General topics » Just got back !

Just arrived back in Blighty after 2850 miles around Europe in 2 weeks well 12 days as I came back 2 days early. I would like to say thank you to everyone who provided advice before I left as I had no issues other than the pillion wife who got a bit rattled at times but all is well now. Managed to take in 7 countries, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Netherlands.

The bike performed well apart from the oil filler cap leaking for the first 2 days but then stopped, the engine got a bit hot and lumpy in Italy with 31 degree heat but it wasn't the heat in Italy that bothered me, it was the lunatic drivers who sit within an inch of your back wheel at 130 km/h , I made the mistake of showing my displeasure at one driver who subsequently tried to side swipe me.

There was / still is an issue and it might be familiar to those of you who carry a pillion on a regular basis that the rubber on the pillion footrest started coming off on the mounting side, I saw the same thing on an RT model whilst I was there, if I am to keep this bike I will need to look to see if there is a better alternative to the BMW part.

I too have had horrendous experiences of riding in Italy. The level of competitive behaviour, tail-gating, sudden swerving to gain a place etc. was very dangerous and after my last two-wheeled foray there, I swore never to do it again. The only thing that I would say is that as the Italian car drivers try to kill you, they usually do it all with good grace, a cheery wave and a smile.

Quite different from the (thankfully) occasional English psychopath who tends to snarl with genuine hatred and determination to deliberately exterminate you. In England these are normally pretty rare these days but you do see the odd one here and there.

PS. Nothing against Italians in general, just some of the loony drivers. Just sayin'.

In Italy they expect vehicles to move over if they are going faster, unlike this country where people hog the fast lane. Also in Italy when you are going round a roundabout, if you look over at waiting traffic they then think its OK to pull out. Best not to look at them, then they wont pull out.

Zitat von firebird1 im Beitrag #1

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Just arrived back in Blighty after 2850 miles around Europe in 2 weeks well 12 days as I came back 2 days early. I would like to say thank you to everyone who provided advice before I left as I had no issues other than the pillion wife who got a bit rattled at times but all is well now. Managed to take in 7 countries, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Netherlands.

The bike performed well apart from the oil filler cap leaking for the first 2 days but then stopped, the engine got a bit hot and lumpy in Italy with 31 degree heat but it wasn't the heat in Italy that bothered me, it was the lunatic drivers who sit within an inch of your back wheel at 130 km/h , I made the mistake of showing my displeasure at one driver who subsequently tried to side swipe me.

There was / still is an issue and it might be familiar to those of you who carry a pillion on a regular basis that the rubber on the pillion footrest started coming off on the mounting side, I saw the same thing on an RT model whilst I was there, if I am to keep this bike I will need to look to see if there is a better alternative to the BMW part.

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Zitat von firebird1 im Beitrag #1

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rubber on the pillion footrest started coming off on the mounting side, I saw the same thing on an RT model whilst I was there, if I am to keep this bike I will need to look to see if there is a better alternative to the BMW part.

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When you say you are using pegs from the K1300S, is that rider or pillion pegs, because it's the pillion pegs I'm interested in, I think it's the way as a pillion you you mount i.e. all your weight on one peg and then pivoting to get your leg over has torn the rubber away from the peg, I had to resort to zip ties to keep the rubber on.

Three of the four rubber peg covers on my bike are tearing with about 14k miles.