Zürich's lake has been a home for much longer than the city's banks suggest. The names Grosse Stadt and Kleiner Hafner belong to prehistoric settlement sites in the shallows of the Seebecken, the lake basin where the water meets the old town, and they are part of the UNESCO listing of prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps. Farmers and fishers built villages on stilts here between roughly 4,000 and 800 BC, and the lake mud kept their traces. The site is underwater, so you cannot see it, but you can stand on the Utoquai or the Alpenquai promenade and imagine it.
Swiss pile-dwelling research started up the lake in Meilen in 1854, when an unusually dry winter dropped the water and exposed rows of wooden posts. Ferdinand Keller, a Zürich antiquarian, recognised what they were and set off the first wave of lake-dwelling enthusiasm across Europe. Many of the finds ended up in the Swiss National Museum beside the main station. It is satisfying to know that the sparkling lake you are looking at is a kind of archive.
For a rider this is simply Zürich, which means orderly, expensive and well signposted. Trams run in the middle of the streets, and their rails are treacherous when wet, so cross them squarely. Speed limits are enforced with a vengeance, and cameras are everywhere, so stay under the limit. Parking for motorcycles is generally available on marked spaces in the centre. Fuel is plentiful, though pricey, and the lakeside has cafés, ice-cream kiosks and bathing platforms where people swim in the summer.
Beyond the city, the lakeshore roads on both sides are pleasant but busy at weekends, and the best riding lies in the hills behind, around the Pfannenstiel on the east shore, where roads climb through orchards and woods with views down to the water. On a clear day the Alps line the southern horizon. A morning stroll along the quay, followed by a coffee at a lakeside kiosk, makes a calm start to a ride, and the autumn light, low and golden, is excellent.