Back to Blogging and to More Adventures...

 Dear Friends,

When I created this blog site the idea was sharing as much adventures, experiences, joys, tips and tricks... But sometimes plans don't go as planned. Life happens, everything gets busy... But along the way, we always come to this understanding of how precious the life is... And how short...

I have been riding of course but not as intensely... It is about the change though... My good friend, mentor and great person, Walter Gates, is retired this past Christmas. Congratulations to him. Although now we are in different cities/states, btw I have moved to Rio Rico, AZ in November 2018, I am sure he will push me to go to more adventures with him. Or vice versa... Gail Smolen, Walter's partner in crime, is retired also, congratulations to her as well.

Our next adventure is around the corner. 2021 BMW MOA Rally is getting closer. We were so bummed because it was postponed last year because of the pandemic. Wait for us Montana!!

Since my last post I have another addition to the family... A 2020 BMW R1250R... I can't wait to put some miles on her...

This is a little update for now... More to come... I will try to post some adventures and stories from the past too...

Until the next time, keep riding, stay healthy, stay happy...

Evan Acar

Back logs.

Dear friends,

I know I was going to update this website every day... That did not happen as you can see... But now I have finally some time in my hands, and decided to to some back logging.

I did not talk about the time I got stuck in Europe while I was waiting for my bike... My first stop in Europe was Germany. I have a very dear friend of mine who lives there in a small town called Cuxhaven. The town is about an hour and a half outside of Hamburg. I have lots of pictures in Hamburg but not many in Cux, locals call the town Cux in short. There is a reason for that, the town is so small it doesn't even fill a full picture frame... :)

This my very close friend Herr Tarik Koc. He is a OBGYN Specialist in a hospital in Cuxhaven. The picture was taken in front of Bremen Central Station. It is unreal how old and how beautiful all the train staions are. Tarik and his lovely wife Selda showed me an incredible hospitality during the time I spent there. I am sure they were tired of me after a while. I was suppose to stay ther maybe a couple of days but I ended up staying total of 9 days there...

One of the street statutes in Bremen.

Bremen Shopping District.

Schnoor... Very nice neighborhood.

It rained and snowed everyday I was there... Darn you North Europe... Here is some very joyful moments I had in Northern Europe:

Finally on the road...

Finally at the end of day 11, around 7:00 pm, I reunited with my road companion. Everything looks intact, nothing was broken during shipment... It cost me another 550 Euros on top of the $890 I have paid for the shipment to pull the bike out of the destination port in Antwerpen, Belgium. And if I add all the money I spent while I was waiting for the bike to arrive, it would be so much wiser to airship the motorcycle. That would be around same amount of money but I would not have to wait 3 weeks... Anyways, it is all water under the bridge now...
Today is May 2nd. I have been riding about 400 miles a day to make up the time I lost. I also had to modify the route a little. I took the Eastern Europe out. I decided that I could arrange another trip jus for that region later...
This is my close friend Cemal Ardic. I can not thank him and his lovely wife Juliet enough for the incredible hospitality they have shown me. First day of riding I have found myself going thru 3 countries, starting in Belgium, Luxemburg, France and ending up in Switzerland which my friend Cemal lives. Walter, John, Fred, Gail, Cheryl, Michael... I have been thinking about you all, when I was looking at Alps in Switzerland...My butt and I can tell you we were tired end of that first day...
Now I am in Bari, Italy, waiting for the ferry to pass to Greece. I will tell you about the trip between Switzerland and Bari on my next post. Until then arrivederci... EA

Day 11 in Belgium...

I am very frustrated but nothing I can do about it... I think customs offices are working with same mind set everywhere in the world, make people's life difficult. The wait still continues with hopes of getting my motorcycle out of customs and finally start driving. One piece of advice for the future travelers, pay the extra money and use air freight... The money I spent in this three week period would easily pay for the air freight...
Was it all bad? Of course not... While I was waiting I used the excellent train system in Europe and travelled a little without my bike... Covered 4 countries so far... Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and France. Over the weekend I was in Paris... Here is a moment...

Hopefully next update will be from the first stop after a long day of riding. Until then, stay safe, keep riding, keep smiling... EA

Got Stuck in North Europe

Dear Friends,

It has been more than 2 weeks now since I got here to North Europe. I know, I know, I was suppose to update the site almost everyday... I had and still am having some problems with my motorcycle's shipping. Initially the bike was suppose to be here at the end of March then there was a delay and delivery date was pushed back to April 13th. The vessel was on time but it was late in the night. And of course there was the weekend issue... Then the customs clearing agent and the shipping company who owns the vessel are different companies and because of the competition they are not very friendly to each other. They don't show any extra effort to help each other's customers... Anyways I will be getting my bike hopefully today or latest tomorrow. Then real adventure will start.

Now the unpleasant matters are out of the way, I can talk about the good stuff. So far I have been to 3 countries here the northern part of Europe. I have gotten together with friends that I haven't seen for a long time. Although the weather was not very compromising, site seeing and the companionship I had was priceless. Germany, Netherlands and Belgium so far. If everything goes smooth from now on I might be righting the next blog posting in Paris... Cross your fingers.

That is me in Brussels, Belgium... Walter, John, Fred, dear friends... Please pay attention to the jacket I am wearing... That is a genuine BMW jacket. I came a cross in a swap meet in Brussels. It is practically brand new. I will not tell you the price I STOLE it for. I don't want you to have a heart attack. :) Until next time, stay safe, enjoy life, keep riding... EA

4 weeks and counting...

Last week, actually 10 days ago, my road companion, BMW F800GS, started its journey... After all the preparation for the road, I load my bike to the trailer which Mr. Walter Gates were kind enough to let me borrow and drove to Los Angeles. The shipping company was very helpful. They let me keep the panniers on the bike, loaded... I tied my sleeping bag on there too... Now only thing I have to do is, fill up my duffle bag and get to Belgium...

It took some time and effort to bring the F800 back to life after the little incident last year. I tumbled the bike several times in Death Valley. There were some parts still missing, like front brake reservoir protector, pannier racks etc. Addition to those, I installed a Zumo 660 on the bike using Touratech bracket. A new set of tires with fresh inner tubes... Fresh oil change... It is all ready to go now... Matter of fact, it is gone now...

I am very busy with work and preparations nowadays but I will try to update the blog maybe a couple more times before I leave. After that you can expect updates daily... Until then, happy riding, happy living... EA

New Horizons...

Dear friends,

It has been a while that I have not been updating the blog... This is about to change. I and my good friend F800GS are getting ready for another journey soon. I will be travelling Europe for a while starting at the end of March 2012. The bike is going to start its journey before me. It is going on a freight ship mid February and will arrive to Europe at the end of March. Its destination is Belgium. I will fly there at the end of March, pick up the bike and start our journey there.

Preparations are going full speed. I am sure I will forget things but I think that is part of the deal. I will post some pictures to show how F800GS starts its journey next week. Until then, ride safe, be happy, enjoy life... It is too short after all...

Evan Acar