Motorrad Days
As so many other events, this year' s Motorrad Days in Garmisch-Partenkirchehn as been cancelled because of the coronavirus but there's always next year. Here' s what our Dave found there last year
The event is cancelled this year, but here's a taster of what to expect in
The last time I rode to Germany was around 15 years ago, when I was headed to the massive 'NitrOlympx' dragracing event held at the Grand Prix circuit at Hockenheim, and I was astride the unfaired four cylinder BMW K1200R. This time, I was headed to a more mountainous region of Germany, aboard another big Beemer, and in the direction of an event that was potentially more staid and laid back than a nitro-methane-fuelled adrenaline rush.
The long-held view of BMW riders has been of staid riding, Sam Brown belts, sensible boots and a strict adherence to the police riders' manual, 'Roadcraft'. However, while the sensible image that came into prominence in the Seventies (ironically after the advent of the R90S, which was considered to be very sports focussed at the time), isn't really accurate for the modern BMW rider. This is, presumably, due in part to the ever-expanding variety of bikes in the BMW range, covering everything from Ewan and Charlie adventurists to head-the-ball sports bikes, none of which are particularly pedestrian or staid in styling. After all, a bike that can lap the Isle of Man's Mountain Circuit at an average speed of over 135mph isn't the sort of machine that is a steady away commuter or touring machine ...
Which makes it all the more surprising that, of our group of journos and 'brand ambassadors' that were taking a long weekend to ride to southern Germany for the BMW Motorrad Days festival, included one gent on an Sl000RR. Would a bike that was most emphatically not a touring bike be a suitable steed for the best part of a two-thousand mile trip? But then the rider was Mike Booth, staffer at sister publication Fast Bikes, and a proven TT racer in his own right. And, if it came down to it, he could always swap seats and spend some time on a 12S0GSor 1250RTto give his gluteus some respite.
Myself, I was aboard a 1250GS,the HP or 'Rallye' version that has the red, white and blue colour scheme as well as the wire-spoked wheels, full engine bars and pannier racks as well as the electronic self-levelling suspension, bells and whistles that the top-of-the
range model is equipped with. So lots of toys to play with while covering lots of miles.
Having picked up the big Beemer from the company's British HQ in Farnborough on the Wednesday afternoon, a swift blast across motorways number 4 and 25, and thence on to the M20 saw me re-acquainted with the lanky soft roader - it'd been nigh on 20 years since I rode an 1150 GS, also a big tank 'Adventure' model - but I was keen to get on some more demanding roads other than motorways, so I dived off the M20 just as soon as I saw the sign for Leeds Castle, near Maidstone. I find the fact that - despite its name - it's actually nowhere near the city of Leeds, rather fascinating, and for years had been meaning to drop in to have a look at the castle, which has existed, in one form or another, on the site since 1119,but had always been focussed on travelling to the south coast ferry terminals, but this time I had a few spare hours so decided to pop in. It was closed.
Rather than jump back on the motorway, and with no rush for a ferry or subterranean train as we were travelling across the Channel the following morning, I enjoyed a pleasant bimble through the Kent lanes, enjoying the Garden of England and seeing stuff that you'd not normally see if you were just head down, blasting for Dover. Weaving through the hop gardens and orchards, I stopped for a picture at the uniquely named 'Who'd A Thought It' pub /restaurant before finding my way to Folkestone.
GO CONTINENTAL
With the Eurotunnel just a stone's throw from the hotel, the assembled group of Bee Emm riders rolled into the 'flexiplus' car park early on the Thursday morning and availed ourselves of the facilities - by choosing a flexiplus ticket you not only get some flexibility (the name is a clue) as to which train you catch, but there's also food and drink, so we grabbed a coffee and some breakfast before being loaded on to the train. Just a note here - despite all of the numerous gadgets and accessories on modern bikes, the BMW does not have a cup holder. And if you wedge your coffee cup between the webbing strap from the soft luggage on the rear rack, it will spill over the exhaust can and dry very quickly. And it will look like you've had a rather unfortunate bowel-related accident...
Once away from Calais, we had a target of 440 miles to get us to Baden-Baden, and the weather was near-perfect. Mid-20 degrees Centigrade, bright sunshine, dry roads. And the peage autoroute system makes covering miles through France so, so easy. Some folk are dissuaded by the cost (minimal) and the fact that you don't see much of 'real France; but we wanted to get miles under our belts, and those 400 miles were covered in ease, over the Rhine and arriving in the amazing town of Baden-Baden in early evening, right on the western edge of the Black Forest mountain range. As the name suggests, like Bath in Somerset, Baden-Baden is a spa town, thanks to the 29 natural springs in the area, varying in temperature from 46 to 67°C. There followed a pleasing evening on the hotel's terrace, overlooking Baden-Baden town (below), with plenty of male-orientated banter, scaring other customers off and being the last to bed. Perhaps not ideal, given the early start next day, but a swift continental breakfast and coffee (lots), wakened weary eyes.
TEUTONIC TWISTIES
We weren't far out of Baden-Baden before we hit the Schwarzwaldhochstrasse - literally the 'Black Forest High Street; better known as the BS00, an amazing sinuous piece of tarmac that, although only about 40 miles in length, is seemingly very popular with motorcyclists, and rightly so.
From there on it was pretty much all autobahn, with the ability to cruise at speeds significantly higher than would be legally possible in the UK, before clipping the edge of Austria, which was when the scenery got significantly more Alpine. I'd heard cliches about Austria being like a living version of the Sound of Music, but thought that was just a joke. It ain't ...
That incredible topography coincided with a significant increase in traffic, and a subsequent reduction in average speed, and it wasn't getting any cooler - the temperature gauge on the big Beemer had sat at over 30°C for some time - so that first ice cold glass of beer at the hotel in Garmisch-Partenkirchen was most welcome. And yet, despite it being roasting hot, snow was still visible, particularly on the Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany, which looms over the ski jump in Garmisch on which much of the filming was done for the Eddie the Eagle film recorded in 2015, telling the story of Michael Edwards, the ski jumper who entered the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
The Friday night was the official opening of the Motorrad Days festival, complete with an oompah band, lots of steins o flager, some fantastic food, more lager, followed by several Red Bull and vodkas to call a halt to a very long, and incredibly enjoyable day.
To assume that an event organised by BMW- with Teutonic efficiency - would only be about standard machinery would be totally wrong...
MOTORRAD DAYS
We had a full day on site on Saturday, and it was a busy day indeed. As the BMW factory's prime promotional event, Motorrad Days encompasses absolutely everything that the brand is about. And while, a couple of decades ago when the event started, that may have focussed on pure touring machines for mile-hungry gentlemen, here in the 21st century, there is so much more to add to that.
Naturally, it is BMW's annual chance to shout about their new products - which included the prototype version of the colossal new 1800cc flat twin, the Rl8, taking pride of place in the custom tent, while another marquee showcased the BMW clothing range and the impressive 'Vision DC', BMW's concept electric bike, a Tron-like stunner that, somehow, managed to retain a company stylistic resemblance to the flat twins!
The Rl8, complete with its cruiser styling and a whole lot of presence, was fired up both in the custom marquee and paraded in the show arena. The custom tent was a great big circus tent affair, complete with its own bar and stage, and with various trade stands from custom bike builders, too. The Rl8 engine was also shown in the trellis-frame 'Departed' built by Custom Works Zon, while other factory builds included 'Hommage', built to commemorate the RSthat was built for just one year in the Thirties, styled by the BMW team (including the renowned custom bike builder Ola Stenagard) and built in conjunction with Swedish customisers, Unique Custom Cycles, using an original 500cc RS engine, supercharged and in a custom-styled softail chassis.
It wasn't just the custom tent that had non-standard machinery, as all around the venue were modified machines - from Paris-Dakar replicas built, not from the expected models, but from R9T and earlier airhead twins; race replicas that were verging on the edge of being cafe racers with old endurance-style fairings and lights; multiple neatly-assembled cafe racer R9Ts;and some proper choppers too, including one stunningly crafted twin that retained the original Telelever front suspension.
Then there was what I can only term as 'curiosities' - the airhead with Harris tweed seat and tank panels; the art deco-influenced Nostalgia R7, built around an R9T and reminiscent of the beam framed bikes of the Twenties and Thirties; the 'Spitfire'with its fully enclosed aluminium body that was built for the Sultans of Sprint race series; the minimalist (but very loud)
'Bauhaus 100' F850 by Krautmotors in Heidelberg that was commissioned by the factory; and the R9T fitted with polished aluminium fuel tank and sidecar, and massive apehanger bars; and so much more.
And BMW haven't forgotten their heritage, with a classic marquee, and parades by classic bikes in the arena, which also had the WSB round showing on the big screen at the end, while Irish stuntman Mattie
Griffin had been defying physics (and riding over TV adventurist Aldo Kane), and Alex Le Marseillais had been destroying tyres in a flamboyant fashion on his SlO00RR, and when the displays were over, a 'road' course was laid out for kiddies on push bikes and electric machines. There were also talks and presentations by various BMW grosse kase, interviews with Helmut Dahne (winner of, amongst other things, the 1976 1000cc Production TT on a R90S), freestyle motocross demos, guided Alpine tours, local test rides, a Wall of Death, a repair, breakdown and servicing station, and a church service on the Sunday morning!
The all-inclusive nature of the event continued with fans of off-road shenanigans catered for by the trials area and the 'anmeldung' - the Enduro area for all-comers to have a play and disgrace themselves in
front of their peers although, to be fair, I only saw one bloke make a total hash of things and plant himself into the water splash.
In fact, there was so much to see, it was all I could do to stop at the Erdinger truck for a refreshing cola weizen - a mix of Coke and wheat beer, and far nicer than it sounds, or looks.
We finished the day with an evening meal in the centre of Garmisch before a (relatively) early night before an early start to the big haul home on Sunday.
THE HAUL HOME
We left early, at 6.22am precisely, not only due to the distance, but there was a thunderstorm forecast for 8am in Garmisch, and the notoriously correct forecast was right. However, we hadn't counted on the storm coming in from the same direction as we were leaving... three hours of near solid downpours later, through the twisting roads of Austria and the autobahns of Germany and with a prolonged stop for breakfast pizza, we finally found some dry roads in France. Being stubborn, I'd not bothered with waterproof trousers, just armoured jeans and a leather jacket with a light waterproof over jacket, but I was bone dry when we got to Calais!
With a 20-minute wait before our 40-minute train trip, we were soon back on the congested roads of Blighty, with the welcoming joys of colossal tail backs on the M20, M25 and M11. Nevertheless, I was still at home in Lincolnshire at 10.40pm. That final day gave a total of 847.6 miles door-to-door, and I did contemplate a small detour to add another 150 miles to give the day a proper total, but by that point I could hear my bed calling so I wimped out ...
Waking on the following morning, I was surprised at being able to clamber out of my pit, with no aches or pains. At all. More impressively, even Boothy was fine, after all those miles on the ironing board SlO00RR!