(East) European motorbike tour on 20y old BMW F650ST

For many years I've always been wanting to do some motorbike riding across the Alps, but somehow never managed to do so. It seems when in Germany I've always been too busy - contrary to the many motorbike tours around and across Taiwan which I did during my frequent holidays there.

This year I finally took the opportunity to combine visiting some friends in Hungary and Bavaria with a nice tour starting from Berlin over Prague and Brno (CZ), Bratislava (SK) to Tata and Budapeest (HU), further along lake Balaton (HU) towards Maribor (SI) and finally across the Grossglockner High Alpine Road (AT) to Salzburg and Bavaria before heading back to Berlin.

/images/f650st-grossglockner-hochalpenstrasse.jpg

It was eight fun (but sometimes long) days riding. For some strange turn of luck, not a single drop of rain was encountered during all that time, traveling across six countries.

The most interesting parts of the tour were:

  • Along the Elbe river from Pirna (DE) to Lovosice (CZ). Beautiful scenery along the river valley, most parts of the road immediately on either side of the river. Quite touristy on the German side, much more pleasant and quiet on the Czech side.

  • From Mosonmagyarovar via Gyor to Tata (all HU). Very little traffic alongside road '1'. Beautiful scenery with lots of agriculture and forests left and right.

  • The Northern coast of Lake Balaton, particularly from Tinany to Keszthely (HU). Way too many tourists and traffic for my taste, but still very impressive to realize how large/long that lake really is.

  • From Maribor to Dravograd (SI) alongside the Drau/Drav river valley.

  • Finally, of course, the Grossglockner High Alpine Road, which reminded me in many ways of the high mountain tours I did in Taiwan. Not a big surprise, given that both lead you up to about 2500 meters above sea level.

Finally, I have to say I've been very happy with the performance of my 1996 model BMW F 650ST bike, who has coincidentally just celebrated its 20ieth anniversary. I know it's an odd bike design (650cc single-cylinder with two spark plugs, ignition coils and two carburetors) but consider it an acquired taste ;)

I've also published a map with a track log of the trip

In one month from now, I should be reporting from motorbike tours in Taiwan on the equally trusted small Yamaha TW-225 - which of course plays in a totally different league ;)