Following the Red Line: An Off-Road Motorbike Adventure to the Balkans

An Off-Road Motorbike Adventure to the Balkans

What begins as a throwaway idea can sometimes become the adventure of a lifetime. For life-long motorbikers Maja and Lara, a spontaneous plan soon turned into 4,000 miles of dirt tracks, mountain passes and wild camp nights across Europe.

We caught up with them to talk about their offroad motorbike journey from the UK to the Balkans: the challenges, the moments that took their breath away, and what it feels like to follow the red line wherever it leads. Let's hear from Maja and Lara below:

Where did this amazing idea come from?

The adventure began as a spontaneous, "crazy idea" over a glass of red wine. Initially it was an idea from Maja to travel offroad on a motorbike from the UK to her home country of Slovenia, and Lara wanted to join in as it sounded fun. As the planning progressed, we realised we could allocate 8 weeks off work and push the distance further.

We ended up traversing 8 countries over 53 days, covering 4000 miles, ferrying from the UK to Cherbourg, then riding through France, then Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania and Greece. We used Honda CRF 300 Rallys which are 29 horsepower, 300cc lightweight offroad bikes. We camped for 25 nights and hotels for 27 nights, balancing supermarket meals, the generosity of food from hosts and where possible, some exquisite restaurants!

Who are Maja & Lara? 

Maja - The Tour Guide - Maja's bike journey started on a 50cc moped in Yugoslavia. Now in her 40s, she's a passionate rider and the founder of a motorcycle tour company, globetrotting to lead tours and discover new routes. When she parks the bike, you'll find her relaxing in North Wales, enjoying cycling or paddleboarding.

Lara: The Racing Engineer - Lara got hooked on bikes at fifteen after rescuing a moped from the trash. She's a competitive track racer, collecting trophies on middleweight sports bikes. Lara is a Chartered Engineer by day where she funds her motorsport passion. Lara is also a motorbike journalist, who presents on the Bike World YouTube channel.

Why They Clicked - Maja and Lara became friends instantly after they both independently purchased identical Ducatis. They met at a bike rally and quickly bonded over their shared taste and passion, leading to countless rides and future adventure planning.

Can you tell us about the route you chose?

Firstly Maja headed to the Trans European Trail (TET) website and found the connecting trails across all our intended countries, they can be downloaded as GPX files. Starting at Cherbourg, we travelled South East across France (Le Mans, Lyon) and through Italy (Dolomites, Lake Como/Garda). They then rode into Slovenia (Ljubljana) before having a brief 'reset' and detour in Croatia (Rijeka).

The journey continued into the Balkans, following the Bosnian TET through to Mostar and Sarajevo. We faced the most challenging four days in Montenegro, followed by a quick dash through Albania to reach Greece.

What are your highlights from the trip?

A continued reward was just living and surviving off a motorcycle, it was a joy to totally forget about the real world, all we had to do was follow the red line of the GPX file and see where it took us. Life got blissfully simple.

Crucially, among our gear was the small DD Superlight Tarp, an inspired idea from Maja. Being as light as possible was important, we were carrying a fair bit of kit so the grams mattered. The tarps quality and versatility made them a core part of our camping success. We used the tarps every night we camped, as entranceways or ‘patios’ as we happily described them, to make a clear entrance way to the tent and somewhere to store kit as we packed, or unpacked.

Picking highlights is tough from so many brilliant days, but I think the first group of top moments was opportunistic swimming in cold places! The weather was gloriously hot, reaching 38 degrees in Italy, but when you reach some altitudes, it’s a smidge chillier. With Maja’s support, we swam in an Italian roadside waterfall, a glacier lake at the top of Col de Sommeiller, spent a hungover morning in the Croatian Adriatic coast and splashed around in Lake Piva in Montenegro, all experiences were gloriously refreshing.

It was during one of these dips that we actually used the tarps properly, as we rigged up a simple, shaded sanctuary from the strong Albanian sun. We were riding past a very inviting mountain river and we wanted to enjoy a refreshing dip and a long lunch. We used the bikes as tiedown points and enjoyed a fulfilling afternoon in some much needed shade.

Inevitably, being able to tackle the terrain was a huge highlight, and be rewarded with spectacular views. From the flat, sunflower soaked farmlands of France, to the glory of the Dolomites, Croatian coastlines, dense Bosnian forestry and then the valleys and peaks of Montenegro. I’d never seen lakes so inviting, teal and turquoise mixed into one stunning blend of brilliant blue hue. It brought me to tears a few times, especially during a couple of sunsets when we could reflect on how far we’d come.

Where can we see some of the content?

Lara & Maja Trip website - www.maja-lara.co.uk
Maja Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/biker_maja/
Lara Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/laramoto_/?hl=en
YouTube Video Diary Playlist - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLI2PuHgFpj9T27mO1ux3UH7Ofe7HXWQuL&si=RJwmAW1xQD7NjMqJ

Product featured: DD Superlight Tarp