[Trip report]: DE: Frankfurt / Rhine / Koblenz / Nurburgring / Heidelberg

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On a recent trip to Germany... decided to make something I'd been dreaming about for a while, happen.

 

Had just a Friday, Saturday and half of Sunday to spare, so contacted Mr Meisel of HM Motorradhaus to arrange for a rental.

Was very pleasantly informed that he wouldn't be charging me for the Friday since it was almost 12pm by the time I reached the shop to pick up the bike.

 

Kinda tight budget, so got the most decent bike for the money, a XJ6N for 199 Eur + 45 Eur for 3 days' minimum liability insurance (highly recommended). I don't know if it was restricted or what though, as it had quite some difficulty even reaching 150km/h on the autobahn.

Rented a jacket from there too. Had my own helmet which I bought a week ago

Also had my own GPS. Hint, if you don't already have one, buying a cheap Garmin locally might be a cheaper, if non-waterproof option.

 

First obstacle... there wasn't anywhere to put the RAM-mount suction cup I brought along! Not really any flat surfaces on the tank.

 

Solution? Ask SMRT, cable ties and black tape-ed it to the mirror. Same for the GoPro

Never had a problem with it coming loose even after almost 800km.

 

Started the trip from Frankfurt, and on the suggestion of a friend, decided to ride along the Rhine. Didn't know where to start from except where he lived (Mainz)... so set the GPS for there and took the autobahn for the first part of the journey.

 

Rode through the town, then headed north along route 9 to Koblenz.

 

It was (and still is) one of the most beautiful roads I've rode on... probably only the Swiss Alps could top it. The road follows the river for a significant distance... I'll let the pictures do the talking.

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Weapon for the weekend.

 

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Anyway, after quite a lot more riding, ended up in Koblenz for the night. Stayed at the CityHotel Kuerfurst Boudin (did I spell that right?) as it was the first one that I passed by, and wasn't too expensive at ~60 EUR for the night. 9 EUR for parking though! Bit the bullet and paid it as I didn't want to explain why the bike went missing overnight...

 

As it was quite late already, no more pictures till the next morning.

 

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Next morning, after some sightseeing... decided to go to the most infamous of them all: the Nurburgring! Not sure if they would let me in the circuit, but it would be wrong to be less than 100km from the place and not at least pay it a visit!

 

Again, set the GPS for the 'Ring, and placed my faith in Mr Garmin.

 

The weather went from great to LOUSY on the way there though... no rain on the way but the roads were WET! plus the cloudy weather... zzzzzz. But... managed to reach one of the most well-known tracks in the world.