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Re: First bike you took onto the Continent

Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2017 11:18 pm
by moto al
Myself 1973 ,a Norton commando interstate ,a birthday present from my dad , my mum went off her head, transported the bike on the over night train ,Glasgow London ,the bike was housed in the guards van . Arrived 7am Euston ,down to Dover ,and then a months tour of France Belgium ,Germany Italy .no bad for a boy of 18 , ps the blke cost my dad £735.00 .at the time .great memories ,il have too did out those old pics (thumbs) Al

Re: First bike you took onto the Continent

Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 2:12 am
by chubbyhooker
BMW 650GS DAKAR Portuguese trade route 10 days non stop rain & came off 13 times ( I bounce well) happy days !!!

Re: First bike you took onto the Continent

Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 6:14 am
by Mike Wright
BMW 650 Funduro ... never let me down and comfortable. Rode the Alps, Picos, Pyrenees, in all weathers and sometimes rough camped using it as a tie point for the tent.

Re: First bike you took onto the Continent

Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 8:29 am
by gooseneck
Mine was a cb750 sohc honda...xt550 a few years later.alps, pyranees, and generally getting lost in the haze of youth...

Re: First bike you took onto the Continent

Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 8:35 am
by Redsoul
Honda CB1300...loved that bike but probably not the best 2 up tourer.Thoroughly enjoyed my first experience of the Pyrenees though.

Re: First bike you took onto the Continent

Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 8:44 am
by Simon_100
As I said earlier, my first bike trip was on the Dnepr - still running-in as I crossed France so I did a service at a friend's place half way down - still a ruined farmhouse at that time! I know we all look back at the 'kit' with amazement - I was well clad with a second hand Trailmaster suit - aren't I handsome! :whistle:

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... and I actually had sort of waterproof boots form the Army and Navy - only threw them out last year, I thin they've been more use to families of mice in our basement over the last twenty years or so!

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Waiting outside the old, unlit, Vielha Tunnel for a truck slow enough for me to ride in its wake as my headlights were 'eating' bulbs - having only ever driven through the tunnel in powerful cars before I didn't know it went up a slight gradient for about the the first four miles, leaving me thinking that I hadn't fully released the handbrake, what a nightmare prospect of stalling or seizing the brake in that cold dark place with drunken Spanish truckers Bearing down at my stricken outfit ...

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'Home' at last, if not exactly dry. I spent a month there carting various bits of building materials and patching the house up, a bit of wiring, carpentering, etc. and wondering why I ever thought Spain was hot!

IMHO the two best post war inventions were the Olympus Trip camera and the cheap £30 printer/scanner - so more photos please boys and girls. (thumbs)

Regs

Simon

PS Mrs S hadn't made the grade at the time ... :whistle:

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PPS and before anyone else says it - Mrs S has far better taste in bikes than me - sadly that was borrowed from a neighbour's son who wouldn't sell it - it's still his garage now!

Re: First bike you took onto the Continent

Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 6:13 pm
by Twistgrip
First trip over the water for me was on my Royal Enfield 700 Constellation in 1969. Ferry from Southampton to Le Havre. I bet half of you on here didn't even know that the ferries used to run from So'ton!

Re: First bike you took onto the Continent

Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 6:17 pm
by GB
Old 900ss to Assen

Re: First bike you took onto the Continent

Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 6:19 pm
by herman
Twistgrip wrote:First trip over the water for me was on my Royal Enfield 700 Constellation in 1969. Ferry from Southampton to Le Havre. I bet half of you on here didn't even know that the ferries used to run from So'ton!
Townsend Thoreson?

Re: First bike you took onto the Continent

Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 7:33 pm
by Twistgrip
herman wrote:
Twistgrip wrote:First trip over the water for me was on my Royal Enfield 700 Constellation in 1969. Ferry from Southampton to Le Havre. I bet half of you on here didn't even know that the ferries used to run from So'ton!
Townsend Thoreson?
Yep,I think the ferry was called The Viking