Manx Trails and five ways to ride them

The Tarmac of the Isle of Man isn’t the only appeal for two-wheelers, there is so much more…

GasGas EC250F, Husqvarna Norden 901, KTM 390 Adventure

While the Isle of Man is known globally for the incredible spectacle of the TT Races, it has also been colloquially referred to over the years as the ‘Mecca of motorcycling’, and this hasn’t just been because of the road racing that has been taking place on the roads of Mona’s Isle since 1907. In short, it is a truly wonderful place to ride a motorcycle.

There need be no excuse for booking a ferry over to the Island, but if you really need to have one, then there are plenty to choose from. And let us add another. Even when racing is taking place on the 37.73-mile Mountain Circuit, there’s a varied array of roads to choose from upon which to ride your motorcycle, and not all of them are metalled surfaces, as there’s a mixed bag of legal off-road routes that take you to some of the Island’s most beautiful places, with the rather convenient side effect being that some of them end up at truly mind-boggling viewing spots for the racing.

We talk more about the actual riding of the trails on our video (there’s a QR code on the last page), but here we only really have space to talk about the bikes that we used on our trip – a triumvirate of internally-combusted Pierer Mobility Group two-wheelers, plus a couple of their electrically-assisted pedal-powered brethren. And while the three motorcycles come from three companies all under the same umbrella, they are about as diverse a collection of trail-suitable machinery can be. From mild-mannered, to feisty, and downright rude, they’re as close to covering the broad spectrum of off-road bikes as is possible with such a small number of machines, and yet each is as flexible and forgiving as each other. Impressive, and eye-opening. Read on…