time to wash the V1100 in a local do-it-yourself service station. Naively I thought that there won't be rain anymore, it's all gone, I'll ride back in bright sunshine (pic 2). Finally, after some queueing, only two bikes went on-board the Silja Europa, one yellow Ducati and one black Guzzi (pics 3, 4 and 5).

Turku - Espoo

After leaving the boat we took care of the paperwork with toll personnel - Seppo is registering the Breva 750 in Finland and it must be done strictly by the book. Surprisingly the whole operation is done in less than one hour.

Next address was in Piikkiö, Moto Italia, the Finnish Moto Guzzi importer who had promised to check what's the problem with the service light in the 1100. I have quite a lot of photos from Moto Italia, which I'll post in a separate post - no time for that now...

Our original target for today was Lappeenranta, but I decided to turn back and stay over night in Espoo, because the weather was so awful. The rain which started almost immediately after we left from Piikkiö got worse and worse, until just before Porvoo a strong hailstorm totally stopped our ride. There was more than 5 cm of ice/snow on the road but somehow we managed to get pass it, staying alive among the russian trucks who passed us with 15 cm tolerance, covering us and the Guzzis with hails and snow. When we finally reached McDonalds in Porvoo, I couldn't see the dashboard of the 1100 because it was totally covered by ice and snow. My son came to see us and we made some phone calls and asked for weather forecast: rain and possible snow in eastern part of Finland, night temperatures below freezing point. Seppo continued to Lappeenranta, his city of residence, but I couldn't take the risk that I get blocked there tomorrow, as I have to be in Tampere on Wednesday, so I turned back to Espoo, my son following me with his car. Sauna has never felt that good, when I finally got to Espoo! Seppo called at seven in the evening that he's safe and sound, the rain had stopped some 50 km after Porvoo.

If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger.

Värnamo - Stockholm

The E4 road is a bit boring experience - it's straight, low on traffic and nothing much happens. Occasional rain manages to light up the service light on my Breva 1100 again - the guys at Moto Italia in Finland have promised to check it tomorrow when we pass by.

We reach the Silja Line terminal in Stockholm well in advance.

Flensburg - Värnamo

Today we rode over the Baltic Sea, using the loooong Big Belt bridge and a short boat trip between Helsingor and Helsinborg. Sweden welcomed us with a light rain, but Guzzis are eating the road, so ride on until Värnamo, where we stay in Park Inn hotel - absolutely the best hotel until so far. The dinner at the hotel is incredibly tasty, very Italian actually, and then: the night life in the nearby Harry's is - wow. Obviously all beauties around sweden had decided to be there just tonight. Luckily we have only 400 km to Stockholm so there's no need for an early start in the morning...

Göttingen - Flensburg

Flensburg is a small german town just at the border of Denmark and Germany - it is our target for today. One more sunny day in Germany. Riding feels good!

Mannheim - Göttingen

Warm and sunny Germany! Not a single cloud on the sky! First thing in the morning we tried to seek help for the "service light" from the local Moto Guzzi dealer. With no luck - he said being too busy at the moment and saying that it's nothing, the sensors are just too sensitive "if you have no real problems and the engine is running ok, with no obvious power loss, and if the light just comes on and goes off occasionally, just ride it, it's nothing to worry about". For a man being so busy, he had surprisingly lot of time to explain me how pissed he is with Moto Guzzi factory and the way they are changing the way they are doing business, how bad the spare parts deliveries are and that his business plans do not include Guzzi dealership next year. He lectured me half an hour, at least. Scary visit.

Somewhere on the road, while we had stopped for fueling, Seppo realized that the keys for his side panniers are all gone - there's only a hole left in the bottom of his riding jacket pocket. Both keys are gone... time to find a locksmith... which we found easily, thanks to friendly gas station personnel and a man from ADAC.

TomTom Rider guided us to the address given to us, we waited for the wizard for few minutes and after he had arrived it took less than a minute when all four locks were open again. The tools can be seen below. He couldn't reproduce new keys, but we are happy, the trip goes on again.

Mâcon - Mannheim

When I switched on the ignition of the 1100, the red service light remained on as well as a giant SERVICE text on the LCD display. The bike started normally, and run normally and eventually, after swithing off and on again, the light disappeared. Hmm.

Soon after leaving Mâcon the rain started again, getting heavier and heavier on the hills before Mulhouse, freezing my right hand badly. Riding with bad visibility is not nice, passing the trucks feels like jumping to fuzzy darkness. Spirits were not very high when we stopped for lunch, but luckily, while we were eating the rain had stopped. And the service light came back. It doesn't like the rain obviously. We reached German border quite early in the afternoon and decided to ride on until it starts to rain again or we get tired. Not forgetting to check the tire pressure from time to time...

While riding to north along the river Rhin, the weather changed totally. In less than 100 km we had reached clear sky, bright sunshine and temperature had rised up to 25 degrees C. We stayed overnight in Mannheim, which was cursed with some kind of big conferences, so finding a hotel room was a difficult, hot and sweaty experience. Anyway, we ended up to Central Hotel, situated in the very center of the city. A nice chance to enjoy a warm summer evening with lager.

Millau - Mâcon

Before continuing our trip we had to buy warmer gloves and a fleece for Seppo - he was freezing most of yesterday and yet the rain had stopped during the night, the temperature was still cold, 8 degrees at Millau. Shopkeeper - a friendly lady - warns that it's getting colder if we are heading upwards to Clermont-Ferrand. Cool.

We rode some very nice country roads in Massif Central, had no rain and even the sun started to peek out from time to time. This was a good day, only drawback is that my rear tire is leaking air, reguiring regular checks.

Target: The bridge of Millau

Violent winds, thunderstorm, heavy horizontal rain, temperature changing between 20 and 6 deg C... our first day throught Europe really didn't start easily. Yet we reached our target destination, the Millau bridge as planned. But it was an extreme experience.

I have no pictures from the bridge (which IS a remarkable construction), sorry, as  the weather was far too bad for a stop to take photos, honestly.  The photos below were taken when the road was dry - a rare moment indeed.

You might also notice from the photos that I ended up starting the trip with a lowered version of the windshield of the 1100. I removed 10 cm from the stock (optional) windshield and wow, it's almost good now! That awful turbulence is now gone, and the pressure of the wind has disappeared, too. Recommended modification for other shorties out there.