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Motorcycle Courier Tests New Bike
IN AT THE DEEP END TO THE SOUTH OF FRANCE – 3000 miles in nine days
Never having done anything like this before, we decided that we might as well go for it and that it would provide an ideal opportunity to test the capability of the new courier bike, by travelling to the south France in late July.
We had never ridden a bike abroad before and needed to research the feasibility of offering a motorcycle courier service to the continent and also make contacts over there.
Hours spent on the Internet found hotels, which were booked in advance of the trip as being somewhat over twenty-one none of us fancied camping. Lesson number one – book early as hotels soon fill up in July and accommodation can be hard to find in the French holiday season. We decided to use Euro tunnel as it would save time on the journey we booked out from Folkestone on the 12.42pm train on Saturday 19th July cost £36 and the return at 11.50am French time on Sunday 27th July was £35.
Which bikes did we use?
Although both Mal and Jeanette had their own bikes we decided for economy reasons not to take them so it was Mal and I on our Honda VFR800 which we had recently bought new from Grantham Honda with the three piece hard luggage. With all three panniers fitted and full and a rider and pillion I suspect we were over the Hondas 430lb maximum weight carrying capacity. Navigation was taken care of by Tom Tom Rider 2 European Sat nav.
Ian and Jeanette went on their 2001 Suzuki GSXR750, (40000miles covered and still in immaculate condition thanks to Ian) using throw over panniers and a tank bag. Ian had modified a Tom Tom car sat nav to fit on the bike made waterproof with a plastic cover.
Paul was on his 2006 Honda CBR600rr using Ian's spare throw over luggage, which he borrowed for the week. Navigation taken care of by blind faith and never letting your mates out of your sight.
Setting of from Newark at 8.30am in the morning with three immaculately clean bikes we had only travelled 15 miles when the great British weather decided to take a hand and it rained most of the way to Folkestone. Waterproof Akito two piece over suits did the job nicely and we arrived at the tunnel fairly dry but with three filthy bikes. Water had also leaked inside the waterproof covers of the two using soft luggage but not caused serious damage. The VFRs luggage system was totallt waterproof.
Top tip – if running late watch out for the hidden speed cameras fitted to the overhead gantries on the M20. The only warning you get are the markings on the road and they are rearward facing L.
Check in was easy and didn't require passports. Cars are loaded first and then bikes are put on last, front wheel facing the left side of the carriage and parked in first gear. The train is reasonably smooth but can rock a bit so keep an eye on your bike during the journey. No refreshments available on board so pre-packed sandwiches helped pass the time.
Straight off as soon as we arrived at the other end with Satnavs set to avoid toll roads we soon got used to driving on the other side of the road and made good progress up the coast and then inland towards our stop for the night at Soissons.
It's illegal to cross a single solid white line which means the same as a double white line here but the French drivers are very courteous to bikers and nearly always move over to let you through. Right boot moved out off the footrest to say thank you is the norm and bikers passing the other way will always put their left hand out to you in acknowledgement.
British car drivers could learn a lot from the French but watch out for other nationalities as they act the same as our lot back home.
Top Tip – the French have a lot of speed cameras many now rearward facing to catch bikes and if there is a speed camera sign it means what it says, not like in the UK. Small boxes painted grey on the roadside, not big and yellow like ours.
Built up areas are all 50kph whether it is signed or not, open roads 90kph and motorways 110 or 130kph. Under the latest French laws if you are caught doing 50kph over the limit you get an instant ban and they confiscate your bike off you and sell it so don't do 100kph (60mph) in a built up area even if there are no signs!!!!!
We arrived safely at our destination at Soissons that evening having covered about 360 miles. Apart from the rain in the UK the only problem we had was making sure the CBR600rr didn't run out of fuel on its small tank range compared to the other two bikes.
We stayed at a Premier Classe Hotel in Soissons, which is very cheap and basic and not what it sounds situated on an industrial estate on the outskirts of the town. Luckily they are part of the Campanile chain and usually have a Campanile hotel nearby which is better quality and has a restaurant available for use.
Day two dawned bright and sunny and after a continental breakfast we set off south again in light Sunday morning traffic towards our next overnight stop at the Comfort Hotel at Bourg En Bresse some 290 miles and seven hours travelling away situated just to the east of Geneva.
On Sundays the roads are very quiet in France with lorries banned and this was a very pleasant day travelling mainly on single carriageway roads through beautiful countryside with picturesque towns and villages. We had been warned about the lack of fuel stations open on Sunday in France but found this not to be a problem with all main stations open and manned. A few were unmanned but 24-hour pumps were available using credit cards.
We had a very pleasant stay at the Comfort Hotel which is actually situated in Viriat on the outskirts of Bourg en Bresse but again in an industrial estate. The place was palatial in comparison to our previous night at Soissons. The only down side was that the restaurant was closed on Sunday evenings which turned out to be a bonus as we walked to the local Bison Grill restaurant which had an American Wild West theme and served excellent food. The staff were extremely helpful didn't speak a word of English and after much laughter at our attempts to translate the menu managed to find and dust off an English version for us.
Back to the Hotel for a nightcap and up again for an early breakfast for our next leg to Digne les Bains where we were booked into a Campanile for the next four nights.
That day took us around 210 miles via Grenoble and down the Route Napoleon to Sisteron and on to our destination at Digne.
Just short of Grenoble we stopped at a MacDonalds in one of the nicest locations on a roundabout surrounded by mountains. The place was immaculate inside with extra counters serving chocolate cakes and all sorts of tempting and extremely fattening sweets. Guess which counter the girls made for?
Avoiding the Peage we took the Route Napoleon south and climbed on hairpin roads through stunning scenery with mountains poking through the top of the clouds arriving in the beautiful fortress town of Sisteron by mid afternoon where we stopped for coffee in the town centre whilst local children were delighted to sit on the bikes and giggled a lot at our attempts to speak to them in French.
The Campanile at Digne was a nice place to stay but again situated on the outskirts of the town. We walked into town that night thinking it was only a short distance away. 4km later we collapsed into a bar restaurant and later found there were no taxis on the rank in the evenings. That was the one and only time we walked into town. The next nights we rode into town and left the bikes in the pedestrianised market place next to the wide choice of restaurants. We were welcomed at the Blue Cerise by the owner Vince who is a bike and rugby enthusiast, restaurant owner, reserve Policeman and total nutter. We had two brilliant nights with him taking the time to drag the board across to our table outside and fully explain the menu to us in English.
Not many chefs would tell you their lasagne "Looks like shit but tastes great" but he was right and we came back for more.
[Dave in the Mountains] Tuesday we rode out into the mountains to the northeast along the D900 to the lake near Savines Le Lac and then East to Barcelonnette. Fantastic countryside, mountain roads and small village winter ski resorts with great photo opportunities. The area is also popular for air sports with gliders and Para gliders floating colourfully around the mountainsides in the rising air currents.
Returning from Barcelonnette we were diverted away from the Tour de France cycle route that closes the roads and took a route that we thought headed back home. A short while later we arrived at a dead end at the top of a mountain in a small ski resort. Fantastic views and then off we roared off again laughing back down the mountain singing the Bonnie Tyler song "I was lost in France". Back along the D900b past Gap Tallard airfield watching people parachuting down and landing next to the road then via Sisteron we arrived back at the hotel in the evening to be met by Christelle who by now understood our sense of humour "I suppose being English bikers you now want a beer?" Who were we to say no and followed it with French equivalent of steak and chips.
Wednesday dawned and off we roared again south this time along the N85 turning left onto the N202 through St Andre les Alpes and then south through twisting mountain roads along sheer sided gorges. A fantastic route all the way down to Nice where we turned left and followed the coast road to Monaco where we parked the bikes on the harbour side and watched how the other half live. Floating gin palaces in the harbour are mainly British registered and if you fancy a guided tour around the town a fleet of red open topped Ferraris are available on the harbour side. A little bit more up market than an open topped bus back in England but somewhat more expensive.
Returning along the coast road we picked up the D2 which cuts across to the Route Napoleon and then north again. Another stunning route with tight hairpins and great scenery.
The following morning was spent shopping for presents and then in the afternoon we rode out down to D907 and D953 through fields full of blue lavender to the Lac de Ste Croix which has the Verdon Gorge. A local beauty spot highly popular with the local people who were treated to the sight of the mad English ladies of Birds on Bikes paddling in the lake wearing bike leathers rolled up to the knees whilst all the other females wore bikinis.
Back to Digne for our last night and a meal with Vince at Blue Cerise ended when a car pulled up outside and the passenger dragged him headfirst through the window. We were then treated to the sight of the car roaring round the market place with Vince, his backside and legs hanging out the window whilst sirens erupted from the vehicle. Turns out it was two of his mates from the Local drugs squad turned up and decided to have a joke with him. A few minutes later he was back in the restaurant hosting two big rough looking plain-clothes lads wearing very guns on their hips. We roared off a short while later still laughing with the intention of going back again one day but sad to be leaving.
Friday morning dawned with an early breakfast and a run back up north of 400 miles even using Peage we were on the road for ten hours to the Route 66 Hotel at Bussiere Poitevine situated north of Limoges. This is a hotel aimed at bikers half way between Calais and Spain run by Harry a colourful character who got fed up of the rat race in England and decided to do something different. A very welcome home cooked evening meal was ready for us on arrival in good weather served outside. A dozen bikers around a large table exchanged experiences late into the evening. All bedrooms have a different theme. The bar is outside in a large outbuilding crammed with memorabilia old bikes and a decent selection of music for all tastes. A separate outbuilding houses the bikes safely undercover for the night.
See www.route66hotel.com for details.
Heading off north again on Saturday morning for our last night in Dieppe traffic was heavy due to the French Holiday season but we were romping along nicely on single carriageway roads until we came up behind two matching blue BMW motorcycles with riders in matching blue short sleeved shirts and helmets. That's nice I thought they've even got their names across the back of the shirts as we rapidly closed intending to breeze by at the next available opportunity. It was at that point I realised why other car drivers had been flashing and waving to us. Both these guys had the same name on the shirt – Gendarme.
That gave us time to sightsee for the next 20km or so as we poddled along at a very law abiding 90kph behind these guys.
Saving time using Peage again we arrived in Dieppe in time to spend a pleasant evening on the harbour side before going back to the Campanile Hotel for a late evening meal.
On Sunday morning we set off north at 8am to catch the 11.50am Euro tunnel at Calais. The roads were empty other than a few groups of cyclists and we travelled through green rolling countryside on what for me was a very nice ride arriving at Calais in time to be put on an earlier train.
Back down to earth in Kent temperature of 30 degrees and very high humidity with a very busy M20 and M25 we all noticed the difference in driving attitudes. Why move to the nearside lane when you can block the outside on the motorways guys? The end result was that everything was moving much slower and it was often easier to travel in the almost empty nearside lane within the speed limit passing all the slow moving traffic in the centre and outer lanes.
We arrived home at 3pm that afternoon after nine days and 3000 miles on the bikes.
Conclusion
From a motorcycle courier point of view we found we could make Paris or Brussels from the East Midlands in around 8 hours travelling on the bike and using Euro tunnel. The new Tom Tom Sat nav performed well with only one minor hiccup in Rouen (see memorable incidents below) and is essential if you want to save time and get to your destination with minimal hassle.
All three bikes performed faultlessly from start to finish the only damage being a cracked aftermarket Pyramid hugger on the VFR. It was replaced under warranty without having to ask by Pyramid plastics at Gainsborough after I dropped in with the bike and showed it to their guys. They pulled it all apart and found witness marks where the suspension had bottomed causing the damage. They fitted a slightly different type free of charge under warranty which has more clearance and is especially useful for bikes used fully loaded for long distance touring. Ten out of ten for customer care and attention to detail by the guys in the workshop. It's a pity more businesses aren't like Pyramid.
Out of all three motor bikes the fuel range of the VFR at nearly 200 miles to the tank is ideal for courier work whilst the CBR struggled to manage 130 miles to the tank.
The riding position is comfortable with minimum weight on the couriers wrists whilst Ian on the Suzuki managed well Paul on the CBR struggled after the long distances due to the riding position of the sports bike. The sports bikes came into their own on the mountain roads being lighter and more nimble whilst the VFR is heavier to handle round tight bends but for distance and motorway riding it offered comfort, stability and wind protection.
Throw over luggage is fine for dry weather but can be a liability in the wet unless they have good quality rain covers. The Honda VFR hard luggage system is totally waterproof and the bike is quiet capable of carrying the maximum 430lb load limit with ease.
Premier Hotels would provide basic over night accommodation for our courier but the Campanile would provide the better facilities with all vehicles being in secure areas overnight.
Most memorable incidents
- Paul watched by amused French drivers leaping up and down like a demented dervish on the Peage barrier sensor trying to get it to spit out a ticket whilst dressed in full bike gear in 30-degree temperatures.
- Whilst following the Satnav through Rouen it directed us down a ramp into an underpass and at the last second we noticed the no motorcycles sign due to the low roof height. Shouts of "Duck" to the girls were followed by screams and laughter from them as we passed underneath crouched low to avoid a roof height that would have turned a Range Rover into a cabriolet.