Modern Vespa

Over the weekend I rode the BMW from Coquelles in northern at France at 1am to a Paege Toll Booth around 60 miles from Bordeaux and back again in 15 hours with an hour or so spent static while fueling the bike and feeding myself.

I rode through 17 sets of roadworks and only set off 3 forward facing flash assisted radar guns while trying to maintain at an indicated 85mph ( probably closer to 80)

If you ignore the static hour the average is 71.43mph but including its 66.67mph.

When I arrived back at the hotel at 15.30 I realised that I my trip was 5 miles out so I got re kitted and road for another 20 minutes to make up the difference.

The tank range was about 225 miles between refills which allows you to ride for for around 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 hours.

I think that I spent the same on fuel as I did in tolls but ho hum, riding at night at speed on a foreign highway early in the morning is my is my thing so I have no regrets.

Yes the ride was supposed to be of 1500 miles but a day before I left for France I got food poisioning so rather than put my tender guts to the test I chose to attempt to break my record over a 1000 which I did by 2 1/2 hours.

The only downside was making the same mistake twice was which entering an unlit exit ramp too fast but lucky for the RT has stunning brakes so a malady was avoided. Concrete dividers are quite unforgiving I've noticed.

Oh, and about 30 miles away from the finish the A16 to Calais got shut due to an awful accident so I was directed off to pick up the old coastal road which cost me a fair amount of time.

I'm not sure what's next to tick off the list.

Totally beyond amazing and my comprehension! Nicely done.

How about two weeks in the Florida keys next Feb. tickling lobster, catching mangrove snapper and shrimping under the full moon.

Do one on the Guzzi!
How far away is lake Como?

Oddly enough I might visit Daytona for the 24 hour next February as I did the 500 this year.

Lake Como is about 610 miles away from the French coast but it would be torture on the Guzzi as after two hours of riding at speed your neck really starts to ache as the screen is pretty pointless and your right hand cramps up.

I doubt that that bike will ever leave the county.

On the Sunday I went out for a quiet ride to make the best of the day but I quickly got caught behind a train of 20 cars who had all got stuck behind a slow moving Camper Van.

When I finally got chance to over take I set off a 4th fixed radar gun while riding into an empty village at 40 mph.

I swiftly returned to the hotel.

I was actually going to suggest a nap after all that…

More long distance travel booked in for July so I doubt that's going to happen but it's a good suggestion.

I'll be back in Fla in January probably.

this is incredible

It's not bad I guess but I think that there's still more to come.

I could try it again on this bike and aim for a faster time or go looking for a bike with a bigger tank such as a GS but that just feels a little excessive.

I think that they have at least a 300 mile range, which I'll admit would be helpful, but is it worth it?

I'm a little annoyed that I did this ride on a Kymco 400 X-iting a few years back and lost my nerve after hitting a fox or dear corpse on the stretch close to Le Mans then turned around at the same Toll Booth but the clocks under read by so much I called it a day at around 900 miles. I probably covered a thousand without realising it.

An amazing accomplishment Bill Dog. I'm not surprised the bike did it but the ride speaks volumes about your focus, fortitude, endurance and mental attitude. I'm truly astonished by your abilities to do this 11 times and on different bikes. You must be getting younger with time.

Regarding fuel stops. I'm guessing you made 3 or 4 fuel stops. If hte bike got 300 miles to the tank, you'd have one less fuel stop. It's not cost effective to get a new bike just to save a single gas stop. Unless of course you want to get a new bike in which case cost is irrelevant.

Thanks for the report.
Miguel

I brimmed the tank the night before just so that I got an early start and I filled it 4 times after that.

According to BMW the bike holds 6.8 gallons but I still carried some extra just in case the pumps were dry.

I'm not sure what's next. The intended 1500 is still tempting but beating this time, albeit only by 30 minutes would interest me far more.

I made the mistake of thinking to myself what good time I was making and then of course the road got closed.

As I picked up the diversion I rode over a bridge which looked down over the highway I was just on and the accident looked awful. Air Ambulance and all.

I had to remind myself that it could have been me down there so trying to keep the speed up was no longer important but I still set off another bloody radar gun.

I'm pretty certain that I'll stick with this bike for the next one as it pretty much does everything well and I really can't warrant another.

Question, how do you get bikes in different countries?

All the bikes and scooters that I've ridden in the UK and Europe have been my own.

All the rest have been borrowed machines.

I thought the tank of your Beemer was close enough to that capacity? (Okay, maybe not Dakar-capacity, but pretty big nonetheless.)

The RT1100RT range is about 225 plus and the GS adventure is about 300 I believe.

Even I with my decadent lifestyle I can't justify it.

You'd think that it would it be easier to attempt these things on the Autobahn but when cars are coming up behind you at 150 mph plus, you start to get a little hesitant about overtaking.

I should be in Stuttgart in June but I'm still going to take a route through France to get there just because it safer.

French Toll Roads are empty between 12.00 and 6am in the morning and the only thing that may slow your pace are the booths themselves.

I crudely tape my toll tag to the screen which solves the issue of searching for cash after each section and that keeps your wheels turning.