I'm guessing that FJ1200 at 6:32 has a new owner. It did 10K miles between 2006 and 2017 it had done nearly 10K by it's next MOT in 2018 It's done another 10K since then, which is pretty good going when you factor in COVID. Proof you don't have to spend £20K+ to go touring.
Thanks for this Steve, what a great time to launch this series as the winter sets in here in UK and we are all chopping at the bit for spring to arrive and set off on another tour. Hope this Swiss tour goes well and stays dry. Thanks for all the hard work my friend. ✅
The Nav VI was correct when you exited the train. The normal route is to turn right at the top of the ramp. I travel 3-4 times a week, and have only turned left maybe once due to roadworks on the exit road 😉
Yeah👍 another Steve vlog with weather 😆 The Pas du Calais has a weather system of its own and its frequently wet in my experience too. Roll next episode 😉
It’s a cracking route, you’ll love it! I will be setting off soon on a new tour with my new bike, I’m looking forward to creating many memories with this one too!
Thanks Mark! Yes, the sequence I released the videos got disrupted with the bike being stolen, this tour was filmed just before I set off with Ben and it all went wrong. I will be setting off very soon on the next tour which I will publish pretty much straight after this one finishes. 😊
Not sure I’d do UK - Switzerland and back in a week but I’m not that keen on bombing it on the motorway if I could avoid it. Maybe if I had two weeks so I could have my rest days for local sights and the odd detour. I’d also feel terrible riding anywhere I have a friend or relative and not stopping to see them which usually adds time to any road journey in Western Europe. Hell, I made a map of all the places I’d have to ride to should I schlepp the bike to Britain and that alone would take me the best part of ten days. That being said I love that you’re letting me come along with you. Not sure I’d do Switzerland after September but that’s just me.
I don’t have a network of friends and family across Europe so I’m free to roam around without having to visit. This was filmed just before my bike was stolen so it’s a few months back now and weather was a bit kinder! 😊
Great to see another tour video. Knowing what you know now would you have left your bike like that? Makes for great entertainment Steve but please take care of the new GSA. 👍
Thanks! No, having lost one bike, I wouldn’t have parked where I did and when I set off on the new one (which is soon), I am going to be trying for secure accommodation or camping beside the bike (plus chains/locks/trackers etc). 😊
This can't of been an easy video to edit, hope you are falling in love with the new bike and looking forward to seeing its first adventures next year. Ps ignore the people that couldn't wait to let you know there opinion before reading the description....
Thank you for your kind words! I am absolutely loving the new bike and my first tour with it will be mid February when I head off in search of some winter sunshine! I can’t wait! 😊
@TwoWheeledDreamer I really loved the videos with your son, I would of loved to have done a trip with my dad but hope to get a chance to do it with my son when he is older.
Thank you, it was very special for me to tour with Ben and we are aiming to get to the Black Forest or maybe Eastern Europe next summer if we can align our diaries. Touring with your son when he is old enough is a great thing to look forward to!
Enjoyed your vid and looking forward to the rest. One thing I don’t understand though is after very recently having your bike stolen while using an Air B&B with unsecured parking, you choose yet another Air B&B without even basic security, leaving it on the roadside a distance from your accommodation…..! 🤷♂
Hi Dave, so glad you enjoyed the video. My next tour (which I will setting off soon on), I am aiming for securing parking or camping next to the bike! No more side of the road parking for me!
I left Lugano last Saturday at 9am. 1200GS. Up over Alps and through Basel. Stopped in Chalon Champagne for the thaw out. Next day over to Uk arriving home in Derbyshire at 7pm..Bit damp, chilly and tired. Not my idea of fun tour. Have a great time
Love the trips you do. I'm 69 and think it might just be a bit to much but still get the urge to do it. I suppose a good understanding partner helps also but I can only think when I'm on my bike which is a 1300 Pan European which I love. Anyway stay safe and enjoy as I will watching this vlog
I’m very nearly your age and my bike is sitting in its shed all ready to leave first thing in the morning. I’m heading over to the Massif Central in France for a weekend camping in the rain and snow at the Millevaches Hivernale. Last year there were 3,500 of us and a huge number of those bikers were older than me. I had a ST1300 for nine years but traded it in for something lighter and more suited to the roads I travel on these days. I loved it. It’s not a bike that I would take to a muddy field in December but there are always a few there.
Well, I’m 69 and this year toured Swiss mountain passes, Tremola St Gottard pass & Grossglockner including bikers rest in Austria on my z900RS. Next year it’s going to be “Stelvio at 70”. Remember meeting a biker on the Channel ferry, in her late 70s, making her way to Warsaw, Poland, on her Vincent. Don’t let age be the barrier, use these journals to inspire you.
Hi Kenny, I’m so glad you love the trips I’m doing, if they inspire you to do something similar then that’s brilliant and if not, then I am so happy to have you come along with me on TH-cam! 😊
Interesting video. Looking forward to your next installment. However I hope the aB&B was ok? I'd feel a bit weird leaving the bike out on the main road. G
To be honest I’d have moved on. Especially after having ur bike nicked. It’s ok for her car to be at the door but not ur bike ??? See ya, Next spot or setup a tent I think.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video. This was filmed just before the bike was stolen whilst I was away with my son, so I wasn’t as paranoid then as I am now about where I will leave the new bike. I felt reasonably comfortable leaving it where it was as I was in the middle of nowhere, far from any big cities. Moving forward, secure parking or camping beside the bike will be my method of choice… 😊
@steviejinx1225 I agree. My recent trip, I had a disc lock used all the time even when camping. Also had a chain albeit a small one in case I needed to park on the street anywhere, however any hotels I used had underground carparks.
Bloody dog one of those small ones . I cracked 2 ribs on wet slepers on a bridge leathal ended up in a ditch with water ,in winter .Just tell me when your planning your trips so I can avoid the rain that’s with you 😂
This tour was filmed just before my bike was stolen so at this point I hadn’t received the bag. The next tour on my new bike (which I will be starting soon), will see me using the Ironjias bag which continued to impress me a lot 😊
Late May/June, my release schedule got turned upside down when my bike was stolen in France… The next tour, on my new bike will be out in almost real time in February.
Thanks, I’m so glad you enjoyed the video. No longer with Bennetts - they sorted it after a blip in the process but it made more sense to put the new bike on an existing multi-bike policy with the Bonnie.
You could be fine, I think it’s down to luck really… I did the Wild Atlantic Way in April/May last year and enjoyed a week of blue skies and mid-twenties temperatures. Mid February I will be heading down through France, into Spain and then Portugal… I’m Keeping my fingers crossed for that one!
Spring / summer, Overnight Portsmouth-St Malo ferry, ride around Brittany then return on the evening ferry from Cherbourg to Poole, but I live 30 mins from Poole ferry. Sorry, just read you said via tunnel!
Looking at the lorry park on M20 thinking why any European truck drivers would venture beyond Calais. No wonder food prices are astronomical in the U.K.
It's only like that during peak summer periods. It's called Operation Brock, and is designed to reduce traffic at the Ports, it's nothings to do with paperwork etc. It's really just a glorified queuing system.
@jeanjacques9980 no, Operation Brock has only been around for the last 5 or so years. Before then it was just huge queues and congestion around the ports. It's only implemented during busy times, Xmas and Summer holidays etc. In fact it's just been put in place recently for Xmas.
@ Joy of joys, I don’t remember huge queues approaching Dover but I never travel in August via Dover, use Newhaven, limited ferries. 5 years ago seems to coincide with something else. Still think foreign drivers would be mad to accept journeys to uk unless bribed. No queues on the French motorway approaching Calais in my memory unless strikes or fishermen blocking ports. Calais is a large port. Don’t think lorry drivers have to clear their loads in Paris or anywhere else before heading to Calais.
I work in France so travel the M20 to the Channel Tunnel a few times a week. The congestionhas been bad for decades unfortunately, especially into Dover. The traffic outgrew the ports a long long time ago. Calais was rebuilt in the last few years, with a huge amount of reclaimed land, to avoid those issues where possible.
I don’t understand why you don’t like filtering. You might as well be in a car if you don’t filter. That’s the beauty of a motorcycle. No one can hold you up.
@ to be fair. I am aware of that too. I just go past them a couple of miles an hour quicker than they are travelling. It’s the idiots on bikes who speed past which I find stupid. At slow speed I have time to react.
Steve, I’ve been watching your channel for some time so I’m aware of the difficulties you have encountered along the way. I’m only 4mins into the Grand Tour and you’re already making me nervous. Why on earth are you arriving at an unfamiliar destination at 10pm? Why do you even consider a 10 hour ride on the bike? It’s bonkers and asking for trouble. Camping along the way, no doubt in a wet ditch at the side of the road with a can of veggie soup in hand? I don’t want to press play for fear of what’s coming next. Look after yourself for God’s sake and eat some proper food!
Hi, thank you for your concern! I somehow always end up doing a long day but all is fine with this one 😊(it was filmed on the old bike shortly before the tour with Ben that went spectacularly wrong!).
If you only intend to do an hour in France before stopping, you'd be better taking a sandwich with you and a small flask, and eating on the train. And fuel up before getting on the train. Just sayin....
![เปิดคำทำนาย นอสตราดามุส - บาบา วานก้า ปี 2025 คนทั่วโลกต้องเจออะไรบ้าง? | แฉ 11 ธ.ค. 67 [2/3] |GMM25](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xmTIKWJUMPM/mqdefault.jpg)
freedom is priceless.....
I'm guessing that FJ1200 at 6:32 has a new owner. It did 10K miles between 2006 and 2017 it had done nearly 10K by it's next MOT in 2018 It's done another 10K since then, which is pretty good going when you factor in COVID. Proof you don't have to spend £20K+ to go touring.
glad to see you on tour again, dont forget the bike chain
Thanks Barrie, this one was filmed just before the bike was stolen. I have some heavy duty security for my new bike! 😊
Thank god your back on another trip love watching you buddy, ride safe
Thanks Daz! 😁
Thanks for this Steve, what a great time to launch this series as the winter sets in here in UK and we are all chopping at the bit for spring to arrive and set off on another tour.
Hope this Swiss tour goes well and stays dry.
Thanks for all the hard work my friend. ✅
Thank you my friend! 😁
Well, this looks promising! That's a lot of kilometers for a week. I can't wait for your next episode.
Awesome! It’s great having you along for the ride Paul! 😊
In your favourite place, a French motorway in the pouring rain! 😆 Looking forward to your tour 👍
You know me so well! 😂
The Nav VI was correct when you exited the train. The normal route is to turn right at the top of the ramp. I travel 3-4 times a week, and have only turned left maybe once due to roadworks on the exit road 😉
Yeah👍 another Steve vlog with weather 😆 The Pas du Calais has a weather system of its own and its frequently wet in my experience too. Roll next episode 😉
Hi Mark, I think weather systems follow me around! 😂
I like that "Mr Electronic" lovely kick off Steve, and love me a channel crossing....
Thanks Arch! I’ve just booked an overnight ferry crossing for my next tour which will be happening very soon.. can’t wait! 😊
WOW this adventure sounds epic. I have just ordered that map and hope to go next spring / summer, looking forward to viewing this Steve, many thanks-
Hi John, it’s a cracking route, you’ll love it! 😊
Looking forward to the tour Steve keep up the great vids 👍
Thank you!! 😁
You had me confused about this video until I read the description. Looking forward to this one, a tour I would love to do myself next year.
It’s a cracking route, you’ll love it! I will be setting off soon on a new tour with my new bike, I’m looking forward to creating many memories with this one too!
Hi Steve, i got a bit confused then i saw what you wrote that this tour happened before the bike got nicked. Good vlog
Hi Paul, yes, this tour was filmed just before I went away with Ben. I’m already missing the warmer, drier weather!
Hi Steve, it's great to be back on the road with you. Brilliant episode as usual. Looks like you were sleeping in a sauna . Ride safe.
Hi Brian, thanks, yes, it certainly has a sauna look to it! Very cosy too! 😊
Good stuff! ride save!
Thanks! 😊
Steve, France and pouring rain. Name a more iconic trio 😂
If only it wasn’t true!! 😂
Just goes to show you need to read the vlog notes - I was thinking you had changed your bike again!
Great work as usual. 👍
Thanks Mark! Yes, the sequence I released the videos got disrupted with the bike being stolen, this tour was filmed just before I set off with Ben and it all went wrong. I will be setting off very soon on the next tour which I will publish pretty much straight after this one finishes. 😊
I live in France. My current bike is just over three years old and has toured all over Europe. It’s never been on a motorway, there really is no need.
Not sure I’d do UK - Switzerland and back in a week but I’m not that keen on bombing it on the motorway if I could avoid it. Maybe if I had two weeks so I could have my rest days for local sights and the odd detour. I’d also feel terrible riding anywhere I have a friend or relative and not stopping to see them which usually adds time to any road journey in Western Europe. Hell, I made a map of all the places I’d have to ride to should I schlepp the bike to Britain and that alone would take me the best part of ten days.
That being said I love that you’re letting me come along with you. Not sure I’d do Switzerland after September but that’s just me.
I don’t have a network of friends and family across Europe so I’m free to roam around without having to visit. This was filmed just before my bike was stolen so it’s a few months back now and weather was a bit kinder! 😊
@ I was wondering about the bike (and weather) but just didn’t connect in my head that we even had a summer 😅.
Great to see another tour video. Knowing what you know now would you have left your bike like that? Makes for great entertainment Steve but please take care of the new GSA. 👍
Thanks! No, having lost one bike, I wouldn’t have parked where I did and when I set off on the new one (which is soon), I am going to be trying for secure accommodation or camping beside the bike (plus chains/locks/trackers etc). 😊
A grand tour is not about the riding. It is a time to relax and enjoy the experience whilst riding.
This can't of been an easy video to edit, hope you are falling in love with the new bike and looking forward to seeing its first adventures next year.
Ps ignore the people that couldn't wait to let you know there opinion before reading the description....
Thank you for your kind words! I am absolutely loving the new bike and my first tour with it will be mid February when I head off in search of some winter sunshine! I can’t wait! 😊
@TwoWheeledDreamer I really loved the videos with your son, I would of loved to have done a trip with my dad but hope to get a chance to do it with my son when he is older.
Thank you, it was very special for me to tour with Ben and we are aiming to get to the Black Forest or maybe Eastern Europe next summer if we can align our diaries. Touring with your son when he is old enough is a great thing to look forward to!
Enjoyed your vid and looking forward to the rest.
One thing I don’t understand though is after very recently having your bike stolen while using an Air B&B with unsecured parking, you choose yet another Air B&B without even basic security, leaving it on the roadside a distance from your accommodation…..! 🤷♂
The bike hasn’t been stolen yet.
You can see it in the video 🙂
Not the point we all saw the despair and inconvenience it put you through and clearly you have learned nothing, very foolish in my opinion
@@mrdee1986 This is before it was stolen, hard to learn a lesson before the event.
Hi Dave, so glad you enjoyed the video. My
next tour (which I will setting off soon on), I am aiming for securing parking or camping next to the bike! No more side of the road parking for me!
@@TwoWheeledDreamer My apologies. By mistake I assumed that the vids were in chronological order……..oppps. 🙄
I left Lugano last Saturday at 9am. 1200GS. Up over Alps and through Basel. Stopped in Chalon Champagne for the thaw out. Next day over to Uk arriving home in Derbyshire at 7pm..Bit damp, chilly and tired. Not my idea of fun tour. Have a great time
Thanks John! 😊
Helmet on. Here we go....
Let’s ’Ave it! 😁
Ah mate; you jinxed yourself when you got to france. At least you got yourself a very comfy looking room for the night
I should know better when it comes to French weather! Yes, the room was fantastic 😊
Sod being a truck driver 😮
Love the trips you do. I'm 69 and think it might just be a bit to much but still get the urge to do it. I suppose a good understanding partner helps also but I can only think when I'm on my bike which is a 1300 Pan European which I love. Anyway stay safe and enjoy as I will watching this vlog
I’m very nearly your age and my bike is sitting in its shed all ready to leave first thing in the morning. I’m heading over to the Massif Central in France for a weekend camping in the rain and snow at the Millevaches Hivernale. Last year there were 3,500 of us and a huge number of those bikers were older than me. I had a ST1300 for nine years but traded it in for something lighter and more suited to the roads I travel on these days. I loved it. It’s not a bike that I would take to a muddy field in December but there are always a few there.
Well, I’m 69 and this year toured Swiss mountain passes, Tremola St Gottard pass & Grossglockner including bikers rest in Austria on my z900RS. Next year it’s going to be “Stelvio at 70”. Remember meeting a biker on the Channel ferry, in her late 70s, making her way to Warsaw, Poland, on her Vincent. Don’t let age be the barrier, use these journals to inspire you.
Awesome! 😊
Fantastic! 😊
Hi Kenny, I’m so glad you love the trips I’m doing, if they inspire you to do something similar then that’s brilliant and if not, then I am so happy to have you come along with me on TH-cam! 😊
Interesting video.
Looking forward to your next installment. However I hope the aB&B was ok?
I'd feel a bit weird leaving the bike out on the main road.
G
To be honest I’d have moved on.
Especially after having ur bike nicked.
It’s ok for her car to be at the door but not ur bike ??? See ya,
Next spot or setup a tent I think.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video. This was filmed just before the bike was stolen whilst I was away with my son, so I wasn’t as paranoid then as I am now about where I will leave the new bike. I felt reasonably comfortable leaving it where it was as I was in the middle of nowhere, far from any big cities. Moving forward, secure parking or camping beside the bike will be my method of choice… 😊
@ Don’t blame you mate it’s a different world now.
When I’m away I keep my bike locked and nearby always.
@@TwoWheeledDreamer yes I'd seen that video of the theft before I was a subscriber. I really felt for you.
Thx.
G
@steviejinx1225 I agree.
My recent trip, I had a disc lock used all the time even when camping.
Also had a chain albeit a small one in case I needed to park on the street anywhere, however any hotels I used had underground carparks.
I cannot believe after your previous experience you left your bike where you did your insane..
This was filmed before his bike was stolen….this is that bike.
Read the video notes! He did this before the bike was stolen.
Bloody dog one of those small ones . I cracked 2 ribs on wet slepers on a bridge leathal ended up in a ditch with water ,in winter .Just tell me when your planning your trips so I can avoid the rain that’s with you 😂
Hi Peter, ouch… that sounds painful! Yes, it’s best to travel any other time than when I am, it will guarantee good weather for you! 😂
Dogs hate us on or off the bike 😅😅
You’re not wrong! 😂
so what's happened to the camo iron jias bag then? you bigged it up some a few weeks back. Was this filmed before you got it?
This tour was filmed just before my bike was stolen so at this point I hadn’t received the bag. The next tour on my
new bike (which I will be starting soon), will see me using the Ironjias bag which continued to impress me a lot 😊
So how many months ago did you do this?? 6 months ago?? bearing in mind you uploaded this on 5th Dec!! Why didnt you park up the drive of the Airbnb?
Late May/June, my release schedule got turned upside down when my bike was stolen in France… The next tour, on my new bike will be out in almost real time in February.
Nice one Steve, keep them coming. are you still with Bennetts or did you knock them on the head after the Reims fiasco?
Thanks, I’m so glad you enjoyed the video. No longer with Bennetts - they sorted it after a blip in the process but it made more sense to put the new bike on an existing multi-bike policy with the Bonnie.
Did you order your Swiss vinette while in uk ?
Hi, I bought the Swiss motorway pass on the tour immediately before this one whilst heading back to the U.K. from Sicily 😊
Hya , what month was this ridden pal 👍
Hi John, this was filmed tail end of May, early June 😊
We are going to the south of France in middle of may but I’m a bit concerned about the weather 🤔
You could be fine, I think it’s down to luck really… I did the Wild Atlantic Way in April/May last year and enjoyed a week of blue skies and mid-twenties temperatures. Mid February I will be heading down through France, into Spain and then Portugal… I’m
Keeping my fingers crossed for that one!
Where would you go if you had 4 days spare... Via Eurotunnel?
Spring / summer, Overnight Portsmouth-St Malo ferry, ride around Brittany then return on the evening ferry from Cherbourg to Poole, but I live 30 mins from Poole ferry. Sorry, just read you said via tunnel!
@@MarkN67 that's a good shout... Portsmouth isn't far from Surrey... thanks
Looking at the lorry park on M20 thinking why any European truck drivers would venture beyond Calais. No wonder food prices are astronomical in the U.K.
It's only like that during peak summer periods. It's called Operation Brock, and is designed to reduce traffic at the Ports, it's nothings to do with paperwork etc. It's really just a glorified queuing system.
@ And this lorry park has been happening for the last 20+ years?
@jeanjacques9980 no, Operation Brock has only been around for the last 5 or so years. Before then it was just huge queues and congestion around the ports. It's only implemented during busy times, Xmas and Summer holidays etc. In fact it's just been put in place recently for Xmas.
@ Joy of joys, I don’t remember huge queues approaching Dover but I never travel in August via Dover, use Newhaven, limited ferries.
5 years ago seems to coincide with something else. Still think foreign drivers would be mad to accept journeys to uk unless bribed. No queues on the French motorway approaching Calais in my memory unless strikes or fishermen blocking ports. Calais is a large port. Don’t think lorry drivers have to clear their loads in Paris or anywhere else before heading to Calais.
I work in France so travel the M20 to the Channel Tunnel a few times a week. The congestionhas been bad for decades unfortunately, especially into Dover. The traffic outgrew the ports a long long time ago. Calais was rebuilt in the last few years, with a huge amount of reclaimed land, to avoid those issues where possible.
I don’t understand why you don’t like filtering. You might as well be in a car if you don’t filter. That’s the beauty of a motorcycle. No one can hold you up.
I will filter, I just find it stressful having had cars change lanes on me without looking in the past… 😕
@ to be fair. I am aware of that too. I just go past them a couple of miles an hour quicker than they are travelling. It’s the idiots on bikes who speed past which I find stupid. At slow speed I have time to react.
Steve, I’ve been watching your channel for some time so I’m aware of the difficulties you have encountered along the way. I’m only 4mins into the Grand Tour and you’re already making me nervous. Why on earth are you arriving at an unfamiliar destination at 10pm? Why do you even consider a 10 hour ride on the bike? It’s bonkers and asking for trouble. Camping along the way, no doubt in a wet ditch at the side of the road with a can of veggie soup in hand? I don’t want to press play for fear of what’s coming next.
Look after yourself for God’s sake and eat some proper food!
Hi, thank you for your concern! I somehow always end up doing a long day but all is fine with this one 😊(it was filmed on the old bike shortly before the tour with Ben that went spectacularly wrong!).
If you only intend to do an hour in France before stopping, you'd be better taking a sandwich with you and a small flask, and eating on the train. And fuel up before getting on the train. Just sayin....