The European Motorcycle Tour 2010 - A Review

The European Motorcycle Tour 2010 - Reviewed

Reviews are bitter-sweet. They have both bite as well as savouring in them. This motorcycle tour review can be no different but I trust my 'bites' will be worthwhile morsels rather than thoroughly critical mastications.

    This tour lasted from Aug. 24 to Sept 4th, 8 full riding days, the remaining days used for arrival meetings, Munich and BMW factory touring and return by bus to the airport.

    To use the "Good, Bad, and Ugly" cliche, let me begin with the Good.
 
The GOOD
Outstanding roads
That 'spaghetti twist' which you see displayed is the road of the Stelvio pass in the northern Italian Alps. Arguably, the best motorcycling roadway in the world for cruiser/touring/sports bikes, it was best ridden on bikes in the 800cc range for there are 60 diametrically opposed switchbacks in less than 75 kms. An amazing test of riding skills and and also automotive driving skills. Even the famed Stirling Moss of British racing fame crashed in a race here.
    Stelvio is absolutely fantastic to ride. Ascending, a rider finds a hairpin turn every half km. or less. The ascent is made even more challenging as this is an open road with constant traffic in both directions. Bus traffic is the worst to encounter as the roadway is as about as wide as 3 VW's beetles, side by side. So, you ride and in seconds, you turn, then ride again, and seconds later, turn again but in the other direction. You better love right turns as much as lefties.

    Another spectacular pass was the Passo Mendola, again in the Dolomiti mountains of Italy, north of Bolzano. Maybe because I speak Italian or because my wife is Italian or that I have been to the region before, for me the Dolomiti were the epitome of motorcycle riding. Great scenery, lovely people, and outstanding coffee !!!

Spectacular scenery
Picture postcard settings were the norm no matter which direction you turned, no matter which day it was. Cattle and goats grazing on verdant green pastures made the rides nearly Zen-like because of their peaceful tranquility and pastoral beauty. A rider could easily be distracted, mesmerized by the endless beauty of the Italian, German, Austrian, Swiss and Slovenian Alpine countryside. But one must remember that these are working farm areas and at times traffic congestion was very rural !

When we experienced these rural traffic tie-ups, I was reminded of the foothills of the Canadian Rockies with the same kind of traffic congestions. Only one difference though, Canadian wranglers actually rode horses while the Europeans seemed to be on foot. No matter, in both riding areas when cattle were crossing, traffic was not 'mooving.' (Sorry, I couldn't resist that one !)

Skilled, knowledgeable guides
Our lead guide was an amazing fellow. An Austrian police officer who was using his vacation time to guide us through the Alpine regions, Peter Linschinger must have had a GPS navigation system in his head for he seemed to know every roadway, every stretch, every little village as if he rode them daily. Maybe he did. In many cases, he likely did. His constabulary position ensured that we never exceeded speed limits by very much and adhered to them religiously as we went through any village. Peter was a personable, affable, sociable man whose accented English made him even more endearing. No question was too trivial, or too picayune for this patient man to answer. He blended the riding group like a sociological conductor of a human 14 piece ensemble, knowing who needed prodding, who needed advice, who needed reassurance. But also knowing, who could be given a bit more free rein in riding freedom based on recognized superior riding skills.

    Our tail gunner, Florian Neuhauser's age, belied the leadership skills this 24 year old young man had already acquired. He was observant of every group member as a rider and as a member of the "team." He too knew when to encourage, who to compliment and who to let a little loose because of their riding capability. An astute young man who will one day become an outstanding lead guide from what I have seen of him thus far. A quiet, polite, not flamboyant but very sociable young man.

Excellent accommodation
Accommodation and dining were excellent in almost every case. In some instances, one had to remind oneself that this was the European Alps. Therefore, hotels may be smaller, rooms too and luckily, riders never carry much luggage, occasionally a room may be on a third floor with no elevator assistance. Oh, to have such problems in life !
   Food was terrific with very substantial breakfasts of breads, croissants, jams, and deli cut meat platters wherever the Teutonic influence was strongest. The Italians tend to eschew meats for a sweeter brekkie which was a disappointment for those who got hooked on the tasty German hams. Dinners were always substantial and delicious. Again, pork schnitzel was a mainstay of the German based hotels, always well prepared, always delicious. At nearly every dinner, the group was given choices of entrees so vegetarians could easily dine well also.

The BAD
Lack of personal exploration time

There really isn't much to be critical of for this tour was excellently organized and well managed throughout. But when push comes to shove, perhaps one could whine for some more personal time for individual exploring. Much of the countryside demanded photographing and this was difficult to do when one had to stick with the group. But this is quibbling, though not to everyone. Some riders just want to ride, others want to stop and 'smell the roses.' I became a convert to the latter way of thinking after riding Kananaskis country, in the Alberta foothills of the Canadian Rockies.

   Personal exploration time would also give riders some free time to repeat some ride routes or portions of them, for some rides really should have been done twice for maximum riding pleasure.

The UGLY 

BMW bikes are not all they are reputed to be 

One of the bikes, an R1200RT sports tourer, had clutch and throttle problems. The rider was very experienced, for which is passenger was very thankful. The throttle/clutch problems proved to be very notable problems in the mountain riding.
   Another bike had its transmission seize up after it had been dropped. Again, a very experienced rider, more than 20 years of riding behind him, so he knew that this type of occurrence was abnormal. Still, an unexpected surprise leading to untimely delays for the entire group.
   To the organizer's favour, they handled the second situation with speed and efficiency getting a replacement bike out in less than 2 hours. 

No radio communication between guides

Having experienced another group ride, I have seen that radio communication between lead guide and tail gunner is crucial to avoid delays, lost time, and lost riders. In large groups, there is a tendency for riders to straggle or be drawn out and traffic lights can result in breaks in the chain of continuity. Radio communication is the obvious solution to dealing with almost all unexpexted issues/

Bike pickup and return

Bike pickup and return was done in a small Bavarian town, Lenggries, located about 60 kms south of Munich. We were bussed to the bike dealership to pick up our bikes and stay in the village overnight. But pickup was an untypical example of German inefficiency: one dealer service person taking care of all the documentation, paperwork and liability agreements for all 14 members of the group, a painfully slow process which irritated all of us, the less patient ones even more.
    Bike return was as exasperating, if not worse. All but one of our riders had a riding mishap. Karn King, a mature female rider rode with steadfast confidence, never having a single mishap.
She was the only one !!! Bravo Karn ! All the other riders had to have their bikes assessed for extent of damage and cost of repair. This was amazingly time consuming for again, only one dealership service person was working with the group.
   In both instances, given the number of bikes being rented by the group, the dealer should have handled matters differently and more expeditiously.

In summary
Organized by RoadRunner Motorcycle Magazine, an American publication, this tour was superb. The owner is European and though living in the USA for about the last 15 years, returns to Europe almost annually. The company sponsors many other rides in other parts of the world (see www.roadrunner.travel) Our group had riders who had ridden with the company in South America and they were highly complimentary of how good the company is in their tour offerings. I agree.
   This tour had no surprises, other than the unexpected beauty of the roads traveled. The hotels were never less than 3 star in quality, the food the same. Breakfasts and dinners were included. No unexpected expenses were occurred any where, damaged bikes notwithstanding. Riders paid for their own lunches, drinks and gas, all personal expenditures. Otherwise, no rider had to dip into their wallet unexpectedly. This was as it should be.

   Would I go back? Given that the tour cost was about $4500 US, depending on one's choice of bike, the budget can take a significant hit. But taking that into consideration, I would go back in a flash. Would I go back for a tour with this company? Unequivocally, YES ! They gave good value for the buck, good service, delivered what they promised with one added quibble on my part. I arrived days earlier but no one met me for assistance to get to our hotel. I underline quibble as the company cannot be expected to meet every individual arrival personally.
    And given the beauty of the Alps, unreservedly, I conclude this is the best riding I have ever experienced in my life. I will have to start saving my pennies for a return !!!

End of a long day !