The little island off the south coast of England might not seem like the most obvious place for a motorcycle adventure, but it actually has a pretty long history of motorcycling goodness, and there are some cracking coastal roads to explore, too.
While the Isle of Man gets the headlines, for obvious reasons, the Isle of Wight is a surprisingly well-appointed destination for bikers. For a little more than £60, you can snag yourself a return ferry ticket from Portsmouth or Lymington and treat yourself to an island adventure. And you’ll be there in under an hour.
It’s only small, with just 150 square miles to explore, but with 57 miles of coastline, around 500 miles of road, some phenomenal scenery, cracking beaches, bags of quaint towns and villages (with some top pubs to nestle in at the end of the day), and a good chance of blue skies, there’s plenty to keep you going for days on end.
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Island Explorer
For this route, we’re taking inspiration from the hotly-anticipated Diamond Races which fell foul of Covid in 2021. The organisers had earmarked a 12.4-mile-long stretch of public roads in the south of the Isle of Wight, which cuts through the picturesque villages of Chale, Kingston, Shorwell and Brighstone, before heading out into the open for a five-mile coastal blast along the military road, too. This is probably the best bit; big views and sweeping roads.
We’re making a few changes, though. We recommend heading all the way down to Afton and then swinging a right on to The Middle Road, which becomes Newport Road and then Calbourne Road. It’s a lovely run, changing from leafy and tree-lined to wide-open, verdant countryside and back again. It’s not fast, and you’ll be frequently slowing down to amble through villages, but if you get into the groove of island life and take things at a more leisurely pace, you’ll have a ball.
That’s true right across the Isle of Wight, to be fair. Slow down and enjoy the views and you’ll not go far wrong. It’s probably be the perfect place to potter around on an old classic.
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