An illustrated article (click on link below) about a tour of Europe by a group of motorcyclists in 1953. They flew the bikes — two Triumphs, two Sunbeam twins and a Brough Superior — from Kent to Paris. It must have been a real adventure at the time. Helmets were not obligatory but the gentlemen and the lady had to be properly turned out...
http://www.go-faster.com/SS100.html
http://www.go-faster.com/SS100.html