IOM TT and Euro 2017 ( the unfinished business tour) (Part 2 Euro)

Was sad to leave the Holy Isle, but on a brighter point, we got to call into to see our old couchsurfing Hosts and great friends Guido, Gaynor and the gorgeous Danje. Awesome people (although a little Nutty) and it seemed they had arranged for half of Bolton to come meet us. We had a very boozy afternoon with lots of laughs.

Alicia seemed to enjoy the touch up I gave her.

Gaynors even Mum strapped the Strom on for size.

Also sampled the local delicacy of Pudding, chips and peas. Talk about getting Kulcha.

Thanks guys. Was so good to see you all again and meet some of the others.

We set off the next day with sore heads and took the scenic route to Stanstead, which is where Sam would fly out of the next day bound for the sunny South of France.

Found a nice (cheap) Hotel and settled in to watch a replay of the Moto GP. I'm such a romantic.

Was sad to say goodbye to Sammy the next morning. I was disappointed she wasn't coming with me. (who else would make me sammiches) but she was off to spend a few days in Nice with her friend Natalie so things weren't all bad.I made my way to Harwich where I would board the worlds largest ferry for the day long trip across to Holland. Passed the time people watching and reading and catching up on some much needed sleep.(ps google Brittainia ferry the stats are amazing)

The traffic of Rotterdam was a sharp wake up call though, and I set off for Breda and found a cool cubby house complete with local beer and a pig to stay in.

The following day would be the day I ticked off the first of the unfinished items and also to tick off a bucket item list.

In 2011 due to a certain shipping company that changed a loading date and who to this day can get routed, we missed out on doing a much anticipated lap of the famous Nurburgring circuit. Also known as the Green Hell and also as Nordshcliefe, the track is full of motor racing history and tragic stories. It has long been an ambition of mine to do a couple of laps .

The course is some 27 klms long through the stunning Eiffel region of Germany. It costs 25 Euro to do a lap and many say it is one of the most dangerous things you will ever do on a motorcycle as you are on the course at the same time as some of the fastest and craziest drivers in the world.

You can read more about it here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%BCrburgring

I Don't mind admitting I had a few butterfly's (and a bit of gas) in the stomach as I got close.

Also met up with one of my travelling companions for the next few weeks Tony

Bought our tickets and headed for the start line. By this stage I was shitting myself, but as it turns out it wasn't all that bad. Was a bit humiliating to be passed by 22 year old kids in their little buzz boxes, although getting blown off course by a gazillion dollar supercars was kinda fun. I knew they had all done a billion laps around the circuit and I wasnt going to end up in the armco just at this early stage of the trip.

Here as video of my 2 laps. (warning its 30 minutes long only watch if extremely bored)

Was a brilliant experience and one I'm glad i finally got to do it. No thanks to you Dave Milligan from Get Routed you piece of shit. ( yes I hold a grudge)

Can also highly recommend the Hospitality of Simon and Holly and Sliders guest house. If your in the area, look them up. (hooly was hiding behind the bike in this pic cause she was in her Jarmis.

Its a nice spot in a lovely area

We Was also fortunate and Privileged to meet Andy Carlilse. The fastest man around the Ring on a motorcycle. Andy is a really nice bloke and we spent a very nice hour or so chatting to him. He knows shit about going fast. Check out his eyes. This dude aint normal.

You can check out his lap here.

http://www.bikesales.com.au/editorial/details/r1-smashes-nurburgring-lap-record-30644/

Its only just over 7 minutes long, unlike my 15 minute laps and well worth a watch

Tony and I spent the next couple of days wandering south, taking in some of the best roads and sights of Belgium Germany France and Switzerland.

Came across this awesome bridge to no where

Bitchie was fizzing

Fluelapass was spectacular and a lot of fun.

Twas on the Famous Stelvio pass that we met up with these 2 Loose Cannons Mikey and Sammo.

These two nut cases had spent the previous week breaking down all over Europe, but it looked as though the gremlins had now been sorted. It couple of passes over the pass to track them down, we finally met at the top, Where Sammo got his first taste of Snow.

Try the yellow snow Sam.

We headed back down the hill and found a nice little bar And thats when the trouble started. Things got a little messy.

Whilst having beers Someone suggested that we should go and get some pics of us scrapping shit? (cause no one has ever had a good idea whilst drinking milk)

I took that to mean scrapping the pegs

Sammo took that to mean scraping the rear Number plate.

Mikey took it a little too literally and scrapped fuck out of his bike and also his ass.

Fortunately not too much damaged done and we found a local B&B where we continued well into the night with an awesome view over the village of Sondano and Sammo practiced talking with his hands.

Next morning was spent zippy tying and duct taping the GSXR back together before we set off over some glorious roads heading for the Spectacular Dolmites.

It is a spectacular part of the world.

We found a nice hotel and settled in for another big night and some awesome food.

Then Mikey and Sammo got to know each other a bit better. So that was nice.

The morning Faffing was more than I could take, so I decided to head off and spend the day on my own.

Got busted by some lady bushwalkers whilst taking a crap in the woods. Sorry ladies but when ya gotta go.

My destination was the famous Grossglockner Alpine road in Austria. Another of the items to be ticked off the To Do List.

The 25 Euro toll turned out to be good value as I in fact did it twice. It was that much fun. Probably the most spectacular pass I have ever done

Was a nice spot at the top

Here's a pic of my lunch. Was very Nice.

And the road down the other side looks like fun eh? It was

An awesome day Check out the smile on my face

Meanwhile The boys had made their way to Lake Bled into Slovenia. A Guy at the top of the pass had told me about a shortcut to get there, but there was no direct road so you put your vehicle on a train and it goes directly under the mountain through a 10klm long tunnel. Very cool.

When I arrived at the guest house the boys were getting to know each other a little better.

More beers and a very ordinary meal was had.

The beautiful island of KRK in Croatia was to be the next days destination and while Motorway Mikey set a course down the highway with boys , I took the more scenic route and met them at our beachside Villa, where once again things got a little out of hand.

Had a great time doing Bombies in the pool though and very nice scenery.

The Strom had developed a concerning noise coming from the chain area and on closer inspection we discovered that it was actually missing a couple of rollers, Not really what you want when travelling on the autobahns at 150, so a new chain in order.

On the way to the local bike shop I discovered another noise that was driving me insane. Turns out it was just a cowbell the assholes had attached to the bike. So much fun travelling with utter utter bastards like those blokes.

Soon had both noises fixed and on our way to our next beachside villa.

Travelling carefully of course

The scenery in this place was even better than than the last. I love Croatia. Great scenery Great food, Cheap beer, Crystal clear water. Just love it.We had a great couple of days there Will definitely be going back.

Mummy here was all boobs out but got all shy.

Couldn't believe how cheap the ice creams were.

Sammo gave this place 9/10 Faps

Here"s a pic of our Dinner.

As I said,Bloody Loved Croatia and will def be back but I Had another unfinished business item to get to in the North of Austria, so we raced back through up through Slovenia.

Sammo Had an interesting moment when He donated a couple of hundred Euro to the road gods when his wallet fell out of his pocket. He caused quite a stir with fellow motorists riding back up the autobahn in the wrong direction. Fun times.

The shenanigans continued into Austria. Playing up Like Bad Aussies we were.

Mattigophen was to be our overnight stop.

By chance my mate, Dakar racer, World traveler and chick magnet extraordinaire, Lyndon Poskitt was in town.

Was a big night on the Turps and was great to catch up with Lyndon again, although the receptionist was in tears when he checked out, Although I did see him sneaking back in. Perhaps he forgot something.

If you haven't already check out his Youtube vids. They are awesome.

This episode one. There are heaps of them and in fact the next episode to be released will be familiar to a lot of you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-gzsHIICsc

Meanwhile Sammo was making quite a scene out the front

So the next item of unfinished business was to visit the KTM Factory. Another thing we missed on a previous visit due to it being closed on the day we arrived. This visit was much anticipated by me. For those that dont know, I am a bit of a KTM aficionado. I currently have 3 in the fleet and have owned over 10 in the past 10 years. Have long wanted to visit the factory where they are made and see what goes into them.

The out side is all spectacular Like with all their current modes lined up in a glass case out the front.

Unfortunately no pics allowed to be taken inside the factory

This is Hans. He is flat out planning whats next in KTM's line up.

I have been to many automotive factories in my time, but I must admit to being a little disappointed with this one. Seemed very disorganized and dirty.

Any wonder they have a reputation for being unreliable.

The race headquarters looked like it would be more professional, but the public are not allowed anywhere near it.

I coudnt help feeling a little dissalusioned as we left, but was happy to have done it.

I did manage to meet the International Customer service manager and had the opportunity to tell her how shit the customer service of KTM Australia is. She was very understanding and appreciative of the feedback and actually admitted that their were of some issues they were aware of.

With any luck the asshole warranty manager at KTM Perth will get the sack. We can only hope.

I also asked her where the fuck my 690 Adventure was but she wasn't able to answer.

At this point Tony and I lost the other guys. Motorway Mikey had spat the dummy bout something or other and took off. I never did see them again.. Oh Well. Tony I found some very nice roads to amuse ourselves on.