V-strom from Spain to the UK
Rider Gareth Ashman Bike Suzuki V-strom 650 XT Ride Spain and France tour - Plymouth–santander–caen
STEEP, TWISTING CLIMBS, granite cliffs, waterfalls and desert-moonscapes… and all within the incredible first three hours of riding inland from the ferry. My wife Jennie and I were starting what was clearly going to be an epic ride home from Santander via Caen and were heading towards the medieval city of Burgos, on the awesome N634 and N623. This section really does have it all, from tricky mountain roads at the start, through gorges, to wide-open sweeping sections on the approach into Burgos.
Riding with the soaring birds of prey, wild roaming goats and cows in Spain’s Cantabrian Mountains soon made us forget the dreadful drudge that we’d endured down to Plymouth to catch the overnight ferry. With the Suzuki V-strom 650XT fully loaded, this was going to be our first ‘dry’ run. The tail end of hurricane Irma made sure it was anything but as heavy storms followed us south from RIDE’S Peterborough office.
There’s a feeling that you need a big bike for two-up touring — especially tours of this distance — so this trip would show whether the smaller V-strom was actually up to the job. I was a bit concerned the 650 might be, well, a touch weedy on steep ascents but as we headed up into the mountains I didn’t find that the case at all. Even fully loaded, with a pillion, the little twin delivered torque perfectly for these tight climbs.
As in all mountainous areas, weather is variable and we were riding in light rain and low cloud. In a way this added to the atmosphere, though every now and then I caught the traction-control light flickering — which I found comforting. I wouldn’t have been able to use the power of a bigger bike here and throwing around the increased bulk of a 1000 would definitely have been more tiring.
I might not have needed any more power, but the ability to further adjust the suspension would have been a real plus, especially on the fast sweepers approaching Burgos. The rear shock only has preload adjustment and there is no ability to adjust the forks. Being so loaded down, the V-strom was shaking its bars quite violently at around 40mph, so I had to use my arms to hold the grips tight, like a human steering damper. The worn tarmac in many places certainly wasn’t up to the power of a bigger bike and trying to ride a sportsbike really would have been a waste of time on these surfaces.
After our first night in Burgos, as we loaded up to head north towards San Sebastian next morning, a guy on a big BMW asked if the V-strom was OK in the mountains. It was just fine, I told him. Clearly surprised, he replied, “What, even on the descents?” Yes, I said — the V-twin motor has plenty of engine braking and the brakes, though not super sharp, are perfectly adequate.
A quick blast up the autopista to Vitoria-gasteiz and we headed off
“Surely one of the best-value touring bikes”
northeast into mountains again. It’s very much like the Alps here, immensely lush and very green and quite different to the mountains that we left behind nearer to Santander. Passing by many lakes and climbing high above the reservoirs made for stunning views.
The cliffs turned to granite as we rushed towards the incredible coast road running through the Basque surf town of Zarautz into San Sebastian. Our hotel for the night was high on Mont Igueldo, cliffs providing breathtaking 360° panoramas of the Atlantic and down to the city itself.
Next day we set off heading towards Bordeaux through the foothills of the Pyrenees and things started to get warmer and dryer. The Pyrenees are amazing, but riding was tiring and the roads in France were markedly busier than in Spain.
After the mountains, Jennie and I rode across a much flatter landscape, through fragrant pine forests. This is where a bigger engine could have been advantageous, as I was spending a lot of time working up and down the gearbox and some overtakes still weren’t as smooth and decisive as I’d have liked. The rain returned as we arrived at Bordeaux, pottering tentatively over the treacherous wet cobbles in the city.
From Bordeaux we headed up the west coast for a stop at the exclusive enclave Île de Ré, a firm favourite of wealthy Parisians. The approach was flat and marshy, then across a causeway costing €2, one-way. Cycling is the big transport on the island and it’s the only way to get to the best bits, but pottering through the tight lanes on the V-strom was just perfect.
From Île de Ré we rolled northeast through the vineyards of the Loire Valley, with an overnight stop at a charming château on the outskirts of Angers. Our
final day saw us wind our way up through Calvados and La Suisse-normand (a part of Normandy the locals think looks more like Switzerland than northern France). We arrived early at Caen so, with time on our hands, made a detour along the coast to the old fishing port of Honfleur.
Queuing up among all of the other bikes to eventually catch the ferry got me thinking. All of these machines were over 1000cc and many of them were BMWS (mostly GSS or RTS). There were a few Hondas and KTMS, plus the token Ducati. It seems there is a certain snobbery among adventure motorcyclists: people think you need a big bike for a trip like this, but you don’t. Yes, a bigger engine would have been better on motorways, fast flat sections and for overtaking but for much of the trip, it would have actually been a hindrance, particularly on the tight mountainous stuff.
I looked at a chap next to us in the queue and worked out his upgrades and accessories cost more than the full list price of my bike. The V-strom performed impeccably and has to be one of the best-value bikes in motorcycle touring today.