Hello to all... intro

Hi all,

Bought a new 1987 VFR (white of course) in 1987 in San Francisco, brought it with me to Europe twice - the second time when I moved here more than 20 years ago. I couldn't get it approved here so I sent it back to the US to a friend and bought another one here (white, of course). Still have it. Lots of alp passes under those tires.

However... I have just *crossed over* to the other side... age and a sensitive back have ruled... I am picking up my new Crossrunner Saturday (white, of course).
Anyway there's a lot of people who seem to have negative feelings about this bike here, I guess I'll find out for myself... I still consider myself a VFR guy no matter what.

Back in the day they used to say keep the shiny side up and the rubber side down, maybe that's getting a bit old fashioned, but I'll wish everyone here that anyway, and see you around the alps!

--sVFR

 

Hello and wellcome :smile:

 

Welcome the the site. I almost pulled the trigger on a Munich trip and renting a bike to ride the alps this year. There are so many roads very close to Munich. A lot of day trips that wouldn't overlap.

 

I was in Swiss last summer and Austria. Crossing the border to Italy from Swiss up in the mountain (Livigno) then we go over stelvio. Fantastic trip i must say. I think i go down there next summer again This summer i stay in Sweden. My first VFR was a white -87

 

My break-in project for the CR will be the tour de Mont Blanc, Home>Grand St-Bernard>Italia>Petit St-Bernard>France>Roslend>Megève>Evian>Home... Can't do it all in one day, I think I'll need an overnight in France, gettin' too old to do 400Km of twisties in one day... :-( Hopefully be able to do that before I leave on vacation in July.
Cheers,
-sv

 

Hello and welcome to the Forum.


I must admit when I took my VFR in for service last month, I was very tempted by the gleaming white Cross Runner on sale at Kick Moto in Thonon-Les-Bains.

So where in Switzerland do you I live? I guess somewhere in Valais or Vaud? So you can't be far from my place in the French ski resort of Chatel!

I have done most of that circuit in a day starting from here, although with several stops for coffee and a long lunch by the ski lifts on the Col du Roseland, it was a fairly long day. The ride down and across the top of the dam at Lac Roseland is stunning.

If you fancy meeting up sometime send me a message or you can email me through Residences Les Armoises - Chatel. I ride regularly with the SAMVA-moto club and if it ever stops raining I will be at the annual Bernex Hill climb on 17 June. Next month we have our annual Burn Mountain Festival - with three days of organised ride outs, and live rock music into the early hours in La Chapelle d'Abondance on 20-22 July which attracts hundreds of bikers and is based just down the road from my chalet. If you fancy joining in but don't want to ride back home each night after the music ends at 1am, then you are welcome to stay at my place which is 2 minutes ride from the venue.



Skimad 4x4 - 6th Gen militia #218 - European 1st Division

 

Yep - I'm on the hill overlooking Vevey. I can see Evian across the lake out my living room window. We have gone skiing in Chatel, although we are usually lazy and cross over (on skis) to the French side from Champéry or Les Crosets - only 40 minutes by car from home. I love Avoriaz...

I often ride in the "hills" behind Thonon, good day ride from here with lots of different possibilities.

Love to meet up sometime, although the dates you posted aren't going to work for me - promised the other half a weekend in Paris and it's this coming weekend; we're going to be in the USA when the festival is on in July... dang... Well, we'll figure it out. So, how much time do you spend in France as opposed to the UK?

--sv

 

So, got the bike this morning in Lausanne. Fantastic! I thought I was going to miss the maneuverability of my 87 VFR, but nothing of the sort! The CR feels light and nimble to me (OK, it's not a 600 cc sportbike) and I like the more upright riding position. I just did some really small back roads up in the hills above the house (at one point I wasn't sure if I hadn't missed a "pedestrians only" sign and was actually riding paved walking paths), there was gravel and mud and lots of bumps, and while I would have also gotten through that on the '87 VFR, the CR just felt a lot more stable under those conditions. It's just fun to ride! And the motor is still all VFR. So I'm pleased with my decision.

Attached a couple of images 5 minutes from home...

--sv

 

Nice photos - Been to Blonay Chambey Museum several times. There are some fabulous twisties which follow the mountain railways up from Aigle to Leysin and Les Diablerets. A few weeks back Samva joined the fmvs.ch meeting in Leytron where 160+ bikes and 200+ riders turned up and caused traffic chaos around Valais.



On the way back we called in at JoeBar which I guess you know well.

Sadly no motorbike today as we are pretty much trapped in the valley - Chatel is hosting the finish of the Criterium de Dauphine cycle race. The finish is being covered on Eurosport TV so rather than fight into town to stand by the finish, I decided to have a lazy day and set up a deck chair outside the Chalet, perch the TV by the chalet window and stack the fridge with the beer

I will be in the UK in the middle of August but otherwise I am busy running chalets in Chatel If you are around next Saturday we could arrange to meet up somewhere like Aigle or Monthey and go for a blast - just PM me if you are interested


Skimad4x4 6th Gen Militia #218 European 1st Division

 

Hi there... Yeah, unfortunately as I said above, this weekend is out as I will be in Paris... My schedule looks pretty crazy for the next couple of weeks as we try to finish the school year here, I don't know when I'm going to have time to ride... :unsure: As soon as a weekend comes up where I'm around and it looks like it'll be good weather, I'll let you know...

--sv