Heading North

[Tenerider]

A few days ago, I started my first "long" trip ever on a motorcycle.

Being licensed for two months only, I didn't know what to expect when being in the saddle for more than 2 hours.

 

I had planned this trip way before my license exam, because a friend of mine - riding as well - encouraged me to visit him once I have my license.

 

It turned out that the long pentecostal weekend would be the perfect time, since his Bonneville Bobber needed a service and his dealer was roughly halfway between my place (close to Cologne) and his (Bremen, roughly 1 hour from Hamburg).

 

So, I stuffed everything I needed for 3 days (and more) in my Sea to Summit drybag (20l), rokstrapped it to my bike and set off on Friday at about 11 o'clock AM:

 

 

I had decided to do about 100km on the highway (Autobahn), and then proceed across the countryside for the remaining 100km to Osnabrück, where we would meet around 2 PM.

 

Quickly it turned out that the drybag needed to be re-strapped: It forced me to sit way too close to the tank. After strapping it transversal across the pillion area, there was much more room left for me (although it still wasn't perfect).

Riding on the highway is boring, but I took it really easy, enjoyed my playlist and ended up with am average of 3.3l/100km (71 mpg US).

Yes, I went really slow and took advantage of reduced drag behind big trucks

At least I avoided the really crowded Ruhr area this way - riding off highway would have cost too much time.

Around noon, I left the highway some miles before Münster - a rather rural area, where I expected a good speed on the "country roads" and a less boring ride...

 

To be continued!

[BikeBrother]

You are right. Highways are borrowing. I try to avoid also. 2 weeks ago i came from Touratech Travel event, sideroads in germany and last part in holland highway. I came to the same fuelconsumption. Thats one thing of many i like about the T700. In 2 weeks i leave for a trip to south scandinavia. Keep riding 

[qInvention]

I know of what you're speaking. Did nearly the entire A1 quite a few times to get to Hamburg, then Flensburg in order to take the ferry in Hirtshals, heading to Norway. A good playlist is a primary need on long stints on the highway 

 

enjoy your trip !

[Tenerider]

Stage 2

 

The "country roads" in Münsterland (rural, almost completely flat area of Westphalia close to Lower Saxonia) were nice for about half an hour. It turned out they were mostly as straight and boring as the highway, but with more insects, road kill and crazy locals with suicidal tendencies (according to their driving).

 

Anyway, riding across country roads gives a different experience, as you all probably know: You get to know your own land, discover hidden gems which might be mentioned in Lonely Planet, but of course you'd never read it, because it's for tourists

This way, I discovered the lovely town Bad Iburg (never heard of it before) with its castle. Too bad there wasn't time left for a stop.

 

Later on, I got into a nice hot traffic jam in the less lovely inner city of Osnabrück.

Had my hydration backpack on, which is great in such conditions.

 

Only a few km left to our meeting point (Triumph Bramsche), where my friend's Bobber was not yet ready for take off. Time for him getting in contact with some other bikes:

 

Imho, this beast handles surprisingly well, due to its low COG. To be fair, every bike has a low COG compared to our long-legged beauties

 

An hour later, we took on the last 100km to Bremen - again crowded roads at first, but it got better and the countryside is beautiful. Non-stop riding for about 2 hours. I got a bit saddle-sore in the end, knees did hurt a bit, but that was to be expected after 5 hours of riding when you're not used to it.

 

We reached the ferry across river Weser in time, here is a pic of me finally:

 

 

 

 

Bremen is already close to the North Sea, lots of big famous shipyards there.

 

After having burgers and fries at my buddy's, we took a short stroll to the Weser.

 

 

Conclusions from day 1:

++ Grip puppies and throttle rocker (the one with velcro strap) are amazing. Zero issues with my hands.

+/- Rally seat is ok, although a bit narrow for long boring highway sections. Allows plenty of seating positions though, which helps with fatigue.

- Soft side luggage , so I can move back and forth more on the seat.

- Lowered pegs would be great. Really considering them, but not sure if they would limit lean angle and/or offroad capabilities.

 

To be continued!

[Landshark]

2 hours ago, Tenerider said:

Stage 2

 

The "country roads" in Münsterland (rural, almost completely flat area of Westphalia close to Lower Saxonia) were nice for about half an hour. It turned out they were mostly as straight and boring as the highway, but with more insects, road kill and crazy locals with suicidal tendencies (according to their driving).

 

Anyway, riding across country roads gives a different experience, as you all probably know: You get to know your own land, discover hidden gems which might be mentioned in Lonely Planet, but of course you'd never read it, because it's for tourists

This way, I discovered the lovely town Bad Iburg (never heard of it before) with its castle. Too bad there wasn't time left for a stop.

 

Later on, I got into a nice hot traffic jam in the less lovely inner city of Osnabrück.

Had my hydration backpack on, which is great in such conditions.

 

Only a few km left to our meeting point (Triumph Bramsche), where my friend's Bobber was not yet ready for take off. Time for him getting in contact with some other bikes:

 

Imho, this beast handles surprisingly well, due to its low COG. To be fair, every bike has a low COG compared to our long-legged beauties

 

An hour later, we took on the last 100km to Bremen - again crowded roads at first, but it got better and the countryside is beautiful. Non-stop riding for about 2 hours. I got a bit saddle-sore in the end, knees did hurt a bit, but that was to be expected after 5 hours of riding when you're not used to it.

 

We reached the ferry across river Weser in time, here is a pic of me finally:

 

 

 

 

Bremen is already close to the North Sea, lots of big famous shipyards there.

 

After having burgers and fries at my buddy's, we took a short stroll to the Weser.

 

 

Conclusions from day 1:

++ Grip puppies and throttle rocker (the one with velcro strap) are amazing. Zero issues with my hands.

+/- Rally seat is ok, although a bit narrow for long boring highway sections. Allows plenty of seating positions though, which helps with fatigue.

- Soft side luggage , so I can move back and forth more on the seat.

- Lowered pegs would be great. Really considering them, but not sure if they would limit lean angle and/or offroad capabilities.

 

To be continued!

 

Great ride report @Tenerider  The pics are superb.  Keep it coming!

[Tenerider]

Stage 3

 

The next day we got up early for a short pre-breakfast ride. We ascended Bremens highest (and only) mountain by feet (it's a shame the gravel road to the top is blocked for any wheeled traffic):

 

 

 

 

And yes, this mountain is rubbish (it's a former dump).

This challenging sportive event was to be followed by a nice rich long breakfast downtown Bremen. At least that was the plan.

It turned out that the diner was crowded as hell, so we headed off for another one.

This one was blocked by local police (German riders call them "Rennleitung", which means race management) - there was a bomb scare in the mall, so we were forced to find another place.

In total this took another hour, we were starving, but finally found a bakery which offered a decent breakfast.

 

Since you can't have too much coffee for breakfast, we then rode on to a nice little coffee roasting, located in an old farm roughly 20 miles outside Bremen - beautiful area, even some winding roads.

Coffee was great, the farmer's grown-up daughters were... quite nice

 

What followed was my personal highlight: A short ride across the local gravel roads. My buddy took the tarmac alternative, and I enjoyed getting some dust in my face and some mud under the skid!

 

 

 

 

 

Not visible here, but there were some nice deep potholes later on, suspension handled them very well.

 

Tbc!