Flatland Freighters

FLATLAND FREIGHTERS

Four twins—two brand-new European Open-classers and a pair of tried-and-true Japanese middleweights—loaded for overseas adventure

Matthew Miles

Thank God for Jenny Smith. All week, she'd hung back, passing time in my mirrors, never putting a wheel wrong. Shortly after crossing the border into Germany from The Netherlands, however, Smith took charge, leading the way through a maze of highways to our final destination: the castle-crowned university town of Marburg. A hotel parking lot never looked so good; as a last-ditch effort to ward off sleep those last few kilometers, I'd resorted to yelling in my helmet.

Smith, her Twisted Throttle coworker, Kevin Nixon, and I were returning from the Dutch TT, final leg of a big loop that began a week earlier in nearby Rauschenberg. That's where we'd met Jörg Diehl, Jürgen Swora, Kai Jockel, and Achim Kessler, owners of SW-Motech/Bags-Connection, whose ever-expanding line of products is distributed in North America by Twisted Throttle.

IFTHE BAVARIAN ALPS, WITH THEIR HIGH MOUNTAINS AND CLASSIC PASSES, LOOK LIKE A DQ CONE, WESTCENTRAL GERMANY RESEMBLES A LUMPY PANCAKE.

"In the mid-'90s, Jürgen and I were students," Diehl began. "He studied mechanical engineering, and I studied economics. When we finished school, we asked, ‘Can we do something with motorcycle parts?' We had nothing—no equity, history, or product—just ideas.

"We started with centerstands and a Quick-Lock side carrier, which was our first ‘invention.' We had a small booth at Intermot, and big companies were laughing at us, saying Quick-Lock was a crazy idea, that it would never work. Two days later, they asked to buy our company."

Diehl and his partners didn't sell, and last year, under Jockel's watchful eye, SW-Motech produced 20,000 aluminum TraX cases, among other products. Besides its ioo-employee base in Rauschenberg, SW-Motech has a factory in the Czech Republic. Its affiliation with Twisted Throttle dates back more than a decade.

"[Company founder] Erilc [Stephens] had one of the first Suzuki V-Stroms," Diehl said. "He was searching for a centerstand and crashbars. He made a Google translation of our German web page. We said, ‘Okay, we can send a centerstand to the US—no problem.' Erilc posted a photo on the Internet, and a week later, he asked for 10 more centerstands."

For our ride, Diehl set us up with a water-cooled BMW R1200GS, a KTM1190 Adventure, the customized Suzuki V-Strom 650 that SW-Motech debuted last year at the EICMA show in Milan, Italy, and a Kawasaki ER-6n posing as a lightweight sport-tourer. The four twins were fitted with a combination of hard and soft luggage, engine guards, GPS mounts, tail racks and skid plates. Everywhere I looked, another part. If Rauschenberg had traffic, it would have stopped to gawk as we rolled past.

We had only eight hours with the -» GS. Nonetheless, the big water-pumper left a lasting impression on all of us, especially Smith, who has a soft spot for twins. "First thing I noticed was that the new GS had a lot more power than other BMW flat-twins Fve ridden. The wind protection was great—better than the KTM—and it didn't feel too tall; I was able to get both boots on the ground at the same time."

The 5-foot-9 Smith liked the Adventure, too. "The KTM's sporty engine character is very appealing.

And the bike handles beautifully. But at parking-lot speeds, even in Enduro mode, throttle response isn't perfect."

Aside from a gravel-road photo op, we never left the pavement. Off-road riding areas are all but nonexistent in Germany. "I thought we had it tough in Rhode Island," Nixon said.

If the Bavarian Alps, with their high mountains and classic passes, look like a DQ cone, west-central Germany resembles a lumpy pancake. Nevertheless, Nixon and Smith liked the Hessen secondary roads, particularly the forested twisties near Rauschenberg.

On the autobahn, the Suzuki was the La-Z-Boy. "It's comfy and easy to ride," Smith said. "Incredible on gas," Nixon added. "The sipper of the group." With its custom pearl-white TraX boxes, the Suzuki also was an eyeball magnet.

"Did you see that couple admiring the V-Strom?" Smith asked. "They ignored the KTM."

At high speed, the Suzuki became unstable. "You have to load the bike for what it is," Smith explained at a truck stop. "I learned that with my KLR650.1 mounted a set of boxes, plus a dry bag to hold my tent and sleeping bag, and the bike was so hard to control offroad; the front wheel wouldn't track."

A repack of the cases made the Suzuki as stable as the other machines.

Tapped out at an indicated 180 kph (112 mph), the Kawasaki—fitted with Blaze quick-release bags—was rocksolid. The self-supporting bags are a good alternative to a tailpack, and each bag expands to 21 liters.

On our way to Assen, we stopped at Splash Design, makers of Macna riding apparel, and had lunch at 11thcentury Kasteel Heeswijk. We also visited Ten Kate Honda, where Jaap Van Zevenbergen gave us a tour of the massive store, including the, sadly, empty race shop; the team was at Imola. Rain slowed our final sprint to the hotel, but Smith never lost her sense of humor, even when water came through the opening at the bottom of the Suzuki's windscreen and spit straight under the chin bar of her helmet.

The Netherlands reminded Smith of her home state of Indiana. "Roundabouts are your only chance for fun," she said. Nixon reminded us that Holland is basically reclaimed from the ocean. "It's flat and agricultural, so everything is a grid," he explained.

Capping off our trip, Dorna provided Smith and Nixon with full access to the historic Dutch circuit. Ducati press officer Chris Jonnum organized a garage tour, and Repsol Honda's Rhys Edwards bought lunch in the HRC hospitality. On Saturday afternoon, we all witnessed Valentino Rossi's first win since his return to Yamaha. As we put on our helmets for the long ride back to Marburg, Smith turned to me and smiled. "That was truly an epic week," she said.