5 Apps you’ll need while riding a motorcycle in Italy

Be ready for the adventure!

When you make a motorcycle trip there are many things to prepare: documents, bookings, gear, itineraries, visits, etc… Nowadays there is a new factor that is absolutely important: have all the information you might need on your smartphone. Here below you’ll find 5 apps we recommend you to download before starting your motorbike adventure.

 

1-Google Maps:

Maybe there’s not much to say about it, almost everybody knows it and use it everyday. In my opinion it’s still the best map app. Remember to download the map of the area you are going to so you’ll safe mb’s and it will always work even in areas with poor coverage. I personally use it all the time, even in a normal daily use because of the real time traffic information. 

Download

2-Prezzi Benzina:

Literally “Fuel Prices”. Very useful in Italy for two reasons: 

  1. You’ll find the prices of the gas stations that are near you so you can safe money (sometimes there are huge price differences between gas stations in Italy)
  2. Often it is more important because when you have a few gas, you will find the closest gas station to your position, it saved me / my customers a couple of times!

Download

3-Storm Radar:

I knew about his app thanks to a customer. We were near the Lake Trasimeno and a storm was coming. Thanks to the app we knew when and where it was going to rain. We studied the situation and made a decision… at the end the rain found us and we got to the hotel completely wet, but it was fun! Anyway, I consider it useful in many cases, it will give you more information than just your personal feelings.

Download

4-Rick Steves Audio Europe:

If you are American you probably know perfectly him, but for me it was a great discovery! Some customers from LA showed me this app which is very nice and I loved it since the first moment. Basically it is very complete audio tours with many cities and monuments that we visit during our tours. Highly recommended to have more information regarding the places we visit.

Download

5-Relive:

A very simple and easy app that will produce an impressive result. It allows you to record the trip you are making and then it will produce a very nice video including maps, pictures you have made and information of the trip like total distance, elevation, maximum speed, average speed, etc. I love to use it for our video-souvenirs of our tours.

Download

Our news for 2019: calendar, dates and events

New year, new adventures!

2018 has just ended, so it’s time to take stock of the situation. It has been a great year for us for many reasons:

  • We had many new customers who are now friends, I would like personally to thank all of them and wish you a great 2019!
  • Our customers seem to be happy with their experience as all the reviews we received are 5 stars!
  • We had many good experiences and adventures, many good things happened during the tours
  • No accidents: this is very important, there were 0 accidents, everybody got home safe and in one piece, maybe some hurt butt!
  • Some little problems but solved quickly: not always everything goes 100% perfect and we obviously had some little situation to manage, but we were able to solve them all (the protagonists will remember haha!)

 

KTM, BMW and Ducati riding on the Futa Pass

 

We are now focused in 2019 with many news:

Our tours for 2019 are already on calendar and bookable, we will offer:

 

 

Riding in the amazing Sorano area

 

Also:

We have new t-shirts you can buy now and are free if you book your tour before February 15th.
We will update soon the rental motorcycles with the new BMW and Ducati models, also we will add more Moto Guzzi models.
We have cancelled the Apennines Tour as it was the one with lower demand.
We feel that 2019 will be a great riding year, we are ready to make you discover our wonderful region, we hope you are ready too!

 

t-shirt
Our 2019 T-Shirt, now for sale!

 

Rent a motorcycle: 5 factors you need to consider

Wish to rent a bike for your tour? This is for you!

When you book a motorcycle tour with us you can choose between coming to Tuscany with your own bike (option that many europeans prefer) or rent a bike in Florence through us. We have almost all the models of BMW, Ducati and some Moto Guzzis. In case you decide to fly to Florence and then rent a bike, here are 5 factors your might consider on your choice:

 

  • Your height: It is very important to make sure the bike is not too big and not too small for you. If the bike is too small, you will not feel comfortable and may have physical issues. If the bike is too big you might have problems at low speeds or during the parking / starting procedure. On our rentals page (https://tuscanymotorcycletours.com/rental-service/) you can see the detail of the seat height for each model (on “additional information” tab). This useful page can also help you on your decision: http://cycle-ergo.com/

 

  • Your riding experience: Obviously this is a very important factor. If you do not have much experience, it is important to rent an “easy” bike: light, simple and not too powerful. If you are starting as a rider it is easier to ride a Ducati Scrambler than a Ducati Multistrada 1260!

 

Tips for your rental motorcycle in Tuscany Ducati and BMW

 

  • Your “motorcycle history”: Do you own a naked bike? A Harley-Davidson? A BMW? Consider the roads we are going to ride have many curves and it is important that you feel safe and with confidence with your rental bike. Tell us what bike do you own and we will let you know which one, in our opinion, fits better.

 

  • The tour duration: Are you interested in booking a one day tour? Two days? Our one full week tour? That definitely makes a difference. For a day tour a naked bike might be a great option for the Tuscan roads. But if you book the week tour (4 to 5 riding hours per day, 1.200 km on one week), in that case we will recommend something more comfortable for you and your pillion (Ducati Multistrada 1260/950, BMW R1200/800GS, BMW R1200RT…).

 

  • Your own preferences! Let’s be honest: a bike choice has a big emotional factor. Did you always wanted to ride a Diavel? Do you dream of making a thousand of italian curves on a red Ducati? Do you wish to try the last BMW model with the finest electronic in the world? Just do it! This is made to enjoy and have fun!

 

Tips for your rental motorcycle in Tuscany – Riding Downhill

Italian Tolls and Gas Stations: all you need to know

Toll and gas station tips, important to know!

Let’s start with a premise: in Italy everything is complicated and different but, once you know how it works, it is easy. So we will give you information and tips to make your motorcycle adventure in Italy easier and simpler.

Tolls in Italy

In Italy the main highways have tolls (AUTOSTRADA). There are some minor free-highways where payment is not required. In the map below you can see the toll-highways (in green) and the free-highways (in blue).

Highway network in Italy

How to recognize if you are in a toll road (autostrada)? Green Color

If you’re on a road indicated with green signs, you’re on an autostrada. If you’re not on an autostrada but are following green signs, they will lead you to the autostrada. If you’re on a road that looks pretty significant but the signs are blue, it’s not an autostrada, and it’s also not a toll road.

How Tolls Work?

When you access to the highway you need to stop and take your entrance ticket. Keep this ticket for all the journey and don’t lose it! In case of lost ticket you will be charged the cost of the highest distance from your exit point (often more than 60 euros). When you leave the highway, stop at the lane for cash or credit card payment (CARTE), insert your entrance ticket, then you will see in the display the amount to pay and then pay with cash or credit card. Either in the entrance or the exit to the highway don’t use the TELEPASS lane, that is only for vehicles that have the TELEPASS contract and machine.

When using a highway in Italy in motorcycle we recommend to have your wallet with you in a closed pocket.

Gas stations in Italy

The gas stations on the autostrada are more expensive.

Since some years in almost all the gas stations you have 2 prices for each fuel type:

  • SERVITO: which means “served”, in this case, the staff will put the fuel on your vehicle and the price is higher (around 0,20 € more per liter)
  • SELF-SERVICE (or fai da te): as the name says you do it on your own. In this case the price is cheaper (today around 1,60 € per liter)
Servito and self service gas station

Fuel types:

On the gas station you will multiple fuel types:

  • Super / Senza Piombo / 95 / 98 / Benzina: All these means the same: PETROL
  • Diesel / Blue Diesel + / Diesel Tech
  • GPL (Liquid Gas)

Make sure you only use the first type for your motorcycle, Petrol!

Payment in the gas stations

Many places will not accept credit cards and some will not even accept debit cards (even if usually they should work). So we recommend to have always with you euros in cash to avoid payment issues.

We hope this information will make your motorcycle holiday in Italy easier!

If during your tour with us you have problems or doubts, our guide will be glad to help you and resolve any problem.

Riding a motorcycle in Italy

Riding a motorcycle in Italy - recommendations

If riding a motorcycle is not easy and you need some skills, riding a motorcycle in Italy is much more complex. You need to pay extra attention to everything that surrounds you:

  1. Cars: people drive aggressively, so it is important to anticipate their moves and double check before making your moves. You need to be some kind of “mind reader” of the drivers as they will often not indicate lanes changes, turns, etc. Keep your distance with cars! In these last years the use of cellphones during the drive has become a serious problem in all the world and Italy is not an exception, so this is another reason to pay double attention.
  2. Pedestrians: some times pedestrians will act like the city belongs to them and so you can find them walking in the middle of the street or, after dropping from the bus, they will cross the street in front of the bus (pay attention when you overtake a bus which is stopped dropping passengers!).
  3. Bicycles: another “player” in this jungle. In the cities you can find bicycles on the wrong way, coming from every corner while texting on their phones and passing red lights, so if you see a cyclist on your way keep an eye on him! In the country roads you will find many professional or amateur groups of cyclists, they usually are on their right and go fast but it is always a good advice to keep you eyes open.
  4. Radars: there are MANY radars in Italy and sometimes they’re hidden quite well and they’re positioned in strategic places where you could go too fast (E.g. a road downhill). You will recognize them because normally they are on a grey or orange box on the right of the road. Sometimes, the radar on the opposite lane might work also for your lane.
  5. Roundabouts: here the rule is, the priority is to the one who gets in faster… So pay attention: check, double check, triple check and then get in. Pay attention also to the exit!
  6. Crosswalk: usually Italian drivers very rarely will stop if a pedestrian is in front of the crosswalk. If you are riding a motorcycle, are approaching to a crosswalk and have a car on your back, be careful! The car may think you will not stop, so, if you stop, the car could hit you in the back!
  7. Directions and signs: let’s be clear: signs in Italy sometimes are a shame. In some crosses or roundabouts there are too many, too small and too hidden. It is so easy to get the wrong road and to get lost. This is particularly sad when instead of riding a nice and exciting road you find yourself on an ugly road with traffic jam
  8. Scooter: I will make a post dedicated to scooters another day haha!

So, how a guided tour can make things easier?

With a guided tour many of these problems will disappear and the danger will be much lower. Riding a motorcycle in Italy freely and with no stress following an expert will give you a higher security level. Your interaction with cars will be lower, riding in group will make you more visible, an expert in the area knows almost all the radars positions (saving you potentially a lot of money in fines) so, in two words: just enjoy.