Motorcycle self guided tours

I know we have a few motorbike riders in these here parts so can anybody recommend a company who do some self guided tours? We just want to be left to do our own thing so no group rides or even led rides. Would like an easy flight away from Manchester and turn up with a schedule of night 1 is here, night 2 another 100 miles down the road etc. and a ‘here is the suggested route’. Ride around to the finish point and fly home and they return the bikes back to their base for example.

I was thinking Croatia but then husband has suggested Romania so we’re really not set on destination.

How about Porto and Northern Portugal ?
Have used this firm just for a rental bike…they were great and I’d happily use them again. (Might be just me, but I love the planning aspect of a trip…dead easy with google maps, booking/airbnb etc)

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Simon Weir is the man – https://www.simonweir.co.uk/

Used to be RiDE Magazine’s routes guy and an absolute top geezer – he will 100% be able to sort a route for you.

Canary motorcycle tours get very good reviews. I think they are based out of Slovenia in the summer and the Canaries in the winter. I’ve not used them but watched a few Missenden Flyer vids on YT where he has. Seems decent  Brit owned company, decent fleet. They do guided tours but I’m sure they’d let you do self guided. Worth an email?

Simon Weir is the man

Indeed he is. These two books have helped me plan many a tour. Recommended.

Did the cat go with you? Moto-kitty lol

I looked at Canary motorcycle tours also, think they do trips in Slovenia as well.  They look good but think it would be lots cheaper to do it yourself if possible.

Did the cat go with you?

No, but I’ve just done a week’s moto-camping in Cornwall and when I told him I’d visited Mousehole without him, he got the proper huff.

No, but I’ve just done a week’s moto-camping in Cornwall and when I told him I’d visited Mousehole without him, he got the proper huff.

LOL!

+1 For the Simon Weir books – I’ve got the Bikers’ Britain book and it’s fab so the European one should be as equally as good.

Simon Weir is the man

Riding with him next week… See how it goes!

Canary motorcycle tours get very good reviews

They do, but aren’t they guided only…?

It certainly looks that way, if it’s something they did you’d think they would advertise it.

Ferry to Santander or Bilbao, then head to the Picos and the Pyrenees. We stopped at about 2pm every day to decide where to stay using the Booking app. Never used it to book the accommodation, rather we contacted them direct and got a cracking deal.

Paul’s has it. Just follow your nose and every day’s an adventure.

[mboy]

mboy

Free Member

Simon Weir is the man

Riding with him next week… See how it goes!

I’m sure you’ll have a great time. Please do send on my regards (James, ex-MotoGoLoco’er) – it’s been a while.

Simon Weir is the man

Riding with him next week… See how it goes!

Have found a company who do either hire or self guided in either Croatia or Romania so will prob end up going for somewhere like there based on reviews. Will compare the faff of doing it ourselves with the price for the self guide option.

Honestly, there is very little faff with organising your own tour. In fact, I really enjoy all the planning, pouring over maps, etc. It builds anticipation and just makes you absorb more info about wherever you’re headed. The internet has made things so easy. The Airbnbs I’ve used in Spain and France have been superb. Much nicer than a bland, impersonal hotel.

I’d also think I was missing on a very important part of a European tour if I flew out and hired a bike. The ferry. There are few things more evocative and exciting to my mind, than riding a fully laden bike onto a ferry (or Chunnel train) at the start of a continental tour.

Good luck and enjoy, whatever you decide on.

Absolutely zero faff involved. Masters of your own destiny etc

We were invited to the local sardine festival by the person who owned a house we stayed in for a night.

We enjoyed riding all around Ainsa so much we stayed for 3 nights.

Accomodation is easy to get and great value in Spain, especially with the flexibility a motorbike gives you.

@blokeuptheroad nails it about the ferry departure & journey. And about riding your own bikes on brilliant roads.

I did the spain, bilbao to barcelona and back years back, really easy to do, and this was before air bnb and booking dot com, and great fun. Whale watching on the ferry over as well. I would recommend plotting a route using paradors because luxury is nice after a day on the bike.

The year we did it was when the Art of the motorcycle exhibition was on at the guggenheim in bilbao so we just parked on the pavement outside.

I’m with blokeuptheroad. 2 trips this summer, first one due to meet Mrs A in Milan, she was to fly out. Last minute she changed her mind, and met her in Sicily. Fantastic detour despite endless hours of planning!

Second one with son on his bike, he’s brilliant at ‘on the hoof planning ‘! Lots of Italian lakes and Alps.

Camping both trips, really allows great flexibility as we’ve never booked in advance, and never been turned away.

Riding in Europe, just wonderful. Camping is wonderful to meet so many people.

Camping both trips, really allows great flexibility as we’ve never booked in advance, and never been turned away.

Riding in Europe, just wonderful. Camping is wonderful to meet so many people.

I’ve done a fair bit of motorcycle touring across Europe and separately lots of camping, but until recently I’d not combined the two. I’ve always used hotels or B&Bs. The main reason being Mrs Bloke likes to ride pillion, is less fond of camping and because the logistics of camping gear for two on a bike are more challenging.

But starting this summer, I am gradually refining my motorbike camping set-up with a view to doing a lot more of it.  I’ve done a couple of UK trips already this summer and will definitely do a few more.  I love it, combining two things I really enjoy is awesome – I can’t wait to do a European moto camping trip next year.  This means a solo trip, which I don’t mind but I will plan a separate Airbnb based trip with Mrs Bloke too.

Camping and biking without a pillion is much easier from bike logistics, but I’d hate to miss out on the 5* views campsites can give you! Southern Italy …

That looks awesome! I did the Picos with pillion last year staying in Airbnbs, I was eyeing up some fantastic looking campsites enviously.

I also fancy some wild camping off the bike in Norway/Sweden. Might make that happen next year.

Thanks all but time is of the essence really as I’ll be paying for a dog sitter so I dont want to spend a whole day plus probably overnight costs just to get the length of the UK on our motorways. Nor would I want to have to buy luggage etc for two motorbikes just for one trip so it’s fly and rent. I’ll definitely consider more planning the trip ourselves though in terms of overnight stops and route.

Sorry @GolfChick we appear to have hijacked your thread without being particularly helpful. This company looks like they might be worth investigating? They definitely do self guided tours and a few mention hire bikes so might work. I’ve not used them but I have heard about them in magazines and forums. I think they’ve been around for a while and have a good rep.

And, back to the OP’s original thought, might be worth checking with the tour company how many hours riding you’ll do each day…talking to a couple of guys on guided rides, they were doing between 100-200km per day, loads of breaks (every 30-40 mins), actual ride time 2-3hrs. If that suits then great, but for me, I’d want a good bit more…horses for courses

It’s Toro Adventure you want…

I’d also think I was missing on a very important part of a European tour if I flew out and hired a bike. The ferry. 

Really…?

Hours and hours wasted on a boat, often feeling sick, many more hours wasted on motorways and boring roads getting from home to the boat and then from the boat to the destination on the other side…

Ferry travel is a necessary evil as I see it, if you want to go away with your own transport… And I say this as someone who travels on a ferry a LOT (averaging 6-8 round trips per year either for work or on a motorbike trip over the last couple of years). Absolutely nothing romantic about it whatsoever…

@GolfChick I have a (female) motorbike riding friend in the Calder Valley who is keen to find other people to ride and tour with. She likes roads, not off road stuff. Drop me a message if I could do you an intro? She also has dog constraints!

Did a self guided tour around the Outback a few years back, Cape York, Gulf of Carpenteria, through the bush and desert.

It was great, hired a bike off a guy near Brisbane and made a rough itinerary with his advice, off I went. Probably a bit further than you want to go but it was one of the best things ive done. It was largely off road, but not impossible.

I still find red dust in my kit even now!

Really…?

Yep. Different people like different things shocker.