Norden 901 Expedition 5000km Austria to UK Ep2

I was invited to an event in the UK called the Adventure Bike Rider Festival, but instead of flying in to talk to the crowd, I thought I'd fly to Austria, borrow a bike, then ride to the festival. And so Husqvarna lent me a new Norden 901 Expedition. I rode straight down to Italy to catch up with my good friend Giovanni Sala. The bike was okay? Yeah, yeah. I got a feel for the Norden's capability off-road. We ate and drank with Joe's mates. They made me test a grass track. Then Joe and I rode out to another event as special guests. We did some demos. I had a mad ride with Joe. I said my goodbyes and now I'm on my own heading for the mountains. Basically, I've got about another week up my sleeve to get across Italy, Switzerland and France to then jump a ferry to get to the ABR Festival in Warwickshire, United Kingdom. To just show up in Europe without a detailed plan of tracks and routes is not ideal, especially if you only have a two-week window to ride across five countries. But thankfully, there's an online network called the Trans Euro Trail, downloadable routes of the best adventure bike trails across Europe. I only have time to ride a few of them, but I'm linking up the ones that will basically take me in the direction I need to go. Right now, I'm trying to hit a waypoint I placed on one of the sections of the TET in the western part of Italy. I've taken a random track to try and intercept the section of Trans-Euro Trail I'm trying to get onto. Um, yeah, I'm just keeping it, keeping the bike aimed on the GPS and homing in on the trail. So, we'll just get what we get and see where we end up. Far out. Man, you can get lost in this area for days. Right, reassessment. Back in the rocks, on the hunt for the Trans-Euro Trail. Whoa, she's got a lot of slick clay under there. Getting closer. Be some gnarly downhill. Let's take it on, eh? That's it down there. It's got to be down there. Yeah, it's down this hill somewhere. Oh my. What are we going to get? I hope it's not a dead end. It's not looking very promising. I should be able to turn around there. Is it? It is. You better climb out of here, Norton. Okay, nice and straight. Let's go. Three, two, one. The big dog. Ha ha ha ha ha. He's getting some drive. Righty-o. We're close, but still so far. Oh, this has got to be it. That's it. That's the Trans-Euro Trail right there. I found it. It's got to be it. I'm on it. So now I want to make sure I'm going in the right direction. Yeah I want to go left. Do I want to go back to the sea? Some downhill charger on a husky. Okay. What a section. Getting up in the clouds now. Feeling right at home on the husky now. Like it's got a, it's very intuitive. You know you first hop on them and they're big and they're, it actually felt a bit... High in the bum, little bars, sitting on top of it very dirt bike like but yeah now just when you're on the pegs and if you just look straight ahead and register only your hands and feet you could well be on an enduro bike like a TE 300 or something. The configuration is exactly that. And they're just so deceiving because you just start looking at lines like you're on a dirt bike and you've got to remind yourself that you're on a big unit but man they just are so stable off-road they ride off-road so well. This is more like the Trans Enduro Trail. How's the fog lights coming into play? Heading into a pretty spectacular valley. Huge mountain range. Do huskies? Right, so I'm trying to intercept the second part of Trans Euro Trail Italia, it's a 500k section, it's got a heap of passes in it, so I don't know which ones are going to be open, but I'm basically going to latch onto it in 4k's, intercept it at the southern end of it, and I want to work my way parallel the The border of France up the Italian Alps all the way to Switzerland. That's the plan. We'll see what unfolds. The waypoint I placed to intercept the next section of Trans Euro Trail has fallen well short of the track itself. So, ciao, sir. I'm trying to... But it seems old mate in the truck can recognise exactly where I'm trying to get to. old mate spoke zero English again. I'm trying to intercept the Trans Euro Trail. He showed me where I need to get to. Whether or not it's going to be passable on the nav, it just stops, but he seems to think from what I could gather that I should be able to get across to it. The moto has just reached the end of the map and I am heading into the nothing. Italian Alps. The tricky part with these mountain passes, the tracks themselves may be very drivable, but you can ride all the way to the top only to be completely blocked by snow. Quite a magical joint I would say. I wonder where this goes. I'm off the map but bugger it, just follow it. It's pretty cool. That should, this should be it. We should be on the Trans Euro Trail. Yep, this should be it. We should be on the trail. I'm just gonna roll with it and we'll get what we get. I'm on the trail and the Norden it's got a bit of a spring in its step. What an epic find. What an epic climb. Norden wants to go. Italia Italia Italia. That's about as much Italian as I know. The climb continues. Alpiliguri. Straight ahead. Wow. Far out. I was going to go down there, but she was a bit tight. Don't need to go all hard and Joe. Whoa, just you don't want to get any momentum off that edge. That's gnarly. The old Norden will just cartwheel into oblivion. Wow, that is steep. Wow, what a truly magnificent piece of Italian trail. Hail. Wow, so good. The Norden just floating over the rocks. it's made for this terrain and again given my production window uh yeah i kind of have to cruise through this landscape at a reasonable pace to hit all my waypoints and uh yeah create this video get to where i need to be pay the bills. Norden just loves it it just loves it right where are we off to now Norden A lot of hazards by the looks of things. Norden country by the looks of things. It means. No words but one. Wow. I have a feeling this is going to be pretty mind-blowing. Into the cloud we go. That is a long way down there. Did you get that wrong? And a right-hander indeed. Rough and tumble. Sometimes you make lucky mistakes. In my excitement of latching onto this epic piece of the Tête, I've failed to assess my bearing and am heading south instead of north. Good suspension in the rocks. It's all good though. I've popped into France prematurely and can cut back up this epic motorway to resume a north heading on section two of the Tête. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. That was like a 50cc or something, just lit. Uh ciao hello hello Hello. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. What's happening? What's happening? We take the wrong direction from the top. Top! And so now you're turning around to go back? Yeah, to Piemonte. Back to Italy? Italia? Piemonte. That's in Italy, right? It's Italy, yes. Good. But we take the wrong direction from the top to tender. Where are you from? We came from the south, we have done the borderline. No, you're like, you're from the north. You're like, what is your country? German. German? Yeah. I'm a f***ing Australian. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! So I I'm lost. Yeah I'm I'm the one who's lost my friend. How's the uh Africa twin? You know I have an old one, a 92 XRV 750. Yes right, but that is better. Well, this is not mine. Oh, no? No. Rented? No. No. Uskwarna, did I say it properly? Yeah. They gave it to me. No! Yeah. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. You're a lucky guy. Yes, I am. No, I'm one of those annoying YouTube people. Ah, okay. I'm riding all the way to the UK to attend a festival. Yeah. And I have to... Talk a bit of ---- to the adventure people, do a bit of riding, and then I give them the husky. Do you have a YouTube channel? I do. Yeah? What is it? It's a German name. A German name. A Riemann One. Which after much consideration, I have finally changed the title to my actual name, Adam Riemann. So if you haven't yet subscribed, you'd better hit that button right now and click on the notification bell too. I'm just following the GPS, trying to get to a hotel. Hotel. It's there. Hotel La Piazzetta. That's it, La Piazzetta. Is it just here? Yeah. La Piazzetta. And the moto is right there. And my wife is there. Oh, we're high. And there is the boss. There is the boss. Ciao. Ciao. Ciao. Ciao. Ciao. Ciao. Ciao. Ciao. Ciao. Ciao. All made at the hotel and he accepts cash, Ciao. Ciao. or he wants cash, so we've got to get some euro. Banker, here it is. I enjoy the complete randomness of the places I find, the people I meet. It's in these times you learn things about the world you may have otherwise never known. I'm despised, remember that people would like to thank God. Because of the departure of the Arabs we had from 800 Not one thousand in this time, eight hundred to one and two hundred, two hundred and fifty, an Arab domination. Really? Yeah, but thanks God, it was peaceful. Ah, it wasn't violent. How many? More than four hundred years. The Arabs were in this region? In this region, and maybe one of the etymologies, or the name Limone, Could be leimon, that means in Arab a peaceful place. Sentiero dei Fiori è 80 metri Wow, super slick. Look at this guy, a fellow legend. Hello sir. Where are you from? I'm from Australia. Hey, you know, No, you're Ed Riemann. Yes, I am. **** no! You're kidding me! How do you even know who I am, sir? Because you said, Australia and I know your voice. Oh really? Nice to meet you. Daniel! What are you doing here? I take TET road, section 2. Yeah, me too. And it's, I went, and it's closed because of snow. Yeah, I just went, oh, hang on. This way is closed. Yep. You can't get through. Yep. No matter what. It's starting a little bit and then it's completely. Oh you will not even get through. And I stayed there the night, made a night trip walk. Yeah. Amazing. So there is another turn to the left here. Yeah. Another road to the left. Yeah. I might try that one. Yeah. Let's go. Let's go. You want to ride? Sure, man. I can't believe this. What are you doing in ******* Europe? Yeah, what am I doing in ******* Europe? Exactly. Anywhere. In the middle of nowhere, man. In the middle of nowhere. And I found you. What are you riding? A CRF? 450. 450? Good on you. You look perfectly set up. Where your warehouse and your iron warehouse. Because I came from the bottom of the valley and I went around a gate. Yeah yeah same same. I'm not the only bandit. You're a bandit too. But you saw the left the other road let's give that a try. Let's go. I saw this track further back here we'll give it a go. See if we can get through up the top here and And where it may lead. That's sketches. Oh he's down. Oh he's down. Oh my God, give him a hand. He's strong. He's strong for a little lad but he's tired now. Come on you got this. She's away. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. The black ice man. It stops you in your tracks. Let's give it a try huh. Oil and surfboard oil. What did you did you watch some video on how to prepare the filter? It's nice how everything is cleverly woven to suit your intentions. Accidentally heading south on the TET yesterday, which led me to the epic cliff trails, detoured me through France to meet the big German, to then stay at a beautiful village, and now find a real deal Motology Films subscriber in the Italian Alps. And then I realized you have your own channel and stuff, the Motology channel. Yeah I was doing those KTM rally videos as the videographer, yeah videographer. So I was actually hired to ride the event and film their event. But the bonus for KTM is that I would put the end product, the whole video on my channel. Yeah, it was very nice footage, amazing. Yeah, a lot of people enjoyed it. It was a good experience for me. And the cuts and all this stuff. That's kind of how I got so familiar with the big adventure bike stuff. Those videos, the BMW Safari videos. And then inevitably buying my very first adventure bike, which is the War Horse. In Norway, wasn't it? In Norway, yeah. In Norway, you go to Nordkapp. Yeah, to Nordkapp. So that's where I'm planning to go. Basically to the end of this TET section. Today? Yeah, so look, I'll be on the TET, I'm sure. cross paths with you again. yeah you just ride at your own pace um that's where i'm gonna be and maybe we'll catch up tonight but who knows where. old daniel and his honda eh? so interesting the people that you meet on the trail wow fairly aggressive peak over there. it's nice meeting people that are inspired by your work. But it's also a novelty being able to slide in under the radar and let other people blow your cover accordingly. But here you have uh Himalayan. Yeah. Himalayan, Himalayan. I was just there. What are you doing with Himalayan? I just did an adventure. Same they give me a bike, I ride through the mountains, I make stories. I don't know, I don't know. Understand? Of course. Oh, let's take a picture. Okay, why not? And you sign caballero, fantastic Italian name. I will sign the caballero, yeah. With a screwdriver. I must continue. Hard work, yeah. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it. I'm on a mountain in Italy. Somewhere in Italy on a mountain, on the Norden, on the Husqvarna, the big one. Did you have a nice time at school? If it ain't me old mate Daniel. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Daniel son! What's up? I was just calling home. Yes but I thought I'm up, I'm up high, there's reception here. Thank And because it's my daughter's Right on bedtime. So I just, wherever I am, I stop and I just try and say goodnight. Check in and say goodnight, yeah. Whoa, slick, slick. you. Pretty serious downhill. In a different world, I'd have slowed my pace, waited for Daniel to catch up, and camped out with a fellow traveller. But I have used up my days in Italy. I need to start straightlining it for Switzerland. That was another massive day. Found a little Hotel, and once again, sleeping above the husky. Look at the Norden, just like the stallion, tethered out the front of the saloon. She's a head turner. Sticks out like a sore thumb in this environment. Anyway, let's eat, I'm starving. I need protein. Steak, cow. meat steak i don't have no i have only the sandwich and the bread it's homemade what about what about fish no no no meat antipasto sandwich okay pizza it is i want to be sending it off these cliffs do you wonder if an Alpinestars jacket the back pocket anyway What has ever been used to stow a whopping grate?