Martin Gelder lures his travelling companions into a Spanish motorcycle museum with the promise of barbecued garlic chicken...

Now I know this is a bit of a long shot, but if you happen to find yourself in Spain, and if you happen to be heading away from Benidorm (always a good direction) towards Alcoi on the CV755, can I recommend you take a break at the motorbike museum about 7km down the valley from Guadalest?

If you're on a bike the road itself should be enough to lure into making the trip; even in a hire car the views are worthwhile. And if - like me - you are in a hire car, just tell your passengers that the El Riu restaurant is one of the best in the area, famous for its barbecued cuisine.

Then while they're tucking into a garlic chicken or a whole leg of lamb, you can stroll across the car park to the Museum and take in a collection of obscure two-strokes and motorcycle engined cars. It's not the biggest of museums but very few of the bikes in there will be familiar to those of us raised on the common or garden British machines.

1931 Motosacoche 750 V-twin (above). All I can tell you about this is that it has a three speed gearbox and the (Spanish) description compared Motosacoche to Brough Superior.

1960 85cc Ducati on the right, 1956 MV Agusta 125 Turismo on the left. The MV was manufactured under licence in Spain.

It's got a Ducati engine and it might be a Vilar Cucciclo, but that's all I know. Sorry.

Spanish made Vespas; the one nearest is an 125N made in Madrid.

Bultaco Pursang Metisse. The 250 Bultaco engined Rickman framed Metisse was revolutionary stuff in the scrambling world of the mid-sixties.

This is an Iresa, manufactured at some point between 1948 and 1960. I wish my Spanish was better. It looks to me like the kind of thing your mad uncle would knock up in the shed using an old bicycle and the engine out of a strimmer. A 48cc two speed 2-stroke strimmer, no less; I can understand that much.

Something for the ladies? A collection of sewing machines and typewriters. I'll get me coat.

And this is the one I'd take home with me. It's a Motortrans Ducati 250 24 Horas from the late sixties. An adaption from the original Ducati Mach 1, it's a replica of the bikes used in the Barcelona 24 Hour race.

The museum has a website - www.museovehiculosguadalest.com - and is open between 10:30 and 19:30 in summer and between 10:00 and 18:00 in winter.