BOYS ON TOUR...
My name is Ben and I am from Portrush, Northern Ireland (NW200 regular!) and a pal and I are currently planning a European bike tour. Specifically, a tour to replicate the Allied advance through Europe (Ooo, good one! – FB). This plan is particularly pertinent to us, as we are both current and serving members of the Royal Marine Commandos (We read about your trip to St Nazaire with the Panigale and H2 and although we’d already begun planning, it definitely added inspiration!).
We both have plenty years of biking experience under our belts but neither of us have gone more than a long weekend away on two wheels. We have selected most of our destinations and know a timescale and budget we can realistically stick to. We are hoping to document the trip and potentially send it in to our forces magazine as well so may even get a chance at a bit of sponsorship – but neither of us are holding our breath!
Currently deciding on what type of machinery to go for (sportsbike, cruiser, enduro, dirtbike etc.) and were wondering what your thoughts and recommendations would be on this part and indeed the trip in general. We’ve been deployed on ship lots the past two years (hence the desire to get stuck into some two wheel action on land), resulting in me selling my ZX-10R beforehand due to lack of time to ride and my mate holding off before he bought a new one – so the choice of bike is very open to us. At the minute we are leaning towards a couple of CRF450s (not the same as a Panigale or H2 but we may be planning some off-road excursions to a select few battlefields in relation to the efforts specifically from Royal Marines during the Second World War). Our plan B is a couple of Triumphs to keep it a proper British trip! Basically, just wanted to write in and see what you lads thought? I realise it could be a long shot to get hold of you, as am sure you are all pretty busy and get tonnes of emails through, but we thought it was worth a try! Hi boys! Sounds like a great trip and we’ll mail you some thoughts, but we LOVE jaunts like this (and so will you), and we’re printing it to try and inspire others to do the same. Bikes are best when you’re getting them out there – have fun!