Got back last night, had a great time.
Only rain was on way down through Belgium (jeez, they have scary potholed motorways!) and Charleroi
..
Highlight for me were the Vosges Mountains; I liked the Black Forest and we found some great quiet roads and some fantastic Towns/villages but the Vosges were something else, we had the mountain roads to ourselves and the perfect scenery and road surfaces meant lots of fun and tranquillity. Glad we did not camp this year as we stayed at some great Hotel's and B&Bs, my waistline has expanded.
The Strom performed well two-up with full panniers only issue was a buzzing connection shim on the Givi engine bars at certain revs, kept the motorways/autoroute's to a minimum and enjoyed exploring some great French D and German K (?) roads/single track. Just over 1300m door to door.
Was looking at a KTM Adv R, Versys 1000 and an Explorer on the Ferry back and then had a quick look on the Bay when I got home, full circle really as my Strom has only done 13800m and I cannot justify spending twice what I paid for a used example for something that may just about be marginally better/more powerful, given I really only use the Strom for Summer adventures and rides.
I am thinking of going back to the Vosges in a few weeks if the good weather continues maybe for a short Tour especially around some of their WWI sites.
I'm off to clean the old girl...ordered her some nice new oil too.
