Adria day eleven

Today Johnny was heading back home with Curt and Nige so the rest of us took the opportunity to off load luggage we didn’t now need, like worn clothes and jacket inner layers etc.

Once packed up again we headed for the Innocenti factory to pay homage. When we arrived at the gates the Lambretta club of Scotland were already there,  Bob Chalmers was the first to greet us, it was good to see him :).

The first thing I did was check that our sticker placed on the gates when we last visited in 2014 was still there, it was so I placed some more with this years design just under the old one.

Again it was an opportunity for the ILC flag to make another appearance, with group shots and individual shots taken we rode to the water tower on the other side of the factory and took more photo’s.

All that was left to do now was get inside. A little way down the road there was a gap under the fence where a few of us crawled under and managed to walk around inside, I then got a phone call from the others to say that Russ had found a way in that was big enough to get the Lambrettas inside too. We dashed off to join them. After a good look around which unearthed a few souvenirs  and many photo’s later we rode out, I’m sure I saw a snake as we left which was heading inside!

We spent longer at the factory than we had planned which sadly left no time to visit the Lambretta museum due to us needing to do a few miles down to the Mediterranean coast for tonight’s hotel.

Before we got on the motorway to head south we went to the roundabout that has the Lambretta commemoration to take more photo’s.

There was some confusion as we got on the motorway and a few of the party took a wrong turn, it wasn’t long though before we were all back together again and doing some good mile munching.

As we pulled into the last fuel stop 65 miles before Savona I became aware that my engine wasn’t happy, it needed revs to keep it running and when we left the services it needed a bump start to get it going. very odd!

While riding to Savona. I came to the conclusion that the problem was ring related, it had very little power to pull up the hills which was a problem as we were climbing for miles and miles, the only thing I could do was get in the tow of a lorry and try to keep with it.

Even though I was having issues it didn’t detract from the enjoyment the views presented yet again. as we got closer to the Med the motorway consisted of just tunnels and bridges with mountains to our right and the sea to our left way below us.

When we got to Savona the engine still wouldn’t tick over and needed to be above 3000 rpm or it would stall, we found a fuel station on the front and booked a hotel for the night, we chose to find one that was close because I had no idea if my engine was going to start again or not. To my amazement it did start first kick but still ran terrible to the hotel.

I had decided to take the top end off and investigate but as it had started I was now wondering if it would last until we got to Saint Tropez the next day, as it would be more relaxed to do a piston change there near the beach during our planned day off than at the hotel tonight.

We found the hotel, showered and headed off to the beach to find a restaurant. Everyone had a good night and plenty to drink but all night I was pondering about what to do about my motor, this pondering continued late into the night at the hotel with me not getting much sleep.
What ever the problem was, it hadn’t prevented me from reaching our destination and the Lambretta hadn’t left me stranded at the side of the road!

Day eleven track

Day twelve

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