Touring

Flip-up, or flip-front, helmets have been around for some time now, and the range available is quite large now. Your premium options have generally been limited to Shoei and Schuberth, with Shark sitting just below - however AGV are introducing a very premium flip-up helmet in the form of the AGV Sport Modular. Shoei have evolved their mainstay of their flip-up stable, now introducing the Neotec II, said to improve on its predecessor which has been a bestseller. 

Last time we explored Spain, going all the way to the most southerly point of mainland Europe. This time, in the final part of this series, we’ll be heading back north but taking in a few sights on the way.

We finished off in the north west corner of Italy last time - this time we're going to head west and south, following the Mediterranean coastline.

We left off in one of the most romantic cities in the world – Venice. We’ll be heading down into Italy proper in this portion of the trip, and it’s my favourite country in the world – for its food, its history, its scenery and the roads.

This is the second part of the Ultimate Europe Tour series – in the last part we headed south through France and into Switzerland, taking in some spectacular Swiss Alpine passes.  We left off at the Nufenen Pass in Switzerland which peaks at 2478m above sea level.

You’ve got a month to spare and a bike to ride - where do you go?

Following on from the post about preparation for a European tour, this series of articles will go through what I believe the ultimate European bike trip would consist of, ticking off the landmarks and roads of biking heaven as you head south, through the eastern side of France, exploring the Alps, all the way down to Naples and the Amalfi Coast, back up and along the French Riviera, before descending into Spain, returning back north eastwards, and stopping at Lyon. From there it’s onto the Black Forest, then the Nurburgring, before heading homewards again.

Europe is a massively varied place and offers everything for any kind of rider, from offroad trails on top of mountains, to world-class race tracks. More often it’s all about the roads and sights though, which is what motorcycle touring is all about. Each country I’ll take you through has its own little quirks and rules which make them each unique, but they have one thing in common – they’re all definitely worth riding to!

With summer upon us (or what passes for summer in the UK), it’s high time for bikers to head to the continent for great roads, delicious food, and to mime frantically what you want as you inevitably struggle with the language!

Riding on the continent is something I believe all bikers should do at least once, especially as it’s so easy to get to. Exposure to other ways of life is one of the best ways to enrich yourself, and the roads are often fantastic too!

In this post I’ll cover what you’ll need, and what you’ll need to know before you embark on your European adventure.  I’ve been on a few trips through Europe by motorcycle, and lived in Gibraltar for three years so I thought I’d pass on some advice and experience.