The return journey

I've been avoiding talking about this critical part of this trip - getting the bikes back home.
I've been avoiding talking about it because;
1. It's boring
2. I didn't want to think about the end of the trip
3. I hadn't got anything arranged!

It was always my intention to find a courier who was making a return journey to the UK via Nice with an empty truck. I posted the job 2 months ago on www.anyvan.com for truck drivers to bid to collect and deliver our bikes.
We had a fair amount of interest, starting with bids at £1000, but these soon dropped to £450ish - and then it was down to details of dates and insurances.
I had hopes to have this nailed down before we set off on the trip, but it wasn't! Half way through the week I admitted to the chaps that we didn't have a solution to get our bikes returned, and we got to thinking about alternative arrangements (including flying back later in the year to ride them home, or buying a trailer and getting a ball hitch fitted to my car).

But by Friday, things were starting to look up on Anyvan and we had a bid from a company who appeared to tick all our boxes. So we made an agreement, paid a deposit and now sit and wait to see if they do turn up on Thursday to collect. Stay tuned

Finished? Not quite

As we sat in the bar on the Promanade D'Anglais reflecting on our marvellous achievement, we wondered where we were heading for for the night.
The whole plan of this trip was to meet up with my and lornes family for a short holiday at the end of our journey. It was always planned that when we hit Nice we would head for the rented holiday home. I am sure when families were booking this accommodation I'd heard them say it was "about 30 minutes outside Nice"

As we sat in the bar watching the sun begin to set we looked (for the first time) at our final destination address and tapped it into scotts tomtom. The house was 35km away! Tomtom suggested 45 minutes But as we looked at the winding mountainous map route we knew it was going to be longer than that.
By the time we had got out of Nice, it was dusk. And we still had the mountain roads to face. I've mentioned before about the stress that piss-poor Vespa headlights can create. On top of that exhaustion. On top of that a sick engine. On top of that, both Scott and I had low fuel warning lights flashing! The race was on.

Despite taking wrong turnings and getting split and lost at traffic lights, I think it was a marvellous ride. Speeding up a mountain road on a wing and a prayer to get there before complete darkness and before fuel tanks ran dry. It was rather exciting :-)
It was completely dark when we finally arrived in the remote little village of Levens but the fuel held out

It was a strange feeling to "arrive"; great to have achieved the trip, but sad to have finished the trip. I guess all good things must come to an end, and we all agreed, it was going to be nice to not to have to put helmets, gloves and boots on again for a few days :-)

We made it!

19:06. "Promenade D'Anglais", Nice.
3 men, 3 Vespas, 5 days.
Caen to Nice, cross-country, 865 miles

Well deserving of "trois pression si'vousplait"

Oops

Q. Why do people in the south of France ride motorbikes in just shorts, tshirts and flip-flops?
A. Because its so freeking hot here!
Q. Why SHOULD people in the south of France wear proper motorcycle protection?
A. Because its so freeking dangerous driving round here!

It's ironic that in the place where you really should wear some protection, it's too hot to wear it.

We hit the coast at about lunchtime with much excitement to finally "see the sea". And exactly the same moment, we hit the traffic - it was rammed. Nose to tail cars.
A year or so ago the French government made noises about making it illegal for motorbikes to filter through traffic. In protest of this suggestion, bikers organised a day where they all behaved by this "no filtering" rule. The result was total gridlock - it demonstrated that with current (and increasing) traffic volumes, it is essential to get the motorbikes making progress by filtering. And they do. With great enthusiasm

I'm not really a fan of riding in traffic congestion (my bike likes it less so) but its water off a ducks back to Scott who regularly rides through central London.

Cars were chokablok and motorbikes were buzzing in and out of the most impossible spaces. Overtaking in the lane of oncoming traffic appeared to be an accepted and natural thing to do. Initially we sat among the cars avoiding such silliness, but it soon became apparent that ducking and diving was not only essential to progress, but essential to our air-conditioning, an so we joined in the madness. And actually it was quite good fun.

When you do your motorcycle training there is a saying that is drummed into you; "only a fool breaks the 2 second rule" which prompts the rider to leave good stopping space between you and the vehicle in front. The rule is good for anywhere on the planet, but unfortunately in some places it is simply impossible to practice. If you leave a space someone else will fill it.

We ducked and dived along to Cannes where we stopped outside the famous Cannes Film Festival venue for a photo opportunity. The place was heaving with people and traffic. We had just got back on the road when the inevitable happened. I ran into the back of a car (a Mercedes E-class)

It was only a bump really. A paint scuff, but it was enough for a wheel skid, bend my front mug guard and require an exchange of insurance details. It was rather embarrassing and another pain in the arse delay. I did the formalities while Scott and Lorne sat on the pavement and took the piss.

I wasn't overly fazed by the bump. It was an inevitable battle wound, and I take a degree of comfort in that my wheel skid was considerably less than that of Scott's only 15 minutes earlier - he was just lucky that time!

Riding lessons

You couldn't pay for riding lesson like these.
I'm not a very experience motorcycle rider (3 years?) in fact all 3 of us are new riders, so we are still learning.

We have covered a lot of different terrain on this trip through all sorts of weather.
On the mountain passes we must have ridden dozen after dozen of turns and bends - each one another opportunity to test your evolving skill; where to brake, what to sight, how to lean etc etc
And riding through heavy downpours and on the resulting greasy roads, and through blustering wind like I've never seen before - everything was a new experience and an opportunity to learn and become a better rider.
It should be obligatory for all new riders to ride cross-country through France

Test drive report

We stopped today on a remote road to have a go on each others scooters. It was a really interesting experience (I'd never ridden another scooter before)

We all agreed that Lornes 2006 Vespa GT125 was by far the most comfortable and easy to ride, a real luxury. Fully automatic, electric start, disc brake, 4-stroke, no vibration and a sculpted comfortable seat.
If we were to draw a spectrum, my Douglas Vespa PX125 would be at the extreme opposite end to Lornes! Again there was no argument over which bike was the least comfortable and most difficult to drive. Scott's 2001 Vespa PX 125 disc fitted somewhere in the middle of our spectrum - probably more up my end than lornes.

As much as Lornes bike was a luxury to ride, I think I prefer the feeling of being in tune with my scooter. Man and machine as one. You have to continually think, plan, will, and hope when you are riding an old manual machine. Nothing else matters.

Lorne of course might have a different opinion on this (as most girls probably would :-)

Running repairs

Scott thinks I need to "man-up" a bit, become the "alpha-male" and TELL my scooter to work.
I prefer to coax her. She's got me this far, I'll get her the final bit. We are a team, we work together.
Poor old bike. There are times when she runs like a dream, but there are times when she runs like a real pig. And I haven't pin-pointed the cause.

It would appear that the main problem always occurs at the end of the day and this would suggest to me that it's a temperature problem (Scott also experiences slight running problems toward the end of the day sometimes). I guess after 7 hours of continual running theres a good chance it's going to be a bit hot down there. When the problem occurs she starts to misfire which I can tolerate on fast roads by blipping the throttle, but when we come to lights or run through villages it's a challenge to keep her running without gunning the engine (and that makes me look like a right wide-boy :-(
I had a peculiar (and frightening) experience earlier today when we pulled into a petrol station - the throttle wouldn't shut down (despite the twist grip fully closed) the engine was racing away - and it wouldn't even stop when I switched the ignition off! I had to slam it into gear and stall it!
All this unreliability does take the edge off the pleasure of this ride. I'm always slightly on edge that it might fail on me. That said, when she does settle down, she is a delight to ride.
So together, me and my bike help each other along. I don't need to be an alpha-male to make her run any better, just give here a bit of TLC here and there. As Swiss-Tony would say, "running an old Vespa PX is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman"

Fantastic day

What an amazing day riding.
The mountain passes were a delight. Every bend and twist (and there were hundreds of them) were a chance to learn and test your riding skills. The views were stunning.
From the hills we rode through vineyards and soon discovered why this was perfect vineyard land. One moment it was scorching sun - the next, pouring rain (with impressive forked lightening)
The different smells of the damp land as we passed through were wonderfully intense and I imagine a unique experience to riders (walkers too slow to notice the changes, car drivers too hermetically sealed in)

Today was the ride of a lifetime. Shame it was slightly spoiled by my bike playing up again in the last 45 minutes of the day :-( is she just getting too hot after a hard day?

Real motorcyclists

Vespas appear to attract attention and make people smile. It's not uncommon for people to give a thumbs up sign to us (even as we spew 2-stroke exhaust fumes over their roadside cafe table)
And we've noticed how we seem to be accepted as "motorcyclists" by even the most hardy of "real motorcyclists". There is a special acknowledgement sign among passing motorcyclists (if you are a motorcyclist then you know what I mean, if you are not then you are not worthy) and it tickles me that the BMW, Ducati, Harley, Yamaha etc etc motorcyclists include us in this acknowledgement.
I think there is a general respect that we are all travellers on two wheels regardless of our marque or coolness.
However I notice that we don't do this acknowledgement with kids in tshirts on 50cc mopeds - I think this comes back to a previous post. Kids in tshirts are on their bikes because they needs to GET somewhere. Real motorcyclists are on their machine of choice because want to be.

I especially like the acknowledgement sign you make as you overtake another motorcyclist. Obviously we haven't had the opportunity to do this to someone yet

Camping

Someone asked me what camping gear I was carrying on the scooter.
I carry "accomodation" But not "facilities" - stuff for sleeping but not for feeding (there are plenty of bars for that)
My front rack holds my clothes. My rear rack holds my camping gear. Both in waterproof boat-bags.

For camping I use a Vango Banshee 200 tent (allegedly a 2-man tent but you'd have to be very friendly), a lightweight sleeping bag, a sleeping bag liner, a Higear inflatable mattress, and a high gear micro pillow - job done. It's nice to feel that you can carry your house in a shopping bag but it really is a labour of love. It's very small in here, I can feel a little claustrophobic.

Lorne on the other hand loves camping and is sleeping in a one man tent (about the size of a canoe) with a self invented tarp fly sheet over his tent and motorbike.

I think I've got better at camping over the past 4 days. I'm faster and more organised at set up and knock down and I'm better at temperature regulation and space management. I think the whole thing about camping is practice and experiential learning

Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda

Wait a minute. It's stop raining. The guys are smiling, they've stopped complaining

Weather weather weather

We've had all sorts of weather today - my worst is the blustery wind across wide fields
And we had all sorts of roads today - my worst are busy N-roads (with blustery wind). But my favourite roads are the little hilly winding roads that no one knows about. We've seen some most stunning landscape. I especially loved a deep gorge with the narrow rickety steel bridge that I would have had severe doubts about drive a car over.
There was a fabulous section of road that winded downhill with views for miles over The French countryside. We could see cloud covered hills to the east and sun covers fields to the west. And inbetween a glorious rainbow - and we were heading right for the end of it :-) I wish we'd stopped for photos.

My bike seems to be holding up. I don't want to tempt fate so won't say any more.

I'm not sure how many miles we've covered today. It was brewing up a massive thunder storm when we arrived at the campsite this evening and the only thing on our minds was to get the tent up fast - which we did at a rather impressive and professional rate.
We are now all in our respective tents listening to the dripping rain - that's good, right? It means it's not pouring rain any more

No stopping us

Yes we did see the "Route Barree" sign across the junction 6 km before getting here but we thought our English number plates made us immune to such trivialities.

The sky was getting greyer and we wanted to stay ahead of the approaching rain, so we decided to manhandle each bike through the barriers and across the railway line.

We got our comeuppance 5 minutes later as we rode along the wide open and empty road laughing to ourselves at our ingenuity and rebelliousness - the heavens opened for 10 minutes and we got soaked to the skin

Why do this?

It wasn't raining when we set off this morning, but it looked like it would do we decided to don our waterproof trousers. Where was this "heat wave" they were predicting last week for middle France?

We rode easily for an hour before stopping for breakfast in a little bar. 

I'm not sure if it's tiredness or perhaps the drizzle but I sensed that the chaps were getting a bit miffed that my engine troubles had delayed us a bit. I wondered if the usual banter and ribbing was becoming a little more direct.

I think the pressure was on when I was paying for coffee and they were helmeting up and firing engines. I dashed out to get going quickly and promptly forgot to put my glasses back on after my helmet (I'd left them on my luggage rack). It wasn't for a couple of hundred yards before I realised. The guys were racing ahead but I decided to turn round and go pick them up from the road side.  Lorne noticed but Scott, leading, can't see anything in his rear view mirrors unless he lifts his arm out of the way - so all in all it turned into another confusing frustrating 15 minute delay.

And this all got me thinking.  I wonder if we all had slightly different requirements from this trip? I sensed that the chaps were keen to press on, worried about falling behind schedule - they wanted to GET somewhere. Where as I wanted to travel. I don't care where we GET or when - I like the journey and the adventure. A friend of mine recently walked the Camino de Santiago - now you don't do that sort of thing to GET to San Sebastien, you do it for the journey in itself. 

There's a lot of time alone inside your helmet to think while you ride a motorcycle so I may be over thinking this thing about our different needs - we all certainly agree with broad smiles that some of the little windy roads we've travelled along are what this trip is all about!  If the thickness of pine needles and spread of cow shit laying on some of these roads is anything to go by, I'd say they are pretty remote roads!

Scott even made a special detour for us to the 14th century village of Blassac just he thought it sounded like "Ball-Sack". Now that's the spirit of travel I like :-)

Tim :-)

Tim Morley 

Camping

We sat drinking beer looking across the valley at the most amazing lightshow of a distant thunderstorm.
Fortunately we were in our tents when the thunderstorm broke.

The campsite "La Perle" (www.camping-laperle.nl) was just what we needed after our long day yesterday. Good restaurant, good showers and an electrical supply for charging iPhones and Satnav

Fortunately the rain had stopped by the time we came to get up and pack up - though it's never a pleasure to pack a wet tent

Fingers crossed for some sun and 3 good running bikes

Making progress

Even with a dodgy engine we were able to get some miles under our belts.
The sun was shining and Scott did a Stirling job navigating with his Tomtom through some fantastic bypasses and backways with little or no other traffic (though we did have to over take a tractor or two)
Passing through a wooded area Scott and Lorne both saw a stag in the trees!
It really was a great run.
And most peculiarly, after a couple of hours my engine seemed to relax and run normally. 45 mph on the straights, pottering through the villages. Even I began to relax.
We drove on until 7:30pm and stopped in the town of Aubusson where exhausted we simply googled for the nearest campsite.
We had a right to be exhausted (and with saddle-sore arses - we'd just riden for 5 hours continuous. We'd covered a total of 198 miles today

Bobines

As we sat eating our croissant for breakfast we looked at the map to see where we should be heading. Once through Tours we were going to be into the rural countryside. Although my bike had run well for the first hour of the day I was still concerned that I hadn't necessarily fixed the problem yet - I was beginning to doubt my 'bobine' (coil) - it was certainly old and showed signs of detereation.
A quick look on google maps and we could see that there was a Piaggio dealer only 20 minutes away. It was now or never if I was going to get any parts so we spun over to see them in the heart of the very lovely Tours.

We pulled up outside the shop at 12:15 and as we were taking our helmets off a chap walked over and said "are you here for the shop? It's shut!" after much horror and gesticulation it turned out this chap was the owner of the shop and he was about to take lunch... Until 2:00 (the French do their lunch properly)
I explained my situation and he said he might be able to help. He wasn't sure if he had a part in stock but if he had a suitable part on a bike then he would take it off for me to buy. And then he suggested we take lunch too or even have a sight- see of Tours until his shop opened again!
We weren't sure what best to do - wait on the off chance there might be a part available or press on, on the off chance that the bike would continue to behave.
As we were debating this, the owner popped out again to take my vehicle chassis number - things were looking up, he was investigating.
Within moments he came out of his shop with a very similar looking bobine to mine and said "try it and if it works you can buy it, if it doesn't I'll have it back" so there began another roadside mechanical job - I'm glad I had my tools with me.
It didn't work - the bike wouldn't even fire :-( "no problem" the owner says "I have a different one" and he went to get it for me to try.
This one did work! She ran fine.
"try it on the road" he says and promptly taped the coil to the bike as a temporary lash up. Sure enough it worked so I fitted it properly and was jolly pleased.
"cafe?" he asked and his daughter bought us out coffee as we sat on the pavement outside his shop :-)
Grammont Motos in Tours are absolute superstars - they were interested to help and nice to chat with.
The part cost €105 - and for those who are interested - it was a Yamaha part - exactly the same as the Piaggio part even down to reference numbers!

We got on our way again after a 2.5 hour enforced lunch break. Did it solve my problem? Well not totally, the bike started to bog again (wouldn't power) but I found that if I gunned the throttle I could get through the bog and she would run ok.
I guess if anything that €105 bought me some peace of mind as another suspect part was eliminated from my enquiries.
We were on the road again :-)

It's not all about me (Tim)

Scott and Lorne have their troubles too.

Scott's has gone stiff in his left hand!
His gear change is getting tough to get into 4th and he's worried about snapping a cable.
And his balls are aching :-(

Lorne has a serious wheel wobble at 30mph - but he's getting confirmation that this is normal from his 'friends' on www.modernvespa.com
He also had an indicator stop working
BUT he's now claiming that both concerns have cured themselves!
"it's a miracle!"

On the road again

Probably best not to tempt fate and talk about my bike. But probably a good time for me to buy a lottery ticket! :-)
Lovely ride this morning along amazingly straight roads that disappear into point on the horizon. Strangely, long straight roads in England are boring but here they are wonderful

So here we are having a lovely coffee in a lovely bar in some village somewhere.
Where shall we go to today? :-)

Everything works out OK in the end

It hasn't yet, but I am sure it will.

2 enthusiastic young French fellas arrived after 40 minutes with a breakdown truck - they didn't speak English and judging by thier delight at seeing a Vespa, they didn't know the bike and were very keen to give it a spin (he had to ask me where the gears were :-/ and was shocked to hear it had no battery.

They confirmed that they would have done what I had already done (flush fuel, change plug) but he did wonder about the earth and started to test things with a length of grubby flex - he couldn't confirm anything one way or the other BUT when he test ran it, it did seen to be running better (hmm I've been fooled like this before!)

They talked among themselves and scratched their heads - they even consulted the Lycra clad cyclist who had stopped to watch what was going on - none of them had a clue. So we were left with a predicament; they could certainly take it away and get in to a workshop in the morning and I could get a cab to the campsite or as it seemed to be working ok, I could ride on "doigts croix" - they seemed quite keen on this option (and to be honest so was I) so on the promise that they would come back if I broke down in 10 minutes time, they scuttled back into thier truck and sped off

It was 10 pm. Dark. I was alone. I called Scott and Lorne - no answer (turns out both thier phones were flat!)
So I had no alternative but to try and find the campsite myself from the address Lorne had scribbled for me.
For those people who don't know the Vespa px - that doesn't have a battery - it does have a headlamp, but it might as well not have. A torch would be more effective. I gingerly made my way through winding French farm land stopping now and then to check google maps on my phone. It was pitch black, and the damp night smells were wonderful. It was quite an exciting 45 minute ride, and the bike appeared to be ok (doights croix)
I finally met up with Scott and Lorne when everyone else on the campsite was fast asleep. They'd got me a pizza :-)
As I went to put my bike on its stand on our tent pitch, I did it again - I dropped it on its side! (fortunately on thick grass) - I was exhausted - this has been a long day.
So, we are at last settled in our cosy tents on this beautiful campsite under the most enormous clear stary sky (somewhere between Le Mans and Tours)
My bike? Who knows how it will behave tomorrow, but as I say, I am sure everything will work out ok in the end

Oh Fuck :-(

My scooter is sick :-(
Currently standing on roadside at 20:30 at night waiting for breakdown recovery.

After our lunchtime top up of SP98 petrol things were looking up - she ran fairly well for an hour or so - a couple of hiccups but I guessed that was just the diluted E10 fuel.
However as we hit Le Mans she started coughing and spluttering again. To be clear....
She start no problem
She idles no problem
But sometimes she can't pull when I throttle up - the is no power - she bums out
Sometimes with some heavy handed blipping of the throttle she'll clear and carry on but most time she just runs out of power and I have to coast to a stop (though engine still running)

So we pulled into a SuperU supermarket carpark to do some proper investigation. And decided to drain all the petrol in my tank and fill with new SP98.
Scott found an old bicycle inner tube and with a bit of jiggery pokery we syphoned a good 3 litres out into coke bottles (and disposed of in the most responsible way we could find - in a ditch :-(
Lorne had been checking on the Internet the consequences of using E10 petrol (remember we weren't absolutely sure that I had actually put E10 in - Lorne and Scott had used the same pump and they appeared to be ok - though my engine is considerably older). Lorne discovered that E10 cleans the deposits out of tanks and carbs - and if used in the wrong engine then can jam up jets - so out came my jets for a blow through.
It was pretty sweaty work in the mid afternoon sun and i have to admit I was getting frustrated and tired - so much so that when kick starting her after refilling with a full rank of clean SP98, I dropped her onto her side! I've never done that before, I just couldn't hold her up and she toppled over! (minor scratches)

Did the clean tank work?
Well even after what we considered to be enough time to allow old fuel in the line flow through, she was still spluttering and we simply couldn't make progress.

And so here I am stuck on the side of the road waiting for a breakdown truck. Lorne and Scott went on ahead to find a campsite and I am left here feeling a little sad and a lot foolish

If it wasn't for the sunshine....

..... I'd be pretty pissed off so far.
After our breakfast we had the most glorious of riding for a couple of hours. We had no idea where we were, we simply road roads that were going south - this meant sometimes single track roads, sometimes windey roads through quaint villages and farm- lands (only once or twice did we find ourselves up a dead end, but who cares, we were having fun)
The trouble started at around F-something (as I say we weren't really taking notice of where we were). We stopped to fill up with fuel and then set off on a lovely straight road with minimal traffic - absolutely wonderful. After about half an hour of 50mph (that's quite fast for us) we slowed for a roundabout. As I tried to pull out of it my bike lost all power. She just wouldnt pull.
We dropped off the road and whipped the engine cover off in the hope of finding something loose or broken (you can fix loose and broken things) but there was nothing untoward to be seen.
I couldn't do anything other than limp on at 20mph in the hope the Vespa-fairies were looking over me.
15 minutes down the road we passed a motorcycle workshop - I spun round and went in. This was clearly a "big bike" workshop but the chap seemed interested enough in our problem. He imeadiately diagnosed a burnt Bougie (spark plug - fortunately I've learnt a bit of French scooter language through my work on the Manurhin Scooter)
I had a spare plug so we changed that but I must say I wasn't wholly satisfied with the improvement. We continued to scratch our heads and talk about the problem. Then our man suddenly offered the advice that we should be careful what petrol we are using...
"SP 95 - OK, SP98 - OK, Mais SP95E10 - Non" and he emphasised the "non" with a crossing of forearms. This he says will make a bike of my age "stop-start"
Was this the problem?had I accidentally put bio-ethanol fuel in my tank?
We limped on to the next petrol station and topped up a couple of litres of SP98. Has it helped? I don't know. We've stopped for lunch to replenish our energy and allow me to calm down a little.
We need to press on again in a while - fingers crossed

Our first hour in France (Tim)

Within 5 minutes we were separated - Scott flew through some traffic lights and having wanky little rear view mirrors, did realise Lorne and I weren't with him for the next 15 minutes.
With 20 minutes we were wishing we hadn't turned onto what was to all intents an purposes was a motorway.
And within 40 minutes I had lead us all off the wrong turning of a round about which required us to stop and push our bikes backward up the off ramp.
However, within 50 minutes we were sitting in the warmth of the 8:30am sun outside a little bar drinking coffee and eating croissants - NOW we're living the dream!
We have no plan as to where to go, but we are going to try and stay among the villages an fields and simply drive south (just make sure the sun is on the left cheek.... Well, until lunchtime)

All strapped down and ready to sail (Tim)

We're on board. It's nearly 11pm
Lorne and I are sharing a cabin but because Scott delayed his booking he's sleeping tonight in a "reclining chair"... So what else can we do but to help him get drunk with a few beers to help him sleep.
Got to be up at 6:00 am :-(

The team assembles (Tim)

175 miles. 8 hours (that does include a lunch stop, 2 petrol stops and a lot of getting lost round Southampton .... Well lost anywhere south of Swindon really!

Scott was already waiting for us - and for those who are interested his testicles are holding up!

Still leaking (Tim)

Hmm that's quite a lot of oil I've left on the pub car park.
I hope its less at the next pub

First Stop (Tim)

At the appropriately name "Freke Arms"
I'm not sure where it was (somewhere near Swindon)
At this stage this was, to date, Lornes longest ride ever - and we weren't even half way to Portsmouth yet!

Big Oil Leak

Blimey we've only done 50 miles and I'm pissing oil all over the place :-(
It's lube oil - fresh and red - dripping rapidly from
Inside the body onto the exhaust and running up the footboards!
The engine is running ok.
I am assuming (hoping) that it's from filling the lube oil up more than usual. I usually like to keep a little bubble in the sight glass to let me know it's moving through but because we off on a big trip, I thought I'd fill up well. Let's hope it's a seal leak high up in the reservoir.
The clouds in the picture reflect my mood

Ready for the off (Tim)

Didn't sleep much last night. Up at the crack of dawn to see if I could pack everything. I've jettisoned the iPod speakers, but kept the solar charger (though I'm not sure it works with my phone :-/
With everything loaded on I thought I ought to take her for a quick shakedown spin and get some fuel. She started fine but bugger me the fuel gauge isnt working! I had a couple of hours in hand before setting off to investigate so pondered the cause while riding to the petrol station... And bugger me (again) as I pulled into the station the fuel needle sprung into life!
I've decided to not investigate - time will tell if this was a wise decision.
Tyres pumped up (17.6 psi at front, 26.7psi at rear) and now I'm all ready to go. I've got a half hour spare! Might as well have some breakfast and a look at the map!

What to wear? (Tim)

Ive decided that I shall wear my latest ebay bought leather bike jacket, but not the trousers - im going in jeans.  I do worry about riding without good protection - but then I look at the all the continental motorbike riders in their shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops and think maybe i'm a bit of a pussy.

Its difficult to not be tempted to pack something warm when the weather outside here is so wet and miserable.

Nowhere near ready (Tim)

Oh shit.  Its 10:30pm.  In 12 hours time we set off on our scooters to the south of France, and we haven't even looked at the map yet!
I haven't finished packing.  I haven't even got the bike out of the garage - in fact I haven't started my scooter for about 4 weeks.
I've been trying hard all day to catch up on some last minute work things, and I've simply run out of time to do all the scooter things that I'd planned.

This is a one way trip - we are riding to Nice but getting the bikes shipped back to the UK while we dash back for work...... the only trouble is, I still havent got the transportation organised yet to get the bikes back :-(  I thought I'd have it all in place by now, but sadly not (yet)

But I am an optimist - I am sure everything will work out fine (fingers and toes crossed)

Camping kit

Trial run for the trip mat,tent and sleeping bag under the seat. Currently in Wales camping with my canvass vango force ten tent which I wish I was taking but it's just too big. My only quandary now having decided not to take coffee making gear is wether to take a ukulele. Big decision.

Here comes the sun, doo doo doo do

It's official - Great Britain has had the worse summer weather since records began - it really has been dreadful.
I've been worried about our ride - motorcycling in the rain is never much fun, and I've had to buy super-waterproof over trousers (my current ones clearly weren't waterproof enough!)
But look! Here's a tv shot of today's French meteo! Sunshine all the way!
Now our only worry will be, should we / shouldn't we ride in T-shirts?

So why are we doing this?

Because we can! :-)
I was going to go on and add that we are all "Young, Healthy and Wealthy" - but that would be lying.

I think we would all agree that none of us are "Wealthy", but we are all self-employed, so that does allow us to be a little more flexible with how we spend our time.  So we can choose to make this trip.... but we are having to do it on a tight budget - My initial idea of staying in quaint little B&Bs was quickly superseded with budget camping!

And I think we would all agree that none of us are "Young" - though I guess this is a relative term.  For instance I would say that Scott is young.  Lorne would say that Scott is young, and both Lorne and Scott would say I (Tim) was old...... Its true, I am old........ or very soon will be.  In approximately one months time I shall become 50.  And this is one of the reasons the idea came up to make this trip - A birthday trip!
It all started maybe 9 months ago when the 'silly' suggestion came up (I think initiated by my wife) of making a scooter trip to the south of France for a birthday party to celebrate my 50th - my run to italy had been fun the year before, and now that a bunch of us had scooters, why not do a pack run across France?  Since my ride with Scott to Italy, my dad, brother and brother-in-law (actually both of them - Lorne is also my brother-in-law) had bought old scooters (there are a lot of scooter is in my family!) and  to all ride together toward the sunshine coast of Nice seemed like a grand idea - one that everyone initially responded to with great enthusiasm.  Sadly, like many 'silly' ideas, after thinking about it for a while, most people dropped out of the plan (which is a shame - we only live once, and we should never miss the opportunity to do something 'silly' in the sunshine - and I'd have liked to adventured a bit with my dad and bro - another time maybe?) and so the pack was quickly whittled down to the hard-core; Scott, Lorne and me (Tim).  We are doing this trip because we can, and we want to! :-)

And as for "Healthy"?  Well, I think we could all say we were healthy if it wasn't for one (or should that be 'two'?) small details..... But maybe Scott doesn't want me to share the details of his recent little snip here on this blog

I SO want to get on my Vespa

This time next week we will be riding our Vespas through France.
Today (in Corsica) I stopped at a bar for a beer - the bar was on the top of a cliff 200 feet above the most perfect sea. Two Vespas also stopped for a beer, and it made my heart ache for some scooter riding of my own :-)

How much stuff can you get on a Vespa

I am just planning how few pairs of pants and tshirts I can get away with for our trip. I like to travel light. I don't want unnecessary stuff hampering the handling of my scooter.
As I ponder this I notice a Vespa pull up at the cafe I'm sitting in. This is FULLY loaded! Hanging onto the other side of this bike is one of those round pop-up tents. AND he had a pillion too!
I wonder how that handles on the corners?