Ich hab mit der Bitte um Teilnahme vor einiger Zeit diesen sehr netten Text bekommen. Möchte ich Euch nicht vorenthalten:
Hallo Yhr wyrdigen Alteisentreiber!
Seit nunmehr 39 Jahren fahre ich Motorrad, mal mit, mal ohne Beiwagen. Sommertreffen haben mich noch nie interessiert. (viel zuviele Cowboys, Schlammraufereien und totale Humorlosigkeit) Die meisten (Winter)Reisen gingen nach Großbrittannien( Dragon Rally, Thistel Rally usw.) Auch zu vielen kleinen "privaten Treffen in die Eifel,(Steinbruch ) nach Belgien, Frankreisch etc.
Nun möchte ich auch zum Tauerntreffen kommen!
Hab immer übrigens nur alte und vor allem billige Maschinen besessen. Soweit so gut.
Anbei eine kleine Reisebeschreibung von meiner Fahrt zum Dragon Rally 1985. Man hatte mich vor 4 Jahren als mittlerweilen "Alten" zu einem Beitrag für ein Buch über den Dragon Rally gebeten. Ich wynsch euch viel Spaß beim Lesen!
Sendet mir bitte eine e-mail Adresse, so werde ich euch noch einige Fotos zum Text zukommen lassen.
In Hoffnung einer baldigen Antwort , seyet mir gegrYßet,
Jerry
Dragon Rally 1985
“Deadh of a Falcon”
The weather was cold and rainy (turned later to snow) when we started in Luxembourg.
This year we were George Teissen on his old Moto Guzzi Nuovo Falcone and I, Jerry Frantz on my Yamaha 500 XT. It was George's fourteenth Dragon Rally and my second.
When travelling to Oostende we had no troubles, exept the usual gremlins with a frozen carburettor on George's Guzzi.
We arrived in afternoon at Oostende, sailed on ferry to Dover. In Britain it was warmer then on the Continent and the weather was quite fine. A few miles away we camped for the night.
The awakening next morning was accompagnied by heavy rain that didn't stop for the whole day.
Riding up north M25 around London then M1, we had to reach Birmingham to visit our friend Allan Carr.
This time my XT had some minor troubles due to moist electric. That was quickly repaired an I rode on. Meanwile George had continued his way.
Due to very heavy rain , the already dense traffic on M1 became a very slow stop and go. A car in front of me was even slower then the rest of the queue, so I decided to pass. Unfortunely I forgot my sidebags, and hit the car's taillight, which broke. The bag was torn off, but was easyly repaired with a spare tube. To my great astonishment 6 or 7 people climbed out of the car (it was a simple saloon car). It was a whole Pakistani family. They were quite afraid and worried about their car, but when I gave them 15」 for repair all was ok.
Continuing on M6, at approx. 10 miles before Birmingham there appeared a motorcycle parked on emergency lane. One person was busy around. It was George! His Guzzi had a gearbox failure and the 3rd and 4th gear could not be used further on. So George decided to continue in second gear and have a try to repair at Allen's home. But unfortunately a gear change fork was broken or bent. So try to get a spare part for a twenty-year-old rare Italian Lady in Britain! So, the Falcone had to go on to North Wales in second gear. George left early in the morning next day (in second gear his Guzzi was really slow). I left Birmingham about two hours later in heavy snowfall.
All went well until about 10 miles past Shrewsbury. Meanwhile a thick blanket of snow covered the road. Travelling at 30 miles per hour on an A road, suddenly my engine stopped. That happened just beside a parking-area. Well, I thougt , that's just right, and steered on to that place. A hundredth of a second later I was sitting on my bottom in the middle of the road , the XT lying on my feet. What had happened? This parking-area was the only one in Britain where a kerbstone had to be passed for access.
This stone was of course hidden by the snow. I waited for more or less ten minutes, comtemplating the bike and its heavy load from a rather unusual angle. I was unable to move myself or the bike even for the slightest part of an inch....A car appeared, stopped and two horrified men jumped outside. I had to explain what happened and finely they lifted the XT from my feet. Apart from a little pain on my big toes I was ok. (the nails turned black only in the evening.) George and I had decided to meet at Horeshoe Pass for bivouak. Arriving there, Itried to climb the Pass , but this was no success. A tyreprint was clearely visible going to the top. I could not believe that George was able to climbe the pass with his heavy loaded Guzzi, despite he is one of, if not the best motorcycleriders I ever met. Finely it began to darken and I abondoned and turned back.
Arriving at the entrance of Llangollen, I noticed lightgsigns on the road. It was George. He had tried to climbe te pass but hadn't been more sucessful then me. In fact, the tyreprint came from a trialbike who had passed five minutes before my attempt. I put my tent beside George's, had a meal (from can) and fell asleep. Next morning temperature was minus 18 and my black toenails were rather painful. And so painful, I could not wear my boots, somehow, they got too narrow during night.. After several tries, I put my slippers on and walked carefully to Llangollen in the outdoorshop to buy the biggest Wellies they had on stock. Well equipped now, the ride could go on without problems to the rallysite at Gwrych Castle.
The Rally was very enjoyable , we had a lot of fun as usually.
Sunday morning we got up early, to ride in one day to Dover. The temperature was still very low ( minus 20 C, rising to minus 15 C). For that reason I decided to follow George at his low speed (35-40 milesp.h.) in second gear only.
The motorways were free fom snow, and we advanced slowly but surely. Georges Falcon made a funny noise: boum-boum-boum-boum. Suddenly it happend - forty miles north from London.
Boum-boum-boum-cccrrrangkk----------silence. George stopped at the emergency lane. I stopped behind him, climbed off my XT and went to George to look what happend.
George was still sitting on his bike and just said: “That's it , Guzzi-time is over.”
I towed George and his Guzzi Falcone to the next exit. He then called Allan Carr to organise an transport to Dover. Next morning Allan and Paul came with Allen's trailer. We put the Guzzi inside and rode to Dover. Arrived, I towed George's Guzzi on board of the ferry. At arrival in Oostende it was the same procedure. I towed George to the railwaystation, where he put it in the Luggage- Office.
Normally that would'nt have been possible, but George is a railwayman, and so it was no trouble organizing this. George went home by train for free (I think, Railwaymen are a bit of a Mafia) and myself by my faithful XT.
At about 15 km from my home I had a rear flat tyre. The valve was torn off the tube because I had lowered the pression to get better grip in snow, and on the motorway there had been no possibility to refill because the valve was frozen. My spare tube had already been cut in stripes and used to repair my sidebag dammaged in the car accident. I had to call my girlfriend (not yet my wife) to pick me up by car.
Jerry Frantz