Why one-way motorcycle touring on your own bike makes sense

No, this isn’t a crafty plan to relieve you of your pride-and-joy at the end of a tour, but a clever way of letting you maximise the great times you have riding your motorcycle.  Many of the tours operated by Harley-Davidson authorised tour provider Tour1 go to Harley-Davidson European rallies, and here is the odd thing, you ride your own bike there, but the tours are one-way.  Since starting these tours a few years ago, they have been sold-out, so we asked Gary France, who runs Tour1, about these one-way tours and why they are so popular.

What exactly is a one-way tour on your own bike?  The one-way tours all start in the UK and we ride across Europe to a Harley-Davidson motorcycle rally.  These are fully-guided tours that use some of the best roads Europe has to offer.  We take six days to ride to the rally, then spend 3 days there enjoying the sights and sounds of that rally.  Our customers then fly back to the UK on the Sunday afternoon as the rally ends and your bikes are bought back to the UK on a truck.  You get your bike back less than a week later.

Where do you run these tours to?  In 2017, these tours go to the rallies in St Tropez (May), to the main HOG European Rally (June) and European Bike Week at Faaker See (September).

Why do riders like one-way tours so much?  Riders love the ride to a rally, as they are full of anticipation for what is ahead.  The roads are terrific and generally they are heading south into better weather.  We stay in good quality three and four-star hotels and the sense of adventure, riding in a group across Europe is exciting.  Riding back from a rally however is generally dull, often ridden on motorways, heading back to worse weather and nearly always done in a rush.  Eliminating that slog of a ride home is a real benefit as it allows riders to travel back comfortably, to be at home just a few hours later on Sunday evening, refreshed and ready for work the next day.

How long do the tours take?  Most of our tours leave on a Saturday morning and last 9 days, so finish when people fly home on the following Sunday.  For most people, that means they take just 5 days off work.

Do you ride a direct route to the rallies?  No.  Direct routes are often not the most exciting, nor the most scenic.  Take our route to St Tropez for example.  The direct route from Calais is about 730 miles of boring riding, but our tour is 1,200 miles to get there.  We ride fantastic roads in Belgium and Luxembourg, then two of the very best motorcycling roads in Germany, over parts of The Alps and finally, through some amazing gorges in France on our route.  We chose roads because they are spectacular, not simply because they get you there.

How do the motorcycles get back to the UK?  There is a company called ‘We Move Bikes’ who transport Harley-Davidson demonstrator bikes to events across Europe, for people to test-ride at the rallies.  They are an authorised logistics partner of Harley-Davidson, who use specially designed trucks and cradles to move the bikes.  We use those same facilities to bring our customers bikes back to the UK.  WMB are highly professional and fully insured for moving Harley-Davidsons.

So, a one-way tour allows people to ride across Europe for six days, on fantastic roads, stay in good quality hotels, then spend 3 days at a Harley-Davidson rally, and then be back home on the Sunday night, ready for work the next day.  What’s not to love!  www.tour1.co.uk

Is Tour Route Planning As Good As The Real Thing?

So the motorbikes are put away, and many of us are sitting here in the depths of winter.  In some places it is cold outside and in others it is very wet.  People from more southerly areas are still able to ride, but for most, winter is a time for staying off the bike.

So, what to do?  If we cannot ride, we need to fill our time with doing other things.  Some fettle their bikes, some find other things to do inside.  I like to plan next summers bike trips and I am just coming to the end of that right now.

Maps are covering the floor and my desk.....

My laptop is on overload with routes.  Choosing the best roads to fit together into one great tour is the key....

But, the best thing is, I really enjoy doing this as it increases the excitement level and makes me feel that the tour is nearer.  So, for me, route planning really is nearly as good as actually riding the routes later.

Gary
www.tour1.co.uk

Motorcycle Tour to the Harley-Davidson Rally in St Tropez

One of my favourite Harley-Davidson rallies is the European Festival, held in St Tropez and Grimaud each year. Getting some early season riding on great roads riding across Europe is a terrific way to kick-start the years longer rides.

Tour1 are running a one-way tour from the UK to the rally and the highlights of the tour include: Stay at a Chateaux – riding terrific roads in the Black Forest – Alps mountains – Mountain pass roads – Mont Blanc – Combe Laval – Verdon Gorge – St Tropez.

Saturday 2nd May 2015 to Sunday 10th May 2015, 8 nights

Prices. £1,685 per rider in his/her own room, or £2,075 for a rider and pillion sharing a room. For two riders sharing a room the price is £1,350 each.

Prices include all accommodation, plus transporting your bike back to the UK.

Countries we will be visiting on the way: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland.

For more information, see www.tour1.co.uk

Check out the video.....





Here are a few pictures from our 2014 tour to St Tropez......

The magnitude of the WW1 Battlefields stir emotions

I just returned from a visit to the WW1 Western Front, where I saw the battlefields, memorials and cemeteries. I went to look and to discover.

Having never studied WW1 at school, I had a lot to learn and so I bought a few books about WW1 and the conflict on the Western Front. From 1914 – 1918, World War I took place across much of Europe that saw 16 million people killed. On the west side of Europe, on 4th August 1914, Germany invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France. After the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that would change little until 1917.

Fierce fighting took place along the northern part of this Western Front, especially around Ypres, Vimy Ridge and The Somme. It is these areas that I went to see. I have included a few pictures below from my trip.

The Menin Gate, in Ypres, where The Last Post if played every night.

Restored German Trenches, at Vimy Ridge.

A very large German Cemetery.

Tyne Cot Cemetery, The Somme.

Allied trenches at Newfoundland Memorial Park.

Lochnagar Crater, Near Albert, The Somme.

Tank Memorial, near Pozières, The Somme.

Row upon row of headstones.

The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme.

Remembrance Poppies.

It was very moving and sombre. The waste of human life was enormous. In all areas of the war, 16 million people died in WW1 and looking at the ages of the soldiers on their headstones, the typical age was in their early twenties.

I will be running a motorcycle tour to these battlefields next year, so that others can see the sadness of what happened. It certainly wass an emotional experience to go and see it for myself.

Tour1 - Motorcycle tours to European Harley-Davidson rallies.

Check out the new video for my motorcycle touring business.

Filmed on one of the 2014 tours, this shows the sorts of roads and places we travel to when touring.

For more information, see www.tour1.co.uk

Harley-Davidson's go to St Tropez with Tour1

The first Tour1 road trip of the year is complete.

Our trip to get to St Tropez covered about 1,400 miles over six days of riding in France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and we rode some fabulous roads set amongst glorious scenery. It was a spectacular journey to get to the French Riviera.

The three days at the rally in St Tropez were glorious. We were blessed with fantastic weather and the Harley-Davidson’s parked in front of the mega-yachts was a sight to see!

The area was crammed full of Harley owners and the rally site was busy. The Tour1 customers then flew home on the Sunday and our motorcycles were returned back to the UK by We Move Bikes during the following week. The St Tropez rally is one of my favourites and one that I look forward to every year.

For more information about Tour1, see www.tour1.co.uk

Dramatic road set into the cliff at Combe Laval

View over the town of Namur, Belgium

The Swiss Alps

Strange rock formation in Sisteron, France

Waiting for a ferry to Cross the Rhine river

One of the winning bikes at the custom Bike show

Lunch stop in the Black Forest in Germany

Stop to stretch our legs!

Another stop, this time near Chamonix in the Alps.

Our group at Combe Laval

Early morning cloud near Mont Blanc

Beautiful Verdon Gorge

Verdon Gorge

In the Alps, somewhere!

Harley-Davidson's in the port of St Tropez

St Tropez, a great place to sit, drink and watch the bikes ride by.

The village of Grimaud, where the custom bike show is held.

Sunshine and chrome - a great combination!

The custom bike show

My new motorcycle touring business.

A few weeks ago, I hinted that I would be making an announcement about something motorcycle related. It sparked quite a lot of guesses about what it might be about.

Well, the waiting is over, as today I launch my new motorcycle touring business.

Called Tour1, the main points of what we are doing are…..

• We devise and lead motorcycle tours from the UK to Harley-Davidson European rallies.
• These are one-way tours and we ship your motorcycle back to the UK. We do this in partnership with “We Move Bikes”, the UK’s leading motorcycle shipper.
• Due to the tours being one-way only, you can ride across Europe, attend a great motorcycle rally and get back home, all in one week.
• We find great roads to ride, avoid motorways and have a preference for back roads.
• Many of our routes are planned to ride over the Alps mountains.
• In 2014, we are riding to three main Harley-Davidson rallies....
• We are going to the HOG Euro Festival, in St Tropez, France (May 2014)
• Plus, the main Harley-Davidson European Rally in Biograd, Croatia (June 2014)
• And the big one, European Bike Week, in Faaker See, Austria (September 2014)
• We have also organised a four day tour around parts of northern France

I will personally lead each of the tours.

The routes are planned, the hotels are booked and the anticipation levels are rising!

For more information, see our new website at www.tour1.co.uk