German katana rally

[johnr]

last weekend was the 52nd german katana rally (if you are a maths genius and wonder how they got this number, thy have held 2 rallys a year for several years in th past. anyhow, fate decreed that i wasnt on call that week, had no prior commitments at home and had the opportunity to travel over and visit.
the event was being held in the south of the country, at a small campsite owned by the club 'streetfighters franken' id formed a plan following a kind invitation from pedda to visit him on the way to this years event, and then to ride down to the site with him and his wife Tanja on his bandit 12 engined kat.
now its got to be said that from here in the uk, its a bit tricky to figure out just how big the distances are over on the mainland, but my plan was thus, we night finish work, home, shower, load the bike, get a couple of hours kip then set off at about 10.30/11.00 pm and ride the 350 miles to dover to jump on the boat to calais. i rolled into dover having made reasonably good time but it was still 4.30am, the ferry people put me on an earlier ferry so i had no waiting time, and i got an hour of kip on the boat before leaving calais at about half 7 due to fog in the channel. my sat nave told me it was 250 miles to peddas place so i got stuck into the thursady morning rush hour traffic through france belgium and germany. finally getting to peddas lovely house at about 1.30, distance covered so far 570miles, hours sleep since wednesday morning, 1 hour, i was flagging a bit. of course, as we were in germany, the first thing we did was get started on the beer!, and after a barbie for tea i said id have an hour or two's kip to top up my batterys so i could come back out and sit with the family. 15 hours later i woke up, still thinking it was thursday night cos it was still light, in fact it was 10am on friday! oops!
bikes were loaded up and fueled and we set off at 2pm heading for nuremberg, we settled into a steady 90mph cruise on the autobahn and filled up every 150 miles. the rain that had dogged me the day before through belgium and france wasnt much of an issue, and after 100 miles or so, we rode under blue skies and sunshine. germany is a beautiful country. even the limited views from my seat on the autobahn the countryside is just stunningly green and lush, rolling miles of countryside and river valleys, we would stop, fuel up, use the loo, then set off again, not in a rush, but not wasting time, as i followed them through the traffic the odometer on my bike was ticking round. as we pulled off the motorway and headed towards nuremberg, my trip meter clicked over 1000 miles. another 50 miles and we were there. the streetfighters franken site is a great location, enough camping and parking for perhaps 70 bikes and a hundred and odd people, clubhouse, firepit, outside bar, kitchen, toilets, its got it all. we rolled through the gate at about 8.30pm, having covered just over 400 miles on the day, everyone knows pedda, though i got some odd looks rolling up on a teutonic trail bike, but as they spotted the uk plate and realised the trip id made, the reaction was as warm as any ive had at a rally. in a break with tradition, i decided to put my tent up before hitting the bar, as i shant ever forget the last german kat rally i attended. tent up and bags unpacked, i changed from my heavy bike gear and collected my tee shirt before hittting the bar. not the best idea on an empty stomach, after several beers and then discovering the other bar had shorts, i hit the rum, no idea what time i got to bed but i was told i was amongst the last. next day my skull was hosting an inpromptu drum and base improvisation meeting so i found myself a spot under a fig tree on the site, out of the now baking hot sunshine. by lunchtime thee temp was aproaching 30 degrees and i opted out of the run out due to a combination of hangover and also having put a thousand miles under my wheels in 2 days. im not going to detail the bikes, i will let the pictures talk for themselves. all i will say is that theres something genetically different about german modifications to bikes. the tuv is a maze of complexity and intricate legislation, and th germans ability to negotiate it whilst keeping these bikes on the road is probably the reason whey the quality of their engineering is just a level above the norm. there were the usual seleection of silly games to play and the fire pit created just enough smoke to keep th midges and mozzies at bay. next morning i woke early, knowing that i had to reverse my journey to get back home, but i was still aching from fridays exertions. i packed and loaded the bike and was ready to go by 8am. i wanted to say my goodbyes to pedda and tanja for their hospitality and guidance as well as translating due to me speaking not a word of their language. but they werent up and i didnt want to wake them up as they also had a 400 mile ride home to look forwards too. i fuelled up and got rolling, settling into the rhythm of 150 mile fuel top ups and arse de numbing, rolling through the countryside at high speed is a bit of an opportunity for some deep thinking about stuff, negotiating the traffic and keeping the bike running whilst negotiating the route and the road signs heading for my overnight stop, a formula one hotel at dunkirk. i rolled into there at about 4.30 with another 550 miles ticked off, running total so far 1600miles. next morning was a quick 35km into calais where again they put me on an earlier ferry leaving me just the last 360 miles from dover to freckleton to get through. i got to my front door at 4.30pm, total trip mileage, 1934, trophys won, 1, (furthest travelled) bike faults none, (although the sat nav spat its dummy out near koln on the way back and didnt play again till brussels, so i had to negotiate by long remembered europeean geography and sneaking a look at road maps in petrol stations.
i'll add a bit more detail in the next pride, but for now, heres the pictures. was it worth it? certainly, will i do it again? possibly, if timing and otheer commitments line up. but the distance and times taken are something i need to consider more next time, im really feelimng a bit old now for 2000 mile weekeends.

[johnr]

first pics, from peddas house

[johnr]

next batch from the rally itself

[johnr]

ok, now the forum is refusing to accept any more images, i will have to have a faff with them to try and make it work, bear with me.

[johnr]

[johnr]

[fossie]

Recognising many of these machines .....they really should employ the naughty corner .....

[johnr]

[johnr]

[johnr]