I am just this minute back in the door from a 7 day tour of France, so whilst the good lady wife unpacks the panniers, I thought I'd take the opportunity to write a quick review of the bike and the week.

Day 1 - We rode down to Portsmouth to catch then 10:45pm ferry over to Caen.
The original plan was to buy another XT for my wife Cecilia to ride, but as she currently works most of the year with the UN in South Sudan, this seemed a little extravagant for a six day holiday! Instead she rode pillion on the big XT. Most reports had suggested this is not a great option... I am here to report otherwise 002.jpg

Day 2 - Caen to Mont St. Michel to Saint-Nazaire
One of the longest days (around 6 hours) went by without issue. The bike pulled strongly, even hauling my baulky frame, the lovely thin wife, two 35 litre Givi panniers, double-stack tank bag, and wolf man front mudguard tool-bag.

The WWII German submarine pens are closed on Mondays! ******... Still quite impressive all the same.

Day 3 - Saint-Nazaire to Angouleme
A very hot day and the bike hauled ass at around 80mph all day. It's a stunning bit of kit. No complaints from the rear seat.

Day 4 - Angouleme to St. Emilion
It pissed with rain! Rain like you've never seen before and apparently, neither had the locals! After 2 hours we arrived at our hotel. Luckily I had booked a taxi for the day to take us out to all the vineyards and this was just as well, because it rained and rained, all day.

Day 5 - St. Emilion to Oradour-sur-Glane to Bagnoles de l'orne
This was always going to be a big day and 9 x hours later, when we pulled into the hotel, we'd both had enough.

We travelled back to the North of France via a village in which the Waffen SS had executed all 642 occupants during WWII, including women and children. The village was been left as it was after the attack and is now a permanent monument. It was a sad but fascinating place.
Oradour.jpg
During the last 20 mins of the day, I could see the storm clouds gathering. This called for some rapid progress to be made and as we walked into reception, the heavens once again opened. The big Yam, was as usual, totally un-phased.

Day 6 - Bagnoles to Bayeux
A lovely short drive on some very minor Normandy roads. Nothing to report, the XT ran superbly and got comments where ever we pulled up. Mainly about the super comfy sheepskins!

Day 7 - Bayeux to Caen to Oxford
A 20 minute drive to the ferry and then an hour back to Oxford.

Overview - We have previously toured extensively on an FJ1200 and after that on a Honda Pan Euro. The XT only lacked some puff on a couple of occasions but generally had more then enough power for the job two-up and apparently was quite comfy on the back. Steering was an issue at very slow speeds (i.e. when coming to a stop) but the TKC70's are a great tyre and all was controllable. All-in-all the ability to cruise at 80mph on main roads but still be able to go off-road when you want, takes some beating, it's an ACE bit of kit.