Part 1. What to Wear
Part 2. What to Take
Part 3. Preparing the Bike
Part 4. How and Where
Part 5. Checklist

How and where

One of the first considerations is what style of riding works for you.

Many ride huge distances in a day via motorways at maximum speed to a "destination", spend a couple of days recovering, then do the same back home.

In our minds, it's better to treat the whole trip as the destination. Avoid motorways and main roads and get a flavour of the regions that you're traveling through. Seek out scenic twisties, take a quick motorcycle tour of a couple of the prettier towns en route and build in frequent short stops in nice places limiting yourself to, say, 90 minutes in the saddle in any one stint.

This all sounds like very slow progress, doesn't it. But that isn't necessarily so. In relatively unpopulated France for example, you can make very fast progress on well chosen minor roads away from towns and motorways. But the real point is that by taking a more measured and enjoyment based approach, you will avoid fatigue and, if you've got all the comfort and handling issues sorted as described in previous chapters, you should be able to ride indefinitely. In fact, if you're prepared to start earlier and finish later you can cover as many miles as you could on the motorway and still arrive fresher.

Then there is the choice of whether to go in a group or not. In group riding you're largely limited by the slowest rider, the shortest tank range, slow fuel stops, having to follow the consensus and increased risk (we're all guilty of showing off, racing or riding beyond our ability to keep up with faster riders). Upsides include sharing your load (by just taking one set of tools for example), sharing costs (sharing hotel rooms for example) and above all, sharing the adventure and the apres ride. Our advice would be to do a bit of both.

Consider using one of the specialist companies that offer organised motorcycle tours. These relieve you of much of the organisational stress, giving more time to enjoy the riding and socialising, and are particularly useful for the first timer.

If you're particularly time poor, the arrival of the budget airlines presents a new opportunity for motorcycle touring. Ride your bike down to one of the regions mentioned below and garage your bike in a small family owned hotel for a very reasonable fee, and then fly down every few weekends over the summer for a couple of days of blasting around the hills with your mates.

Navigation is an interesting topic, and technology is now maturing to the point that it can make a worthwhile contribution to your trip for an increasingly affordable outlay (with GPS units for example now starting at £100, although you'll still need to take your maps). Michelin maps probably are the best for motorcycling as they show scenic roads (which often translates as good biking roads) in green and high ground in relief, and come in a range of scales. For example, they do a handy 1cm:10km mini map of France for £1.99 which is compact and easily folded for tankbag map pockets.

For what it's worth, we tend plan our routes over the dark winter months using the above 1cm:10km, an 1cm:2km A3 book and a Michelin Green Guide for the countries we're visiting, then we copy the resulting route to some PC mapping software, which we then download to a GPS enabled phone. The phone goes in an inside jacket pocket and we navigate using the voice prompts though the supplied headset. Long winded, but effective.

A web enabled phone has other uses; you can look at the latest weather maps and modify your route accordingly, or ask for help on a forum for your bike if you breakdown, or hold a copy of your workshop manual, or look up your nearest dealer for your brand, check what mountain passes are open, etc, etc. Just first check what the roaming data charges are on your network.

Where to go is obviously a very personal thing, but a common philosophy is to head for the hills. In France there's the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Massif Central (particularly in the area around the Ardeche) and closer to home the Ardennes (the best bits are probably just across the border in the Belgium part). In Spain there's the Picos de Europa, the better side of the Pyrenees and plenty of other hill ranges spread across the country (and Portugal for that matter). Then of course there's the the beautiful Highlands of Scotland (but you need to restrict yourself to the Spring/early Summer because of the midges, and the weather can be a bit of a lottery).

France is probably the most motorcycle touring friendly country in Europe where almost anything seems go. Though things are beginning to change. If you are caught in a speed trap, the fines can be heavy and on the spot. Follow the letter of the law in Alpine tunnels; there have been some nasty accidents and the authorities are very strict. There are an increasing number of speed cameras too, though we don't believe they'll pursue Brits yet. Channel Crossings to France vary alot in price, but for overnight stays The Channel Tunnel can be very convenient and cost effective, for unlimited stays Norfolk Ferries are generally £22 each way for a motorcycle and two passengers. For last minute bookings the independent agents will often have the best Channel Ferry prices.

Accommodation is cheap and plentiful in France. The big chains like ETAP are uninteresting, but cheap and very convenient as overnight transit stops. If you're looking for a taste of France look for a Logis.

Spain is probably the second most friendly motorcycling touring European country. Most of Spain and Portugal are worth visiting, just steer clear of the Mediterranean coast. Ferries to Spain are by Brittany Ferries and P&O and are both very expensive (expect to pay £350 return at the very least - Tip: save up to 75% with Tesco Clubcard), but you do get a mini cruise experience which is, well, not a patch on the motorcycle experience down through France.....

Page last updated: Monday, 08-Feb-2010 13:47:02 GMT

Next: Part 5. Motorcyle Touring Checklist

Any Sugestion? Use MaxMoto's Message Board for Motorcycle Touring ( 10 comments).

Would you like to receive regular news items like this? And be entered into our regular prize draws? Then, Join our Newsletter.