Bimota Forum

[GeeKay]

A brief introduction to what could be a lengthy post. A few on here have met me in person (at Rivington), but for those that haven't, meet Garry.



Back in 1998, I toured a goodly part of the Spanish coast line, from Cadiz to Denia (just along the coast from Benidorm) on a Suzuki GSX750 Katana.



"Day 1 - at rest on the N630/E803 approaching Puerto de Vallejera"



"Day 12 - cig break on the N122 El Burgo de Osma - Soria"

Fast forward to 2007 and a cunning plan was hatched to complete my tour of the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Code named "Filling the Gaps Tour" it was just that - to ride the two "missing" sections of coastline, from Denia to Cambrils and Barcelona to the border with France.(the Barcelona - Cambrils section of coastline was travelled in a hire car on a previous family holiday to Salou).
I flew into Barcelona, hired a BMW F650CS "Scarver" and completed the task - I rode from Barcelona along the Costa Brava to the Spanish/French border before turning inland from the pretty French resort of Port-Vendres (where I took lunch in a swanky marina-side restaurant). Heading up Mont St Michel to Andorra, I had a play in the Pyrenees before resting in Zaragoza, then heading across the Spanish interior to Valencia. From here, I travelled down to Alicante and along the coast back to Valencia, before "closing the gap" by riding from Valencia to Cambrils, then onwards to Barcelona.



"Naranja" !!



"the open road"

[GeeKay]

and so to 2009, when the opportunity to travel abroad on a bike presented itself again. It seemed logical (and exciting) to continue my Mediterranean coastal adventure by re-visiting Port-Vendres then riding along the coastline to the French/Italian border at Menton. And so, the "Tour de France, Coast part deux" was born. Back on a Katana, albeit a 400cc version this time, I stayed with a friend in Bordeaux before joining the Med coast at Cyprien Plage.I took lunch in the same swanky marina-side restaurant in Port-Vendres, then rode along the coast, over-nighting in Bandol before settling into a hotel in Cap d'Ail, just outside Monaco. Using this as my base for the next few days, I explored Monaco and Monte Carlo as well as riding the "Italian Riveria" from Ventimiglia to Genova. I took lunch in a less-than-swanky (but still nice) restaurant in Genova before heading back to Cap d'Ail and ultimately home via the Route Napoleon and Geneva.



heading for the coast - the foothills of the Pyrenees.



Monaco harbour viewed from the Royal Palace.

[GeeKay]

which brings us up to date, 2011, and the next phase. "Legging it around Italy - Coast part tre" is the continuation of my Med coast adventure. The (loose) plan is to travel from Rotterdam to Luxembourg, down through southern Germany to Liechtenstein, then onwards through Switzerland to Milan to meet Pierro (V-Due Italy). If I can be prised away from his warehouse, it's lunch in the less-than-swanky restaurant in Genova, ferry to Corsica, another ferry to Sardinia, and again to Livorno (back on mainland Italy) before heading for Rome.
A couple of days sightseeing in Rome should bore me enough to head for Naples, where I want to spend a couple of days looking at old ruins and the cause of those ruins - Vesuvius. From there, its a ride down the stunningly dangerous Amalfi coast to Reggio Calabria and another bloody ferry to Sicily. Mount Etna and (you guessed it), another couple of ferry trips to take me to Stromboli (and back, I hope!) await.
Then its back to the mainland and around the "sole and heel" of Italy to view a stunning collection of Bimota's in Lecce. Up the Adriatic coast to Rimini (and another visit to the Bimota factory) before heading to Venice, Trieste and a final, coastal destination in Croatia. Here I will "lay down my marker" by taking lunch in whatever kind of restaurant looks agreeable, before cutting inland through Slovenia/Austria/Hungary/Slovakia/Czech Republic/Poland/Germany/Netherlands for the ferry home.
And my wheels for this little outing?
Meet the Mantra!



Lazy air-cooled V-twin motor of Italian heritage - Bella Moto!!!

note - "Mantra" is a Sanskrit word, comprising the root - "Man" - which is "to think", and the suffix "-tra" - designating tools or instruments. Therefore, a literal translation would be " instrument of thought"
(If you check Wikipedia, you will note that they have used my explanation almost to the word............. )

[GeeKay]

Still here? Good!
The preparation of the bike for this trip has been documented elsewhere on this forum, so I'll just mention a few additions necessary (or not) that are required. I've finally succumbed to the march of progress and purchased a TomTom sat nav system. I'm using this to navigate the endless and confusing motorways that should take me from the Europort in the Netherlands to Luxembourg, via Belgium. And again when heading home through Germany. The rest of it's vacation will be spent in my rucksack. To this end, I have installed a 12v cigarette-lighter socket so I can plug the power lead in under the seat and run the cable up to the head unit in my tank bag.
Ahh - the tank bag. Those in the know, know that the Mantra has a plastic fuel tank. This precludes the use of a magnetic tank bag, so I purchased an Oxford Products tank bag designed exclusively for use on plastic fuel tanks. But not, it seems, exclusively for the odd-shaped fuel tank that graces my bike. So I had to get it modified to suit - the "side-flaps" had to go, and the rubber "suckers" had to be re-located onto the base of the bag so it would attach to the flat part of the tank.
I entrusted the modification to "The Garforth Cobbler" aka Mark.
Meet Mark.



if you need any repairs or modifications to your leathers, luggage, whatever, send them to Mark. He's a genius with a sewing machine, and a biker to boot (sic)!
Shameless plug - www.garforthcobbler.co.uk.
Thanks Mark!

[Evilchicken0]

Hi Gary
Hi Mantra
Hi Mark


_________________
Don't read everything you believe

[GeeKay]

Hi EC!

[GeeKay]

With the tank-mounted map pocket sorted, attention turned to what other luggage I could get to fit the Mantra. With the rear subframe all encased by bodywork, the only available mounting points are the rear footrests and/or the rear indicators. My experience of Bimota indicators (I snapped a front mounting on the SB8R just cleaning the lens ) left me with one choice - the rear footrests.
I purchased a Weise tailpack - these have a "seatbelt" fastening (a velcro strap passes under the seat) plus numerous bungee cord attachment points. Big enough when expanded to full capacity, this will hold my clothes for the trip. The useful side pockets carry other essentials - paracetamols, mossie spray, a basic toolkit and zip ties.
A non-branded (read cheap) zipper bag sits atop the tailpack, secured by a cargo net. This bag contains my change of clothes for the overnight ferry (Hull to Rotterdam), but will be used in Italy for stowing my leather riding trousers.
A Hein Gericke rucksack completes the luggage array - this will carry lightweight items (all the necessary chargers for phone/camera/sat nav/shaver/mi-fi unit - why can't they standardise charging device sockets?) and items of value - my pc tablet/camera/sat nav/wi-fi unit etc).
The reasoning behind this being that when I leave the bike, so do all these items! Passport, wallet, driving licence and insurance/bike papers will be carried in zipped pockets in my riding jacket.





A final addition to the bike was the purchase of clock - white faced, with a red seconds-sweep hand, it compliments the Mantra's clocks perfectly. And it tells the time.



Right - thats it for now - final checks to complete before departure at, or around, 17:00 today

[Evilchicken0]

Could you get an extra couple of strap fixings under the pillion seat strap ???
_________________
Don't read everything you believe

[GeeKay]

Well thats a ferry journey to forget. Despite booking a "premium" quiet cabin, I was kept awake all night by the light fittings trying to detach themselves due to some enormously irritating vibration that shook the whole cabin. Loads of complaints next day from irate and very tired passengers. Overnighting in a hotel in Ugstein, on the Weinstrasse, having ridden 451 miles through 4 countries. Just back from the restaurant where the garlic curd with walnut salad dressing entree was the perfect compliment to the fillet of veal with mushrooms and home-made pasta. Shame the local kebab house was closed.

[zombie]

Nice days' work Geekay. If you only have vibration from the ship to concern yourself with about after a 450 mile journey on your Mantra it must be a smooth ride!

[GeeKay]

bike is running well - only glitch so far is a loose chain which I don't have a spanner or Allen key for. Good news is the engine isn't leaking oil and it's averaging 50ish mpg

[GeeKay]

Apologies to those people who are visiting this forum for travel updates - truth is I haven't had time to find an internet cafe until tonight - the hotel I am staying in has customer internet available but their laptop doesn't have any media ports so I can't upload my photos yet. But here's a quick update anyway
Day 1 - 451 miles - 4 countries - 9hrs riding.
Europort - Antwerp - Brussels - Charleroi - Namur -Luxembourg - Saarbrucken - Kaiserslautern - Ungsheim.
Day 2 - 222 miles - 2 countries - 7 hours riding.
Ungsheim - Speyer - Bruchsal - Pforzheim - Stockach - Konstanz - Romanshorn - Morschwil.
Day 3 - 242 miles - 3 countries - 8.5 hours riding.
Morschwil - Altstatten - Oberriet - Vaduz - Chur - Disentis - Sedrun - Oberalppasse - Andermatt - St Gotthard Pass - Airola - Bellinzona - Lugano - Como - Cantu. Tomorow I am visiting Pierro (V-Due Italy) in Milan then travelling down to Genova - hopefuly they will have a pc with media ports

[GeeKay]

Quick update - spent a great morning with Piero looking at and chatting about Bimotas and bikes in general - he's a real gentleman and a great host.
Only covered 133 miles today - from Cantu (Lake Como) to Meda (Piero), then into Milan (got lost again!) then a great run down to Varreza (Genova) where I am based for the next 2 days. Lifes a bit more leisurely now!

[mvf4312]

hey up dad been reading your posts and you seem to be covering alot ov miles hope everything is ok and the bike is running well. got most of the house sorted now so make sure you nip round when u get bk.

[GeeKay]

will do - have the kettle on (you have got a kettle?)