European Cade Raid 2014 was held in Havelte, Holland 4.-7.7.2014 Suzuki   Cavalcade   was   presented   to   the   audience   back   at   1985.   First   show   and   test   drive   was arranged   at   Aspencade   85   –motorcycle   show   in   U.S.A.   Cavalcade   stand   up   against   Gold   Wing and   won   many   hearts   of   the   test   drivers.   First   Cades   were   delivered   to   customers   1986   as   GT and   LX   models.   LX   is   more   equipped   than   GT.   It   has   a   Clarion   radio   cassette/intercom   and   air pressure   adjustable   passenger   seat   and   backrest.   Later   on   an   LXE   was   introduced   with   even more   accessories.   Cavalcade   was   in   production   until   1990.   There   is   about   30   known   Cades   in Finland, 20 of those driven and within SCCF. First    European    Cade    Raid    saw    the    daylight    2002    at    English    soil.    Organized    by    David Hebblethwaite. The   rally   did   not   succeed   very   well   back   then   and   therefore   David   decided   to   let   it be   for   some   time.   By   2007   he   had   managed   to   locate   and   contact   other   Cade   groups   in   Europe and   specially   one,   the   Norwegians   showed   some   real   potential.   They   had   a   Cade   club   for   years already   with   good   amount   of   active   members. At   2007   the   European   Cade   Raid   was   reborn   and it   has   been   running   continuously   ever   since.   This   year’s   Cade   Raid   was   8 th    on   line,   arranged   by SCC Holland. The   Dutch   friends   have   selected   us   a   perfect   cozy   place,   Marinushoeve,   in   Havelte.   It   was located   on   a   camping   site   in   a   small   village   by   the   channel.   Very   nice   roads   took   us   there.   We Finns   drove   about   400   km   from   Travemünde,   Germany.   We   arrived   by   Finnlines   Finnmaid   3rd   of July   at   9   pm   after   36   hours   on   board.   Have   to   say   that   ship personnel   do   show   you   a   place   where   to   park   your   bike,   but   no one   tells   how   the   strange   lashing   belt   does   tighten.   Fortunately we got help from a more frequent bike traveler next to us. There   were   two   Cades   of   us   from   Finland. As   we   landed   late   to Travemünde,    we    had    booked    an    overnight    stay    from    Das HOTELchen   from   Lübeck.   A   cozy   little   hotel   with   free   parking and   breakfast   included.   Strolling   the   evening   we   managed   to find our first Helles from the neighborhood also. By   the   morning   4 th    of   July   we   headed   to   Holland.   Cades   were functioning   nicely   and   the   route   was   handled   with   my   Garmin using   2013   maps   guiding   us   the   fastest   no-toll   roads.   During   the 400km   drive   we   filled   up   noticing   that   gasoline   prices   were   as high as in Finland. Unfortunately. The   united   Europe   fooled   us   so   that   we   almost   missed   to   notice the   border   of   Holland.   Only   a   portal   with   EU   and   national   flags gave   a   hint   that   we   just   moved   from   one   country   to   another.   No more round stamps to our passports nowadays. What   we   did   notice   was   that   traffic   in   Holland   was   much   spacier than    in    Germany.    Roads    were    in    better    condition    and    over speeding   Porsches   passing   by   no   longer   existed.   All   though there    were    speed    limits    in    Autobahns    too;    120km/h    valid between 06:00 to 20:00. After    refueling    and    refreshing    break    we    met    our    Norwegian friends   on   the   gas   station.   Hugs   and   hello´s   were   exchanged and   the   Juha   took   the   lead   of   our   two   bike   caravan.   He   was using   TomTom   with   the   shortest   route   setting.   Oh   boy   what routes   did   it   find   to   us.   Momentarily   we   felt   a   bit   shameless driving   very   narrow   brick   roads   passing   by   cyclists.   We   were   not sure   should   we   ride   those   roads   because   similar   size   roads   in Finland   are   only   for   cyclists.   Well.   A   bit   of   history   was   seen   on our   drive.   At   least   we   know   now   what   the   Dutch   did   after   dark ages; they all were laying bricks to the roads! Arriving   to   Havelte   our   first   contact   was   paparazzi Tony   shooting all   the   arriving   Cade´s.   So   no   mistaken   where   the   camping   site was   seeing Tony   on   the   corner   of   the   road.   During   the   afternoon 15    bikes    arrived    from    Holland,    Belgium,    Norway,    England, France   and   Finland.   Not   a   huge   amount   for   a   rally,   but   quite   OK knowing   that   were   not   part   of   Gold   Wing   mass.   Compared   to American Cade Raid, there is about 100 participants. Friday   evening   was   easy   going,   having   a   very   nice   Bar-B-Q   and   good,   cheap,   Jupiter   beer.   Warm   evening   air   was   filled   up   with a   mess   of   languages.   Everybody   was   talking,   I   do   not   know   was   anyone   listening.   Our   four   young   generation   participants   (two from   Finland,   two   form   Norway)   were   having   interesting   language   exchange.   At   least   Luke   learned   few   useful   Finnish   curse words   to   use   in   suitable   situations.   I   myself   learned   to   speak   excellent   Norwegian.   Or   was   is   to   say   that   I   speak   excellent Norwegian. Whatever, I have forgotten it anyway. At   Saturday   morning   everyone   assembled   to   the   arranged   Raid. When   everyone   was   ready   to   go   I   noticed   that   my   Cade   was leaking   gasoline   like   a   river.   That   was   no   go   to   me.   Fortunately my   daughter   Tytti   requested   Cavalcade-Yves   to   take   her   to   a ride   and   off   they   go.   To   me   there   was   something   else   to   do.   I teared   up   the   fairings   in   such   amount   that   a   local   camping   guest came   to   see   if   I   were   in   my   senses.   After   spreading   the   stuff around it naturally started to rain… Thanks     for     the     camping     manager,     he     let     me     into     their maintenance    shed    where    I    could    continue    externally    dry. Thanks   for   Jupiter,   I   kept   going   happily.   I   have   to   say   that   some comfort   I   got   when   everyone   arrived   from   the   Raid   –   soaking wet To make long story short. After removing, fixing and re-installing   the   carburetor   set   twice   there   was   still   a   noticeable leak   somewhere.   I   managed   to   arrange   such   a   scenario   that   I could   hold   the   carburetor   set   just   outside   bike   frame,   fuel   line attached.   Then    I    could    pump    gas    to    carburetors    and    finally notice   that   there   were   three   (!)   carbs   leaking.   At   that   point   I decided   to   do   things   properly.   I   dismantled   all   four   carbs   and noticed   that   that   the   floater   cup   seals   had   lost   their   flexibility.   I rebuild    all    the    carbs    back    in    2009    and    used    non-original Chinese made rebuild set. Fool me. The   solution   was   to   use   Loctite   sealing   glue   which   we   managed to   get   from   a   local   Shell   with   the   assistance   of   Henk   and   Ron, our   Dutch   hosts.   As   the   carbs   were   in   bits   and   pieces,   Tony measured   and   adjusted   the   floating   levels   too.   I   humbly   Thank You   again   guys.   I´m   still   driving   my   Cade   without   problems   after that work done. Saturday    evening    we    spent    having    a    buffet    at    local    Het Hunebed-restaurant.      The      evening      contained      traditional Man&Guitar   section   (Geir   from   Norway)   with   The   Official   Cade Songbook,   speeches   and   little   surprises.   A   nice   surprise   was David´s   thank   you   speech   giving   a   Cavalcade   jacket   to   Yves Rummens, our superb photographer and video-man. On   Sunday   we   got   a   special   muscular   treatment   –   off   the   road   – literally.   We   climbed   into   an   army   leftover   DAF   SUV.   Some   of   us were   even   left   without   a   seat.   We   got   to   see   the   forest   area   and the   only   hill   in   Holland   (no,   there   was   no   ski   center   beside   it,   so there   was   no   warm   60%   Stroh   Cocoa   available).   That   was   a joyful   trip.   We   even   saw   and   original   shepherd   at   work.   No stress   noted   at   that   line   of   work.   The   trip   ended   to   a   local “Stonehenge”   of   which   purpose   was   left   a   mist   for   us   or   at   least to   me.   Later   in   the   evening   we   supported   the   orange   colour watching football finals on telly. Eventually    Monday,    Monday    came    and    it    was    time    to    say goodbye.    Promises    of    seeing    again    next    year    in    Stavanger, Norway,   were   given.   Some   of   us   continued   our   journey   and some went straight back to home and jobs. To   me   and   Tytti   the   direction   was   Zelhem.   I   had   just   recently bought   an   EZS   sidecar   to   my   Cade.   My   plan   is   to   repaint   and install   it   to   the   bike   during   the   long   and   dark   days   of   Finnish winter.   It   gave   us   about   200km   more   to   travel   circuiting   via Zelhem,   but   it   was   worth   it.   I   had   previously   contacted   Dave Engberts   of   EZS   about   our   visit   and   there   he   was   working   with   a customer   project.   He   kindly   let   me   explore   every   corner   and ongoing   job   in   his   factory   hall.   I   met   one   of   the   company’s   three employers   working   on   with   just   similar   sidecar   than   mine.   That one was going to a customer in USA. I   got   valuable   hints   from   Dave   about   how   and   to   where   I   could attach   the   four   connection   points   for   the   sidecar   to   my   Cade.   I also   got   to   buy   a   rack   and   bonnet   opener   to   the   sidecar.   Then Dave   lead   me   to   their   showroom   where   they   had   some   ready   to go   bike&sidecar   companions   (like   a   Gold   Wing   1100   with   two seater   sidecar   for   just   3000€)   and   some   new   trailers   to   show. Funniest   one   was   a   special   trailer   for   a   dog.   It   had   windows,   soft interior and an opening ramp door for the dog to walk. After   visit   it   was   time   to   head   to   Travemünde.   During   the   500km route   back   I   occasionally   checked   if   there   were   any   gasoline leaks   visible,   but   no,   everything   run   smoothly.   Driving   the   A1   motorway   is   very   very   boring   (emphasizing   the   word   very).   So, when   we   got   closer   to   Lübeck   I   decided   to   drive   smaller   roads   setting   the   Garmin   to   avoid   main   roads.   That   was   nice.   We   saw some old villages and German houses very well taken care and the small roads were in good condition too. At   Lübeck   we   parked   to   the   hotel   where   Juha   and   Juho   had   decided   to   stay   for   one   more   night   just   to   see   the   town   more properly. We strolled around and enjoyed good steaks at Potter´s Bar beside one channel before heading to the harbor. One   word   of   caution   for   travelers   using   navigators.   Driving   to   Skandinavienkai   with   Garmin   it   leaded   us   into   a   warehouse   area right   next   to   the   ship   harbor,   but   there   was   a   fence   in   between   and   no   way   to   find   the   boat   this   way.   During   the   darkening evening   I   had   too   blindly   trusted   the   navigator   and   I   missed   one   road   sign   of   Skandinavienkai.   Luckily   we   were   not   in   any   kind   of hurry, so I decided to trust my own head and we drove back some kilometres to find again proper road signs. Still.    When    one    finds    correct    route    to    Skandinavienkai,    there    are    surprises    ahead.    One    can    see    Skandinavienkai, Skandinavienkai   East,   Skandinevienkai   West   but   no   sign   of   passenger   boat   check-in.   You   just   have   to   trust   that   the   plain Skandinavienkai leads to the right place, which it did. The   Finnlines   check-in   opens   at   20:00   and   you´re   let   into   the   ferry   24:00,   ferry   leaving   03:00.   Don’t   go   there   too   early.   Beside one   Bajamaja   toilet   there   is   absolutely   no   services   on   the   waiting   area   and   no   going   back   either.   The   waiting   hours   could   be very long without any refreshments. Summa   summarum.   Traveling   on   motorcycle   in   Europe   is   easy   and   fun.   Roads,   at   least   in   Germany   and   in   Holland,   are   in   good condition   and   navigator   leads   you   safely   to   your   destination   if   you   only   have   set   your   settings   properly.   In   Germany   you   can   find gasoline   easily   beside   motorways   too,   but   in   Holland   those   are   hidden   into villages.   Being   a   member   of   some   kind   of   club   brings   to   you   the   nicest persons   sharing   similar   interests   as   you   and   you   certainly   get   to   find   new friends.   I   personally   like   that   any   trip   should   have   a   destination   but   if   one   has time    available    it    is    nice    to    take    alternate    roads    and    see    something    not available   at   home.   Even   from   this   Cade   Raid,   couple   of   lads   headed   to Berlin   and   Kolditz   to   overnight   there   remembering   that   old   TV-series   of   the British pilots captured in prison there at WWII. If   everything   goes   well   during   the   winter,   I   should   have   sidecar   installed   and   I could   bring   my   wife   Mirja   and   our   then   nine   years   old   daughter   Maija   to Stavanger next year. Hope to see you all there. Timo Saarno SCC Finland Timo Saarno’s photos from Cade Raid Timo Saarno’s photos from EZS Anthony Taylor´s photos from Cade Raid