The Great Malle Rally On A Harley.

The Great Mally Rally.

Hands up who has heard of this event?

I first heard about it about five years ago and wanted to participate in it. Spaces are limited and get taken up so quickly a lot by repeat participants.

Malle are a British firm based in London, making luggage and clothing for travellers, in particular motorcyclists.

The name comes from the French for bag, and inspired by the bag riders on the Paris-Dakar Rally were allowed to carry their kit in. The founders of Malle are huge motorcycle lovers as well as adventurers so they design and produce items that they use. Rugged, hard-wearing jackets, trousers and all types of luggage.

The image above is the start of the Great Malle Rally at the Lizard in Cornwall. Participants are placed in teams where bikes are matched or friends want to ride together. I was placed in a group of four, all of us on Harley-Davidsons. My bike was the 2021 Street Glide and it turned out to be ideal for the challenges of the rally.

As I mentioned, I have always wanted to participate in the Great Malle Rally but never had the opportunity to. Then out of the blue, Harley-Davidson contacted me and asked if I would be interested in taking part in this years event. My email reply was sent back quicker than Yusain Bolt out of the blocks and a big YES was the answer.

I then had confirmation from Malle I was on the Rally and insteuctions on where to be, what to take etc. This was backed up with a longmphone call from founder Robert who said “just bring your toothbrush, we take care of the rest.”

What Robert was referencing was the superb support his team do with providing the tents, bedding, food, and all things to make your time on the rally the best it can be. As a parricipant you receive a Malle Duffle bag with your rally number on it, and in this you pack all the kit you want to be transported by the support staff between stages. Anything else you want to take you have to carry with you on your bike or rucksack.

You do Sleep in Lovely tents Sharing with another person, and the camping locations are gorgeous. There are always hot showers as the team tow a shower block from stage to stage, and the sites all have diming facilities and places to power the all-important smartphones, torches etc

So I rode down to Cornwall on 20th June to register, ready for the rally start the following day. I was immediately impressed with the logistical set-up and registration was a breeze. I was allocated a tent and given some more information about the rally.

In the evening over dinner Robert told us all about how the stages worked, with detailed route maps given to each rider showing the checkpoints along the way.

Early Monday Morning one hundred motorcyclists rode down to the Lizard where the first stage was to start from. Each team then left the Lizard in three-minute intervals heading for the first checkpoint. The plan being to arrive at the checkpoint in the perfect time for the mileage between points. The organisers being the only ones to know the perfect time riders have to judge their pace and make sure they get their log book stamped at each checkpoint.

Over the first days stage there was four checkpoints taking us up to the Cheddar Gorge before ending the day at our campsite in Somerset. Once there I welcomed the chance to get dry and have a lovely evening meal.

The second day took us from Somerset through Wales, passing by the Brecon Beacons, Snowdonia and then on to Chester.

The Malle Rally lasts six days ending on June 26th in north Scotland and completing 1500 miles. That is if you managed to follow the routes set and hit every checkpoint which is harder than it sounds but great fun trying.

It is a true adventure, and everyone has that buzz of excitement completing each stage. A true sense of achievement comes over you, and you share this with your teammates and fellow entrants. It is not meant to be competitive, but that spirit does kick in and you want to get the best time between checkpoints.

You bond with your team and meet other liked minded people throughout the rally. The atmosphere is terrific with people helping each other if their bikes had issues or if they needed anything.

The Great Malle Rally is an incredible experience that gives you lifelong memories, new friends and plenty to talk about with other bikers.

I must thank Alex and Robert for organising the Harley-Davidson Street Glide and getting me on the Rally. Cheers Lads. Hope to see you next year.