[Not sure if this should go in Meeting Place, GS Owners or what - finally decided on GS Stories]
Just got back from a family "holiday" in Italy. I was thinking before we left, I might find time to squeeze in a ride. Bike rentals were about 100-200 Euro a day depending on what you wanted. Scooters - of which, there were zillions flying through the streets of downtown Rome - were about 50-70 euro a day. "Petrol" was about 1.8 euro per liter. Last I knew, 1 euro was about $1.31.
I snapped quite a few pics of the local bikes, and will post them up after setting up an account. A few Duks, several outside the "Ducati Cafe", a couple of Guzzy's, lots of Hondas (including a mint 72 500-4 - thought of you Adam! This one was brown), tons of BMWs, and a couple of Urals with hacks. I was surprised to see so many Harleys (maybe a dozen). Saw 1 Hyabusa, only a couple of Bandits, and actually spotted an 82 1100 Katana
. Odd, but of all of the bikes I saw, only the Honda 500-4, one of the Urals, and only a couple of the Duks were actually clean and shiney. The rest were obviously getting lots of use and city grime. I think the entire two weeks prior to our arrival had rained, so maybe that had some impact too.
While I was there, I could have rented a Honda 700 Transalp or CBR 600 (the bigger displacement rental bikes weren't ready for the new season yet
) for about 140 euro a day with 350 kilometers included, petrol was your expense. That's a little over 200 miles, and maybe 4 or 5 gallons, so roughly $35/$40 in gas a day. That plus the rental, $210/225 a day.
I've driven in Boston, New York, Atlanta, Dallas, LA - traffic in Rome was insane
- seems traffic signals are mostly suggestions in the city. Generally followed, but well below 95% - more like 70-75%. Definitely a heads up game in the city...
But a 2 hr train ride north to Florence toward the end of the holiday revealed some incredible potential for some amazing crusing through the countryside!
Edelweiss is an option (if you have tons of money) but a self planned, self paced trip with some B&Bs set up, would be considerably more affordable especially if you catch a break in airfare.
Probably be "a few years" saving for the next possible trip, but, what a possibility!
(This is actually easier than you think - my wife planned, and made all the reservations and deposits for our trip on-line, and the trip went without a hitch! Amazing what you can do on-line these days.)
So, any active members living in Italy that can make some recommendations on roads or sections? Northern Italy? Central? Crossing the mountains? The Alps? Coastlines?
(Oh, I ended up not renting the bike, and will use the $$ saved for the next project bike
)
Just got back from a family "holiday" in Italy. I was thinking before we left, I might find time to squeeze in a ride. Bike rentals were about 100-200 Euro a day depending on what you wanted. Scooters - of which, there were zillions flying through the streets of downtown Rome - were about 50-70 euro a day. "Petrol" was about 1.8 euro per liter. Last I knew, 1 euro was about $1.31.
I snapped quite a few pics of the local bikes, and will post them up after setting up an account. A few Duks, several outside the "Ducati Cafe", a couple of Guzzy's, lots of Hondas (including a mint 72 500-4 - thought of you Adam! This one was brown), tons of BMWs, and a couple of Urals with hacks. I was surprised to see so many Harleys (maybe a dozen). Saw 1 Hyabusa, only a couple of Bandits, and actually spotted an 82 1100 Katana
. Odd, but of all of the bikes I saw, only the Honda 500-4, one of the Urals, and only a couple of the Duks were actually clean and shiney. The rest were obviously getting lots of use and city grime. I think the entire two weeks prior to our arrival had rained, so maybe that had some impact too.While I was there, I could have rented a Honda 700 Transalp or CBR 600 (the bigger displacement rental bikes weren't ready for the new season yet
) for about 140 euro a day with 350 kilometers included, petrol was your expense. That's a little over 200 miles, and maybe 4 or 5 gallons, so roughly $35/$40 in gas a day. That plus the rental, $210/225 a day. I've driven in Boston, New York, Atlanta, Dallas, LA - traffic in Rome was insane
- seems traffic signals are mostly suggestions in the city. Generally followed, but well below 95% - more like 70-75%. Definitely a heads up game in the city...But a 2 hr train ride north to Florence toward the end of the holiday revealed some incredible potential for some amazing crusing through the countryside!
Edelweiss is an option (if you have tons of money) but a self planned, self paced trip with some B&Bs set up, would be considerably more affordable especially if you catch a break in airfare.
Probably be "a few years" saving for the next possible trip, but, what a possibility!
(This is actually easier than you think - my wife planned, and made all the reservations and deposits for our trip on-line, and the trip went without a hitch! Amazing what you can do on-line these days.)
So, any active members living in Italy that can make some recommendations on roads or sections? Northern Italy? Central? Crossing the mountains? The Alps? Coastlines?
(Oh, I ended up not renting the bike, and will use the $$ saved for the next project bike
)
