September | 2014 | thexscafe

The day has come and gone. Again. The fun started before i went to bed. New Zealand time is 12 hours in front of Germany.

We met outside St Paul’s Church. Frankfurt/M. 10.00 am. Ready to leave around 11.00am.

the gathering

Here is a selection of the rides out today. It was great to see so many attend.

kool Norton – made me wish mine was here

CX Honda

top cat – nice detailing

very tasty Guzzi

SR500

a gaggle of Triumphs

sweet

a trip down memory lane

far east 250cc beastie – very quiet

XS650 cafe

nicely finished beemer

kool little kwaka rat

Kawa Estrella

W650 – sweet machine

another kool Kwaka

oops – who dun dat?

dressed to kill

suit and hairy chin

the SR – only sidecar out today

we had the fountain outside the old opera house ring-fenced

wash day? … i think not

Was a good day out … almost too many bikes to keep track of … not enough time to really meet everyone … you never know when you will meet again.

Last stammtisch I was asked whether I was going to the EGT?

EGT? WTF?

Ahso … Euro-Gespann-Treffen!

European Sidecar Meet

EGT poster

S’posed to be the biggest in Europe. Asked the boy (8) if he was interested – ‘If it’s not wet’

Meant a little maintenance. Chain set, Oil n filter, rear tyre, clutch pack, kickstart: spring, ratchet, guide, stopper and oil-seal, cleaned last winter’s salt rust off the forks and sidecar frame, checked the brakes, lube, packed a tool-kit … clutch made a big difference

He had football-school til 14.00 … left about 16.30’ish … took a long-motorway-short-cut around Mainz – bad choice! … STAU … big single, aircooled – oil temp rose, clutch didn’t react well … got a bit better rolling over the Hunsrück, across the Mosel, quickly through the Eifel, spanned the Kyll and over into Luxembourg

As soon as we arrived the football disappeared. Reappeared once the tent was up. Hungry. And it rained.

looking down over the camp … between the trees is a lake … more camping on the other side and to the left .. 900++ sidecars, around 1700 people

‘the football’ in motion … wheelchair friendly access around the lake and up to the main tent

‘The football’ was constantly on the go

Plenty of getting together and talking, looking but I missed some organised activities, tours, music etc … maybe I just blinked … anyway we took off on our own (with ball), exploring … rained … had forgottten my rainpants-at home … took shelter in a wonderful old-time hardware store, the type that has pretty much everything (except metal cups) – got a cool livestock medicinal syringe for fork-oil level adjustment and a pair of waterproof overpants

Prizegiving on Saturday night. Oldest rider .. 88y, Youngest rider .. 17y, Longest ride .. from Sweden (around 1700km each way)

cool tent

beware – quicksand

us, hiding from the rain

schwenker … flexibly mounted sidecar … bike rides similar to a solo machine

trad- triumph ‘n watsonian GP

triumph/ Zero … nice pair

triumph rally

guzzi and … and … (also a ‘schwenker’ … can be separated in 5 minutes … no self-respecting ‘hollander’ would be seen without his trailer)

dogs on tour

guzzi, watsonian ‘n house … mmm, dont snails and tortoises bring their own houses? … the germans here would also say ‘the hollanders’ too (most caravans here have NL plates)