Mugello GP

[Chris Canning]

After a fly drive to the Portugese GP,it was either ride to Mugello or not go,so it was a tried and tested route over the years on a grand old Tiger that must have done this trip 4 or 5 times at least.



Lake traffic outside the hotel in Thonon on the south side of lake Geneva or Le-Mans depending on which side you are.



Then the tried and tested Grand St Bernard/Petite St Bernard and then over Val d Isere



The classic photo I've seen a million times on the net,but about 35c less than in Aosta an hour previous



A great hotel at the foot of Mont Cenis which caters for bikers



After this the hard work began and we had to grind the run out down from Turin to Bologna in heat 36/38c,doesn't show very well but the tyre was starting to discolour with heat,it was that hot you couldn't touch it although we were running around the 90/120mph.

[Chris Canning]

Some of the delights!!





Crazy track invasion,they even rip the fence up to get through.

[Chris Canning]

Up at 5am monday morning,this is looking like shit when it's not 11am and you've ridden 350 miles :roll: ,but the sun was shinning,and still some great views






Just sends you a little crazy!!must have ridden close on 600 miles when this was taken a lot done off the motorway and I guess 80 or so miles from our hotel on Chamount.




Up at the crack of dawn the following morning no time for breakfast and on to Calais,200 miles the other side and home best part of 1200 miles in a day and half,how the hell the Tiger keeps going with all the abuse I'll never know!!!.

[Chad]

great run the last time i went over the St bernard we stopped at the top in a blizzard :shock:  a friend who was with us on his harley was not a happy bunny i can tell you  :lol:

[Chris Canning]

The clamp down on bikers and speed persists,we bought a breatherlizer kit,but I'll only get dressed up like Coco the Clown when I have too,notice traffic speeded up south of Reims well away from Calais

On the motorways you'll now see a Radar sign and half mile down the road a grey camera on the side of the road,it doesn't really matter,when they go off but it sure lights the road up!!!.

The European biker is a competitive animal,I bumped into my first GS 1200 guy,two up with gear who was prepared to show what his bike could do climbing up to the petite St Bernard,way more grunt low down and by the time I'd caught up we were at the next hair pin.

While up in the Alps found a garage selling 100+ fuel :D  :D ,oh yea blimey the bike ran well,it's amazing how fuel quality varies when your stopping for fuel 4/5 times a day,mind you it should run well at 2 Euros a litre!!!.

If your going or know anyone that is,some moron has sprayed the road with tar the east side going away from Val d Isere and then left a inch of chippings,I bet their scrapping bikes up for the rest of the summer,it was an interesting journey down the mountain with other bikers.

I use a GPS in the UK for work,I've never used one in 30 odd years on a bike across europe,I never realised how it's ruined my sense of direction,must have taken a couple of days to get back into gear

Over 2500 miles the the Tiger used half a pint of oil,which considering the heat and the hammering it took was pretty good.

Going around roundabouts,it's getting worse,why the hell they have two lanes I've no idea,as it's clearly becoming the norm to run on the outside like some merry go round.

Came across an Italian guy on one of those Cross Runners went very well.

Out on the Italian motorway  bumped into a Swedish couple on a BM 1600 GT 6 cylinders things,blimey it had got some go at 100mph :shock:

[Chad]

yeah those k1600s have got some serious shunt :D whats the mileage on your tigger now chris ?

[Chris Canning]

Just gone over 35,000,on the gearbox thread oil changes were mentioned,apart from a couple of 3/4000 trips,it's never gone more than 2/2500 between oil changes which hopefully have helped,since really beefing the rear shock up it's absolutely flying.

[Timbox2]

Nice one mate, so were you stuck in that position in the photo :lol:



I stopped off at a BM dealer the other day to get some oil, there was a bloke just about to go out on a test ride on a K1600, he saw I was on a 13 and asked me what I thought of the 16.

" Makes a nice noise I said, but wait till you get a bill for about £300 to change the plugs".. Salesman gave me daggers :o

[Chris Canning]

It felt like it at times,but with the shock at long last how I want it,talk about eats the miles and how!!.

Your always discovering new places and Thonon on was a place you could spend a week at never mind going anywhere else,oh and I forgot the Florence tourist shot.



One of the many other things I'd forgotten,the number of couples we came across both riding their own bikes is certainley on the up.