Rental bike trip in Southern Spain

JTL

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I know it has been a bit of of a silent period with my trip reports now, but now it is time to be back. I still have my FZ6s in my garage, but this time it will be the water cooled R1200GS for six days. Just arrived here in southern Spain today, stay tuned....

Hope it is not off topic this way with not an FZ6 bike as I am sure there will be good pointers to some of the nicest routes here. I will have some local help.
 
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JTL

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So, today's trip was Fuengirola-Ronda (via A366, a very nice though a bit slow and at times scary 1 1/2 lane road on the mountain sides) - Gaucín (via A-369, a bit faster but still very twisty) then to Estepona and back to Fuengirola along the coastline. Total ~260km. The temperature varied from 5 to 19C so the bike's grip heaters came into good use. Some pics from the route: https://app.younited.com/?shareObject=fd4f7baf-7ac1-6839-9acf-f1543742dae6

I took some helmet cam video as well, will post later when I get back home.

The R1200GS, an amazing bike. Lots of linear power starting from very low revs, and surprisingly little vibration. Lots of useful gadgets such as electronically adjustable suspension, grip warmers, a good trip computer and full set of luggage. Surprisingly light to handle for such a big bike and the suspension is very good. I kept it in Normal mode, some parts of today's roads I think would have benefited of using the Soft mode. Brakes are good, one finger is enough and the feel is precise. I'm already waiting to ride more tomorrow, sadly the rental agreement only includes 300km per day....
 
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JTL

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Nice! Where did the roads take you today?

Poslal sam z Lumije

Today's trip: Malaga - A-7000 to Colmenar, maybe the best part of the day. Very fast.... Then to Rigordo, Benamargosa, Almachar, Benalgabon and back to Fuengirola via the highway. Today was maybe even better than yesterday now that I know how to handle this bike. There was lots of very slow and hard parts along the route, especially M-3107. You live and you learn....

Lähetetty minun GT-I9506 laitteesta Tapatalkilla
 
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JTL

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Yesterday I went to see Gibraltar, very beautiful place. Then back via the mountains, lots of interesting little roads there once again. Today: To Ronda via A-397, a very nice road with lots of fast twisty corners. Seems to be the favourite road for local bikers too, as there were lots of crotch rockets passing with their knees down :) Many FZ6's as well, which was nice :) A nice motocafe there too. An embarrassing moment: I stalled the engine when leaving the cafe.... Then to Grazalema and from there to Zahara via CA-531. Maybe the best views from that road so far during this trip, but there was ice on the road for a few hundred meters.... thankfully it was a straight section. Then back once again via A-397. Some pics from today: https://app.younited.com/?shareObject=70abaa9b-7ad4-9b71-0ee0-609104adf981

Lähetetty minun GT-I9506 laitteesta Tapatalkilla
 
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dainese

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Enjoying your trip, I can see! You mentioned earlier, trip contract include 300 km per day, by the pics, seems to me it's little to less for full experience, meaning the you must carefully plan, no freedom to roam around????

Poslal sam z Lumije
 

JTL

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Ozgurakman: pics in the links :)
Dainese: 300km per day seems enough for me since some of the roads are so slow that I have usually been on a day trip for 6-7 hours including pauses and stayed within the 300km limit.

Lähetetty minun GT-I9506 laitteesta Tapatalkilla
 

Cloggy

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Great pics, looks like a great area to ride in, thanks for sharing :rockon:

Yesterday I went to see Gibraltar, very beautiful place. ......

I lived there for a couple of years when I was a kid (my dad was in the air force), and I still have fond memories :thumbup:
 

JTL

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The trip is almost at its end now. I returned the bike with 1470km today so km quota was very close to the limit. Will fly back to Finland tomorrow morning. Rest of the trip will be covered then + I'll try to upload photos and helmet cam clips later. A great trip overall, it's a bit sad to go back to the cold and dark that is Finland at this time of year.... oh well, at least my internal solar batteries are charged now :)
 
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2wheelieadv

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Nice trip! Love riding in Spain.
How do you compare the GS to riding FZ6? Would be as comfortable or fun on FZ6? Also, how the GS handles tight/switchbacked corners?
 

dainese

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Sadly your trip is over, hope you enjoyed, waiting for more details, maybe next time you'll visit Croatia, so I can read about my country hahaha

Poslal sam z Lumije
 

JTL

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Two helmet cam clips from the trip:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0QeA_lH87w]Nice road north of Malaga with a BMW R1200GS[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWXx1xyT_OQ]Road A-7000[/ame]

Nice trip! Love riding in Spain.
How do you compare the GS to riding FZ6? Would be as comfortable or fun on FZ6? Also, how the GS handles tight/switchbacked corners?

More comfortable and more stable in switchbacked corners. Very relaxed riding position in the BMW and lots of leg room. I have noticed some unnerving frame/fork flexing with FZ6 in very tight corners in the mountains, there was no sign of that in the GS. The fueling was also good, no on/off feeling with the throttle + torque starting from down low helped in the tight corners. The R1200GS is heavier to handle and the feel for the front end is a bit more vague due to the complicated anti-dive suspension so this took away some of the fun factor vs FZ6. Overall FZ6 wins definitely the bang for the buck -category :) but if money were no issue, my next bike would be either the new GS or Duc Multistrada.

Sadly your trip is over, hope you enjoyed, waiting for more details, maybe next time you'll visit Croatia, so I can read about my country hahaha

Never say never, that part of Europe I have yet to visit :)
 
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