The first two, with the temperature at -2 C and the wind whistling is the Timmelsjoch between Austria and Italy. It was very cold, wet sleeting snow and bloody slippery.... and the café was shut. They actually closed the pass whilst I was up there, which I only discovered when I got back down on he other side.
The second two are the Stelvio, between Italy and Switzerland. Bright warm sunshine at the bottom, with snow on the top.
The bloke holding / supporting his right arm, is a friend of mine. He lost the use of the arm completely, when he was hit by another motorcycle, the rider of which lost control on a bend in the Dales. He now has the use only of his left arm, the right one merely hanging. He converts all his bikes himself (he was naturally right handed) to a left hand twistgrip, rerouting / changing the throttle cable, and re-routes what was once the front brake (operated by the lever) to be foot operated. As the foot is less sensitive than the hand, he removes one of the front discs and its associated brake assembly, or the bikes are over-braked. The clutch / gearchange stays as normal. I rode one of his bikes and it takes a bit of getting used to.
He rode his bike, with us, up the Stelvio and back down. The only problem he says, is that to counter steer right requires a pull on the left bar which generally opens the throttle! He can't push(or pull) on the right bar as his arm doesn't work at all. Try doing hairpins (as you'll find on the Stelvio) like that. The girl with the red highlights is his granddaughter, who rode pillion behind him on our tour of 10 days. His only oncession was to ask me to pillion her up and down the Stelvio, as he was unsure that at some point he wouldn't lose it on the hairpins, due to the problem explained above. He didn't and all was well. Bods on here moan about the Stelvio, I'd ask them to try it one armed and then return to moan.
The second two are the Stelvio, between Italy and Switzerland. Bright warm sunshine at the bottom, with snow on the top.
The bloke holding / supporting his right arm, is a friend of mine. He lost the use of the arm completely, when he was hit by another motorcycle, the rider of which lost control on a bend in the Dales. He now has the use only of his left arm, the right one merely hanging. He converts all his bikes himself (he was naturally right handed) to a left hand twistgrip, rerouting / changing the throttle cable, and re-routes what was once the front brake (operated by the lever) to be foot operated. As the foot is less sensitive than the hand, he removes one of the front discs and its associated brake assembly, or the bikes are over-braked. The clutch / gearchange stays as normal. I rode one of his bikes and it takes a bit of getting used to.
He rode his bike, with us, up the Stelvio and back down. The only problem he says, is that to counter steer right requires a pull on the left bar which generally opens the throttle! He can't push(or pull) on the right bar as his arm doesn't work at all. Try doing hairpins (as you'll find on the Stelvio) like that. The girl with the red highlights is his granddaughter, who rode pillion behind him on our tour of 10 days. His only oncession was to ask me to pillion her up and down the Stelvio, as he was unsure that at some point he wouldn't lose it on the hairpins, due to the problem explained above. He didn't and all was well. Bods on here moan about the Stelvio, I'd ask them to try it one armed and then return to moan.
