I'd seen the MSL tours brochure which included the Spanish Picos Classic tour. It's a self-guided tour, which suits us, and the hotel is in Suances right on the coast, only 30km from Santander ferry port. We had stayed in Las Arenas is 2017 and this time the cost with MSL was almost half what we had paid by organising it ourselves, and included breakfast and a buffet evening meal with wine.
I've been riding for 38 years and my current bike, a manual Honda NC750X, is my 20th. I've toured Britain and Europe on bikes ranging from a Yamaha 80 with panniers made from Tesco carrier bags to a BMW F800ST with throw-over luggage. Wellsy's bike of choice was a KTM 1290 Super Duke GT, Martin's a BMW 1250GS. I was outgunned in the horsepower stakes by about 80, as my NC makes 54bhp. But the low-down torque, 200-mile tank range and the incredible 80-90mpg suit my somewhat aged laidback-and-tight-with-money nature these days. It was also a bargain as I paid £5400 for it in a very wet and cold October 2017 - always buy a new bike at the end of the year!
I bit the bullet and spent a small fortune on a pair of Givi hard panniers; better than Tesco's carrier bags and just as waterproof which, together with the NC's 22-litre dummy tank/storage trunk, gave me more than enough space for packing light, which I still haven't managed, so I took my top box as well.
In July we had an email from MSL Tours saying Brittany Ferries had changed the port of departure from Portsmouth to Plymouth. A 250-mile trip instead of 95 for us. A bit of a pain but not MSL's fault.
Rick Joyce from MSL Tours sent out an email with suggested routes which could be downloaded using an app called 'MyRoute. This worked really well with my TomTom. If you've ever used TomTom's 'MyDrive' planning software you'll know what a pain it is to use. I found using MyRoute an awful lot easier.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 2023 من Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 2023 من Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Mossy's Knowledge
Spec sheet terminology - chassis
Test fleet: Suzuki GSX-S1000GX
Out with the old and in with the new, as Stu picks up a GSX-S1000GX
Test fleet: Suzuki V-Strom 800RE
I've only had it a few days, but I've liked it since mile one. Hopefully my affection for the Suzuki will continue well into the future
Test fleet: Yamaha Ténéré World Raid
A lack of a daily commute doesn't mean that mileage is kept to a minimum
The Longest Day Teapot
While it would've been truly wonderful to have spent time preparing myself and the bike for that one long day of riding in June, there's rather more preliminary work than hoped...
Premier peninsula perambulations
Riding locally is all well and good, but Helen wanted some adventure and to get some miles under her wheels
Around Gran Canaria in three days
What better way to expand your riding CV than with some winter riding in the sunshine of the Canary Islands, and some dramatic mountainous roads
Pass-ing the time of day
Three of Europe's most well-known mountain passes, all covered in day of mind-bending scenery and nerve-wrenching hairpins one
Troubleshooting common 12V battery problems
Diagnosing and tracing faults with a motorcycle's electrical charging system can be a daunting prospect, but with a basic understanding of the bike's charging system you can usually get to the nub of what's wrong. We asked the battery-saving experts at OptiMate to outline the main components of the charging system, and the symptoms of the most common problems encountered with them
Worth Waiting For?
Moto Guzzi is Italy's oldest bike manufacturer in continuous production since its birth in 1921, though Covid forced the postponement by a year of its 100th birthday celebrations held at its Mandello del Lario factory on the shores of Lake Como