SUNDAY 11th SEPTEMBER 2011 (Crossing Germany)

We came up with the great idea of driving to the other side of Germany to H-P HOMMES Zundapp shop to get the parts required and get them to check the gearbox.
It's only a five hour drive and Christine has offered her car for our use. Maybe they want to get rid of us!


But first, we had a date at Frank's place to check out his Honda collection. For me, any chance to see 'Guinness' again has to be a good deal.

It's great to see passion in a collector and Frank certainly has plenty of that when it comes to his Honda's.

We saw our first CB 750/4 K0. To compare, there is a very tidy K2 right next door. Both in excellent condition. There are various other models dotted about and what seemed like a warehouse of parts but Franks pride and joy is his Magni Honda, and rightly so.

Frank likes a chat and we learnt lots about the Honda's. He's a funny man considering his job is technical and serious. He translates German technical motorcycle manuals into English for BMW (and other companies as time permits).

It seemed we weren't in a hurry to leave - Frank is very entertaining - but the time came to say farewell and get ready for our long drive.

Reading the sign on Franks gate gives you an idea of his humour. Great bloke.

Paul & Tobi packed the Zundapp diff and gearbox in to the car and we finally got on our way mid-afternoon.

It was straight to Juchen on the autobahn - it's the quickest way to go and it will still take us five hours.

We didn't bargain on missing our turn-off five kilometers from Crailsheim! No matter, the views of the autobahn bridges from the little back roads were quite splendid.

Finally we joined the main road and away we went, heading towards Frankfurt, then west towards Koln.

We could see the sky turning a nasty black ahead and much lightning flashing across the entire sky. A few minutes later the deluge pelted down on us. Traffic was slowed to 40 kph, it was that hard to see. There was much water sitting on the road adding the danger of aquaplaning to the hazardous conditions.

For once we were VERY pleased to be in a car but at the same time, here we are on the autobahn driving slower than the Zundapp can travel at!

We drove through Juchen to arrive at Kelzenburg where we booked the same room at the same Gasthof we stayed in 3 weeks ago.

We were lucky to get the only room left and made it just in time to order a meal. We were warmly greeted by Horst, the caretaker, and we told him our 'fahrt' wasn't so good!