Fellow Travellers,

My bike was recently shipped to Germany by Stefan Knopf of KnopfTours who did a great job with all aspects; I highly recommend his container shipping service from Orlando. His shipping date to Heidelberg coincides with Daytona BikeWeek; so if you deliver your bike to Orlando, you get the extra bonus of "doing" Bikeweek .

My plan is to ride Eastern Europe this summer 2-up with my wife on my R11RT. This is a training ride in preparation for some of the real adventurous trips that other HU members are doing.

I've ridden through Mexico several times, including the Sierra Madre Accidentals, the (She) Devils's Backbone, the "Road of 1000 patches", etc so I'm hoping that I'm up to the challenges of the European roads and drivers.

However, I stumbled on an HU thread this A.M. that made me realize that my license plate from the Lone Star state (I'm actually from the Show Me state ) may be a problem.

My wife is Canadian, so today we went to the flag store here in Austin, Texas and bought several Canadian flags to attach to the gear for good luck.

I don't want to start an international incident here; just wondering if we smile, wave and be friendly whether we are apt to encounter any problems crusing through Eastern Europe, Turkey and Tunisia. Thanks in advance for any good, constructive advice. Happy (and safe) trails to everyone venturing out this summer on their iron steeds. Yippy yi ay!

Good!

Results to date:

Germany: A few complaints but in a very funny way. Many laughs.
Austria: Everybody is smiling and laid-back. No Problema
Slovenia: Everyone is driving/riding so fast they never see me
Croatia: See Slovenia
Bosnia: A little shell-shocked; Didn't notice


In General: The Texas plate is so small compared to Europlates; nobody can read it.

Besides, I stuck my HU sticker right beside it to divert attentions

Two wheels, one world!

Hi,

I saw a stars and stripes sticker on a local bike in Iran. Nobody had set it on fire or anything! Sure you'll be fine!

Matt

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http://adventure-writing.blogspot.com

http://scotlandnepal.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

Albania was thumbs up about Texas from the northern custom post to the crossing into Greece; Greece was no problem...

Not to worry. This is crazy. It's another example of we American's just trying to solve a problem we don't really have...

I met a group of Europeans including Belgium, England, France and Holland. We got into a conversation when another American (non-moto traveler) brought up the fact that he was worried about traveling as an American. Every chirped in and said that they had heard this before -- but only from other American travelers who had intimately divulged this insecurity. Sure, we're the world power and our government continues to make stupid decisions, but for the most part our world neighbors understand that the citizens don't necessarily represent the views of its government. This goes for all countries -- as I'm sure you'd find some Texans who'd rather just order "fries" rather than French Fries. But this is crazy. We're all world citizens and for the most part the people you'll meet on your journey will accept you as you are... people. If your attitude or behavior suggests that you might deserve another sentiment... so be it. In reality, you as a traveler are in control of what reception you'll receive.

That said, there are always the exceptions. I just haven't found them in my travels.

Good luck on your journey. You'll love it with those Texas plates!

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Allan - WorldRider
2005 - Adventure & Discovery - 2008 http://www.worldrider.com

No worries in Turkey and Tunisia as those are pretty chill countries...I've had Cali plates on mine and when anybody asks I remind them that Arnold is my Governor and he knows I'm on this trip...

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edde
93 BMW K75s
www.motoedde.com