CONTACION

IN MY I 2 YEARS AS A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, jobs hadn't come much more perfect than the one I had lined up: five luxury glamping accommodations to photograph, dotted along the Spanish and Portuguese southern coast. The weather had been positively awful for a month at home in Wales, so a trip to one of the sunniest parts of Europe couldn't come at a better time. The cherry on the cake was I could take my BMW Rl00RS along for the ride. The ferry would get me and my bike to Santander and the rest was by motorcycle.

Thisparticular 1982 RS has beennostranger to travel. Over the past eight years in my ownership it has visited nearly half of Europe's 44 countries, getting as far north as John o'Groats and as far south as the hills of Albania. Back in the late 1970s, the RS was penned as the ultimate touring machine, and 40 years on, the basic needs of a touring motorcyclist haven't changed a lot. Blistering performance and the latest gadgets are bonuses, but in my opinion all you really need in a touring bike is comfort, reliability and a bit of character that'll keep you interested when the days on the road are long.

Ask someone who's only tried an RS and they might tell you they're a bit dull, and a brief 10 minute test ride blasting down the road might even confirm that for you. But an RS's character introduces itself over a greater number of miles; the gentle tapping of valves and civilised exhaust note a comforting reminder that the team in Bavaria engineered this bike, not for quick cheap thrills, but for longer, more meaningful journeys. Saying that, tum up the wick, tuck behind the screen and there's nothing boring about hitting 120mph with ease on a 40-year-old machine!

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