2009 - ZXR400 Turkey and back

[olionel]

Posted: 22:44 - 23 Sep 2010 Post subject: 2009 - ZXR400 Turkey and back
Hi;

I was young and crazy last year so I thought I'll ride to Turkey. I was being lazy and not uploading stuff...

My set off date coincided with a mates set off date to overland Australia so we set off together, and I returned alone (boring) so not many photos from return journey.

Route: Manchester - Brighton (stayed at friends) - Dover - Dunkerque - Brugge (for lunch) - Cambrai - Chamount - French Alps near Pontarlier - Interlaken did Grimsel, Furka, Oberalp and day later Stelvio and another pass - Venice (met up with mates) - Florence - L'Aquila - Bari - Brindisi - ferry to Igoumenitsa - Stokinas - Ecebat (Turkey) - Izmir (Turkey)

Route back:
Ferry from Cesme (nr Izmir) to Ancona - Aosta - Chamonix (went up the cable car to see the white mountain) - St. Quantin - Calais - Brighton - Manchester

https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y113/mr-scientist/3.jpg
Switzerland,

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and again

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You'll know where this is if you've been there

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spot the odd bike out!!!

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around Stelvio

https://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y113/mr-scientist/8.jpg
Florence in the distance

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Venice across the sea...


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giving it beans....

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Greece

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Greece

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Greece

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Greece

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Greece

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Turkey border..

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Ecebat (nr Galippoli)

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20 minute local ferry, Ecebat - Canakkale (you don't have to cross at the Bosphorus to get to Anatolia)

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Around Bergama towards Izmir

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Journey Back, Mt Blanc

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....

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mmmm hay!!!

Also kudos to my mate, he made it to Australia about a month ago through Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia, East Timor, and Australia and rode to Sydney from Darwin... he has a much more epic tale to tell....
____________________
1989 CG125 - Childhood Sweetheart (she got kidnapped by baddies)
1998 ZXR400 - Teenage Love (lasted three years, then she turned lesbian and left me)
2001 XRV750 - Wife Material (still getting to know her but head over heels in love)

[rob_scott92]

Sweeeeet man, thats a fair trek!

how did the bike cope? Any issues on the way there/back?
____________________
First bike: 1982 Suzuki Gs 125 'The beast MK1' > 1988 Honda Cb 350's' FOR SPORT! (Good ol' oil burner!) > 2001 Suzuki Sv 650 's' Made it out of the 80's! > 1997 Honda Cbr 600f :p

[SirEdward]

Italian landscapes sure are sexy. Love the Alp photos.

P.S. How did the bike handle with all that luggage on the back and what was the weight of said items?
____________________
"Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.

Pardot Kynes in "Appendix I: The Ecology of Dune""

[olionel]

Bike did good. She did gooood

Erm, up in high altitudes she was gasping for air and having ashtma attacks (so a lot of first and 2nd gear riding through the uphill tight bends. Downhills were very very hard on my wrists. All I wanted at the time was a 250cc crosser with massive handlebars so I could whizz round those super thight bends... the handling was OK once you got used to it. Had oil change and carb balance in Turkey, stayed there three weeks and rode back.
____________________
1989 CG125 - Childhood Sweetheart (she got kidnapped by baddies)
1998 ZXR400 - Teenage Love (lasted three years, then she turned lesbian and left me)
2001 XRV750 - Wife Material (still getting to know her but head over heels in love)

[Grazoid]

Great shots - and proof all you need to do is get on a bike and ride

Biggest issue would have been the hairpins as you said, you do need a good set of bars to lever through some of them... that and the ability to turn your head 180 degreess to see into them
____________________
Gaffer Tape is like The Force.

It has a dark side and a light side and holds the Universe together!

[Ben_m]

Nice one mate well done. How long did it take you to get to turkey?
____________________
Yamaha Fazer FZS600 2003 ¦ Peugeot 206 GTI 180BHP 2003 ¦ BMW 323i SE

[Devans]

Awesome

I got back a week ago from a week long trip to Geneva, i literally did all my planning etc 2 days before i left

Wish i could go as far as you and go to Italy, that can be my next trip though once the weather picks up

Love the pics, glad you had a good time

[olionel]

It took 17 days to get to Turkey as we messed around a lot and literally ate our way through Europe... on the way back though from Ancona it took me three days, riding alone I found it a bit dull and just didn't get off the bike.. just rode home.

I recently did another trip about two weeks ago, again similiar route but after Interlaken and a couple of passes hooked back in to southern France and did the Nice - Avignon (cote d'azur) area for a week (stayed in Nice for three days, wicked city and if you ride like the locals (with unloaded bike) it's brilliant fun... I wasn't brave enough to keep up with the crazy Paris ringroad riders though.. scary stuff) and headed back up North, nice roads there too. Did it on a Fazer 600 this time (borrowed it off a friend) with the g.f. on the back. Much better than the 400.
____________________
1989 CG125 - Childhood Sweetheart (she got kidnapped by baddies)
1998 ZXR400 - Teenage Love (lasted three years, then she turned lesbian and left me)
2001 XRV750 - Wife Material (still getting to know her but head over heels in love)

[pepperami]

[olionel]

yeah, big cities are good, i.e. Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara. Turkey seems to have three kinds of bikers,

the scooters the 125-250s that people commute, work, carry water, chickens, families on.

The people who actually like biking and have clubs meets rideouts, offroading etc.

Then the posers on the sportsbikes who won't wear helmets as people won't recognise them (they sure won't when they're dead).

There are recommended garages for Istanbul on horizonsunlimited I think. Worth a look. Always a good idea I guess stay and watch what they're doing to your bike.

some info here https://www.ommriders.com/t/01/
https://www.ommriders.com/t/01/sub.jsp?p=3742
____________________
1989 CG125 - Childhood Sweetheart (she got kidnapped by baddies)
1998 ZXR400 - Teenage Love (lasted three years, then she turned lesbian and left me)
2001 XRV750 - Wife Material (still getting to know her but head over heels in love)