Just Back!!

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philgro64 · #1 Post by **philgro64** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 9:03 am

from a 16 day jaunt around Europe on my trusty Falco. It was every bit as good as I had imagined and the Falco performed faultlessly throughout. Passed through 11 countries(Scotland, England, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, Monaco, Spain) and covered nearly 3000 miles.

Highlights;
Swiss roads particularly the Simplon Pass
French B roads(just as quick and well surfaced as Motorways but far more interesting and no tolls

)
The weather(only had waterproofs on for half a day)
Luxembourg(Lovely City)Quaint French, Swiss Towns.
Falco getting up to 160 miles on a tank before red light came on.

Lowlights
Belgium
Tolls
Brothers BMW getting stolen in Amsterdam on second last day of the trip
Belgium
Horrendous gale force winds in the South of france
Tolls
Credit Card bill beating me home
Did I mention Belgium?

3 of us set off from Newcastle on a BMW F800GS, Honda Deauville 650 and me on the Falco so speeds were kept to a sensible level. We had applied for an interest free credit card before setting off so all accommodation, food and drink were bumped on the card and it gives us 6 months to pay it off. We stayed in a mixture of Hostels and cheap Hotels throughout our stay apart from a 5 day stay at Blanes Spain at a friends and 2 nights in Amsterdam at another pal. We all took tents for emergencies but didn't use them as Hostels and Hotels were always available(probably due to time of year)

It was a trip of a life time and would recommend it to any Falco owner. I had soft luggage panniers, a tank bag and a canoe roll waterproof bag which held all of my stuff and more and we navigated using a satnav stuck on my tank. The bike was just as good as the other 2 and a lot more nimble through busy city centre traffic.

The only downside is having been made redundant just before the trip I amy have to sell the Falco to pay for it

Aladinsaneuk · #2 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 9:12 am

awesome trip - glad you had fun :)

Samray · #3 Post by **Samray** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 10:27 am

Pete chose the right word .. awesome.

cept the redundancy

Noeli0 · #4 Post by **Noeli0** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 12:18 pm

160 miles!! that is awesome!
sounds like a great blast around europe, sorry to hear about the redundancy

D-Rider · #5 Post by **D-Rider** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 6:04 pm

Great to hear about the trip ..... pics to follow ??

Sorry to hear about the redundancy.
I have heard it suggested that selling a bike to make ends meet during such times just delays things by a few weeks, the money raised is soon spent and you end up just as broke but with no bike.

I doubt when it comes to it, it's quite that simple - but it's worth thinking about.

Hope something suitable comes up for you soon.

#6 Post by **Kwackerz** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 6:19 pm

Sounds like a good trip!

Thieves just have no taste nowadays..

Had a look at swapping the credit card? the ol' credit card shuffle may help..? buys time, etc Some people it works for.

have a look here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cards/ and on the forums at that site.

Nooj · #7 Post by **Nooj** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 6:43 pm

D-Rider wrote:Great to hear about the trip ..... pics to follow ??

Sorry to hear about the redundancy.
I have heard it suggested that selling a bike to make ends meet during such times just delays things by a few weeks, the money raised is soon spent and you end up just as broke but with no bike.

I doubt when it comes to it, it's quite that simple - but it's worth thinking about.

Hope something suitable comes up for you soon.

Spot on, been there' done that. One of the things you'll need to keep you going is knowing that when the money starts coming back in you'll still have your bike to ride.