MOTO-CHARLIE.COM

<body><h2>MOTO-CHARLIE.COM</h2> <P>Moto<P>Charlie</P><P> I first learned to ride a motorcycle in 1973 on the Greek island of Rhodes. It was a 5 speed, 50cc two-stroke that always fouled the plug. Rhodes was part of a 6 month European odyssey that started as a backpacking, hitch hiking trek. At the start of month 4, based on a limited budget, I purchased a 50cc, 5-speed Spanish built Ducati in Granada Spain. Back then there was no Internet. A phone call meant either going to the telephone company office and calling from there or calling from the lobby of the hotel. Either way 5 minutes would cost thirty dollars or more. So I used to skip the telephone and write home to my folks. I would sign the letters “Moto-Charlie”. Hence, the inspiration for the name of my tour company. I spent the last 3 months of my trip riding the bike up through Seville, Madrid, and Barcelona, on through Switzerland, Austria, and Germany to Munich and from there to Paris, Normandy, and London. I swore that someday I would come back to the Alps on a big bore motorcycle. During the next ten years I went to college to become a CPA, thinking that I could make good money during the tax season (i.e. winter), which would leave me time and funding to ride during the summer. From 1974 to 1982 I went on numerous North American motorcycle journeys. One 3-month trip included coast to coast from Halifax to Vancouver, coast to coast from Acapulco to Cancun, and a lot of travel in between. Those same years saw 2 more coast-to-coast trips from New England to the west coast, 2 trips to the Rocky mountains and back, and 2 trips down south to Virginia, Tennessee, etc. In 1983 I finally got to go back to Europe for 5 weeks as part of a Beach's tour (see the FAQ service section for more on Beach's). I went back in 1985 for 5 more weeks, 3 of which were with Beach's. Since 1985 I have been back 19 times on a motorcycle, including the last 12 years straight (sometimes 2 – 3 times per year), on my own or with friends. I've also gone through the Alps two more times by car with my wife but that's another story. When I take friends I make all the rental, hotel, and route arrangements, which is where the idea for MOTO-CHARLIE came from. My wife has accompanied me in a car while I ride a motorcycle. Some of my friends have also brought their wives and girlfriends, utilizing cars and motorcycles on the trips. That is why I know that motorcycle and car combos can work well together. Over the years I have owned an assortment of motorcycles including a Honda 350, 500, 750, Goldwing, a BMW 750 (a twin and a triple), an airhead RS, a Yamaha FJ1200, a Moto Guzzi CX-100, a 1993 Ducati 900SS with a 944 kit and numerous other performance modifications, a classic 1977 Moto Guzzi LeMans 1 and my current Honda Blackbird. I work as a founding partner in a consulting firm that provides management services to financially distressed businesses. I have 2 young children so my domestic riding is limited to an occasional day ride in the New Hampshire and Vermont mountains, 3 to 6 track days a year at NH International Raceway (Loudon), and my trips to Europe. I added up all my Alpine saddle time recently and it was equivalent of 9 months of riding every day from 9AM to 5PM, 7 days a week in an area the size of Minnesota or Kansas. I go to Europe for the riding, which I consider the best of anywhere I have been. Everyplace has some good riding but the Alps have lots of outstanding riding, and fantastic scenery, everyday doing a different route, for days, even weeks, without repeating yourself. That is what makes the riding experience so great. My style is generally to ride a full day, rain or shine, at a sport touring pace with the emphasis on sport. I err on the side of caution when it is raining but even then, the scenery and the roads can be very enjoyable, plus there is still the food, the coffee, the deserts, etc. I like to do the big passes, with their height and grandeur but I am particularly fond of the little one lane twisty passes that you find marked as little red lines on the maps with aspect ratios of 1:250000. That may be why I am slightly partial to the Italian Alps and the area around Cortina although, Stelvio generates some adrenaline, Andermatt keeps me awake at night with anticipation, the Grossglockner is Alpine heaven. Oh-Oh, where are those air tickets? Sorry, got to go. If you want to know anything else about me please feel free to e-mail or telephone.     <script language="javascript" src="http://www.addfreestats.com/cgi-bin/easycode.cgi?usr=00036016P012"> </script>  </P></BODY></HTML> <P><A href="Links.htm">Links</a></BODY></HTML>