This is about our trip to the Mosel in Germany (September 2011) and as you might have gathered from the picture we went in our sidecar outfit. The bike is a 1979 Suzuki GS850 that I have had from new. The chair is a Headingham Sports which I fitted 5 years ago.Having seen the weather forecast was good for the next 10 days or so, we packed our bags and set off with little or no plans other than to get to Germany and enjoy ourselves.
We arrived at Rotterdam and decided to head for Bernkastel-Kues. Weather was fantastic and everything was great until just after our first petrol stop. The bike decided it was going to run on 2 of the 4 cylinders. We pulled in and could see nothing obvious. I had hoped to get to Bernkastel for lunchtime but because on ongoing electrical problems we never arrived until 4.30pm. Luckily I had brought a few spares with me but some were only lasting 45 minutes! Having used them all up getting to Bernkastel we decided to stay in the area and have some more spares sent out in case we needed them to get home. As it turned out we had no further problems. I can only guess it was a bad batch of spare condensors that were the problem.
The weather was fantastic every day and it is the only motorcycle holiday I have ever had in over 30 years in which it did not rain once. The mornings started off with a mist hanging over the river valley but this would clear by 11am. By the afternoon temperatures were around 26C. Pretty good for late September. We decided that to make the most of the weather we would go for a walk in the mornings and take the outfit for a run around in the afternoons. Evenings were spent researching the local wines and food.
The Mosel Valley is a very scenic area and everyone is very welcoming to motorcyclists. As you will see from some of the photos Bernkastel is a popular stop for those on two wheels. I can highly recommend visiting. There is lots of accommodation but the weekends can be busy so you might need to book if you want to stay in the old town of Bernkastel itself.
Photo of us parked outside the accommodation. I spent the morning fiitting the spares that I had with me in the hope of curing the ignition problem on the bike. I changed the coil, points and fitted the last spare condensor. A condensor would normally last 10 years. These stopped working after 45 minutes! I asked a friend to post more out to me.
Parked on a downhill slope my passenger was a bit concerned when I got off to take these photos. Really great views from the small roads on the valley sides in amongst the vineyards.
We were just about to leave when one of the many river boats came in to berth. These regularly go up and down the river offering short and longer trips.
With the bike still running ok we ventured a bit further from our base. Here we visit Punderich. We parked under the chestnut trees to sit out of the sun and were bombarded with falling conkers.
This morning we walked up to the Burg. Although it looks like a ruin there is a cafe/restaurant inside. There is also another restaurant half way up the hillside with great views overlooking the river and town.
At last the spare electrical parts have arrived. We had to extend our stay by an extra day for these to arrive. We hoped that we could now get home ok under our own steam and not on the back of a recovery vehicle..