A Horse With No Name

5-week, 8000km road trip to Crete and back

Prologue

This is a write-up with some pictures of our holiday tour to Crete in summer 2025. My gf, let's call her J., got her license last year, and two days later we departed for a tour of the Alps. We ended up riding about 4000km through Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and France. Gorgeous, but also well-traveled and well-known territory.

For this year we wanted to do something a bit more adventurous, and after a lot of deliberation and staring at maps we decided on Crete, because neither of us had been to the Balkans yet and we wanted to see more of Greece and Italy. We planned, roughly, for 9000km in 5 weeks.

Preparations

Bikes and luggage

J. really likes the Tiger, and I'd just bought a new SMT in January. When it came to luggage I had a number of bags lying around from my previous trips, and decided to expand the set with a Kriega rackpack. The completed setup was as follows:

The two locks allowed us to quickly secure the bikes and helmets anywhere we went. Both bikes also had a bottle holder with a thermos for (cold) drinking water attached to the front crash bars. For each bag we carried a spare strap, as well as some general purpose rokstraps and bungee cords. You never know when something might break, or when stuff falls off and you need to secure it somehow.

We each have a full mesh gear setup: jacket, pants, gloves, and riding sneakers topped off with fitted ear plugs, a buff, and Sena helmet kit. Both of us also carried a light rainjacket, waterproof riding overall, hiking boots, regular light shoes, a sweater, and some light regular clothing. In the tank bag we carried a tourniquet, emergency bandage, pocket knife, lighter, drinking water, some emergency food (energy bars), phone and charger, and miscellaneous stuff like sunglasses, camera, and paper maps. We also had two small first aid kits, a foil blanket, and some regular towels with us.

Maintenance, spare parts, tools

The Tiger was sitting at around 230k km and has been burning oil at an accelerating pace. It needs topping up every few days, so we decided to play it safe, and brought a 4L oil can with us, as well as some small spare parts (starter solenoid, sprocket nut and lockwasher). The SMT was brand new with only 9k on it, the main concern being that the 15k service should be done somewhere on the way for warranty purposes. For chain maintenance I carried a 1L bottle of 80w90 gear oil and a brush. We also had a small toolkit with the basics required to work on the brakes, bodywork, get to the battery and fuses, and make emergency repairs (tape/tiewraps/wire). Both of us have worldwide roadside assistance, and since we weren't planning on straying too far from civilization we didn't carry camping or cooking gear, nor equipment to change tires. While on the road we would grease the chains and give the bikes a good lookover every few days at least.

Navigation and lodging

Both bikes have Garmin XTs mounted, and for each day we'd make a GPX in Kurviger and upload it to the navis. We had a general route in mind but the details were usually worked out over dinner the night before with some old-fashioned paper maps and some local information sprinkled in. Apart from the first and the last day we mostly avoided motorways, and on average did about 300km a day. We'd typically ride for 60 - 90 minutes each between breakfast, coffee, lunch, and afternoon drinks, and arrival so about 4 - 6 hours of riding each day.

When it came to lodging we went with BnB's, apartments, and hotels found through the usual channels. I have done some light camping in the past but never on longer motorcycle trips and never with J., so if we ever wanted to, we'd have to do some practice runs first. We didn't have a strict budget per se, but tried to stay within about €250 a day on average, including two tanks of fuel.

Leg 1: Netherlands to Macedonia

We left around 11h00 for an autobahn sit to Freiburg, arriving for dinner with friends of mine who live near the city. I know there's a lot to see in-between: the Ardennes, Luxemburg, the Black Forest, the Vosges.. but we've been to those places many, many times already and when you're on the way south it's preferable to take long strides sometimes. We suffered through heavy rainstorms near Frankfurt but by the time we pulled off the highway two hours later it was warm and dry. The next day we took a bit of a rest and explored the city together with my mates. Freiburg is a large university town with a young vibe and a lovely mix of provincial and cosmopolitan Germany. Worth a stop, if you're ever nearby.

We took off through the southernmost part of the Black Forest to arrive on the shores of the Bodensee (Lac Konstanz) for a sun-drenched lunch. I'd plotted a route from Bregenz along the [200] and [198] in Tyrol cause I'd never been to that part of Austria yet, and it was pretty decent and a bit quiet. We got some light rain in the afternoon, but generally decent weather. Out hotel for the night was a very cheap but run down classic mountain lodge, with rooms that have been in dire need of an overhaul since about 1995. It seemed to me like the family who owned it was squeezing it for what it was worth without investing anything in the place. Dinner and breakfast were decent however, but the wifi and cell reception was nonexistent in the little valley.

We left in the morning fog towards Imst, a road with great views of the southern Alps across the valley, towards Italy. We took a short bit of highway to get past Innsbruck, then turned south and east to Zell am Ziller and the Grossglockner. I've mostly been to the Swiss and Italian side of the Alps so this famous road was on the to-do list still. We arrived on a weekday just after lunch which meant it was fairly quiet, but I can imagine it being busy and annoying on weekends. The road is great but the toll is outrageous: €35 per bike. It's worth it, at least for once, because the views and landscape are absolutely stunning. The road was built as a tourist attraction starting in 1930 as it didn't exist as a historical pass or anything, hence the tolls. Once across the GG we went southeast to the beautiful little Plockenpass into Italy, and arrived at our BnB near Tolmezzo. From here on the weather was pretty much impeccable for the rest of our trip.

We started with a quiet mountain outing in the morning, towards Paularo and then north over an eerily quiet and narrow road towards the (unpaved) Polentin pass. We didn't take it though, instead continuing east to Pontebba, and then up the Sella Nevea and Predil passes into Slovenia. We followed the [203] and [102] south along the river through countless villages with traffic cameras seemingly every 500 meters. The temperature also built steadily and in the afternoon we were buckling in the 35 degree heat. Took a break near the Skjocjan Caves where the Karst landscape has been worn out by rainfall and underground rivers into endless tunnels which at some point collapsed leaving a giant crater in the landscape, a bizarre and gorgeous sight, but also quiet at this time of day and cool in the forest. We found a gorgeous BnB in the hills east of Trieste which included a lovely dinner with local wines, and breakfast.

This turned out to be one of the more interesting days, cause a lot happened in quick succession. We approached the Adriatic over some beautiful B roads to enjoy morning coffee at the little boulevard in Bakar, next to Rijeka. After this we followed the coast, zooming between campers and caravans, with gorgeous views of the sea and numerous islands to our right. At our lunch stop in Senj we were approached by a Dutch couple who just returned from a MotoGymKhana tournament in Zagreb so we spent some time talking bikes with them, and afterwards we went up into the hills towards Dabar and eventualle Zeljava. We saw several 'warning: mines' signs on the side of the road, and in one little village where we stopped for drinks we were greeted by the local car tuning club, bunch of guys with old Audi's and VW's, ogling J., who didn't feel quite at ease. I noticed that several of them had Ustase stickers on their cars (local version of the SS, basically), lovely bunch. Croatia apparently has a bit of a problem with far right extremists. We got the hell outta there as soon as our colas were through. This part of Croatia felt very remote and rough, and although there were plenty of signs advertising apartments and BnB's, there was hardly anyone on the road. Not long after this we arrived at Zeljava air base which is fairly well known at this point and a nice opportunity for a cheesy picture. The border with Bosnia was only a few miles away and was very easy: no inspections, no questions, just a quick glance at our passports and that was it. Immediately afterwards the landscape changed, with occasional mosques and orthodox christian churches in the little villages next to the road, old tractors chugging along with carts full of produce, and children playing in the street. One of the staff of our motel in Bihac explained that it was peaceful now, Muslims, Christians, and everyone tolerating each other pretty much. We noticed how the mosque in town did call for prayer like usual but in a rather quiet and short version unlike the minute-long yammering you get in the Middle East, and plenty of restaurants served alcohol. The crowd in the street also seemed varied, could've been anyplace Europe, basically. The town itself was situated along a shallow river with a fairground, restaurants, and bars and loads of people and kids around, it felt very organic and friendly. We had great burgers at a 'wine bar' which turned out to have exactly two kinds of wine, red and white.

Breakfast was intense: we got eggs, a bunch of baked or steamed vegetables, and no less than three different kinds of sausages as well as bacon and olives, and no coffee (which was off because Bosnian coffee in general is quite good). By god did I wish for an espresso and some croissants! We followed the main road along the river all day towards Sarajevo, and saw several more signs indicating mines as well as remnants from the war: numerous buildings, large and small, had bullet holes and even grenade impacts, which had either been left in place or re-stucced in a different colour for emphasis. Gasoline was only about 1€ per liter which made for easy fueling, and all but the smallest places accepted card payments. We stopped for lunch in Jajce with its gorgeous waterfalls, situated among green rolling hills. The roads were generally good and traffic was light. It was quite hot in the afternoon so around Zenica we decided to take the highway for the last hour towards Sarajevo.

The next day we visited one of the museums about the siege which was.. a haunting experience. It's truly despicable how the international community sat by and watched while civilians were being starved and shot at daily for nearly four years. We walked around town a good bit and came across numerous monuments and memorials. In the afternoon we took the cable car up to Trebevic hill which gave a great view of the city and is the location of the abandoned bobsled track from the 1984 winter olympics. Like the rest of Bosnia, Sarajevo was in a reasonably good state and it felt clean, and modern. The old town is extremely touristy with all the garbage trinket shops, ice cream vendors, and tourist traps this brings, but at the same time it maintains a quaint and interesting atmosphere.

About an hour east of Sarajevo we were taking a little roadside break, when suddenly a fluffy little shape walks across the road not 20ft away. I whisper to J. in my mic.. "there's a bear cub here, get back on the bike quick and quiet cause we need to go now". Really didn't feel like meeting his mom! The [R450] and [R467] feel quiet and remote, and run by some very pretty rocky canyons and little lakes. We crossed into Serbia later morning, just for a short stint cause the [182] goes nowhere except south into Montenegro. Both crossings were extremely quiet and easy without questions or hassle. The [P10] and [E65] south lead through some pretty landscapes, flowing green hills and mountains very much like the past few days, except it had been desurfaced for a distance of nearly 20 miles in anticipation of major repairs/upgrades, so we spent almost an hour driving dead slow along rocky white gravel in a filthy dusty mist thrown up by the cars in front of us. My snot was like clay for hours after this and the bikes looked like they'd been through a cement mixer.

Our hostel was situated on the ski slopes with a magnificent breakfast view, after which we took the steep hairpins back down to the main road. We entered Kosovo half an hour later, the border crossing was busier than the others we'd had so far but not much of a hassle. We had to buy temporary insurance worth €6 per bike since Kosovo is de facto independent from Serbia but not formally recognised by the European insurance companies yet. The [R106] down from the Montegrin mountains onto the Kosovo plain was spectacular with great tarmac, beautiful hairpins, and a sweet view. The central plain south of Pristina was extremely boring and busy and it was crazy hot as well, so we only dipped into the capital briefly for a glance at the Bill Clinton statue (they're grateful to NATO in general and ol' Bill specifically for the 1999 intervention which eventually resulted in their independence) before heading south towards Macedonia. The combination of scorching heat and ferry ticket prices (to Crete) meant that we had to make a bit of speed these days. Highways aren't nearly always boring though, the [E75] southeast of Skopje weaves and bends through a beautiful rocky landscape with the occasional olive grove and winery. It was nice to be able to keep up the speed in the scorching heat. Our place for tonight was the quite luxurious but also very cheap Sky Hotel barely a mile north of the Greek border. We sat on the roof terrace in the still-heavy evening heat enjoying a beer and chatting with the waiter who spoke perfect English and recommended some local dishes to us. One of them seemed a bit like lasagna (oven dish with layers of vegetables, tomatoes, and cheese) however upon my comparison the guy was adamant that I was an idiot and that it was in fact not at all like lasagna.

Leg 2: Greece

For most of our time in Greece the mid-day temperatures were around 35 degrees and we were stopping every 30-45mins for a drink, and if possible to dunk our buff and gloves in water somewhere which would make the next 30 mins on the bike bearable. This morning we followed the main road south to Thesaloniki and then Katerini, where we turned right into the hills, along the foot of mount olympos. The inner part of Greece isn't as touristy as the coast and some of the cities, so the roads were fairly quiet, first the [13] and then the [26] and [15] to Kalambaka and the Meteora. We were absolutely soaking with sweat when we arrived, however the view is.. off this world. I can only imagine the reactions of the first stone-age Greeks as they ventured inland and came across this landscape which appears straight out of a high fantasy series. We took a long cold shower then went for a (slow!) walk around the foot of these hills (this is funny because I'm a biologist and the sign says MICROBIOLOGIKO) in the evening heat, we'd planned on going a longer circuit but the heat made it impossible.

We left very early in the morning to try and beat the some of the worst heat, speeding along the [E65] towards Lamia along a valley which was a good bit greener than the rest of Greece, probably due to rain runoff from the surrounding mountains. Giant olive/orange/lime orchards were all over the place and the road was flanked by ancient rock quarries and a snaking railway that seemed rather newly built. Once up in the hills south of Lamia the temperature dropped somewhat and we got to take a number of remote little roads(not pictured: 42 degrees celsius!) full of hairpins which ran straight through villages with very surprised looking old Greek men on the road side. We had a long lunch and a swim in Antikyra, and around 15h00 we wetted our gear once again to brace against the stifling heat on the road to Athens. We had planned for a curvy coastal road but we were so tired and fed up with the heat that we decided to stick to the main roads and even took a bit of highway. Interesting to note is that the Greek toll system is very different from the French/Spanish/Italian ones, in the sense that you don't take a ticket and pay when you leave the road, but you just stop at a toll station every 10-20km on the road and pay directly for that distance. Oftentimes it was no more than 50 cents, occasionally 1 or 2 euro's.

Athens and the surroundings suffer from a terrible case of urban heat syndrome and evening traffic made it all the worse, it was close to 40 degrees on the main road into Piraeus. We were splitting at a decent pace between the commuters but still local bikes and scooters zoomed around us every which way.

We boarded the ferry Piraeus -> Heraklion around 08h30 with a large backpack full of groceries: water, bread, olives, snacks, some fruit, etc. The onboard offerings are usually overpriced medium quality so it's best to bring your own. We picked a nice spot in the shade on the rear deck and spent the day gazing our over the mediterranean, reading, or sipping coffee (the only thing worth buying from the bar, basically). At one point I though I saw some dolphins in the distance but was unable to verify :(

Crete is a little cooler than the mainland which felt like a welcome change, and the ride south across the island to Matala was uneventful. We found a nice little guest house with airconditioning and a good place to park, so all was well. We took a rest the next day, went hiking, swimming, enjoyed a long seaside lunch followed by a siesta, and sauntered along the little town which while rather touristy on the one hand, was also small enough to maintain a distinct aura of local innocence on the other. There's a cute little harbour with a small beach and beautiful rock formations right next to it, hippie graffiti and art, as well as a lot of small bars and restaurants. Not a bad place for a break!

We rode along the rocky coastal road westwards towards Selia and Komitades, and then north and slightly easy back to Rethymno. The mountains sometimes seem to rise straight from the sea! We passed through several rocky gorges where all life had gone grey and yellow except right next to what used to be the stream. Even insects were few and far between since it hadn't rained in over a month with consistent 30-degree temperatures. The southern coast is rather quiet with only the occasional tour bus going to the gorges, on the other hand the northern coast is extremely touristy and rather bland. Endless hotels, resorts, restaurants and a huge traffic jam all the way in between. Rethymno itself has a decent boulevard and harbour but the town itself is inundated with tourists and it's difficult to find affordable and authentic places to eat and shop. It's basically the same souvenir store with fridge magnets, coffee cups, and dresses copy-pasted a few hundred times.

We took a bit of a rest day after this, J. was a bit tired so she hopped on the back of the SMT and we drove a bit west to see the ruins of Aptera and then went for lunch + a swim in the town of Stavros just north of Chania. Turned out to have been the exact beach location used in the movie Zorba the Greek.

We left early in the morning because I had an appointment with the KTM garage in Heraklion - it was sitting at nearly 14.000km and the 15k service was near. Napels might also have been an option but that might have been stretching it. Any way we arrived at the shop around 10h00 to find all the lifts occupied and nobody in a rush to help despite the appointment. We had to wait a good half hour before the lead mechanic was finished and told us it'd take at least two hours for the oil change and minor checks, so we spent the rest of the morning and lunch at a nearby café under the blissful air conditiong. We had planned to go for a longer ride in the afternoon towards Arkalohchori but the long wait and the stifling heat killed the mood, so we went for an early check in at our hotel, spending the rest of the afternoon and evening strolling around town, visiting museums and writing postcards. The Heraklion Archaological Museum was sweet, they had so much stuff that they could easily split into five different museums each with a proper collection!

The return ferry to Piraeus left at 09h00 and we were well-prepared again with our bag of groceries. In retrospect it would've been preferable to stay a few more days on Crete considering the costs of the ferry (€120 for a one-way for two pax and two bikes), and I wouldn't have minded spending another day or two in Matala and having another day for a bike trip either to the eastern or western point of the island. But we had a wee bit of a schedule to keep and were also dependent on the Igoumenitsa - Brindisi ferry which was far more expensive and this required careful planning.

It was hot again in Piraeus late afternoon, so we quickly jumped on the bikes and made our way across the Isthmus of Corinth towards Nafplion in the peloponnese. A gorgeous old town with a touristy aftertaste, Nafplion has been an important harbour since Roman times, with several large fortresses either in the harbour or on the hills right behind it.

From Nafplion we drove around the bay to Lerna and then west into the hills of the Arcadia, already famous in ancient times for its 'untouched' landscape. We followed the [7], [111] and the [33] west, then turned north near Agria Triade, towards Patras. It was at this point that the rear hugger of the Tiger broke and started rattling like crazy. We got lucky at one of the gas stations when the clerk had a drill I could borrow, and I fixed it with a nice tiewrap stitch. It was also during this day that J. cried out in pain at some point, when a hornet the size of a fist took a bite out of her leg, right through her mesh suit. Even three weeks later the damn wound hasn't healed completely. It doesn't sound like much but this was one of my favorite days in Greece since it was quiet, green, not too hot in the mountains, and just hours and hours of endless curves and pretty landscapes. From Patras we went north to the little peninsula of Aitoliko which is an extremely run-down town which to be honest should have been a tourist hotspot, considering the location on the coast, and the views.

Leg 3: Italy and back home

Our ferry to Italy left at 14h00 only, so we took a slow morning with breakfast along the shores of the Ambracian gulf, near the location where in 31 BCE Octavian (the later emperor Caesar Augustus) with a little help from Marcus Agrippa defeated the forces of Marc Antony and Cleopatra, effectively becoming sole ruler of the mediterranean and shaping Europe for the ages. From there we took the sweet coastal road past Lichnos and Sivota and arrived in Igoumenitsa in time for some lunch and grocery shopping. The ferry itself was uneventful and our hostel for the night was a rundown place so I won't waste time on that.

We left at 07h00 and made our way along the [E90] to Taranto for breakfast. This part of Apulia is flat with mainly agriculture and a lot of abandoned and ruined farmhouses and industry. Even the roadside is filthy with trash dumped everywhere. After a sweet Italian breakfast and some cappuchinos with a view of the Taranto harbour, we continued north-west into the hills along the [E847], [SP103] and [SS92], coming by some some pretty historical villages (and ruins) such as Pisticci, Craco, and Stigliano. Once near Potenza it was getting awfully hot again so from here on we stuck to the main roads before arriving at the stunning Amalfi coast near Salerno. If you're ever in the neighbourhood, go here, rent a bike, and drive the [SS163] here!

The next day we drove down to the Sorrento harbour in the local biker outfit, and took the ferry into Napoli harbour and played tourist for a bit, before taking the train back in the evening. We had real nice BnB on a hill near Vico Equense which offered sweet views of Napoli bay and the Visuvius!

We followed the coast towards Pompeii then took a number of quiet mountain roads (which I can't find on the map for the life of me) towards Avellino and Benevento. From there we stuck to the hills all the way towards Piedimonte, Pietrovairano with it's beautiful (and only very recently discovered) Roman theatre, and eventually Cassino where drove up all the way to the abbey for a stroll. The abbey was completely destroyed by the USAF in 1944 (along with several hundred refugees sheltering) because intel indicated that the Germans were using it as an observation post (which was false). Look up the battle if you're even remotely interested in history!

From Cassino we headed to the coast near Latina to circumvent Rome as much as possible (already been there - not keen on traffic!) and had coffee on the beach near the Fiumichino airport. From there we followed the coast all the way to Tarquinia where we turned right towards Viterbo, the ancient Papal residence, then continued inland along the highway towards lake Trasimene, the location of the second of Hannibals' stunning victories against the Romans during the second Punic war. The landscape in this part of Italy is green rolling hills, much unlike the dry near-desert of the south. We found an old-fashioned but affordable and friendly hotel a little ways away from the lake shore.

From Trasimene we crossed Tuscany towards Siena en Pontedera, a hypertouristic region but also well deserved. The landscape is a characteristic greenish/brown dotted with cypress-lined country lanes, orchards and vineyards, and the architecture is extremely picturesque. We went by the iconic Gladiator filming location and definitely weren't the only one in line. Foreign license plates are everywhere and traffic in the bigger towns is super busy. There's also wine-tastings advertised every couple miles at least so being on the road here in the late afternoon carries a bit of risk no doubt. Lastly we took a wee bit of highway to La Spezia since it was, again, stupid hot, and once there turned onto the hills just behind Cinque Terre to reach Manarola, our stay for tonight. CT is one of the most touristic places in Italy (and well-deserved tbh), and the most iconic five towns are difficult to reach by vehicle, we had to park nearly a mile outside the little town along the road and carry our luggage all the way. We managed to find an affordable BnB with a great breakfast for just over €100 a night; most other places were more than twice as expensive.

The day after we took a nice lazy rest, went swimming in the little rocky harbour, took the train to nearby Vernazza (absolute packed with tourists: American, Chinese, German mostly it seemed), had an expensive but lovely lunch, and then boated back to Manarola. CT is expensive in the main season but the coast is stunning so if you're ever around and can find a decently-priced place to stay (or simply visit slightly in the off-season..).

From Cinque Terre we followed the coast north-west and then slightly inland to Rivarola, from which we took the [SS586], [SP586R] and the [SS45] north-east to Piacenza. The whole region consists of low, forested mountains and in-between the villages it feels eerily quiet. We met a handful of Italian biker groups and near Marsaglia came across an accident site where a Street Fighter V4 had struck the front end of an oncoming car. The bike was wrecked and the rider was in obvious distress on the road side, his mates however appeared to have things under control and when we continued along we met the ambulance racing to the scene, coming the other way. When we descended towards the Po valley in the early afternoon the temperature shot up to the high thirties, and the Trebbia river which the road followed roughly north was dotted with parasols and playing children. Just south of Piacenza we visited the battle memorial near the location where Hannibal inflicted the first of his three defeats against the Romans in 218 BCE. Although clearly marked on the map, the memorial doesn't have a dedicated place to park nor even a plaque or sign explaining what it is. From Piacenza we took the highway to Milan - J. was tired after all the mountain roads and by the extreme heat we faced in the afternoon. Milan was a bit of a surprise in mid-August, we found the city more or less abandoned with barely any traffic in the streets and much of the shops and restaurants closed. We spent the evening with friends, wandering around the 'new' part of town (Piazza Gau Alente and surroundings) and the 'tree library' next to it (which is really well done), after which we had an elaborate yet bargain dinner in a tiny Chinese restaurant.

From Milan we rode north to Como, then followed the Swiss [2] and [13] along the valley to Bellinzona and eventually San Bernardino. It's one of my favorite passes, too narrow for trucks and with a gorgeous lake at the top, and even the last stretch of the highway towards it has bloody hairpins! From here we went along the beautiful Graubündner valleys towards Thusis and eventually Davos. I've been coming to Davos regularly for more than a decade and the high season (winter) prices are legendary, however in late summer everything is decidedly more affordable; we managed to snatch a room in a fancy, old fashioned three-star hotel for just 400 francs for three nights. We had a gorgeous mountain view from our balcony and breakfast was everything you'd expect from a fancy place!

The next morning we took off early towards the Fluela, Ofen, Fuorn, Stelvio, Bernina, and Albula passes respectively (clockwise from the top). A long day of well-trodden mountain territory for both of us, but goddamn if this isn't what riding is about, I don't know what is. Weather was perfect and J. did extremely well even on the heavy tiger. We even got to a cute couple picture taken! 🥰

On the second rest day we took it real easy with only a short tour of the Julier and Fluela passes in the morning, and a short hike and a relaxing swim in the afternoon. It was 28 degrees in Davos which is considered somewhat of a heat wave aroun there.

From Davos we took a number of minor (and not always very interesting) roads northeast through Switzerland and the Black Forest past Liechtenstein, St. Gallen, and Waldshut, while stopping in Winterthur for lunch with friends. It was extremely hot once more, and the holiday traffic in the Black Forest was exhausting, bloody campervans everywhere. We were happy to crash with friends after a cold shower, and with a cold beer!

Straight shot north-west on the Autobahn. No irregularities ;)

Epilogue

We got home mid-August filthy and tired after 8300km. We spent two days washing, cleaning, and sorting through everything, and on the third day we took the bikes to the car wash for a good scrub. After that, it was time to return to normal life more or less.

The bikes held up fine, only issues were the sometimes nonfunctional cruise control on the SMT, and the broken rear hugger of the Tiger. The latter drank nearly 4.5L of oil, which is a bit frustrating but unsurprising considering its age. I'm curious to see whether it'll hold up another ~60k til 300 without a major breakdown. I'm also very impressed with the SMT. It's comfortable on longer distances, easy to pack with luggage, but at the same time also light and nimble, and an absolute riot in the mountains.

Favorite roads: (in no particular order)

Personal notes

Traveling like this with your partner certainly makes things more interesting, it's far more intense than just living together, because there's never a quiet moment: you're always on the road together, resting, eating, sleeping together. You can't bugger off to spend the evening with friends, you can't isolate yourself with games, a book, or garden work. In that sense it's a great relationship test, and the important part is to communicate about the frustrations that arise, because you'll both be going through them. We did fine overall, but there were certainly difficult days and occasions when I really just wanted to have some time to myself. At the same time you do get to know each other better through such circumstances, and I wouldn't trade that for the world.

If you're ever wondering if motorcycle touring is for you - let this tale be of inspiration? Start small, just a few days here and there, then work your way up. Onroad, offroad, camping, hotels, you can do it in whatever way works for you. Collect maps, bags, accessories, tools, and chase that horizon! It's an intense way to travel, but also one of the best to actually see the places you're going through.

Thanks for reading!