Motorcycles - bikes to ride to enjoy the roads of North Wales
Created | Updated Mar 28, 2002
North Wales has some of the best roads in the Uk for motorcycle riding, it also has a lack of motorways. The best roads, in my experiance, are the A5, A470 and some of the roads in between.
The roads are generally narrow, single carrageways with as little straight sections as possible. they also go up and down a lot. To enjoy the roads as much as possible, the best bikes should be ones that can travel well at around 80-100 mph. Generally, this would be sports bikes 400cc - 600cc. off road style bikes are also good at these speeds. these roads also suit 2 cyl. bikes as these roads are best ridden using the torque their engines offer.
Bike bikes, 1000cc etc are too heavy and slow to react to be any fun on these roads. they generally make the rider very frustrated with all the extra work they need to put into their riding.
My own bike is a yamaha TDM 850, which I would say is the best allround bike for this area. I would imagine that other bikes in the same style would also be ideal in this respect.. ( BMW 1100GS, Gran Canion, etc.) KTM Duke and similar style bikes would be a good choice for a rider who didn't want to travel faster than the national speed limit in the area (60mph)
As the area is known by motorcyclists for its roads, it is invaded by tourists whenever the weather becomes nice and sunny. The roads can be easy to crash on. Causes of accidents are usually a lack of respect for the amount of skill needed to ride quickly on these roads and sheep in the road. Respect is needed as the walls are very close to the kerbs. Most of the riders who die tend to be tourists.
Finally, you should always wave at every other biker you see, its the polite thing to do.
The roads are generally narrow, single carrageways with as little straight sections as possible. they also go up and down a lot. To enjoy the roads as much as possible, the best bikes should be ones that can travel well at around 80-100 mph. Generally, this would be sports bikes 400cc - 600cc. off road style bikes are also good at these speeds. these roads also suit 2 cyl. bikes as these roads are best ridden using the torque their engines offer.
Bike bikes, 1000cc etc are too heavy and slow to react to be any fun on these roads. they generally make the rider very frustrated with all the extra work they need to put into their riding.
My own bike is a yamaha TDM 850, which I would say is the best allround bike for this area. I would imagine that other bikes in the same style would also be ideal in this respect.. ( BMW 1100GS, Gran Canion, etc.) KTM Duke and similar style bikes would be a good choice for a rider who didn't want to travel faster than the national speed limit in the area (60mph)
As the area is known by motorcyclists for its roads, it is invaded by tourists whenever the weather becomes nice and sunny. The roads can be easy to crash on. Causes of accidents are usually a lack of respect for the amount of skill needed to ride quickly on these roads and sheep in the road. Respect is needed as the walls are very close to the kerbs. Most of the riders who die tend to be tourists.
Finally, you should always wave at every other biker you see, its the polite thing to do.
