TransAlp 600 in Europe 2013

I have started in on my European ride with my first ride today. I flew in to Dublin Wednesday morning after an eventful flight which included an emergency landing for a medical condition of a traveler. I toured Ireland by bus and saw some sites and got to live in some hostels. I was about ready to head to England but Wheatwacker got in touch with me after a communications mix up and we ended up buying a motorcycle last night. I'm doing this from my windows phone so if I can get some time on a real computer I'll go into more detail and put up pictures I have been taking.

Here I am at my going away party with a friend in the states


Then I had another going away party the day before my plane arrived

I had to be out the door at 4:30 on Tuesday for the flight . The flight took my from St. Louis to Atlanta I had a 6 hour layover which made me think I really didn't need to leave at 4:30 am. The flight was exciting right after we got food the pilot decided that we needed to return to America and land at Boston to take care of a passenger. But before I knew it we were landing at Dublin and I was through the gates and on to see Ireland. I went to the blarney castle and to the city of Galway. I visited the cliffs of Moher. It was a raining and windy at the cliffs which apprently is how the are 3/4 of the year so your chances of seeing them are not good. After touring around the west side of the Island I decided to head to Dublin and onto England after that.

I decided to spend the weekend in Dublin before heading on little did I realize but there was a gay pride weekend in progress complete with parade. I got to walk around some see some stuff and headed over to the Guiness brewery. I will add the brewery is nice if you like a two hour advertisement that will cost you 13 Euro. Don't expect to go there and see pumps vats valves or pipes because they wont show it. The whole thing is geared towards tourism and they make ample space available for you to buy merchandise and other crap. You get a ticket for one free beer too and have to pay for more which are more expensive than the bars in town.

I got back into the city centre just in time for the parade to end. It looked like everyone had a good time the whole street was sticky and broken glass was everywhere. The night life was very active too. I met a couple nice guys in the street and they gave me some flowers they said it was for lovers. I took their flowers and went into a bar of course the place was packed and I gave the flowers to some girls to gain access to the bar. These girls were the classy types that immediately stuck the flowers up their nose or mouth for who knows what reason but it looked like fun.

Like I said earlier I missed Wheatwacker at the airport Famouse messaged me asking if everything is going alright and things were but thanks for checking in. I got in touch Wheatwacker on Sunday we went motorcycle shopping that night and I bought a 1998 Honda transalp 600 late at night. I looked like a good bike in the dark but the same thing happens with girls sometimes. The next morning when I went to look things over in detail it wasn't quite as pretty. I had to get the brakes worked on so I went over to wheatwackers friends Alton's place. The bolt head in the caliper was stripped so things got serious. Alton is a good mechanic and has a number of used parts available so we got everything fixed. Wheatwacker is letting em stay at his place for free but if you ever come here it may not cost anything but it's not free. I had to help him pick up a motorcycle and front end loader, set up and maintenance a tractor, and mark out a new shed.

Good news about the shed it's being built to accommodate bikes and riders I feel privilaged that in a few years when hundreds of riders will pass through this future riders mecca I was here building it.
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Here he is, proudly standing beside his new purchase.



A rush purchase and with not a lot of choices on the web we settled on this transalp. It's needs a little work but brakes and tires should set her straight.

I went to cork to the moto tax office to pay my tax on the motorcycle. The tax office in Ireland is about as much fun as the dmv in the states. Everyone has to wait in line and the tellers are not fun. I was unable to pay my tax because my name has not updated as the new owner

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While in cork I got a new backpack and a 12v outlet to plug accessories into for the motorcycle. on the way back I rode along the water ways and got a couple pictures.

I followed signs for an old fort. I was having a tough time trying to find it because of the privately owned property. I finally spotted this sign pointing to a shady looking path that reminded me of a van with "free candy inside" hand painted on it. Being a risk taker I followed the sign anyways

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After the fort I drove along the water way and took a few shots
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I bought a 12v outlet for the bike so I may charge my phyone while on the road. Wheatwacker helped me get it installed and gave me an old power cord from a gps unit. Once it was all installed I tested it by trying the lighter that came with the outlet. That immediatly blew the 2 amp fuse. I waited around to say good by to wheatwacker but I left before he returned from picking up another rider at the airport. I bought him a log book so other riders can write in where there from. I did it mostly just to be the first person to sign it. Wheatwacker was trying to get me to slow down and tried to tell me England isn't all that great, but I have a motorcycle that needs riding. I understand what he was saying about this place now. I showed up late in the rain and tried to find a place to stay for the night but couldn't. I ended up finding a pay for park next to a small park. I set up my tent in the rain in the dark and crawled in. The next day it continued to rain a misty cold rain but luckly there was a motorcycle shop near it and i bought a nice one piece rain set

where ya at now so?

wheatwacker

Plymouth UK I'll be going to the ferry at Devon next.

Great stuff.
Sorry I missed you before you left, I got delayed picking up racks for another inmate.
Ah, the 2 amp fuse, ha ha, no way would that work on a cigarette lighter. Fine for charging your phone.
They are easily got in any gas station so maybe a 10 amp.

I/we really would appreciate more pictures, especially ones of girls with flowers in their mouths :)

I really like the looks of that bike although I know nothing about it. Thanks for the RR....


Gary "Oldone"

Grampa&#8217;s Lake Superior Ride
Grampa&#8217;s National Monument Ride

I got my ferry and loaded up nothing uneventful about it. An option for an additional 50 eruo you can rent a cabin with bed but I opted not to as it was a 4 hour crossing.




I drove from fishguard to Plymouth I got rained on. The rain wasn't like the driving rain like I'm used to but a misting type. I got wet anways but I pulled off the road (m4) and found a motorcycle shop and I bought a one piece rain suit there.

The rain suit was a good move it's a one piece so there was no way water could get in. The suit is big enough I can just put it on over my shoes pants and jacket. I was already pretty wet so I was really just keeping body heat in with it. As I drive towards Plymouth the sun came out and by 4 pm is was getting warm. The battery oj my phone died before I made it to the city so I came in blind with out a map. I was still able to find a hostel and park my bike in the garden in the back.

When I took of the rain suit I had been wearing it for 6 hours and I was sweating under it plus the dampness already in it had was giving me a wet dog musk. I got my room took a shower and met the roomates. To be honest I was worried if I would be murdered in my sleep but after getting to know the guys the next day I felt they were alright with the exception of this fella below. He was in England because he had political enemies in France who want him dead. He told me that his tea had been poisoned in the morning in an attempt to assasinate him. Then he told me I was lucky to have such a good body and I will last a long time. He blames his poor health on a life of work and the chemicals of his enemies which he had been forced to ingest while in prison under false cannabis charges. The port at Plymouth is pretty too every two weeks there is a bike show in a park.

After hanging qround plymouth for a few days it was time to leave and go to to france. Here are so,e pictures of Plymouth from the ferry and my bike being latched down.

The ferry to France took about 11 hours to complete. An option to was availible to upgrade to a cabin so you could sleep the ferry was 110 euro and the cabin was an additional 80 euro. I decided the additional 80 was no worth it since I am young and had my sleeping stuff with my gear on my bike. Like most other passangers with out a cabin I slept on the floor in my sleeping bag.


On the ferry I met Stephane and Appegoet a french couple who were returning from a concert in England on a motorcycle. Using my high school french and a translator app I found out the Stephan was an electrician. I was having problems with my 12 volt outlet on my bike so I asked if he could look at it. He had no tools on the ferry so I went with them to their house in Bres France after arriving. The problem was the connector behind the outlet the wire was damaged and that caused it to not work sometimes. After Stephan took it apart the connector just fall apart. Wheatwacker had given me the wire harness and said it used to be used for a gps unit. Now I know why it was in the grab bin I think it must have given the original owner problems so it had been reaplced.

Thanks to the French couple for their hospitality and repairs I now had a dependible power source and got to see one more town I would have not visted.

There was plenty of google translate being used!

I drove to Paris were I met an old friend of mine. I did not know until going to Europe America is behind in their credit card technology. All the places I used my card in the Ireland and UK I was able to have it swiped. Some of the places in France could not swipe the card and would read the cards chip only. To further add to Americas lack of technoloy all the stores used electrnic prices on their goods. There is good newes the french did honor us by naming our Russian dressing American souce.