tarmac of the Pyrenees; the Isle of
Man’s unlimited top speeds; the
whimsical heather and gorse of
Scotland’s NC500; or the sheer,
unrelenting bratwürst of the B500... but
as a combo of the best of all four, plus
its own unique heritage, the Route
Napoléon tops the list of bike roads.
Honda’sVFR800FandKawasaki’s
Z1000SXarefittingforsucha classic
ride,becausethey’reclassicsports
tourers— inbothsenses;they’re
designedandbuiltaroundanold-school,
all-round,practical-sportsbikeethos,
with none of the modern fad for
long-travel ‘adventure’ suspension,
ergonomics or styling. They’re also
classic in the sense they have little
modern flagship technology: no semi-
active springs, deep menus of custom
rider modes or engine management
settings, no cruise control, quickshifters,
auto-blippersorTFTdasheshere.
It’sa tightschedule;a fullridingdayto
Grenoble,twodaysridingtheroute,and
a fourthtogethomeagain.Thisisthe
storyofourride,pluswhatwelearned
abouttwogreatsportstourers.
Must-ridesection
The90-milesectionbetweenDigne
andtheCôted’Azurisa wonderful
stretchoftarmac;classicsouthof
Francesceneryandplentyofgripto
stickyouon-track(unlessyoupick
theonerainydayoftheyear).
Withtheabilitytochallengeevery
aspectofa bikeandrider’sability,
you’llseeeverythingfromtight,
twistyswitchbacks;hairpins;fast
straights;andflowing,sweeping
corners.Andallundera vistathat
can’thelpbutinspire.
Day One
Peterborough to Grenoble
752 miles, 12 hours 30 mins
Photographer Simon and I set out for a
cheeky 150-mile motorway blast from
RiDE’s Peterborough base to the
Eurotunnel check-in at Folkestone. To
cover the 750 miles to Grenoble and
thestartoftheN85meansa 6am
localkick-off;it’ssoearlytheambient
temperaturedoesn’tcrawlmuchabove
freezingallthewaytothetunnel.I’ve
pre-preppedtheZ1000SXwitha cable
fromits battery(no12vsocket)fora
Keisjacketandgloves,soI’mtoasty;
optimistSiontheVFRisfreezinghisass
offdespitetheHonda’sheatedgrips.It
startssnowingontheM20and,aswe
rollontotheChunnel,he’sstillshivering.
Sports-touringlessonnumberone:
beingcoldisnofunandslowsyou
down.OnthetrainwecompareSXand
VFRfirstimpressions.TheKawasaki
needsanuncomfortablelevelofbar
pressuretostopit naturallyrunning
wideineverycorner.It’llbea proper
handfulinthehairpins.Backin 2011 I had
a first-genZ1000SX;MichelinPilotRoad
3shelpedit steerbetter.It’sa shame
becauseelsewheretheSXfeelsgood—
ridequalityisgreatand,althoughthe
bikebobsaroundwhenit’shustled,it
44 | JULY 2019
RIDE’S BEST
SPORTS-TOURING
DESTINATIONS
Enjoying the roads
in the Verdon
regional park
