Japanese motorcycle producer Kawasaki chose two of Romania’s most spectacular roads, Trasfagarasan and Transalpina, to shoot the presentation videos for its latest models, the 2015 Versys 650 and Versys 1000 motorcycles.

Parts of the video commercials were also shot in Sibiu and Bucharest, according to local auto news site 0-100.ro. The two videos can be watched below this article.

Romania’s high altitude roads Transfagarasan and Transalpina have become popular for shooting auto shows and auto presentation videos, especially after the famous British auto show Top Gear shot one of its episodes on Transfagarasan in 2009, naming it “the best road in the world”.

British EVO magazine also came to Romania to test the famous high altitude road Transfagarasan, at the beginning of this year, but they ended up contradicting Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson in what is the best road for driving, concluding that Transalpina was even more impressive.

The Transfagarasan road was built on the orders of Communist era dictator Nicolae Ceausescu between 1970 and 1974 to ensure a military strategic route through the mountains. It includes Romania’s longest road tunnel (887 meters) and it reaches 2,034 meters altitude, making it the second highest mountain pass in Romania after Transalpina. Transfagarasan also features on a list of the seven riskiest roads in the world.

Transalpina goes even higher, to 2,145 meters. The road was recently paved, but the road is still officially under construction, as the contractor hired by the state went into insolvency before finishing the construction work. The road still lacks road markings and guard rails and Romanian authorities have been arguing on whether the road should be opened for public or not.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com