This trip has been along time coming for me but I have only just been able to fit it in.

I am missing my life in Thailand and my partner, Ohmmy, but I can not go back to BKK yet due to one thing and another so what better way to spend my time than to ride into Europe for a few weeks or so before flying back out to Thailand for Christmas and New Year.
For those of you who have read my other ride report you will know that I rode around Northern Thailand and Laos for 30 plus days starting the middle of December last year. Well I fell in love with the place and the people. Apart from about 5 weeks in the UK I have been there since I did my trip.

So while Ohmmy is working at the Restaurant I will be galavanting around on Arrunya in Europe. Hope she is up to the task! (the bike that is). Mind you saying that, it will be damn sight warmer in BKK than the Balkans at this moment in time!

I was going to start doing the ride report from the Hull to Zeebrugge Ferry just in case!?……..but whilst I am sat just waiting to go now (tomorrow) I thought I would start it now.
My return is not due till the 05 Dec 2015 so no great rush. Just under 8 weeks of travelling, awesome. This was booked direct through the P&O site
Hull To Zeebrugge | Overnight Crossing With Cabins | P&O Ferries - UK

Wayne

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The rough plan is to ride to Dusseldorf from Zeebrugge and take the overnight Motorail from Dusseldorf to Vienna.
Booked through,
ÖBB travel portal
I am a bit disappointed with them as I messaged them 4 days ago now with reference to booking on the day in case my plans changed...as of yet I still have not had a reply. So I will be turning up on speck and hopefully getting on.

Once there I am intending on riding south through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia (so I can visit some places which I saw in 1993/1997) then if I have time and weather permitting I will go into Macedonia ( I was there in the late 90’s also)


I have sorted out some cold/wet weather gear so I am hoping that all will be good. An old saying from my military days….Any fool can get cold and wet, the art is to stay warm and dry. We will see and time will tell!

I will be hoping to keep this report live as I did with the last one but the wifi might be lacking some days as I could be in the middle of nowhere in my tent doing a good impression of Scott of the Antarctic,

I have logged on to the Camp in my Garden site but the further South you get the less there is, so wild camping may be in order
Quiet, friendly and affordable garden campsites - Campinmygarden.com

Some of the kit I will be taking along which I have bought for the trip

Vango 3 man tent, I like the room and only a few grams more
https://www.outdooraction.co.uk/tent...nt-pd-7206.php

Treat Lite2 Motorcycle comfort seat from a pressure care specialist.
New Treat Lite2 Motorcycle Comfort Seating Range

Dragonfly Multifuel Stove
MSR Stoves


The above 3 I have placed on the Equipment review Board and will update as and when

Ortlieb Rack Pack, bright yellow, size XL, 89ltr
Ortlieb Rack Pack Travel Bag - X Large | Evans Cycles

Heidenau K60 tyres, taking them along and will change in Ljubljana, not much tread left on my Enduro 3 Sahara tyres
Heidenau K60 & K60 Scout

I was going to buy a Therma Rest mat to sleep on but I don’t have an endless stream of cash now I am networking so I am taking my Army Roll Mat, used them for years so another 8 week won’t make much difference!

My sleeping bag is a Softie 12, had it a few years now but I know its a good bag.

I am also taking Softie Cold weather top and bottoms, again Military issue, but I know they work. They weigh nothing and compress in stuff sacks so don’t take up room. Thermal top and bottoms are packed too. Ummm, more layers than an onion springs to mind

I have the RST Pro Series Adventure suit and a Shoei Hornet helmet. On my feet I am wearing the Forma Adventure Waterproof Boot, But taking a pair of Sealskinz just in case. haha

Electronics carried :-

GoPro Hero 4 Black
Apple 5s, which I will be using for photos also
Samsung Duel Sim phone (which is my Thai phone) so I can use local Sim Cards
Mac Air 13" (which I had on my last trip)
Garmin Montana 600 with the OSM maps on the SD card

I also bought this so I can change my Montana on the go and also charge my phone via the USB slots, tried it and it works a treat.
Buy GARMIN High Speed Universal USB GPS Sat Nav Charger – with In-Car Connection | Free Delivery | Currys

I have mounted my Go-Pro on the side of the bike as it will not go on my helmet due to the venting ridge in the middle top. The upside to having it where it is is that I can see when its turned on/off and recording. I just hope the pad with remain stuck on the Acerbis, it was my last one.


The bike is now packed and good to go, less the Mac Air which I will pack in the morning


Roll on tomorrow

Wayne

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Hi Wayne - good to see youre alive and kicking. Your bike looks all good and ready to go...

I wish you a interesting and safe journey down to the Balkans although it sounds cold down there.

Thailand is much hotter you know.... ;-)

I am in Thailand right now waiting for my bike being shipped over from Dili - East Timor to Darwin - Australia. Will fly down to pick it up next week. Had more than 3 months around in Indonesia and wow what a country! The traffic is absolutely horrible though.

Didnt really like the Heidenaus, very stiff, not very grippy, little if any feedback and in the end they rear had huge cracks around the knobbies after 12-13 k kms and I had to replace them. But I see that many ither likes them however...

Good luck mate!

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Hi Kurt

Thanks
I bet that was an adventure and glad to hear you are ok my friend. You go steady in Oz and have a great time. I am looking forward to it. Also looking forward to the warmer climate in BKK when I get there for Christmas.
Hope the bike is going ok?
It seems a life time away since our ride out in Laos earlier this year.

You take care and enjoy it

Wayne

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G'day Wayne,
I'm in Georgia until the end of October and then heading west so keep an eye out for an old bloke on a DRZ400S coming towards you in Greece Croatia etc.

Sounds good mate, I am going to try and keep the report live so you will know where i am, or PM me when you get in the area, would be good to meet for a coffee//ride

ride safe

Wayne

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Day 1 Balkans Trip

Set off from my home town and ride to Hull ready to catch the ferry to Zeebrugge, Not a long journey, its about 27 miles. Due it being an evening sailing I did not have to set off too early. I got fed and watered before I set off. I also have a breakfast booked on the boat so I have a good feed in me before my ride to Dusseldorf to catch the Motorail to Vienna.
After giving OBB grief on my first post I eventully got a email from them this morning apologising for the late reply, anyway to cut a long story short I booked over the phone and paid 174 Euro (£129) for a single journey from Dusseldorf to Vienna. Thats for me in a 4 bunk shared compartment and Arrunya on the flatbed. Hope she will be ok I am more bothered about my kit coming off?!

The bike is quite heavy and I do not even have a full tank yet. Also the front end is quite light. Maybe a full tank of fuel will sort that? I will be glad when I get my new tyres on in Slovenia then that will lower my Ortlieb bag down a bit and I can also bring it a bit further forward.


Setting off, courtesy of my mother


The start mileage


Waiting to check in


Waiting to board


The Room, hope I don't have to share!

Thats all for now, catch you all in Europe

Wayne

Oh yeah and I forgot to add...I have spilt coffee down the front of my Grey 2014 Donington HUBB meeting t-shirt and I don't exactly have the biggest wardrobe of clothes with me ,great start and we have not even set sail yet

Wayne

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Have a goodun mate .....was there last year

Thanks Phil
Just got to Düsseldorf, waiting to get the train to Vienna


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk while having a cold

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Mind these


And hope its a bit drier

Cheers Phil

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Day 2 Balkans Trip

Well what a day. It started out with a big boys breakfast, full fry up, fruit, tea, fruit juice. Just what I needed to get me through the day. Getting off the Ferry was ok.


Leaving Hull






Waiting to Disembark

SatNav set and I was off on the Autobahn towards Dusseldorf. The weather was cloudy but there was no rain. Little did I know that 50 miles down the road the heavens were to open, haha, the first leg in mainland Europe and I am getting drenched. Oh well it was a good time to check out my gear. So I stopped at the nearest petrol station, filled up Arrunya with some much need juice and put on my wet weather gear comprising of an all in one rubber romper suit and some gortex military issue over mittens. It was put through its paces for the next 100 miles….and it worked a treat, so now I know I can stay dry…..bonus

However the ride was not very comfortable due to having the tyres on the bike, there was no room to move about on the seat. Not the best idea I had for this trip.

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When I got to Dusseldorf I found the Hauptbahnhof ( train station), once I was happy with that I went on to find the motorcycle shop where I wanted to go and look at one of the Enduristan tank bags. Whilst I was there I sweet talked them in to putting my new tyres on. They said no at first as they only fit tyres which they order in. But I was buying the tank bag on the proviso they fitted the tyres. Job done….tyres fitted, new tank bag on and more room on the bike.
I ended up buying the 3S
https://www.motopabst.eu/index.php?np=164


Getting the new tyres



Then it was back to the station, when I got there, which was at around 1715hrs I went to the information desk, they were helpful to the extent they told me where to go on a map and that I had to be there for between 1800 and 1900hrs. Great, that meant that I had time for some food and a coffee, so currywurst and a slice of pizza with a coffee it was to be. Very good indeed.




At the station, spot the coffee and pizza

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Then the fun began, OBB (the Austrian Train Company) do not have an office in the Train Station so you have to deal with DB to find out what is going on. The information desk told me where to go and what time to be there so off I went. I got to where they told me to be, no one there, so I hung around till till about 1915hrs then rode back to the Main part of the station. There is a information button to press so you can speak to someone which is situated at the DB Auto Hug, (where they load the vehicles) so I kept ringing and the bloke on the other end kept hanging up on me as he spoke no English and my German is a bit rusty, he just was not interested in helping me at all. So back at the main station, i went back to the information desk and they had changed shift, haha just my luck, the bloke they was not interested apart from telling me where I should be, which was where i had just come from. At this moment in time I was starting to have a sense of humour failure, all I wanted was a bit of help and no one gave a toss.
So I went back outside and thankfully there were a couple of DB security guards stood outside talking, so i ask them if they could help me, with my bit of German and his bit of English he got me sorted out.
Time for another coffee before going back round to the Auto Hug. When I got round there it was about 2015hrs and there was someone there this time. Got the bike on the train and found my carriage. It took me two trips to get all my stuff of the bike and in to my compartment. I had to take everything off except my panniers.
But anyway all is sorted and I am on the train on my way to Austria as I am typing this. There is no restaurant car but you can get tea and coffee. But on the plus side I have got my compartment to myself
Its been a long wet and wind swept day but all in all a good one. Time for a drink, a sleep then wake up in Austria.


Waiting to board the train


My compartment

Wayne

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Nice one mate , hope the weather picks up at the other end

We had a bit of drizzle in Slovenia