Euro Tour and the Nurburgring

[adeejaysdelight]

Well, I got back a couple of days ago from my mini Euro tour and Nurburgring experience and for the most part it was good. The accommodation was cheap and quality, the food was good and the bike returned 62 MPG over 1600 miles, including 4 laps and a FULL tank at the ring!


Being quite late in the season, the weather was a mix bag of tricks. We had some sunshine (on the day of the nordschleife   ) and some rain (the day we were meant to go to Europa park  ) and everything in between.


The scottoiler I bought made NO difference to my need to adjust the chain and sprockets every 600 miles or so. It turns out that it is a racing set up that came on the bike BEFORE I bought it, and it needs constant maintenance. I wont need to worry about that any more as it died at the ring, along with my clutch. Yip, my clutch died before I reached the karussell on lap one. Only 3 1/2 laps  of the ring and 6 countries to ride through before I'm home safe.


On the plus side, I did manage to record a full lap of the ring. I will not be putting it on youtube as there seems to be a lot of pressure over there for having the nordschleife closed down. All these internet films do it give the health and safety mob ammo, and I for one will not be a part of that. I did manage a time of around 12 minutes. Not the best, but for my first visit and a focced clutch on an old 600 with a luggage rack, I'm happy enough.

I also managed to come home with over 200 euro, so that has went straight into the Nurburgring jar for next year. I definitely have the bug.

The roads around Nurburg, the Rhein and Mozel are beautiful. The city's of Bonn and Koblenz are well worth a visit too. Brussels I though was a dump and Amsterdam is Amsterdam, love it or hate it (I love it).

We did a mix of motorway and twisties. Around 60/40 in favour of the twisties. I think it might have been more fun stuff if my bike was ok.

The total cost for the trip, excluding any kit required, was around £950 - £1000 for 10 days incl. a ferry crossing. That also included a 50 euro gift for my better half. It could have been done cheaper if necessary, but I enjoy my food and beer and count the cost on my return, not on my holiday.

The bike was great, apart from the afore mentioned items going. The clutch is 13 y/o and 32000 miles in, so I am ok with that. And the chain and sprockets were on the bike when I got it 2 years ago, so 8000 miles of fun and a tour with the ring thrown in for good measure, I am also ok with. It was comfy enough for 500+km days and the touring screen helped with the wind fatigue and the viper seat with the bum. The Maxxis tyres were up to the job and got shredded at the ring. No chooky strips on the right and hardly anything to mention at the left .


All in all, a fantastic experience that will be repeated in one way or another.

[adeejaysdelight]

More pics

[Tefer]

Hey,


I pretty much done the same trip, was away 7th to the 15th covering Germany, Belgium and Holland. We took the ferry over to Amsterdam from Newcastle on the 7th arriving on the 8th. The ferry was good craic as there was 6 of us in total and one of the guys won the onboard bingo.
We travelled from the ferry to a place called Winningen on the Mosel, that night we attended a wine festival in the town, great food and beer, the German folks were really friendly and it was a great atmosphere.
On the 9th we were all a bit rough so just chilled out at the campsite and went on a late afternoon run to Cochem.
On the 10th we went down one side of the mosel taking in Boppard, Sankt Goar before getting a ferry over to Rudeshiem and back up the otherside, we stopped in Koblenz at the same point as yourself, recognise the monument.
On the 11th we packed up and headed for Spa in Belgium, we stopped by the Ring and went to the shop, bought a sticker for my FZS600, although never went on the track. Arrived at Spa, it was pretty grim to be honest and we were not impressed. Its was bucketing it down a lot.
12th we took a trip to Monschau via Aachen, the rain was terrible and i almost turned straight back to camp. It was really nice there though and i dried out and warmed up a bit.
13th we headed to Amsterdam and stayed in Camp Zeeburg, that night we headed in to town and it was an experience.
14th was wet so pretty much straight to ferry port. The ferry back was dire as it was bowie on the boat from Clyde radio, man the folk that were scuttling about at that were not a great showing of scots, some looked like it was there annual night out.


This was my first journey abroad and i will defo do it again.

[adeejaysdelight]

Tefer, that sounds great. We got the outbound ferry with the Neds on Bowie on the boat. It was not only massively embarrassing, but also a little scary as I am from Glasgow and know what neds are capable of. I found myself apologising to a table of Dutch people at breakfast the next morning for the behaviour of my fellow Glaswegians. Unfortunately the crowed George Bowie attracts is very undesirable in this city, and the rest of us avoid these gigs like the plague. The first I had ever heard of Bowie on the boat was when I was on the foocin boat  . My mate and I though it might just be best to sink the foccer and be done with it  . Glad you enjoyed your trip though. Although I don't believe in putting a sticker on a vehicle that has not been round. I gave my mate stick because he wanted to buy one for his car and bike, although the car has never been near. Each to their own though.


Also, what sat nav, if any, did you use?

[Tefer]

Sitting waiting on the doors opening all we were hearing is "Can anybody who had belongings confiscated, please contact the service desk" the thoughts of these belongings. One guy had been arrested on the boat and detained and not allowed to go ashore, but they did let him get tanked up for the return journey. They must pay DFDS a fortune as that would put me of getting that boat again.


Its not on yet    How much did it cost for you to gain access to the track? I'd give it a bash if not fully loaded next time.


I had problems with my clutch as well, i thought it had burnt out while heading to Amsterdam. The lever was getting closer and closer to the bar, did not want to look to much in to it in case i made it worse, time i got to Newbridge (4 Miles from home) there was nothing. I was dreading the bill for some work on the bike but then noticed something while waiting on the breakdown guy. All that had happened was the sprocket cover that the clutch cable goes in to had rattled loose, you pulled the clutch and the casing moved out instead of engaging the clutch. Lost two bolts so they have been replaced but all i got breakdown guy to do was tighten up and off home i went.


Did you have to get bike fixed while abroad? Mate had to get a new tyre on his Blackbird as he got a puncture, 219 euro's 


I have a TomTom Rider pro with Euro maps, there was two TomTom's and three Garmins in the group, all worked equally well.

[slimwilly]

Well done guys!!!


I love euro trips, they are the best, glad you had fun.


Next year we are attending a northern Moto Gp, either Assen or the German one,or somewhere not too far,,mate wanted to go to Misano but i said whoa!!!! £400 in fuel,


So looking forward to it already.

[Hedgetrimmer]

Glad you enjoyed it Adeejays, Yeah, curious as to how you got through so much with a dodgy clutch?
Fair enough on the Nurburgring footage, at least you've got it for your own memories. Did you get any footage of road riding over there tho?

[adeejaysdelight]

Tefer - Keep that sticker in its wee pack and get back there  . It was 97 Euro for 4 laps, or 202 for 9. I went for the 4, which was enough for the first visit I think. I might go for the 9 next time as I know the score now. We used our phone sat nave. I have Nokia Drive, which was great but the GPS receiver on my phone is poor (Lumia 900).




I never repaired the clutch when I was away. My mate that I was travelling with is a pro mechanic of 27 years. He said nurse it home, and I did'sh. I had a spare clutch cable with me, but it was the entire unit. We did have to do a few roadside repairs though. Headlamp bulb, sat nav holder and one of my exhaust studs fell out. Had to use the bolt holding my sports camera mount which pissed me off. It was the only one I had to fit though. I did manage to get one from a Garage a couple of hundred Kilometres later, so not so bad.



As for the tool bags on the boat  , I guess every city has them and certain things attract them, like banging house music! Its just Glasgow has a fairly high ratio of mental people to normal people. Even normal people in Glasgow are a bit mental mind. You have to be with all those mental people everywhere  .


Slimwilly, agreed. Italy is a bit far for a GP on a bike. I drove there last year in the car and it was E.A.S.Y. But a Saab 93 AERO 2L Turbo makes light work of 3000 miles. You count count the country's after a while as Kilometres become so small. Holland or Germany is a good shout though. Enjoy!


Nick, I might have been a little lucky with the clutch (or unlucky that it happened at all?), but I got it home and am now looking around for a new one. I will have to make something of the old one as it died one my First ever lap of the ring. That has to be a keeper. I got about 10GB of decent footage at high quality. Maybe 3 hours worth? I have not been through it all as I keep going back to my lap  . I had decided before hand that if I were lucky enough to get a recorded lap, no matter what was captured, I would not put it on the net. It seems unfair to go and experience that and then use that experience to assist in others not being able to do it for themselves. As it turned out there was a 2 car one bike accident on my 3rd and recorded lap. The bike was in the middle of the cars, chewed up and facing the wrong way with hundreds of people watching. On my next lap I seen the biker on his feet smoking at the other side of the track with a marshal. I tried not to think about it and carried on.

[ogri48]

Good write up mate. I did the ring with bike mag on the litre bikes, hell of an experience.  Them Germans in race spec Porsches are to be watched out for, ain't they...
And aint it funny how quick the lap goes once your in the groove?
Atb
Paul

[adeejaysdelight]

Agreed Paul. On one of my laps I had a Porshe GT3 drift past me on the inside of a tight left hander. He stole my line and I had to readjust mid turn, but it was worth it just to see and hear this thing squealing past me. Rubber flying all over the place. The fumes of burning fuel. The thrill of the Nurburgring is truly special. The lap just fly s in. Once I had my bearings, I broke it down into sections. I found it easier to remember more of it that way. The footage I had watched on youtube beforehand was useless. But now that I have my own footage, I can see how the experts do it and maybe put some of it into play on my next visit.