Eurotrip 2014

[The Stranger]

It's been a while.
I was wondering if Mom and Maha have mortgaged the house and bought KB from Spankme yet?

Just sitting in a campground in Northern Italy near the Austrian border reviewing gorpro footage of the day's riding.
Already had dinner - Most excellent Salami and cheese sandwiches. What else could you want? Today was a good dinner day, I was able to find gluten free bread.
It's way better than the Uncle Bens diet. Granted you do lose a lot of weight on that but gets a bit boring after the 20th time.
The weather is fine, but mild at this altitude - no idea what altitude, but it's high-ish. Been in the snow today and didn't come down that far.

A few years back I went around the north Island to ride every good road. I think I pretty much covered everything from north to south.
So here I am trying to cover off all of the famous mountain passes of Europe. Not doing to badly really. 14,000km so far.
on my 4th rear and second front. Pilot roads don't long here. The seal is grippy as all hell. All I could get today was a Metz Z8 for the rear. I expect 3,000 from that.

Anyway, I have been doing some thinking here.
I have a Yamaha TDM900 with Yamaha luggage that I need to do something with when I go.
Now I can store it easy enough in Germany and I can put anyone in touch with a guy who can point you to the best roads in the world and let you in on all the tricks.
So if you are interested in an easy way to see Europe, do your own thing and have blast on those roads you only dream of whilst watching Top Gear please let me know. I'm happy to do a good deal on the bike to make it easier on your wallet.

Oh and Italy is wicked awesome. The scenery is breath-taking, the roads are heaven on earth, the drivers respect speed - and get out of your way a fast as they can, the people are lovely and they eat real food.

[Kiwi Graham]

Blimey mate good to hear from ya.

+1 on all you said about Europe and especially the Italian roads and scenery.
Bit late in life for the big OE though isn’t it, re-living you youth bro?

[The Stranger]

Blimey mate good to hear from ya.

+1 on all you said about Europe and especially the Italian roads and scenery.
Bit late in life for the big OE though isn’t it, re-living you youth bro?

What do you mean re-living? I'm still irresponsible.
But seeing things through different eyes this time I must admit.

[MVnut]

[QUOTE=The Stranger;1130747287




Oh and Italy is wicked awesome. The scenery is breath-taking, the roads are heaven on earth, the drivers respect speed - and get out of your way a fast as they can, the people are lovely and they eat real food.[/QUOTE]

That's why we are leaving NZ and off the live in Italy in a few months, can't wait :headbang:

[Urano]

always seems a bit strange to me, as i'm doing all i can to leave italy...
anyway, if anyone needs advices, contacts, directions or simply a mate for a beer, well, just ask... :niceone:

and yes, the food is with no match... :D

[The Stranger]

always seems a bit strange to me, as i'm doing all i can to leave italy...
anyway, if anyone needs advices, contacts, directions or simply a mate for a beer, well, just ask... :niceone:

and yes, the food is with no match... :D

The grass is always greener on the other side - but someone still has to mow it.
I have only seen the good side, but one does wonder why the police are standing around with machine guns - or was that the crims? or both?

[Maha]

It's been a while.
I was wondering if Mom and Maha have mortgaged the house and bought KB from Spankme yet?


The complete opposite, sold everything in March, paid off all debt. Bought a house in serene south Waikato town called Mangakino which is where we will eventually live, currently reside/work in Takapuna.

[Urano]

The grass is always greener on the other side - but someone still has to mow it.
I have only seen the good side, but one does wonder why the police are standing around with machine guns - or was that the crims? or both?

yep...
the truth is italy could really be one of the most beautiful places in the world.
unfortunately is full of italians.
who are warm and lovely as long as you don't try to get anything done. just wander around, eat, drink good wines, enjoy ruins and landscapes. this way everything would be fine.

about the police...
...more probably carabinieri. which are a kind of police. and they do the same thing police does. but are also part of the army. and obviously no, they don't manage to share infos so efficiently with police. now think that we have about twelve polices and police-like corps (and the mains have different branches specialized in different fields as post-police, railway-police, environmental police...) and those twelve corps refer to four or five different ministry, regional and local administrations everyone with its own political autonomy regulations and even computer system (and no, obviously nothing even remotely standard for the rest of the world...one of the last examples is the s/mime, pgp or whatever vs. postacertificata).
and again obviously no, none of those offices manage to share infos in an efficient way with ohers.
now you prolly begin to understand my line about "get anything done"...
...sorry, i was saying about the police...
ya, when they arrange road checkpoints they're often up with machine guns. i'm sure there is some regulation somewhere from 1861 till yesterday, with a dozen revs and a hundreds addendum which sets that necessity, when and where the man with the gun should stay, how many rounds are required in the gun and the inclination it should be hold.
and this means that the one time they shoot at a crim (and not at you by mistake), the crim's family will sue the state's administration because the angle of the gun wasn't right and we'll have to pay for his retirement.

fact is, to live in italy you need a lot of "hope". not faith, hope. :)



The complete opposite, sold everything in March, paid off all debt. Bought a house in serene south Waikato town called Mangakino which is where we will eventually live, currently reside/work in Takapuna.

lovely place seems, but... so distant from the sea? it's a huge change...

[Maha]

lovely place seems, but... so distant from the sea? it's a huge change...

We have a transportable abode at a northern beach, Ruakaka to be precise. Mango has a lake, so having a choice is the best part.

[rastuscat]

Dead envious. I rode my bicycle in Les Alps in 2012, and I'm going back next year.

I'll be doing Northen Italy on the next trip next year. What amazed me is the proportion of big Beemers that tour the Alps.

Dead envious, bloody cold down here just now.

[Scouse]

Bucket List? whats the next one Noel?

[george formby]

Dead envious. I rode my bicycle in Les Alps in 2012, and I'm going back next year.

I'll be doing Northen Italy on the next trip next year. What amazed me is the proportion of big Beemers that tour the Alps.

Dead envious, bloody cold down here just now.

Last time I did Y'erp, on a TDM, too, it was the number of Beemers at the side of the road with there tool kits exposed & riders with puzzled expressions scratching their heads beside them that amazed me.

Could have been weight of numbers that made them stand out, though. Seemed like 3 out of 4 bikes were continent crushing GS's.