tours will be full of twats on BMW's .... avoid ! 
Motorrad Tours
- Thread starter roundincircles
- Start date
How would different words have helped? What different words would have helped?Perhaps a better worded introductory post might have helped?
However, as you’ve been on a surfeit of Motorrad tours, maybe you could tell the forum what the key aspects are, that keep bringing you back to their door, presumably as a fee paying customer and not an organiser.
What works for me is meeting fellow riders who can talk bike bollox 24/7. Plus, they can come from all types of backgrounds, experiences, and interests. Motorrad also use quality Hotels ( at a cost ), which, generally, are in good locations for restaurants etc.
What first attracted me was meeting different bikers and avoiding submariner "talkout" (if you travel with the same team each tour, you quickly 'talk out' subjects).
Plus the group usually splits up on the road into subgroups and ride at their own pace
Suits me but not all
Back in the 1990’s (pre-sat-navs) I used to organise tours for a group of friends/colleagues/acquaintance’s around Europe. However, (as we all know/experienced) after a couple years it became increasing difficult to get fellow riders to commit to a 1 or 2 week tour… they simple just had other things to do…. i.e new GF doesn’t like bikes/don’t want to book 2 week off/I can only make 2-3 days of your 3 week Italian tour 
/don’t like foreign food/in-law’s are visiting/the cat is sick... (actual feedback) ect ect.
Consequently, and being keen to branch out and do more European tours and meet new people, about 20 odd years ago I went on a couple of BMW Motorrad tours…
1) Germany & Austria:
2) Spain & Morocco
What’s good:
Peace of mind that all ferries/routes/border control/hotels organised for you.
Hotels are a mix in standard/quality, i.e. generally the first and last hotels are Novatel soulless business type hotels for one night only. Not really an issue, since you generally arrive after 6pm and leave following breakfast the following day. What Motorrad Tours do is book high quality destination “headlining” hotels for a few days in the middle of the tour (castles/monasteries ect). The tour soulless hotels are then quickly forgotten.
You can ride in a group or alone – there is no obligation to do either- people generally congregate into social groups within a few days.
Routes are good, taking in great way-points ect. The destination hotels are usually in great locations/towns/cities.
Tour group is generally around 12-15 bikes of varying manufacturers. Like-minded motorcycle tour party were social and in general easy to get on with.
What’s no so good:
There is a premium to be paid for this organised tour – It is a business after all… Whether it is value for money is subjective…. I thoroughly enjoyed both tours, so much so I booked a third tour for the following year (around 2011 from memory) – Eastern European Imperial Cities (21 days - Germany/Poland/Czech Rep/Slovakia ect).
However, about a week before departure they emailed me to advise that the trip had been Cancelled… “We couldn’t get the minimum tour party bookings to make the trip commercially viable”. Disappointing to say the least.
Since this Motorrad disappointment, we subsequently booked with a few alternative organised tour operators, which have been just as fun. However, for the last 12 years or so, with the advent of better sat-navs/basecamp software ect we have organised and toured on our own.
/don’t like foreign food/in-law’s are visiting/the cat is sick... (actual feedback) ect ect.Consequently, and being keen to branch out and do more European tours and meet new people, about 20 odd years ago I went on a couple of BMW Motorrad tours…
1) Germany & Austria:
2) Spain & Morocco
What’s good:
Peace of mind that all ferries/routes/border control/hotels organised for you.
Hotels are a mix in standard/quality, i.e. generally the first and last hotels are Novatel soulless business type hotels for one night only. Not really an issue, since you generally arrive after 6pm and leave following breakfast the following day. What Motorrad Tours do is book high quality destination “headlining” hotels for a few days in the middle of the tour (castles/monasteries ect). The tour soulless hotels are then quickly forgotten.
You can ride in a group or alone – there is no obligation to do either- people generally congregate into social groups within a few days.
Routes are good, taking in great way-points ect. The destination hotels are usually in great locations/towns/cities.
Tour group is generally around 12-15 bikes of varying manufacturers. Like-minded motorcycle tour party were social and in general easy to get on with.
What’s no so good:
There is a premium to be paid for this organised tour – It is a business after all… Whether it is value for money is subjective…. I thoroughly enjoyed both tours, so much so I booked a third tour for the following year (around 2011 from memory) – Eastern European Imperial Cities (21 days - Germany/Poland/Czech Rep/Slovakia ect).
However, about a week before departure they emailed me to advise that the trip had been Cancelled… “We couldn’t get the minimum tour party bookings to make the trip commercially viable”. Disappointing to say the least.
Since this Motorrad disappointment, we subsequently booked with a few alternative organised tour operators, which have been just as fun. However, for the last 12 years or so, with the advent of better sat-navs/basecamp software ect we have organised and toured on our own.
A week or so’s notice of cancellation from a professional organisation is very poor.
It rides roughshod over those that have to pre-book leave from work and are then, quite possibly, unable to alter the period.
Indeed... poor..... however in the interest of fairness/accuracy....
My memory might well be failing me ...(excuse: exageration for dramatic forum posting purposes)...I thought it was around 1-2 weeks, it must have been 4.... I've managed to dig out the old Booking T&C's...
Snipit Source: BMW Motorrad Tours T&C's ; Produced 1 December 2011. Valid for all 2012 BMW Tours
TOUR CANCELLATION
The Tour Operator reserves the right to cancel a tour if there are eight or less motorcycles booked. In such cases a Participant will be offered an alternative tour or a refund of all monies paid. Notification will be given at least four weeks prior to departure.
CANCELLATION OR CURTAILMENT
If a Participant cancels a tour the following charges will be levied:
a) Your deposit is always non-refundable and non-transferable.
b) More than four weeks, but less than eight weeks’ notice, cancellation charges of 50% of the total Tour cost.
c) Less than four weeks’ notice, cancellation charges are 100% of the total Tour cost.
If for any reason a Participant decides to curtail a Tour during its duration, no refunds will be made.
Refunds of your Tour payments should be referred to your travel insurance provider.
Thank you.
BMW therefore complied with the pre-agreed terms and conditions of the tour taking place. Fair enough.
The Motorrad tours brochures in the nineties and noughties certainly gave me some inspirations for where to go / what to see.
Whilst they are, understandably, not packed with information, you can use their tours’ itineraries to all but create the trips. It takes a bit of effort, but it’s not exhausting.
Exactly what my lad and I did a couple of years ago on our Norway ride. We added the Lofotons to our trip but basically used the routes and hotels used by Motorrad.
Back on topic, they are absolutely not for me because I’m a chippy unsociable bastard.
But for those who want to open an envelope and find their whole tour organised by professionals, brilliant.
But for those who want to open an envelope and find their whole tour organised by professionals, brilliant.
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