Trip to Europe with GS750

[Guest]

Took a little trip to Europe with my 1981 GS750 back in the 80's. Found an ad in Motorcycle magazine about shipping a motorcycle by air to London and back for $550. The airline required me to fly with the bike too, same price.. so $1100 round-trip Vancouver to London with my motorcycle. Seemed like a great deal so I called the airline from work and bought the ticket and left a week later. The ride to Vancouver was not really a problem, but I live in Berkeley Ca. So I had to ride a thousand miles to the airport but hey, riding long distance is always fun.

Got to the airport, loaded the bike into an aluminum crate, grabbed my helmet and took a seat. Arrived in London and was met by a representative of the airline who *escorted* me to a local insurance guy who provided 30 days of coverage. Drove to France the next day and started off on my little excursion.

Had a great time. Good weather, bad weather you name it. Europeans treated me MUCH better as a motorcycle rider than Americans ever did.

Here's a pic from a roadside rest area near Valencia Spain. Sorry for the bad pic quality but hey, it was back in the days of film. And for those with sharp eyes, thats a Rabid Transit fairing.

[trevor]

Wow...that is so cool! Good for you. More pics? I would love to do that. One of these days.

[Brendan W]

Ultra cool. That pic is sooooo 1980s. We may have crossed paths. I spent vacations on France and Spain in '80, '81 and '82. Don't happen to remember a Z650 do you
Back then I once took advantage of a rail special from Cork to Dublin. It cost pennies and saved me three hours in the saddle in the Winter.
Anyroad, safety check at the top of the platform.
Fuel tank empty ?
Yes ? I guess ?!
Oil removed from sump?
Sure.
Battery acid removed?
Yes, I guess.
All flammable liquids removed ?
Yeah of course ( I was getting better at this Q&A by this time)
Ok you're good to go. Just ride down to the freight car at the end of platform ten and drive straight on up the ramp.

[Gee Ess]

Back then...

"Don't happen to remember a Z650 do you "

Nope, sorry. But I did notice that even a lowly 750 was the biggest bike on the road over there. And it drew crowds no matter where I parked. Big crowds.

As I was going thru frontier customs France to Spain there was a guy in front of me in a car bitching about the delay. Finally he yelled at the Spanish customs officer "My brother in law is the mayor of Barcelona!" That got him pulled out of line and his car taken apart piece by piece. When the customs guy came to me he looked at the bike for a few seconds, walked around the back and stared at the California license place, laughed and flagged me on.

A couple things I learned ... 1-Back then people who rode big bikes in Europe were considered to be rich wealthy and powerful and given special treatment and 2- If that wasn't good enough, the Calif license plate carried the day.

And the biggest bike I saw was a Kawa 1300. And man, was it fast. Blew me off the road in Italy.

[Gee Ess]

No more pics. Well, a couple from Italy and the people I was staying with down there. I'll see if I can dig them up.

[GSXR7ED]

Very cool thing to do!


Ed

[Brendan W]

"Don't happen to remember a Z650 do you "

Nope, sorry. But I did notice that even a lowly 750 was the biggest bike on the road over there. And it drew crowds no matter where I parked. Big crowds.

As I was going thru frontier customs France to Spain there was a guy in front of me in a car bitching about the delay. Finally he yelled at the Spanish customs officer "My brother in law is the mayor of Barcelona!" That got him pulled out of line and his car taken apart piece by piece. When the customs guy came to me he looked at the bike for a few seconds, walked around the back and stared at the California license place, laughed and flagged me on.

A couple things I learned ... 1-Back then people who rode big bikes in Europe were considered to be rich wealthy and powerful and given special treatment and 2- If that wasn't good enough, the Calif license plate carried the day.

And the biggest bike I saw was a Kawa 1300. And man, was it fast. Blew me off the road in Italy.

I ended up in Pontoise late one night in August with my GF on the bike. That's the month the French shut down hotels and go on hoilday. We got stopped by four ****ed policemen in a Renault wagon. It was unthinkable that such a belle fille would be out so late so they guided us back to the cafe they had just been poured out of and told the landlord to get a room for les amoureaux. We got the corner tower room overlooking the square and every hour until dawn the Renault came back and they sat on the horn until one of us made an appearance at the window

[Gee Ess]

Found a pic taken in the city park in Vancouver the day of the flight. Bike was grimy from the fast ride up to V but eager to get on the plane and go to England. Nice shot of the Rabid Transit fairing too. And my breakfast on the seat.

[Gorminrider]

I'll say! Very cool! I would be very tempted by an airline deal like that today....You don't have many pix. I/(we?) were the same back then.Just didn't think about it ALL the TIME like people do Nowadays. Cripes- people see the world through their smartphones...Streets are choked with selfie-takers!

[Brendan W]

Now that is a picture of a bike being used properly.

[Gee Ess]

Yeah, the choice was easy. Ride and ride further or stop and take a pic. And there are no more airline deals like that anymore. The company was West Air I think, Canadian. They were later bought out by another Canadian airline. The process was extremely smooth and professional. Bike had its own little aluminum crate, sealed and riding in the cargo area while I sat up top with my leathers and helmet with a drink in my hand answering curious passengers questions. Like "I see you brought a helmet.. do you think we're going to crash?"

Gotta say after riding a few days in England on the wrong side of the road I never got comfortable with it at all. But the English were about the most polite people I've ever run into. And so were the French. And Germans. And Swiss. And Dutch. And Austrians (well sort of). And Spaniards. And Italians. And Portuguese. Everybody was very helpful. And riding in sub-freezing conditions with occasional snow in the Pyrenees was interesting too. Had to strap the handlebars in position to put my hands right on the valve covers it was so cold.

[Brendan W]

No matter how cold you hands get, resist the temptation to remove the gloves and grab the exhaust headers. It can be a while before you realise that they have stuck on there. damhik.
This was us in the Pyrenees in '81DSC03279.jpg

[Gorminrider]

Gotta say after riding a few days in England on the wrong side of the road I never got comfortable with it at all

Ha, I bet! it took me toolong to remember to look right instead of left in a crosswalk!

The company was West Air I think, Canadian.

Might have been "Ward Air". They were a pretty good airline...lots of flights to the UK. Bought by Canadian Airlines (the former Canadian Pacific Airlines) in 89.

[Sandy]

Wow...that is so cool! Good for you. More pics? I would love to do that. One of these days.

I think with the demise of Ward Air the motorcycles as baggage ended. Brother Cliff did it back in the mid '70s for a few weeks and took in the IOM. Also quite a bit cheaper then too. If memory serves me somebody from Vancouver was organizing the IOM tours.

[Gee Ess]

Correct. Ward Air. Nice outfit.