What the ‘LRU’ up to now?!! seemed a justifiable question to pose given the observations my wife Sue had been making. The evidence was starting to build up with history and travel books littering the house, to say nothing of copious maps everywhere. You might ask what type of person reads maps in bed accompanied by the official Sunbeam Owners Bedside Book?

Since I first acquired and rode LRU 435 I’d held on to the dream that one day it would carry me to Italy and back. Thankfully, 2003 was to be the time when it would be possible. Italy was a real attraction to me since Sue had romanced with me about the wonderful places she had visited with her parents as a young girl. Part of my planning would have to be at least one week where Sue, who is a non-biker, and I could be together. Sue had never been to Verona or Venice, so this helped me to decide that my first stop in Italy would be Verona. I would collect Sue from the airport and rest LRU for one week.

I felt confident that LRU would perform OK. If I had to admit to any concern, it would be the heat that I and LRU would have to cope with and the possible difficulty obtaining supplies of recommended oil. I would be covering nearly 4,000 miles over the six week period that I would be away, so as a precaution I did pack an amazing array of spares. I nearly qualified as a travelling sales representative for Stewart Engineering - the Sunbeam specialists! It was essential that I carried my own oil. I had to overcome the pain of trying to find the correct shape of litre oil container to carry my estimated requirement of eight litres. Humorously, I noted that the oil containers I eventually found, which would be discarded en route, were manufactured in Rome, Italy. I was able to use the original oil they contained in my car.

Interestingly, after a two thousand mile oil change and on my return via the annual Cotton Rally, I still had two litres left - one of which I made available to another rallyist who was short of oil.

set off with my total bike and load weight of 278.6kg from Stockport for Hull to meet up with Sue’s brother Geoff - a pilot at Hull harbour. I encountered the first of only three sessions of riding in the rain for the whole six week trip. After a sociable cuppa and natter Geoff, with his extensive knowledge of harbour and infrastructure, guided LRU through heavy traffic to the ferry terminal for Zeebrugge. I gather he would have liked to have come with me, but alas there were ships waiting to be piloted up the River Humber.

Once on board, I stowed my gear in my cabin and sought out a cool beer for it had been hot work strapping LRU down in the hold for its journey across the North Sea. After consuming my picnic tea I went to the on-board film show ‘The Recruit’.

The ferry was due to arrive at Zeebrugge at 08.30 hours, so after waking at 07.30 hours I needed to hightail it for breakfast and eat as much as I could and fill my boots (or should I say bags?!). I had a full tank of petrol, so I was ready to go and feeling fresh for some cautious riding to settle in with my mirrors and being on the right side of the road. I was headed for Bruxelles and my end of the day stop at Nospelt, Luxembourg - 250km away.

It is hard to believe, looking back at this first of 42 days of riding, that it would be heat, heat and more heat throughout the whole period away, only punctuated by two heavy rainstorms at time of riding.

After a good ride skirting Brugge, Gent, Bruxelles and Namur, I arrived during the early evening at Nospelt, Luxembourg. My hosts, Alison and husband Mike and their two young sons Jason and Daniel, made me very welcome. In the morning I enjoyed an excellent breakfast before I left, thanking them for their hospitality.

The next stop was Karlsruhe International Youth Hostel, Germany. I travelled through some amazing countryside and realised that LRU always appeared much happier in the heat of day on the dual carriageway and autobahn routes. Readers must understand I still value the preservation order I have mentally placed on LRU, so with a cruising speed of 45 - 50mph, I accept it does not place me in the best position to qualify as a riding companion! Indeed, on the autobahn, the speeds of other bikes and some vehicles led me to wonder if I was still moving! I noted that the Luxembourg/Germany border buildings appeared to now be disused - a sign of the times. What a convenience only to need Euros in all the countries I was visiting. I also liked the idea of not needing to carry much cash, just my credit card and bank card to get Euros out of any bank. Marvellous technology!

I arrived at the hostel in the early evening and parked and signed in. I had booked all my stops at hostels on my journey to Italy by e-mail. The food was really good and I met many interesting people who expressed interest in LRU and our journey. I had a near mishap when I went out in the late evening to recover my helmet from the handlebars. LRU was surrounded by swarms of hornets from a nearby tree nest, and I certainly did not want them as travelling companions, so rescuing my helmet became a very delicate and necessary operation.

The roads from Karlsruhe to Innsbruck took me through some amazing scenery and landscapes as I headed towards the distant Alps. It was a very hot day for riding. I constantly thought about how we would cope as it got hotter and we travelled southwards towards Italy.

Heading for Verona was not the only aspect which dictated my route through the Brenner Pass. Hans, from Germany, who I had previously met at the Cotton Rally, knew I wanted to visit Innsbruck and the village of Igls in the mountains nearby. It was to be a nostalgic trip as I was first there as a thirteen-year-old schoolboy. Hans thought that I might like to meet up with his friend Rupert, a fellow 1951 S7 Deluxe Sunbeam owner, who happened to live in Innsbruck. I was so glad that he introduced us, for my nostalgic trip was much enhanced by our meeting and I was so grateful to Rupert’s daughter, Sabine, who assisted with translations.

I was not sure what else I could decently take off! It grew progressively hotter as we neared Innsbruck and I soon realised why when I looked at the horizon. Thick black clouds broke and the ensuing storm was punctuated by streaks of lightning and much thunder. I then had the dressing-up experience again for about five minutes journey in torrential rain. On arriving at my hostel, I discovered that Rupert had just left after enquiring of my arrival. I headed for the shower to cool down, followed by a brisk walk in the rain to a restaurant nearby. I had to have that second beer as it was raining too heavily to return to the hostel.

First thing in the morning, Rupert and Sabine arrived at the hostel and joined me for breakfast. They explained that they wanted to help me with my nostalgic trip. First they would take me to the little village of Igls up in the mountains. Their plan was to drop me off in Igls at the mountain cable-car lift so that I could retrace my steps to the top of the mountain Patscherkofel (2247m). They would then go to their places of work and I would meet up with Rupert in Innsbruck. This turned out to be an excellent plan as I was then free to roam around the mountain enjoying the cool mountain air.

On my return to Igls, I caught the mountain tram back to Innsbruck. Wow! What a route! Fantastic! I met up with Rupert and when he enquired if I would like to cool off with a swim and did I have swimming gear, I did not need to be asked twice and told him it was packed in my luggage on LRU as one of the most accessible items. Sabine was still working, so she was unable to join us but we were now managing to converse with mutual limitations of English and German. Our first port of call was Grunwalder Hof where we had a cool beer looking over a plateau towards a graceful range of mountains and peaks surrounded by lush green slopes flowing into flower-bedecked valleys and scattered with picturesque houses. As the open-air swimming pool was not in use, Rupert decided a trip to Lanser See would be more worthwhile. We walked down the lane towards the lake and saw people walking towards us who had obviously been enjoying this lakeside mountain paradise. A treat was in store! As we swam out to the island in the lake, it was fantastic to be cool at last. We swam along with the mountain peaks towering above us. It was exhilerating! I had not really taken in that thick dark clouds were gathering and as we swam back, the heavens opened up with torrential rain accompanied by great daggers of lightning and loud rumbles of thunder. I thought of my clothes on the bank and wondered if there would be any point in getting dressed when I got back., but fortunately our clothes were partly sheltered by a tree which overhung the wooden jetty. Anyway, we needed to be decent for a meal we planned to have together in Innsbruck with two of Rupert’s friends.

My two days in Innsbruck were very important to me, from the nostalgic point of view and also because of the hospitality and company of Rupert and Sabine. It also gave me rest and relaxation after my long ride.

In the morning after a good night’s rest, it was to be ‘Sunbeams at Dawn’. Rupert realised that I was setting off early for Verona and said he would like to accompany me for a ride on part of my route through the Brenner Pass. I had explained that I had no wish to go through the tunnel but preferred the old road route and to join this route, we went via memorable Igls and Patsch where we stopped to have a photo shoot. We journeyed through the early morning mist and scented pine forest. The alpine air, although cold, was wonderful, but I was glad to be wearing my waterproof oversuit. Towards the end of our journey together ,we encountered much standing traffic but we were able to filter past. We eventually parted company before the summit and I continued on to establish base in Verona to meet Sue. Sadly, Rupert was returning to work but I think he was nevertheless a happy man, for two Sunbeams had met and he had been part of the experience of the sight and sound as they worked their way ever upwards through the Brenner Pass.

The climb up to the summit and the time spent going through the pass before the long descent to Verona was a chilly experience, but not unpleasant as I still wore my waterproof oversuit. The road surface was not brilliant once I had crossed the border into Italy and at first everything looked bleak. I experienced a few two-way tunnels, but not happily due to the lack of illumination afforded me by LRU.

During the descent and approaching Verona I became a little concerned about a predicament which began to materialise. Firstly I was getting hotter by the minute and LRU was attempting to protest at my low downhill cruising speed. I was due for a rest and food. Early on in my travels I had established a criteria for stopping places. Apart from being as far away as possible from the main carriageway, it must provide shade for both myself and LRU. It would be a bonus if there were seats or picnic benches, for this would allow me to rest properly and nod off if I needed to ( I had taken five books with me but only managed to read two, so I must have done too much nodding!). This road was having none of this - there was no suitable place to stop at all. After covering a few more kilometres with LRU still protesting, I was not now encountering much traffic but decided I would have to stop.

At this point LRU was misfiring, and almost simultaneously I observed to my right in the roadside woods and foliage what could only be described as ‘ladies of the day’ who were displaying themselves in a variety of poses which exposed parts of their anatomy that I vaguely remembered. Suddenly my concern about stopping seemed to evaporate as I was indeed doing inside my waterproof oversuit. I prayed that LRU would not falter and bring me to a halt. I had no desire to become a client or be mugged and fortunately I managed to clear this section of road, and some kilometres on was relieved to find the entrance to a shady, disused quarry. It was bliss to disrobe and get the kettle on and eat.

Once LRU had rested, I cleaned her plugs as they had now done nearly 1600km. It was little wonder she had complained. Back on the road again, I headed towards Verona to locate a hostel I had pre-booked. Once I had arrived, I prepared LRU for its well-earned one-week rest and settled in for the night. Tomorrow was going to be an exciting day.

I had a very lazy breakfast the next day (Sunday) and took in the acoustic atmosphere of Verona with bells were campanologists. The walk to the station through Verona was most enjoyable and I then caught a bus to the airport to meet Sue from her British Airways flight.