270 replies to this topic

[JollyGiant]

If you're planning on going to Austria on this trip be careful if any of you have fitted HID lights.
Technically they're illegal all over the EU, but we generally get away with it here

But just read on the GS forum that people are getting pulled by the Austrian police & getting 200 euro fines if they have HID fitted !

That would be sooo funny if you all got pulled and told you couldn't use them so had to ride at night with your lights on

[sidestand]

But we're they British riders? Many after market enhancements are banned in other EU countries, especially exhausts and like many of us on this forum who regularly tour in europe have, but I personally don't know of anyone who's been nicked for any of these enfringements of local laws?

Britsh Riders - that's why there's all the complaining

Thread below (apologies to Ivan for quoting GS thread )

http://www.ukgser.co...p;highlight=HID

[Studley Ramrod]

That was an amusing read Mick ! lol
Turns out to be 2 fat wacs on loaded up Gs's blazin' a trail in broad daylight with HID headlights and 2 HID spots aimed at the sky! 50 euro fine per light. I reckon the cops stashed the 200 cash and gave a ticket fer the 200 payed by credit card.

I guess, at the end of the day, the cops can fine you if they really want to, so best not to overdo the attention grabbin' 'look at me' routine.

[dablik]

You may have summarised it quite well there Ian,,, however i can tell you from 1st hand experience Austrian police the width and breadth of the country are mainly a bunch of N***s,,have not met one of em who had a thimble full of empathy whatsoever,, I used to take a truck from Germany twice a week through Austria,,either to Slovakia, Poland. Hungary, Czech or Slovenia and met a fair few,, been fined for blinker out,, a headlight bulb etc even though i carried spares to change em,, one time i had been driving through consistent rain for 100's of km and at the last services desperate for a pee, came back out to find plod waiting,,,who told me "Vee cannot zee your Number on zee plate" from 150 metres,,,,so i went to have a look,,no problem for me so i told him something like he should go to specsavers as he obviously had a problem,, of course he got quite angry and decided i should give him X amount of Schillings,,,,but while he was ranting i gave the number plate a good few swipes with me lumberjack sleeve he was insistent on a fine,,, i refused to pay.........so now that he could see my number properley he decided it would be sent in the post,,,was appealed and dropped,,,,,,so my advice is,,,,,,,,

If they stop you cos of your HID lights tell em that as they were fitted in the UK and you are merely passing through they are obliged to conform with regs from the country of origin,,,,,(assuming your not blinding everybody of course) refuse to pay the fine,,let them send you a notice if they can be arsed,,,they probably will though

I would argue with em,, admittedly speaking some of the lingo is helpful,,,,but in my experiance there mostly fookin anal....

Edited by dablik, 31 August 2012 - 08:18 pm.

[sidestand]

The only trouble with that theory Dablik, is that HID conversions are not really legal in the UK - you can fail an MOT with them, although lots of testing stains are pretty sympathetic & take a view on 'em.

[dablik]

The only trouble with that theory Dablik, is that HID conversions are not really legal in the UK - you can fail an MOT with them, although lots of testing stains are pretty sympathetic & take a view on 'em.

Yea i understand that Sidey,, but i would assume they are not really au fait with our rules and regs,,,but of course you never know,, i'm certainly not anti-plod but in my experiance the Austrian plod,, well like i said above.. and that experiance also extends to Austrian Custom Officials,,but thankfully with open borders that's not an issue.

I think our lads who have HID fitted should change em before they go,,£200 is a lot of money from anyones wallet,,, mind you Austria can also be easily avoided in the Alps..

[Saga Lout]

Whatever is right or wrong I certainly appreciate the warning, although I personally have never had a problem in Austria but maybe I've just been lucky? Anyhow, as we probably won't be travelling at night I'll just turn off my lights during the day and be even more vigilant than normal, even though I normally have them on at all times.

[dablik]

Whatever is right or wrong I certainly appreciate the warning, although I personally have never had a problem in Austria but maybe I've just been lucky? Anyhow, as we probably won't be travelling at night I'll just turn off my lights during the day and be even more vigilant than normal, even though I normally have them on at all times.

But Saga i think thats the point,,, my understanding is while cars are not required to run lights in the day time ( apparent reverse of legislaton),,,bikes must do this in Austria,,,
According to the AA "It is prohibited to drive with sidelights only" and "The use of dipped headlights is compulsory" hence Sidey bringing up the issue to you chaps..

Edited by dablik, 01 September 2012 - 09:47 am.

[Saga Lout]

But Saga i think thats the point,,, my understanding is while cars are not required to run lights in the day time ( apparent reverse of legislaton),,,bikes must do this in Austria,,,
According to the AA "It is prohibited to drive with sidelights only" and "The use of dipped headlights is compulsory" hence Sidey bringing up the issue to you chaps..

Okay dab's I didn't realise this and thanks for the warning, maybe I'll take some standard H7's with me?

[Hartside Man]

er question ? do those tall gas canisters fit your stove ? as it looks like you have a screw fitting stove, might be well to test it.

yes i did find out that night , the cans i bought are the push in type and i did indeed need a screw on one .

i wouldnt care i picked up the screw on one then saw the others and thought they were neater and would pack better.

was lucky enough to have a spare screw type at home

was a bit narked that the guy in the store didnt point out the difference and at myself for not pulling off a red plastic cap and checking

[3vd]

yes i did find out that night , the cans i bought are the push in type and i did indeed need a screw on one .

i wouldnt care i picked up the screw on one then saw the others and thought they were neater and would pack better.

was lucky enough to have a spare screw type at home

was a bit narked that the guy in the store didnt point out the difference and at myself for not pulling off a red plastic cap and checking

I've got the stove which takes the push in ones, you're welcome to use it.

[catsbum]

Hartside
I have a spare screw in one. Do a swap when we meet at the hotel if you want

[drumwrecker]

Petrol Stove is the answer. Mine works a treat.
And thanks for ignoring my request to join you, I will obviously be in better company when I go.

[3vd]

Dave, I never got your email address, can you PM me your email address so I can send the link so you can add stuff?

I've sent off my TomTom as the bloody SD door is bust, so I can't view the ITN files etc. at the moment.

I've tried looking at the routes Dave has done but I'm not sure which of the following POIs are included in the routes.

Any chance Dave could send the POIs of interest so i can add them to my TomTom (if I get it back in time....)

Here's the list of POIs from the Google Map I started, with points added......

https://maps.google....67326,20.412598

Calais - It begins!

Gasthaus Am Tunnel - Nice bike friendly guesthouse

Freiburg - Nice town

Konstanz - Steve

Castle Vaduz - Would like to visit

Flüelastrasse/Route 28 - MarkD

Stelvio - Steve

To: SS41 - MarkD

Neuschwanstein Castle - Very much like to visit

Füssen - Nice place

Herrenchiemsee - Would like to see, a museum in the centre of a lake, where Ludwig went mad?

Großglockner Hochalpenstraßen AG - Paul

Kehlsteinhaus - Eagles Nest, defo want to go here

Hallein Salt Mine - We have to do this, amazing!

Eisriesenwelt - Would like to visit

Furka Pass - Yup!

Grimsel Pass - Yup!

Museo del Motociclo Moto Guzzi - Steve

Lake Garda - Nice to visit

Museo Ducati - Worth a look?

Turin - I’d like to ride through Turin as I’m a Mini fan, Italian job!

Lucca Province of Lucca - Beautiful City, was on Top Gear, the Walled City!

Pisa Province of Pisa - Leaning Tower

Genoa - Pick up the coast, depending on weather, time, etc.

Canyon du Verdon - MarkD or Paul wanted this one, looks nice!

Millau Bridge - MarkD or Paul wanted this one, again looks nice.

Paris - I’d quite like to travel through Paris, not really to hang about but just ride though and see the Eiffel Tower, the Arc De Triomphe etc.

Strada Provinciale 50, Gran Paradiso National Park - This is the getaway route from the end of the Italian Job, you know where the bus is over the edge!

Strada Provinciale 50, Gran Paradiso National Parkhttps://maps.google....3...mp;t=m&z=13

Edited by MaximusPetrolhead, 02 September 2012 - 02:54 pm.

[dablik]

Mark, dont know how fixed your itinerary is,, and i dont know if you realise,,,but you would be far better to make Neuscwanstein your 1st visit followed by Herrenchiemsee and then on to the Eagles nest, in B'garden,, not sure you could get all those visits in a day done,,, however if you do it over 2 days i see you wish to visit the Salt mines in Hallein,,, did you know there is a Saltmine in Berchtesgaden also,, it's brilliant http://www.salzzeitr.../meta/home.html
with slides an all http://www.google.co...g...366&bih=587

You can ride right through B/gaden or skirt around it on the way to the Eagles nest..
Also if you decide to go to Herrenchiemsee, a lovely short boat ride to the Island and a horse and cart ride to the Castle lol, i can recommend a place for refreshment when you get back to Prien off the ferry, 7km from Prien in Felden right on Lake Chiemsee is a place called "The Bade House",,great food and owned by a Brit,, also the direction to B/gaden. This area was home for me.. seems like a fantastic trip anyway.. i can route you to B/gaden from this area to the Eagles nest if you decide to go that way along part of the Alpine Strasse..

Edit,, A boat ride on Lake Konigsee is a must do,, maybe you should all extend your holiday

Edited by dablik, 02 September 2012 - 04:28 pm.

[big dave]

Mark

although the list you posted contains some great sites in and around the alps, in the time frame we have there isn't a hope in hell of achieving them all.

the routes i have done have captured as many of them as I could.

The daily mileages are quite high considering the terrain we will be travelling through AND the fact that we are camping. I can't see us departing campsites before 9.00am and stopping much after 6.00pm. this gives 9 hours in between, factor in stops for drinks, photo opportunities, meals and CAKE then I don't see us doing much more mileage than I have suggested.

as i have stressed all along I have presented my routes as a template / skeleton to base our travels on. what I would suggest is that we bear in mind places on the list and if peeps want to make small diversions to visit the different locations on it then the decisions can be made enroute

Dave

[Saga Lout]

Sorry Mark but I'm with the big fella, way too ambitious for my liking in only ten days ...

[3vd]

It's just a list of POIs....... Doesn't mean we have to do them all

[Saga Lout]

Just checked the ten day forecast for koblenz in Germany and its looking pretty good

[3vd]

Mark, dont know how fixed your itinerary is,, and i dont know if you realise,,,but you would be far better to make Neuscwanstein your 1st visit followed by Herrenchiemsee and then on to the Eagles nest, in B'garden,, not sure you could get all those visits in a day done,,, however if you do it over 2 days i see you wish to visit the Salt mines in Hallein,,, did you know there is a Saltmine in Berchtesgaden also,, it's brilliant http://www.salzzeitr.../meta/home.html
with slides an all http://www.google.co...g...366&bih=587

You can ride right through B/gaden or skirt around it on the way to the Eagles nest..
Also if you decide to go to Herrenchiemsee, a lovely short boat ride to the Island and a horse and cart ride to the Castle lol, i can recommend a place for refreshment when you get back to Prien off the ferry, 7km from Prien in Felden right on Lake Chiemsee is a place called "The Bade House",,great food and owned by a Brit,, also the direction to B/gaden. This area was home for me.. seems like a fantastic trip anyway.. i can route you to B/gaden from this area to the Eagles nest if you decide to go that way along part of the Alpine Strasse..

Edit,, A boat ride on Lake Konigsee is a must do,, maybe you should all extend your holiday

Cheers Dablik, yes that makes sense, and those links are great.

This time next week I'll be going to bed ready for an early start.

I can see a return visit!