Touring Bikes

The technical riding challenge intensifies as Bruce Wilson’s expedition from Johannesburg to Cape Town with Trailquest enters its final stage… The Dutch word Baviaanskloof translates roughly as the ‘valley of baboons’, but to us – on day five of our South African  expedition on Triumph Tigers – it meant narrow gorges, tricky river crossings, steep…

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How do you prove a bike’s reliability? Ducati sent a Multistrada 1200 off on an 18,000-mile round-the-world trip. Frenchman Laurent Cochet did the Moscow to Vladivostock stint – we join him at Lake Baikal… An easy day today, I just have to ride 45km to the north of this island in Lake Baikal, and back…

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It might take a little longer now, but the annual pilgrimage to the Bol is never going to stop… I can remember 1978. I read a magazine article on the Bol d’Or by one Zed Zawada. It was so inspiring I rode from Peterborough down to the Bol d’Or the following year, in one hit,…

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260 miles round central Scotland, where the A-roads are twisty and the power stations underground… People travel from all over Europe to enjoy the roads of central Scotland, but I’m just lucky to live here and have it all on my doorstep. So rather than ride long distances on an adventure bike or big tourer…

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The problem with riding America is that you want to go back again and again. Steve Rose is back for a third go. Las Vegas isn’t a town, it’s an industry designed to separate people from their money. Our hotel has 2000 rooms. Let’s say an average of £100 per night… that’s £2m a night…

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Bruce Wilson ride the epic Trans Baviaans Expedition on a Triumph Tiger 800 XCx. Day one of this incredible expedition, and we were deep in the land the South Africans call the ‘bush’, surrounded by heckling wildlife and without a clue as to where the hell we were. Phone signals had gone long ago, as…

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Emily Freeman rode 500 miles through Indochina on a 100cc scooter. With a sidecar. And a dog. What do you need to be a hardcore biking adventurer travelling the dirt roads of Indochina? A beard? Knobbly tyres on a giant adventure tourer? What about your pet dog? Plus a 100cc scouter that hates hills, and…

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Down to central Spain on a 250,000-mile BMW. There’s no need to ride through France to get to other parts of Europe, what with direct ferries to Spain, Denmark, Holland and Germany. So why Belén and I rode off the ferry in Roscoff at Sam on a wet morning in early April is a mystery…

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Can old Brits tour? Well, the bikes certainly can… Four of us made the trip from Cornwall to Derbyshire – me on my 1959 Velocette Venom, Allan on his ’64 Triumph Trophy and Sid on his ’62 Norton 350. Plus Gunner, who was due to bring his Bonneville, but that seized just before departure, so…

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LITTLE ENGLAND Taking a small bike on a big trip is a great way of seeing places in a new light. Round the world adventurer Nathan Millward heads down through Devon and Cornwall on Suzuki’s new 200cc machine… Suzuki’s VanVan 125 has been on sale in the UK for over a decade now. In that…

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