The Suzuki 1050XT Tour and I are parked up for the night near Nurburg, wondering if we are insured to ride the Nurburgring tomorrow morning. I’m wondering because it isn’t my 1050XT; it belongs to Suzuki. I know my insurance excludes the Nurburgring, which then makes me wonder how you ride on public roads, which the Nurburgring is, without insurance.
I’m also wondering if this is day one of the B500 trip or day three. Does the journey start when you leave home, which was yesterday or when you collect the bike the day before? Essentially, I’m confused, so perhaps I should rewind a little. By the way, today is Wednesday.
The Start of the B500 Tour
The B500 is a road that has been on my bucket list for ages. But, every time I’ve planned to make this trip, something has got in the way.
Thankfully – if thankfully and Covid can be used in the same sentence – the Covid restrictions have eased sufficiently to allow European travel. Having battled my way through the mountain of form filling and arrived in Germany, it looks as if the B500 is finally going to get ticked off the list.
Suzuki 1050XT Tour
I’ve always had a soft spot for Suzuki V-Stroms. There is a quietly spoken attitude that the V-Strom range has, and the 1050XT is no exception. If a motorcycle could have the satisfaction of knowing that it is every bit as capable as its rivals, doesn’t need a fanfare or a TV series and costs around £4,000 less, then the 1050XT would have a knowing smile on its beak.
For some reason, Suzuki asked if I’d like to take the 1050XT V-Strom on my 1,200 mile, four-day road trip across the Dutch and German back roads to the Bavarian Forests. I know the bike will do it with ease. I covered over 20,000 miles on my previous generation V-Strom and other than a recall item on the wiring loom, the bike never missed a beat.
Maybe it is something to do with Bavaria’s Many Wonderful roads and the magnificent scenery. Perhaps it is because the trip includes backroads, motorways, towns, iconic roads and bridges, and 300 kilometres to be consumed on cruise control catching the evening ferry home.
Suzuki calls the V-Strom 1050XT the Master of Adventure, and taking that to mean modern-day adventure riding – rather than the Dakar – OK, let’s see if Suzuki’s claim is justified.
Yesterday (Tuesday)
Having collected the 1050XT in Touring specification from Suzuki’s HQ on Monday, I spent Tuesday making those subtle minor adjustments that tune the motorcycle to the rider’s taste.
The suspension is supple, and a spirited cross-country ride back from Suzuki HQ in Milton Keynes had confirmed that I wasn’t going to have any problems with the bends. The standard screen is as good as I remembered it from testing the Suzuki 1050XT in March 2020.
The Tour specification V-Strom 1050XT comes standard with three-piece metal luggage with more than enough capacity for a week away. The engine bars are also included in the Tour specification. Meanwhile, the standard 12V socket tucked up behind the LCD instrument panel makes powering my GPS easy.
All that was left for me to do was place the perfectly sized Lidl heavy duty shopping bags – other supermarket bags are available – into the panniers and load the top box with the things I’m likely to need on the road. For which read Wagon Wheels and instant coffee.
I have two routes to Harwich and the Stena Line Ferry to the Hook of Holland. The first is the efficient but dull A1-A14 route, and the other the A17 towards Norwich and then turn south-east on the A134, through Bury St. Edmunds, and on to Harwich. So it is not really a choice – the A134 it is.
Part of the route takes me through Thetford Forest, and with the evenings closing in, by the time I got to the Forest, it wasn’t quite dark but pretty close to it. Thirty minutes later on the unlit A134, it was black. Seems they don’t like street lights on the A134.
Thankfully, one of the upgrades the 1050XT has over my older V-Strom is the change to LED lighting all-around. I’d still think about some dimmable auxiliary lights for the engine bars. However, auxiliary lights are no longer a requirement, just personal taste, as the standard LED headlight does a good job illuminating the unlit roads.
Today (Wednesday)
All of my trips seem to start with a dull bit, and leaving the port at the Hook of Holland is no different. Motorways may be tedious, but they are the most efficient way of putting built-up areas behind me.
Since leaving the Dutch motorway system at Hertogenbosch, it has been a succession of curving backroads with the population density ebbing and flowing and the speed limits changing to match as I made my way across The Netherlands into Germany.
Crossing the border into Germany on the outskirts of Bruggen was as simple as passing a sign on the side of the road, and by 6pm I’d arrived at Pension Hilberath, 8 miles from the Nurburgring.
I should mention that some of the Autobahn sections on the route are unlimited. [Download the route here] It is odd to see the GPS say the speed limit is 255 KPH.
How was the Bike?
The obvious comment would be “Great”, which doesn’t tell you much other than that I have arrived in Nurburg without any dramas and have had an invigorating day’s riding. However, the biggest compliment I can pay the Suzuki 1050XT would be to acknowledge it is universally capable. From collecting the 1050XT from Milton Keynes to arriving in Nurburg, the 1050XT has never left me wondering what was going to happen.
The brakes are sharp. There is enough power, and it is comfortable to ride. Be it dealing with the docks, the motorways or the backroads. Trickling through traffic or getting on with it between the towns, I’ve never had to consider or make adjustments for the 1050XT V-Strom.
My backside doesn’t ache. My ears aren’t ringing. All-day, the Suzuki has been a capable companion, which is why I’m considering a lap of the Nurburgring tomorrow.
I need to try and find something the Suzuki 1050XT can’t do.
One problem will be the insurance. Another is I’m mildly worried about some F1 wannabe who has left their brains in the car park, but perhaps an early start will remove the need to compensate for Lambos and Porsche drivers.
Still, they are all tomorrow’s questions.
One Response
Good trad that. I am looking forward to the next instalment