The last trip with the Triumph Tiger

After owning the Tiger for 3 month and riding her for 12.000 km included a great trip to France, Spain and Portugal, this trip in Germany is the last one.

I not want to complain or rant, but many dealers here in Europe and especially in Germany are new to the Triumph brand and have not much clue about what they are doing.
Finally I found a professional garage what I can recommend but 160 km to go there one way is definitely too far.

So instead of ranting, better talk about this trip in Germany.

After 2 nights in Barbing where the Triumph dealer is located it was so good to travel again, this time direction North West. After almost 300 km, the escape of a heavy thunderstorm brough me to a cute little city named Seßlach. Never noticed this city before, it turned out that it’s some sort of famous due to its historical old town. And yes, quiet, peaceful and relaxed there.

Meeting great people is part of traveling. This time I met a nice couple in the hotel. We had some beers in the evening and a lot of fun together, so the next day was not a riding day. With a “little” hangover it was more safe to stay one more night and visit the fortress in Coburg (by car) instead.

No alcohol in the evening, but a great breakfast in the morning to continue the trip fresh to visit my buddy Michel and his family in Wetzlar and later my mom in Haan. (Sorry, no photos this is private time).

As I never stayed in this area longer than 30 min (the time you need to pass by on the main highway), I decided to explore the Harz, a low mountain range in the northern part of Germany.
This was a bit shocking to me – look at the photos, it’s like you travel in a post war nuclear strike scenery. Almost all of the trees are dead. What I heated is, that many people visit the Harz to have a look the dead trees. For me, it’s just sad and depressing, especially when you know that this is caused by human incompetence.

Despite of a lot of road closures due to construction and the poor condition of the forest, the Harz is not such bad with great road conditions and still has some nice corners. And with Wernigerode one of the most beautiful cities in Germany.

When traveling in this area, you will cross many times the formerly border of FRG / GDR.

Here is a small collection of what I found along the formerly border- mostly memorial sites. Some of them are giving you an almost “original” oppressive feeling.

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Normally the plan was to stay a couple of days in the Thuringian Forest but they put a lot of small stones on the most beautiful twisty roads. Boring and dangerous to ride so I decided to go back home in one day on the main highway. 650 km but it was ok.
My butt is proved for longer distances!

So let’s say farewell to the Triumph Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer and let’s welcome…well, stay tuned and follow this blog.

Good luck to the new owner of the Triumph and always a safe ride!!!