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It had always been an ambition of mine to tour around Europe on a motorcycle, but at 50 years of age, I was starting to think it would never happen. However, it became a reality a few weeks ago when I and 8 others decided to ride from England through France, into the Pyrenees to Andorra, down to Barcelona and then across northern Spain to take the ferry back to England from Santander. My chosen mount for the trip was a Triumph Rocket 3 Classic, perhaps not the most sensible, but comfy and with that
2. 3 litre engine providing plenty of torque for the mountain roads in the Massif and Pyrenees mountains that border Andorra and Spain. We left Dover, England at 8. 00 am having covered 130 odd miles to get there. Fortunately the weather in England was warm, and the early morning, a Sunday, gave a clear run into the dawn. After just over an hour on the ferry, we arrived at Calais, France, and having filled up with fuel in Dover immediately set about blasting our way to leMans for our first stopover.

I had only bought Rocket a few weeks previously and was a tiny bit apprehensive about the two thousand two hundred mile journey ahead, having covered just 370 miles on it before this trip! However, this first day, although a 270 odd mile stretch from Calais to leMans was to be on fast dual carriageway roads. And fast it was! With very little traffic on the French roads we were able to keep going at a steady rate, somewhere over the speed limit!

The Rocket is so big you can physically move around, so cramp or stiffness was not an issue. More than once there was something of a cross wind, and the guy I was following, Mike, riding a BMW GS1200, I could see struggling just a bit with the buffeting he was getting. By contrast, my body got buffeted, but the bike hardly moved, its sheer weight keeping it firmly planted on the road. Fortunately, the nearest any one came to an accident was me! I wasn't even riding it! I was simply pushing it off the pumps where we had filled up with fuel to wait for the others, and nearly tripped over the side stand.

I just managed to keep the bike upright, but decided I wasn't going to push it again! At the hotel that evening we all reflected on the days ride. For me, the Triumph was the bike I would have chosen to ride of all the bikes in our group.

The speed and power had been unleashed, and the well surfaced, gently sweeping French motorways had been perfect for it.

I messaged back home that all was well, and the bike had been fantastic. However, there was still some 1900 miles to go!
Although using a Triumph on this tour, Zac also rides a Harley Davidson Motorcycle and protects it with Harley Davidson motorcycle covers .

It is so important to take care of your bike, and Harley Davidson motorcycle covers are very good quality and do the job,

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