Huzo on tour!

[Huzo]

I’ve abandoned all idea of having a schedule now.
I went back to Mandello to try to spot a Red/White V85 and missed the bastard by 2 minutes. Never mind, I’ll have to settle on my new one in Oz if I do not get to see one here or at Franz Belgium’s.
Planning to drop in at Frenchfrog’s place tomorrow, it’s a quiet 500 or so from here at Bardonecchia so should be a breeze.

[Huzo]

The descent from Briancon was spectacular..!

[frans belgium]

 

There's loads of great riding around Millau Huzo.  Go under the bridge rather than over it for the best view.  Then try the Tarn Gorges.  The whole area is lovely.  We stayed in a beautiful village Saint Enimie.  Also the Ardeche Gorge is good and a ride up Mt Ventoux is recommended.

I can indeed advise both gorges.

[Huzo]

I can indeed advise both gorges.

The gorges are gorgeous, I could gorge myself on them.

[Huzo]

The old Norge has accumulated 14,000 so far and is going great.
I visited Chris (Frenchfrog), in Lodève and was treated to an enthralling evening of food and conversation before retiring to a lovely upstairs self contained room, complete with a breeze from the rural French countryside....Marv ellous.
Thank you to you Chris and your lady Karin.
Leaving there it was a quiet 700 k up to Paris, where I’m now overlooking the city from Francois’ apartment, he will finish at the office and we are heading to Auvergne to collect his Voxan and down to Switzerland for a hill climb event, so it will be a change to be in a car after 6 weeks..!
The crossing of the Millau Viaduc is always breathtaking and I took the chance to stop illegally (I think) to take a snap, it was as far onto the bridge as I could get without being arrested...!

[Frenchfrog]

Well Huzo...we simply couldn't let you ride all the way up to the capital with the Norge looking like such a disgrace could we 
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Look forward to seeing you again!

[Frenchfrog]

Can't post photos at the moment...locked out of my flicr account due to the changes they have made 

[Huzo]

I’m currently rising from sleep at a place in the Swiss Alps close to Lake Lausanne.
Today I’m going to a hill climb event that just happens to have attracted some of the rarest and best looking bikes you could want to see.
Two personal highlights are the Moto Martin Honda 900 and the Laverda Jota. It’s a bit misty but beautiful and still, with the prospect of improving conditions later.
After today it’s back to Paris to collect the Norge and up into Holland for a sweep East to West for a final visit to some folk and then back across to UK. I’d still like to catch Frans Belgium, I’ve received an e mail from Melbourne this morning telling me that my bike will be a Red/White one instead of the Yellow /White...
Bonus.
More shots later..

[Huzo]

“The hilllls are alive.....
With the sound of”........ chainsaws !
I stepped out this morning to the stunning vista of the Swiss Alps and a mental image of Julie Andrews swinging her arms majestically as the the odd Von Trapp kid got knocked arse over head...!
Fantastic cumulus cloud over 10,000’ snow topped peaks..
Cow bells tinkling as they graze on the moist green grass..
Milk maids going about their pleasant task of milking...
Absolutely postcard beautiful....
Then some bastard fired up the Stihl !
But the two stroke smelled nice...

[Huzo]

Well I’m leaving Paris this morning for the last time this trip.
It has become somewhat of a base for out and back expeditions and is great to avail myself of nice amenities. I hate having to push that stupid button to keep the shower running when in camping parks !
My Norge is in the subterranean car park so once it’s extricated from there it’s off up to Appeldorn in the Netherlands and a sweep through there culminating in a visit to Frans Belgium’s before crossing back to the UK late in the week.
A view from the Parisienne apartment.

[Muzz]

Some trip you are having there Peter.

Some of the places you mention bring back fond memories of a trip to visit our daughter when she lived in France.

[Huzo]

Hey Glawster (Derek).
I am in Dover now in perfect weather, what was that rendezvous thing of which you spoke ?

[Glawster]

Hi Peter,
Messaged you.
Derek

[Huzo]

Well, things are starting to wind down a bit.
With a bit over a week to go, I’m starting to arrange my movements around the inevitable task of having the bike CLEAN and all the luggage DRY... on the morning of the last day..
Given that my train ticket back to Heathrow is pre booked from Felixstowe and I have to ride to there from Harwich (about 15 miles) on the morning of departure, it can be a bit of a logistical juggling act.
The weather pattern has to be studied in an overall sense and a day by day sense as well. The consequences of having a dirty bike with less than bone dry luggage at 10.00 am on the last day does not bear contemplating, I’ve been pinged once ( quite rightly), by customs for the infringement of having some dirt remnants from Dover on the tent pegs back in Oz and was charged (again quite rightly) for the officials having to run them under a tap.
$$$$$$$$$$$
Reality bites.
Right now I’m doing a lot of this..


However..
All things being equal, I will depart Dover early tomorrow morning and go to South London and if Paul is home will stay over night there and go to see Glawster’s beaut new V85 on Monday, or arrange something with him as an alternative.
It’s not easy to organise when both options are fantastic...
A first world problem I guess.

[Huzo]

Damn.. Now I have to make another decision.
I went out with Glawster today on my Norge and him on his V85.
His is the all red one and I reckon it’s gunna’ be the one I’ll have when I return to Oz.
I cannot see how any clear thinking individual who rides a Guzzi can say that the power claim is bollocks. The damn thing is strong and I would have come to grief if I’d tried to out run it on the twisty road. (He’s not a bad rider either just quietly.. )
There is a clack on the up changes in the lower 3 gears but above that is fine and no clack on the down changes. I am going to love mine for sure..
I wonder if the photo of the new girl with the old one disappearing into the background is a touch symbolic....?

[Glawster]

Ha! Ha!  Yes, we had a nice afternoon out and about in the Cotswolds today.  I had the privilege of exercising Hugo's old Norge and I have to say for a bike with 175k kms on the clock it wears the mileage very well.

20190624_151730 by Derek0812, on Flickr

[Huzo]

I’ve often mentioned Paul Harris, owner of Corsa Italiana in South London.
Absolutely a gem if ever there was and like all gems, is invaluable now but started out a bit rough.
Well.
Here’s the reality...



upload

[Zinfan]

Good thing for me that that all red version isn't available in the States, looks stunning!

[Huzo]

Good thing for me that that all red version isn't available in the States, looks stunning!

I like it more than I thought I would.
The one Frans has is damn nice too, but I have yet to see one of them in the flesh as it were.

[molly]

Ha! Ha!  Yes, we had a nice afternoon out and about in the Cotswolds today.  I had the privilege of exercising Hugo's old Norge and I have to say for a bike with 175k kms on the clock it wears the mileage very well.

20190624_151730 by Derek0812, on Flickr

Parking on double yellow lines, you rebels.

[Huzo]

Parking on double yellow lines, you rebels.

In the immortal words of Elwood Blues...?
“It’s ok..
We’re on a mission from God...!”

[larrys]

Ha! Ha!  Yes, we had a nice afternoon out and about in the Cotswolds today.  I had the privilege of exercising Hugo's old Norge and I have to say for a bike with 175k kms on the clock it wears the mileage very well.

20190624_151730 by Derek0812, on Flickr

The Cotswold Hills were my AO '74-'76. The Blue Boar in Chipping Norton was my local. Great riding!
Larry

[Huzo]

Well, this is how it went down..
Given that I could not get accomodation in Felixstowe on the evening of the penultimate day, I took a room in a bug house in Harwich..
Harwich is about 10 miles from Felixstowe but you have to head towards London to cross a bridge then double back on yourself to the tune of about 50 k...!
Pain.
Now there’s also a requirement that the bike must be surgically clean and all luggage dry upon departure from UK.
To achieve the cleanliness requirement, it’s prudent to do all the buggerising around on the day before departure, so as to have some chance of getting everything dry and dodging the inevitable showers of rain that are bound to dump on you from a great height, as soon as you go within a bull’s roar of the bike with a bucket and sponge.
So to reduce the workload on the morning of the departure day, I went around to the depot the day before and bubble wrapped the panniers and top box and dumped them in the corner before departing on the Norge to the aforesaid Harwich 50 k’s away..
That bit went ok...
So this morning I got up in plenty of time to ride 50 k’s to Felixstowe (40 mins..?) so as to arrive at the bike wash at 8.00 am. The plan was to spend 20 mins there, rock up to the depot at 8.30, spend 30 mins preparing the bike and bugger off at 9.00...
What could possibly go wrong ?
Now remember that I had pre purchased a ticket on the train from Felixstowe to London departing at 11.30, for 16 quid prior, and this was so you would not have to pay 60 quid on the day, also the train was due out of the station at 11.30 so I had 2.5 hrs. spare time.. BONUS !
The flight was due to leave at 6.00..
Ok.
So upon departing from Harwich I noticed that the 40 minute ride might be a little closer to 1.5 hrs. given that the traffic had STOPPED and I began to think I might be faster if I just got off and pushed the bastard..
(Might have been good practice for later..)
So I arrived at the bike wash around 8.45 thinking that things were now on track, not so..
At least not the track I wanted to travel. It seems that the boys rather prefer to turn up at 9.00 and scoff kebabs and onion juice before launching into the day’s toil.
So the first bit of water hit the bike maybe at about 9.15 and Accchhhmedd thought it might be a good idea after massaging my bike with lovely warm water, to commence his assault with the 3,000 psi water jet. His action with the sponge was mildly arousing and I was thinking to ask if I could have a top and tail, but a wave of caution spread through me when he fired up the pressure jet.
He was a beast..!
The freaking thing was so strong I swear he almost blew the poor bastard off the centrestand and I held some (justifiably) grave concerns for the welfare of my bike.
Upon achieving satisfaction from the torture session, he shut the machine down and enjoyed what reminded me for all the world of a post coital cigarette..
But all appeared ok so I stood bravely for the robbery that follows and thought the pain was over.
Again, not so..
I jumped aboard the Norge and thumbed the starter for what should have been the second last time and was greeted with a command on the panel to enter a service code and intermittent displays on the diagnostics panel, the mode button would not work and there was no light show and no tachometer sweep upon turning the key.
I now had less than half the time I’d planned on to get the “dead” bike to the docks 5 k away and was parked on the foreshore road of a town that was still coming to grips with the wonders of electricity and I’m sure that half the residents were still scanning the sky over the English channel for approaching enemy aircraft, since they’d not heard that the war was over..
I was in TROUBLE...!
If I did not get the bike to the docks in 1 hr. it was goodbye to 60 quid for a train ticket and a small matter of one and a half thousand dollars for a flight to Australia...
It was about to get worse....
In an attempt to divest himself on any guilt regarding the possible destruction of the bikes electrics, Acchhhmeddd passed on the good news that there was a “mechanic man” that would show me how to find the trouble code on the Norge, but in 5 minutes I would need to ascertain what it meant, I felt like throwing the rest of his onion juice/Sulphuric acid cocktail in his eyes and commenced the trudge towards the garage.
Upon arrival sweating like a whore in a church, I pointed out that I would be really happy, if in exchange for an amount of money that would have cleared a small island nation of their national debt, they would throw my stricken bike on the flat bed truck and drag it to the docks...!
“No bovver”, said the geezer...
“I’ll see what Dave’s upta’ “
After what seemed like an eternity under the circumstances, Dave turned up and said not to worry because “ 6.00 pm was a long way away”.
Hmmmm...
Now Dave really needs a meal before he could undertake a gargantuan task such as transporting a bike 5 k’s and for a bloke who looked like he hadn’t missed a meal since Christ died, he launched into a feeding frenzy the likes of which I hadn’t seen since witnessing a heard of jackals tearing a zebra to bits on the discovery channel..
It was shocking!

[Chuck in Indiana]

 
Somehow, I feel like this will turn out ok. Eventually..

[Markcarovilli]

Don't leave us hanging......

Mark

[Larry]

 So my question is, why didn't you just find a car wash and do it yourself?

[Kiwi Dave]

So my question is, why didn't you just find a car wash and do it yourself?

A lot of car wash places these days are drive in, and large brushes descend around your car.  Not for motorcycles!

[SED]

the suspense!   

[Huzo]

Well here’s the thing..
You can’t just find a car wash and do it yourself because there isn’t one in Flx.
The only one with functioning equipment is on the seafront, I think there may be another, but it’s not for those that haven’t been schooled in it’s use...
So..
After placing another (unrefundable) $100 dollars (50 quid) in Dave’s paw, we headed off to hurl the stricken Norge onto the flatbed with not enough time to meet my train and possibly not enough to make check in at Heathrow..
We arrived at the sight of the now gleaming Norge and sweatily dragged all the paraphernalia into place to push it aboard. Upon completing this feat and strapping the sodden mess down I went to jump off the bed, but thought to turn the key.....
Up came the light show and a touch of the button resulted in, Shikook-Shikook-Shikook and...BOOM !!!
1151 cc’s of glorious Italian sound erupted and echoed melodiously off the walls of the kebab shop, you bloody beauty..!
It seems in the intervening period, it had dried out whatever water was causing the trouble, fair dinkum, why didn’t he just push it into the English Channel, it wouldn’t have gotten any wetter..!
But of course now there was the small matter of getting to the depot to MAYBE meet my schedule..
After waving goodbye to Dave and my 100 bucks that I might have well wiped my aching arse with, I blasted toward the dockyards with scant regard for local by laws and my licence.
Now usually it takes about 30 mins to do the required rooting around to prepare the bike, but this time I just ripped the terminals off the battery (figuratively) and strapped my stuff to the seat and contemplated how I would do the 20 minute trip to the train station in 15 minutes...
On foot !
In an uncharacteristic display of manners and etiquette I phoned Jo who runs the depot from her office 10 k’s away to let her know that the bike was lodged and I had no time to chat ‘cos I was in the brown stuff.
“Where are you ?”.. says Jo
“At the depot”..I reply
“Gordon Bennett, you’re lucky, I’m in the shed next door, ‘ang about I’ll see ya’ shortly..”
In 30 seconds I was approached by Jo in company with two other Aussies and Jo provided me with invaluable information that I was running short of time and we should “scarper...” jeez Jo, do you reckon..
Yeah I thought so..
We dashed for the train station in a frenzied exercise of squealing tyres and red light running to arrive there with 6 MINUTES TO SPARE..!
I was fanging for a coffee, but did not have the balls to leave the platform, until a well meaning attendant informed me that I’d have plenty of time..
“The trains a bit late guv....”
Armed with this perplexing news, I made a mad dash for the Caff ensuring that I had direct line of sight to the platform. I asked the geezer if he wanted one and he replied “Van Gogh”, which I could not fathom.
Stumbling back to the platform with about half of the coffee that I’d purchased, (due to spillage), I sat and used my “excess time” to attempt to pour it down my pie hole.
“By the way”...I asked the attendant holding a similar cup.
“What’s Van Gogh mean..?”
“It means, I got one ‘ere..”
Funny.
Just as I finished that sentence, I had to chuck my $100 half cup of coffee in the bin because I was greeted with the sight of my ON TIME ! train, pulling up in front of me.
Another 2 minutes I would have missed the bastard ...!
“Sorry...”
Said the geezer
“I fought ya’ meant the uvver one, never mind Guv, all’s well wot ends well eh..?”
WELL ALLLRIGHHTTTY THEN..!
I fell into the train  and entered a sweaty sleep.....
Jeez I like Australia.....

[Frenchfrog]

Who said that England was boring ?!!!!!