With spring looking like it has arrived, the conversation in the office keeps drifting into how great it would be to spend a month on the road. Or even two.
The Harz Forest in Germany, Stelvio Pass, the B500 Schwarzwaldhochstrasse, the Picos, Route Napoleon, a tour of Scandinavia and most of Scotland and Wales are all on the list for a month on the road. If only we could get the time away from work.
The obvious answer is to become an Internet sensation and produce videos of our travels to fund our need for petrol and food.
Yea, right – like that is ever going to happen. The chances of becoming the next Itchy Boots or Charly Sinewan are low, but we have all thought about it – even if it was just a passing daydream.
Meanwhile, back in reality, I would like to know what it is like to spend a month on the road sampling the continual touring lifestyle. So, can we talk the Editor into it?
Where To Go?
With a month on the road, just about anywhere is possible, but we had better keep it sensible, so our plan is to constrain ourselves to the geographic limits of our insurance.
The next decision is when to go and what sort of weather we should expect. I kept looking at Scandinavia, but like Scotland, early in the year, the weather could go either way. Regular rides in the rain would take the edge off the delights of a month on the road, so central and southern Europe is the target.
Spain and Portugal are the natural choices, yet somehow that feels like a repeat of last year and the trip to Portimão. Despite the 3,000 miles we covered in 2022, there are still innumerable roads to discover and delight us, but we need to expand our horizons.
After innumerable mugs of tea, the plan – such as it is – is to take the ferry from Harwich to The Netherlands and then ride to the Harz Forest, which technically is a repeat of the Tracer 9GT trip last year. Nonetheless, a couple of days messing about on the glorious roads in the Harz, on our way southeast towards Munich, is too tempting to resist.
A Beer Or Two
As beer and bikes do not mix well, we have allowed a recovery day – or two – in Munich as a visit to a beer Keller – or two – is likely. Once sober and devoid of a hangover, Austria and the Grossglockner come next on the way to Slovenia, Croatia and the stunning coast road to Split.
Having never seen a complete episode of Game of Thrones, I had no idea of the popularity of visiting Dubrovnik, but riding as far south as our insurance would allow feels a natural thing to do, especially as the Pelješac Bridge is now open, bypassing the short section of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the need for extra insurance.
After that, we have nothing but a few rough ideas. As I’m riding my Ducati, I have my eye on a visit to the Ducati factory and riding the absolutely unofficial Multistrada test route in northern Italy.
Stelvio Pass – like it or loath it – has to be on the route north, along with the B500, which once was the stuff of myth and legend and is now so sanitised, the T-Shirts are more exciting. However, the legend lives on regardless and is something everyone should do at least once.
What do we need?
Tyres: To be specific, with a trip of around 4,000 miles planned, we have gone with Dunlop Roadsmart IVs on the Ducati Multistrada and Dunlop TrailMax Meridians on the KTM 1290. I’ve always found tyres the hardest thing to obtain when touring.
I could understand if we were in the darkest reaches of South America, but we had trouble sourcing a rear tyre for the Suzuki GSX1000GT last year. Having enjoyed ourselves a bit too much on the way to Portimão, we went looking for a replacement as the rear was getting a little skinny.
The tyre company at the track didn’t have the right size, and confusing the IMU or ABS with the wrong size tyre would ruin a road test. So, we tried eBay, but the only tyre of the right size was a long way in the wrong direction. We even tried the Suzuki dealer at one of the planned stops, but they were closed after lunch on Friday.
Being able to have a set of tyres delivered the next day with just a few mouse clicks on SportsBikeShop’s website seems to be a very British thing.
If you know how to source tyres quickly in Spain, Germany and the Netherlands, or anywhere else, please let us know. We can’t be the first people to hunt for a tyre while touring.
Brake Pads: Brakes are something I don’t wish to run out of when approaching one of the Stelvio hairpins. I changed the Multistrada’s front pads a few weeks ago for EBC HH, and I’ll swap out the rear pads when the tyres are being changed. Neither set needed changing, but I couldn’t estimate what they would look like after another four thousand miles.
Luggage: Having ranted about the frustrations of factory luggage, I did find myself looking online for a set of SW-Motech panniers, and yes, one thing led to another, and I now have a set of 37-litre rectangular panniers to fit onto the Multistrada. This makes my colleagues happy as they won’t have to listen to me swearing and complaining about the stupid factory panniers.
Accommodation
This was the bit where I wimped out. Rather than ride in a general direction and find somewhere to stay when we got there, for the first half of our month on the road, we have booked accommodation.
There are some cracking deals to be had if you book in advance, a few have cancellation costs, but the majority allow cancellation up to 48 hours before we stay and with a full refund.
As cost will be a factor, we considered camping, yet the further towards Slovenia and Croatia we went, the lower the costs became. I can understand why Scotland has the right to roam (free camping) when we compared the costs of B&B night stops in Scotland to an Airbnb in Croatia.
What’s Missing?
Food is something we need to sort out. Camping meals are easy and filling, but I’m not sure they are advisable for every meal. That said, cutting out cafes for meals is an excellent way to keep costs under control.
Same with coffee during the day. Using the portable gas stove will cut out the costly coffee stops and lets us stop wherever the views are excellent. Skimming the breakfast counter for lunchtime goodies is totally reprehensible behaviour, and I’d never sanction doing such a thing (and getting caught).
Real Adventure
And perhaps the one thing we haven’t packed is a sense of real adventure. Let’s face it we are not exactly pushing the boundaries of motorcycling adventure and exploration. We aren’t circumnavigating the world, riding through the desert, or escaping from armed insurgents (hopefully!). Yet, that wasn’t the idea.
Riding across Europe for a month or more is one of my favourite daydreams, but then I asked the Editor to make my daydream come true, the bugger said Yes. But, then again, if writing about spending a month on the road is required, all in the name of motorcycling journalism, obviously, neither Carle nor I are complaining.
Roll on the end of April, when I once again will be waiting in my happy place – Harwich Docks.
Clarity
Dunlop kindly supplied the tyres with the agreement that we provide them feedback so that they can continue to develop their range from real-world experiences.
We bought the SW-Motech luggage and associated parts with our own cash money and paid the regular price. And it is the same story for the ferry crossing and accommodation. Again, we paid the regular price.
The header image is based on an original work by Matt Hardy.
