Riding In Europe
RIDING IN EUROPE
TOURING
The Old World is a Great Place to Visit, but You'll Have to Plan Everything First
Phil Philcox
If you stand on the east coast of the United States with your nose pointing toward Canada and your rear end lined up with Miami Beach and look over your right shoulder, you're looking toward a place called Europe and I seriously doubt if any dedicated tourer hasn't considered giving it a shot before passing on to that great place in the sky. There's the German, Swiss, Austrian and Italian Alps to negotiate, the sparkling coastline along the Mediterranean and Adriatic seas and the glitter of Paris and Rome and if you haven't at one time or another gotten the itch, what are you doing reading about touring?
Once you've made the decision to go, there's a handful of minor problems that must be solved: transportation, saving the money and collecting the necessary paper work. In the major problem category, motorcycle availability heads the list. You must face the fact that in order to tour Europe by motorcycle, you've got to have a motorcycle.
What most people do is contact Richard Kahn of Butler-Smith Motors in Norwood, New Jersey and arrange for European delivery of any of BMW's current models. They ride it around Europe and ship it back when the trip is over. Of course, we're talking big bucks but the adventure of a lifetime doesn't come cheap. There was a time, they tell me, when you could buy a new BMW in Europe, ride it around until you went broke, ran out of time or got homesick, ship it home and sell it for enough to pay for the bike, the expenses and have enough left over to buy a welcome home dinner. Unfortunately, times have changed. If the above were true today, there'd be five million Americans buzzing around Europe right now and another five million leaving tomorrow.
Give or take a few hundred dollars, you can currently buy a new BMW R60/7 in Europe for about $2600 and a new R100/7 for just over $3000-not bad considering the same R100/7 sells in the U.S. for almost $3995. Of course, there's return shipping, set-up and registration charges and customs will be dipping into your pocket for their share, so cut this savings in half. It's still a bargain...if you can tap the family's savings account to this tune without breaking into a sweat or suffering a guilt complex.
When I started planning a Europe tour in January of 1977,1 studied and discarded every alternate plan short of buying a new BMW with Munich delivery. This ranged from swimming over and stealing a bike to shipping my own over. In between, there was an assortment of alternatives that had possibilities only if I was prepared for possible defeat or willing to spend months making the final, shaky arrangements. Eventually, I wound up with a new BMW but only because I found that (considering my personality and tolerance levels) all the problems were ruining my "yes-I'm-actually-going-to-go" attitude. If you've got more patience than I have, here are some of the alternatives.
My first thought was shipping my own Suzuki GS750 over by air or boat, whichever was cheaper, and starting the tour from wherever the plane or boat happened to land. I was quoted something in the neighborhood of $280 one way from the east coast by boat, $350 one way by air, plus the cost of crating, enroute insurance, customs paper work handling and those hidden extras that never show up until you're ready to settle the bill. Shipping by boat involved delivering the bike at least a month in advance and waiting another month on the other end. I scratched the whole idea because it was (a) outside my tolerance level (b) too expensive and (c) too inconvenient. In all, the round trip fare for the Suzuki would have run somewhere around $900 unless I was willing to hoist it aboard a banana boat myself and unload it at the other end.
I've talked to several motorcyclists who have bought used motorcycles in Europe— sometimes sight unseen—and their experiences ranged from "OK" to "total contusion." It's possible to buy a used bike in Europe (the market is flooded with them) but I wouldn't recommend a blind buy unless you're dealing with someone you know, someone who knows someone you know or a close relative. Most of the guys who arranged these blind dates by mail either misunderstood the arrangements or wound up with something below par. You can't count on bringing the bike back to the U.S. for resale or use since most fall short on U.S. specifications. They make great paperweights for a lot of paper but can't be legally used on our roads.
Okay. . .then buy a used bike over there, ride it around and sell it before you return. Very possible and worth investigating. You'll need the time up front to shop and the time on the end to resell but it can be done. Any reasonable loss would make the whole thing attractive considering the alternatives. You might even find a dealer over there who'll sell you the bike and agree to buy it back when your tour is over. I found many used BMW 750s of various vintage from $1700 to $2000. A $300 to $500 loss sounds reasonable enough . . .> again, considering the alternatives; The obvious choices are European bikes, BMWs, Moto Guzzis, Laverdas, Benellis, etc. since Japanese bikes in Europe are sucking top dollar out of the Europeans. In one country, there's a 57 percent import tax on Japanese bikes and they're still selling all they can import. In Paris, a new Honda GL1000 sells for about $4200 stripped. During my trip I actually saw more Japanese bikes on the road than I did European bikes, so dealer coverage and availability is everywhere. If you're considering buying a used bike for resale over there, you can go European or Japanese. The loss will be the same and you just have to come up with the ready cash until the resale is negotiated.
Where are all these used bikes? Everywhere. In Munich, Zurich. Paris, Rome and London, the newspaper classifieds are filled with them. You can write the tourist offices listed elsewhere in this article, ask for the name and address of the leading newspapers and drop them a line. Enclose a $5 International Money Order, send the request by air mail and have them send you some current copies of their newspaper. You'll get a good idea of what's going for how much.
As an example of what's available in Munich. Germany, the following list was taken from Munich's daily newspaper, Suddeutsche Zeitung on June 5th, 1977. Kawasaki 750 (3500 kilometers) $2521
Honda Gold Wing. 1975 $2586
Honda Gold Wing (4000 kilometers)
Obviously, if you were to arrive in Munich with $2000 clutched in your hand,
you could be on your way in two to three days, the proud owner of a used bike that will get you from Point A to Point B with no problems. There are language problems to handle, registration and insurance to settle and some other annoying hurdles but nobody said it was going to be easy— especially if you're trying to save a buck.
Your particular touring needs might be different than mine, which include a bike with at least 750cc. You can tour Europe with 90cc's if you're into self-torture. Me. . .I needed power and comfort and realized I'd have to pay extra. With a combined rider/passenger weight of 350 pounds and luggage weighing 100 pounds, 1 was even pushing the RlOO/7's weight limits by 60 pounds or so. Anything smaller would have been a compromise. We knew we'd be traveling through the Alps at altitudes near 12,000 feet and needed pulling power and big bike reliability. We got it with the R100/7 and paid the price. In 3366 miles of traveling in 21 days, we encountered roads ranging from "straight-as-an-arrow" to "overthemountain - and - through - the - woods." The BMW never coughed once. Most of us will agree that BMW's machines are some of the best—if not the best—touring machines on the road, so when you fork over your money, you're definitely not compromising in quality. It's strictly a matter of whether you have the money or not.
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Whether you ship your own bike over, buy a new or used bike over there or arrange to steal one while the owner's relieving himself at an outdoor john, you're going to need insurance to get across the borders. Every border check involved producing a "green card." Without one you're not going to get far. There's a certain mystery about motorcycle insurance in Europe but one thing is clear—it's expensive. Minimum coverage for a 750 runs about $75 for a month, maximum coverage for a 1000 about $250 a month. BMW arranges coverage through GerlingKonzern, one of Europe's leading underwriters but only for new purchases made through their office. Europeans are no more or less crooked than Americans, so in addition to the mandatory requirements, I suggest you get insurance to protect your basic survival.
Nothing proves a point more than a true story:
In September of 1976, John Lovengreen picked up his new BMW from the factory, joined the Von Thielmann BMW Rally tour and roared off into the sunset. On the first night the tour group parked their bikes in the hotel's locked courtyard and the next morning they all went out for roll call. Nineteen bikes showed up. Since there were 20 there the night before (19 from 20 equals one), somebody had been ripped off! Imagine! The first day of your Europe tour and your $3000 motorcycle and half your possessions are missing. When John got over almost having a heart attack, the tour director contacted the insurance company. Two days later John got a check for the bike and his long-gone possessions. This was fast service and something even the Good Hands people would have a hard time duplicating. Summary: You need that insurance, not only because it's mandatory but because they can get you over there as easily as they get you over here.
An alternate plan involves renting a motorcycle over there. Mike von Thiel mann and Bob Beach, two Europe tour directors, say there are a limited number available during certain times of the year. You can figure on spending at least $700 for three weeks f you can find one. This includes insurance coverage and, again, isn't too outrageous considering the other avenues of escape.
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You can get further information on rentals and details on the pre-packaged Europe tours by writing Von Thielmann's BMW Rally, 4Ö40 Lamont St., Dept. 21, San Diego, Calif. 92109, and Bob Beach's Motorcycle Adventures, 2763 West River Parkway, Dept. 21, Grand Island, N.Y. 14072.
The Europe tour is different things to different people. Obviously, it's not a snap unless bucks are readily available. I spent about five months ironing out details and eventually the dream became a reality. At 46 years of age, some of the spunk and daring of yesteryear is laying back along the road of life, dented from overuse but salvageable. Once the Europe tour seed was planted, I worked at making it a reality. It wasn't easy but then again it wasn't that hard. It resulted in the adventure of my lifetime, plans for a second tour next year and the realization that nothing's impossible if you work at it.
London newspapers—British Tourist Authority, 680 Fifth Ave., N.Y., N.Y. 10017
Munich newspapers—Germany National Tourist Office, 630 Fifth Ave., N.Y., N.Y. 10020 Zurich newspapers—Swiss National Tourist Office, 608 Fifth Ave., N.Y., N.Y. 10020
Paris newspapers—French Government Tourist Office, 610 Fifth Ave., N.Y., N.Y. 10020
(ask for information on the Englishprinted Herald)
Rome newspapers—Italian Tourist Office, 630 Fifth Ave., N.Y., N.Y. 10020 Brussels newspapers—Belgium National Tourist Office, 720 Fifth Ave., N.Y., N.Y. 10019 European delivery of BMWs—
Richard Kahn, Butler-Smith Motors, Inc., Walnut and Hudson, Dept. 21, Norwood, N.J. 07648 Condensed from the book, Europe—The Two-Wheeled Adventure, A Motorcyclist's Guide To Touring Europe by Phil Philcox and Beverly Boe. Chateau Publishing— $6.95. ga
