European tour July 20 -Oct 5

[fjr vfr]

We just returned from 2 1/2 months of touring Europe on the FJR with my wife as a passenger. We made a blog for our friends and family back home to follow if anyone is interested it's: johnandchristasblog.blogspot.com. There is a lot to read but there are some good pictures. I'm still a little behind on it. We started from Stefan Knopf's shop in Heidelberg and did a kind of zig zag up to Brugge, Belgium, Paris France, Aosta valley and the Rhone Alps, Switzerland and the passes, Black Forest Germany, upper Italy and the Dolomite's, Tuscany, Rome, Sorrento and the Amalfi coast, the Ligurian coast, French Riviera and back up the Route De Napoleon to Heidelberg. It was an awesome trip. Unfortunately the transmission is shot on my FJR and it has to come back home. I was hoping to leave it there for the next trip. The cost of fixing it in Europe is just to high. Hopefully once it's fixed I'll be able to send it back? BTW, the Dolomite's was our favorite part of the trip. Paso Stelvio and Timeljoch are really great, but I preferred the passes near Cortina d'Ampezzo, such as Pordoi, Sella, Gadena, etc. I thought they were much better for getting into a rhythm while riding. The scenery was great also.

 

[BwanaDik]

Well, I think I can safely say we all hate you here (just kidding! :lol: :lol: ). Sounds like an excellent trip!

What happened to the transmission? First I've heard of that failing.

 

[beemerdons]

https://www.johnandchristasblog.blogspot.com/ Outstanding European Ride Report, one of the very best I have ever seen. I am also curious about exactly what happened to the FJR transmission. I, and my BMW MOA Club AZ Beemers, are also very good friends of Stefan Knofp and his children; we go over as a group every 3 years and rent our bikes from Knopf Motorradreisen. https://www.knopftours.com/Web-Site/Hello.html https://johnandchristasblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/curves-and-passes.html I agree with you on the Dolomites, Numero Uno for Motos!

 

[fjr vfr]

Well...The transmission! First a couple years ago I noticed a glitch, (felt like hitting the rev limiter) while accelerating hard away from a toll booth. This happened again some time later, (maybe 6 months?) Both times I thought it was the ignition cutting out. I later realized it was jumping out and back into second gear under high torque loads. This only happened a few times in the last few years and it was in the back of my mind. Fortunately we had completed touring the Alps, Dolomite's, etc. While traveling from Tuscany to Rome it started slipping gears real bad in forth gear, making an awful sound as the gear dogs slipped. First gear was making some occasional grinding sounds when I leaned to the side. I think it all came about because each time it jumped in second gear it was wearing the slots in the shift drum and bending the shift forks eventually leading to the other problems. So at that point I had to make the decision to either use road side assistance and send it back to Heidelberg or go on. As you can see we decided to go on. I completed the remaining couple thousand miles babying second gear and skipping over forth. The bike has 115,000 hard miles on it. It's been through the Alps, Dolomite's, Deal's Gap, Rockies, etc. and ridden hard, so I guess I can't complain...although I still do at times. Hopefully I'll get to send it back once fixed, but that won't be till late next year if possible.