Category: Travel

Summer Riding

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Summer Riding

Summer Riding

We came back from a weekend break in Barcelona to watch the opening two stages of this year’s Tour de France cycling race  to be greeted by similarly hot weather as we’d experienced there, as well as a message in the Motorrad Riders’ WhatsApp group saying that Shaun Napier was organising a ride out from Bahnstormer at Alton on Thursday evening and who would like to come along?

So Alison and I quickly said yes, and we then had to decide on what to wear…

Now our Klim Latitude and Altitude gear is excellent stuff: waterproof and also has many vents you can open to get some airflow through, plus as you can see in the photo, you can also partially unzip them and then hook the sides back to prevent them flapping in the breeze. The only problem then being that the RT’s fairing is so efficient, it doesn’t let much air hit the rider and passenger, even with the screen in the lower position, as we found out on our Eurothrash 2024 when it was up in the high 30s/low 40s.

We also decided to wear our Hedon “Hedonist” helmets, usually reserved for the Distinguished Gentlemen’s Rides on the ZRX1200R.  That did make it a bit breezy with the screen down on the A3 on the way back.

The ride was fabulous: heading out from Farringdon down to John’s Cafe at Hayling Island for Hayling Bike Night. A really lovely ride with the smells of summer fields of wheat and barley, etc. and being able to watch the sun start to get lower in the sky over the coastline as we decided to leave.

But the ride made me decide that we really did need to buy some jackets with more airflow for really hot weather.

We’d thought about some “Air” type mesh jackets after the Eurothrash as well as a few rides in the Canary Islands in a ‘regular’ leather jacket and were tempted by Alpinestars and Klim’s offerings, except that the Klim ones are much more expensive and we do, of course, already have Klim gear. So I’ve plumped for the Alpinestars ST-2 Air and Stella ST-2 Air jackets for the two of us:

Not us...

Not us…

Sadly, they only come with shoulder and elbow body armour, so I’ve also ordered some product-compatible back protectors for the two of us.

They should all arrive this week, just in time for another rideout on Friday evening.

First Service

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No, nothing to do with tennis.

The RT had its initial service in late March 2024, so was due another service – its first “full” service – a year later, so I booked it in for 1 April 2025.

In the meantime, it’s been back to Bahnstormer for the SOS button issue to finally be fixed and they also took a look at the oil mist from the damaged rocker cover on the offside.

It was going to be a quickie this time, so I turned up and hung around whilst the service was carried out and I may have accidentally scoffed a bacon and sausage bap whilst I was there!

The rocker cover is still weeping, apparently, despite having had new rocker cover bolts and a gasket fitted, so I’ve bought a litre of oil to keep on the RT just in case and they’ve quoted me for a replacement rocker cover.

Mileage is now up to 4,768 miles.

The next planned ride is with Bahnstormer themselves down to Cornwall, so I’ll be trying out a new dji microphone setup after the last disastrous video shoot, where I went into detail about the powered phone bracket, navigation, and a mini-test of the R1300GS, all of which had no (or hardly any) sound and narration captured…

Jamaica Inn

Jamaica Inn

Herself was supposed to be coming for second unit filming, but is double-booked, so I’ll revert to a two camera setup with one on the Arai and one on the bars instead.

 

Eurothrash 2024 Day 10: Luxembourg to Home

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Just 582km to get us home from Luxembourg via Belgium and France.  In total, Eurothrash 2024 was 1,904 miles or 3,064km and averaged 54.3mpg.

The RT was battered and bleeding but got us back. What a trooper!

So yes,  the bike is excellent. But the BMW Connected App is simply awful. It falls over all the time. It drops in and out all the time. Give us CarPlay!

Eurothrash 2024 Day 9: Aix-les-Bains to Luxembourg

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France to Switzerland to France to Luxembourg.

We left Aix-les-Bains in bright sunlight and 32°C and 571km later we arrived in Luxembourg having endured an absolute deluge (and the temperatures falling to 22°C).

The weather forecast was good for our homeward trip the next day. Another cheeky upgrade to the room in our hotel, the Sofitel Luxembourg Le Grand Ducal, which was lovely, and as for dinner, well that was excellent stuff washed down with a bottle of Luxembourgoise wine.

Eurothrash 2024 Day 8: Cannes to Aix-les-Bains

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We were meant to be staying in Grenoble after a long trip along the Route Napoleon.  Sadly, neither happened:
  1. Firstly, the hotel emailed us before we left saying that there had been a lot of motorcycle thefts from their car park, so they were no longer accepting bookings from travellers with motorbikes…
  2. Secondly, as there was an oil leak from the right hand side cylinder head rocker cover, we weren’t sure if the RT would make it, so we wanted to stay on the major roads in case we needed to pull over and get collected.

So, 506km and one litre of oil later (the latter to replace the new waterproofing for our boots, trousers and the RT itself) we got to the Mercure Aix-les-Bains Domaine de Marlioz Hôtel & Spa

and a lovely glass of wine (plus some flavoured water at reception).
The battered and bruised RT made it with no real issues as well, which was a bonus.
Fabulous dinner (and wine) at the hotel.
The next day was planned to be a longer day heading to Luxembourg via Switzerland so a two stop strategy ws in place to refuel us and to top up the RT’s oil.

Eurothrash 2024 Day 7: Castillon-du-Gard to Cannes … and the Crash

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A relatively short day was planned and that turned out to be a very hot 275km and one crash: a road sweeper doing a left and taking us out.

There was some damage to the RT: both cylinder heads as it hit the sweeper on one side and the floor on the other.  I couldn’t avoid the sweeper as there was too much high road furniture on the left. so down we went. And with all the luggage it took four of us to haul it back up onto two wheels.

I was completely unscathed as I pretty much just stepped off, but Alison got her ankle pressed a bit by the rear footpeg (pushing on her boots). She’s obviously not used to this crashing malarkey!  But at least we apparently achieved a lean angle of 66º on that side…

It was then that the SOS button might have been useful, but of course that hasn’t worked since very early on with the ownership and BMW were taking way too long to release a fix for it.

So we continued on to Cannes and after more 38ºC temperatures and crawling traffic all the way along the seafront, we stopped at our booked hotel, the JW Marriott Cannes where just one night cost us over €1,150! . When I booked it, I had included instructions that we would be arriving on a motorcycle and to ask them to make sure we had a reserved parking space in the car park underneath the hotel. When we arrived and parked up outside the front next to a Ferrari and a Bugatti, I asked how to get to their car park and was told I wasn’t allowed to. No motorcycles allowed there, apparently! They instead said I should use a public car park a kilometre or so away or take my chance parking on the road nearby.  And then they made us wait over an hour for our room to be made available.

Avoid!

 

 

Eurothrash 2024 Day 5: Banyuls-sur-Mer to Castillon-du-Gard (the “First Dates Hotel”)

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The original plan was to have a long day in the saddle, heading up to the Milau Bridge and the Gorges du Tarn, but herself was beginning to flag a bit, so I instead set a course along some nice-ish roads from Banyuls-sur-Mer to Castillon-du-Gard in Provence, where we were due to stay at the delightful La Vieux Castillon.

Le Vieux Castillon

 

This was the hotel that Channel 4’s First Dates show had used for their summer holidays the first few series of First Dates Hotel before they moved to one in Italy, I think?

Anyway after a very hot day – 38°C – we reached 1,175km and were ready for a rest day the following day.

By the time we reached the hotel, it was still 32°C at the pool. They let me leave the RT outside Reception which was a weight off my mind. And yes, it’s a fabulous hotel, every bit as good as we had hoped.

We had booked their gastronomic package, but sadly the restaurant was closed the two night we were actually booked in for, having shifted the dates. So for our first night we enjoyed a lighter meal from the bar menu.

The next day was a rest day, so we spent it mainly by the pool, although we did go for a wander around the streets of Castillon-du-Gard.

Dinner was at Joio Restaurant nearby which is managed by the chef at the hotel and opens when he’s not working at Le Vieux Castillon. We ate their signature starter and main and a couple of cheeky glasses of wine. Very reasonably priced too as well as delicious.

 

 

Eurothrash 2024: Day 4 – La Seu d’Urgell to Banyuls-sur-Mer

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Out of Spain into France. So that was the Atlantic Ocean over to the Mediterranean Sea then. And goodbye Spain, hello France. 910km so far, riding the BMW R1250RT along the N-260 (and others) from La Seu d’Urgell in the Spanish Pyrenees to Banyuls-sur-Mer on the French coast. We also diverted up to ride the infamous Gorges de Galamus.

Once we got to our hotel and parked up – after the BMW Connected app decided we should approach it from a footpath above – we checked in to our room.

Côté Thalasso Banyuls-sur-Mer

 

I have no idea what that clicking is in the video, and no, I didn’t mean the old biddy walking down the corridor…

Food at the Côté Thalasso Banyuls-sur-Mer exceeded expectations; the tasting menu was superb with the beef and dauphinois potatoes a high point before this dessert. A lovely local red wine too.

So Banyuls-sur-Mer was better than expected and they were kind enough to let us keep the RT parked outside reception where they could keep an eye on it. We decided to pin it to win it to get to our next stay, but first we explored the harbour.

Eurothrash 2024: Day 3 – Sos del Rey Católico to La Seu d’Urgell

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After breakfast, we set off and after a few hours on the fabulous N-260 road, we were still 3 hours away from the night’s stop. Sadly the cafe we stopped at wasn’t serving food due to a staffing problem, so it was just a Coke and a water for now (plus one of Alison’s Rice Krispies bars).

RT in Boltaña

RT roadside in Boltaña

Then it was on to our next Parador, the Parador de La Seu d’Urgell with the mileage now up to 637km so far having enjoyed all the sweeping bends of the N-260 today.

Secure parking for your motorbike is always a bonus, so I was pleased they even had a special shed for motorbikes too, which is nice. Luckily they don’t do Aperol Spritzes either…

The food was good, but not as good as the night before, sadly.