June 2006.
UK, France, Germany, Austria, Hungry, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, UK - a total of 5,786 miles using 124.75 Gallons of fuel averaging 46.38 MPG or if you work in metric 561.39 litres of fuel averaging 10.31 LPG In 2005 a message was posted on the FJR Forum by Murf asking if anyone was up for a trip to Turkey and back in 2006 Of course me and Wendy were up for it and once we had spoken to Murf & Aileen it was clear it had been an ambition of theirs for some time to ride to southern Turkey but the journey was too perilous to attempt alone so the planning started. Other people committed to join the ride and at one time the party was to comprise 7 bikes and 10 persons with an 11th joining us in Turkey.

But people soon dropped out leaving a more manageable group of 4 bikes and 7 people. the crew Stuart, John, Mary, Jim,  Wendy, Tony, & Aileen.

It was no easy task planning a trip of this magnitude, routes, paperwork, Bikes, visas, jabs, budget, time off work, and then the charity as we also intended to raise funds for the http://www.jtsma.org.uk/index.html The Jennifer Trust for Spinal Muscular Atrophy - Help for Today, Hope for Tomorrow Jennifer Trust a charity close to Aileen. The route was largely sorted by Murf ensuring we could accomplish the distances and meet any deadlines. I created a website for awareness (photographic progress reports along the way) and fundraising The website raised £2,257.82 of which £1,102.55 came from our (Wendy & myself) work colleagues and friends. The total amount raised was over £9,000.

Before the trip Wendy became the official photographer and as you will witness below she photographed the trip very well from the pillion seat even with her eyes closed at times...

Day 1 Thu 1st June - Poole to Dun-Sur-Meuse (France) via Chessington and the official send off.

We had been ready for a couple of days just waiting for the off - we arrived at Murf and Aileen's at 10:00 and shortly joined by a group of fellow FJR's who had ridden down too give us a royal send off, Reeso and Jules, Keith and LLoretta, Graham and Karen, Mike and Bev, Andy and Maria. They joined us for the bacon banjo's and photo shoot before departing.

We were surprised to meet them again at the Chunnel as they had sprung a
surprise once that morning by turning up we were unsure if they had
all decided to join us on our trip but they were only playing and when we got off
the train in Calais they trundled off to Belgium for a duty free run.
We were later joined on the A26 by Lucca a Belgium FJR Owner who had come
along to join us for a few miles.

We covered the ground to Dun-Sur-Meuse arriving at our first night stop at approx 20:30 where we were warmly met by Ian and Carol the owners of http://www.bikersbedsfrance.co.uk/ Biker Friendly B&B Accommodation in France Two Wheel Moorings; where we were quickly settled into our rooms and sharing

Day 2 Fri - Dun-Sur-Meuse to Enns upper Austria

Day 2 was a long day covering 560 miles from France through Germany and into Austria to a small town called Enns, most of the route was motorway and most of the motorway was solid with traffic but we pushed on at a fair pace and was lucky to find a suitable hotel in the centre villa close to all the amenities.

Our first and only casualty of the ride happened on this day alas Wendy's Teddy-Bag gave up the ghost disintegrating after many a long ride - of course we disposed of it in an appropriate manner...

Day 3 Sat - Enns to Arad Romania

We rose early and headed for Hungry and then Romania...  Once on the road we were accompanied by a change in the weather from dull to heavy rain you know the sort that gets you wet through to the skin even through
waterproofs. Though it did ease off through the day and we even had some sun in Hungry but had to don waterproofs before we hit Romania...

Once in Arad Romania We were lucky to find rooms at the Continental Hotel at an exceptional rate, a **** with all the amenities (Murf?) we were able to eat at a local restaurant (Baggy and I had the pigs brains in breadcrumbs) and take in a small amount of the culture...

Day 4 Sun - Play in Romanian alps nights stop somewhere.

After a late night and an early start we rode from North Romania to South Romania. the roads were pretty awful potholed and the car drivers were suicidal overtaking on blind bends with no thought for anyone average speed was approx 95 on rural roads...

Day 5 Mon - Clear Romania through Bulgaria to Edirne Turkey

we saw many horse draw vehicles not only in towns but on major roads too. So from here the signs become a little more difficult to read...
We were welcomed with vigour into Bulgaria by the locals we were even
blessed by a priest.

weather changed rapidly to rain as we approached Stara Sagora even though we put waterproofs we were not quite prepared for the downpour...

Your journey will never be done if you travel only in the sun!

We were met at the Turkish border by Emoke and friends and escorted to a biker friendly hotel and a warm reception.

Day 6 Tue - Edirne via Gallipolli to Ayvalik

We were escorted out of town by Beytullah which saved us going round in circles
The roads went on for ever as did the landscape we rode through Kesan an area I had served back in 1976 as part of a NATO exercise in Turkey called Deep Dawn/Deep Express. We took a Ferry across the Dardanelles to Canakkale

Murfs Givi rack holding his top-box snapped lukily Baggy (Stu) had one fitted to his bike so was able to take the box.. we phoned Iergen (who we know from the FJROwners forum) in Marmaris who organised for us to be met the next day and escorted to a garage for repair. We were told to look out for a guy on a Black Kawasaki.

Day 7 Wed - Ayvalik to Marmaris say hello to Jergen ( FJR Owner)

The meeting with the man on a black Kawasaki who took us to a seaside restaurant for lunch and where we would be met by the guy who owned a motorcycle repair shop who would repair Murf's rack. Repair shop where an A1 job was completed FOC the biker brotherhood is extensive as is their hospitality. After a long period of waiting for the repairs to take place we are escorted to the main route to Marmaris, such is the hospitality of the Turkish people that we were invited to take Chi at petrol forecourts This quite quickly became the norm and we had to allow a minimum of 30 mins for each fuel stop- not that we were complaining
This road was long and many sweeping bends and we had it almost to ourselves. We used it like a race track 1st time I have ever got my pegs down on a motorway lol ;) The view down to Marmaris was breathtaking as was the road surface though
for different reasons. 2 - 3 inches of hardcore on a steep down hill with some tight bends and loads of manic traffic lead to a wary passage down. Little were we to know that this would be good practice for a later route in Greece...

Day 8 - THURS. Leave Marmaris arrive at Villa

We became associate members of the Anatolian Tigers Motorcycle Club" And got a write up in the Fthiye News Gazette...

Day 9 - 13 Villa And so after all that riding we had some holiday time by the pool and up town bars and restaurants ... Plus a bit of culture... Kaya Village known as the Greek Ghost Town.
Posing for the Turkish Motorcycle Magazine Motorad...

Day 13 Tue - leave villa to Selcuk 175 miles Of course it rained didn't it but it soon dried up.

Baggy Wendy and I took a detour back to Marmaris to pick up our Passports - Cheers Irgren (Oskar)
We rode back up the hill which as you can see the road surface has become more ride-able to meet up with Murf, Aileen Mary and Jim who had gone on ahead.
Today we were riding at a sedate pace up to now averaging 40mph which was a little frustrating... Largely due to one or 2 riders hangover. We found a nice relaxing place on the lake for lunch... close to Bafa Gölu after lunch We cracked on again maintaining the lazy pace Murf had adopted. At one point we were down to 20mph and unbelievably we were overtaken by an overloaded quarry truck and to add insult to injury we were travelling up hill at the time lol I ate dust for a while. (this was beginning to stress me after 5 days of not ridding I was rearing to go) We continued for the rest of the day at this pace. I was glad to get to the hotel after the slowest and most frustrating days riding of the trip for me. But the Hotel and the town more than made up for it...

Day 14 Wed - Leave Selcuk for Chanakalade 260 miles

We were guests at a 5***** hotel The Manager who looked after us in style (Shame he rode a BMW) but a great host. TV interviews on the balcony...

Day 15 Thu - Chanakalade to Pefkochori(Halkidiki) Greece 320 miles

A tough days riding today it didn't look so far on the map and the route was complex - not everyone trusts SatNav... A little animosity crept in at the end of this day as I disagreed to a schedule change which would have resulted in a two night stop here and a quick dash on the motorway to make up time. So we continued on the scheduled route...
Excuse me are we on the right road to... How do you pronounce this word...

Day 16 Fri - into Greek mountains stop somewhere near Kozani about 150 miles

We had a late start midday or thereabouts with a plan to take a sedate ride into the Greek Mountains about 150 miles nothing strenuous...
Amazing what can occur when you least expect it - Today was probably the most challenging ride of the trip which bonded us together as a group through this shared experience never to be forgotten. I enjoyed this days ride.
So we climbed into the mountains the roads deteriorated but we enjoyed the freedom, freshness and the ride.The challenge stared us head on and taunted us... We defiantly rode on throwing caution to the wind.
We continued to enjoy the twisties until we came across our next obstacle Isn't it funny how someone is always there to suggest a shortcut or easy way round... Today was no different... We were still a little unsure which way to go and the signs weren't much help.

Day 17 Sat - To Igoumenitsa about 150 miles

After the gruelling ride yesterday we we were quick to crash out and rose at a reasonable time to do a little sight seeing and get a breakfast We awoke to the hustle and bustle of a thriving town... The view outside our window - an ancient amphitheatre.
It was another incredibly hot day. After our first stop Murf and Aileen set off about 15 to 20 mins before us as they were feeling the effects of the ride yesterday and wanted a more sedate ride down to the ferry port. The roads were quick and easy to ride but all too quickly it seemed we were there... We had to buy Tickets for the ferry in the morning and of course clear customs which we did that evening.

Day 18 Sun - ferry to Brindisi Italy Scampitella 165 miles. We had the boat to ourselves mostly and Mary put on a cabaret.

Once we arrived in Italy we noticed that the temp was much hotter Mostly reflected from the road surface the roads were dark our root took us up a duel carriageway most of the way. The village we stayed in was mostly closed due to an alcohol awareness festival no food but plenty of beer.

Day 19 Mon - To Lucca 395 miles wonderful old walled city
Mostly dual carriageway to the walled city of Lucca... This was probably the hottest day with a few water stops
An almost disaster avoided we wait here for Jim and Mary as they returned for a forgotten bum-bag Containing all the important documents and money... luckily it was still there.

Day 20 Tue - Lucca to Maritime alps We counted 168 tunnels to this point and we went through a further 4 more this day.

Day 21 Wed - Up over Col-de-Galibier to Lake Annecy jewel of the Rhone Alps About 210 miles. high passes plenty of shear drops blind hairpins and snow & Ice

Day 22 Thu -Annecy to Dun-sur-Meuse 320 miles - We had breakfast by the river joined by a flock of Spuggies. We split into two groups today one running to SatNav one to paper Map. Me and Baggy (Stu) and Murf and Jim Quite quickly we found ourselves at Dun-sur-Meuse it was like coming home. and whilst this wasn't the end of the trip we were warmly welcomed as long friends by Ian and Carol the owners of http://www.bikersbedsfrance.co.uk/
Day 23 Fri - Dun-sur-Meuse via chunnel and home.
We rose early to a hearty full English and a new improved route home provided by Ian