IRELAND 'SUMMER' TOUR: WATERPROOFS DEFFO REQUIRED

retroman

retroman

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No-ones posted yet so here goes ...

Andy Melton, FredKat, Gerry Huxtable, Gazza, Malcolm :sleep :sleep :sleep and myself.

Thanks for the company fellas, excellent - and thanks to Andy Melton for the top route and refreshment stop knowledge!! Some superb routes thru great scenery in the West, BUT - the road surfaces in Ireland are truly CRAP and as for the weather ... just about finished drying my kit off ...

Coming over one of the mountain passes, 3mph, 1in3 descent, hairpins, no road surface except sheep slurry to speak of, driving rain steaming up my visor, Mick coming the other way with pony and trap and won't give way ... but hey! It could be worse ...!

A great 1st visit to Ireland for me, I'll be back but sod the tent next time ... recommend Doolin for a night out if the band are half decent - and the bog water was v.nice too!

Piccies to follow. 4 water crossings and I didn't puke once ...
Thanks again fellow pilgrims!!
 
Luck of the Irish

I agree with Retroman in thanking Andy (mad as a shit house rat) Melton for orginising all the trip, Andy you are a top banana!!

I thought the roads were made for the GS!!!!!

Fred the still damp cat:) :cool:
 
"BUT - the road surfaces in Ireland are truly CRAP and as for the weather ... just about finished drying my kit off ..."... isn't that the reason you brought your GS then? :D

I grew up on the west coast, and spent my summers on the beaches (my best mate working in Doolin for 4 Summers in a row). I agree... there's absolutely NOTHING to do in Doolin, but it's still a brilliant place to visit.

Did ye guys travel through Dublin, up O'Connell street about 19:00 on Saturday? Was trying to give directions to Pythags GF while driving in city centre traffic, while my own mot in the back was doing her best to confuse and complicate everything... so I didn't get a chance to see the license plate numbers.:D

Glad ye enjoyed...:)
 
Rain wot Rain

Boy did it rain, still didn't really affect the routes Andy had sorted out. Much of the tour was around roads made for tractors, still it made for a very enjoyable few days. Many thanks to Andy Melton for an excellent guided tour of the south and west coast of ireland. Malcolm excelled on his K100, he tackled many roads that seemed testing for the GS, remembering of course that we were all pretty much fully loaded. The roads were wet and covered in horse 5hit. Due to the rather large amount of water falling out of the sky I didn't manage to take as many photo's as I would have liked, but HERE are some. Doesn't really sum up the tour but more of a taster should anyone else venture off over to that area.
 
Gerry and myself managed to complete the tour and visited Clifden in the west and then made our way back across the island via Cong. Lake Corrib etc. Managed to get the swift from Dublin to Holyhead after crossing Ireland on the saturday. Got to the port at 4.30pm changed tickets and off by 5.30. Great service from Irish Ferries. Boys you missed a dry day on the Friday but it pissed down all day on the Saturday. Both Gerry and myself had a couple of diesel moments on the way back just before Athlone but the bikes managed to stay upright after colossal drifts. Never mind, its all character building stuff out there. Managed to get back to holyhead at 7.30 and back to Cirencester at 11.30pm. Poured down all the way back from the port to home but thats what you expect from the great british summer. Thanks to all those that came on the trip and hopefully enjoyed 99% of it.
 
Eire

Thanks to Andy for a great tour, my first to Ireland but not the last despite the weather!!!

Piccy - Summit Molls Gap

Cheers

Gerry
 

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Sorry Gerry, but I think that ones the road from Adrigole on the Beara peninsula known as Heally Pass. Molls gap was just before we went off that little road onto the even littler road with the grass up the middle and the horse and carts that we met coming upthe Gap of Dunloe. Molls was the bit with the dog that chased Fred and the stop to take photos of the Waterfalls.


Let the bike soak under a can of WD40 for an hour before washing then all the tar and diesel that is baked on, just falls off it.
 
ANDY MELTON said:
Sorry Gerry, but I think that ones the road from Adrigole on the Beara peninsula known as Heally Pass. Molls gap was just before we went off that little road onto the even littler road with the grass up the middle and the horse and carts that we met coming upthe Gap of Dunloe. Molls was the bit with the dog that chased Fred and the stop to take photos of the Waterfalls.


Let the bike soak under a can of WD40 for an hour before washing then all the tar and diesel that is baked on, just falls off it.
Click to expand...

This sums up the whole tour for me, LOL

:D :D :D
 
Fredcat
See the main thread titled Ammo Box/REAR CASE for the shots of the box you wanted. Got the message today so posted them for you on a whole new thread.
 
oir'land and the *)*&%$^% rain

Boys what a trip - thanks for some great company - sorry for the slow response (I think I MAY haev dripped on the PC on my return and it took all week to repair it!)

Andy, thanks for the great job of organisation... and putting up with the our whining about a little damp!!!!!!

The K100 made it home, and apart from a slighty bent front wheel was All OK... nothing a few

Might I suggest next year we aim for a dryer spot - I recommend the Eastern Pyrenees (north of Barceoona) - the roads are every bit as challanging as Ireland and most of the water is in the rivers and bottled as opposed to down our backs!

and NEXT time we need to find out WHO is the snorer - nearly drove me nuts!

(PS we look after TourismIreland's web site and if you check their front page you will see there is a SMALL error - it talks about liquid SUNSHINE - when they just meant liquid !)

Cheers
(pics to follow!)
 
PICS of Oir'land tour

as promised the team (less one)sheltering from the rain (surprize, surprize) at about 1:00am in Pemroke waiting for the ferry....

how DO you add pictures to your messages?????
 
Re: PICS of Oir'land tour

MalcolmD said:
as promised the team (less one)sheltering from the rain (surprize, surprize) at about 1:00am in Pemroke waiting for the ferry....

how DO you add pictures to your messages?????
Click to expand...
You have to tip the ferryman* Or rather you need to be a Sponsor




* OK not the best analogy but it was at least topical. :D
 
SOD'S LAW OF MOTORCYCLING

Here I am in Ireland again, with the family this time, the GS is tucked away in my garage hundreds of miles away ... the sun is shining, the roads are dry, and West Ireland would be a fabulous place to be touring right now!!

Still, the Guinness is going down v.nicely thank you
:beerjug: :beer: :beer:
 
Have to agree with you there about the west being fabulous in this weather. Was trying to head north to Civils Donegal trip but had to head Kerry direction for family stuff...
Anyway, managed to get to Dingle, Ring of Kerry and back across to Killarney..(and then back to Dublin again)
Definetly worth travelling any distance to get there. You can get up a good pace on the roads and the condition Roads are better than I'd expected (which is still pretty crap by UK Standards).

Bit of advice for anyone doing this part of the world..
1. It seems to be a national sport to have unmarked patches of loose gravel on the roads.
2. I found the roads pretty quite between 12-5pm. Everybody is already where they want to be during these hours! After 5 it's bedlam with coaches.. Went on a really great road from Sneem to Molls gap before 5. Then hit the traffic on the way down to killarney..
3. Watch out for Italian and German tourists in rented cars. They sometimes forget what side of the road to drive on.. And believe me. there's not just one or two, there's hundreds of them out there..

One other thing I noticed.. Did 700miles and didn't see one cop and more importantly only counted 6 caravans actually holding up traffic on the road.
I think 6 caravans in 700miles must be a record!
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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