Turning Lemons into Lemonade
Blog Europe 2019
Trasformando i lemans in limonata
Europe Early Autumn 2019 Netherlands/Germany
Are you a flaner or a planner? I definitely think of myself as a flaner rather than a planner. I am always happy to change my plans to suit the situation especially if there is a better offer and I would always rather chase a new and interesting experience rather than slavishly stick to a schedule. Notwithstanding my self-declared status as a flaner, I will confess that, as is my habit, a few months out from this holiday, I did prepare a detailed schedule, with Megan, for this our annual European motorcycle sojourn. The schedule showed that we would depart Melbourne Australia 30 August, arrive in Amsterdam later on the same day (yeah 24 hours later we would still arrive on the same day) it's weird flying around the world in the same direction as the sun you end up experiencing a seemingly endless day but locked inside aeroplanes. After landing, the proposed schedule would have us spending three days in Nijmegen, Holland, we would then spend three days on the road travelling from Nijmegen to Lake Como Italy, staying there for three days followed by two days riding to Montreaux, then three days travelling to Paris etc, etc. I had calculated the number of hours on the road each day to ensure that we could easily make the distances without effort and would be able to travel back roads rather than 'A' roads.
Very short stopover in Dubai
I rarely stick to these schedules but I like to have them so I have a realistic understanding of the scale of distances in Europe and the condition of roads.
Well, our planned schedule worked okay for around the first four days. We remained in Nijmegen for the scheduled three days and then we commenced the motorcycle tour heading in the direction of Mandello del Lario on the Eastern edge of Lake Como. We didn't care which route we would take or in which towns we would stay as long as we stayed on back roads, discovered new places and arrived in Mandello del Lario for the start of the 98th birthday celebrations. We had to be in Mandello for that day as the factory would open its doors as it does annually and we would be part of the three day party before heading off to Paris to our apartment.
Dutch Kombis
Our good friend Jan took us to a Keiver (bug) show n shine. Lot’s of Kombis :-)
For the first day on the road, all went well. We made an appropriate amount of progress while discovering new roads and sleeping in an amazing town that we had never heard of before. Trier would be our home for the night and we learned it is the oldest town in Germany and experienced its incredible Roman buildings and slept within the walls of the old town.
Netherlands dispatched and into Germany
If you have never jumped on a motorbike and just started riding for the sake of it then you haven’t really lived yet.
Everything was going according to plan, we got up the next morning and jumped back on the bike Mandello bound with new roads to discover and new towns, villages and most of all new experiences to be had. We knew we were in Northern Europe and even Germany because of the flavour of the architecture and the perfectly maintained buildings, roads and gardens.
Carl Marx and Meg hanging out.
Trier Germany
Town Centre
Brekky on the hotel balcony
Despite the perfect execution of the plan which had been hatched a couple of months earlier, I didn't know it yet but the gremlins were well and truly in the system and the well laid out plans would soon be unravelling. The motorcycle was giving little indicators but I was not listening to the signs which really began to start around one year earlier.
Yes the signs were there one year earlier!
At the end of the trip last year I had noticed a couple of small details that I know now were alarm bells, but alas, I had not acted on them.
While riding through Europe at the end of our 2018 trip I was making comparisons between our red Moto Guzzi lemans in Europe that I was riding with our black Moto Guzzi lemans in Australia. It is one of the things my mind does as we ride the long trips each year, I like to compare the two otherwise identical bikes. I was pondering why the Australian black lemans seemed to have more torque pulling up hills and at high speeds than the red bike. Although these two bikes left the factory at Mandello four years apart they left that factory with pretty much the same specification so why would the red bike which has less kilometres not have as much punch up hills and what could explain this difference in performance. The black bike was a special edition lemans in 1988 with black wheels and the red bike was a ultima edizione numbered bike being one of the last one hundred lemans ever made but in truth the basic specifications for both bikes were identical. They left the Mandello factory with slight differences such as different alternators but the basic engine plant is the same for both machines.
Gremlins!!!!
Always patient even if a bit dejected
The poorer performance from the red bike didn't make any sense especially when you consider that since new it had covered many less miles than the black bike (39,000 since new as compared with 64,000) and only 3,000 kilometres before I purchased the red machine in Europe it had received the classic Guzzi twin spark conversion hot up, Silent Hektik electronic ignition, helical cut timing gear conversion, a Dynotech cam shaft and new piston rings. This red Moto Guzzi in Europe should make my Australian black lemans 1000 feel simply sluggish and slow as the black engine is still in standard trim although I did gift the black bike with a new set of rings some 20,000 kilometres ago. The other thing I noticed last year about our red lemans 1000 in Europe is that it was noisy from the front of the engine. I did dismiss this as the sound of the aluminium timing gears, although in hindsight I should have considered that I knew they were helical cut and therefore should not be so noisy at all.
At the end of the 2018 riding tour of Europe I had written myself a note to try to determine the age of the tyres on the red bike as the age of the tyres was unknown to me. I did not follow up on this note, another detail I came to regret during our 2019 European tour.
Anyway, enough of the musings from last year and back to this year's European adventure, it is 2019. I always love that moment each year after we arrive in Europe and our great Dutch friend Jan Jacobs takes Megan and me to the warehouse where our red lemans sleeps for the winter. I love it when we pull back the covers to reveal the brilliant red lemans 1000 and we roll it out into the Dutch summer sun. I am always listening keenly to it start up at first to hear, see or smell any tell-tale signs about the condition of the engine or the bike.
In 2018, the bike started first kick (Jan had charged the battery just before our arrival) but nonetheless for an engine which had sat idle for 12 months starting first stab of the starter was a good sign. Could we repeat this performance for 2019. I went through the procedure. Turn on the petcocks early to leave plenty of time for the fuel to fill the carby float bowls. A couple of twists on the throttle to let the pumpers in the 40mm Delorto carbies do their thing and provide the fuel for starting and at the appropriate moment stab the starter button….. Nothing but a whimper, the battery was flat. So we provided a support battery for a jump start. The question still remained, would she start first stab for the 2019 trip, could I keep up the perfect record? Dam… not quite but she did start easily for the second start. Starting second stab of the starter button is a more remarkable thing than you might think under the circumstances because as I held the throttle to ensure the engine stayed alive, Jan pointed to the right hand carburettor which was hanging lifeless in the breeze held on only by the cables. It had completely blown off the head and the red lemans was running on only the left hand carburettor. It had started second stab using only one carburettor. Perhaps the engine was fine after all.
We reattached the carburettor and I rode the bike to Jan's house. Here at Jan's we listened to the bike, mmmm the Klappens sound noisy. I assume klappens is the Dutch word for tappets and the engine had a noisiness about it that was unnerving but if it was only loose tappets I could look at them later, I had the feeler gauges in the tool kit and any Moto Guzzi owner knows that tappet adjustment is a simple side of the road adjustment with no need to even remove the fuel tank. Better for the tappets to be loose than tight. Right?....
During that first day of riding I could hear the noisy tappets, the noisy aluminium timing gear modification/improvement and the bike still did not have the punch of our black Australian lemans 1000. I really would have thought all of those hot up improvements that the bike received only 3,000 kilometres before I became its owner would have made this a much stronger bike than the Australian standard black lemans 1000. I told myself it must be all the extra weight of rider, pillion and all that luggage including hair dryer and coffee machine. I usually don't ask our Australian bike to pull all that weight so perhaps that is why, mmmm.
Day two of our 2019 European motorcycle tour we left Trier bound for a town further South in Germany whose name now escapes me but located at the other side of the black forest. Our route would take us through the German Black Forest and we were looking forward to the windy roads and magnificent views. A friend we had met during 2016 (Wilko Wonk) when we had brought our Black lemans to Europe as part of a the Teo Lamers European tour for the Moto Guzzi factory's 95th birthday celebrations had arranged with us through Facebook to drop in on some friends of his who live in the Black Forest. This would be a great opportunity to meet up with some local motorcycle people and share stories. The day started fine but with the same slight sluggishness and noisiness that I had come to accept from the engine but as the morning progressed a new problem developed. We had filled up with petrol and the bike had started to ping and its performance was dropping further.
In considering the sudden drop in performance I recalled the first year we came to Europe to ride the red lemans 1000 during 2017 and recalled that after the long winter hibernation the bike came to have some contamination in the fuel. At that time I was able to eventually rectify the problem by cleaning out the float bowls and jets in the carburettor. That was all it required during 2017 to bring the bike back to good performance and good fuel economy. I decided that this was the same problem so we pulled over at a petrol station where I bought some German WD40 type product and cleaned out the carbies.
As we left the petrol station I was immediately able to indicate to Megan that the clean out appeared to have done the trick and the bike was running much better but it wasn't long before the performance dropped to be even worse than before. Surprisingly the bike idled fine but when I rolled the throttle on there was simply piss poor power and the engine pinged terribly. What was my problem? Another roadside stop revealed a frayed end on the accelerator cable to the left hand side carby. Ah.. I had found the problem, a new cable would certainly fix the bike and I of course had spare cables with me on the bike as backup. I replaced all three cables with brand new cables and Megan and I took off again confident the bike would be fine. Oh dear we had been unlucky but we had gotten through it all. As the day progressed we continued through the Black Forest toward our intended final destination for the day. We got to the top of the road to find it blocked over the mountain. We would have to ask the GPS to take us around the road block. It took us down a road which had been made by logging workers but had no stones just soft soil. The lemans was never made for this sort of terrain even solo let alone two up with panniers, top box and tank bags loaded. Eventually after taking us though tiny tracks and roads the GPS directed us into a driveway where the owners of the house were surprised to see two Australian bikers ride right up to them. Hello, do you speak English we asked? Fortunately the answer was sort of yes. Can you direct us to the other side of the mountain. They told us there is no way we could use the road we had just come down as it was absolutely impassable. I didn't want to argue with them on that point but they were great and managed to provide us with enough good information for us to get to the other side of the mountain via some fairly substantial deviations. All this time the bike was pinging up the hills and struggling with the weight. Surely our black lemans 1000 in Australia would not struggle and ping like this in these conditions.
We continued forward unhappy with the performance of the bike but with the smell of our pre-book evening's accommodation in our nostrils, we would forge ahead and make tonight's accommodation although we would not be able to meet with Wilco's friends for a short visit. The Black Forest is a beautiful part of Germany and we rolled through many stunning villages. One such village was Freudenstadt. I remember it well as the bike was running terribly as it had been all day and we just rolled into this fairytale like village in the hills and just after hitting the town the engine started to make a noise that to my ear sounded like an engine which had just 'shat' itself. Worried I immediately pulled in the clutch to listen to the engine without load so I could get some understanding of what might have be occurring inside the motor but without momentum the motor just stopped. I tried to start it again but it was evident from the get-go that this was now an engine that would not start without something major and Megan and I would go nowhere tonight.
There we were in an obscure town in the Black Forest in Germany riding an obscure brand of Motor Cycle with a model that has not been manufactured for almost three decades with an engine which required major surgery. What would we do! We got off the bike and were standing there staring at the bike. There was no point in flattening that already compromised battery, the bike would never move without major work and where would we get the parts and who could we get to do the work and how would we communicate in this very German town!
At this moment our first 'saviour' arrived in the form of Martin Franz. Martin walked up to us and in fairly decent English told us he just loved our old Moto Guzzi Lemans 1000 and asked if we were on our way to the 98th birthday celebrations at the factory in Italy. We told him we were. Martin, who has a Moto Guzzi tatoo on his arm, told us he was planning to ride one of his two classic old Guzzis to Mandello but it had developed an issue which would prohibit him from taking it to Mandello. He was disappointed that he couldn't ride his old Mille 1000 to Mandello but it had a single seat and his wife wanted to go to Mandello with him so that also wasn’t an option. Martin told us he would probably have to attend the celebrations in his car so he could take his wife and since he was taking the car he would probably take his son also.
Me, Martin and Meg later in Mandello
Martin was friendly and accommodating and he advised us that although there was no Moto Guzzi dealers in town nor in any of the adjoining towns to look at our bike he told us there was a Suzuki/Yamaha??? Dealer in town with a mechanic named Thomas who owned a Moto Guzzi Griso. Thomas would surely be able to assist. After providing us with the address for the dealer, Martin then took us to a local hotel which he described as biker friendly. Thanks Martin.
As the bike had been getting sicker and sicker during the day, so too, Megan was getting sicker and sicker. By this time she could barely stand and was burning with fever. Our European adventure was not going well. I spent the rest of the night walking down to the location of the dealer to ensure that I would be able to be there in the morning when they opened and finding another hotel for Megan and I to sleep as the hotel recommended by Martin had no vacancies.
The old girl lifeless in the Freudenstadt Town Centre
Once I had established the hotel for Megan to rest in and the location of the dealer as well as the best way to push the bike to the dealer without having to face steps I decided to look at the bike for the night to see if I could get an understanding of the issue. I had checked the plugs for spark and the engine for fuel. We had spark and fuel all we need now is compression. I was confident that we had compression, it was a new engine really and when I turned over the starter motor the engine seemed to turn normally with none of the unpleasant noise I had hear earlier in the day as the engine had 'shat' itself. What could be the problem? At this point I thought with the remaining daylight I would pull off the left hand rocker cover and see if the valves were moving. Before I got too far with this job a couple of old German blokes came up to me admiring the classic old lemans and asked me what I was doing. I explained my problem and the three of us again went through the process of checking spark, fuel etc. I really connected with these two old guys who I realise now were my own age. Sadly I too often forget that just as the old Guzzi Lemans have aged, so too have I. Decades have been quietly passing by and like the old bikes I love my old body has a few parts that simply don't work as well as they used to. Sadly, unlike the bikes I love I can't simply buy new and replace the parts for my body. Oh well, the two old German blokes and I connected through broken English and a combined love of air cooled motorcycle twins. Both these guys rode BMWs. As we worked, the guys revealed that they had selfishly left their wives to the side to assist me with the bikes and wondered if my wife wanted to drink with their wives while the 'boys' worked on the bikes. This sounded like a pleasant and familiar scenario to me and at that moment I was reminded that Aussies, Germans, Italian, Dutch or whatever, we are all alike and our differences are so minute as to not matter but our similarities are so strong that we are all one. I love traveling and meeting people and Meg does too so I was confident she would be very pleased to spend the evening with a couple of German women who had crazy biker husbands drinking wine in the local café.
Our Hotel in Freudenstadt was beautiful like the people
I took the two women to our hotel while the guys stayed tinkering with my bike and I ran upstairs to give Meg the good news that I had arranged a play date for her with two likeminded German women who were also keen for a drink only to find Megan shivering and sweating in bed with a sever fever. Even the promise of alcohol, company and a German/Australian party of three was not going to persuade Megan to get out of that bed. I sadly had to go back downstairs and explain to the two German wives that my wife was not well and there would be no Aussie/German playdate tonight.
I went back to the two guys whose names now escape me and we continued to play with the bike until the end of our collective technical capacity and the limits of the side of the road tool box I carry caused us all to bid adieu. Despite the problems with the bike I enjoyed pleasant company with a couple of German guys and an old Guzzi in a town I had never heard of before in my life. I went to bed and set the alarm early so I could have enough time to push the Guzzi to the local ????? dealer before it would open.
Too familiar a site for this trip in the centre of Freudenstadt
Through all of this I did not feel alone, I had my German friends from the night before who helped with the bike, I had my other local friend Martin who had provided me with the local dealer's details and I had my great friend Teo Lamers on the other end of Whatsapp already in Mandello del Lario getting ready for the factory's 98th birthday celebrations. Since the demise of the bike I had been communicating with Teo through Whatsapp to get a real professional's opinion on what might be ailing my old lemans.
The next morning I tired myself out by pushing the bike to the dealer's shop a couple of kilometres. Thomas had not arrived at first so I left for a few minutes leaving the bike behind but when I returned Thomas, the mechanic who owned the Moto Guzzi Griso had pulled off the alternator cover and checked, this was serious. At this point I was so grateful for my friend Teo Lamers as despite Thomas' kindness he did not speak more than a few words of English. I called Teo and gave the phone to Thomas. Sure the crankshaft was turning with the starter motor but the camshaft was not turning. Oh dear had the valves dropped onto the pistons? Was the inside of the engine a bloody mess? What would we find in there when it finally came apart. I remembered that it turned fine when I turned the starter motor the day before but there would be no more turning the motor until the engine had been apart and reassembled. No need to make things any worse than they already are.
I should say at this point that I later learned that Thomas the mechanic who owned the Moto Guzzi Griso was late into work to look at my bike that day because it was a day off for him. He had arranged a couple of days off work to go racing in France. He only came in to look at my bike that day because he had received the call from Martin the night before.
How is that for a scenario, I just bumped into Martin a Guzzi aficionado a minute after my old Guzzi shat itself in an obscure town in the Black Forest in Germany. Within a couple of hours I had met two old bikers who like myself like to tinker with bikes and know just enough to get themselves into trouble and these guys gave up a hour and a half of their night in town to give a fellow biker a hand. Then the next day, the only guy in this German town who might know anything about a Guzzi postponed his racing trip to France to come into work and look at my old Guzzi on his day off. Both the biking and Guzzi communities are great networks to be part of and my life is better for associating in both the motorcycling and especially the international Guzzi communities.
Having been born 14 years after the end of the Second World War in Australia to a father who served in that war and with Uncles who fought against the Germans during the war, I have to admit that I was not always aware that Germans are such lovely and helpful people. It really makes you wonder what sort of propaganda and lies are required to get ordinary people to participate in wars with each other. Anyway, I digress….
Whatever was wrong with the engine, it was not going to be fixed today and it was not going to be fixed in Fruedenstadt by a Yamaha mechanic. After some messaging with Teo Lamers I decided to find a way to send the bike back to Nijmegen where I would arrange for TLM to rebuild the engine. In the meantime we wanted to attend the Moto Guzzi 98th birthday factory celebrations on the shore of Lake Como and if this party was going to be anything like the 95th party which I attended three years ago I did not want to miss it. I was also not going to let a blown up motor destroy our fun in Europe during our vacation so I located a car hire outlet in Fruedenstadt and I walked to the hire place where I found a very very helpful and pleasant lady who spoke English and who arranged an eco Opel Corsa as a replacement for the red lemans.
The Lemans Replacement Vehicle :-(
Now I realise that an eco Opel Corsa car is not replacement for a classic Moto Guzzi when touring Europe and attending the factory celebrations but at this point I was not able to be choosy and I was just grateful for the transport. We would take the car to Mandello for the party and then onto Paris to our apartment where we would return the car to Europecar. A deal was struck. That morning, Megan and I had determined that although she was sick and feeling very miserable that she had a slight preference toward feeling miserable in an eco Opel Corsa heading toward Mandello del Lario over feeling miserable inside a hotel room in an obscure German town.
Kriessern - A field where two weary travellers could nap.
What!!!!
We abandoned our previous plans which was to spend two more days on the back roads heading toward Mandello del Lario slowly. Suddenly those winding back roads lost their appeal in the eco Opel Corsa. We did however cross the Alps through the Spluga pass in this little beastie what a waste, the last time we rode that pass over the Alps, was on the black Moto Guzzi Lemans during 2016. Who would have thought it would come to this. Oh well we were on holidays in Europe and determined that these minor setbacks should not take that pleasure away from us and so we had a great time even with poor Megan's miserable condition.
Meg ‘dying’ in the car on the Spluga Pass (proof we did it in the Opel)
She did not want to get out of the car for this photo.
Italian and German Border on the top of the Alps. Just Stunning.
We made it to Italy.
We had arrived in Mandello del Lario a day early which was good for Megan as she just wanted to settle in one place now and sleep but there was a slight problem because although we had booked our accommodation in Mandello del Lario (it is a must to pre-book during the annual factory celebrations) our booking did not commence until the following day. This was the point when we met the loveliest family we have had the pleasure of meeting in years. Teo introduced us to Serafino and Marissa Valsecchi a fantastic couple and their three adult children Chiara, Danielle and Marko.
Serafino and Marissa are a couple about our age and although Serafino is now retired he was a factory mechanic at the Mandello del Lario Moto Guzzi factory for many years and during his time at the factory rose through the ranks to a level of seniority which caused the factory to send him all over the world representing the marque. Serafino went to the States during the George Bush era to work with the US military (navy) on experimentation with Moto Guzzi engines in drones. Pretty impressive technology for back in those days.
When Serafino and Marissa heard from Teo we were in town without accommodation and heard of our saga, they insisted we stay in one of their spare homes next door to their house. It was here that we had the genuine Italian family village experience. Although we were simply grateful to be able to sleep in the very clean house with a comfortable bed which has a view of Lake Como. Serafino and Marissa insisted that the experience was far more than this, we were to join the family for some meals and evening chats. We would be spoilt being offered food, coffees and every need one could have. I am sure this experience saved our marriage as Megan, my wife, is a very giving person also but as she was so very sick it was now my turn to give and I am not as good at giving when people are sick as Megan is but my inadequacy was completely masked by Marissa who spoilt Megan rotten each time Megan emerged from her sick bed.
The next day we moved from the Casa Valsecchi to our accommodation in the heart of Mandello at Piazza Italia which is ground zero for the factory celebrations. Despite the amazing location for our accommodation during the celebrations we kept going back to visit the Casa Valsecchi, such was the pleasure of their company and the strength of the bond that was building between us all. I should emphasise that this connection was building with the Valsecchis despite the minor problem that Megan and I don't speak a work of Italian and Marissa doesn't speak a word of English. Seraphino does speak quite a bit of English but was more content to let Teo Larmers who was ever part of this whole experience translate when body language, sign language or context was simply not enough. I love the way Europeans have had to learn to connect and communicate beyond language, a necessity on a continent which historically had thousands of languages and dialects.
The connection with the Valsecchis grew to the point that after our three days of accommodation had expired in the centre of town for the duration of the factory birthday that we moved back into Casa Valsecchi and for the rest of the week lived a simple beautiful village life with a family which understands the connections with family and community. We watched Serafino and Marissa watch over and direct their family which spans three generations. There is a nona who requires constant care and three adult children who live elsewhere but come home multiple times daily for meals snacks or sometimes just connections. The family is connected through love, care and even business. We wandered through their back yards which consist of a builder's yard for Daniele's building business and vegetables gardens producing food to the highest standards. At night we would eat the produce from Seraphino's and Marissa's gardens and at day we would admire the produce as it sat on the vine or in the ground. As if all this giving wasn't too much already but there was more. Too much more.
The socialising in this Village and beyond
Always laughing and having fun these two
From the moment we arrived in Mandello del Lario, our friend Teo Lamers ensured that the experience was nothing short of a fairy-tale experience. As if it wasn't enough that in 2016 Teo Lamers had organised along with the Moto Guzzi Club of Victoria for 48 Moto Guzzis to be temporarily exported from Melbourne to Holland where we would all ride down to the factories 95th birthday before dispersing to every corner of the European continent before returning back to Holland to have our bikes shipped home. I declared at that time that the 2016 Mandello trip was the best holiday of my life, it was six weeks of sheer pleasure. Here Teo was again orchestrating another amazing European adventure for both Megan and me for no reason other that we had just turned up at the same time as him.
As I mentioned earlier, we had arrived in Mandello del Lario a day too early to benefit from our accommodation with our bike in temporary storage in Fruedenstadt Germany and a stuffed engine. At this point Teo introduced us to Serafino and Marissa who gave us accommodation and somewhere to crash our first night.. While Megan slept, Teo invited me along to dinner at a local Italian pizza place where we ate a great meal and chatted all night with a group of Germans and local Italians. The meal was great and the company was better and sometimes they even spoke to me in English. Despite the language challenges, we connected and enjoyed each other's company. I sat beside Oscar who works at a local Moto Guzzi parts shop and Oscar was very generous with his company and often spoke English to me. Where necessary Teo looked after me translating from both German and Italian where absolutely necessary. We all went home happy and better for having spent time together.
The second day was spent in Seraphino's garage with Teo and Seraphino, here Teo and Seraphino generously assisted our friend Stephen Dornam whose bike (an old Moto Guzzi Convert) was in a sad state with worn rings and other parts. Seraphino and Teo generously gave their time for free installing new barrels, rings and reconditioning the heads for Stephen. When Steven left for Germany after the three day factory party it was on a much better bike thanks to the generosity of both Seraphino and Teo.
Serafino, Doriano and me with Doriano’s beautiful bike.
Me dreaming on Doriano’s bike
During this Thursday spent in Seraphino's garage there was a succession of visitors all day including the Valsecchi children, Doriano Sassi who is a very cool old Italian rocker who on that day had ridden up from further south on his personally built café racer based on a lemans 1000. Now in my circles to have a purpose built café racer bike is rare but not extremely rare, I even have one of my own that I am building based on a lemans 1000 but Doriano's build is extremely special because while Doriano's bike may on the surface look like other special builds, the number of specially hand made parts on Doriano's set his bike aside from others and make both Doriano and his bike special. I really enjoyed Doriano's company and on that account a treat was yet to come. Pieter Janssen also dropped in despite him and Yvonne both feeling very sick. It appears they had the same illness that was afflicting Megan. It was so good to catch up with Peter who stayed with us in Melbourne during January of this year and who is a very accomplished Guzzi racer here in Europe racing in Battle of the Twins and other series. Megan did emerge for an hour or two on this day but spent most of the day in bed recovering.
Pieter on Doriano’s bike
The meal at night for the Thursday was another special treat for me. While Megan recovered in bed, Teo took me to a restaurant for a meal which felt like it was at the United Nations because of all the different languages being spoken. I was surrounded by German, Dutch, Italian but I was the only native English speaker at the large group of around 50 guests. This night and location was special because although Mandello del Lario already sits high in the alps, the restaurant sits even higher. We started by driving up the mountain as far as we could until we had to abandon the car. From here we had to walk a few kilometres along steep tracks and steps until we arrived at a special place which was decorated for the Moto Guzzi celebration and attendance was only by invitation. Thanks Teo for a special night and thanks to all the other nations who attended and thanks the Italian chef who put on a magnificent spread and accommodated my Coeliac condition without being given prior notice.
Meg admiring this beautiful Italian village
On the morning of our third day in Mandello, Teo greeted me in the square early. It was the Friday and the first day of the three day party. Thanks to Teo, I would meet the Major of Mandello del Lario and the owners of the rare bikes that would be on display in the square for the duration of the three days. I would help these local owners of rare bikes set up their tents, I would mingle with them and do my best not to drool on their bikes. Teo and I would wander around to the old Foundry where Carlo Guzzi and others made the first Moto Guzzis. Because it was early and I got to go in with Teo I would spend a few moments alone on this most sacred of places for Guzzisti and feel the history and absorb its atmosphere. Here I would bump into Bill Finegan and other Australians who were staying in the accommodation above. I spent the day in this square mingling with the owners, their bikes and the myriad of people who came to admire. That evening I would dine at yet another restaurant with Angelino and Pino both of whom own many of the rare bikes on display in the screen along their wives, Teo, Steve Dornam and even Meg was starting to feel well enough to join us.
Teo and I walking to dinner in the mountains
So many steps and no way in by car.
Finally arrived at our destination high above Mandello del Lario for dinner
Food was excellent!
Megan and I had come to the factory party at Mandello del Lario hoping to be spectators and watch the proceedings as quiet onlookers but thanks to Teo we had become embroiled in the fabric of the event and had become part of the event itself. We no longer felt like spectators at the event but we now felt like part of the event itself.
The Saturday was when the event really hit its high, Friday could have been bigger but some early rain and dire weather predictions that never eventuated slowed the crowds but with a perfect late summer day, Saturday rocked. The square came to life with owners of the rare bikes and spectators there in force. We lunched in the café in the square with Teo and the owners of many of the rare bikes as well as their families, we were again part of the fabric of the event, now the owners of the rare bikes even knew us and we would rub shoulders with them and talk to them about their bikes and their experiences growing up in the town by the lake with the shadow of the factory. They would talk to us about the good things that Moto Guzzi had done and they would speak to us about the moments when the factory made bad decisions and their personal frustrations at those moments. We wandered down to the lake to look at the displays along there and later in the night watched the bands playing and the pole dancers dancing and the fireworks with their spectacular display over the lake.
During the day we met people from all nations, even Australia, and we helped some guys get parts for their old Guzzi which were required to get them home to Germany. It was great to be a part of this.
That other obligatory photo in Mandello that is not the red door.
Chillun’
At one moment we saw Martin from Fruedenstadt, the gussisti who had saved us when the bike broke down in his village in the Black Forest. Martin who had arranged for the Moto Guzzi owning mechanic to turn up at the workshop on his day off to take a quick look at our bike before declaring it dead. Martin who had arranged for the bike shop to provide us with storage for our bike until we could get it back to Mandello del Lario. The biggest joy was seeing Martin's face when I introduced him to Teo Lamers, the architect and original owner of TLM. Martin clearly held Teo Lamers of TLM in the highest regard and I was grateful to Teo who generously gave his time and energy to Martin. I photographed Martin with Teo and he came back later with his wife and son to get a picture of himself and his wife with Teo, Megan and me on his own camera taken by his son.
Megan and I tried to go to the factory Saturday but it was so pointless with the crowds being so large.
Me being reverent and in awe in the spiritual home of Moto Guzzi where it all began.
That sacred place.
A surprise around every corner in Mandello del Lario
The Sunday was wonderful again, Seraphino and Teo applied the finishing touches to Stephen Dornam's bike so it was ready for Steve to leave for Germany early the next morning. Teo, Steve, Megan whose health was improving and me were even able to go to the factory as the crowds were dying down. If you haven't been the factory is a wonderful collection of rambling old buildings full of years of history including the old 70s wind tunnel and, of course, the current production line. The day was topped of with a perfect home cooked meal from Seraphino and Marissa and this was the day we moved back into Casa Valsecchi as our original plans had us leaving for Paris on the Sunday but our plans had now changed……….
She started to emerge again! and of course the obligatory photo at the red door
What a place and what bikes!
Lots of socialising and frienship
Definitely feeling better
Lapping up the vibe in centro
Chatting about the bikes
She has wings.
The engine
You will recall that when the red lemans with the destroyed motor was left in Freudenstadt the plan was to ship the bike back to Holland and to arrange for TLM (the Guzzi specialists) to rebuild the motor and I no longer recall exactly when during the week these plans changed but change they did.
At some point during the week Teo arranged with Serafino to use Serafino's garage for Teo and Serafino to rebuild my engine. What would be required is for me to hire a van large enough to fit the lemans in the back then I would drive the van over the alps out of Italy into Germany and back again on the Monday. I travelled 1300 kilometres that day and that included an obscure mountain pass over the alps as a rock slide had blocked the Goddarddddd tunnel and I did not know this until I got there. The van I actually hired was large enough to fit for motorcycles in and was very large and although I am very experienced at riding motorcycles on the right hand side of the road I have not travelled anywhere near as many kilometres in a car and certainly not a larger van and judging the width of a van from the other side of the car is a challenge especially when it was a very large van on very narrow European Roads. Driving back through the alps at midnight through the obscure mountain pass in the van with its multitude of switchbacks and the two way track in many many parts being barely wide enough for the van on its own was an experience but I was buoyed in the realisation that my 2019 motorcycling tour of Europe was about become a reality again. I would deal with the eco Opel Corsa later, for now my focus was to assist Teo and Serafino with their ridiculously generous offer to rebuild my motorcycle engine.
Picking her up in Freudenstadt
Back in my possession
Imagine what was about to happen, I was about to watch Teo Lamers of TLM (Teo Lamers Motors) and Serafino a factory mechanic for motorcycles such as mine back in the 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond pull down my engine and rebuild it in Serafino's garage under his house almost in the shadow of the Moto Guzzi factory which had created my bike originally. I had to pinch myself as this experience in itself would be too much but all this would be done in time for Megan and me to continue our European adventure because this little town nestled high in the alps has all the parts and parts shops required to rebuild any Moto Guzzi engine. I didn't actually return on the Monday evening as planned because of the closure of the Goddard tunnel and the unscheduled drive over the tiny mountain pass but a couple of hours into the morning of the Tuesday I crept into bed beside Megan at Casa Valsecchi tired and happy.
Early inspection of the issues by these two amazing experts
Serafino and Teo getting started with the lemans. I ask who better in the world to rebuild your engine than these two old campaigners with their knowledge combined. I was so privledged
Down to this in no time
I woke up late Tuesday morning to find Teo and Serafino had taken the van back to Lecco and returned it on my behalf. They had also removed the red lemans from the back and placed it in Serafino's garage ready for the stripdown.
Oh Dear, this looks like the culprit
Now that’s just ugly
Teo oversaw the strip down and I was permitted to participate in this procedure. I was permitted to remove parts and participate actively in the 'tear-down'. The frame was separated from the engine and the engine was opened.
The aluminium filings were all through the engine even the crankshaft.
While I was trusted to participate in the dismantling, I was relegated to the role of observer and parts cleaner during the rebuild. Of course this role was the most appropriate for me in the presence of both Teo Lamers and Serafino Valsecchi. It was a joy to watch the two senior experts carefully and with such knowledge reassemble the motor. I was permitted to assist in placing the engine back into the frame after the engine assembly was completed. All of this work was undertaken in a single day including having to remove the timing gears and chain in order to purchase a slightly different cam timing gear. We were able to purchase all the parts we would need and swap parts where necessary from the parts shops located only minutes from Casa Valsecchi.
My highest and best use as Teo and Serafino rebuilt the engine
Yes, definitely my best use
Serafino and Teo at their combined best. What a team!
Dutch and Italian cooperation
I got trusted with a couple of minor jobs after I cleaned the aluminium filings out of the engine.
Another week in Mandello del Lario at Casa Valsecchi even after the bike was fixed
The sweet glorious moment when she rode around Lago di Como once more. Thanks forever Teo and Serafino.
It was now the Wednesday following the big factory party in Mandello and the old red lemans was now resurrected through the hands of these two craftsmen. There was nothing to stop Megan and me from leaving casa Valsecchi, Mandello del Lario and Italy to head to our Paris apartment to enjoy the planned holiday but for these two flanners we simply didn't want to leave our new friends and this beautiful village sitting on the edge of stunning Lake Como and nestled high in the European Alps.
Even though the red Lemans was again functioning and running better than ever we stayed with Teo and the Valsecchis for another week in this idyllic location because simply loved their company so much.
This week was spent each day visiting amazing and beautiful locations in Northern Italy while the nights were spent with Teo and the Valsecchis sharing stories of the history of the Moto Guzzi factory, shared experiences of raising children and discussions both deep and shallow. All of this done with a significant language barrier. It was the best week I have enjoyed in a very long time. We even watched the Moto GP held in nearby Monza on the Valsecchi's television.
Meg Modelling the new 85TT at the factory with a friend
I can't remember all of the really cool daytime activities during the week we stayed with the Valsecchi's after the motorcycle was repaired, but the first cool activity was a drive to see Doriano who is the very cool Italian rocker with the cafe racer mentioned earlier in this blog. I had been impressed enough with Doriano earlier when I saw his cafe racer build with its plethora of amazing special handmade parts but this was nothing compared to his beautiful village, gorgeous estate and the final touch which was a motorcycle collection showing his great taste and style. staestaouse \\ and the
Hanging out at the factory
Checking out the bikes
Connecting with friends despite language differences
Socialising every night with Guzzisti! :-)
Happy after a meal
Always fun at casa Valsecchi
Views of lake Como from everywhere
Doriano is the best tour guide ever.
Now that is a big fireplace!
Beautiful Arcihitecture, thank you Doriano
Italy at its best
Shade under the trees
La Primavera
Nice to have a rest
The boys in town
Serafino and his friend.
Nice stairs, made by Doriano, but also a good place to rest
Another meal
High in the Alps
Another meal
High in the Italian Alps
Our daily gelato at the Gelateria by the edge of Lago di Coma. Can’t wait to do this again.
Checking out Property in this beautiful village high in the Italian Alps
Beautiful old narrow Italian streets.
Just beautiful views everywhere
Last chats before leaving. So so sad to go.
Goodbyes
Almost ready to ride to Paris.
Ready, set go!
Lake Como to Paris
Lake Como to Paris is 1,000 kilometres by the A roads but we had planned to spend a week cruising the back road taking the long way and doing it slowly including another great pass over the alps through France and Switzerland. Well that was the plan but we simply did not want to leave Casa Valsecchi so we stayed until the last possible moment before we had to leave as we had some maintenance that needed to be done in the Paris apartment.
Fuel stop
We set out early in the morning from Lake Como with the bike laden, the engine running well, Megan's health returning and all the warm memories from a fantastic time with Teo and the Valsecchis. The bike was running well, the sun was shining in the perfect early Autumn weather and the air was windless. After an hours riding we stopped to stretch the legs and refuel and Meg said to me, let's just ride through to Paris today. 1,000 kilometres is a long way on a fully loaded motorcycle but our heads were in the right place and now that we had left the pleasant company in Mandello del Lario, we just wanted to be in Paris today to enjoy our apartment for a few days again this year.
Another Fuel Stop.
With Meg's suggestion, we 'opened the taps' on the bike cruised the A roads sitting on 150kph hour after hour. The roads were great and the scenery too. Riding through central Italy was delightful and crossing the Alps near Chammonix into France was like riding in heaven. We watched through our helmets and the miles passed by, we saw the alps coming and we rode up into them, we saw glaciers hanging in the mountains and then we left the alps behind moving into France. Our minds were clear and our bodies were in good shape as the roads were preparing to turn North to take us toward Paris when we stopped for petrol at a roadside stop about 75 kilometres before Bourg-en-Bresse about half way to Paris. At this stop I walked around the bike doing the usual inspection for a roadside stop when I noticed a great lump of tyre tread was missing from the bike. On closer inspection I found ten of these large patches of missing tread.
Oh dear! The bad news is....... The good news is I noticed before continuing to blast onto Paris. Thank goodness for a bit of old fashion tyre kicking.
There would be no blast through to Paris today. We had a great opportunity to practise our French asking locals where could we find the closest motorcycle dealer. It took us a couple of hours hobbling to the next town large enough to have a motorcycle dealer from whom we could purchase a tyre. This was Bourg-en-Bresse and we arrived minutes after the local motorcycle dealerships had closed.
Autumn in the South of France. :-)
Yep, its Autumn in Bourg-en-Bresse, France
Our room for the night was close to the workshop for repairs.
That probably explains why it didn’t want to start. It picked a very inconvenient moment to fail.
Roadside repairs.
The next morning I was knocking on their doors first thing. It would take yet a further day before a tyre of the appropriate size could be shipped from Lyon. How frustrating, I could have ridden to Lyon in a couple of hours if the tyre on the bike had been fine. A deal was struck and I should return at 2.00pm the following day to have the tyre fitted.
Being so keen to leave and get to Paris (five hour trips still ahead) like a true Anglo Saxon I arrived the next day at the dealership 90 minutes early in the hope of the dealer saying "well you are here early so we might as well put the tyre on now". But alas, this Anglo Saxon forgot he was in Southern Europe until he arrived at the dealership at 12:30 to a note on the door advising in French that the dealership had closed for its two hour lunch break.
So I waited, and while I waited a couple of Brits arrived in a campervan hoping to do some business at this Gallic motorcycle dealer but like me these Anglo Saxon campers hadn't factored in the Southern European tradition of slowing down to enjoy and savour the important middle meal of the day.
Needless to say the appointed time arrived and the tyre was repaired and I was on my way back to the hotel where I picked up Meg and we rode to Paris.
Waiting for the dealiship to open so I could get the new tyre.
Finally, le nouveau pneu. Or Il nuovo pneumatico
What a joy to arrive back at our apartment albeit only for two nights and yes we managed to purchase paint and undertake some maintenance and painting in that short time.
Home sweet home at last, albeit only for a couple of nights. Too too short!
The local cafe is soo good!
The morning walk up the steps to Sacre Coeur Paris
The Paris Street Art never Fails to Hit the Spot!
Happy to be at home and inside.
This is definitely our happy place in Paris. Can’t wait to get back
The third night was spent with our most favourite couple in all of France, Alain and Nadia, who were generous enough to permit us to stay with them in their guest room. We spent an evening at a restaurant sharing experiences and enjoying each other's company. The next morning we shared breakfast before saying our goodbyes and promising to catch up again next year.
Alain and Nadia, thanks so much for being you.
On se revoit bientôt
Soon we were away on our way through Northern France, Belgium and back through the Netherlands almost to Germany arriving in Nijmegen right back where we started.
Paris, Belgium and Netherlands, here we come to park the bike for another year.
Just love noticing Sacre Coeur when I look up our street. I makes me smile
Roadside stiop Saint-Ghislain, Belgium
Meg thought she lost her glasses while we were doing 150kph up the autoroute. They were lodged in this place for 2 hours of riding. Definitely buying a tatts ticket.
Yep, that’s where the glasses lodged for 2 hours of riding 150kph.
Ready to get back on the Moto Guzzi and ride to the Netherlands.
Quick stop Vilvoorde, Belgium.
Time to park up our baby for another year in Druten Netherlands.
Tucked away safe for another year. Thanks Jan. Little did we know a thing called COVID would enter our vocabulary and lives and the one year pause would end up being a three year pause!!! :-(
So what was the verdict! Was our holiday a great success! Was it a dismal failure!
The Bad
• Any similarity between the itinerary I prepared before the trip and the actual trip would have been purely accidental
• Our budget blew our by so much that I have no desire to ever count the cost
• Megan spent a good week and a half of the four weeks feeling very sick and weak
• Accommodation we had paid for went unused one night
• The engine on our motorcycle was completely destroyed
• We hired an uninspiring little eco car to travel a couple of thousand kilometres instead of riding our classic Italian motorcycle through the European Alps with all the fun that inspires.
• I had to hire a van to pickup the motorcycle and drive it 1,300 kilometres during a day and a night to get the bike to Mandello del Lario after the engine 'shat itself'.
• Our back tyre delaminated itself half way between Lake Como and Paris in an obscure little place and three days to get back on the road
• We didn't get to enjoy our apartment for the two weeks we had planned in Paris
The Amazzzzzing!!!!!!
If you look at the holiday through the above lens, it doesn't sound that great but that's not how Meg and I saw the month. We saw:
• A holiday that was organic, unpredictable giving the us the opportunity to triumph over challenges and to have the most incredibly positive experiences.
• We got to live with the most amazing Italian family in a small town on the edge of Lake Como for a week and half and make friends with them and their beautiful community.
• We got to attend the 98th celebrations of Moto Guzzi factory which has for 98 years existed beside the idyllic Lake Como and created a beautiful tradition.
• We got to see two motorcycling masters of Moto Guzzi dismantle and reassemble our classic old Moto Guzzi Lemans engine when we really needed it.
• We got to experience the best of people in a small German Village in the Black Forest when we needed it most.
• I got to cross the European Alps five times which is always a pleasure.
• We got to spend a couple of days in our Paris apartment
• We got to spend an evening and a morning with Alain and Nadia just out of Paris a true highlight of the trip
• We got to spend a few days relaxing with Jan both at the beginning and end of the holiday. Time with Jan is always special.
There was so much more that was good on this holiday but I am getting sick of writing now
I won’t apologise for the photos of us eating because that’s what Meg and I do, we ride and eat our way across Europe each year. The food is so good and Jan’s company is just the best.
If you’ve never seen a functioning traditional Dutch windmill then you are missing out. Thanks Jan for this amazing adventure
Even the old gears are made from timber. The Dutch were so advanced!
The size of the propellers!!
After packing the motorbike away for its winter hybination, I remembered I had left my helmet at Jan’s. What a perfect way to get around Holland in early spring. I hired a bike and rode along the edge of the dykes. It was beautiiful.
The last supper in Europe 2019
Train from Nijmegen to Schipol Amsterdam for our flight home
Cheeky!
The black and white captures the mood as we are waiting the the train to take us home. Our next night’s ‘sleep’ would be in a plane.
The last hurray at Schipol airport Amsterdam. Its about to end. :-(
