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Post By F800SGRIDER
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7 Aug 2016
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 2,134
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Quote:
Originally Posted by F800SGRIDER
Dear Michael
...I was more looking at road safety, accident, any compulsory insurance to vignette to buy at the border .... as well as corrupted officials....
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So far as road safety goes, my experience was that in Romania, you have to be more 'alert' than normal for very bad behaviour of other drivers. For example, large trucks passing other vehicles (the truck being in your lane, coming straight at you) in places where such a passing maneuver should never be attempted.
Also, in the larger cities in Romania, be very alert for people driving expensive or fast cars (large Audis, BMWs, etc.) who drive very fast and completely ignore traffic laws.
Generally speaking, there are fewer problems in rural areas and smaller towns... the only problems there are the trucks. In the larger cities, it is the expensive or fast cars you need to watch for.
There are frequently speed traps (policemen with radar equipment) in smaller villages. I think that is a good thing. I respected the speed limit when going through the villages, and was never stopped by the police.
Roads can sometimes be less than perfect (for example, rutted from large trucks), but that is not a serious problem. It just means you have to go a bit slower than normal, and watch the road quite carefully.
In summary: be very defensive and very alert when riding in Romania. But things are not so bad that you should not go there. On the contrary, it is quite a fascinating place to ride through.
Michael
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9 Aug 2016
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PanEuropean
Also, in the larger cities in Romania, be very alert for people driving expensive or fast cars (large Audis, BMWs, etc.) who drive very fast and completely ignore traffic laws.Michael
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Yea, especially if they have Russian number plates!
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25 Sep 2016
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Micheal is spot on with his points on the luxury cars in big cities, Ive been in Bucharest for the last few weeks and I just assume that every car on the road is going to be making unpredictable lane changes and I ride defensively. Its been effective so far.. :-)
Spend some time in Cluj. Go see Salina Turda. Ride the Transfagarashan very early in the morning, and then ride the Transalpina if you have time.
Transalpina is just far enough from Bucharest and Cluj that it doesnt get the same levels of traffic as Transfagarashan.
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1 Jan 2017
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Fellow Riders and HU community members
First of All, Happy new Year and wishing everyone plenty of travels and good memories in 2017.
As I was the one starting the thread, I thought it would only be courteous to post some of my experience riding in east Europe few months ago...
I started my Ride from the Netherlands with a destination The Transfagarasan in Romania.
I rode to Dusseldorf where I loaded my bike onto the overnight Train from Dusseldorf to Vienna.
With the arrival in Vienna at 08h30 in the Morning, i got myself a good night of sleep and avoided 900 km of good German Highways, I was rested and could ride strait to Debrecen with a Lunch Stop in the beautiful city of BUDAPEST... the Roads in Hungary are in great condition and traffic rules are well respected by Hungarian and Austrian drivers. i did have to buy a Vignette in Both Austria and Hungary.
From the quite city of Debrecen, I headed to Romania, crossing out of Schengen area at the Hungarian (Artand)/Romania (Bors) border crossing point, the crossing out of Hungary was with a head node, while the Romanian side took about 20 min (but this is mainly because I have an Algerian passport, live in NL and travelling on the Motorcycle) the Border agent confessed at the end that he has never seen an Algerian on a Motorbike at this crossing since years .... :-) at least i got to be the First ...
the first few Kilometres on the Romanian roads was good until the city of Oradea after that i took the E79, that goes through a number of small passes and hills, the road section between Oradea and Deva had about 40 road works points that made my journey last forever, the road was in such a bad condition that i rattled every bone and bolt on my loaded F800GS ... but to the credits of the Romanian ministry of transport, they have been working hard to have it completed before the winter, I am confident that next year( Summer 2017) this section will be a pleasure to ride through
once at Deva the Fantastic Romanian High way A1 was a blast too ride through, not only it was very well made and toll free, but it was not busy as most of the vehicles takes the secondary roads ...
I arrived to Sibiu (my temporary home base for 2 days) after 3 days and more than 1150 km
the Transfagarasan and the TrasnAlpina were undeniably the BEST part of the trip, it is worth every single minute i spent planning the trip and every single minute i spent riding on its asphalt... the Transfagarasan was so great that i changed my plan and rode it again from South to North... while the transAplina i did only a small section, but yet the best part at 2134 mts altitude...
Riding in Romania, was extremely safe, not a single incident or issue and no stray dogs neither .... :-)
definitely recommended for anyone planning to visit the Transfagarasan & Transalpina
Happy to answer questions if any
Cheers
LC
__________________
**************
My Rides evolution: MTX125, KLR650, KLR650, F800GS, R1200GS, R1200GS LC + F700GS
Last edited by F800SGRIDER; 3 Jan 2017 at 23:08.
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2 Jan 2017
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Great photos, Romania is a beautiful place, not so fussy on Bucharest but the rest especially the North is amazing..
Much prefer the Eastern block countries to the west, more gritty and the food is great...
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6 Jan 2017
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Hijacking the thread a little..
Can anyone comment on how often the Trans-Fagarasan is open earlier than the 'official' end of June date? When it is still closed, how much can be ridden until you hit snow or physical barriers?
I will be there around the 3rd week May 2017 at the latest and hoping that I will get to do some...
Apologies for going off topic!
Thank you
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6 Jan 2017
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We did Transfagarasan in the end of September and it was a bit chilly but still doable. There was some snow on the top but the road is well-maintained so I don't see why May would be a problem! Off season is great because you have the road to yourself, almost
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