I'm originally from southwest Virginia but have lived all over the US (gov't civilian employee). I'm fortunate enough to live here in Italy; been here for 4 years, hoping to get extended for a few more years.Originally Posted by Endopotential
The tail bag is an excellent Chase Harper 1560 "tank bag" that's ginormous enough to be a darn good tail bag.
https://chaseharperusa.com/collectio...-tour-tank-bag
Yes, the MM BC35 bags are working out well, lots of nice features. I just ordered some more accessories for them including 2 more "pods" to go on the outside to carry fuel bottles. The current pod setup is right side has my tools (tire kit, small compressor, misc sockets, torx, allen etc, a headlamp, duct tape); left side has my rain gear. I'm expanding the tool kit ( https://www.buellxb.com/forum/showth...her-a-tool-kit ) and MM makes an excellent tool carrier.
XB9X, any bike can be a touring bike!
Hit me up (dolomoto@pm.me) if you get over this way. At the least, I can help with some route suggestions and may be able to ride at least part of the trip.B.U.C.K.E.T.L.I.S.T!!!!!
Ya, to what Endo asked, and thats really close to the route I'm planning that intersects with OktotefestBeen awhile since we had a really epic thread like this, thanks so much for sharing!
First day in Romania...
The morning route planning started early over some coffee on the Danube river.
We took a detour for some LOTR vibes at the rock sculpture of Decebalus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_s...e_of_Decebalus
We had some really good riding from SW Romania towards Sibiu but I didn't take many photos because: -sometimes it's better to just ride, -my riding buddy doesn't like to stop on the road, -life is for living (not photos).
Still, we got hungry. there was a dearth of restaurants on our path but we came across this spanish themed food truck. Odd, but great food. https://los-menendez.ro/
Good food, reasonable prices and a covered picnic area to eat. way cool
After a few hours of good riding, we made our way to Moto Camp Sibiu. https://www.moto-camp.ro/en/index.html
A fella named Doru runs the place and he was inspired by Moto Camp Bulgaria: http://www.motosapiens.org/motocamp/Info
Doru's place is very nice. Includes several bedrooms in the lodge with a couple full bathrooms, full kitchen, wood stove and outside kitchen. There's also a newly added tent area with two huts (2 persons each) with their own shower/toilet and washing machine (several clotheslines on the property). Nice place, reasonable price.
Also, Doru keeps the fridge stocked with beer and visitors keep their own tab and settle up and the conclusion of their stay. What's not on the tab is the local wine and Doru's schnapps and brandy. I think we drank our stay in his hooch with some bikers from Poland and Germany. Lies were told.
The next day, Joe and I got onto the Transfagarasan highway, our "raison d'etre".
Getting on the Transfagarsan highway is straightforward and not much chance to get lost; once near the top, the scenery is a bit stark with the road similar to Passo Stelvio (Italy's highest paved road) but more water, less traffic, fewer hikers, very little development...ok, maybe only the general road design is similar to Stelvio.
For the last year, I've been chasing a handling issue that seems to occur randomly. I had the forks and shock rebuilt and check the wheel bearings at every tire change. I recently had the steering head bearings also changed and the bike was nearly unrideable at times; the front end would feel quite loose on random corners which made me ride very cautiously all the time. Over some bumps, there was an audible "thunk"...almost like a metal on metal sound. Heading up the Transfagarasan, it was so bad I stopped and checked the whole front end including heaving the bike on the sidestand while Joe tugged, turned, pushed and pulled...all normal. So, I resigned myself to ride quite prudently and would seek help in the afternoon.
There's a lot of flowing water around and most of it is nicely managed with culverts, ditches and, in this case, a small bridge.
I think every article about this road had this picture...who am I to pass it up?
At the top, it's 5 euro to park for an hour. There's also a small amount of free parking just prior to the summit on the north ramp; we passed by the paid parking but I made time for a few photos.
At the summit, there's a tunnel for vehicles but it's possible to hike over it for the adventurous types. Once on the south side, the weather threatened rain but the scenery was quite spectacular.
Very Alpine-y.
Joe had a tough time handling the pig ('21 GSA) at slow speed so once we got turned around on the south ramp, he went on ahead while I did some shopping.
^ there are stands like this all over the area, you certainly don't need to wait until the Transfagarasan to buy something. They mostly have the same stuff: local cheeses, salami, jams, etc. I picked up some smoked cheese and wild boar bacon.
There's also a nice waterfall right along the road.
Although bears are seen quite frequently in the area, we didn't see any of them; plenty of sheep though.
Overall, the road is in very good shape. The cautions I got about the condition of Romanian roads were not what I encountered. Generally, the roads were well maintained to a euro standard.
Dodging the rain clouds, I headed back towards the top.
You can see the tunnel entrance here; there's a bit of parking here and there for cars, just be mindful of the folks who park poorly. The road was just cleared in mid-June and there was some snow left around the tunnel (temp was around 45 degrees on this day).
Two overlanding rigs took up some prime real estate.
The tunnel is around 1 km long and well lit. The Buell with a Drummer sounded mighty fine at WOT!
Once back on the north ramp, the storm clouds gave way to clear weather clouds and the sun was out.
On the way down, a few of the corners made me feel like the whole front end was washing away. I called Doru at the moto camp and he sent me to a local mechanic. Going down the dirt road, it was an inauspicious place.
The mechanic spoke excellent english and said he would work on anything, including Buell's. In fact, he spent 10 years working on HD and Buell in France and knew all about Buell quirks. His projects backed up his claim:
The mechanic had to go to a meeting for the upcoming Red Bull Romaniacs meet https://www.redbullromaniacs.com/
He said he would take a look at the moto that evening. So, Joe and I departed 2-up back to the Moto Camp. We walked to the village convenience store where they also had fresh corn on the cob. Let me tell you, that's a rare treat in Italy since most corn is grown for Polenta. This fine yellow specimen made me feel like I was back in jawja.
We got some grilled pork and fries. Including the corn above, the tab was about $14usd...not too shabby.
The next morning, we returned to the shop of the genius. He had taken the front end completely apart and put it all back together and found nothing. So, he looked elsewhere. As he used a hoist to lift the bike, he saw the motor move around 2 inches! Holy smokes, the front motor mount/isolator was shot. Visually, it looked okay but the inside was rotted. He fixed me up with some hard rubber material which effectively hard mounted the engine to the frame.
"it may vibrate more"...lol. That's an understatement! During the 1000+ miles back, anything under 3500 rpm made the mirrors unusable and gave me a terrible headache. Solution: keep it above 3500 rpm!
Here's the mechanic (I'm ashamed to say I did not note his name or have a proper photo of him) showing another customer how my previous mechanic installed a new clutch cable without adjusting it according to the Buell procedure.
A 92 GSXR pulled up...nice. I had a '01 Bandit 1200S with mostly the same engine as the 90's GSXR...what a monster engine.
Lots of folks in Romania are just getting by, like this farmer passing by with his 1 hp.
Finding my handling woes banished, it was on to the Transalpina...damned the rainy forecast!
Expect a contact, we travel exactly the same wayRoute planning the morning of, damn the weather, close (but not too close) to the tourist traps, and of course the local food and beer! I can't believe the stellar road pics
I've been up and down the Amalfi coast and have friends in Maori (just south of Positano) but always wanted to go North through the Alps into Germany (sometime in September of course
).
Please post every pic you got
I just finished a trip to Liguria (betwixt La Spezia/Cinque Terre and Genoa)...fantastic riding. Will post in another ride report.... I've been up and down the Amalfi coast and have friends in Maori (just south of Positano) but always wanted to go North through the Alps into Germany (sometime in September of course
Hey Cooter, are you planning on shipping your bike (and the El Camino??) to Europe for the ride? Or just renting something there?Expect a contact, we travel exactly the same way
LMK if you ever swing by SF on another one of your road trips. Would be fun to meet at last one fellow forum inmate in person
Please do!
It would be fun to ride my own, but really would depends on cost. Euro shipping/insurance/reg isn't cheap, but neither is renting. It would be cool to hook up with a local like ride share thing to get something unique instead of the same ol' 900lb GS (no offense to the Bimmer faithful)
Would love to meet ya in person EndoBeen up a few times for work in a rental car, and with the FULL race schedule, planning a Sturgis run in August, and the next road trip will be FAR NE (Maine and Canadia) hard to say when the next West coast run to Mumzys house will be!
@Cooter I need to get back to the track in the coming year. LMK if you ever do Laguna Seca / Sonoma / Thunderhill. I could definitely learn a thing or two
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