Ste. Agnes (near Menton & Monaco)

New pages "soon"...
The A10 2002 summer tour, 4000 km in the Alps.

Technical: the bike behaved extremely well. One front lamp & a petrol tank gasket was the only things that were changed. High altitudes made some impact on performance, next time will bring a set of jets to experiment with. It was the most demanding roads I have ever visited,  brakes & clutch were used like never before. The 6 spring clutch was perfect, only once in the middle of Monaco in the mid day sun it overheated and refused to disengage, stopped for a while, when cooled down a little it was back to normal. The 21 teeth gear sprocket I use is very good for cruising, but I have to use the clutch a little too much at low speed in 1st gear, will change to 20 teeth, should be a better compromise for town\cruising. Quickly adapted to using much more engine braking than usual, as I experienced some serious brake fading when they got hot. Roadholding (Avon Roadrunner Universal) was 1st class, only the plunger suspension gave me a few surprises when going too fast over bumps, quickly learned to give more attention to the road quality. All in all, it worked out much better than I dared hoping for, and the tools I brought were nearly unused. Upon returning I experienced the engine becoming a little rough at low rpm's, and as I suspected it was the timing side plain bearing that had developed some play. Think this premature bearing problem is the result of a less than perfect job done when I got this fixed a few years ago. The bike still runs fine, but it's only a matter of time before work is needed. Will give the bike the SRM timing side conversion. Must also say I did a lot of work before leaving home, to minimise the risk of breakdowns. Either I was very lucky or a very good mechanic... something in the middle I suppose.

Mechanical friends

It's a long way from Norway to the Mediterranean. I have a small van just big enough for a bike, and transport the bike to the area were I want to do the motorcycling. After doing several trips using this system, I think this is the way to do it if one wants to visit countries or places far away, in a relaxed way with no long tiresome motorway stretches trough boring scenery. Started the bike-touring exactly were it's best & were I wanted, used rainy days for moving to the next good spot, the bike did not have to take all the main luggage weight and I had the possibility to sleep or rest anywhere without a hotel or camping.

Provence (region of Roquebilliere)

Driving an old invention in the wrong century
Except what is mentioned above it went very well, the A10 kept mostly up with the traffic-speed (off motorways), but  sometimes had to drive faster & closer to the car in front than what was ideal given the the (antique) brakes. Alternative would have been to be overtaken all the time, which I think is more dangerous than keeping up with traffic. In periods I had to be quite hard on the A10, but somehow nothing exploded even in very hot summer temperatures. The (supposed) 34 hp of the A10 were just enough, but no more. The mountain driving was always pleasurable, usually low traffic and the time to relax & admire. Towns (small or big) were sometimes quite congested with a mix of locals in their pointless hurry +  tourists  looking at maps\old churches instead of the road. Along the beautiful & sunny coast between Venice-Grado, with 40deg day temps & mad Italians driving twice the allowed speed, the use of all my skills & concentration was needed to stay out of trouble. Saw some very uninspiring accidents down there, this was the only area were I was in doubt about using the bike. But the beaches & lovely cities made it worth the visit. (see Special Feature: The Italians).

I undertook the tour on my own, (don't know anybody else that wanted to try to destroy their belowed old bike), but I have never met or talked to as many people on any holiday. Being single makes one take contact easily, and during the journey the bike attracted literally hundreds of people asking questions. Finding a Norwegian 50's BSA on the top of a remote Italian mountain pass or in a small a French village made many open their eyes very wide. In Italy, they always said "Bellissimo, bellissiomo" everytime I stopped somewhere, I responded "Motocyclo Inglese, cinquante quattro, me from Norvegia", this made them smile even more, and they started talking enthusiastically both to me and among themselves in incomprehensible fast Italian, while they took pictures & circled round the bike. Italians were  more interested in the bike and were I came from than any others, seem to have more sense of style and interest in the deeds & inventions from bygone times (not me, the bike!). This made up for some of their behaviour behind  the wheel of their cars:o) During this voyage, the van did approx 8000km, the bike 4000km. Main biking places:

Salzkammergut\Dachstein\Schladminger Tauern, Austria ( Bad Ischl, Mondsee, Wolfgangsee, Attersee, Traunsee, Schladming, Gmund, Tamsweg, Innerkrems, Turrach etc).

Golf of Venezia, Italy ( Grado, Caorle, Punta Sabbioni, Lignano, Latisana, Cervignano etc).

The Dolomites, Italy (Predazzo, Fiera di Primero, Moena, Agordo etc).

Stelvio Pass\Bernina, Italy\Switzerland (St. Moritz, Livigno, Bernina pass, Stelvio Pass, Zernez, Sponding, Chiavenna etc)

Alpes Maritimes\Provence in France (Col d'Allos, Digne, Tende, Monaco, Ste. Maxime, Cannes, Nice, Grasse, Sospel, St. Martin Vesubie, Castellane, Grand Canyon du Verdon, Draguignan etc).


Have taken lots of pictures. Here is a small preview, Provence, France

Provence (Montagnac region)

Lac de St. Croix, Gorges du Verdon

Col D'Allos 2247m (region of Barcelonette)

Provence (region of Peille)

Red marks july 2002. Circled areas is were the BSA did much of the miles

Lac de St. Croix