It was late as I saw the two girls out of the corner of my eye – one helmet less but catching a lift from her friend, ahead was a polizia municipale officer – they rode past me and as the pillion dismounted waving ‘ciao’ she slipped past the municipale remounted and giggled their way up the Via Fuorimura – Buona serata
Monthly Archives: July 2012
Sorrento
Narrow alley ways stretching as far as distant views, focus is gained
Vibrant colours in machine cooled shop doorways entice the weary
The town rarely sleeps, is reborn at twilight and is ageless
Plump green olives nestling in small thrown pots
Mountains hang high – towered by Vesuvio
Sweet smells, loud voices and you
Italian Scooter Culture
Its so apparent that the Italian scooter culture has not subsided. I am surrounded by hundreds of battle scarred scooters which for the Italians seem to be the town transport of choice. What strikes me most is the inclusive nature of the simple scooter as a transport option. I have seen families perched on the machines, dogs in transit with mouths flapping open to catch the breeze and tails dragging on the ground like 
some heroic side-car partner and some many one handed riders with IPhones tucked into helmets loosely slung over heads. Motorcycles appear absent and certainly I am outclassed on mountain and city roads by fearless riders scraping round blind city corners.
R&R in Sorrento, Campania, Italy
Spoke to Mike at Cardiff Motorad this morning just to bounce my electrical ABS and breaking gremlins off him – thanks Mike (you must dread these expeditions). Arrived in Sorrento yesterday for some R&R – my wife and daughter arrived from Naples at around 7pm, really nice to catch up with them again after time away from home. Planning some additional tours from this base to include the excellent mountain passes at Stigliano and Bellosguardo. Acclimatising to the heat is crucial – even the locals are struggling with mid to high 30’s and 60-70% humidity, sun rises at 4:30 at the moment and its wonderfully cool and clear at that time of the day.
Running repairs in Tuscany
Travelling south on the A1 the brake warning lights on the GS started to do their Christmas flashing routine. Pulling over into the shade of the services and musing over a iced tea I checked the bike over – nothing obvious but seemingly voltage related as the lights and GPS are playing up as well. I decided to press on and that night in the shade of the rest stop in Preto I stripped out the CanBus and doubled the power feed to the lights and Sat Nav via the battery charging system. Its amazing what you can achieve with a few lengths of wire and some tape – being confident and familiar with your own bike is the secret – wonder if this would have been possible with a new 1200 (of course 1200 owners might argue their bikes never misbehave) – Day time temperatures are in the mid 30’s at the moment so early morning and late afternoon travel is called for.