[Chris_1631]

Hi everyone!

I was in engineering school until last August and as part of my training I had to do a trip abroad. I also wanted to do a big motorcycle trip.

As the two are not incompatible, almost two years ago I started the preparation of a road trip in the south of Europe with my R NINE T SCRAMBLER of 2017!

 

[Chris_1631]

That's my loop, roughly speaking:

It's not exactly my route, but in broad outline it's this: France > Italy > Croatia > Montenegro > Albania > Greece > Crete > Italy > Northern Spain > Portugal > Spain > South East France > Switzerland (to finish a trip I couldn't finish last year) > back to the Casa.

Well, this is just between us, but my school was not aware of the whole story. Officially, I did 6 weeks of Woofing in Croatia before doing a "cultural trip" in Greece but in reality I did 1.5 weeks of Woofing (less nice than I thought even if the people were nice) and then 8.5 weeks of motorcycle trip 😄

 

[Chris_1631]

Well, I'm going to talk about the preparation of the 9T and what I'm taking with me, let's get started!

Saturday 29 May 2021 9:00 am: The bike is loaded and it's time to take off !!

You can't see my face but I'm all excited ^^

I catch the highway to Italy. I have to get back to Croatia before Sunday 10:10am otherwise my covid test will be invalid...

 

[Chris_1631]

535 km from home, on the motorway (towards Chambéry) I feel my scarf going. I slow down and stop on the hard shoulder to reattach it then I go back. 200 m further I take the motorway slip road, tilt the bike to turn (normal eh) and there .... ! "The rear of the bike slips and I feel that something is wrong behind me.
I ride quietly to the next hard shoulder and :

I can't see the leak and the tyre doesn't look repairable at all with my Givi kit. I don't have a photo but the tyre was completely flat.

I call the insurance company and they tell me to call the police. I get a really unpleasant policeman who transfers my call and then I get a nice lady who sends for a mechanic.

Well, I was lucky to be on a Saturday, a BM dealer has a tyre in Chambery for the 9T (the same one, a Karoo Street) and can change it for me this afternoon.
While the tyre was being changed the dealer told me that he had gone to Montenegro and had to give $100 to a dirty cop to continue his journey and to prepare me for this.

Well I lost a lot of time, I had planned to cross the border by mountain pass to break the monotony of the highway but I don't have time. Motorway and I go as far as possible before the night.

 

[Chris_1631]

I arrive in Milan, I book a hostel room, I go there. On the road I meet girls "dressed like whores", the hostel is very creepy, the room is full (it should be at 50%) and the guy inside is very shady. He doesn't answer me when I say hello and goes back to smoking his cigarette on the balcony.

I tell myself that I can't leave my bike in a district like that and there is no locker to put my stuff... Well, I decide to leave and indeed it's a district full of whores and probably drug dealers 😅

I ride for a while and I can't find a spot to put the tent. It's night and it's already curfew. I don't know where to sleep and like an idiot I didn't want to pay a night in a hotel to save money. I finally find a parking place where there is no one in the forest near a village.

I set up the tent, put my things in and go to sleep. I am woken up by cars, people pull up, young people. I don't speak Italian but I understand that they are talking about me and not in the positive, except for one girl who seemed to be saying to leave me in peace.

I was woken up several times by drunk guys who were yelling, at one point I heard a "pong". One guy had hit my Holan suitcase while reversing! I thought to myself, I'm not going to go out now or it's going to end up as a street fighter. Once they were gone, I went to see how the suitcase was, if it was folded I paid them a visit with my gloves on, otherwise I went back to bed. Well the suitcase and the bike are fine.

Around 4am I hear a car start and one of these Italians comes to shake my tent before getting into his car. I put on my gloves and go to see him.
Imagine a guy of 1.80m high with a Columbia top with tight deltoids with big rings under his eyes and coated gloves hitting your window...

I get to his window, I thought it was open and I try to grab his neck... Damn it's closed, the two Italians have a scary neck. I signal them to roll down the window and I ask them in English: "Do you want something? You asked for me. Like a coward he tells me that "no, nothing, I don't understand English". I answer him "you understand what I'm saying", the tension rises. The second Italian says to me "do you want a beer" "No".

The two clowns ended up giving me a "good night bye" and left. So much the better, one word too many and I would have broken some faces and it could have ended badly for me too...

10-15 minutes later, I went back to my tent and left the light on, then the others came back to the car park and left with their cars. I waited until 5:00 am (the end of the Italian curfew) to leave this night very .... Unpleasant but saying to myself a little later: " WHOOOUUUUAAH this is adventure! SO COOL !!! " ^^

I'll have to write the rest, it'll take me a while. See you soon. 😉

 

[Norbi]

Good choice, and my respect for doing this on a bike that’s not really made for touring!
But did you intentionally leave out the majority of the Alps? Next time, right? I love the concept of your school! All schools should have that.

 

[Chris_1631]

Good choice, and my respect for doing this on a bike that’s not really made for touring!
But did you intentionally leave out the majority of the Alps? Next time, right? I love the concept of your school! All schools should have that.

When I left for Croatia I deliberately crossed the Alps by motorway to recover the time I had lost but at the end of the trip I went back on the small roads of the Swiss Alps. And then I did a part of the French alps last year with my 2005 Ducati S2R800.

 

[Clarkson]

Epic journey, but I hope it gets better for you moving on!

 

[Chopper_Bob]

Can’t wait for the rest!!!

 

[Chancellor]

Very cool trip. Best of luck, be safe..i look forward to reading more.

 

[Lelc2]

If I had known before I would have suggested you some interesting roads in Spain and Portugal. Long trip. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Chris_1631]

After a complicated night, I take the motorway back to Slovenia to reach Croatia.

I didn't sleep well, I don't feel very good.... So I tell myself that I have to take a break. I stop in a petrol station (1.80€ per litre of SP95 😱) and I take a coffee. It's amazing how good a coffee in the morning feels!

I go back to the motorway and I see that I need petrol and that I'm next to the Lac de Garde. So I went to see the lake and put gasoline at the same time. The lake is beautiful and the city is empty (it's between 6 and 7 in the morning), it's a shame I can't spend a little more time visiting.

I get on the motorway, it's strange when I cut the gas and then start again, the bike jerks from left to right for few seconds. I enter Slovenia by a small road, no control! YEAH!

 

[Chris_1631]

I felt good in these few kilometres in Slovenia. The country seems so peaceful and not too populated. It's nice.

When I arrived at the Croatian border, however, it was very crowded and the border was controlled. I queue like everyone else but I see motorbikes lansplitting and a couple tell me in English that I can lanesplit. I didn't want to be seen badly by the customs officers and I still had some time so I waited my turn.

Slovenian checkpoint. I use my passport (Portuguese) for the first time. The lady is surprised and tells me "Whouah! Portugal ! how many days to come ? I explained to her that I come from France and that it took me 2 days. Then the Croatian check.

The guy takes my passport: ok; car registration: ok and then my covid test: .... (the test is no longer valid since 2 minutes -_- ) he looks at something on his computer (I think it was the hour) then he looks at me making a pout with his mouth and gives me back my documents : " You can go sir ".

 

[Chris_1631]

.......... YEAH! Goal achieved! I am in Croatia and happy to be. Now I have some time and I'm heading to the coast.

Believe me, I'm committed, the Croatian coast is MAGNIFICENT and MAGIC on a motorbike!

If you're in Europe, go there one day and you'll have one of the best motorbike experiences of your life. And those who are not in Europe, if you have the money for it, it's really worth it to come by plane and then rent a motorbike to ride down the coast. From Rijeika to Split is 90% fun! The view is magnificent, cliffs on the left, the Adriatic sea with the islands on the right (at sunset it's magical) and the road is in excellent condition with beautiful curves that never end and are never milked.

 

[Chris_1631]

I stopped to eat at the restaurant then I went inland to a village where I was going to do a woofing period next to Karlovach and going up the cliffs and through beautiful forests.

The family is nice and the father has a nice background. In his youth he was a drug dealer and hippy. One day he walked into a church while a priest was reading the bible, he saw Jesus. Jesus got him off the drugs and then he didn't smoke a day in his life and met his wife (who is from the Baptist church) and started a family. The daughter was there too and wanted to go for a ride... on a motorbike 😉

The first weekend I decided to go and explore the country with the 9T. Well I did a tour on the island of Pag and on the (beautiful) coast. On the way back I see a multistrada in my mirror, I put myself on the side and I signal to it to pass. A few bends later I find the Ducati on the ground and the guy (Dimitri) standing up and a bit stressed. He had slipped but no injuries. I pulled over to the side to check on him, he's OK but the Ducati can't go like that... He's not fully insured either (too expensive).

Well as a Ducatist I can't leave it like that! I'm bringing out the motars best friends: the chaterton and the collars!

 

[Chris_1631]

And there you have it:

With some other small repairs he was able to return to Zagreb. He sent me messages in the evening on messenger to tell me that he was back and to thank me for the help.

As for the woofing, I spent 1.5 weeks instead of the 4 weeks I had planned (6 weeks sold out at school ) because the projects were not great.

I thought I would work with the family or at least with other woofer coming from the other side of the world but... I spent 1.5 weeks doing gardening and stuff in a second home alone 90% of the time. So I left after talking to the host family and joined a friend in Zagreb.

 

[Chopper_Bob]

Sorry, but what do you mean by woofing/woofer???

 

[Chris_1631]

Sorry, but what do tou mean by woofing/woofer???

It is voluntary work in exchange for accommodation and food

 

[midnaite]

Great post!
Living in Paris myself, I'ld love to go on a similar adventure

 

[Chris_1631]

In Zagreb Dimitri I see that Dimitri has sent me messages.

One of his friends saw me on the road and sent my picture to a whatsapp group where Dimitri was. Funny coincidence X)