Flashback... Piroska!

Tisza To/Lake Tisza

MY Diversion 600 Yamaha was born in Hamamatsu Japan early in 1993.  She was shipped to Italy where she found her first home.  Somewhere along the way, the original exhaust system was replaced with a slightly more open, mellower pair of chrome pipes that gave her a bit more 'oomph' and sounded sweeter to me.  Never obnoxious, but definitely added some attitude.  Perhaps at the same time, the owner added a tail mounted 35L Givi top case and a center stand, both invaluable for my purposes.

Captive vs Free

Having found the bike thru an online buy/sell forum in the very North of Hungary, I communicated with the owner for several months.  Although not a late model R6, I knew from personal experience, this bike would very nicely suit my plans.  It was comfortable, very reliable, popular over there, and economical while fast enough to deal with pretty much any condition I thought I would come across.

Besides... I had the same bike sitting home in my garage for many years.  I was intimate with this model.


Lot's of pubs but zero road tolerance.

The process of putting the bike legally on the road was my first introduction to an expensive and long roll of red tape!   Not to be confused with Communism, but certainly shades of.    As a non resident I couldn't legally own the bike.  It had to be placed in a family members name, insured, inspected and licensed.  I would receive written permission to ride the bike.  The process cost the equivalent of the purchase price and 6 weeks of patient diligence.  Luckily I had my young cousin Albert (Berti) fluent in English, German and the intricacies of the Hungarian system, to carry out this task.  It seemed like a never ending process.


One of many mineral hot springs across HU.

 Almost every week, Berti would tell me, "okay, we need to get the bike legally imported/inspected/title certified/mechanically certified/safety certified/ etc etc.  That will be 40,000/20,000/8,000/60,000/12,000 forint."

Finally after a long delay, (I had named her after Little Red Riding Hood) Piroska and I were underway, the plate bolted on, the first tank of expensive fuel of many many... added, and heading East from Budapest!


Divvie 600 / Simpson 50

 From the moment we were legally on the road showing approximately 17,000km when I first rode her,  we began exploring the local countryside in and around Jaszkizer.  Checking for any malfunctions, potential problems, inconsistencies, fuel mileage, tire grip the two of us toured the area.  Tisza To, Abadszalok, Szolnok, Jaszbereny... further afield to Lake Balaton (2nd largest fresh water lake in Europe) Gyongyos, the Matra (highest peaks in the country) and beyond.

Ruins everywhere in Europe.

I'd picked up helmets locally, bought a small magnetic tank bag mostly to hold my map in it's clear case, and had brought a tail bag from home.  This gear should suffice for the solo riding I was going to be doing in the next few months.  In fact, I took trips as long as two weeks from 'home base' and never felt a need for more room.

River Tisza fishing boats.

 The bike seemed to be geared slightly lower than my own Seca II, back home in Calgary, but was delivering fuel mileage in the 60's consistently.  With the gear box having six cogs, there was never an situation, we couldn't handle.  The only time I felt the bike a bit weak was carrying two up (riding with a passenger) or the occasional blast down an autobahn/autopista/autostrada.  Here my top speed limitation of around 190-200 kph seems trivial as I was passed by big Audi, Mercedes and BMW sedans frequently travelling at over 200.  For me the 190 kilometer speeds were plenty and given the fact the my interests were in smaller provincial/country highways, perfectly adequate.  More important to me was the engine's plentiful and accessible flat torque curve and fuel efficiency.

Piroska comes "home"

Tires were the factory originals and honestly, left something to be desired.  Not that they were a poor design, just the age of them had hardened the rubber, and made for interesting excursions on wet country roads.  Because my riding was going to be ummm, relaxed for the most part, I didn't see the need to change them.


Very first fill up in Budapest!

I wasn't in Europe to grind my foot pegs to dust... I was there to enjoy and appreciate the roads less travelled, the scenery and of course the people I would meet.  And my, did I meet a lot of people!!

Erzsi's place.  For the next 12 months, my Divvie and I would live here.

Europe offers an incredible array of experiences.  There is of course the history.  Travelling from village to village, city to city, country to country, I was in for the most interesting and fascinating and memorable time of my life!!!  Those first few tentative rides between villages within Hungary, were just a mere taste of what the 7 months of riding would bring to my life.


T 34 tank tread, monument in local town.

It would be a couple of weeks of preparation, pouring over maps, choosing destinations, and ensuring I had the documentation required for individual countries, before I would head out on my first actual trip/ride.  For me to say, this was an "exciting time" is like telling you Vesuvius' eruption in 79 AD, was a minor hiccup! 

Little did I know at the time I bolted the plate on, this was to be the highlight of highlights in my long and extensive and illustrious riding career.


We even tackled some gravelled roads!

 I was some happy go lucky dude!