Balkan - Romania Tour, June 2025

At the end of June 2025, the time had finally come. Between June 23 and 25, all participants gradually arrived in Trogir for this exciting tour. As promised, all nine participants were personally greeted at the airport in Split, picked up, and taken directly to the hotel in Trogir.

To get in the mood for the upcoming adventure, we first enjoyed a cozy welcome dinner together in the beautiful old town of Trogir (which is always worth a visit). With lots of laughter, storytelling, and sharing experiences, we prepared ourselves for the adventure ahead.
The handover of the motorcycles from our BMW fleet, which is stationed in Trogir not far from Split Airport, was carried out quickly and smoothly as usual. Each participant was able to use the motorcycle in advance to familiarize themselves with the new, fully equipped motorcycle.

On Friday, June 27, at 8:00 a.m. sharp, the journey finally began. Punctuality is an essential character trait!

Nine experienced riders and friends from Canada joined us. It's worth mentioning the guys by name, and for the sake of good order, we will of course list the names alphabetically:

Daryl Alexander - BMW R1250GS
Ed Bulpitt - BMW F850GS
Frank Killoran - BMW F850GS
Geoff Parkin - BMW F900GSA
Jeff McCord - BMW R 1300 GS
Martin Lebl - BMW F750GS
Miles Murray - BMW R1250GS
Rob Wells - BMW R1300GS
Scotty MacDonald - BMW R1250GS

The tour route was specially designed for this private group. It was based on our regular Romania tour, which always takes place in August each year. However, due to work commitments of the group participants, the tour had to be shortened by two days and brought forward from the beginning of August to the end of June.
As expected, we got to work and created an extraordinary ten-day motorcycle tour for this group of friends, starting in Croatia, leading deep into the Carpathians, and back again.

To be more precise: the tour started in Trogir (Meet&Greet location) in Croatia, took the guys through Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, over the Iron Gate to Romania, deep into the Carpathians and back again via the Durmitor National Park in Montenegro to Croatia. A total of approximately 3,300 kilometers were covered in ten days of riding. Of course, this tour also included riding the Transalpina and the legendary Transfăgărășan Pass over the Făgăraș Mountains in Transylvania.

What the riders then experienced together can best be seen in the pictures provided.

The guys

Memories of Montenegro

Memories of Romania

Memories of Serbia

Memories of Croatia

Accommodation and shared time

Other

However, this trip had a slight downside.

On the same day, on the same place, and at almost the same time, something very sad happened.
It is generally known that brown bears live along the mountain pass, the Transfăgărășan in Transylvania. The reason why the bears are along the road is certainly OBVIOUS. Tourists who are NOT familiar with nature and wild animals feed these bears. As a result, the bears become accustomed to being fed by “humans” and become too lazy to hunt. It is even more disastrous for the cubs, because the older animals no longer teach them how to hunt. Everyone can imagine what the consequences of this are.
Cars, motorhomes, motorcyclists, and even cyclists stop along the road to feed the bears. Small children reach out their little hands from the rear side window ot the car to feed the bears.
We are at a loss for words when it comes to such actions, because this is not like feeding a horse, dog, or cat. These are still wild bears, even if they are fed regularly.
And then the inevitable happened. It was a sad day, because on that day a motorcyclist took a selfie with a bear in the background. The bear did not understand the situation and only wanted to protect its cubs. The motorcyclist was grabbed by the bear, dragged into the forest, and killed.

We are very sorry for the bereaved and all those who now must endure this suffering, but to put it bluntly.
Bears are wild animals, and even in a zoo, NO ONE would enter an enclosure to feed the bears.

So, stay at a safe distance from wild animals and enjoy motorcycling instead. These bears have been living there longer than we have been riding motorcycles, and in the past, a bear has NEVER starved to death!!!