Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ttidcc.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!harpo!decvax!linus!philabs!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe From: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) Newsgroups: net.travel Subject: Re: Transportation in Europe Message-ID: <550@ttidcc.UUCP> Date: Fri, 12-Jul-85 18:47:56 EDT Article-I.D.: ttidcc.550 Posted: Fri Jul 12 18:47:56 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 17-Jul-85 04:04:53 EDT References: <62800001@hpfclr.UUCP> <36600004@ISM780.UUCP> Reply-To: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) Organization: The Cat Factory Lines: 66 Summary: In article <36600004@ISM780.UUCP> darryl@ISM780.UUCP writes: >I've been to Europe twice and both times rented a motorcycle. If you >aren't interested, well... But the scenic backroads of Europe are best >enjoyed from the saddle, I believe. The people you meet tend to be more >friendly also, perhaps because you don't look like the typical Amercian >tourist. About 12 years ago I set out to live a long standing dream of touring Europe on a motorcycle. I purchased a BMW R75/5 through a local dealer and made arrangements to pick it up at the factory delivery point in Munich. Things went pretty much as planned and I picked up the bike on schedule with no problems. The people at BMW were very helpful and even found me a hotel in Munich. The next day, things started to fall apart. I noticed a slight looseness in the clutch lever and made arrangements with the local BMW dealer to have a look at it. I brought the bike in for what I thought would be a minor adjustment and went to have lunch. An hour later the dealer told me they had the bike taken apart all over the shop and wouldn't have it together again for at least three days. I took a train back to Munich. This inauspicious beginning was the start of a nightmare that lasted most of a year. During that time, I never once got on the bike when there wasn't something wrong with it. In 10K miles of driving I went through a drive shaft, a differential, a rear wheel, _two_ transmissions, and that's just the big stuff. All of the work was done under warranty (i.e.: it was a new bike and I wasn't abusing it). In a year of ownership the bike spent at least 6 months in the shop or waiting for parts to arrive. Some other things I learned the hard way: Although the BMW was supposed to be a touring bike, the saddle was incredibly uncomfortable. After about four hours it would grow teeth. I coverd a lot of miles standing on the foot pegs. It rains a lot in Europe. Water-proof riding gear is essential. If you refuse to ride in the rain, you won't ride much at all. There are very few places you can take a bike that size that you can't take a car. The savings in parking expense are trivial. The BMW side and center stands were very unstable anyway, which made parking a real problem on anything other than a hard, level surface. After a year of frustration and ruined plans, the smartest thing I did was to sell the bike (at considerable loss) and buy a 20 year old Morris Minor. If I had it to do over again, I'd probably start out in a VW camper or equivalent. On the plus side: People were friendlier, I think. The bike made a good conversation piece since big iron like that wasn't very common in Europe at the time. I had some remarkable sign-language conversations with locals who spoke none of the languages I knew. In fairness to BMW, the bike never failed to get me where I wanted to go. It did die on arrival one time (the cause was repaired under warranty even though I'd had an accident along the way). -- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe) Citicorp TTI Common Sense is what tells you that a ten 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. pound weight falls ten times as fast as a Santa Monica, CA 90405 one pound weight. (213) 450-9111, ext. 2483 {philabs,randvax,trwrb,vortex}!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe