Just click on the info buttons in order to get to the more detailed roadbooks.
Some general comments:
All the listed gravel roads can be done with a GS. It really doesn't matter if it is an Oilhead or Airhead GS. On some of the tours there are short passages which are a bit more difficult, so I highly recommend that you don't go there alone. The best time of the year to do the gravel roads is late August, because there will be no snow on the roads and the gravel wont be too deep. Of course if you are looking for a challenge then you can try them in June ;-) You will not need knobbie tires ( at least not in August ) to do the tours. In fact I used the Mitas E-07 which is very similar to the better known Metzeler Enduro 3, and my Oilhead friends did all the roads with the Michelin T66. Except of the last part of the Col de Granon all the described gravel roads are open/legal for motorcycles. But if you go there then you should keep in mind that you are not on a motocross track! So to keep those fantastic roads open for us you should stay on those roads and please slow down when you meet hikers, mountainbikers or cars up there.
Maps & Literature:
We didn't mind to do an extra excursion here and there and therefore the Michelin maps 244 and 245 ( 1:200.000 ) did the job for us. You can't get lost if you don't care where you are ;-) When there was an interesting gravel road then we just decided to go for it. We only had to turn around three or four times. If you want to do exact navigation on those roads then you should get the ING maps ( 1:25.000 ) which you can get there quite everywhere.
There are also quite a lot german web sites about the gravel roads in this region which were quite useful for the preparation of the trip. Furthermore I collected some articles about the Piemont which were printed in German motorcycle magazines. And finally I had the famous Enduro Atlas. The edition I have is already 13 years old and it seems that since then the book was not updated. The roadbooks weren't exact anyway so that I don't recommend this book.
Download the PDF-versions of the roadbooks for your tankbag!
