The Vampire tour (Continued)

Serbia and Romania

The tents packed away and the bikes ready we set off before 07.30 once again towards Jasenovac, the heavily laden bikes made the rough stretches of road more interesting, after Jasenovac we headed onto the A3 motorway which speeded up our progress. As we stopped at the Serbian border the guard barked “papers, green card” I explained I had no green card for Serbia (I should have though, if going on a European trip out with the “normal boundaries” insist on a green card from your insurers even though they will try to tell you it’s not necessary) The guard threw my passport with disgust into the corner of the table and said, “over there” pointing at some portacabins “when you have a green card come back for your passport” There was no discussion about turning back offered. A green card cost us €85 each which was steep especially as we would be out of there that night, we really had no choice but to pay it, welcome to Serbia indeed! Shortly after the border we stopped for fuel and food at a service station, the food was excellent and the toilets spotless, this was the major finding of the trip, always head for a large petrol station if you wanted reasonable food and a clean toilet, most important when travelling with ladies in the company. The worrying thing was that the security guard on the premises was tooled up with a revolver! It’s bad enough the police having guns but the guy who is there to stop shoplifters was taking it too far. We turned off onto a minor road towards Novi Sad before heading for Zrenjanin and up to Jimbolia to cross the border. As we left Serbian soil the border guard barked the same “Papers, Insurance” questions at us, he was clearly disappointed when we produced the Insurance documents we bought six hours earlier. The Romanian border guard gave our passports a quick look and then told us to wait for customs clearance, we spent the time singing Jimbolia swordfish pie cherry gumbo and arguing about who sang it, truck drivers sat around bored in a waiting room and a line of trucks waited presumably for the same customs clearance, after about 10 minutes it was obvious the customs man had gone missing so we were waved in to Romania without any further hindrance.

Entering Romania

Almost immediately the roads deteriorated, pot holes everywhere and we saw the first of many Horses & carts, still transport for many of the people here. We were stopped at a railway crossing and were amazed when the train rumbled past, an old Soviet Engine pulling carriages that looked like something out of a John Wayne Western, youths clinging precariously to rails outside having a cigarette and watching the world go by, unfortunately I was too slow with the camera. We arrived in Timosora as it started to get dark, Timosora is a reasonably big town, a lap round the town centre failed to turn up any camping signs and it was getting late so we opted for a “pensione” excellent en suite rooms worthy of a 4 start hotel in the UK for €30 each. Another early start was planned but never quite happened, we had to go to the bank and get some Romanian Lei, Euro’s are accepted but we learned the night before in the local café that the black market exchange rate isn’t favourable! The road to Lugoj was terrible, potholes the size of small towns, constant roadworks and suicidal driving, when we arrived in Lugoj we were directed round some back streets which were not only cobbled but had suffered the ravages of years of heavy traffic, the shaking the bike got was unbelievable, David’s Speedo cable decided to fall apart due to the shaking it got. Onwards into Deva where David suffered a puncture, we pulled off onto a large pavement and set about changing the tube, the 40 deg heat made what should have been a 30 minute job turn into a two hour job. We set off again and just before Sebes spotted a camping sign. We turned through the “rustic” village and found a campsite run by a Dutchman, excellent facilities, good food and cold beer, just what was required after a hard day. We also met up with Lesley a girl from Alnwick exploring on her own on a GS650 BMW, respect was due!

The usual routine of checking the bikes over was followed, it doesn’t matter how tired you are after a day in the saddle, the evening checks can save so much stress on the road. A shower, food and a couple of beers were well deserved. Over our beer we decided the next day we should take the loop just after Sibiu on route 7C the Transfagarasan Highway down to Pitesti and back up to Bran, home of the touristy version of Dracula’s castle. Lesley advised us this was possibly a bit much for the day, she had gone as far as Curtea de Arges and back in a day and that had been hard enough, “It’s ok we’re on Norton Commando’s the finest bike known to man” we answered. By the time we reached the summit of the road I realised it was going to be a hard day and wished we’d listened to Lesley. After the summit the road deteriorated terribly and the highways agency’s attempts to fill potholes left a surface which would not be unlike the surface of the moon, I was very worried as the Commando rattled along, fully expecting bits to fall off at any time.

Transfagarasan Highway

After 6 hours and 100 miles Fiona had enough and demanded we stop for Lunch and a rest, this was a good idea, we were all getting a bit grumpy with the constant hard work the road was providing and with the heat approaching the high 30’s. We carried on despite the suicidal driving and poor roads to the town of Pitesti before taking the 73C back towards Bran. As we entered the small town of Mihaesti the traffic was tailed back for about half a mile waiting for a train to go through a level crossing, we rode to the front of the queue feeling rather pleased with myself and thinking we would have a clear road ahead, then as the barrier raised I accelerated away and horror of horror the Commando spluttered to a halt. I pushed it across the junction and into a 2 foot wide path at the side of the road, the Artics were leaving just inches to spare as they passed us, it was quite scary. After the traffic died down I set about finding the problem, we ended up taking around 3 hours to get the bike going again, the main problem being the bike running far too rich due to the wear on the Mikuni. At one point we thought we might be spending the night with our newly found gypsy friends but luckily we got going as the sun set. Unluckily as an aside I’d been blowing fuses and used all my spares. After checking everything out and taping up potential problem wires I hard wired the fuse holder but was scared to put my lights on in case the wiring fault came back and set the wiring loom on fire so I set off with no lights. Darkness fell as we passed through the town of Campulung and we headed into the darkness of the mountains towards Bran with David in the front leading the way and Fiona behind protecting my back, we rode like this for over 20 miles on the mountain road still avoiding the mad truck drivers but one drawback was I couldn’t see the potholes so that was starting to get to me. It began to feel like a suicide attempt so when a bar loomed out of the darkness I stopped, across the road there was a pensione and luckily they had rooms so we booked in, it was 9.30 at night, we had 11 hours in the saddle and done 210 miles.. The landlady made us a cold meat platter and provided Transylvanian wine to wash it down with, we all slept soundly that night.

Dracula’s castle at Bran

The following day, Friday things all looked better and we had a great run down the twisty road into Bran, took photos of the castle and booked into Vampire Camping to set up camp and do some proactive rather than reactive maintenance

Saturday morning started hot again, we loaded up the bikes and were waiting for the fuel station to open at 8 am. We were on our way past Brasov soon after and noticed the roads improving greatly, we passed Sighisoara and stopped for fuel, 64mpg, so the carb overhaul seemed to be working! On then past Turda and then through Cluj Napoca which summed up all of the crazy Romanian driving habits within one Urban environment. We camped for the night near Gilau at a superb campsite with excellent facilities. That day’s riding was probably the best of the trip. The roads and the scenery plus watching village life in the places we passed were probably the best we’d experienced in Romania.

Hungary to Belgium and Home

The following day we passed the Border at Oradea and into Hungary, as soon as we crossed the border you could see the difference, the tarmac was smooth and the surroundings seemed more affluent, although this particular road did seem to be lined with hookers! As the roads became smoother and less stressful the hookers made for some roadside interest, I commented later about all those young scantily clad women hanging around in lay-by’s for the next bus!

We arrived in Budapest and headed for the town centre and pulled over just before the centre to ask some locals for directions to a campsite, luckily we were only half a mile away and we were soon camped up in possibly the most crowded campsite I’ve stayed in. The site was like a scene from a music festival but without the mud. Tents were literally almost on top of each other and the ground was almost grass free, as you walked clouds of dust were raised! The usual check over of the bikes revealed all was well so a few well deserved beers were called for. My first impression of Budapest was of a down at heel scruffy town, obviously it has an alcohol problem but possibly no worse than any other large town, it was possibly unlucky that this was our first impression of the city.

The Monday was a sight seeing day and we walked up to the castle on the other side of the river.

Goddess of the Norton Gearbox sprocket Buda

Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with the unification on 17 November 1873, of right-bank (west) Buda and Óbuda (Old Buda) together with Pest on the left (east) bank. We were camping in the Pest side and it was obvious that the Buda side was nicer & more affluent as we walked across. We had a stroke of luck as the Red Bull Air race was on in Budapest that day so as well as getting a head full of culture at the castle & Museum we also watched a fantastic display of flying all afternoon, the Hungarian folk festival also taking place at the castle so we watched this with the accompanyment of traditional folk music and a few beers. This made up for the poor campsite and our initial impressions of the place.

Tuesday and we were back on the road again, heading past Vienna and yes the Ultravox lyric “It means nothing to me This means nothing to me Oh, Vienna”. Was repeated a few times that day! Our Austrian motorway tax vignettes had run out so we all felt like criminals for the day. My Commando started to misfire so we had an unplanned maintenance stop at lunchtime, a spark plug change got it going again but the carb was misbehaving again. We stopped at an excellent camp site at Oma near Passau on the Austrian side of the border for the night, another excellent meal and a few beers were welcomed. The following day we awoke to find it wet and cloudy and that our tents had been hijacked by giant slugs overnight, some time was spent evicting them before carrying on to Germany. Another 270 miles on the Autobahn and then another Campsite in a place called Lauda, once again recommended, nice camping on the banks of a river. Onwards the following day through Germany and then into Belgium stopping at Liege for the night, we stayed in a hotel in an attempt to get clean before going to the Begonia rally.

Friday and we made our way over to the Begonia, once again at Viffwagen near Staden, as we arrived we met my Brother John and Alex who had also just arrived, Fraser & Tracy and then Julian & Connie arrived shortly afterwards. I like the Begonia Rally, over the years the people there have become friends and its always good to see them again. The Begonia is an excellent rally, well organised, friendly and the bar & food is good and cheap. The organisers work very hard and deserve credit for putting on the event. On the Sunday Geert invited us to a Carnival in Kortjick, Alex, Fiona and I went along, we saw some very interesting sights there and I would certainly recommend a visit if it coincides next year! Afterwards we met up with the rest at Ypres to have a meal and to go to the Menin gate to witness the last post being played. Then it was back on the bike and back to the site for a quieter night!

Mark Hudson had arrived in a trailer on the Friday as his Commando outfit had catastrophic failure en route, apparently it had (without him realising it) dumped all the oil out and wrecked the top end. Replacement barrels and pistons were sourced and the bike rebuilt over the weekend, only at a Norton Rally!

Sadly Monday and the Ferry back from Zebrugge to Rosyth. A great night on the boat to finish off a superb trip. We had done just under 4000 miles and both David and I agreed that we were glad we’d done it on the Norton’s, sure we had some problems but we managed to fix them on the move and make it home again. Next time you take a big trip, go by Norton, a real adventure motorcycle!

End of season Do!

As mentioned last month, bookings are coming in, please let George know ASAP.

To be held at the Clachan Hotel Lochearnhead on the last weekend of November (29^th November) As always this has been a great end to the year and I’m looking forward to a good turnout. Price this year will be £42 per person, this includes bed, Dinner & breakfast which in these times is excellent value for money. Names to George peddie ASAP and he will coordinate the returns. Call him on 07742 852057 or E mail george1045@hotmail.co.uk

And Finally

, “Hello everyone.

I have been asked to pass this idea on to all the Branches. Please ensure it gets to the rest of your members.

For the NOC Golden Jubilee year, could each Branch please organise and advertise in Roadholder, an event that could be used in a competition. The competition will be open to all members of the NOC during the year and will involve visiting as many of the events around the country as possible with the aim of winning a prize for the most events attended. Obviously if you already have an event that will lend itself to this competition let me know right away and I will pass on the date to the man in the hot seat. Here in Norfolk we will be using our Sea Side Show as the competition event.

Again, please try to sort this one as fast as you can. It would be good to get the competition under way as soon as 2009 kicks in.

All the best.

Kev Feltoe.

So question is should we run another “smaller” Rally or camping weekend or “Scottish Norton Day” event next year?

The Small Print

The views and opinions contained within this publication are not necessarily those of the NOC or of the branch but are probably mine as I wrote it.

No one accepts any responsibility for anything, if you have a good time don't say I didn't warn you.

Gino Rondelli

October 2008