A Malaysian Biker in Europe

[nik.hisham]

Hi all,

I've just returned from a 4 day ride in Europe with some good friends. I've got pics from the ride but not sure if its ok to post as this is an FJR forum and although I am an FJR rider at home, there were no FJRs during the ride as it was obviously not possible to bring my bike up there for this short holiday. All bikes we used belonged to a friend in France - a couple of sports bikes and a Triumph Rocket.

I've posted a few pics here. If this is not allowed, I'd appreciate if the moderators could remove the thread.

Thanks.

Report

I flew over to Revel, a small town in France, about 100 km southwest of Toulouse. I have a friend living there who invited me up for a week. The plan was to go out and see the country, perhaps ride down to Spain and back up to Andorra. There were 6 of us, on 5 bikes. Here's a short picture story of the ride.

1. Arrival day

We immediately took stock of the bikes and set them up for the journey, which would begin the next day.

Dave working underneath his brand new Rocket. He bought the bike just for this tour.

Ian giving the thumbs up - all bikes ready for the trip tomorrow.

We wanted to get acquainted with the bikes so we took them out for a spin around Revel.

This is the town square.

And a lake, nearby.

Ended the day with dinner at a local pub.

I'm still working on the rest of the pics. If there are no objections, I'll post them in a day or three - I just got back and am dead tired.

Good night everyone. :tiredsmiley:

 

[Khunajawdge]

Hi all,(some snipping)

Good night everyone. :tiredsmiley:

OK Nik, rest up and get on with the report! :clapping:

 

[Happy Rider]

Great report, pictures, and bikes. Keep it coming. I don't think anyone will complain about the lack of FJR's. Riding in Europe is something that really interests me and many I know. I'd like to know how the cagers treat motorcycles in Europe. I would guess motorcycles get more respect due to the fact that there seems to be more of them. If you don't mind posting, what are fuel prices like and would it be easy to find camping spots?

 

[Checkswrecks]

???

The roads and area in the photos don't look like the area around Lourdes. If you were in Revel, wouldn't you have been on the outskirts of Grenoble?

All drivers in the EU are more focused and professional than in the US. A drivers license and car insurance are REALLY expensive by our US standards.

At the same time, you never know what'll be halfway around a blind corner, be it a cattletruck, herd of goats, bicyclists, or somebody trying to drive a Fiat too quick.

Camping is easy to find with some help from the Neenernets. Even better are all the bed & breakfasts.

Gas costs dearly but varies pretty wide between locations.

 

[James Burleigh]

Post up, dude. You own an FJR, so that's the price of entry. Let's see the pics, FJR or no. I love your style of photography! And I love Europe. What's the problemo?

 

[BwanaDik]

Go for it! Full story with pictures! We're all on the edge of our seats again

:clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

 

[rogdeb]

Go for it! Full story with pictures! We're all on the edge of our seats again
:clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

What he said

 

[sportsguy]

Looking forward to seeing more Nik!

Great subject.

Love the use of your aperature to create the focal plane in this pic:

Loving the rest of the pics, too, just this one really stood out to me! Nice camera work my man!

You'll get asked, so post up what camera/lenses you're using, please...

 

[nik.hisham]

Thanks all, for the compliments. I'll post the pics shortly. First to answer some questions.

.... I'd like to know how the cagers treat motorcycles in Europe. I would guess motorcycles get more respect due to the fact that there seems to be more of them. If you don't mind posting, what are fuel prices like and would it be easy to find camping spots?

Its different in each country I was in.

In France, if you're on a bike, you are king! Everyone goes out of their way to let you pass, some, even to the extent of almost running off the road and into the ditch on the side of the road. Its almost weird. But when ever you pass, the etiquette is to stick your right leg out in a gesture of thanks. Imagine that, thanking someone with your foot. Where I come from, that's plain rude but it does make sense. You can't use your throttle hand because you're accelerating, they won't see your left hand or leg because its on the other side (all of Europe, except in the UK, drive on the right side of the road), so the right leg is the only limb visible.

And here's the other weird thing. When you reach a pedestrian crossing, especially in small towns, you have priority over the pedestrians. I actually slowed down to a stop at the crossing but the people insisted I go first. But cars have to stop.. go figure. So we never stop at pedestrian crossings. Just slow down to a safe, almost running, speed.

In Spain, and Andorra, I guess its like anywhere else - cagers won't get out of your way but they are very tolerant. If you attempt an overtake in a tight spot, they will slow down significantly to let you pass. Nobody honks at you.

Additionally, anytime you pass a biker (on big bikes) on the opposite side, the etiquette is to stick out your left hand, usually with the "Victory sign" in acknowledgement. Its like a band of brothers thing. *Everyone* does it - even when they're stopped on the side of the road for a rest. If they can't let go the clutch, they'll stick out a leg. I like it. It makes you feel like you belong to a special, exclusive club.

As for fuel prices, they vary quite a bit from place to place.

In Andorra it was about 1.09 Euros per liter.

In Coullioure it was a whopping 1.43 Euros per liter.

EDIT: Not sure about camping information. We only stayed in hotels, ranging from 48 Euros per night at the town of Ax le Thermes to 350 Euros in the le Meridien on Las Ramblas in Barcelona.

??? The roads and area in the photos don't look like the area around Lourdes. If you were in Revel, wouldn't you have been on the outskirts of Grenoble?

All drivers in the EU are more focused and professional than in the US. A drivers license and car insurance are REALLY expensive by our US standards.

At the same time, you never know what'll be halfway around a blind corner, be it a cattletruck, herd of goats, bicyclists, or somebody trying to drive a Fiat too quick.

Camping is easy to find with some help from the Neenernets. Even better are all the bed & breakfasts.

Gas costs dearly but varies pretty wide between locations.

Hi Checkwrecks,

Not sure about being near Grenoble - could it be another town with the same name? But from Revel, if you took the D1 to the north west, you'd reach Toulouse in about 40 minutes. And if you head southeast on the D629, you'd reach Carcassone in about 40 minutes.

As for the 'locals', I didn't see any cattle or goats on the roads but there were plenty of them fenced in on the farms, even horses too. There were plenty of cyclists as well as the occasional farm machinery being driven on the roads.

Ok - next post will be the pics.

 

[nik.hisham]

To start off the rest of the ride report, I'll answer sportsguy - I was using a Canon 5D Mark II with 2 lenses - a 35L and a 17-40L. While on the road, the camera was mounted onto the fuel tank of the bike I used, which was the Honda CBR 900RR.

We got up bright and early and had a pre-ride brief. Here's a pic of our base, Pollmuir. It belongs to Dave Muir and Sandra Pollit. They were also our hosts for this trip.

This was about 30 minutes before we left base. Temps were 62 F. Nice!

The first leg of our ride would be from the small town of Revel, down to Coullioure, a beautiful French town on the mediterranean coast.

We started our journey in beautiful weather and after 30 minutes of easy riding, we stopped here to take in the scenery.

This is me and the CBR900 RR I was using for the trip. Notice the camera mount on the tank.

We moved along from there and rode for another 45 minutes before stopping at this gas station for drinks.

Ian and Sandra sharing a light moment over coffee. Whenever we stopped, they would always drink coffee. I'm not a coffee person myself but I have to admit, coffee there is very nice. Smooth. Nothing similar to it where I'm from.

We continued our journey and made a stop here. Roads were very twisty and mostly taken in 2nd and 3rd gears. That tunnel you see was carved out by hand, so I was told.

We continued our run from there and stopped for lunch at this cafe. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the town.

The pics below were all taken within 100 yards of where we had lunch.

Our journey continued along the side of a mountain with very steep drop offs, and barriers only two feet high. We were very careful as the winds were blowing really hard. We stopped at this lookout point. On the rock face that we're looking at below is a monastery carved out of the rock. Not sure if you can make it out from this pic. I didn't have my 70-200L with me so I couldn't get a close up shot.

Sandra, sitting pretty. She's pretty good with her GSX-R750 too.

This is a better view of the monastery, just over my shoulder.

And this is the view on the other side of the lookout point - and just me being dramatic.

We continued our ride and finally reached the mediterranean coast in the afternoon.

I'll have to stop for now. More to come later.

Nik.

 

[griffin]

Brilliant bro , just brilliant.

To ride in Europe is a dream for me and hopefully one day it'll come true.

And fantastic pics as usual :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

 

[Bigbeavk]

Way to go Nik!! :yahoo:

And when you make it to the US BLT's are on me!

 

[nik.hisham]

Continuation

After a quick rest, we moved on, eager to get to our destination for the first day, the town of Coullioure, on the mediterranean coast.

We headed straight for the hotel to check in and freshen up. Here's Sandra and Chrissie. And notice that my bike behind them is parked right in the lobby.

And some shots of the courtyard and pool

I got to my room and found this little imp waiting for me

After a brief rest, we went for a stroll around the little town.

Sandra and Chrissie went from biker babes to sophisticated ladies

While waiting for dinner, we had some drinks at this cafe

We strolled around a bit more and I got these snaps

Before we sat down for dinner at this restaurant

And enjoyed this view

After a day of riding, great scenery, good food and wonderful company, we returned to the hotel to retire for the night.

Tomorrow we set off for the Spanish border. Had some trouble along the way. Winds were very strong and some bikes toppled over, mine included. Will share the pics and video of that in the next post.

 

[The Flying Dutchman]

Amazing trip and amazing photos. You are indeed a master photographer. Look forward to the rest.

 

[Auburn]

What an amazing trip! :yahoo:

 

[wheatonFJR]

Amazing trip and amazing photos. You are indeed a master photographer. Look forward to the rest.

Amen to that...no whenever I see your name and ride report...I ALWAYS check it out. Thanks for posting! :yahoo:

 

[BwanaDik]

Gawd how we loved to ride around over there, you sure bring back the memories! Thanks!!! :clapping: :clapping: :clapping:

I also remember the "tout directions" (all directions) signs and if that didn't work, try "l'autra directions" (other directions). Gotta love those French road signs!

I found "Perpignan" on my Autoroute map, from a sign in a picture of the village square but I can't find "Coullioure". Any chance of giving us a rough idea of the route you took?

 

[beemerdons]

Fantastic Nik, absolutely fantastic! Thank you so much for bringing back great memories. Bravo, Encore! 7 of the FJR Forum rode the Pyrenees in 2009, ably led by teerex51-Stefano of Milano, Italia.

 

[DE OPPRESSO LIBER]

Incredibly vivid photos and wonderful to see places where many of us can only dream to go....... you feel free to post up any ride reports and photos you want!

I personally, and I'm sure many folks here as well, love to see/read/learn about other places and the motorcycling culture of different area. For instance, many overseas riders who may come to the US may not know the different laws/customs here. In fact, riding in different areas of the US can be a very different experience altogether!

Keep up the good work!

OK, Old Michael, you're up next!