Well recently I returned home to Amalfi from a visit to meet up with Brian the Barnes and to hand over his “new” bike. We agreed dates and he caught a flight from East Midlands (UK) to Bergamo airport, I loaded the 2012 Honda VFR1200F into my ol’ Vito van and headed north, Amalfi to Bergamo is about 850 km and almost all motorway.
I set off from my garage in Tramonti and headed to the motorway at Angri having stopped to fill the van with fuel and then I started to think about the best place for an overnight stop. I prefer to travel without fixed bookings whenever possible so depending on the journey, traffic, weather conditions etc I can stop when I feel tired. Conditions were great and the traffic fairly light so when I stopped at Orte for coffee and fuel I contacted my mate Davide and he confirmed that he had a room for me in his super Mathis Hotel in Fiorenzuola, the last room so I was very lucky.
I arrived at Mathis at about 7pm just in time for beers and then a lovely pasta dish before I crashed out for the night, very happy knowing that I had less than 150km to reach our meeting place in Bergamo the next morning. I had a light breakfast and left Mathis at about 9am, stopped to wash and fuel the van and then headed north and by midday I was checked in to the lovely Best Western Cappello D Oro with the van safely in the car park which is only 100 metres from the hotel. Barnes showed up about an hour later so it was out for beers and food!!
On the way home I only stopped once for fuel and the van went great, after the problems she finally seems stronger then ever!!! The motorway heading north was totally FULL as it always at the end of August but luckily heading south was ok apart from the very heavy rain. I was very happy that Barnes had avoided the rain by leaving early…..
Service no limits! 
After a two hour flight from East Midlands airport I took a taxi to Bergamo I think the taxi driver was a ex F1 driver he didn’t hang about. Got to the hotel and meet Simon after a shower to refresh we went out to view my new purchase wow she looked splendid in the back of Simons van.
We went to really nice restaurant/ bistro for a spot of lunch which was really good and a terrific price. Simon headed back to his hotel room while I went out for the afternoon to take in the sights of Bergamo and of course a few beers.
Later the evening we went out for dinner and of course as I’m British more beers 🍺
The next day after breakfast we decided to get the bike out of the van and prep it for my journey home. I fired a bounce usb connector to keep my phone and head set fully charged
Once this was done had a look at the weather for the next day which was 80% chance of rain so decided to leave in the afternoon which was a wise decision as the next day in Bergamo was torrential ran with very poor visibility.
My journey home begins
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MORE please mate, great story!!!
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Brian me ol fruitcake. More please. Tell us about the VFR, how it compares to the VFR800 you had and then to the other big Hondas and Yamahas that we have both loved (MT10, FJR, XJR, Super Tenere etc).
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Great content thanks!
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Thanks Daniela and please keep watching!!!
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Lovely trip waiting for the next adventure …
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PLEASE come with us next time!!!
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