Looking forward to heading back to the Alps again this June, our base will be Bourge St Maurice and hope to ride many of the high Alpine passes so long as they are clear of snow. I filmed this in 2012 think it was close to the longest day in June, perfect weather....about 32 C in the valleys and about 5 C high in the mountains. Anyone who has not ridden a motorcycle in the Alps should add it to their 'Bucket' list.
Looks awesome... definitely on my list.... how long do you go away for, where to stay and how much etc? p.s. You need to brush up on your snowball throwing skills! :biggrin:
Yes rubbish right arm! Four of us are going, we use the Eurotunnel then head straight across France, we are going to stop one night mid way across in France's answer to a Premier Inn (cheep but pleasant) then ride on to Bourg St Maurice where we have two mobile home type challis booked for 7 nights here : Camping Caravaneige - Le versoyen à Bourg St Maurice en Savoie They are reasonably cheap around £400.00 for the week for two self catering. Its also a campsite so the trip can be done quite cheaply. Having a base means you can unpack the bikes and enjoy the roads, virtually every road out of Bourg (a winter ski resort) is a fantastic ride. One day last time we took a ride to Tignes and took a train through the mountain, caught the cable car up the Grand Mont and watched folks skiing the glacier in the middle of summer; quite surreal:smile: One day we do a circular route around Mont Blanc, Switzerland, Italy and back into France, its a long day but well worth it. I don't recommend riding through the Mont Blanc tunnel! This was our base for the week, my Ducati had already lost its back brake on the ride over France Never, ever buying a Ducati again (but that is another story) We stop again on the ride back across France then Tunnel and home Guess the budget is about £800.00 but fuel is a big chunk. If you want a company that will take you out there on this trip a pal of mine Bill Roughton Bike Tours UK :: Motorcycle touring in UK, England and Thailand takes guests out here each year, I went with him in 2012 but we are going out ourselves this time Richard
Looks brill... I'm hoping to go to Northwest Spain either later this year, or next year with the Bonnie... my brother stays near Gijon, an ex biker, so he's told me to come over when I'm ready, just want to get more experience first :smile:
That looks great. Possibly do the Alps next year as we're off to France in June. We normally move on each day but might look into having a base for a week. At least you'll be a bit more comfortable on the Tiger this year :upyeah:
Austrian alps for me this year!! Bought a cheap Beemer last year to do it but still not got round to it. This year is a "Must do" one
Made it out to the Alps, this photo taken near Les Arks. Looking forward to exploring the rest of this week
1400 miles added this week, both the Tiger and Street have not missed a beat. Got the 900 mile ride back across France to start in the morning :frown:
2300 miles in 9 days and a fantastic time had. Totally recommend visiting the Alps, the French roads were so empty compared to England. Bourg st Maurice is a great base for exploring as there is not a bad riding road in any direction. The Mrs proved you can tour on anything and coped with the 80+ mph motorways with the Street while the Tiger proved the ideal do it all coping fine on the twisty mountain roads even with its big front wheel. No mechanical issues with either bike although I tensioned the Tiger's chain once.
Nice vid Richard. I hope to be somewhere near there in 14 days and your influence just helps build up the inner buzz. Eric
I'm heading for the Swiss Alps next July. I'm going to use Brig as a base. It's idealy placed for the Southern Alps and especially for the Simplon Pass. Planning of routes is taking place at the moment.
Nice, its great to plan a road trip during these cold winter months. Think 2015 is going to be a big Scotland tour and race week at the TT for us.
Absolutely Richard. Planning routes and itinary is half the fun. Some of my maps are out of date so I must get some replacements.
Just picked up three road maps of Switzerland. They seem to cover all the major approaches to Switzerland besides the Swiss roads. Also picked up a book entitled "Switzerland by Road, Rail and Air". Seems to contain some valuable information. I also received an excellent booklet entitled "The ride guide to Europe" which has just been published. So plenty of reading to be done over these winter nights.
