Italy Dolomites

Overview

After dropping Kathi off for her flight back home to PDX, Chris hopped on a flight to Zurich, then a train to Zug where he was met by a smiling brother Joe.

Chris took the long-neglected Ducati Multistrada off for 10 days of touring starting with Lichtenstein, then the Italian Dolomites. The plan was to continue on to Vienna via the Austrain Alps, into Hungary, perhaps Romania, then back via the Czech Replublic. But, the Italian Dolomites proved too seductive, and Chris stayed there for the entire time. Better luck next time for more historical touring and fewer switchback turns.

Chris Uhlik on 2017 Ducati Multistrada 1200S

Daily Details and Naration

0) Sep 11 Sun	Flight to Zurich, train to Zug, cliff diving with Joe
1) Sep 12 Mon	Dolomites day 1 to Lichtenstein and Malonno
2) Sep 13 Tue	Dolomites day 2 loop to the west around Orbie Bergamashe to Tropfen
3) Sep 14 Wed	Dolomites day 3 loop north to Vipiteno
4) Sep 15 Thu	Dolomites day 4 loop SE around Dolomiti Bellunesi
5) Sep 16 Fri	Dolomites day 5 to Malcesini
6) Sep 17 Sat	Dolomites day 6 Malcesini loop around Lago di Garda
7) Sep 18 Sun	Dolomites day 7 to Temú
8) Sep 19 Mon	Dolomites day 8 Temú loop across Stelvio
9) Sep 20 Tue	Dolomites day 9 Temú to Lugano
10) Sep 21 Wed	Dolomites day 10 Lugano to Zug and transport museum in Lucern
11) Sep 22 Thu	Ducati to a shop then hang out at Joe's
12) Sep 23 Fri	Flight back home ZUR-FRA-PDX

click a calendar day to see daily details

Note: calendar days are clickable to see each day of the trip

Places I stayed and some other interesting points of interest

Some Thoughts on European Gasoline

Let's talk about octane. In the USA, we use (R+M)/2 method (Research Octane and Motor Octane ratings), and regular is 87 and premium is 91 or sometimes 93. Research Octane is measured in a test engine running 600 RPM with cold fuel while Motor Octane is measured in the same engine at 900 RPM with preheated fuel and a varying ignition timing. Europe (at least Italy and Croatia) uses only the Research Octane number and their "premium" really regular is 95 and their "super" is 97 or 98. Doesn't sound like much of a difference. The octane number is a percentage. They measure using the test fuel and a mixture of 2,2,4-trimethylpentane (iso-octane) and normal heptane. The percentage ratio of iso-octane and heptane that causes the same knocking as the test fuel is the octane number. So Octane (both RON and MON) are percentages of a mixture of iso-octane and heptane. 100 Octane means the test fuel performed exactly as well as pure octane (2,2,4-trimethylpentane). Which begs the question of what does 130 Octane mean?! Wikipedia is not much help here. Interestingly aviation 100LL is 100 octane when operated lean (stochiometric?) and 130 octane when operated rich (~20% excess fuel). The price difference in Italy between "Benzina Senza Piombo" regular and "Super" seems a bit smaller percentage than between regular and premium here in the USA. Many stations in Italy sell only "Senza Piombo" or only "Super" --- basically they offer one grade of gasolina and one grade of diesel. After a while I just stopped worrying about it even though the Multistrada has a pretty high performance engine. Mostly I was driving very conservatively. I never noticed any difference in performance or engine sound. If there was detonation under wide-open-throttle for 1 second, I wonder what A) it would sound/feel like, and B) damage it would do to the engine. Is this something to be concerned about? My personal working theory is that it matters more at high temperatures and high cylinder pressures, like hot day and large throttle openings near tuned peak torque RPMs. So, outside of track days, especially warm track days, it's just not something to worry about.

Distances

1) Sep 12 Mon	393 km	to Lichtenstein and Malonno
2) Sep 13 Tue	405 km	loop to the west around Orbie Bergamashe to Tropfen
3) Sep 14 Wed	256 km	loop north to Vipiteno
4) Sep 15 Thu	310 km	loop SE around Dolomiti Bellunesi
5) Sep 16 Fri	288 km	to Malcesini
6) Sep 17 Sat	200 km	Malcesini loop around Lago di Garda
7) Sep 18 Sun	286 km	to Temú w/ bicycle race detours
8) Sep 19 Mon	315 km	Temú loop across Stelvio
9) Sep 20 Tue	229 km	Temú to Lugano
10) Sep 21 Wed	232 km	Lugano to Zug
10 riding days	2900 km	average 290 km/day

300 km per day in the mountains on very narrow roads is pretty reasonable. My longest day of 405km did feel quite long. Even the first day with some more regular highway, almost no freeway, of 393 km was on the long, fatiguing side. Conclusion: when exploring backroads in Europe, really try to keep the plan to under 350km per day.

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