The Orwell Motorcycles boys took some well-deserved time out from the dealership for a tour to Belgium.
Directors Dave Willis and Rob Walters, general manager Richard Paine, workshop and service manager Joe Lowe and webmaster Jon Cox were joined by a couple of mates for the five-day tour.
This year they started their return trip to Belgium with an overnight sailing from Harwich to the Hook of Holland.
Dave explained: “We decided riding on the continent was better than on the M25 and down to Dover.
“It worked well. We sailed late evening and got a night’s sleep so were ready to go in the morning.”
It meant they could take their time travelling to their accommodation at Bouillon, a southern Belgium town in the Ardennes, near the French border, overlooking the Semois river.
Dave took a KTM 890 SMT and Rob a KTM 1390 Super Duke R to test their touring abilities.
Richard rode his Kawasaki Z1000, Joe his Suzuki Katana and Jon his Triumph Street Scrambler. The other riders were on a Suzuki GSX-8S and a Honda VFR800.
Their leisurely journey took them over the Zeelandic islands in Holland, heading for Ghent in Belgium, before visiting the monument at Waterloo commemorating the famous battle on their way to Bouillon.
Over the next three days, they enjoyed trips around Belgium and Luxembourg before heading home via Dunkirk to Dover.
They covered around 1,800 miles over the five days.
“There were some beautiful roads and some very potholey ones. Some of them are worse than ours,” said Dave.
“The roads in Luxembourg are wonderful but, in Belgium, it is 50/50 between good and bad ones.”
The only mishap was Rob’s KTM got a puncture which they managed to plug on the side of the road, and fill the tyre with gas, before getting it replaced.
Find out more about the KTM 890 SMT and the 1390 Super Duke R.
