Taking a 1929 Harley-Davidson to France - La Balade des Vieux Clous 2026
- Andy Marks
- May 29
- 11 min read
This year’s trip to La Balade des Vieux Clous was a little different. Instead of taking my well-proven Norton ES2, I decided to ride my 1929 Harley-Davidson Model J to France. It was the first time I had taken the Harley abroad and, given it's history with my Granddad, it felt like the right bike for the job. Here’s how it got on over a long weekend of rallying, touring and plenty of miles on French roads.
Why I Took a 97 Year Old Motorcycle to France
Put simply - because it was my Granddad's bike. He had said for years that he wanted me to have the bike when he was gone and, having stopped driving and riding, he gave it to me a couple of years before he passed away in 2023.
He did tens of thousands of miles on it all over Europe, including attending La Balade many times. Whilst in France I made some enquiries and one of the organisers, who was able to check the records, told me that he last attended on the Harley in 2006. So it seemed very fitting that 20 years after it was last there, the Harley was back on La Balade.
Preparing the Harley
I'm not going to go into detail here about the work I have done to the bike since I got it. It was very 'tired' when my Granddad passed it onto me and I've done quite a bit, but that isn't the purpose of this post so I'll limit this section to 'What I did to get an already reliable bike ready to go away on.' Suffice to say I have ridden it enough to be reasonably confident in it's performance and reliability before I set off.
Panniers
Let's start with the obvious. You need to be able to carry luggage for the weekend. I bought these panniers at Stafford a couple of years ago and finally got to fit them the day before we set off. Not ideal but I'd been busy and not really had time to look at my own bike before setting off for Dover!
Once fitted I was disappointed with both the quality and size of them, they are half round at the bottom which makes for far less useable space than it looks.
Route Finding
I use a 'roller route' for route finding on events like this. On my ES2 I have a satnav and I've made a more permanent fitting for the roller route but, as I've already mentioned, I was running out of time for this event so it just got clipped on as intended.
Speedometer
Pre-1936 bikes in the UK don't need a speedo, but I'm not a fan of riding without one. It's even more important in France, they are very hot on speeding and the routesheets often say things like 'turn left after 6.4 miles' - how do you do that without a working speedo and tacho?
For the bikes that don't have speedos as standard, I use my Garmin cycle computer. It works with GPS so I can transfer it from bike to bike and it works a treat. I had planned to make a nice bracket to hold it in place but, there's a theme here, I ran out of time. I used the elastic bands and plastic bracket that comes with it to hold it on the bars. Not pretty, but it worked.
Service and Oil Check
I did put the bike up on the bench for a quick service on the day we were due to set off. I put some air in the tyres, checked the tappets, went to top the oil up and realised we'd run out! The Harley is a total loss system and I'm not entirely sure how much I'll need for the weekend.
I called Ian, who we had already arranged to ride to Dover with that afternoon, he had plenty of the SAE50 oil that it takes. That's a relief, I can ride to his house and top it up there. While I'm on the phone I ask him how much oil he thinks I'll need to take, he has a Harley the same as mine and has done La Balade on it several times. He says as long as the tank is full when we set off I won't need to carry any extra, but some spare fuel might be a better idea. I've got an aluminium bottle for some oil so I decide to take some just to be safe but, when I get home four days later Ian is proven right and I haven't had to open my spare oil.
Toolkit
I'm having to travel a lot lighter on the Harley than I do on the ES2, but I am also conscious that I won't be able to rely on anyone else for spares or tools in quite the same way. Of the 20 or so bikes going over on the ferry, there are usually five pushrod Nortons, all with riders who carry a good selection of spares and tools. If any of us have a problem and find we don't have what we need, there's always someone who can help.
Not only am I on the only Harley this year, I'm on the only American bike. That means different threads, hexagons and virtually no cross over with all the British bikes... I top the toolkit up as much as I can with a selection of spare nuts and bolts, just in case and put two new plugs in just in case.
Before I have even set off I am starting to question the sense in going on something so totally different to what everyone else is riding.
The Journey to the Rally
When we set off our first stop is the petrol station, lets start as we mean to go on. The Harley only does about 75 miles before I have to switch onto reserve and find a petrol station so I think I'm going to spend a lot of time looking for fuel this weekend.
The first small issue arises when I'm riding from the petrol station out through the town - I put my foot on the clutch and it slips off, I look down to find there's oil all over the clutch pedal. It's getting very hot in the traffic and, when it gets hot it starts throwing oil out of somewhere, which makes it onto the clutch pedal.
When we arrive to pick Ian up, I wipe the pedal and my boot off before topping up the tank and my oil bottle with some of his oil. Whilst looking at the bike I notice one of the panniers is flapping about. An eyelet has pulled out of the back and the, very thin, leather has torn where it was strapped to the bike. The other fittings still look OK so I leave it and carry on, but I'm very disappointed to see they're falling apart after 15 miles!
When we arrive in Rye to meet the rest of the group, I can't help but smile at the reactions of people as I pull in on the Harley, most of them have probably never seen me riding anything other than a Norton before. Several of them remember Granddad on the bike though and they are very pleased to see it, the general consensus seems to be 'rather you than me'. It's a handful with the foot clutch and hand change but I'm hoping that once we get to France the open roads and lack of traffic will make it easier.
By the time we arrive in Dover, and fill up with petrol again, I've done my longest ever day's riding on it. It's actually been OK, I'm comfortable and I'm impressed with how well it is keeping up with the more 'modern' bikes.
Speaking of filling up with petrol, it's used half as much again as Dad's Model 18 on the way here - this is the first time it dawns on me how much this will add up over the weekend!
After a night in Dover, with a few beers and a Chinese, we are up and onto the docks at 6:30 on Friday morning. The bank holiday weekend is just getting going but we sit in a queue for over 90 minutes! I don't even try to keep the engine running, I know from previous experience how quickly it gets hot when it isn't moving. I strap my jacket and gloves on the back and just push it through the queue. When I finally get through passport control it starts first kick and I ride round to get on the boat. I've done enough miles on the bike now to be confident it will start when I need it to, something which is very important for me when using a bike in this environment.
Of the 23 of us that should be on the boat, only 8 of us make it - the rest are still in the queue somewhere and will have to get the next one.
I've never found DFDS staff very helpful when strapping bikes down, they haven't got a clue when it comes to the older bikes but trying to get them to keep the straps off painted mudguards or tanks is never easy. True to form they refuse to let me help, won't listen, and don't care. We get there in the end and they make it very clear it isn't their problem if it falls over - something tells me they wouldn't take any responsibility regardless of my involvement.
Once off the boat we have a very easy ride to Guines to meet the French, Belgian and Dutch entrants. We stop for coffee and I'm already pleased to be on the Harley. The open, empty roads are perfect for it.
Other Bikes Being Used
One of my favourite things about events like this is the variety of bikes you see. I'm on the oldest bike to be ridden over from the UK, but there are several other pre-war bikes here and it's not a problem. Nobody is in any great rush so being able to cruise along at 40-45mph is ideal.
There aren't many immaculate restorations here - all of the bikes are clearly well used, and many of them have had mods done to make them more useable. I love to see it and find it more interesting than the rows of concourse bikes you see in museums or at shows like Stafford.
If I was looking to buy a bike to use on the road, one of these tried and tested bikes would be far more appealing to me than a recent restoration.
Living With an Old Motorcycle Abroad
I probably ride as many, if not more, miles on the continent most years as I do in the UK. A lot of people commented that I was brave to take the Harley to France, but to be honest, it's easier to use over there than it is at home. There's far less traffic and no potholes to avoid! If I'm not going to use it for events like La Balade when am I going to use it? That being said there are a few things to consider when taking the Harley instead of my modern Honda.
Breakdowns
This is a double edged sword. Yes, I'm far more likely to break down, but I'm also far more likely to be able to fix the problem on the side of the road. It is nice to take the Honda over there and be confident that I can press the button and go, but I do wonder what I would do if I pressed the button and nothing happened...
This year we had no major problems. An exhaust nut came loose on my Dad's Model 18 but otherwise our bikes stayed reliable. If all else fails, new bike or old, I have breakdown cover included in my insurance.
Fuel Stops
Both my Honda and my ES2 can do about 200 miles on a tank of fuel, the Harley does about 75. It's not a very big tank because the total loss oiling system uses some of it, but it is also very thirsty. Not a problem for 400 miles once a year but it can become a pain continually looking for petrol and it's definitely more expensive to run.
Oil
As I mentioned above, the Harley has total loss oiling. However the tank is big enough to do the weekend without having to top it up. I wasn't entirely sure it would be though so I did carry a 500ml bottle with some spare. I probably won't bother next year as I did come back with plenty. My ES2 also uses a bit of oil and I've made a bracket on that to carry a litre of spare oil. The Honda doesn't use a drop regardless of the mileage.
Maintenance on the Road
Other than checking the oil in the Scottoiler on my Honda, I don't touch it while I'm away and I regularly do 2000+ miles on that over a couple of weeks. Maybe I should, but I've become complacent by never having to do anything.
The older bikes are a slightly different story... The vibration is the key issue, it regularly makes things come loose. I try to give the bike a once over each evening, even if it's just a wipe over with a rag - you'd be surprised what you find doing this.
I'll also check the oil level every day, regardless of whether I think it will need any or not.
Why I Still Enjoy Traveling on Old Bikes
This is something that is very hard to put into words - but as this is a blog post I'd better have a go. When I travel on my 2023 Honda, it's a tool which takes me on a journey, and it does a fantastic job of that. But nobody ever asks how it went, we all just take it for granted that it did it's job.
When I spend a weekend away on the Harley I spend as much time talking about the bike as I do about where I went and what I saw. The bike really does become part of the story. Even after a weekend like the one I've just had, where it didn't miss a beat, it adds to the trip in a way no modern bike could. This Harley is even more special for me, my Granddad last attended La Balade on it 20 years ago and I had complete strangers coming up to me to talk because the recognised the bike and remembered my Granddad.
Click on the image to enlarge
I know some people will shout me down on this, but I have never seen the camaraderie you get on classic bikes with modern ones. Maybe it's the joint suffering because they are noisy, less comfortable and unreliable - we all just feel sorry for each other. But the way everyone gathers in the evenings and talks about their day and the bikes is something I've never encountered anywhere else.
Final point on the actual travelling with older bikes - it's slower. This Harley cruises comfortably at 40-45mph. 100 miles in a day is about enough before I start getting uncomfortable. Without getting to philosophical, our lives are busy and rushed enough as it is. These bikes really force you to slow down and take it easier for a few days. Especially last weekend when it was about 1000°C with riding gear on!
Parting Thoughts
I was determined to take the Harley to France this year because it was Granddads bike and it's what he did with it. But would I do it again?
I got home on Monday evening feeling knackered and slightly sore. That was a long last day and the bike isn't quite as comfortable as my ES2. But I can't fault the bike, it's done everything I asked. There are a few things to sort before I go away on the bike again, but reliability and useability comes from regular use and ongoing maintenance.
I will always maintain that these bikes belong on the road and are far more capable than a lot of people give them credit for. It's encouraging to see so many classic bikes still being used on touring weekends like this.
So... Is the Harley the best or easiest bike I own for this type of event? No. But France is probably the best and easiest place to ride it.
Will I take it again next year? You bet I will!
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