Zero degrees, snow in places. That was in April 2006, when the "specialists' meeting" was held for the first time at the Sauerländer Hof in Willigen at Walter Saure's home. This time we had it better, much better. My cockpit reported double-digit temperatures, albeit in the lower range, and it was sunny and dry.
Walter couldn't help that, of course, but he was responsible for the excellent organisation and everything that went with it. And this in turn only works with a well-coordinated team in the background - first and foremost his wife Angelika and son Walter. Although the junior is also an enthusiastic motorbike rider, he also enjoys being in the kitchen. He proved that he is a master of his craft on the three evenings, on each of which he conjured up a multi-course menu: refined, varied and simply delicious.
This meant that the senior had his back free to ride his motorbike with his hotelier colleagues. However, the departure for the first lap was delayed: Wolfgang's new Pan America didn't make a sound, even though it had just undergone its first inspection. It's a good thing that the Sauerländer Hof has motorbikes for hire. Almost everyone had arrived with their bikes, by axle, by van or with a trailer, a colourful mix of different types and some exotic bikes. Christian, for example, arrived with an AMF Harley from the early seventies with a manual gearbox. He had his work cut out for him on the winding roads. Rudolf also rode a rarity, a 1981 Honda CB 400 Hondamatic with automatic transmission and 27 hp.
On the first day, they first travelled to the nearby Diemel spring and then on charming insider routes to the Schanze ski hut. Here they were joined by their Black Forest colleagues and TF host Uli, who had spent the previous evening with him at his partner hotel "Recke" in Balve. As it was sunny but still quite chilly, it was a long stay. Well warmed up inside and out, we travelled together to the next hut, namely the area behind the Sauerländer Hof. As in the hotel bar with the Honda six-cylinder engine, the beer is tapped from an engine block - here from a Harley V2. One by one, the last guests arrived and we enjoyed the official start of the meeting with a keg of beer.
In the meantime, we were a large group of 34 motorbikes. Supported by Reinhard, the "wild carpenter" from Hallenberg as our tour guide, we headed to the Skywalk at the Mühlenkopfschanze the next day. After most of us had ventured over Germany's longest suspension bridge (665 metres) and looked down a hundred metres into the depths, the next item on the to-do list was some lonely side routes. This is where Walter is in his element; he had selected the best "secret routes" and took us to the "Bruchmühle" in Neudorf for schnitzel and venison goulash and to the "Almer Schlossmühle" for coffee.
In the evening, Norton-Paule showed us old ADAC short films from the early days of the Yellow Angels and guest of honour Winni Scheibe shared some anecdotes from his decades of experience as a motorbike journalist. Finally, we enjoyed a very special dessert, an original Willingen Christinenstollen from the nearby slate quarry. Yes, it will soon be Christmas ... Time passed far too quickly at this high-calibre event, which we will all remember fondly. Here's to a „Zündfunken“.