The outside of a motorbike engine seen up close near the exhaust

Home Travel Stories Upt's Autumn Bimble 2024

Dodging Rain And A Dodgy Chain

Lord Only Knows When

By Upt' North

Austria wasn't to be for The B.

So the forecast was checked and Austria was unchecked. The weather was dire in the Dolomites so they would have to wait. Meh. The weather in Northern Italy south of the mountains wasn't too bad but getting cooler at around 65 of your f's. The Dolomites omission was disappointing but we have visited on The BeaST before a couple of times so they could wait.

With no more ado we set off on the autostradas to Turin after riding up the coast for a while. This is industrialised gritty Italy and there was no point being stuck in every town and village between here and Turin. We'd pass Parma and Bologna etc but we had no desire to investigate. The object was to get back in the hills and enjoy the views ASAP. Pronto like.

This night was spent in a nice enough place heading towards France. They spoke little English, I spoke less Italian but they dined and wined us adequately. All was good, although we had no clue what we ate, I suspect it was various bits of animals that one is probably better not asking about.

The next day took us to the Alps and France. Nice. That's nice not Nice. Coffee stop on the border of Italy and France.

Upt's wife in bike gear, the Vstrom 650 and a dark blue or black Maserati

This was typical of the scenery and the last Italian coffee was consumed.

Now well into France. Er'Indoors was awake. Meh. The roads were now very conducive to enjoyment and general tomfoolery.

Calm flat lake, hills in the distance, clear skies with the odd fluffly clouds and a lovely scene

The next two days were a selection of roads and towns through France, some good some bad, some indifferent. But we ate and drank well. The B was performing admirably and in the shake of a lambs tail we were in Tournai, Belgium. We were now at around 3500 miles travelled.

I would give the bike a good looking at and head for a beer. What could go wrong? Pffffffftttttt. I think this was about day 24 (?), but who gives a...

The white painted building of the hotel in Tournai
The white painted hotel is set by grass and hills and trees

The previous night revealed the chain was growing. A lot. It was losing more o rings. A lot of o rings. Pffffffftttttt. I adjusted the chain in a jiffy, it's probably a five minute job, and sprayed the last of my chain lube on it. Unfortunately it wasn't much so the next morning we headed into Tournai, found a motorsiccle emporium and used their chain lube to smother the thing. That's better. It was never like this with a shaftie.

Reader's Comments

nab301 said :-
Upt, some more very nice scenery . I feel somewhat deprived though , In the old days pre "smart phone" days there would be much gritting of teeth and riding through the weather , now , it's sunshine all the way !
Nigel
25/03/2025 11:03:54 UTC

Upt'North ¹ said :-
Don't worry Nigel there's rain and misery to come. Isn't there always? But the butler will make up for it! Tune in to the next episode, whan I can be arsed to do it.
Upt.
25/03/2025 12:35:05 UTC

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