Schwarzwald Nord Motorrad-Tour (Black Forest Motorcycle Tour)

[Stichill_imp]

Nice ride! The Black Forest area always reminds me of my "backyard" in the French Jura mountains. Similar scenery, and just nice twisty roads as far as you can imagine.

One thing though. I am more old school when it comes to doing rides as I don't like to bring a GPS. There is nothing like old-fashioned maps. No need to worry about cables and charging etc. and with the metal tank of the CB I have a simple magnetic map pouch for day trips or a magnetic tank bag for longer ones. To me, the riding doesn't have to be precise, and so I follow the main markers or road numbers. While passing through towns they are very rarely big enough to get lost in.

Oh, that sounds awesome. I have been looking at the [url=http://goo.gl/maps/tBfHT]Jura range for a possible two-day trip out of Stuttgart.



I could also ride through the [url=http://goo.gl/maps/w2HKp]Vosges (Vogesen) Mountains in the Alsace region east of Freiburg.

Nice ride! The Black Forest area always reminds me of my "backyard" in the French Jura mountains. Similar scenery, and just nice twisty roads as far as you can imagine.

One thing though. I am more old school when it comes to doing rides as I don't like to bring a GPS. There is nothing like old-fashioned maps. No need to worry about cables and charging etc. and with the metal tank of the CB I have a simple magnetic map pouch for day trips or a magnetic tank bag for longer ones. To me, the riding doesn't have to be precise, and so I follow the main markers or road numbers. While passing through towns they are very rarely big enough to get lost in.

I hear you. I'm ashamed of mysef!

In all seriousness, I was alone in an unfamiliar area of another country on an unfamiliar motorcycle, with limited time and certain goals to achieve. Actually I find the European maps very hard to read because they are so dense with detail (I have a collection of [url=http://www.marcopolo.de]Marco Polo maps for southern Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia). So I am intimidated by them. My other reason for using the GPS is to make sure I followed what I hoped would be an interesting route, and not get accidentally sidetracked into a boring area (however there are very few boring areas in the Schwarzwald).

It's interesting, every German colleague of mine uses their auto's GPS to drive everywhere that is not in their own village. So I decided they must know something that I should pay attention to.

Great one day trip! The Black Forest is a really nice location for motor cycle trips. (I am born near Freiburg.)

Thanks! East of Freiburg is a beautiful area. In July 2014 I rode an NC750S through the Hochschwarzwald and stayed over night in Hinterzarten. Completely unknown to me, it was a festival weekend for the Hinterzartener Nachtbummel. That town has absolutely the nicest people you could ever want to meet, and the happiness of the festival was so enchanting for me.

Hi Stichill,

very nice ride report! I know every place you were like the back of my hand.

Schwarzwald is the area in Germany, I lived by far the most time of my life (Freiburg area). Now I live only a few km away from that place, where you rented your bike.

It's the very same Honda CB1100 from Stauch (name of the dealership, where you rented the bike), I did my first test ride on last October. Isn't that funny?

We couldn't agree on the price, so I bought at Limbaecher, a dealership nearby. Also Stauch closed his dealership end of last year.

When you're here next time, let my know and we could plan a ride together.

Small world! When I visit my employer's HQ, I usually stay right there in Bernhausen-Filderstadt.

Hi Stichill,

very nice ride report! I know every place you were like the back of my hand.

Schwarzwald is the area in Germany, I lived by far the most time of my life (Freiburg area). Now I live only a few km away from that place, where you rented your bike.

It's the very same Honda CB1100 from Stauch (name of the dealership, where you rented the bike), I did my first test ride on last October. Isn't that funny?

We couldn't agree on the price, so I bought at Limbaecher, a dealership nearby. Also Stauch closed his dealership end of last year.

When you're here next time, let my know and we could plan a ride together.

Holy smokes! That is just a crazy, cool coincidence!

Hi Stichill,

very nice ride report! I know every place you were like the back of my hand.

Schwarzwald is the area in Germany, I lived by far the most time of my life (Freiburg area). Now I live only a few km away from that place, where you rented your bike.

It's the very same Honda CB1100 from Stauch (name of the dealership, where you rented the bike), I did my first test ride on last October. Isn't that funny?

We couldn't agree on the price, so I bought at Limbaecher, a dealership nearby. Also Stauch closed his dealership end of last year.

When you're here next time, let my know and we could plan a ride together.

Yes, I will miss renting from Herbert and Jutta - good people. The second time I rented, they were not concerned about my trustworthiness, and gave me plenty of extra km at no extra charge. And they gave me all of the paperwork necessary for Switzerland.

Limbaecher is a mega-dealer! I could spend hours in there looking at bikes. They have a pretty good selection of rental bikes. I tried to rent from them once, but two weeks before my trip...they sold the bike I had reserved, a Moto Guzzi V7 Special, and canceled my reservation. They did offer me some other bikes, but the seats were too tall for my short legs. Finally they offered a Ducati Monster that could work for me, but by that time I already had a new reservation at Stauch.

Hi Stichill,

very nice ride report! I know every place you were like the back of my hand.

Schwarzwald is the area in Germany, I lived by far the most time of my life (Freiburg area). Now I live only a few km away from that place, where you rented your bike.

It's the very same Honda CB1100 from Stauch (name of the dealership, where you rented the bike), I did my first test ride on last October. Isn't that funny?

We couldn't agree on the price, so I bought at Limbaecher, a dealership nearby. Also Stauch closed his dealership end of last year.

When you're here next time, let my know and we could plan a ride together.

That would be cool! I have a ride planned with my US colleague in June (Austria, Slovenia, Croatia) but another time when I am solo it would be great to ride with you.

[Henrik_imp]

Stichill, if you decide to come around my parts let me know! I live in Gingins (you can look for it on Google Maps). The riding around here is excellent, and although I do most of my riding in the Juras, the alps ar just 45 minutes away for some really serious stuff!

[Stichill_imp]

Boy does that bring back memories. My wife and I did an Edelweiss Tour in 2010 I think, and we rode thru that area. Even stopped at one of the passes for some Black Forest Cake. The day we rode thru the Black Forest it was very foggy and quite eerie. I wanted to ride a BMW thru the Alps since I was a kid in the 1950's and finally did it. We loved riding in Europe, and if Europe was as close as Canada, I would ride there often. As it is, its a difficult and expensive proposition for Americans. we were based in Erding if memory serves me, the Henry hotel maybe?

At any rate excellent report. Thanks

Here is a report I did back then for another forum. I think most of the pictures are no longer there, but the narration is worth a read still I think. It might bring back some memories for you as well.

http://rideohio.org/showthread.php?t=109...=Edelweiss

Some of my friends don't agree with me, but I think Europe is the world's premier motorcycling location. Yes, we have mountains in North America too, but the problem is that we put most of the roads along the rivers. And we don't have a lot of roads in the mountains in any case; the Rockies are almost barren of roads. Switzerland is full of roads and they have no problem going over passes with the most incredible switchbacks.

As far as the general European countryside...it is absolutely lovely. Urban sprawl is not allowed, so when you leave a town you are in the country. But you are never far from terrific amenities like a great cup of coffee, an expertly prepared meal made with high-quality ingredients, a cozy, clean and charming hotel, and locally brewed draught beer. In the US, you might end up at Super 8 eating Hunt Brothers Pizza from the gas station.

Stichill, if you decide to come around my parts let me know! I live in Gingins (you can look for it on Google Maps). The riding around here is excellent, and although I do most of my riding in the Juras, the alps ar just 45 minutes away for some really serious stuff!

Count on it - thanks for the invitation!

[the Ferret]

"In the US, you might end up at Super 8 eating Hunt Brothers Pizza from the gas station"

Lol been there, done that, and was quite happy to do so after a long day in the saddle, but then I'm easily pleased. Heck at least the pizza was hot. I have eaten food cold out of a can before. Heck I have eaten a granola bar and crawled into a sagging bed with all my gear on except my helmet, gloves and boots. Motorcycle travel is not for sissys lol

[Novice_imp]

Great post. Thanks for sharing!

[Stichill_imp]

I agree, motorcycling requires physical and mental fortitude. On tour in the US I never leave home without a couple of tuna and crackers meal packs and/or peanut butter and Ritz with a couple bottles of water. However, if I can sleep in a firm bed under a soft duvet in a 300-year-old structure with a nice European-style meal in my belly and the warm afterglow of a couple half litres of Reinheitsgebot beer...I'll gladly take it!

[drodg33]

Great ride report and beautiful pictures

[Cormanus]

Thank you for appreciating the report and pics, Cormanus, and thanks for catching the link error on the maps.

My post has 44 pictures and there is a 14 picture per post limit on the forum. I had to make three posts to complete the report, but ironically in the end the forum software combined all three posts into a single post. However now when I try to make an edit to the map link, it is nagging me again about 44 vs 14 pictures maximum.

So...here are the corrected route links:

[url=http://goo.gl/maps/56zoV]Planned


[url=http://goo.gl/maps/gTkxf]Actual

Thanks for reposting the links, Stichill. Looks a fantastic ride.

When you make multiple sequential posts on this forum it joins them up even though it effectively allows you to post more than the 14 picture limit. But it then regards them as a single post and you're unable to edit them. It's a pest when you make a minor mistake you'd like to fix but, hey, it's not the end of the world, is it?

I'll look forward tomore of your ride reports.