Trip to Ducati Factory - Advice Please!

[Jungle24]

Me and a mate are planning a trip to the factory for a tour and look round the museum etc and are going to ride over from Hertfordshire.

Does anyone have any advice for the best route to take, ferries or tunnel etc. Also if there are any must see attractions or roads on the way that we should know about.

I know there was a group who recently went over for WDW and it would be interesting to know your route and thoughts.

We are thinking of leaving on a Thursday evening and coming back fror the following Monday. Is this totally unrealistic? According to Googlemaps the journey is 857 mile each way!

We are aiming for September as should be a little cooler than the mid 30's of August!

All advice is welcome and greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[J.P]

Rule No.1 - You will only average maximum 50 miles an hour, howevery you try, you have to stop, you have to rest, and the average just works out at 50 ! So, your 857 mile of motorway will take you 17.1 hours of non-stop riding. (about 350 miles in a day is fine - 7 hours)

Rule No.2 -If you're going on a scenic route over mountains etc it's more like 30 mph average. Honestly.

I like the fast route through France , Auto route to nearly Lyon, then turn off to Geneva, then Mont Blanc tunnel and into Italy.Turin now has Italy's largest Ducati dealership apparently.


If you turn off from France into Germany, you can drop through into Switzerland and across the Alps. Personally I find that route a little slower.

[J.P]

The Germans are really strict on loud cans apparently. The Swiss are sticklers for speeding.

[Jungle24]

Thanks JP - I think a bit more time off is in order. My mate is going to be on a GSXR 750 and he has visions of ripping through Europe at silly speeds but I much prefer to keep my license and take it the views.
I do have very loud cans so I will have to avoid Germany then!

[J.P]

You can do silly speeds if you like, but it just doesn't work. You use more petrol, stop more often and are more tired, so you have to stop more.....

And if you're on the French Autoroute, you need to plan your fuel stops carefully, the garages can be anything from 30 to 50 miles apart some times.

[J.P]

And when you do eventually get to Bologna it's well worth looking for the FUTA PASS which goes up into the mountains towards Florence. Mostly new tarmac and just fantastic piece of road. Be careful though on all mountain roads in Italy, they are terrible drivers and will cut corners like crazy.

[Madamejones]

I want to do this trip next year and was thinking about September too when the temperature is a bit cooler. There doesn't seem much point in blasting through all that lovely scenery though :scratch:

I found this website which seems quite helpful http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/ ....
I haven't got any further though than just thinking about the trip.....gotta actually buy my Monster 695 yet.....only passed my DAC 3 weeks ago!

[Ducmon]

The Germans are really strict on loud cans apparently. The Swiss are sticklers for speeding.

They are not that bothered in Berlin with loud cans you just dont blast pass the police and they have to have an e number. They may be more worried about the buzz from japs but the deep throated roar of Ducati has never worried the police and I have straight through pipes with no decibel killers.

[J.P]

Ducmon, never had a problem myself, just going on what the Belgian Monster owners have told me in the past. And they've been **** scared of German police if they've got noisy cans.

[gary tompkins]

As a guide..

I did the return leg of the WDW trip in 5 days. That was Catollica to Dartford via Calais, and just over 1100 miles in total. I only rode 350 miles total last 2 days, having made good early progress in Switzerland and France. So it would have been possible to manage this in 4 days fairly comfortably.

Roads were M/ways (tolls) in Italy, D roads in Switzerland, and all D or N roads in France with just 70k of toll M/way prior to Calais.

I would allow 4 days each way, plus what ever you need in Bologna for factory etc..

[Steve'o'M900]

Afew of us did a France/Italy round trip in 2008, we averaged 8hr days (which on reflection was too long for each day, especially when your on day 10 and you sit there and realise "Oh great 8hrs coming up"....
We went down through Dijon (Macon) then down through the Mont Blanc tunnel and across to Bergamo which was stunning, whilst we were there we did WSB Monza then down to Bologna. You'll need to book a tour, as we didn't but luckily we drank all night in an industrial park cafe and the owner was a bike nut and his best pal worked on the production line so he got us in, so make sure you sort it out before deploying. We then went down to the Rimini coast and then out via Florence/Pisa and upto Monaco. Eventually going upto Le Mans for MotoGp.
1: Good tips are to get off the toll roads as the cost mounts up quickly unfortunately you tend to stay on them to cover the distance quickly.
2: Watch out for the car drivers in Italy, they are mental and aren't afraid to drive right on your rear wheel.
3: Keep your distances short enough so that you don't get fed up.
4: Get the Ventura packs as they are truly awesome for travelling with and so easy to rip on and off.

[Jungle24]

Brilliant advice all - thanks so much!

I am defo not going to atempt this in 4-5 days round trip its just not going to happen is it!!

I do want to take in the scenery and not feel like I am against the clock all the time.

Will let you know how I get on.

Cheers again!

[Jan (Belgium)]

Roads to ride:

Futa Pass from Bologna to Firenze (SP65 / SS65)
From the Futa pass turn left to Borgo San Lorenze (SP551)
Next left again on to the SS67 towards Forli (even better then the Futa pas)


Have fun

[J.P]

By which time, your brain, eyes & arms will be so exhausted, you'll just want to do it all again !

[StuartJames]

When you're there, can you ask why it takes so long for parts to arrive in the UK!!!!

[Jungle24]

Yes I think I will! The dealer line is that they changed their computer system! I had to wait 4 weeks for sprockets!! I could also mention that they are worse at football than us too!!