German autobahns?

Umm, technical question? If I were to venture on the Autobahn 8 near
Kaiserslautern and run it all the way down to near Salzburg, would I be
in significant physical danger? Wikipedia makes it sound like a death
sentence road. Having ridden in major US cities and very heavy traffic
on some pretty poor road conditions, I think I have the experience
level to handle it. Speed doesn't neutralize me with fear, but idiotic
drivers do. I can ride 130kph quite handily. (It's our normal travel
speed on our interstates in Michigan)

I'd prefer to do this and get to the Pension quickly to spend my time
in the touring area. Opinion?

 

German drivers, are, in my experience, good. They drive fast, always
pull over after overtaking and don't hang around in the outside lane
when they aren't overtaking.

Keep it above 200kph and you'll be fine.

 

You big nancy. It sounds quite interesting, for a motorway.

130kph? Are you planning to be the slowest thing out there?

It has to be cheaper than making progress on German roads that aren't
autobahns.

 

Tossies guide to Autobahn riding.

1) When changing lanes look. The look again. Then make damn sure a
Ferrari isn't bearing down on you at 200 mph in the fast lane.

2) Indicate and nail the fucker, you need to get up to speed fast or
you'll have a Bloody Minded Wanker breathing down your neck.

3) Relax, you're still alive, now you can sit tight until you get bored
enough to return to a more sedentry pace and the Mercedes lane.

4) Watch for speed limits. Very little of the autobahn network is
actually unlimited, all junctions, rough tarmac, narrow lanes, road
works, small yellow furry creatures all cause a limit to be imposed.
Typically 120-140 kph, they often have cameras, I've set a good few off
in my time.


It ain't that bad, but traffic speed differential can be very high, so
be decisive and if the road is empty in front of you move back. Apart
from that, it's like any other freeway.

 

<grin> I work and ride in the inner city of Detroit and have taken a
bike into NY city. I can be aggressive, calm or whatever the situation
requires. Faster is better.

The description on wiki makes it sound like the road is more cratered
than the moon with drug addled motorists weaving across and using both
lanes simultaneously. I generally don't believe all that I read on the
interwebs, hence the "silly" questions.

I said 130kph handily. 100+ mph is fun, but I generally run what the
majority of the traffic is doing. On our twisty bits, my general rule
is double the limit plus 10.

You earned a beer or two for this response. Come get it in K-slautern.

 

The majority of the traffic will be doing 100+ mph if it's clear enough.

I hopped across the border last year in the car on the way back (kinda)
from collecting a crate of beer from Higgins. I tagged onto the line of
cars in front, and we were cruising at 120mph. Even then, something [1]
still came up behind me like I was barely moving.

On our (UK) twisty bits, double the limit plus ten is between 110 and
130mph, depending. Of course, our limits are merely advisory.

I won't be passing by that way til August. And September. You're coming
over too early.

[1] A Porsche that'd I'd seen going round Spa half an hour or so
beforehand.

 

It depends on the road. I rode the A5 from .. erm, I don't recall the
exact towns, but it was on my way from Stuttgart to Freiburg. I'm informed
that the A5 was the first of the Autobahnen to be built by Hitler, hence
its horrendous condition.

From memory, I'm not even sure that something as 'slow' as 100 mph would be
possible. A lot of the Autobahnen are two-lane, so if you stay on the
inside lane, you'll be stuck in the long line of oldies, 'just-passed-test'
youngies and foreigners who've covered their seats in crap through fear.
If you try to drive/ride at 100 mph on the outside lane, you'll be moving
over every thirty seconds as yet another black Mercedes S-Class, Audi A5 or
Volvo V70 comes steaming up your rear at 140 mph+, flashing his lights for
you to get out of the way (a practice which is apparently illegal).

--
des
'If we ever get anything like a kind of just society, things like my
standard of living may very well not exist. In that sense, there will
be, I think, material deprivation in some manner for a large part of
the population. And I think there ought to be'
(Noam Chomsky (1928 - ))
<http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/>

 

There are some nice bits on the way. You could head down to the bodensee
and across

Bollocks, its just motorway like any other motorway

130km/h is middle land speed, you have to be prepared to be going
200km/h + in the outside lane

Germans tend to be disciplined drivers, just watch out for the fat old
businessmen in their fast cars who think that you are in their way when
you have nowhere to go

Heidelburg, Ulm, Nuernberg, the Rhein etc, usw,

plenty to see on the way down

 

My experience of the autobahns was much like you described - back in
1988 that was. The experience in 2008 and 2009 was quite different.
Loads and loads of speed restrictions (as per Tosspot's post), loads
and loads of road works with really low limits (I also heard filtering
is illegal in Germany but only after I got back - no idea if it's true
or not). I was most amazed by the lack of discipline of the drivers.
We were all trying to see how fast our bikes would go. My mate got up
to 170+mph on his 'busa when someone pulled out in front of him with
no notice and with buggerall reason from what I could see. I was
genuinely surprised at the difference between my 1st and 2nd visits.

 

Sounds like my normal riding style. I prefer to ride in the open
pockets and have good visibility of the road conditions fore and idiots
aft. When I pass, it's quite decisive. Sounds like I'll be just fine
if I ride as usual.

 

Yes, filtering is illegal in Germany & Austria. The Austrians, like the
Swiss get upset if you use a filter lane to get to the front of a queue.

 

It's okay on the German Autobahn. Just take care changing lanes on the 2
lane sections especially. As others have said, there are loads of speed
limits due to roadworks.

You'll probably hop onto the Austrian motorways at some point. Spend the 5
euros on a vignette (motorway permit) which will last 10 days. As Adie
found out, it's a 60 euro fine if they catch you without one. German
motorways are free.

 

Seriously, you'll be fine. IME, riding in Europe is much easier than
the US. The average skill and discipline is much higher. There are far
fewer clueless twits on the road. Ride with your normal cautious
aggression and relax.

 

As others have said, watch your mirrors for very fast cars coming up
behind you. Otherwise autobahns are fine.

The other thing to watch for in Germany is that drivers generally are
very law-abiding, and sometimes try to prevent you from breaking the
law yourself. So you'll find when filtering (who wants to sit in a
10-mile queue?) that cars will close the gap on you deliberately. Off
the autobahn you'll find, if overtaking on a solid line, cars moving
up to close the gap and try and prevent you getting back on to your
own side.

Sound plan.

 

And don't underestimate just how seriously they take that.

 

Listen to this man - he knows.

 

http://twitpic.com/4wq2y9

 

This is a troll, yes?

If not, 80mph is the speed we filter through traffic. Add another 100kph
to that speed and you're somewhere near autobahn speeds.

--
Veggie Dave
http://www.iq18films.co.uk

"To assert that the earth revolves around the sun is as erroneous as to claim
that Jesus was not born of a virgin." Cardinal Bellarmine

 

The stretch between Stuttgart and Munich has some steep hills, is narrow (2
lanes ) in parts and is prone to accidents and hold-ups, most problems tend
to occur in the winter months though. It is also a lot better between Munich
and Salzburg.
German autobahns have a system of signposted diversions which can be useful.
At most autobahn exits you will see a blue sign like this:

http://images.wikia.com/fahrschule/images/c/c8/Zeichen_460.png

the U stands for umleitung or diversion.

Remember that number and follow the same number at every junction and it
will bring you back to the same autobahn at the next entry. Useful if there
is any hold-up (although a lot of others will be using the same diversion)
but also useful if you just want a break from the autobahn or you need food,
drink or petrol which will be cheaper away from the autobahn.

HTH

 

260 Euros? Yikes! I can't read the German, what were you doing?