Why road trips are so important to me

The early morning fog lingers over empty roads, the resonating sound of birds chirping echoes through your ears and the icy, cold wind bites your cheeks. A mixture of wonder, fear and suspense fill your veins. You roll your heavily loaded bike out of the garage, checking your oil level, tyre pressures and chain tension. You start the bike.

You're ready.

A leg is swung over the bike, you hit first gear and you trundle off into the morning sun. Over the next few days you'll be visiting places you've never been before. You'll bond over a few beers at the end of a hard days riding. You'll have ups, downs and everything in the middle. But when you come out of it at the end; the ups will be cherished, the downs will be laughed at and everything in the middle will be remembered fondly.

That's a road trip.

One of our smaller road trips to Barmouth, but a magnificent journey never the less.

It's something I'd never even considered when I bought my 50cc. But as an anxious sixteen year old, I loaded up my little Derbi and as soon as the wheels rolled off my drive on that fateful day, I was converted.

A road trip by motorcycle is so much more involved than one by car. Motorcyclists are highly exposed to the elements. We get blown around by winds, soaked by rain and dried out by the sun, it's something that car drivers take for granted inside their little, heated box. However, I don't see this exposure as a curse. Surely, battling through the bitter weather and coming out of it in the end smiling would make you proud? To me, it's something you can fondly look back on in retrospect.


To all of those who haven't had the pleasure of embarking on a road trip, just jump on your bike and go. It doesn't matter how much you spend, how far you go or what bike you're on. Anything's possible.

Over three years ago, four sixteen year old lads with paper rounds scraped together £50 and took their little 50cc bikes to the Welsh coast. It's four days of my life that I will never forget. If we could do it, anyone can.

It wasn't a booze-up. It wasn't a holiday. It was a road trip.

Says it all

Do you need an adventure bike to have an adventure?

Courtesy of www.hdwallpapersinn.com

Looks cool doesn't it?

But is it really necessary to have a £15,000, 270 kg bike that has more whizzes and gadgets than the average spaceship? Do you really need heated seats, grips and clothing? Do you need ABS and traction control? What about electronic adjustable suspension? I mean sure, if you're into all of that stuff than fair enough, but is it really necessary? Could you live without it?

Will a 2013 Bmw R1200Gs get you to Vietnam and back? Yes. Will a 1987 Honda C90 Cub be able to cope with the same trip? Of course it would.

Obviously, the bike which you choose will adjust the difficulty of your trip. But it could also adjust the fun. For instance, you could tour the world on an R1 which will obviously not be as economical on fuel and tyres, it will be very uncomfortable and luggage space is limited. But would you have a hoot? Probably more so than some dull, lifeless, built-for-the-job workhorse. 

Then again, you could travel the world on an old 80s Dt125 and you'll be breaking down frequently and requiring rebuilds etc... You'll have a top speed of 65mph and will struggle up hills, but the delays and the hard bits are what make a trip memorable. Which brings me onto my next question;

'Is buying a bike made for touring the best thing to tour on?'

Maybe, depends on how tough you are. Can you handle having to travel at 40mph on a scooter in the bitter cold rain with no heated grips or big, wide fairing to take all the impact? Or do you find that idea a true adventure?

I'm not saying a GS or a Pan European etc... are dull, boring bikes. I'm sure there're owners out there that love them, and I don't have any particular hatred towards them. I'd just like to open the new narrow-minded view of 'I need a GS to have an adventure' a little bit further.

Because it's simply not true.

My Biking History until now

As my 16th Birthday approached I managed to persuade my Mom to allow me to buy a motorbike. I remember the day I bought my bike, me and my Dad drove all the way to Brighton (about 200 miles away from Kidderminster) with our bike trailer attatched to the back of the car. It was a Derbi gpr 50 nude that I had bought, a very smart bike it was - totally standard though (meaning it could only just get to 50mph) and only a year old. It was a good bargain, I never had any problems with it at all, with the exception of my indicators sometimes flashing super fast - but who really cares about that?

I took my CBT when I had turned sixteen and I was a nervous wreck, terrified of the little 50cc I had. It wasn't the speed that scared me (there wasn't much of that anyway) it was the fear of dropping it and stalling at traffic lights. To be honest, my first month of riding was absolutely awful, I would prepare myself at the traffic lights and as soon as they turned green, I would panic and stall. Or at other times I would see an oncoming car and panic and go too wide around a corner (I am a bit of a dithering idiot).

Me on my 50, a few hours after passing my CBT - January 2010

Thankfully for me (and other road users) this dodgy riding didn't last long, and before I knew it I was high flying on the way to my first camping trip to Welshpool in May. I was joined by two of my riding buddies on their 50's (a Motohispania Rx50 and a Yamaha Tzr 50) and it was a pretty good trip.

The three of us setting off to Welshpool - May 2010

However, shortly after this trip I had my first accident on Father's day. I remember this because me and my Dad had decided to go for a father-son ride out and then come back home to watch the Moto GP later. There was slippy diesel on a round-a-bout which ended up with me low-siding across the road. Luckily, I was only doing about 20mph so I wasn't hurt, but for the next few weeks I had started to wince whilst going around corners as I still had the sensation of falling off my bike fresh in my mind, making my riding a lot less fun.

My mate also suffered from a slightly more serious crash down a 40mph dual carridgeway, hitting the central reservation. Whilst my other friend had rode straight into a hedge at 55mph and another coming off in the rain, and with everyone crashing I was starting to feel a little anxious about whether having a bike was a good idea.

However, I pushed this worrying thought out of my head as we embarked on our second road trip to Fairbourne (in Wales) which had taken place in August. This trip was even better than the last and the weather was gorgeous - it couldn't get any better than this.

On the way to Fairbourne - August 2010

However, a few weeks after we had arrived home the winter was approaching and there wasn't much riding time left, and with my 17th Birthday coming closer I had to make a decision - Do I learn to drive a car or stick with the bikes?

It turned out I wanted to try and do both on two paperounds and a measly McDonald's wage. So I sold my 50 and bought a Hyosung Gv 125 Aquila for around about the same price - I still saw my bike as my top priority. The Hyosung was alright but wasn't a massive difference from the 50 to the 125 it was very heavy and slow, it did look like a huge bike but it certainly didn't go like one, which was a shame really. I was also really keen to buy some loud pipes for it but nowhere supplied any. I never really had much of an emotional attatchment with this bike - don't get me wrong it's a great bike but I drive like a maniac and this bike really was never made for that.

The Aquila - January 2011

I also managed to save up to buy a Saxo to learn to drive. I found driving a car quite fun although it had none of the adrenaline rush of being on a bike. I really tried to keep my car lessons going, as a car is so much more practical during the winter and rainy days (which we have a lot of in the UK). However, I knew that I could never afford the insurance (£4200!!) and decided to sell it and then spend all of my money on a bike, which I did.

My little car - March 2011

In June, six months after buying the Hyosung, I bought a Yamaha Yzf R125 which is the best bike i've ever bought - it is truely amazing. It has a remus exhaust, K&N air filter and tail tidy. It really does sound mean and looks it too. It will probably be the best looking bike I could ever afford, I really cannot criticise it in anyway other than it doesn't have USD forks or a forged yoke which would improve the handling, as compared to it's regular telescopic forks and (reasonable high) clip on handlebars.

Me and my Yamaha - June 2011

 A few months later our third and latest road trip took place. We went to Woolacombe which is in North Devon and it was a brilliant trip although the weather was nothing compared to year before (look at my articles for more info on the trips).

The campsite in Woolacombe - August 2011

I'm still riding this bike now and I will be upset the day I will sell it for something faster, i've definitely developed a bond with this bike. So that's where I am now, when my test is done expect to see and hear about some other awesome machinery.

Tom