Wrench'n Ride'n

Here are some more of Michaels photos from his trip to the MZ Rally in Finland. Swedish east coast, campground. Klaus & Detlef and a car-driving ferry passenger, Baltic Sea.

Some more photos from Michael's trip to Finland to the MZ Rally. On the main road south of city of of Ikaalinen , Finland. The sign means - Hame ; the name for the part of the country covering South Central Finland not including Helsinki. Kyro ; arable land .Hame is also a very old Finnish word for land. 'Tom , at one of the side attractions of the rally, not far from the rally site'.

Two more photos from Michael's trip to Finland. Thanks again mate for sharing these great photos. Village of Framlingham , (Suffolk) like the lid on a Quality Street box of chocolates. French town ; the correct name is Montreuil-sur-mer, it was the headquarters for the whole British Army under General Haig. It copped it heavily in WW1 .

More postcards from Michael Barnes. I have not yet asked him how many photos he took on this trip. Maybe I should ask how many memory cards he used. ;-) This time two shots from Aland Island group in the Baltic Sea. An inter-island ferry; the outside. And; the inside.

Another one of Michael's postcards from his trip to Finland. I love the setting of this one. Tom, and the campground on the Aland Islands in the Baltic Sea.

Here is another one of Michael's postcards from his trip to Finalnd. " Klaus and Tom outside the Skokloster Motor Museum in Sweden."

Here is part 2 of the catoons that Michael Barnes has sent in relating to MZs. {Note that as this in Finnish the translation below relates to the red number for each catoon cell. You will work it out.} Part one can be seen here http://rossmz.blogspot.com/2007/09/mz-cartoon-time-from-finland.html IT ONLY HAPPENS LIKE THIS IN CARTOONS , RIGHT ? 7. Just you wait, I’ll show yoos … 8. Everyone has got away to a good start, only 99 seems to have needed a running start … Why did I agree … this coffin’s not going anywhere. Only one solution . Peg the throttle and don’t touch the brakes until the finish line !!!! 9. A few laps later. Beloved motorcycle racing fans ! This is sensational , no. 99 has fought on an ancient MZ , risking life and limb to come from the back of the grid to position 5 !!! 10. And in the last chicane before the finish no. 99 goes into the lead !! Doing it with what seems an impossible line ! Just like Toni Mittenmann when at his best ! This rider is either very tal...

Michael Barnes has sent in some cartoons relating to MZs. Here is the first one. {Note that as this in Finnish the translation below relates to the red number for each catoon cell. You will work it out.} FOREVER FAITHFUL 1. Hey Bro, you’re not riding that in the 250’s are you ? Of course, I’ve always ridden the MZ and I’m staying faithful to the marque. 2. The others are on fast Hondas and Yammies – no gaps left for you man ! Yeah but this is a question of honour for me . Er just a mo … there’s … 3. Your Toni Mittenmann , ex world champion . 4. Toni ! my hero ! you’re the man, who never turns down a challenge. How would you like to ride my MZ in the race . I wouldn’t have a chance, But if you rode ? …. I don’t know. 5. But what’s at stake here is more than just a race. This touches on the future of a bike with an honoured name ! The Japanese are wrecking our economy !! MZ is about to go broke !! The workers will lose their jobs and their kids will go hungry ! You could save them ...

Postcard No.4 from Michael. "Waiting for another inter-island ferry in the Aland Group. Detlef checks the route on his Garmin. "

More Postcards from Michael. He took these two photos while in Finland. "Altar to the pagan god of speed found in remote forest in Finland. " "Translation of signs ; Speed ! Thrills ! Noise ! (specifically banging! racket! ) Teraspallo = steel ball ! Surmanajo = death drive ! Rider : Esa Paltila "

It is always a pleasure when Michael sends me something to add to this blog. It will almost always have something to do with his MuZ and it will be from part of his trip to Finland. So here is his second postcard. A midday rest break off highway 26 in central Sweden. Note the distinctive Scandinavian fences.

Michael Barnes has more photos to share from his epic 2006 trip to Finland. So at times we will have “Postcards from Michael.” Here is today’s postcard… Detlef's electric pump renders assistance at the ferry port of Turku, Finland. We had just arrived in on the Finnish mainland and I noticed my front tyre was down. Detlef was immediately on the case .

Michael has sent in some more photos from his trip to the MZ Rally in Finland. These have been taken just outside of the town of Pozieres in France. A little bit of history about Pozieres. BATTLE OF POZIERES FRANCE 23 JULY - 5 AUGUST 1916 The battle of Pozieres was one of a large number of separate battles that together made up the battle of the Somme. The Somme operation remains one of the most controversial, and least understood, battles in the history of the British Empire. Day one of the battle still holds the distinction of being the bloodiest day for the British Army, with nearly 60,000 casualties, including 20,000 killed. Costs and Rewards of this battle.... The Windmill at Pozieres was the site to which Australia’s Official War Historian, Charles Bean, was referring when he said: “[this site] marks a ridge more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other place on earth.” Bean was correct, the battle cost the ANZAC Corps the following casualties: 1st Australian Divisi...

And you thought it was over?! :-) Michael Barnes has another photo for us. The English Channel at Felixstowe, taken the day before I shipped the bike back to Oz. Check out the English 'beach'. During WW II that whole area of sea was covered in shipping preparing for DDay. A shot of the cruiser HMS Belfast on the Thames. I was staying just down river from where she is on permanent display. She was one of the squadron that sank the Scharnhorst. I did the tour, part of the tour is a recreation of the sounds of that night action.

All good things must come to an end. Here is the final part of Michael Barnes trip of a lifetime..... Here are 2 bikes seen at the MZ Rally. A 1962 ES250/1 with Esky. Well , it sounds Finnish. Just arrived at the rally, a 1959 ES175. The next day I hit the autoroutes again and was soon in France. I turned off near Cambrai heading south through Arras onto smaller roads eventually stopping at the memorial to World War I Australian soldiers at the village of Pozieres . The memorial adjoins the road and the Australian flag flying on a big flagpole was very noticeable to passing traffic. I rode east through attractive countryside through to the coastal town of Berck, which was bumper to bumper with French holidaymakers. Then north stopping for the night at the Hotel Le Vauban in the town of Montreuil. Cost was 47Euros (AU$80) for a double room with breakfast in a two storied 19th century building overlooking the town square. It was Saturday night and the locals of all ages were out in the ...

Part 4 is here and we start off with two photos from the Sweden leg of the trip before Michael gets into Finland. Campground at Vaddo, Aland Islands. Crossing the Baltic Sea. There were 62 riders from Finland, Russia, Holland, Germany, one from the UK and one from Australia. The Australian collected a longest distance award and an armful of memorabilia at the awards ceremony on Saturday evening which included a book on the history of the MZ marque written in impenetrable Finnish. The Finns are unassuming and straightforward people and I was treated kindly, they are nice people to spend time with. On Saturday night the women and then the men took a sauna followed by a dip in the lake, the water in the lake was room temperature warm. The sauna after days of riding was just fantastic. It was good to spend time with my friend Keijo, he is the MZ Club of Finland’s secretary and one of the rally organisers. Finns on average drink a lot of strong alcohol. Drink driving accidents are all to...

Here is Part 3..... Day five since leaving the UK. I’d now ridden about 850km with Klaus, Detlef and Thom. They spoke English fairly well as do most of the folk I met in six countries with the exception of France. This day we rode 240km east to a campground on the Baltic Sea coast south of Grisslehamn and the ferry port to Finland . We avoided the capital Stockholm by riding minor roads around it in a big loop through Koping, Tillberga, Skokloster and Vaddo. The countryside in a large part of Scandinavia is mostly flat having been ground down by the weight of a couple of kilometres of ice in ages past. The Baltic Sea is shallow for the same reason. It’s still very attractive with its neat towns, green fields, distinctive rust red coloured farm buildings and distinctive stick fences. Highway 26 Central Sweden. The guys took me to the Skokloster Motor Museum set in parkland and part of Skokloster Castle, the biggest private castle in Sweden. The exhibits are displayed in an old building ...

Here is part 2 of Michael's ride to the MZ Rally Finland..... Getting to Felixstowe from Heathrow Airport by public transport involves three train connections to Paddington Station, Ipswich and Felixstowe and takes about three hours. I needed to stay overnight in Felixstowe and I chose the Grafton Guesthouse recommended by Dave Milligan. I’m glad I did because the proprietors Geoff and his wife couldn’t have been more obliging. The next day Geoff stored some of my luggage for safe keeping and drove me the two miles to the shipping depot to collect the bike. It’s a powerful thing to find someone who is prepared to help you ( a motorcyclist) on your way when you’re thousands of kilometres from home and don’t know a soul. Felixstowe itself is a popular seaside holiday town noted for it’s Victorian -era buildings. Summer booking for the Grafton and anywhere else in town should be made well in advance. The bike was waiting for me in a warehouse corner looking just as I had left it in Me...