Member Contributer speedball73 Posted July 8, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted July 8, 2015 Hi all, I wanted to share a quick ride report of a one day tour I did from Salzburg to the Stelvio Pass and back. I rode the following route from Salzburg back to Salzburg, took me about 12 hours including rest stops and scenic breaks (not to mention fiddling with the GoPro!). I only saw two VFRs the whole day (more below) - c'mon Europe what's happening! It was long but more than manageable on a bike like the Bimmer - my 6th Gen would have been a little more uncomfortable, as it lacks the big windscreen and cruise control, but it would have been doable. The cruise control was really great, particularly when set to 160 km/h on the autobahn. I rented a BMW K1600 GTL in Salzburg, Austria from Salzburg Biking (www.salzburgbiking.com). Here's Guenther from Salzburg Biking looking happy that I brought the bike back in one piece! Guenther was able to find me a brand new bike, and he has lots of gear you can use if you forget yours or don't want to bring your own. NOTE: I have no affiliation with Guenther, other than this one successful rental experience. I found him on Google. I set out from Salzburg at 8am, and slabbed it to the Italian border. Although the riding was pretty easy, a nice blast up to 200 km/h (legally!) on the autobahn and the incredible views made it very enjoyable. The first pass I hit was Passo Giovo, elevation 2094m. It starts out with nice sweeping bends, which encouraged me to try some spirited riding, but pretty soon you are deep into hairpins - I remember thinking, "these are some sharp hairpins". Little did I know what was waiting for me!. After a nice ride up to the top, it was time for a coffee! The descent into San Leonardo in Passiria was very nice, lots of trees and of course loads of corners. I tried out the BMW's radio and blasted some Italian pop through the speakers, but I felt like a real loser annoying locals with the music, so quickly turned it off. After a quick tour through town it was time to hightail it to the start of the Stelvio Pass, about 70 km away. Like the Giovo Pass, the Stelvio pass road starts out with some sweepers and medium bends, running alongside an alpine river. The road then gets pretty serious as you start negotiating the "tornantes" (pronounced 'tor-nan-tays') - hairpins in Italian. The big deal about the tornantes of course is there is an elevation change in the corner, something which can be quite tricky on an unfamiliar bike, particularly when the apex speed is about 25 km/h. These are serious corners, and demand your full attention! It gets even more interesting when a camper is descending the corner at the same time you arrive! I descended from the Stelvio Pass via the Umbrailpass road which passes through Switzerland before returning to Italy. It is a pretty challenging descent, and has no guardrails at many points, so you *really* don't want to make an error. It was a really fun and scenic road though - I would do it again. So for obligatory VFR content, I did catch this 8th Gen Red VFR800 about 10 minutes after I left the Stelvio Pass, just where the Umbrailpass road crosses from Italy to Switzerland. This was coincidentally the point where I realized I had left my passport in my hotel, and wondered if I might have to prove my citizenship at any point on my remaining route! Anybody know this fellow viffer rider? Time was about 3PM, June 30. I also saw a white VFR1200 in the Swiss town of Nauders later that afternoon, but unfortunately the GoPro was not running at the time so I didn't capture him. The most challenging part of the ride was returning through Italy to Austria on a secondary two lane road that passed through many towns - it would have been easy to make a mistake and have an accident. I would have preferred to stay in Bormio or maybe on Swiss side overnight, then ride back the way I came or take the Swiss route the next day. Unfortunately I only had the one day, and my lovely wife was waiting with dinner in Salzburg when I got back. All in all, ticked something off my bucket list and had an absolute blast in the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Duc2V4 Posted July 8, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted July 8, 2015 Awesome! Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted July 8, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted July 8, 2015 Thanks for adding another item to my bucket list . Hey did you miss the VTEC ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer speedball73 Posted July 9, 2015 Author Member Contributer Share Posted July 9, 2015 Switchblade, I certainly missed the VFR - kind of a rider-motorcycle bonding moment riding those roads (you guys know what I mean). But the engine in that Bimmer is a beauty - completely linear power, gobs of torque, similar attributes I've heard about the VFR1200. "One day" when kids are grown I will look at adding a full-on tourer to the garage, particularly for the features that make riding in Eastern Canada much nicer such as: - heated grips and seat - cruise control for slabbing to the twisties - adjustable windscreen for same and finally for the all-important feature - increased passenger comfort which causes an exponential increase in likelyhood of two-up touring! -speedball73 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Switchblade Posted July 9, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted July 9, 2015 Switchblade, I certainly missed the VFR - kind of a rider-motorcycle bonding moment riding those roads (you guys know what I mean). But the engine in that Bimmer is a beauty - completely linear power, gobs of torque, similar attributes I've heard about the VFR1200. "One day" when kids are grown I will look at adding a full-on tourer to the garage, particularly for the features that make riding in Eastern Canada much nicer such as: - heated grips and seat - cruise control for slabbing to the twisties - adjustable windscreen for same and finally for the all-important feature - increased passenger comfort which causes an exponential increase in likelyhood of two-up touring! -speedball73 I agree when I start on the "ol bucketlist " I could see me on a loaded out ST1300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baileyrock Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Great trip, thanks for sharing! BR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer adeyren Posted July 16, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted July 16, 2015 speedball What did you honestly think of the Stelvio? I was there June 27th on my VFR. Personally i thought it was a bit boring, just tight hairpin after tight hairpin with loads of adventure bikes coming down on the wrong side of the road! The approach from the Bormio side was more interesting, a lot more sweeping bends interspersed with hairpins. Only saw a few VFRs all trip (12 days) with VERY few Brit bikers! Will do a proper trip post soon (work calls). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V4 Rosso Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Great way to spend a day in the Alps & Dolomites. Your wife was not up to spending that a whole day riding pillion? bikes coming down on the wrong side of the roadIt's always the riders from the UK complaining about that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer speedball73 Posted July 17, 2015 Author Member Contributer Share Posted July 17, 2015 V4 Rosso - unfortunately not....she is good for 2-3 hours per day on the bike, but after that she's had enough. Next time we will make it a two day trip and she will probably come, of course that will likely be in 10 years! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Adeyren - I agree riding up the Stelvio was slow and technical coming from the north, but I don't think I would ever get tired of those views. Passo Giovo was better for pure riding fun. I would love to take more time and do it again! I'll try and post some more photos and maybe a video up soon if I can figure out how! -Speedball Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer adeyren Posted July 17, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted July 17, 2015 I agree riding up the Stelvio was slow and technical coming from the north, but I don't think I would ever get tired of those views. Coming up from the north i stopped for a photo session and got back on behind a convoy of AMG Merc supercars, Porsche specials and BMW M5 specials. That was fun chasing them down and taking them on the hairpins. It was worth it just for the sound of the V8 exhausts booming. V4 Rosso, no, you lot are on the wrong side of the road!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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