Tag Archives: touring

Getting closer…

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I finally seem to be closing in on a bike – hurrah!

I have found a fifteen year old Suzuki Marauder 250 being sold by a motorcycle shop in the city of Granada, about fifty kilometres from where I live. Buying a motorcycle (actually, doing just about anything…) is more complicated here in Spain and my low level of Spanish doesn’t help. However, I think I’m sorted and I hope to collect it next week.

I have been to take a look at the bike and it doesn’t look too bad given its age and the fact that it has done 40,000 kilometers. It has a few lumps and bumps and someone has tried to cover up corrosion by over-spraying it with silver paint, but otherwise it seems reasonable, the tyres are good and it has no obvious leaks or other issues. Most importantly, it feels great – not as small as I expected and really quite solid. The seat seems very comfortable and the footrests are well forward for rider and passenger, leading to less stress on our elderly knees.

For those who aren’t aware of it, the Marauder GZ 250 was launched in 1998 and it has a 249cc, SOHC, single-cylinder, two-valve, air-cooled engine which produces just 20 horsepower. The engine is taken from the GN 250 which was first built in 1981 and it uses a single carburettor and chain final drive and is mounted in a cruiser type, twin-shock frame with a single disc brake at the front and a drum at the rear. All pretty basic engineering then, but that’s just what I wanted. The engine has a good reputation for reliability, it’s said to be capable of around 75mph and, more importantly, 80mpg, but we’ll see if it can really do either of those things with two people on board.

SUZUKI-GZ250-Marauder-6172_1

Not the actual Marauder I have been looking at, but virtually identical other than for a back-rest.

It also seems comfortable for Julie on the back – an important issue because she’ll be there for most of the long journeys. I did buy a bike many years ago, a Laverda 750S, which was great with one person on it, but basically useless with two – I won’t be making that mistake again! The Suzuki also comes with saddlebags and a backrest, the two accessories I wanted for touring.

The total price is €800 which includes the cost of using a lawyer to draw up a contract for the sale which comes to €130-150. So, the bike is actually costing around €650, not a lot of money and well within our budget. Buying a motorcycle in the winter here in Spain, as in most places, means that prices are good especially from motorcycle shops which are struggling to maintain cash-flow. It should also mean that if we do decide to sell it later, we should be able to get our money back.

Now that I may be close to actually getting a bike, I’m feeling very nervous indeed. I haven’t ridden anything bigger than a scooter since 2013 for one thing. For another, I’m wondering if the whole notion of touring on a 250 is just silly? Well, there is only one way to find out…

The Journey Begins

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Thanks for joining us!

‘In a car you’re always in a com­part­ment, and be­cause you’re used to it you don’t realize that through that car win­dow ev­ery­thing you see is just more TV. You’re a passive ob­serv­er and it is all mov­ing by you bor­ing­ly in a frame. On a cy­cle the frame is gone. You’re com­plete­ly in contact with it all. You’re in the scene, not just watch­ing it any­more, and the sense of pres­ence is over­whelm­ing.’

Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

I love touring on two wheels. I have ridden in most European countries as well as my home in the UK and I have even managed a little riding in South East Asia.

To me, a motorcycle is the perfect way not just to see other parts of the world but to experience them. You can smell the tang of the forests and feel the chill as you climb high mountain passes. Of course, you can experience these things when walking or cycling too, but a motorcycle allows you to travel through large changes of landscape in a relatively short time, and it’s probably that aspect which I enjoy most of all.

I can still remember the first time I saw the Alps in the distance, like a bank of dark clouds on the horizon. Two hours later, I was there, in the midst of twisting roads over precipitous drops and spirit-lifting vistas. That experience provided a feeling of fulfillment, of being there in that particular moment that is sadly lacking from much of everyday life.

But here’s the thing: I’m getting older. Soon I’ll be sixty. This doesn’t just mean stiff limbs and new aches and pains, for me it has also brought a different view of the world. I still like to travel but speed and power just don’t interest me like they used to. The idea of having the latest, biggest, most hi-tech bike not only doesn’t excite me any more, I actually find it a little dull.

Which is what this site is about. I want to explore the possibilities of touring on a small capacity motorcycle while consuming as little of the world’s resources as possible. I plan to find an elderly bike that won’t cost much to buy and which will probably need a little care and attention to prepare it. Then, I want to see if I can use it to explore parts of the world which I haven’t seen.

I’m lucky in that I won’t be doing this alone. My wife and I have been together for almost thirty years and we both still enjoy the challenge of travel. She’ll be coming with me and giving the view from the back seat.

Together, we’re the Motorcycle Minimalists and I hope you’ll come with us on some big journeys on a small bike.

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