Motorcycling Crete, Greece
 

Hello,

I am relocating from Florida USA to Crete and I'm brining my Honda Shadow ACE Tourer 1100 with me. I plan on touring the island and ultimately parts of Europe. I sure would appreciate some insight into my upcoming adventure.

Ghost

Hi Ghost,
The Cretans have a special kind of road surface. It is shiney (and a little slippy ) even when dry and gets very interesting when wet.
Apart from that, it's a great place to ride. Nice bendy roads, lovely views and friendly people.

Have fun.
Richard.

Thanks Richard! Do yo think I will have any trouble with a large cruiser (600 lbs)?

Ghost

Alright, I have eyed this forum for several days now and all I hear about is Transalps and African Twins. Being a Yank from the good old USA, I guess I am ignorant to the style of riding that goes on in Europe. I'm still not sure if a Transalp is a motorbike you transverse the Alps on? Or if an African Twin is something Steve Erwin captures during an episode of Crockodile Hunter. Currently, I have an assignment to the island of Crete, arriving in May of 04. While surfing the net in hopes of finding a European group with a similiar Honda class bike interest as mine, I keep stumbling into Transalp and African Twin territory and by the communication activity of sport bike/duel sport topics, it appears I am going to be culture shocked for sure. Since I am allowed to bring my motorbike to Crete, I hope I will be doing a fair share of riding across your beautiful continent. I own a 2000 Honda Shadow ACE Tourer 1100 which weighs over 600 lbs. I have rode it from sea to shining sea across America twice and feel confident it would behave in a foreign country. I just don't want to feel like an outcast. Can anyone tell me if there are any Honda cruiser clubs in Europe, in particular around Greece or Italy. It would also be good to know if I can get parts! Any help would greatly be appreciated. Thanks! Ghostrider

Here is my talk forum in the USA:

http://pub19.ezboard.com/bhondashadowacetourer

Ghostrider

I think it depends what type of riding you want to do.

If your looking to ride the alps dragging your knees in the corners your going to want a nimble, sport bike. If your just looking to cruise, carry some luggage and enjoy the scenery, a larger bike will do just fine.

We toured Europe, Greece, Turkey, Alps, Italy, Scotland, Etc this summer on a BMW 1200 LT, loaded with camping gear and I felt it was just too big and awkard. We were comfortable and it was a great bike for us, two up, but if I were to ride one up, I'd go for a lighter bike, so I could take advantage of all those great roads in the Alps.

Those Europeans sure can ride.

Have a great trip.

Hi Ghost,
I didn't mean to put you off. There are plenty of normal roads in Crete too, and in the rest of Europe. After all, the trucks have to get around somehow. Not that I'm calling your bike a truck. ;o)
If you've ridden coast to coast in the States you'll be fine over here.

Whew! I'm feeling better already. As much as I would like to do the dual-sport thing, I just can't afford another bike. As for now, I'm just planning to take a few long trips to watch the scenery go by. Man! That picture of Stelvio Pass in the Alps Trip Report by Lumo is mesmerizing. It compeled some friends of mine in the US to take a trip to Europe to meet me there. I can't wait. Thanks for the the info guys, I really appreciate it. Ghost

Richard,

Good point on the trucks. There certainly has to be good roads for them to get around. Thanks! Hey! When I was in England last, you guys called them Lorries. LOL

Ghost:

You'll find a few of us here on the HUBB that ride larger 'street' bikes (I ride a ST1100), but most of the participants here seem to favour dual-sport bikes as their weapon of choice.

I wouldn't have any concerns about taking my ST1100 to Crete for vacation purposes (meaning, to visit for 2 or 3 weeks), but if I was going to move there and live there for any length of time at all, I would dump the big street bike and get something a heck of a lot smaller and lighter.

The whole island is only 250 km (150 miles) long, and averages about 35 km (20 miles) wide. So, you really don't need the speed, power, endurance that a big bike gives you. In the cities, for example the capital Iraklion, traffic moves slowly and roads are crowded. A big bike will be a PITA, you can't split lanes with it very easily. Out in the country, there's not much need, nor much opportunity, to go fast. And after you have bought a few tankfuls of fuel at about USD 4 or 5 per gallon, you'll sure wish you had a smaller bike.

The locals all ride scooters, most especially in the cities. Heck, the COPS ride 125cc bikes, does that suggest something? http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif

Bottom line - you can take the 1100 there, no problems, but it's not the ideal machine for the island. You would have more fun and a lot less grief with something in the 500cc or less size range.

So far as touring the rest of Europe - it's going to cost you a fair hunk to get your bike to anywhere you would want to start off from (e.g Northern Italy) - no way you would want to try to ride from mainland Greece to Western Europe, through nice spots like Kosevo, Albania, Macedonia, unless you have some prior experience touring in eastern Europe, and some skill in languages other than English. If you are unilingual English and have never ridden outside of the USA, then you would probably be best to leave your own bike behind in Crete, hop a plane to Bavaria, and rent a bike there for a week or two - the cost won't be much more than what it would cost you to ship and ride your own machine from Crete to Bavaria and back.

Hope this gives you a perspective.

PanEuropean

Thank You PanEuropean! Yes this does give me better perspective. I might purchase a smaller bike when I get to Crete. As for a longer journey, how about riding up through Italy vs the Balkens? I would like to transverse the Alps into Germany. Ghost

Well, I don't personally care much for Italy, but that's just my opinion. I think it is too densely populated, and too expensive for what it is. Also, there are some security (theft and honesty) problems there.

If you could find a way to get from Greece to Croatia, then ride up through Croatia, that would be just superb. Croatia is one of my favourite places to ride. Nice country, nice people, very beautiful, not expensive, good climate. There's another post going on right now in this forum about how to get from Greece to Croatia.

Don't rule out the possibility of air freight from Iraklion to Europe - Iraklion is a fairly big airport, also gets a lot of charter flights, which are the best ones to get cheap air freight rates on for bulky cargo like motos. Worth checking it out, though you might not have much choice in what your destination in Europe is (might wind up being the UK or something like that). Go sniffing around the freight forwarders at the airport once you get there.

PanEuropean

We did the trip that PanEuropean suggested about a year ago. We came south through the Dolomites to Venice then down Croatia to Dubrovnik. From there an overnight ferry took us to Bari and a short ride on the autostrada took us to Brindisi where we hopped on an 8 hour ferry ride to Igoumenitsa. There to Athens for overnight ferry to Crete. It is do-able and enjoyable but we took 18 days to get from Venice to Crete.

As to the initial question about a cruiser, they certainly aren't as popular in Europe as in North America but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy riding one there.

Ekke
Redwoowd Meadows, AB
1989 BWM R100GS

Wow! What a trip. I plotted your travels on a map. I might consider that route coming back from Germany. What are the Dolomites? Is that part of the Alps?

Ghost

Dolomites are a range of mountains in northern Italy, extending north towards Austria.

Should have been there in September but a gearbox problem meant we did'nt have time. Meant to be very beautiful, especially the Tyrol region, strong German influence, inc. the language, even though it's still in Italy.

Steve

Ghost,
You will be fine touring around on a big honda, we toured through western Europe on a very heavily loaded 800 BMW and had no trouble at all, just some days when you pass one of those little dirt tracks that head up into the hills and wonder where it goes will you ever need or want a smaller bike...
Give a thought to riding in Turkey also, easy to get to from Rhodes by ferry in the summer. We had some of our most memorable rides there, as the people and countryside are wonderful.
Cheers, Peter

Yes - Turkey is sounding more and more inviting as I read postings about it. Thinking about Egypt too.

Thanks!

Ghost

Bike storage in Crete
 

Hi Ghost or anyone else in Crete,

Are you still in Crete? We are in Crete now and are looking for safe storage for our Super Tenere and gear for 16 months, two winters, one summer, while we go home to earn more money to continue our RTW trip.

We are looking for a space in someones garage and are willing to pay for it.
If you know of anyone please let us know or if you are still here it would be great to catch up with you or any other Horizons bikers in Crete
Our Greek number till 7 Nov is 697 416 3848
or by email.

Cheers, Patrick and Belinda Peck
www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/peck

Hi Ghost,

I come from greece and I have lived in Creta for many years in the past.
A very good contact is the Moto touring club of Rethimno. I have drive with them a few times.Check them out.
http://www.symore.gr/
We can can also meet in Port Everglades if you are at home.
I work on a ship and I am in miami almost every week.
Good luck.

When I was the Passo del Stelvio, I saw at least three or four cruisers and that was squirt, hairpin, squirt, hairpin all the way up. And I have to defend Italy. Italy is biker country. Much better than anywhere else in northern Europe I've been to. People just let you past. And there's plenty of petrol stations, which seem to be a dying breed elsewhere. By far the best riding I've done has been in Italy. Austria was pretty good, and maybe a bit better for bigger bikes. Can't comment on anywhere else, other than to say that Greeks in general prefer dual sport style bikes. I've no idea what road conditions are like on Crete itself.