Three days of riding on Gran Canaria

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The Canary Islands are my favourite last minute destination: reasonably cheap, plenty to see and do, and most of all: the weather is good year-round. They are called “the islands of eternal spring” for good reasons. I had already visited Tenerife, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura so Gran Canaria was the next logical choice.

In my search to ride a motorcycle on the island to awaken from riding hibernation, I ended up with Canary Motorcycle Tours. Martin and Joy, an English couple, offer guided motorcycle tours on Gran Canaria for groups of up to 8 motorcycles. Prices are only slightly higher than renting a motorcycle yourself.

Canary Motorcycle Tours is based in Vecindario, a small town on the east coast of Gran Canaria, fifteen minutes from the airport. It has a pedestrian street with plenty of cafeterias but altogether there’s not much to do. For touristic Canarian highlights you need to go elsewhere. If you book a tour with Canary Motorcycle Tours they offer you a 2-star or a 4-star accommodation in Vecindario. Should you stay somewhere else, they will also organise transport from and to your hotel, on the condition that it’s not too far away.

After only a few emails the deal was done and dusted: three days of riding with stay in the 2-star hotel in Vecindario. I booked my flights and a week later I set foot on Gran Canaria!

Joy picked me up at my hotel in the morning. Upon arriving at the motorcycle shop the obligatory paperwork was swiftly done and I could choose my riding gear if I wanted to. The vests, boots, helmets and gloves they offer all looked in good condition, however I had brought my own gear.

Together with Martin I decided I would ride the Honda NC750X (he has 8 bikes in total, all Honda’s, of which I had already ridden the CB500X on Madeira). The NC750X is, according to the general opinion, that somewhat boring Continue reading →

BMW Motorrad Dealer Clash 2019

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After the first Dealer Clash last year, the Belgian en Luxembourg dealerships again had a chance to show their custom building skills during the BMW Motorrad Dealer Clash 2019.

The contest’s concept changed a bit: next to the BMW R nineT Pure, also the R nineT Urban G/S, Racer and Scrambler were allowed as donor bikes for a custom creation. Moreover – and in contrast to the 2018 edition – the result had to be street legal.

The 18 participating dealerships are presenting their custom bikes in the BMW Brand Store in Brussels this week. Earlier today a professional jury picked their top 3:

1. R90 Shades Of Grey by Motorsport Mabbe:

2. Back To Basics by Louyet Motor:

3. Two In One by Ginion Motorbikes:

If you’d like to check out the 18 bikes in the flesh in the BMW Brand Store, you have until March 18th (Waterloolaan 23, 1000 Brussels, open from Monday till Saturday, 10.00-18.30, free admission).

After the expo the bikes will go back to the dealerships where they’ll be exhibited during the opening weekend of March 23rd and 24th.

For more pics and a look at the realization of the bikes, check the Dealer Clash site.

Prepping for the Pyrenees

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Together with my biker buddy Shih I’m planning a trip to the Pyrenees. One week in June, riding mainly on asphalt with a sporadic stretch of gravel.

We’ve already been playing around with MyRoute-app. At the moment our plans look like this:

(click here to check it on Google Maps)

Saturday will be a highway day to Valence, from Sunday till Friday we’ll do our Tournée Pyrénée and then we’ll ride back to Belgium in a day and a half.

If you know roads, campings or other spots we should not miss out on, do share them in the comments below. Thanks!

2018: Jean’s overview

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41.958 km ridden (27.078 km with my BMW F 800 GS, 14.880 km with test motorcycles)

159 days of moto-commuting

12 motorcycles tested: BMW F 850 GS, BMW K 1600 B, Ducati Scrambler 1100 Special, Harley-Davidson Street Rod, KTM 1290 Super Adventure S, Moto Guzzi V7 III Special, Suzuki GSX-R1000R, Triumph Street Cup, Triumph Tiger 800 XCa, Yamaha FJR1300AS, Yamaha Niken and Yamaha XT1200ZE Super Ténéré

3 motorcycle trainings attended (Backtrail Offroad Training, Stefenduro Enduro Introduction and Motokhana Allroad Course)

3 falls without harm (1 time with a pitbike, 2 times during an Allroad Training)

2 trips done (Luxembourg and the Vosges)

2 ride-outs done (The Dutch 1000 and Endurofun Midzomerrit)

2 maintenances done (70.000 and 80.000 km, both at Peter Motor Works)

2 tire changes done (from a Pirelli Michelin combo to Michelin Anakee Wild, and from the Anakee Wild back to the PiMi combo which wasn’t at its end yet)

1 afternoon on a pitbike

1 new Jean Le Motard team member found (glad to have you on board, Jan F!)

0 track days done (boo!)

0 accidents

First time on a pitbike

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A few days ago I rode a pitbike for the first time. A pitbike is a mini-motorcycle which you ride on a kart circuit. It’s a bit related to racing on a track. Some knowledge of racing lines, cornering technique and other track skills certainly is useful. But even without it I’m sure you’ll have fun. With a group of eight we headed to Racelandkart.

First we did a 12-minute practice heat to discover the track, then we had a 15-minute break, followed by a 5-minute qualifying heat (to determine the starting grid) and a 12-minute competition heat which – to everyone’s surprise – Jan F won.

The first heat really was all about getting used to the pitbike (a 125 cc YCF SM: small, agile, not really furiously fast) and to the unknown track (short and sweeping). But in two heats you make a lot of progress and you take corners faster and faster round after round.

The competitive element makes it even more fun. It’s less dangerous than racing on the circuit too. You are close to the ground and the speed rates aren’t incredibly high. I once fell quite spectacularly but I just ended up with a bruised hip. And I wasn’t the only one who fell. Seems to be part of the game. Continue reading →