Winter Wonderland!

Classic motorcycling in the British winter is, for many, limited to working in the garage – so riding classic BMWs in Andalusia southern Spain is the perfect winter riding tonic!

- Martin Kirk

It has to be said that riding a classic motorcycle in the depths of the British winter is some pretty low-rent motorcycling.

Besides the risk of salted roads tarnishing and de-valuing your pride and joy, navigating wet and slippery road surfaces in freezing cold temperatures hardly comes high on the list of classic motorcycle riding experiences. But it need not be this way!

Just a short budget airline flight away is a sunny land of 18-23°C temperatures with dry, perfectly surfaced, gloriously bendy roads threading their way through fantastic mountain scenery. And right on the doorstep, a fleet of beautifully prepared classic BMWs, available for hire at daily rates little more than the cost of a winter coating of ACF-50. Welcome to Motorcycle Touring Spain.

Motorcycle Touring Spain is based in the village of Veluz De Benaudela in Andalusia, southern Spain, at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The company is run by ‘Fifer’ Ron Thomson, who moved there from Scotland around 10 years ago, and started renting bikes in 2015. The bikes include classic R100 and R80 air-heads from the 80s and 90s, K75s and some more modern F650, F800 and R1200 GS machinery. Accommodation is also available in comfortable well kitted-out apartments in the same building as the motorcycle garage, complete with free WiFi, barbecue terraces and an outdoor hot tub: perfect for soothing away any aches and pains after a long day’s riding.

Andalusia enjoys over 300 days of sunshine per year and is the second largest and most populated province of Spain. The Province is steeped in past history from the Moors from AD 711 until their expulsion in 1492, which has influenced the landscape and culture up to the present day. There are high mountains, lakes, castles, deserts, beautiful coastline and beaches, and most importantly for classic motorcyclists miles and miles of well surfaced bendy roads with very little traffic.