**************************** Edit July 27th, 2016
The rental bikes are gone. I envision to organize the next Alps tour in June 2018.
*****************************End edit
Hi there,
This is Helmut, a native German who's been living around the BWI area for 20+years. I've been doing some riding here and there and I've met a few of you BMWBMWs on some occasions. I'm not retired, but very blessed being able to take off about 2 months every year, which are spent riding a bike. Lately my riding focus has shifted back to Europe, namely the Alps. My German home-base is very close to the Alps and Lake Constance. There I have family and friends, and 2 motorcycles : A R1100GS and a lovely VStrom .
The last few times I rode the Alps, I've been taking various friends along, putting them up on one of my two motorcycles. And we always had a blast, because the Alps feature the best riding and collection of fantastic roads anywhere in the world. During those trips my buddies always told me to go and "expand" these fun tours to others. After some thought I finally decided to give this a try with a small group. So if you are interested, contact me, and eventually we could meet and go for a day ride locally to see if we are a good match for such a trip.
Greets
Helmut
*********************** Trip Details *********************************
(added info Dec-13-2015)
I would take up to 3 experienced solo riders along, for total of 4 bikes on the road.
Trip would start approx. mid September 2016. It would be 10-14 riding days. There is no fixed route. We look for hotels at the end of each riding day.
Total cost estimate for 14 days of riding is less than $6000...... INCLUDING airfare, R1200GS rental bikes (with side/top cases, tankbag, GPS), hotels, meals, gas, tolls, European phone, trip from/to airport and beer. You pay all expenses (flight, hotels, meals, gas, bikes, etc) directly, as they are occurring. The rental R1200GS 's come with top/side case, tank bag, GPS. In the unlikely case that a bike brakes down, a backup bike would be available within a day.
(Estimate based on current exchange rate of $1.10 for 1 Euro).
That $6000 would include some serious over mileage on the rental bikes, and collision insurance ($1000 deductable). Here a breakdown of cost:
$1600 roundtrip Flight to Stuttgart or Munich
$200 train tickets to/from airport
$900 R1200GS for 2 weeks, including 3500km. Each kilometer after that is 0.27 Euro. With all back roads I expect 4000-4500km.
$300 (270 Euro)for additional 1000km
$310 (20Euro per day) for optional collision insurance
$2100 14days at $150 for hotels, breakfast, lunch , dinner, some beer, gas, tolls,
Grand Total Guestimate: $5410
To avoid nasty surprises, check with your health insurance to see what is covered abroad. You might want to add some travel (health) insurance.
---Bike rental place specifics:
They only rent R1200GS.
Securing a R1200GS will take a 100Euro non refundable deposit.
Full bike rental price is due 14 days before trip.
A $1100 (1000Euro) safety deposit is due when picking up rental bike.
Low seats are available. I strongly recommend that riders should be able to flatfoot the R1200GS at a stop. That comes in real handy during unexpected stops on steep and oddly shaped road surfaces.
Bike Rental Cancellations cost are fair:
100 Euro (your deposit), 2 weeks or more, before event.
40% of rental price if canceled 24hours to 13days before
70% of rental price if canceled less than 24hours before.
As for the ride: I prefer a somewhat spirited riding pace, with a few photo stops here and there. There will be fantastic sceneries with plenty of twisties, steep and narrow roads, cork screw switchbacks and some gravel roads. We will pass some cars and buses on windy mountain roads.
Various things are open for discussion:
If desired, we could only ride 10 days.
We may also throw in a sightseeing day, or not.
Some may take a day off, while others ride that day.
etc.
Below are some pictures and videos I took during my past trips through the Alps. This should give you an idea of what this trip could be like.
Videos:
https://vimeo.com/131727206
https://vimeo.com/132162752
https://vimeo.com/86783515
https://vimeo.com/141285912
Pictures
https://flic.kr/s/aHskg2gjsA
https://flic.kr/s/aHskmpGBN8