Done that one, didnt know what it was but took the same ‘escape’ from ColdMoritz. It had snowed and was shit, quiakly warmed up in Italy. Think that was 2014. Poor weather in July. In fact I think the whole year. Coming out of Italy to France over St Bernard two days later it was snowing again, Just after my bloody Pinlock decided it would not stay on the visor. Nice
Stereotyping I know but.. They do it every other country I have seen them. Very aggressive and superior attitude in general. We did a trip in August the year of the plague, dodged around the Alps and did a loop France/Switzerland/Italy/France one day for passes my mates had not done. They could all feel the weight lift when leaving Switzerland. Same trip we bumped in to two Germans, well I had pushed them up one of the passes tbh on the old 1200GS (one went well on a Pikes Peak, the other on an S1r still had chicken strips..in the Alps man!) but we all got talking at the top, good crack they were too. Cant say the same of some Swiss bikers that tried to block my mates bike in. Their faces changed when they saw he had another two with him. Cnuts. They can stick the Toblerone where the sun dont shine..
Sounds about right ! I remember it was a good 5 C warmer at the bottom of that road than it was at the top - time for sunglasses and cold drinks again once back in Italy !
My sister was in Switzerland on her GSX-R750. She got an eye watering fine for a relatively small speeding infringement (can’t remember the numbers but I was shocked when she told me). They very nearly chucked her in the slammer. She then got a puncture and had to buy a new rear. All in all a bad day. Said she’ll never ever go back to Switzerland…
I recall the 44Teeth chaps getting eye-watering fines on one of their Budget Bike trips. Impoundment and prison were (narrowly IIRC) avoided. Go to abt 11 mins.
Mates have not had good experiences with Swiss garages too. Honda vfr regulator/rectifier issue. Put in for a fix, which should be twenty minute job. Came back to a bill for hundreds of Swiss francs, because the motorcycle was ‘due a service’ as well. FZ1s, hours and hours of ‘fault finding’ and whinging because the bike had power commander etc. to be told it was caused by the servo motor to the exhaust valve being buggered (courtesy of someone on the trip who cable tied the ends of the cables, still attached to the servo motor…). They diagnosed but offered no solution. Hours later complete breakdown on the motorway meant recovery required. Thanks for nothing. Amazing scenery and passes, away from towns, but just so many negatives about the place. Knowing what the police there are like, I was mortified to realise I had crossed over into Switzerland for a few miles on my way from Germany to France a few years back. As has been said above, just small infringements get you in bother. Fcuk them.
Funny! We drove through Geneva today, crossing from the Northern French Alps to the Jura, back from a nice family holiday. Everyone driving/riding very calm, no speeding, cool. Back in France, on the way up to the Col de la Faucille from Gex (D1005), we crossed a full track leathers dressed dude riding a jap Superbike like a maniac on the way down. What a contrast! He came back in my mirror 5 minutes later, on the way up this time, like he had the Devil chasing him. And when he passed, I saw his Swiss plate… I’ll be riding to Switzerland soon, with mates living there. I just can’t say no to a three days road trip. I’ll just have to comply. I’ll be riding the 851. Hopefully, the old school square front light factor will avoid me getting pulled just because I am a foreigner riding a red bike…
Thanks for the comments. Actually the plan is 7 days out, then 2 weeks there boating, then a week back, so it’s not as tough as it might appear. 1,500 miles off the Autostradas is 250 miles a day with a day off. I could possibly do 8 days too and step things down a tad. I think that’s doable. 5 or 6 hours or in the saddle is fine for me. Actually I relish it. It’s particularly routing help and weather advice I need and more before and after the Alps as I know the Alps quite well.
I found the "rain radar" feature of the weather.com channel to be really useful. Just run the cycle and it shows the rain moving through. You can type in a location or zoom in - here I just put Zurich as a starter. When on the move it is nice to have a decent sized phone with a decent sized screen. Recent 3,100 mile trip to Brno, Czech Republic and back. I use 50 mph average when doing my calculations - not far off that on this trip. On my KTM 1290 the average was 60 mph for a 2,000 mile trip - but did more autoroutes. Like you, I am quite happy riding my bike !
A 2 week holiday once there is a completely different trip . I (and its look like most others) thought you just had a 2 week trip booked, a week there and a week back. With a 4 week break, a week to get there and a week to get back is perfectly feasible - I’d do that quite happily.
Where you are starting your journey from, after leaving the UK ? If you want more recommends.. We normally do a minimum 250 miles a day, in the mountains and passes. More if it involves straighter roads. Sounds like it should be good. If you can be bothered it is genuinely worth plotting out each days route, use gmaps and streetview to get a feel for the roads as required. Then plan and save on MRA. Transfer to nav app or sat-nav. This, even just to include specific sections that are worth riding will really make the trip imo. Can also save a load of time, by avoiding city centres ( or just passing cities and towns completely..) and weird sat-nav choices Weather? Dunno, just expect hot in Italy. Going over the tops Dolomites/Alps, really be prepared for anything from snow (unlikely, but seen it in July..) to 30 + degrees. Plus it can be very hot AND wet at the same time. Which is the main reason I dont wear a leather jacket with a waterproof over the top! Vented Goretex shell (there is loads of choice these days..) I also gave up on waterproof gloves ages ago. PITA I find and would rather just carry a spare pair. I always think Italy and in the valleys is one of the hotter places, with some of the roads that look great on maps, being a bit slower progress than expected. Germany, Austria and to a lesser degree France, can usually crack on a bit more easily.
Not long back from a 4 week trip around Italy, going as far South as Gallipoli. But we rode pretty much day on, day off, to see sights. SS1 to Napoli has no straight bits! But avoid Naples and the Amalfi Coast at this time of year as drivers are mad and the roads choc-a-bloc. We picked our destinations and then used Google Maps with No Tolls and No Motorways, with the occassional way point to steer it towards the mountains. The further South you go, the more boring the roads, unless you stay in the mountains down the middle of the country. The drivers also get crazier the further you go South, including getting overtaken in single file traffic in roadworks
