Touring

As with Every year I'm "planning" on a Bike trip from Massachusetts to Nova Scotia. . . still haven't managed to pull it off though.

I am off to Brittany with some mates, all booked, luggage purchased, comfort seat and tail rack fitted just cannot decide on TomTom mount location at the mo.

I'm curious.. in the UK, England, Great Britain, (I'll be honest I don't really understand the difference with those names) what would you guys consider a "Touring Distance?"

I think the most I've ever done in one trip is around 1300 miles broken out over three day. . so.. maybe that's not so much a tour as a trip. . I know here in the US people "tour" on bigger bikes but that can mean literally going from the Atlantic to the Pacific over a week or two.

Just curious about the sense of Scale over there.

Thanks

Mr Munck said:

I'm curious.. in the UK, England, Great Britain, (I'll be honest I don't really understand the difference with those names) what would you guys consider a "Touring Distance?"

I think the most I've ever done in one trip is around 1300 miles broken out over three day. . so.. maybe that's not so much a tour as a trip. . I know here in the US people "tour" on bigger bikes but that can mean literally going from the Atlantic to the Pacific over a week or two.

Just curious about the sense of Scale over there.

Thanks

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The U.K. Or United Kingdom is made up of four countries, England ,Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland .
Great Britain made up of three. England,Wales and Scotland
England is a country.

Can't help with the touring distance question :dontknow:

Dave S said:

The U.K. Or United Kingdom is made up of four countries, England ,Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland .
Great Britain made up of three. England,Wales and Scotland
England is a country.

Can't help with the touring distance question :dontknow:

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That's actually really helpful. Thank you .

Used to do long tours usually 3k plus miles over 2 _ 3 weeks tried to time it so we could take in WSB and MOTO GP meetings on different weekends
The UK isn't big enough to cover large mileages, used to do the long trips on my Blackbird or Multistrada

This year's trip will be approximately 1500 MLS and take about 10 days using the Scrambler

Mr Munck said:

I'm curious.. in the UK, England, Great Britain, (I'll be honest I don't really understand the difference with those names) what would you guys consider a "Touring Distance?"

I think the most I've ever done in one trip is around 1300 miles broken out over three day. . so.. maybe that's not so much a tour as a trip. . I know here in the US people "tour" on bigger bikes but that can mean literally going from the Atlantic to the Pacific over a week or two.

Just curious about the sense of Scale over there.

Thanks

Click to expand...

I've not toured on a motorcycle in the UK but a typical day out for me on the bike is generally 100 to 250 miles. Ive been on a few European tours the longest being a tour down to South West Germany and that was about 1400 miles in 7 days. the longest day been the first and last of the holiday which Somerset to Bastogne in Belgium at 460 miles. This year Brittany will be a lot less miles.

Trying to get something going to Alsace in France as love the area with its mountains and Germanys Black Forest near by. Never toured in UK just on continent. Biggest miles I did in a day was 650 on a full faired sv650s. Would likely keep to under 250 on scrambler a day avoiding motorways entirely

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Mr Munck said:

I'm curious.. in the UK, England, Great Britain, (I'll be honest I don't really understand the difference with those names) what would you guys consider a "Touring Distance?"

I think the most I've ever done in one trip is around 1300 miles broken out over three day. . so.. maybe that's not so much a tour as a trip. . I know here in the US people "tour" on bigger bikes but that can mean literally going from the Atlantic to the Pacific over a week or two.

Just curious about the sense of Scale over there.

Thanks

Click to expand...

Here you go man: Guide to the difference between the UK, GB and England.

Last year I took the ferry from Hull to Zebrugge, went down through Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, around Lake Konstanz and around some amazing Alpine passes in Switzerland. Then came back up through Germany, France and took the Channel ferry back to Dover.

Good trip but if I was to do it again, I'd get on the Motorrail in Paris and get off the train closer to the Alps or maybe go to Nice and ride along the Riviera. Northern France/Luxembourg/Germany was nice but I have no real burning desire to spend some miles there again.

I REALLY want to take the ferry to Santander in Spain this year. I'm thinking it might be perfect trip when the weather begins to turn crap again in the UK, around October time.

Joooooooosh said:

Last year I took the ferry from Hull to Zebrugge, went down through Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, around Lake Konstanz and around some amazing Alpine passes in Switzerland. Then came back up through Germany, France and took the Channel ferry back to Dover.

Good trip but if I was to do it again, I'd get on the Motorrail in Paris and get off the train closer to the Alps or maybe go to Nice and ride along the Riviera. Northern France/Luxembourg/Germany was nice but I have no real burning desire to spend some miles there again.

I REALLY want to take the ferry to Santander in Spain this year. I'm thinking it might be perfect trip when the weather begins to turn crap again in the UK, around October time.

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is it fairly easy to get your bike onto a train car over there?

Personally don't like ferries especially the ones to Spain we usually get on the train to Calais and ride from there keeping off the motorways there's some excellent roads and interesting village's

Black dog said:

Personally don't like ferries especially the ones to Spain we usually get on the train to Calais and ride from there keeping off the motorways there's some excellent roads and interesting village's

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I have to agree, I like the speed of the train compared to the Ferry, I don't enjoy the ride from Bristol to the Eurotunnel terminal though but once in France a short bit of motorway to get away from Calais then out into the twisties.
This year, with the Scrambler, we want to keep the daily mileages down so it will be the Ferry. We are going overnight from Plymouth to Roscoff and then spending 5 days in Brittany.

Black dog said:

Personally don't like ferries especially the ones to Spain we usually get on the train to Calais and ride from there keeping off the motorways there's some excellent roads and interesting village's

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Whats wrong with the Ferry? Had a blast going down to Santander and touring the coast a couple years back. Definitely beat riding/driving all the way down. Lots of extra time to experience the superb Spanish and French tarmac.

Used the ferries to the Spanish ports a few times unfortunately I suffer with sea sickness I have always enjoyed the ride down through France. Last year we spend a week in Normandy going round the ww2 battleground's very interesting and moving

Fantastic! Did that 5 or 6 years ago and drove down the west coast and back up through Burgandy. The Normandy beaches etc were awesome as you say. I have a strong sea belly but cant fly so the ferries are always an option for me.

All this talk makes me start wondering what it would take to get me and my bike over there for a couple weeks.

You'd not be dissappointed...weather permitting.

Mr Munck said:

is it fairly easy to get your bike onto a train car over there?

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On the MotoRail trains, yeah. They don't go too/from many locations but it's a good way to get your bike out somewhere new without racking up too much mileage just getting there.

This site kind of explains whats available: Guide to Motorail trains in Europe | Taking your car by train

Unfortunately re-sale value is something I have to consider but I love travelling on the bike, so being able to cut out large distances and reduce the overall mileage of my bike is perfect.