teerex51
The Italian Scallion
Every bike forum over here in Yurrup waxes lyrical about the Dolomites, the Western Alps and—inevitably—the ultimate rite of passage: riding to Norway’s North Cape (which is an easy ride but takes a little time, seeing as the distance from here is some 4,000 clicks each way).
I can’t spare all that time and neither can my riding buddies. We specialize in quick, action-packed sorties (2 days, one night) and try to take in as many attractions—read: mountain passes—as we possibly can.
Last year we did the Western Alps, from down close to the French Riviera all the way north to Mont Blanc (1,200 clicks, 12 passes, 2 days).
This year, we set our sights on that particular spot in Southern Europe where Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein meet. Mountains are not as high as in other, more traditional stomping grounds (Germany’s highest mountain pass, the Riedberg, is a piddly 1,400 meters) but roads are immaculate and—if you pick the right days—almost deserted.
Let me drop a few geographical names here: the Voralberg and Tyrol (Austria), the Allgäu (SE Bavaria), the Engadine (Switzerland) all contribute to creating a fantastic riding area where distances between passes are minimal and you get the most bang for your buck.
Typically, you leave Northern Italy from the northernmost corner of Lake Como, enter Switzerland near St. Moritz and keep riding NE down excellent roads until you hit the Austrian border. There you have Lake Constance and a chunk of Austria on your 10 o’clock, Southern Germany due North and a lot of Tyrol on your right.
Real close you now have the Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse, a 20-km toll road, which I assumed would be a Blue Ridge Parkway on steroids, but really is not. The scenery is awesome but, apart from a set of mind-blowing switchbacks spanning an altitude gap of 1,000 meters, the riding experience equates that of a beginners’ slope on skis. The toll is a whopping 12 Euros, some $15, which is pricey but ultimately worth it, considering that these splendid switchbacks come at just a buck fifty apiece.
The Silvretta road is your pivotal event. Based on the direction you ride it, you can plan the rest of your tour accordingly. Suppose you come in from Landeck (i.e., the eastern end), once you’ve done the Silvretta, you should go through Bludenz, then the Faschina Pass, then angle east into Bavaria through the Riedberg Pass. In Germany you should not miss the Oberjoch Pass east of Sonthofen and the famous Neuschwanstein Castle near Füssen. From there you should check out the Deutsche Alpenstrasse, which begins on L255 at Lake Plansee in Reutte (Austria) and takes you all the way to Garmisch (Bavaria).
Back in Tyrol, don’t miss the climb from Imst to the Hahntennjoch (1,894 m) on the Bschlaber Landesstrasse (yup, no typo there), As I said, the distance between a great set of twisties to the next can be as short as 15-20 miles. We rode ourselves silly over two 11-hour days covering 600 kms per day at near-to-legal speeds.
You’re likely to be riding rental bikes over here, most probably Beemers. You’ll be amazed at the amount of R1200GS’s and R1200RT’s you see on these roads. But there are plenty of custom bikes, Honda GWs and the occasional veteran bikes, too.
Avoid weekends, if you can, because everybody and his Bruder will be putting the old iron through her paces on the twisties. Even though it was a Thursday, this demented GS rider waltzed out of a curve into the opposite lane and nearly collided with me head-on. Vollidiot!
My new ride is a Honda VFR1200 XD Crosstourer with double-clutch transmission and on this ride I was testing the brand-new Michelin Pilot Road 4 Trail tires, which are supposed to be the ideal choice for heavy dual-sport bikes like mine and the BMW GS. Excellent rubber, it reminded me of the Pilot Power 2CTs I had on my FJR. I understand the Crosstourer is not imported stateside. WTF?
Here's a few pics for your viewing pleasure: https://plus.google.com/photos/118310790531253290051/albums/6054414562370752529?authkey=CIP61sCC2eXcpwE
I can’t spare all that time and neither can my riding buddies. We specialize in quick, action-packed sorties (2 days, one night) and try to take in as many attractions—read: mountain passes—as we possibly can.
Last year we did the Western Alps, from down close to the French Riviera all the way north to Mont Blanc (1,200 clicks, 12 passes, 2 days).
This year, we set our sights on that particular spot in Southern Europe where Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein meet. Mountains are not as high as in other, more traditional stomping grounds (Germany’s highest mountain pass, the Riedberg, is a piddly 1,400 meters) but roads are immaculate and—if you pick the right days—almost deserted.
Let me drop a few geographical names here: the Voralberg and Tyrol (Austria), the Allgäu (SE Bavaria), the Engadine (Switzerland) all contribute to creating a fantastic riding area where distances between passes are minimal and you get the most bang for your buck.
Typically, you leave Northern Italy from the northernmost corner of Lake Como, enter Switzerland near St. Moritz and keep riding NE down excellent roads until you hit the Austrian border. There you have Lake Constance and a chunk of Austria on your 10 o’clock, Southern Germany due North and a lot of Tyrol on your right.
Real close you now have the Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse, a 20-km toll road, which I assumed would be a Blue Ridge Parkway on steroids, but really is not. The scenery is awesome but, apart from a set of mind-blowing switchbacks spanning an altitude gap of 1,000 meters, the riding experience equates that of a beginners’ slope on skis. The toll is a whopping 12 Euros, some $15, which is pricey but ultimately worth it, considering that these splendid switchbacks come at just a buck fifty apiece.
The Silvretta road is your pivotal event. Based on the direction you ride it, you can plan the rest of your tour accordingly. Suppose you come in from Landeck (i.e., the eastern end), once you’ve done the Silvretta, you should go through Bludenz, then the Faschina Pass, then angle east into Bavaria through the Riedberg Pass. In Germany you should not miss the Oberjoch Pass east of Sonthofen and the famous Neuschwanstein Castle near Füssen. From there you should check out the Deutsche Alpenstrasse, which begins on L255 at Lake Plansee in Reutte (Austria) and takes you all the way to Garmisch (Bavaria).
Back in Tyrol, don’t miss the climb from Imst to the Hahntennjoch (1,894 m) on the Bschlaber Landesstrasse (yup, no typo there), As I said, the distance between a great set of twisties to the next can be as short as 15-20 miles. We rode ourselves silly over two 11-hour days covering 600 kms per day at near-to-legal speeds.
You’re likely to be riding rental bikes over here, most probably Beemers. You’ll be amazed at the amount of R1200GS’s and R1200RT’s you see on these roads. But there are plenty of custom bikes, Honda GWs and the occasional veteran bikes, too.
Avoid weekends, if you can, because everybody and his Bruder will be putting the old iron through her paces on the twisties. Even though it was a Thursday, this demented GS rider waltzed out of a curve into the opposite lane and nearly collided with me head-on. Vollidiot!
My new ride is a Honda VFR1200 XD Crosstourer with double-clutch transmission and on this ride I was testing the brand-new Michelin Pilot Road 4 Trail tires, which are supposed to be the ideal choice for heavy dual-sport bikes like mine and the BMW GS. Excellent rubber, it reminded me of the Pilot Power 2CTs I had on my FJR. I understand the Crosstourer is not imported stateside. WTF?
Here's a few pics for your viewing pleasure: https://plus.google.com/photos/118310790531253290051/albums/6054414562370752529?authkey=CIP61sCC2eXcpwE
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