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This site is about adventurous and fun Motorcycle tours in England, the Isle of Man TT races, France, Spain, Iceland, Thailand and possibly Sri Lanka soon.. These are mainly road trips, but several off-road or trail tours options are also offered. Most biking holidays are escorted, although in many cases I can offer self-guided or "DIY" versions if you prefer.
Iceland Tours 2010 & 2011
NEWS - I'm pleased to see that BIKE magazine has done a 2 page feature on Iceland in their current issue, due in the shops any day now. The September issue. I went out again 14th to 19h July 2010 - with a small group of riders. Known customers or established trailbike riders. We made it to Landmannalaugar, at last. We also managed to complete the rather challenging Sprengisandur route. More detail top right hand side of this page. After 5 tours there, we've now come up with a "best of" itinerary. Including all the good bits, whilst minimising the sections which are likely to claim trail victims.
Bike Tours on Facebook
Look up Bike Tours UK on Facebook - I have a group page on there. It's a good place to display tour photos, although at present, they are all mixed together. Friends can also access my personal profile, which I partially dedicate to biking stuff.
Best of Three Tours & BMF Tail End show. September 2010
I previously got the dates wrong on my website. The BMF Tail End show is 17-19 September (not 10-12 Sept). Unfortunately this clashes with my September Best of Three Tour (full), so I won't be at the BMF, unless it's just a short visit on Sunday afternoon.
Bike Tours Fun Club
I've not had chance to progress this much yet, but my plan is top set up a social arm of Bike Tours UK. This will have a separate website, maybe a forum, and will act as a vehicle for all past tour guests to keep in touch with each other and organise ride outs and other fun things.
Motorcycle tour dates for 2010 have now been published. In fact most have been completed now. Click here to help you plan your Bike Tours UK motorcycle adventure.
Within this website you will find;
1. A wide range of Motorcycle Tours, both UK. European & Worldwide. Click Tours
2. Help in organising your own bike tour if you prefer this option. DIY France
3. General information related to Motorcycle Touring in the UK and elsewhere. UK info
4. Lots of tips to help smooth the way if it's your first visit to the UK
5. Assistance in hiring a motorcycle (renting) here
6. Advice on trail biking and UK based trail days & weekends
7. A vast of range of light-hearted chat, gossip, advice, and links, loosely connected with the world of motorcycling or just the great outdoors. Just browse around!
I've come to regard my motorcycle trips as Adventure Motorcycle Holidays, at the livelier end of the biking spectrum. These are usually full-on, active tours, with scarcely a moment to catch your breath. The emphasis is firmly on the quality of the riding, and top destinations, not necessarily creature comforts & the very poshest hotels. We sometimes use up-market hotels with swimming pools, but this is not my main priority. If it's clean and comfortable, and in a great location, that will do for me. And if it saves you a few quid as well, then that's a bonus.
Motorcycle Touring dates for 2010 now listed to the right. (same places and roughly the same dates as my annual motorbike tours over the last 10 years) The range of motorcycle adventure is described in greater detail, trip by trip on the left hand side of this home page. I'm becoming a creature of habit, and my 2010 bike tours will follow the same tried & tested pattern as in previous years. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 2010 dates are now being produced... Iceland went extremey well in 2009 and is The Next Big Thing for the slightly more adventurous motocyclist. Of course the erupting volcano there right now has come along just to spice up my Icelandic tours even more. We're still going! Places left on the July trip.
Breakdown cover
It's strongly advised that you have some kind of breakdown cover - even for UK riding. Even something relatively minor, such as a puncture can turn into a real head-ache if you have no access to assistance. It can also seriously disrupt the day's itinerary if the whole group stops to try and help. For trips abroad - recover insurance is essential. Even my trusty Fazer 1000 let me down, with rear wheel bearing failure on the way back from Spain last year, necessitating a call out to Green Flag, as it happens. Clich here for a good breakdown cover comparison site.
TT Races 2010
See details of the TT Races trip, and all other 2010 tours, in the top article, right hand side of the page, or just click here FULL.
The main thrust of my business is to organise independent, or fully guided motorcycle tours for both UK motorcyclists and bikers from overseas. I can sometimes supply a hire bike if this is required, although from November 2006 I stopped offering my own motorcycles for rent due to high levels of damage.
Ferry Ticket Booking feature
You can book your own cross channel, or other European ferries directly through this website. The prices you can find here are very competitive indeed. Try out the system, for a no obligation quotation.
I've placed this "DIY" touring information in this new section here
Have a good look around my site - I like to think it's fairly informative and far from "hard sell".
This site is partly dedicated to selling you some sort of tour or service, but the rest is pure help, advice and trivial gossip. All for FREE!
Bike Tours UK is one-man business (read "small"), running a maximum of just 8 tours per year - as much for my own pleasure as yours. I only take you to places that I know well, and areas I enjoy riding in myself. I don't do boring, flat, straight-road tours. These tours are for "real motorcyclists". The emphasis is firmly on the riding, the twisty roads and the scenery, not fancy hotels. I try to offer very good value, and try to get back to the "good old days" of pure biking fun. I love camping trips, although I offer hotel & self-catering options as well. Read the website fully. You should be able to work out if you're a Bike Tours UK sort of person or not.
Let me quote something to you. While in The Alps this year, we met another British motorbike guy on our campsite. He'd booked his solo Alpine motorcycle tour, purely on information gleaned from this website. He thanked me for the info, of course. He said he had considered booking a place on my Alps Tour, but he thought this "might be too formal and organised". My group of clients fell about laughing :)
Bike Tours UK is more like a club. Yes, I organise it all, set up the trip, make it all work, and I'm around (with my language skills) to help resolve any problems should they occur. But, the trips are in no way sterile and prescriptive. Plans are all very loose, there's plenty of space for people to do their own thing. There's no tight formal itinerary and we enjoy many spontaneous activities "on the hop".
Talking of "clubs", I'm considering setting up a club for past customers & friends, just as a social, non-commercial side to Bike Tours UK. Let me know if this may be of interest to you.
If you're the type of person who likes to rise at dawn, and have every minute of the day pre-planned for you, with pre-set times and places for coffee and lunch, then these tours are not for you. You'll be twitching with frustration within a couple of days.
Some might say "chaotic", but I'd say it's like being out riding with a group of mates rather than a fully regimented Motorcycle Package Tour. I can't stand "package tours" myself, although we sometimes use them for long-haul family holidays when the price works out cheaper than a flight only! I can't think of anything worse than a standard package tour to Magaluf or somewhile equally vile - so I try to prevent my own trips ever becoming like that.
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