Annual Pilgrimage - This year the Tirol - Ducati.ms

**Gearbox** · Jul 12th, 2008, 12:44 pm

Returned from the Tirol at the end of last month having completed a total of 3275 Mls spread over 18 days.

We based ourselves in Landeck , Austria due to its central location and stayed 12 nights in the Tramserhof Hotel which can recommend highly although its outside the town so not for those who want a wild nightlife (Not sure thats available in Landeck anyway ....!)

A few facts/figures for those interested (Speeds/Figures GPS based):-

Total 3,275 Mls
Average Fuel Co-sump 43 mpg (Lowest Daily 35 mpg/Highest Daily 51 mpg) using mostly RON 91 unleaded.
Cruising on the motorways approx 1000 Mls each way at mostly 80-100 mph but on the first day we had 500 Mls to cover and didn't leave the ferry port at Ijmuiden until 10 am so was touching 120 mph on occasions with one short burst upto 130 mph when a Gixer wanted to cruise by and I decided he would have to work for it....sad I know but it kept me busy for a while.
(Funny thing , very few bikes travel at 100 mph plus , the Gixer was one of only a handful of bikes who passed us on our commutes , the outside lane being mostly full of Audi's Merc's and the bigger VW's)
The rest general mountain work.

Bike was loaded as follows:-

Rider 75Kg
Pillion 65Kg
Tankbag 7Kg
Topcase 12.5 Kg
Panniers 9Kg each

Running Michelin PR2's with the rear half worn by our return and the front barely touched.

We went through 5 passes in total.

Stelvio (2750M) approached from the north and Bernina (2200M) approached from the south after passing through Tirano.

Timmeljoch (2500M) approached through the Otz Valley and St.Leonard's (2200M) from the south on the return.

Silvretta (2200M) approached form the West but the best of it for sports bikes being the decent Eastwards

All the passes seem to have a steep , tiresome side (unless on a Super-Moto) and a more enjoyable flowing side.

The Silvretta we did on our last full day on the invitaion of the hotel's head chef/assistant manager who rides a 916 on the track , he said it was a beautiful road , which it was and wasn't very high (he lied !). My wife did not really want to do any more of the passes with their tight , un-barriered edges overlooking severe drops but was pleased once we reached the top having ridden through a low cloud base whichwa snot pleasant at all due to limited visibility on roads which really needed it.
A big thank you to Joergen who only rides on the road 4-5 times a year so a real honour to accompany him a very nice road (especially towards the end when a few more horse can be released)

The castle in the photo is the Neuschwanstein which is claimed to be the inspiration for the on ein the disney opening film sequence but who know's , its very nice but a bit touristy and not very old.

Good Tax Free town of Samnaun is worth a visit for Jewelry , Watches and Alchohol at low prices (A small shop even had Scots Whisky from one of the smaller local distillaries in my area (Fettercairn)

Have attached a few photo's here but due to limitsatiosn will post more in a new thread.

**Gearbox** · Jul 12th, 2008, 1:09 pm

Hotel Tramserhof
The track that our GPS decided to take us the hotel via !
Views either side of Mittelberg
View at a coffee stop half-way up the Stelvio
The bike at the top of the Stelvio
Joergen's 916 and few views down from the Silvretta summit

mowster · Jul 12th, 2008, 1:15 pm

Nice one gearbox! ; I`ve said it on these pages and elsewhere; that area is probly the best in the world for bikes.

esp. dukes

Bill_Anderson · Jul 13th, 2008, 4:25 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gearbox

The track that our GPS decided to take us the hotel via !

Track? Make that a goat trail. There is a GPS conspiracy to kill us all. See post #10 of my West Madness/2008 thread. West Coast Madness/2008

**Gearbox** · Jul 14th, 2008, 7:12 am

Hi Bill

Those 4th and 5th photoshots on the final posting are virtually the same terrain eh ? , basically a hiking trail...not much fun on an ST , sorry you took a tumble , I was lucky not to suffer the same fate !

I kept thinking "this is crazy" but just kept going for some inexplicable reason although I was thinking it was a hell of a road to get to a hotel !

My wife eventually got off and decided to walk - fortunately it was only about another 1/2 mile to the hotel and was glad I had the Duc as couldnt have got past the barrier on one of those beemer's........
I've now set the Zumo to "Truck" and that helps exclude some of these stupid paths......

The other thing I forgot to say was that we never had a single moment of trouble with the bike.

The Scottoiler with the Lubetube worked fine with no adjustment of the chain needed and no other reliablity issues , even the engine oil had only just reached the "Low" mark by the time we arrived home.

Clutch (Original) is still working fine at 43,000 Mls despite the tight turns on the passes and full load carried.

I think a proper dynoed custom PC3 map may have helped economy but couldn't afford the work before going but the map another member sent worked well with a few small alterations using the software supplied.
The first one I received (from a different member) looked a bit weak so I opted for the second mapped offered with a "richer" set-up hence the belief that co-sump could have been better but didn't want to risk the engine with a weak mixture.
Will try a get the mapping sorted before the end of season.

UGAchris · Jul 16th, 2008, 10:11 am

I've always wanted to ride through that area! beautiful! I was living and studying in Verona, IT for a majority of last year and took a ski trip to Val Gardena/ St. Ulrich in the Dolomites near the Austrian border and on the bus on the way up all I could think about was how fun it would be on a Duc in the summer. Great pics

DuckMan · Jul 18th, 2008, 6:14 pm

Beautiful ride and photos. 130 mph with the wife! Dude, you have a keeper!

**Gearbox** · Jul 21st, 2008, 7:05 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckMan

Beautiful ride and photos. 130 mph with the wife! Dude, you have a keeper!

Cheers

She puts her head down and I tell her afterwards .....Simple !

Having said that she came round the old Nurburgring (13 Miles of beautiful road) and we hit the same speed on the last straight that returns to the pits (You cant take a flying lap in an effort to stop the red mist descending)
On that occasion we would have gone faster but I realised that we still had the panniers on and I wasn't sure at what speed the became detachable pods so throttled off !!!!

What fun these bikes are !