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Austrian Alps

ScottyUK

ScottyUK

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It's not 'bird related but I thought some of you might like to see this :

An early flight to Munich and then to the South West of town to get my hire bike. It's a KTM dealer and I'd booked a Supermoto Touring (SMT)

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..... however a guy who'd flown in on Thursday night to get his Superduke found if had been smashed and ended up with my SMT and I ended up with a Supermoto Race (SMR).

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As you'd expect it's set up fairly differently. I had them stick a screen on for a tiny bit of wind protection but, as I was to find, the suspension and seat were a whole lot more race focussed than the SMT.

We rode down to the Berchtegsgarten area of Germany (which is the very far South Eastern corner) and the home of Hitlers Kehlsteinhaus (i.e. the Eagles Nest). We didn't visit (I've been up to it before) as there were better things to do like bendy roads! One of these was the Rossfeldstrasse.

http://goo.gl/maps/aylqO

Some great views and a good introduction to the mountains and hairpins. We wound our way over to our hotel which was about 5Km from Kitzbuhel arriving in just in time to neck our first weisbeer, meet the 30odd others and tuck into a meal .... before more weissbeers

Saturday morning and the weather was as perfect as possible. It was clear and sunny and around 24C. Not too hot for riding and plenty warm enough not to worry about wrapping up.

The car park has a variety of bikes and with 36 of us there, we were devided into groups depending on our preference for distance. Of course the Brit contingent opted for the "Long and Fast" group

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After riding through the flat valley floors with their flowing bends but also various small towns we suddenly turned off to head up a narrow winding road where the tight hairpins were almost vartical and some involved crossing small wooden bridges which looked like they would have been "interesting" had it been raining.
 
ScottyUK

ScottyUK

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The top rewarded us with our first real photo opportunity

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The day was going to be a long one - approx 350Km which on normal roads is quite easy but on roads like this it was gonna take a while. The roads varied from tree lined tight twisties to glorious flowing highspeed bends with some straights to have a play with the performance on offer.

The scenary combined with the weather on top of the superb roads and great surfaces made for grins inside lids

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We went through various tunnels as is the way in the Alps and then in one I noticed it was still going and still going. 5.5Km's after entering we appeared at the toll booth.

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When paying we found we could also buy a ticket for the Grossglockner Pass which saved a few Euros.

After the tunnel it was time for lunch in a scenic and typically Austrian road side stop. Liver dumpings, potatoes and veg and some rehydration and then we were ready for more fun.
 
ScottyUK

ScottyUK

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After 30 mins or so we got to the Grossglockner National Park and headed up top. It's a lovely ride and being possibly the last good weather of the season there was plenty of bikes but none that got in the way of anyone's fun. I was surprised to find a multistory carpark next to the glacier and even more surprised that it was still 14C. Five days later and it was covered in snow so we were really fortunate.

There were even some custom Harley's up there which huge forks and handle bars. An astounding effort to get them up there

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I was quite surprised to find a multistory car park at the top :

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On the decent we dispatched the custom Harleys (the rode at about 10mph and used every inch of tarmac) and we carried on through the National Park and along this fab road. Probably my fave of the trip. It took us to the Bikers Nest which is perched up high and surrounded by nothing but great views. Access is fun as it's via 6 cobbled tight hairpins.

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and it provides some great views

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The day continued as a dropped down from the highlands in to the valleys and then up and down and left and right (repeat 50 times) until we arrived back at our hotel at 19:15 .... which strangley was just in time for a weissbeer and a shower. The evening followed the previous nights

Sunday morning and I had the same view out of my window as Saturday morning.

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It was time for good bye. Some people were local (only 4 hours to ride), some had 8 hours! We only had to ensure we were back in Munich by 17:00 so we set off on a route which included more passes and interesting roads. We all swapped bikes and hence all had time to experience the differences between the bikes in the group : SMT, SMR, RC8 and Adventure that us Brits had.

Summary of bikes :

SMT - superb for the trip and an excellant all round road bike
SMR - everyone had enough after 30-40 mins due to the seat but all enjoyed the more responsive engine, brakes and handling. A lot of fun but no that comfy.
Adventure - way to soft for my liking. I don't like bikes where when you accelerate the front rides up on the suspension. It was comfy and having a big screen make a change but it was my least favourite.
RC8 - I couldn't have completed the trip on it like my colleague did ... and he did with a ruck sack on. Way too sporty for me for any distance. The 40 mins I had on it were epic though. That engine is truelly a peach.

A couple of drink breaks enroute treated us to more great spots. In this pic the building on the right is the firestation!

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Over a late lunch in a very scenic spot about an hour or so from Munich we started to chill. We had to as everything was slow. The food service and the roads due to everyone being out of a Sunday.

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We'd had our miles of fun so it was wind down time. We settled back on our own bikes and after a few twisties we then settled in for the last 20mins on a motorway (hiss and boo).

We settled up for the bikes which was 300Euro for 800km although they then allowed us off the nearly 200 extra we did on top of the 800.

I've been to the Tirol region before in a car but on a bike it's just so much better. If you get a chance go grab it...oh and the Stelvio is now nowhere near the top of my list any more!
 
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Vinterceptor

Been there, and had one
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Sounds like a great trip especially with that weather you lot had.

The flight & bike rental must have saved you a helluva lot of time to get on with the proper trip and I suspect for not much more cost than taking your own bikes:dunno:

Hairpin bends.... with cobbles :eek:, bet they would have been interesting if it were raining.

I like liver but think I would have passed the liver dumpings :-0)
 
ScottyUK

ScottyUK

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Vinterceptor said:
The flight & bike rental must have saved you a helluva lot of time to get on with the proper trip and I suspect for not much more cost than taking your own bikes:dunno:
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Exactly. I didn't have much choice in the matter so it was this or not go.

rovert57 said:
How long and how much did it cost all in please
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So 300Euro's for the bike, limited to 800km but due to a bit of negotiation up'ed to 900 and then we went 50 over with out charge.

The flight was £130 IIRC.

The hotel was 130Euro for two nights including the bar bills and breakfast and dinner.

Fuel was probably £80-100.

So £550-600 all in I guess.

Going by bike would have been 12 hours each way direct without stops.

Add on 750 miles each way with the cost of fuel, tyres, the crossing, etc
and it would have eaten well into the 300EU plus I'd need a few days each way to do the trip as I wouldn't bother doing it direct on motorways.

The early flight Friday and late flight back Sunday made it work out for me. I live near Stansted. I guess the further away from Kent you are for the crossing the more sense it actually makes.
 
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Mr Bean

Registered User
Renting makes sense in many instances. The wife and I rented a 1200GS in Teba (southern Spain) last October after a few years of ferrying down and riding back. It was the best decision we made.

It was about ?1,100 which included accommodation in a 4 bed apartment, collection from the airport and the use of the latest bike with good routes provided.

We also did the Bikers Oracle 'Twist and Shout' tour in May/June which included some of the Austrian Alps and Dolomites and whilst it was a great experience, it wasn't relaxing.
 
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Austin Colle

Registered User
RC8

Great write up save one thing, I have an RC8 and last year and this year road to Austria and Slovenia via France, Switzerland and Germany. Once you get used to the seat it's very comfortable as it's wide, flat and supportive. Everything is adjustable, seat height, bars and pegs. I went up the Grosglockner and the bikers nest at the top. The Grosglockner road is a must, another favourite is the Julier pass going into St Moritz.
I went with mates on a Rocket III, an RSVR and a KTM SMT so quite a range of bikes. The RC8 is just made for the Alps with 89 ft lb torque and light weight exiting hairpins is always interesting. The RC8 makes a lovely foil for my Blackbird which I also love.
 
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