THE GRAVEYARD IS FULL...

…of people who thought they had more time.

Our friend Lara is always riding or racing somewhere, so when she ordered some new luggage for a pair of Honda CRF300s we thought she would have an interesting plan in mind, we had no idea how interesting. She and her friend Maja headed off on the TET – Trans-European Trail – for over two months, riding through eight countries, in 53 days, covering 4000 miles (6500km). We needed to know more…

KRIEGA: Hi Lara, firstly please introduce yourself and Maja.

LARA: Maja’s journey with motorcycles began during her time growing up in Yugoslavia, where she rode her Tomos 50cc moped to school. Drawn to exploration and new experiences, she finally earned her license for larger bikes in her 40s. Her love for travel and motorcycling has since merged into launching a motorcycle tour company. She spends much of her time globetrotting on her bike, either leading tours or discovering new routes.

I discovered motorbikes at 15 when I rescued a discarded moped and I was hooked. Over the past eight years, I’ve competed in track racing, on CB500s, supertwins, and a Ducati 1198, and collected numerous trophies on my Kramer Evo 690. I’m a presenter for the Bike World YouTube channel and a Chartered Engineer by day, and that helps fund my expensive biking hobbies.

We met at a bike rally, and now we split our time between plotting the details of their next adventure and putting the miles both on and off road. 

What was the idea of the trip?

The adventure began as a spontaneous ‘crazy idea’ over a glass of red wine. Initially it was an idea from Maja to travel offroad from the UK to her home country of Slovenia, and I wanted to join in as it sounded fun. As the planning progressed, we realised we could allocate eight weeks off work and push the distance further. We ended up being away for 53 days. We caught the ferry from the UK to Caen, and rode through France, then Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania and Greece, hopping on a ferry back to Venice and flying back to the UK from Verona. Honda kindly transported the bikes back that we borrowed. 

We camped for 25 nights and stopped in hotels for 27, balancing supermarket meals, the generosity of food from hosts and where possible, some exquisite restaurants. We spent about £5500 each, from start to finish, including ferries and flights. 

Did you find you had different roles on the ride?

Yes absolutely, and it’s why we were such a good team. Our roles reflected our career choices for the most part, with Maja being an excellent route planner, accommodation and logistics lead, with me excelling in the mechanical management of the bikes, covering bike preparation, maintenance en route and dealing with punctures. We also realised that after the first couple of weeks, we knew how to adjust our behaviours and responses to each other. We both make moments more special by sharing it, and I learned to listen to complaints rather than trying to solve them, and Maja learned I need things to tinker with in order to be happy.

What bikes did you take and why?

We opted for the Honda CRF300 Rally, largely steered by doing some offroad training with the Honda Adventure School in Exmoor and the assumption that they do anything and go anywhere. They were absolutely the right choice. Mechanically resilient, can get up and down just about anything and are easy to pick up.

We left them practically standard, and focussed on adding some bump-proof accessories, plus riding, luggage and maintenance modifications and navigation equipment. Honda added their Polisport handguards and rally pegs. We fitted Doubletake mirrors; TwinPegs heel support; Rally Raid chain and sprocket guard plus a wider sidestand plate; the Kriega mounts that come with the CRF300 OS-BASE and DMD navigation mounts. We maxed out the preload for around 30kg of luggage. 

Can you give more details of the route?

Maja headed to the Trans European Trail website and found the connecting trails across all our intended counties. From the ferry in Cherbourg we headed south east across French Farmland, passing Le Mans, then Lyon to Bardonecchia on the Italian border. North of Turin, we reached Lake Como and Garda, then rode to the Dolomites and through to Slovenia. We reached Ljubljana on day 23, after spending 11 nights in France and Italy respectively. We had a reset at Maja’s mums, changed the tyres and then travelled to Rijeka and detoured to Ičići to have a brilliant day out with @Ivana.Rides. 

Next we followed the northern coast of Croatia before heading inland to briefly visit the Bihać waterfalls over the Bosnia and Herzegovina border. We finished five nights back in Croatia, heading to Knin, then back over the border following the Bosnian TET south to Mostar and up to Sarajevo. Eight nights later, we arrived in Montenegro and enjoyed the best and most challenging four days of the trip, finishing with a dash through the length of Albania and reaching Greece five nights later. One overnight ferry to Venice, two nights in Verona after dropping off the bikes and then flying home!

What were the high points?

The continued reward was just living and surviving off a motorcycle, forgetting about the ‘real world’. All we had to do was follow the red line of the GPX file and see where it took us. Life became blissfully simple.  

The weather was gloriously hot, reaching 38 degrees in Italy, but when you reach some altitudes, it’s a smidge chillier. We swam in an Italian roadside waterfall, a glacier lake at the top of Col de Somelier, spent a hungover morning in the Croatian Adriatic coast and splashed around in Lake Piva in Montenegro, all experiences were gloriously refreshing. 

Inevitably, being able to tackle the terrain we came across, and then to be rewarded with spectacular views, was a huge highlight. From the flat, sunflower soaked farmlands of France, to the glory of the Dolomites, Croatian coastlines, dense Bosnian forestry and then the valleys and peaks of Montenegro. I’d never seen lakes so inviting, teal and turquoise mixed into one stunning blend of brilliant blue hue. It brought me to tears a few times, especially during a couple of sunsets when we could reflect on how far we’d come. 

We were very different riders by the end of the trip, French rutty farmland has its challenges but rocky, loose, scrabbly mountain climbs in Montenegro got a bit cheeky and we needed momentum and assertiveness to get to the top. We even managed a gravity powered descent round the back of the Dolomites as we were a little low on fuel. The CRFs are brilliant in mountain bike mode!

Our relationship with each other was a real highlight. Once we’d settled into a routine and figured out where we can give each other space, we were pretty inseparable. This was reinforced by our love of good food and red wine.

Inevitably on a trip this long there must have been a few lows…

The most awkward night was a flawed campsite choice in Albania. The google listing online offered a vineyard experience, we had very much enjoyed a vineyard stay just after Lake Garda. We started getting concerned when the owner had to clear the mangled dead rabbits off the grass and then got a bit too friendly and kept offering massages. The stray dogs were a bit unfavourable too. We slept with our knives and Garmin SOS buttons and left very promptly! 

We had a very scary moment when traversing a mountain route in Albania. The recent heavy rain had disturbed the path that was cut into the mountainside, leading to some decent rockslides. We turned a corner to an oncoming car warning us about the slippage, with some large rocks having already tumbled. We decided to head through quickly, even though we could see some smaller rocks slipping. It was a risky rush, but we made the right call to not get stuck on the wrong side. Just a few hours later, the whole route was blocked. 

Albania also threw a curve ball where I narrowly missed hitting a runway horse!

Anything you’d do differently?

Pack a bit less, but we used everything we brought and travelled in style, we could be girly one moment and mountain conquerors the next. I wouldn’t have fitted rim locks, they were an unnecessary hassle. The bikes are more resilient than I thought, but we spent lots of time tweaking hand guards! 

Can you describe your packing?

I used the TRAIL9 backpack with a water bladder, it was an ideal place to have the Garmin In Reach too. On the bike we used a pair of OS18 ADVENTURE PACKS, draped over the subframe using a CRF OS-BASE. On my exhaust side I kept the tools, gas stove, Aeropress and snacks. The other side was clothing and toiletries. The US40 RACKPACK was strapped along the pillion seat, this held all the camping equipment, plus waterproof and warm riding clothing. On the top, I used two OS-BOTTLE holders, one for the obvious, the other for video equipment and a place to charge batteries on the go. Total weight of my kit was 29kg.

Any tips you learned on this trip to pass on?

It is hard work, we were exhausted by the time we reached Albania. But what helped was a few dress rehearsals. Get an idea of the kit you really need and where it belongs. Test and adjust where your kit works and doesn’t. Practise changing an inner tube with the tools you are taking. There are hidden niggles in tube changes that are best learned in a nice garage and not by the roadside!

Do a daily diary as so much happens within a few hours, those memories are easily forgotten when replaced! Curating a bespoke set of photos every day was very helpful. 

But, if you’re thinking about doing an adventure, go and do it. Living off a motorbike is incredibly challenging but glorious in its simplicity. Maja’s good friend reminded us of a poignant quote, a graveyard is full of people who thought they had more time. We can’t emphasise the feeling of joy when you’re travelling on a motorbike. 

Lara and Maja’s Honda’s were fitted with a model-specific OS-BASE ADV COMBO 36 – which is an OS-BASE HONDA CRF300L/ 300 RALLY + 2 x OS-18 Adventure Packs. Kriega also offers COMBO 12 (2 x OS-6 Adventure Packs) and COMBO 24 (2 x OS-12 Adventure Packs). The OS-BASE and OS-ADVENTURE PACKS are also sold individually, allowing you to build the ideal rackless luggage system for your tours and adventures.

Lara carried an OS-TOOL ROLL in one of the OS Adventure Packs.

A US-40 RACKPACK was mounted centrally to the OS-BASE. In turn, the RACKPACK was fitted with two OS-BOTTLE bottle holders.

Lara wore a TRAIL9 backpack fitted with a 3L HEAVY DUTY RESERVOIR.

To buy, order directly from kriega.com or head to your local dealer for a closer look
Kriega UK dealer network
Kriega Worldwide importers

Discover more about the trip at Maja-Lara.co.uk

The OS-BASE is an over-the-seat harness for mounting OS-ADVENTURE PACKS as saddlebags. This system provides a super-tough, lightweight, easy-fit solution from 6L up to 54L capacity, without the need for pannier racks.

There are 2 x UNIVERSAL-FIT OS-BASES: OS-BASE DIRTBIKE (for the latest enduro bikes) and OS-BASE ADVENTURE (for adventure bikes old and new ) plus 11 x MODEL SPECIFIC designs available.

Kriega is celebrating 25 years of innovation, design and manufacture of specialist motorcycle luggage. Formed in 2000, and still based in North Wales, our products have continually set the industry benchmark for quality and ruggedness, balancing strength and lightness to serve the most demanding, high-mileage riders.