This isn’t your typical family holiday

Ever fancied a biking adventure with your family? Mihai Barbu shows us how it’s done with an epic 17,000-mile, four-month tour of Europe. 

Mihai, his four-year-old son Vladimir and girlfriend Oana covered 41 countries on a Ural outfit. Here’s his story…

“I’m a passionate motorcyclist. I’ve been adventure riding for years; including countless trips through Europe and 16,000 miles on my BMW F650GS Dakar from Romania to Mongolia and back. I was a two-wheel thoroughbred and never imagined that one day I’d buy a sidecar. But that all changed when my son, Vladimir, was born. My girlfriend and I needed another seat and I didn’t want a car; leaving me with no choice but to look at sidecar outfits. So I bought a Ural Ranger for him, it’s his bike really. And what an amazing, life changing choice it turned out to be.

We planned a summer ‘warm-up ride’ with no real plans once he turned four years-old. I thought we’d be home in two weeks. I told Vladimir we’d see reindeer and camels and then head home. But that two weeks turned into four months and 17,000 thousand miles – and not once did he ask when we were going home, and I mean never, not once. I like to think that with the sidecar, a tent and his parents, he was home. I fell in love with the Ural too because it keeps my family together and gives us the opportunity to do amazing trips like this. I get guys coming up to me now, who followed my blog, saying “Thanks a lot, now I can’t go on weekend rides with my mates because my wife read your story and wants to come with me”.

See the full story and MCN’s Sidecar Special in MCN soon!