Just back from a two week trip in Europe covering 7 countries and about 2400 miles. My wife and I were on the XR and my mate and his wife were on an RT. We left home in the Bournemouth area on the morning of Monday 22nd May and headed up to Folkestone for the Eurotunnel (my wife doesn't do boats which is a nuisance as we are so close to the ferry ports but the tunnel is a pretty good option). Onto the train, just the 2 bikes in one complete carriage, 35 minutes later in France and on our way. Our first night was a quick stop at Ibis hotel, Charleroi in Belgium. Lots of work going on to improve the canal and station area so not the prettiest of places but no problem, we were on the road bright and early next day.
Tuesday saw us going through Belgium, Luxembourg, back into Belgium and finally into Germany where we stopped at Baden-Baden at the Athos Hotel. My wife and I got lucky in landing the best room in the hotel, a quick beer, a scrub up and then a wander through the parks alongside the stream into the city centre for food and more beer. What a lovely pretty and clean city. We could have stayed longer but our plans took us off the day.
Wednesday and we started with the B500 through the black forest region. What a cracking road, just a pity we had pillions and enough luggage to keep the wives happy (well at least not too miserable!). Hardly any other vehicles on the road. At one point we passed 3 fellas touring and the one at the rear was on a Honda 50 loaded up with luggage. We gave them a wave as we passed. Another 5 miles further and disaster struck for the RT. Having a much bigger fuel tank than the XR he didn't fill up when I stopped for petrol the afternoon before and yep he ran out of petrol. By this stage we were descending so I left him free wheeling and headed off to the next petrol station where I bought a can and 5 litres of fuel (as well as filling my tank up again). On the way back to him the 3 fellas (one on the Honda 50) passed me in the opposite direction. We emptied the can into the RT, left the empty can with a local and headed back down to the garage and arrived at about the same time as said three fellas. I went and shook the Honda 50 riders hand! Once fueled up, coffee and cake we were off again. Leisurely lunch stop on the side of Lake Konstance and then on to Sonthofen in the Bavaria.
For the sake of the wives and my backside (the XR seat leaves a lot to be desired when doing full days) we had 3 nights at Sonthofen.
Thursday - rest day with a leisurely stroll up the nearby mountains, watching a group of people learning to parapent, a lovely lunch and a few beers.
Friday - still based at Sonthofen a short ride to Fussen at 7:30 to visit the Neuschweinstein Castle (the castle used as the logo for the Disney Castle) before all the coach tours arrived followed by a ride to Zugspitze, the tallest mountain in Germany.
Saturday leave Sonthofen and head to Garda Riva, Lake Garda, Northern Italy. The morning saw us cross into Austria where we were stopped for speeding, 91kph in a 50 limit resulting in a €50 on the spot fine - could have been worse as we'd definitely gone faster ! Lunch at Obergurgul and then the Timmelsjoch Hochalpenstrasse pass into Italy. Dropping down towards Lake Garda and we encountered our only rain storm of the trip but luckily were able to stop at a 'snow shelter' and don our wets.
Sunday and Monday rest days enjoying a few beers, gelatos and pasta.
Tuesday and leaving Lake Garda heading to Meiringen in Switzerland via the Gottard Pass. Unfortunately the Susten and Grimsel passes were still closed so we had to go through numerous tunnels to Interlarken and then Meiringen.
Wedensday rest day. A visit to the Reichenbachfall where Sherlock Holmes met his demise (he's not real - it's just a story) followed by a trek up into the mountains.
Thursday we left Switzerland and headed to France, our first stop over at Auxonne. The wives enjoyed looking around the market but luckily we had no space for purchases.
Friday riding from Auxonne to Reims. Grotty worn out hotel but thankfully only 1 night. After eating we found a nice bar with live music, strange to hear Irish music accompanied by French words but entertaining.
Saturday Reims to Boulange sur Mer. The best hotel of the trip in the old town. The last evening of the holiday so a nice meal and (yep you guessed) a few beers.
Sunday a 20 minute ride to the channel tunnel and back to the UK. Traffic jams, road works and lots of idiot drivers - welcome home.
What a great trip.
A couple of observations about the XR - the seat is diabolical (but I think we all know that !) - the gen 2 seat is way worse than the gen 1 seat (or maybe I got lucky with the gen 1 and unlucky with the gen 2). When fully loaded the preload adjustment makes it taller and I ended up thinking 'wished I'd got a lowered version' on a few occasions. Other than that the bike ran perfectly but the ice grey looks really dirty after 2 weeks touring !
Back to France for the LeMans 24hour classic at the end of the month.
