From just transporting my own bikes between the UK and Italy, I was very pleased indeed to be asked to collect a friend plus his scooter in Paris and take them over to the UK. Excellent news, thanks Artu. Then on my way north through Italy, having dinner with a mate in Orte I met his mate, a lovely guy called Giovanni, who asked me to collect a 1949 Vincent motorcycle from the UK and bring it to Italy. Great! And then his mate asked me to collect a bike engine and bring that to Italy too. Wow.
So things are truly kicking off!!! As I write I am in the Midlands having dropped Artu and his scooter on the M25 junction for Brentwood (he lives in the Colchester area) and planning my week, the idea is to go Tuesday up to Lincolnshire for the boxed engine and then Thursday down to get the bike somewhere in Kent. And I hope that I have space for my TMax of course!!
Here we goooooooooo (as Rossi would say).
Update. Well I am now safely back in Amalfi and what an amazing 10 days trip I have had!! From the Midlands where I attended the auction at the NEC and saw my Petronas R1 sell (at last) I then headed north to lovely Lincolnshire to collect the V2 engine (also for a Vincent). To my great suprise the wooden box was massive as well as super heavy so I understood that there would be zero chance of getting my TMax in the van, sob. One day of rest later (I got the Vito through its MOT test) I headed south to stunning Kent (Maidstone area) and found the restored Vincent. This bike is 1949 vintage but looks almost new!!
I loaded up the bike (covering her with a blanket) and set off to Folkstone as I had booked the Channel Tunnel crossing and I am pleased that I did as the Customs inspection was really fast. I paid the extra to take the first train and boarded within 30 minutes so I was in France by about 4pm and I headed to the Hotel Royal in Troyes where I know the food and accomodation are wonderful so I ate and got early to bed. An early start the next morning saw me heading over to Switzerland, through the Gottard Pass and into Italy, I stopped for a snack at the wonderful KM90 in Fidenza and I fuelled the van too.
I was not feeling tired so I drove to Orte (total about 1300km that day) and unloaded both the bike and the engine and the happy owners came to collect. Then we rushed to the wonderful Hotel Lazio for dinner and I stayed the night, the next day I cruised gently back to Amalfi. Happy Days!!!
Leave a Reply