Five Days Around Mallorca

Mallorca is the most underrated motorcycle island in Europe, and the reason is a misunderstanding. The cycling photographs suggest a place for lightweight machines and gradients, and the package holiday suggests a coastline of hotels. Both miss the Serra de Tramuntana, ninety kilometres of limestone running down the north west coast, with a road cut into it that was built for views rather than speed.

Why a cruiser works here

The Ma-10, the coast road along the Tramuntana, has long sightlines, gentle radii and a surface that is mostly excellent. It is a third gear road with the sea on one side, not a hairpin fight. A heavy touring cruiser carries its weight low, holds a line beautifully at the speeds this road wants, and lets you spend six hours in the saddle without your shoulders complaining.

The exception is Sa Calobra, twelve kilometres of descent to a cove with a famous knotted hairpin. It is tight, busy with coaches and, in August, a queue. On a 320 kilogram machine it is work rather than pleasure. Ride it once, early, or skip it entirely and keep the day.

The five days

• Day one, Palma to Sóller, 60 km. Collect the bike, take the old Coll de Sóller road rather than the tunnel, and stop being in a hurry. Two hours of riding and an afternoon in the port.
• Day two, Sóller to Pollença, 90 km. The heart of the Tramuntana: Deià, Valldemossa, the Mirador de Ses Ànimes, lunch in Banyalbufar, then the long run over the reservoirs to Lluc.
• Day three, Cap de Formentor and back, 45 km. The peninsula at first light, when the road is empty and the sea is still. Back for a long lunch, an afternoon off, and the same road again in the evening light.
• Day four, the east coast, 140 km. Artà, the calas, Cala Figuera, the quiet inland roads through Santanyí. The scenery is softer and the riding is faster.
• Day five, the Es Trenc plain and Palma, 80 km. Windmills, salt flats, a last swim, and back to the city in time for the flight.

That is 415 kilometres in five days, which looks absurd on paper and turns out to be exactly right on the island.

The Tramuntana rewards a machine that carries its weight low and a rider who is not in a hurry. That is the whole argument for doing this island on a cruiser.

When to go

April, May, late September and October. In those months the Tramuntana is green or golden, the roads are open, the temperature sits between 18 and 26 degrees and the coaches have not multiplied. July and August are hot, crowded and, on a black machine in leather, genuinely unpleasant between eleven and five. Winter is mild but wet on the north coast, and the Ma-10 closes for rockfall more often than the tourist office admits.

Where to stay

Two bases beat five hotels. Sóller or its port for the western half, Pollença or Alcúdia for the eastern. Both let you ride the good roads twice, in different light, without packing every morning. Look for a finca or a town hotel with a courtyard: a place to park where you can see the bike changes how the evening feels, and nearly every Mallorcan hotel of that kind has one.

What it costs

A large touring cruiser rents for 140 to 190 euro a day in season, less for a week, with panniers and two helmets included at the better agencies. A good rural hotel runs 160 to 260 a night in May, considerably more in high summer. Fuel for the whole week is under 60 euro, because you will ride 400 kilometres, not 4,000. Two people can do the week properly for around 2,500 euro including flights, and badly for half that.

The mistakes

Riding in the middle of the day, which costs you the light and the pleasure. Booking a hotel in Palma and commuting to the mountains, which adds an hour of dual carriageway twice a day. Trying to do the whole island in two days, which turns the Tramuntana into a corridor. And renting a machine you have never ridden on a morning when the Coll de Sóller is wet, which is the one genuinely avoidable risk on this trip.

Questions we get asked

Do I need to ride Sa Calobra?

No. It is a famous road and a poor one for a heavy machine, particularly after ten in the morning when the coaches start. If you want it, be at the top at eight and accept that you are riding it for the story rather than the pleasure.

Is the Ma-10 dangerous?

It is a mountain road with stone walls, some blind bends and a great deal of distracted traffic in season. Ride it early, leave space and expect a hire car to be on your side of the line at least once a day.

Can you do this two up?

Yes, and it is one of the best islands in Europe for it. The distances are short, the stops are frequent and the pillion sees more than the rider does on a road like that.