🇲🇪 Test rides as a way to explore Montenegro’s best roads

Let’s be honest, as much as I loved my 3 days trip across Montenegro last time, the main reason I’m heading to Montenegro now is to try fixing the bee. The wobbling is super annoying, manageable but really annoying. And I’ve got this idea that riding should be pleasant and (although sometimes it may seem that I ride to torture myself 😅).

Anyway, I left Serbia (crossing the border in a slightly non-habitual way – see the previous post for details)… aaaaand!

Hello Montenegro! You’re just as beautiful as I remember you from last time. Curvy mountain roads, rock walls on both sides, hundreds of tunnels so narrow that trucks passing through them have to take up both lanes to fit in. Following the Moraca river all the way to Podgorica and arriving right in time for the sunset and seeing the Millenium bridge lit up with colorful lights.

First things first: let’s get the Bee over to a mechanic. And just like in Croatia, whatever we try, has to be followed by a test ride to see if the issue got solved.

The good thing, is that finding new cool roads for test rides is not a problem. Actually, it seems like every road in Montenegro is amazing offering smooth curves and gorgeous views.

The following two roads have been on my personal “to ride” list for a while and I just got a perfect excuse to ride them:

Road #1: Podgorica to mountain Lovcen and Njegos Mausoleum from which you get a 360 view of the whole country. And from there down the Kotor Serpentine, a very narrow very twisty road with fantastic views, which takes you down to the beach for an ice coffee and a dip in the Kotor bay.

Road #2: The road which goes along the south coast of lake Skadar all the way to the Albanian border, narrow and curvy. Go slow, enjoy the views over this enormous lake and the smell of lavender flowers along the road. And then down to Ulcinj for a coffee and a walk along the beach to catch the sunset over the Adriatic sea on the way back to Podgorica.

I was getting seriously frustrated. All the time and effort trying to fix the wobbling and nothing seemed to work. Still many thousands of km to go. Should I just ignore it and keep riding? But then it’s hard for me to enjoy the ride. Should I park the bee somewhere and fly to Russia for the summer? No, it’s not an option. Not leaving my bee anywhere.

Oh, now my steering damper got broken, too. Nothing to compensate for the stupid shimmy.

To complete the madness someone tried stealing my baby. Luckily I had the alarm on. Whoever it was, dropped my bee and left in a white minivan. More damages to deal with (thanks god nothing too serious).

I was just hoping it was the bottom, and that now we’d bounce off it and everything will start getting better!

We moved from Podgorica to the coast, to a house with private parking (top priority after what happened!).

And went to the official #hondaservice center. Apparently the steering was loose, very loose, so loose that I was lucky not to have had an accident. So the steering was tightened and it got better! Got new heavier weights on the handlebar and I can finally enjoy riding! Thank you @hoonigan_eg6 for the help!

Did a couple of test rides to make sure that everything is alright, got some vitamin sea and said goodbye to Montenegro!

Let’s ride! Have to speed up and compensate for the three weeks I spent dealing with the wobbling.

Wobbling solved!

Finally the wobbling issue is solved, finally I can release the handlebar without fear! You can see it for a sec in the beginning of the video.

And the ride towards Kosovo border was simply amazing! Mountains, canyon, curves and pure happiness! And apparently I was not the first one to discover it. It was the kind of road when for every car you meet, there’s at least 10 motorcycles.

Oh, oops. Just before crossing the border to Kosovo it starts to rain. One hour to the destination and one hour before the sunset, one short mountain pass, but pouring rain.

I pull over and stop under a roof and watch the crazy rain flood the whole street in no time.

Decision moment: do I attempt to get to Kosovo or do I bail and spend the night in Montenegro? I flipped a coin. The coin told me to stay.

Sometimes it’s really nice to lay back and let the universe decide for you. 🥰 When the rain slowed down a bit, I rode to the nearest gas station, where the guys helped me to call the nearby hotels and find a room for the night. Kosovo may wait until tomorrow.