Well well well

[George 350]

I have had to go to Spain for a few weeks for work duty. Boss was OK with ferry fare in lieu of air fare, so I've ridden the bike down here to Idiada, near Tarragon.

I should have known all of the items below already having done similar journeys in the past, but:

What have I discovered/rediscovered in the 16 years since my last big rides?

1/ What a GREAT distance bike a 350 Sport really is. Sit all day at 70-75mph and is 150+ mile comfortable. I did 570 miles on Thursday, stopping only for fuel, food and drink breaks, and could still walk afterwards.
2/ At aforesaid 70-75mph, only 8.5 - 9 liters of fuel are used between 150 mile stops.
3/ On the RN814(?) between Poitiers and Limoges there aren't any fuel stations for the last 20 miles before Limoges, nor for 15 miles on the Motorway around/past Limoges. For the last 10 miles I dropped to 55-60 along with the lorries and it got me to the services. It took 12.2 litres to refill.
How much fuel do the 76-81 Sport tanks hold?
4/ Carburetted bikes are poor at 1500m+ altitude going into Andorra,(road goes to 2400m) but the roads are simply some of the best in Europe.
5/ Today, having dropped into Spain, I wish my leathers had air con.
6/ Was amazedto get so many complimentary 'thumbs up's, smiles, and questions about it at every stop. A definate ice breaker at each stop I made.

Lets hope that the rest of the trip goes as well as the first 2 days.

George.

[pedro]

Can I guess that you haven't got clip ons on your Sport, mine kills me after 50 miles or so, in fact I'm off to Kempton tomorrow specifically to look for some raised clip ons among other things, that's the theory, reality is that I shall probably come back with more rusty junk I'm never going to use like I usually do!

[George 350]

Hi Pedro,

Mine does indeed have clip-ons, and rearsets (that is what makes the big difference). At cruising speed i find the weight is off the wrists by the wind holding you up. My 'big' Thursday mileage was 90% on motorways or long fast roads.
Each to their own guess.

George.

[Steve Brown]

Glad you're having what sounds like a great trip George-keep it up! I agree with you about the suitability of a Sport for a trip like this and can confirm the figures with my own experiences thrashing my bike from 1977 onwards. They're great aren't they?

[Daddy Dom]

Woohooo! What a blast, well done for taking the opportunity
DD

[Haboola72]

Great part of the country, fabulous roads.
Idiada the vehicle proving centre? I can't find an Idiada in Catalunya...

Pete

[norbert]

Do you mean Igualada about 70 km northwest of Barcelona?

If you do have any problem with the bike, let me know. I´ve got a morini-friend over there and he miht have some spare parts, if needed. Anyhow I hope you´ll need nothing but somo shadow sometimes
This bikes are verry comfortable for long distance journeys (I´ve mad a lot of them and 4 vueltas a España). And allways with clip-ons! George you are absolutley right: the important thing is to have rearsets. With a big Harro-bag on the tank I can stay 8 hours on the morini without having problems with the wrists.

One of the nicest roads up there, probably the best, is the "Collada de Toses" from Puigcerda to Ripoll the N 260. Good asfalt (last time I passed is 4 years ago) 50 km fluently one bend after the other and only 3 or 4 villages on the way, very little traffic (If you can avoid the weekend even better). If you have the time, do that road!!! There have allready taken place motocicle races before it was asphalted

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buen viaje!

norbert

[George 350]

Hi again.
I should have made it clearer - the Idiada I was referring to is the proving ground near to El Vendrell, which is about half way between Barcelona and Tarragona.
George.