the "Rising Star": KORSIKATREFFEN

Thursday 28th of July 2011.
The idea of going to Corsica - with motorcycles, of course - was there in some form or another for quite a while but this year it looks like it's all coming together.
I've never been there, never particularly felt the attraction. Nor do I pay attention to all the people who say "this place is wonderful, that place will blow your mind" since it's usually people who drive cars and go on cruises and club Meds. Fuck that.
Why this year then. And why now that it coincides with the Black Shadow MC rally.
Well, having been the last couple of years and not enjoyed the trip there I decided to not only do something different but also make a small, understated statement (mouthful!) by taking Japanese bikes. I say bikes because I'm going with a couple of buddies from the club, Witold and Gianluca - who is a doctor, very handy. Witold is taking his Honda XL500 with the ridiculous 23" front wheel: can you say

g-y-r-o-s-c-o-p-e?

Gianluca is borring my Honda FX650, the unfortunately named "Vigor"

and I was going to take my dad's Honda XL600R, which would have made it a nice single-cylinder trio with a bit of an evolutionary vibe to it (500, 600, 650 versions of the "same" engine), but I just hate that fucking bike. It's a bitch to start, a bitch to ride and a triple-bitch to start if the engine's warm. No thank you.

So instead I'm taking my dad's Africa Twin while he still has it.

It'll be going to a very good friend before the year is up and I want to ride it on a trip like this to see what it's all about. I'll probably love it and want to never part with it but it just makes sense to give it to our friend and concentrate on dad's "new" BMW R100GS instead, as the do-it-all long distance tourer.
So, not as homogenous as before but it should still be a nice group of bikes.

Friday 5th of August - we got ferry tickets, left it a little late but we got 'em.

Saturday 20th of August - aaaand, we're back. All three, with all three bikes, all in one piece and still talking to each other! If that's not the tally of a successful bike trip I don't know what is.
Of course there are photos (remember kids, photos or it didn't happen) and I'll be posting them soon, but in the meantime there was someone who was starting to wonder if we were still alive and back here in Italy.
By the way, the trip was a blast, we all had a good time.

Some stats.
overall distance covered: 1300 Km.
distance covered on the island: 550 Km.
average fuel consumption: 18Km/lt.
average beer consumption: 14 lt. per capita
no mechanical breakdowns.
no accidents.
one wasp sting.

Monday 29th of August - alright, photos!

It all starts with a random heap of stuff to be neatly packed on the bikes...

5lt jerry can and MOLLE pack at the front: badass.

"the bikes are all packed up, it only took us ALL NIGHT... now let's get 2.5 hours of sleep before we head off...."

Although it may not look like it, this is actually in the morning...

30Kms from Livorno, we might actually make it on time! we're exhausted and we haven't even left Italy.

We're at the harbour. Just looking at the water makes me sea-sick. This gonna be fun.

There are already loads of cars and caravans lined up, and a few bikes, which thankfully have their own lane. Other bikers come from a few different countries, modern bikes for the most part. Witold's 500 attracts attention.

We're on! Now to quickly cheat my inner ear system with sleep...

BA! O__O

We're at the first campsite in S. Florent. The tents go up and the bikes are officially badged "korsikatreffen", thus adding 500 euros to their resale value.

The following day we head off for the longest ride of the whole trip. West towards Calvi, then down following the coast towards Porto, with a good deal of road so puckered with holes and cracks in the tarmac to earn the name of "millebuche" - a thousand holes.

We stop for a refreshing beverage and a bite to eat. The local Pietra beer has chestnut in it and clocks up 6% alcohol. It's a 6-Volts beer and we drink almost nothing but that for the remainder of the trip.

Witold is our intrepid photographer. Action shots are the order of the day.

Reckless speeds!

"WOOSSSH!!!"

This is where we saved a baby fox from the middle of the road. It was probably too scared to go anywhere and Witold was able to pick it up and put it down on the low stone wall you see there. It wasn't injured and it slowly made sure it was ok to go, then stepped off into the bushes. I'm looking at it as it makes its way into the shrubs, down the hill.

We made it unscathed to the end of the road of a thousand holes.

The Africa Twin, at home on the sand.

Witold, showing us how it's done.

Why are you looking at Gianluca's temple? Well, because he got stung by one of Corsica's 5 billion wasps as he was riding. It got into his helmet and he barely had time to realise what was happening and BAM! wasp sting.

"HHHHHHHH..... AAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Tièèèè, 'nvedi che spada!.... Fratè, te lo sto a di' devi fa PIANO!"

A steady hand and one Bentelan vial later we're good to go. This made for a puzzling scene for the few cars that drove by.

He's alright.

This is the mighty D84, man, what a road.

Detour, up a narrow offroady looking dirt lane...

The Africa Twin, at home on the dirt.

Off again, towards the mountain pass at 1.477 meters above sea level.

All sorts of tasty wildlife on the road!

Spectacular views all along the D84.

This primitive stone structure was put in place to secure our psychic presence on the island. Coming from the astral plane, it will be like a beacon to help us land safely.

A wizard once lived here. Perhaps he still does.

Hawks in the sky.

And now we come to the Desert des Agriates, towards the U Paradisu campsite. Groovy stuff, man.

We came out of the desert after 40 years, having lived on manna made by the manna-machine, which is powered by the Ark of the Covenant, only to find...

...oh yeah, it's uncle Fester.

"desert sled" YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!!

The morning we left Corsica, with a quick stop to get croissants. Note the FNLC tag (upper right) and the Jedi knight on the left, on his way to get fresh bread. And the Force.