I'm back

Well, that was jolly pleasant.

Brief summary - I rode to Italy, caught a boat to Malta, stayed there
for 7 days, then caught a boat back to Italy and rode home. I visited
13 countries all told, did about 3500 miles, had 2 locals attempt to
steal my bike in Malta and I dropped it at a standstill in the dockyard
before boarding the ferry.

There are photos, but they are generally of my bike in new countries
and not very interesting. They may appear on a new flickr acount soon,
or they may not, depends how I feel.

I took the precaution of marking as read the past 17 days worth of
posts, to save me the bother of sifting through the dross.

--
Lozzo
Versys 650 Tourer, CBR600F-W racebike in the making, TS250C, RD400F
(somewhere)
BMW E46 318iSE (it's a car, not one of those 2-wheeled pieces of shite
they churn out)

 

Sounds like you had mostly a very enjoyable time. My mate who used to
vintage race and has owned big touring bikes including Beemers and a Pan
rates his Versys very highly.

How will we be certain that it is a new country - photo of bike next to
a border sign or something?

Very wise.

--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

The roads are still shite in Malta, aren't they? Apart from the Pope roads.

 

The Pope roads are ok, especially the St Pauls Bay bypass, but
everywhere else is the usual potholed shite. When I road down the hill
from the coast road into Paceville it was like riding down steps where
the tarmac had drifted down the hill and rippled up.

--
Lozzo
Versys 650 Tourer, CBR600F-W racebike in the making, TS250C, RD400F
(somewhere)
BMW E46 318iSE (it's a car, not one of those 2-wheeled pieces of shite
they churn out)

 

I couldn't fault it at al, the bike itself gave no problems and the
riding position and seat are good for 12 hour days riding from here to
there with lots of pottering about inbetween.

Summat like that, I got pics of it next to things that were specific to
that country, like border crossings and recogniseable landmarks or
signs. The Italian police and Vatican guards weren't too impressed with
me stopping right by the fence in front of St Peter's Square and
getting a photo from the centre of a busy junction with the church in
the background, but **** 'em, I did anyway.

--
Lozzo
Versys 650 Tourer, CBR600F-W racebike in the making, TS250C, RD400F
(somewhere)
BMW E46 318iSE (it's a car, not one of those 2-wheeled pieces of shite
they churn out)

 

You should try the Armier bay road sometime. Shocking it is. Hard to believe
it used to be used for races.In fact, even Armier is in a shocking state.

 

It's a shame we weren't able to meet up when we were ~60 miles apart.
Verona is really lovely.

 

I went across to Armier on Sunday because my cousin has a boathouse
right on the bay, all the 'roads'[1] around there are truly shocking -
I thought things were going to fall off ther bike. My original plan was
to camp at the site by the white tower there, but luckily I decided on
a hotel in Bugibba instead.

[1] This word is used in the loosest possible sense

--
Lozzo
Versys 650 Tourer, CBR600F-W racebike in the making, TS250C, RD400F
(somewhere)
BMW E46 318iSE (it's a car, not one of those 2-wheeled pieces of shite
they churn out)

 

I am sorry mate, but I was a bit pushed and it would have taken me out
of my way on a day that ended up being the longest of them all. I had
no idea how long it would take me to get through Switzerland as it's so
slow up and down through the mountains.

We'll meet up next time you're in the UK for sure

--
Lozzo
Versys 650 Tourer, CBR600F-W racebike in the making, TS250C, RD400F
(somewhere)
BMW E46 318iSE (it's a car, not one of those 2-wheeled pieces of shite
they churn out)

 

You want a bike with a proper sized engine, you do.

 

That wasn't the problem, it was following the lorries up there on the
single track roads with double white lines and the restrictive speed
limits. Mind you, I didn't mind as the scenery is truly breathtaking
when you start climbing up through the mountains. I was quite happy to
trickle along taking it all in.

--
Lozzo
Versys 650 Tourer, CBR600F-W racebike in the making, TS250C, RD400F
(somewhere)
BMW E46 318iSE (it's a car, not one of those 2-wheeled pieces of shite
they churn out)

 

Lozzo wibbled forthrightly:

I drove down there on my recent holiday, as it's one of my favourite
childhood haunts. I drove so slowly in the car because I was worried
that I'd induce SWMBO to give birth!

As for places to stay, let me know if you ever need a place on the
cheap. I've got contacts (who hasn't) and I ended up in a pukka 3 bed
apartment for €25 per night.

Badoom-tish!

 

Makes a change from the Vatican doing the fucking too.

 

From a previous post in this thread "When I road down the hill"

Indeed it is

 

Cab wrote:

I got lucky with the Primera Hotel slap bang in the middle of Bugibba
at 22.50 Euros a night. Next time I go I won't be alone, so an
apartment would be handy. My cousin Claudia is one of those "knows
everyone" people with a huge amount of contacts through her work with
the Nationalist TV station[1], so she always does the apartment booking
for the family when we visit. However, even she gets stuck at times.

[1] Her boyfriend is a TV programme director and she works on make-up.

--
Lozzo
Versys 650 Tourer, CBR600F-W racebike in the making, TS250C, RD400F
(somewhere)
BMW E46 318iSE (it's a car, not one of those 2-wheeled pieces of shite
they churn out)