Touring in the 1950s - time for tea!

[G]

Link stolen from visordown.

https://www.go-faster.com/SS100.html

[Snodvan]

Brilliant!!
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04 (UK Reg) BMW F650cs, but really 02 first Reg in Holland

[Bendy]

Good read

I like the story about his dad trying out the Ducati.

[reddeviljp]

Great photography, great bikes and top touring! All round looks a superb trip and a little bit of social history. Well done, that man!

[andy_uk]

Wow!
Thanks for sharing that - it made for a really interesting read.
I also loved the bit about your dad and his 'ton'... Brilliant!!!
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Aprilia Classic 125, GS500E, ER5-A1, ER5-C4, ER6 & an XJ6 project frame...

[G]

Note it's nothing to do with me specifically, just sharing the link I found .

[andy_uk]

Ah yes... if I was a little more awake I'd have seen the "Link stolen from visordown. " bit
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Aprilia Classic 125, GS500E, ER5-A1, ER5-C4, ER6 & an XJ6 project frame...

[Dilyan]

Priceless! Must have been one hell of an adventure! Back when different countries were actually different, unique and surprising. When a gallon of petrol costed less than a bottle of coke.
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Current: 2007 VFR800; Ex: 2001 YZF600R Thundercat
Škoda Octavia (yes, a taxi driver)

[neatbik]

Loved reading that, and how cool were they..? Suits and ties, brewing up some tea - Thats how everyone should tour.

[Slacker24seve...]

The vintage bike trust I do bits and bobs for has one of those Brough sidecar outfits. Its a very, very special bit of kit - certainly the sort of thing I'd like to take around Europe.

I wonder if I can borrow it?
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Triumph Daytona 675 track bike + girlfriend's Honda Hornet 600
Selling a hack/winter bike for less than a grand? PM me.
Banger rallies are ace

[Berk]

Thank you for linking that post, it's really very interesting. I'm now trying to work out whether I dare email my nan a link to it for my granddad to look at. First instincts say yes, he'd find it really interesting (once he worked out how to scroll down the page..), second instincts say he'd end up boring the closest person (my nan) with tales of his time stationed on the Austria Italy border after the war.

As I really like my nans cooking, I'll wait 'til I'm over next and take the bore for myself, like any good grandson should.

[michael j]

Brilliant, really enjoyed that.

[stinkwheel]

Mind you, it does go to show the rose tinted spectacles people look at the old brit bikes with. You all read that and want one when that triumph is clearly rubbish.

A brand new bike, owned and meticulously maintained by a skilled mechanical engineer. Head off three times for a full rebuild and sent back to the factory twice, two sets of valves and guides, then a bottom end failure requiring new mains and piston then the charging system packed in. All by 16k miles. It looks like it spent a fair chunk of its first year out of the factory in bits in the workshop.

I have expressed the oppinion before that British motorcycles always were unreliable pieces of crap and that people look back at them through a fuzzy lens of nostalgia. This would seem to bear out this oppinion.

I bet Geoffrey Gander was sick to the back teeth of the thing, it's probably why he kept the diary. Imagine, you spend what equates to four months wages for a working class man on a motorbike and it's broken down so badly it has to go back to the factory three times in the first 18 months of ownership for major engine rebuilding work.

I'm surprised he didn't put a match in the tank.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[ms51ves3]

Thanks for sharing G.

I want a Triumph now, but a modern one after Stinkwheel's post

[gorillaonabik...]

Beautiful. Thanks for posting.

[mistergixer]

Very interesting read.

My Dad often regales us with tales of his 2-wheeled European tour in the 60's. 2-up on a 125cc Lambretta, it took them 2 days to reach Dover from Darlington, but they eventually managed to get down to somewhere in Austria, the Tyrol IIRC.

I've dropped him a line to see if he has any details or photos he'd like to share.
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Space Monkey #7
Don Eladio is dead. His capos are dead. You have no one left to fight for. Fill your pockets and leave in peace. Or fight me and die!
Mistergixer's videos on YouTube

[nant]

Very nice read.

My Dad recently got his old velocette venom thruxton working again recently. So im looking forward to having a go on that!

[Phoenix]

That was quite cool to look through, the Giovo pass is definitely a bit wider now, actually one my favourite passes as it's so quiet and the locals tend to race across it in their cars rather than bimble.

[LordShaftesbu...]

Must have had a good quality camera, those pics are excellent.

[FrankGill]

Fantastic post, loved it.

[mistergixer]

Spoke to my Dad earlier, sadly no pics exist of his trip in 1961 - he had a box brownie at the time, but couldn't take it as there wasn't enough room.

It was a round trip of about 2000 miles, taking in France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, 2-up on a 125 scooter.


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Space Monkey #7
Don Eladio is dead. His capos are dead. You have no one left to fight for. Fill your pockets and leave in peace. Or fight me and die!
Mistergixer's videos on YouTube

[G]

There's probably thousands of slides from various trips around Africa and Asia which my parents toured around in the 70s.

Want to get them in to a decent slide scanner at some point.

My dad did have a couple of 'presentations' to go with the slide shows (did one to a school-wide assembly in primary school, as well as to mature audiences); however not sure if he ever wrote anything down from it or where it would be if he did.