BMW The Ultimate Riding Machine

Tolls and legalities

In many countries you will not travel far without coming across a toll motorway. In France the word 'péage' (toll) is clearly marked on the approach to the autoroute. On or after joining you will see a row of tollgates across the carriageway. Some may be marked with a giant 'T'. These are telepéage gates and are an automatic system for local drivers. Do not enter the T gate - it will cause all sorts of confusion and flashing red lights! Head for the other gates, take a ticket and keep it securely in your tank bag while cruising down the autoroute to the next tollgate - or your intended exit from the autoroute. Once again, head for the 'manual' gate and pay the required toll.

The toll amount will be displayed on a small screen just below the cashier's window. Do not go through the telepéage gate or head for the one inviting you to pay by credit card. There may be no queue at that gate but the machine does not know you are on a bike and will charge the toll price for a car.

The typical toll for a bike after 70 miles on the A26 (from Calais) is 2.50€. For more info check out www.autoroutes.fr.

In Switzerland and Austria there are different systems. At the Swiss border you purchase a motorway pass for about CHF40 (£24) valid to 31 December of the current year - even if you are only in the country for a few days. In Austria, motorway passes can be bought for 7, 10, 14 days etc, for more reasonable fees.

Note that in France the speed limits are lower in wet weather than in dry weather.

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