I have added this page to keep you up to date with any latest news and gossip if you have any comments which you wish to include please feel free to e-mail me.
Cheers , Dave

Hi
Nearly a month since I last wrote, during which time we have started the tour season. .   For us, this was a departure from our normal first tour in the Scottish Borders, as we headed for the Dales and Moors of Yorkshire. However, I am pleased to say that all went well and the weather was pretty kind to us.  From the feedback I have received, everybody loved the location of the hotel and I am told the food was great (unfortunately I did not stay, as I live so close).  The weekend having a 60's theme - entertainment was provided by various groups, including "Herman's Hermits".
  Saturday was spent riding the roads of the North York Moors (the beauty and diversity of landscapes of which, I think, suprised quite a few people) and on the Sunday it was into the Yorkshire Dales until approaching rain from the West forced us East to find some dry, "bike friendly" roads.  Although we will be back in the Scottish Borders next year, I think this venue could become a regular for the future. 

One final point - if you have any digital photos from the tour can you pick out the best and send them to me for the picture gallery

You may well remember that I mentioned last time about the devaluation of the pound against the Euro, well this has now reached 17% , a level which we are unable to absorb.  Therefore, I regret we are having to apply a small surcharge( approx 6%) to some European tours. We will continue to monitor the situation, and will write to you on an individual basis should it become necessary to apply this surcharge. 

You will be pleased to hear that Derek Young is well on his way to recovery and already planning his new outfit. I had a phone call from Margaret thanking everybody for their cards and good wishes. Derek sent me some pictures of the outfit and although a mess, is a tribute to its strength and the way he put it together. 

Speaking of accidents, unfortunately one of our customers had to pull out of the Spanish Tour at the last moment, although we were able to find a replacement and recoup some of his money it can still be a lot of money to loose. Therefore as long as there are dozy car drivers around looking to take you out, please seriously consider taking out some kind Holiday cancellation insurance.  I am not plugging our insurance, as I am sure most other companies do it, but our Personal Travel Insurance covers you not only for the period you are away on tour, but for cancellation due to injury, illness or redundancy prior to the departure date at no extra cost.

previous.............
A big thank you to everyone who came to see us at the Scottish Motorcycle Show - I was amazed at how many people were there, so much so, that we eventually ran out of brochures.

Talking to people at shows, one topic that crops up the most, is people considering touring on the continent for the first time.  If you have not done this before, the thought of riding on the wrong side of the road, strange road signs, a different language and various horror stories you have read about, are going to make you apprehensive - but there really is no need.  Like most things in life its a matter of common sense.

If you have never ridden any further than your local bike meeting place then you need to increase your mileage - we do not ride huge distances, but whatever tour you go on, in order to get anywhere - you are going to do 200 or more miles per day. Finding out that you are in agony after just 50 miles is going to make you miserable and pretty unpopular with your fellow riders who have to keep stopping for you.  Like anything, the more you do, the better you get - so the more miles you do the more the more comfortable you get with your bike and hopefully become a better and safer rider.

If possible do some touring here in the UK - either by yourself or on one of our short break tours - that way you can see  a) if you like touring    b) if you like riding with other people  c) whether your bike is suitable for touring  d) whether your luggage arrangements work  e) you have the right riding gear?

Once you feel ready to try the continent, I suggest you go with a reputable tour company for your first tour - it does not have to be us - every tour company has its own style, ask around and go for the one that suits you. Most tour companies will indicate that a tour is suitable for "first time abroad" riders or similar - in our case this would be our "Cantal Mountain Tour" where we use a Portsmouth - Le Havre crossing to significantly reduce the riding distance across France, and then keep daily mileages relatively low.  The obvious benefits of this are that all the ferry and accommodations arrangements are made for you, allowing you to concentrate on what matters which is enjoying yourself.  You will also be accompanied by a guide who is there to look after things and generally make your holiday go smoothly.
I actually think it is easier riding on the continent, there is usually less traffic, people are much more bike friendly and the roads are superior to ours.  I find riding on the right more natural, my biggest problem is remembering to ride on the left when I get home !

Having done that first tour no doubt you will be a lot more confident - you can then decide to tour on your own, go with a tour company again, or both.  For many, going on organised tours is the best of both worlds as all the mundane arrangements are taken care of, group rates ensure we are able to secure superior accommodation, and much of the guess work has been taken out of the best routes and things to see.  During the day you can ride on your own and yet socialise with like minded people over a beer or two in the evening.  Many of our customers come with us year after year, some several times a year, many of whom have become firm friends

previous................

Welcome to our new web site, this is a change I have wanted to do for some time – I hope you like it. The site has all the same content, but has been updated from ‘Desk Top Publisher’ to ‘Dreamweaver’ which should hopefully run better on the majority of computers and browsers.  No doubt there will be a period of “tweaking” and should you find any broken links, bits that do not look right or incorrect information, please let us know.

One of the things I know which frustrated me was having to work my way backwards to get out of the picture gallery or alternatively crash the page – well you will see we have put a new navigation bar in there which now allows you to “escape” more easily.

Is there anything extra you would like to see in the website? – If so, please let us know and we will look into it.

Many thanks to the people who contacted me regarding the use of audio systems on bikes in France and Spain – apparently a biker in Spain was fined when the police saw the lead from his helmet to an autocom unit  - they said that it was illegal to have any kind of earpieces in your helmet.  Obviously this also applies to blue tooth devices, although less obvious to the police.  Needles to say, if this is the case, everyone who uses intercom systems for talking to pillions, inter-bike and commands from sat nav systems are breaking the law!!  I for one will be taking my chances, no-one will ever convince me that taking your eyes off the road to look at a sat nav screen is safer than listening to commands, I suspect this is the Spanish police once more at their best!

The TOM TOM versus Garmin Zumo satnav battle continues - I can not confess to be an expert but having had Garmin navigators for the last few years I tend to favour them.  I have a 2820 - which is the last of the Streetpilot range and it works very well, but of course it has now been superseded by the Zumo 550.  Whichever satnav you buy, ensure it has European mapping.  Both TOMTOM and Zumo have faults and I do not think either is particularly well built.  The thing to remember about satnavs are that they are navigational aids and I would never go anywhere without a good map.
If you come on any of our European tours we are quite happy to email you our intended routes - all you need to do then, is to download them into your unit and then recall them when needed. All Garmin satnavs use mapsource for their mapping - if you want to plan your own routes, using this can be a little confusing, so I am happy to give you any advice should you need it.

In our constant desire to make our tours even better, next year will see us introduce some changes, these are  as  follows: 

a) We have extended the weekend tours to three nights - this was done at the request of customers, many who now travel some distance to be with us, however,  I have already had someone say they miss the two night tours, so perhaps we should look at having a mixture of both 2 and 3 night tours in 2009

b) You have asked us to make any sea crossings into Europe as simple as possible.  Unfortunately geography being what it is, we can’t bring the channel ports closer, however we can make the crossing easier and quicker, so 2008 will see us make more use of the channel tunnel.  This year, we will also be using the Portsmouth-St. Malo crossing on the Spanish tour, Portsmouth - Le Havre for the Cantal Mountain Tour, and Hull-Rotterdam for all German tours.  Like anything that makes life easier, this comes at a price, but I am sure you feel it is worth it. 
All tours are priced using the crossings shown, but as usual  you can cross by alternative means and we will adjust costs accordingly.

c)  Due to the popularity of our tours, 2007 saw us reach a point where our tours were running at full capacity.  Although a nice position to be in, we had to make the decision whether to expand and allow even more bikes on tour.  After careful consideration we have decided that any increase over and above our present levels  would be a mistake.   We appreciate that this may lead to some riders not being able to get on the tour of their choice, but - knowing that our customers prefer the friendliness of a smaller group - we feel everyone would be happier being known as a person, not a number.

If you want to call us - this time of year, I am usually at my desk from 10am to 10pm (tel 01423 770103) so please give me a ring I am happy to chat and hopefully answer any questions. If the phone is engaged please leave a message - once again providing we can understand your message we will ALWAYS PHONE YOU BACK

all the best
Dave