Fresh from their touring adventures last year when Wendy and Lilian went to Wales and twice to Belgium. They thought they would start 2008 with a trip to Florida as both needed to go somewhere warm for the winter after we all missed summer last year.  

Although Lilian had organised lots of independent trips to the US they had always been by car and so motorbiking presented a bit of a challenge, especially when we didn't want to rent tractors (sorry our Harley friends)  

After numerous Google searches Lilian found Triumph of Fort Lauderdale, who were happy to rent us two Bonneville’s. It turned out that one of the owners actually use to live in Chandlers Ford where Lilian lives today.

 We flew into Miami and rented a car to get us to Fort Lauderdale and booked a hotel around the corner so we could walk and collect the bikes.

They were all ready for us and Wendy had a brand new Bonneville and mine had just been serviced and given new tyres, they must have known we were planning on covering some 1400 miles over 10 days.

We took all our gear in suitcases and the plan was to leave them at the hotel but they refused due to security. Lilian used her new wifi mobile to book a room at the Hilton who were very happy to store our luggage so we were glad we kept the car and Wendy got to practise carrying a pillion as she brought Lilian back from Hertz.

Lilian not known for travelling light now needed to carry 10 days gear plus camera equipment all on her Bonneville. She used a Kriega R35 rucksack which worked really well, although several hotels asked if she was 'going parachuting'! and we both had Oxford Tailbags which fixed easily to the bike. Wendy was using two Lidl Ski boot bags as panniers which worked very well, although there was the odd 'melting' incident!

The dealer made us show our skills by riding down the road. Lilian did it with the fuel tap off! and then we were okay to go. So our first day we headed down to the Keys. It was a very hot day and of course we were very easy to spot in full protective gear and hi-viz jackets. Unlike our Florida counterparts who usually only wore tee-shirt and jeans and of course, no helmet.

The Keys are now very commercial but the ride down is stunning across the bridges, apart from the tolls, yes bikes do have to pay, so needless-to-say we made them wait while we got the money out.

En route we met some German bikers in Key Largo and practised our illegal filtering (its considered dangerous) through the road works on the Keys.  This was the only time we encountered any rain and it was welcome as we were very hot.

When we returned from the Keys, Lilian decided to film Wendy with her video camera, but she will not be offering her a major part in her next production. We then went into the Everglades where we saw birds and alligators and the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. It was now 2 days and bends were extremely rare. At one point we actually encountered a double bend going through some road works and yippes were heard over the Autocoms.

The next day was cold so we put on our rain gear and headed across the Everglades. It was lovely scenery (still straight roads) and eventually we pulled in for lunch to discover that it was a major bike hangout.

Lilian navigated using Tom Tom Navigator which was on her Eten Glofiish (one of those do everything mobile phones)  and it worked very well, although the GPS did drain the battery. We stopped for the night in Bonita Springs where we did visit the local outlet mall, but being on the bikes we couldn't buy much.

We found everyone very friendly and quite intrigued by these ladies touring Florida on Triumphs. People would pull alongside us and ask what year they were and would often say that they use to ride a Triumph.

Wendy learnt that white van man was replaced by Beige pickup truck driver. How you couldn't hear our very noisy Triumphs coming we don't know. I don't think they would be legal here in the UK.

In Tampa the battery on the phone almost run out but we got to the hotel before it expired and just before the sun set. All the hotels were very helpful with the bikes and frequently let us park them by reception so they could keep an eye on them. In Tampa we found a side road where we could ride along (straight of course) but take in the scenery. It was then onto Orlando which we used as a base to go to Daytona Bike Week.

It is estimated that around half a million people go to Daytona Bike Week. As we entered the city we pulled over at the race stadium and found free admission to all the bike stands and dealers. We wanted to go out on the four wheeled motorcycles but the wait was too long. They had all the bikes available for demo.

We then headed down to the beach, where there were lots of people cruising along on their bikes. Most were Harleys, but there were custom cruisers, trikes and the odd 'real' bike, like ours. We stood out in our hi-viz gear and got a few odd looks, but we didn't care. We were Brits on Triumphs and proud of it.

There was so much traffic and no one filtering that going anywhere took ages. When we did decide to filter we were told by the other riders that it was illegal. But when you consider that in Florida you don't even have to pass a test to ride a bike, the standard of some of the riding left a lot to be desired.  After introducing Wendy to Baskin Robbins (ice-cream store) we watched all the bikes going very slowly past and decided to head back to Orlando.

The next day we headed off to Cocoa Beach which is close to Cape Kennedy and again met many interesting bikers. There seemed to be quite a few Europeans around. Then it was back to Fort Lauderdale, more tolls, and Lilian convinced that the only way to tour is on her new Honda Deauville and not on a naked bike, carrying a rucksack, fighting heavy crosswinds.

We had a great time in Florida and everyone was very friendly. Its not a place to go for bends, but the scenery is good and the roads are wide, but it can be a bit hot.

Where to next..... Mosel with SAM.