“To travel on Swiss motorways, road users must purchase and display a vignette (sticker) or face large on the spot fines. You can buy a vignette at most border crossings, petrol stations, post offices, by phone and online. The price of a vignette is currently CHF 40.”
Yeah, what they said. For Switzerland and Austria but not Germany or France (at this time, but see below for additional French requirements), require one of these stickers on your vehicle. If you think you can travel around without getting on one of these fast roads, you are mistaken. They are everywhere, and often you can’t get there from here without going on one. Probably the best thing is to plan on finding a real gas station near the border prior to entering the country. Check with every country you are going to as rules change.
As for “real” gas stations, I had my GPS send me to gas stations near the border. The first 3 were attendant free, pay with a card/cash stations. That is a common kind of gas station here. Some are “international” with multiple languages, some are just in the local language and are a bit harder to navigate. I usually use credit cards if the machine is in English, and just throw in paper money below what I know will be needed for a full tank if the machine is in a “foreign” language. 8^)
Once you have used them a few times, you can get by well enough with a credit card even if you don’t know the language, but it is a leap of faith that everything went well after you are done. Gas stations are everywhere here and often open 24 hours, which explains why Europeans cannot understand why some of us Americans complain about small fuel tank size in our bikes.
BUT, NOT TO BE OUTDONE, THE FRENCH. Oh The French.
The French have something called a Crit’air air quality certificate. This is a numbered tag that must be on a vehicle to enter certain areas. Mostly cities, but some country areas also. Which vehicle can enter which area can change at any moment, depending on air pollution. As far as I can tell, you must order these and have them sent to you. I cannot find any information on how I could get one for a vehicle registered in the US.
BUT this should show how wacked the rules are: No order possible for motorized two, three, and light four wheelers having been registered before 1st June 2000.
So no old bikes? WTF? Also, if you plan on visiting Paris, and the zone changes due to pollution, it looks like you will not be able to drive there if you don’t have a tag that meets that day’s requirements. Yet another good reason to avoid France. And if you think this falls under the phrase “The French copy no one and no one copies the French” well, guess again. Other countries have similar tags for certain kinds of vehicles (mostly diesel), but it does not look like an issue for bikes yet. There are something called ZPA zone which encompasses huge areas, but you only need one of these tags if there is a restriction, which hopefully will not be often.
For my bike, I would be Category 1, which is the best, BUT, I cannot get a tag as far as I can tell. But then again, I am not sure they could actually figure out how to fine me, as they send the fine to your European address. Even the application does not have a selection for USA vehicles, so I don’t think I could get one even if I wanted one, I think it is EU only. Still, I don’t know if I would be able to drive in Paris if I did not have one. Then again, who would want to go to Paris anyway.