One day adventure

[Packer]

07:00 Friday, 5/10/12, the Met Office says that the west of Scotland is going to be sunny all day tomorrow, well today now, 6/10/12. Yeh, right as we say up here, a double positive being a negative in best Glasgow tradition.

I decide to go on a run for the day, it needs to be long as I'm suffering withdrawal symptoms after Bilco's Deadhorse bash. I had to wait weeks to get the bike back and it seems to have done nothing but rain since I got back from America. There is also the small matter of a slow, actually not so slow, loss of pressure in the front tyre ever since I bashed through a hole on a dirt road somewhere in Canada heading south but that's a different story. If that big bully Bilk's hadn't made me ride at the back in the dust I may have seen the crater before I hit it.

So this week the wheel and tyre went to a tyre place and was remounted, removing the Canadian crap that was sat between the rim and the tyre. Two days later it's still at the correct pressure so 07:09 this morning I hit the road.

The odometer says its 133 miles since I last filled the fuel tank so 95 miles up Loch Lomond side and over to Tighnabruaich should be fine and it is even though the fuel light is on long before I get there. What a dump before 9 in the morning.....

I discover that the fuel station doesn't open until 09:30, oops piss poor planning etc.

After getting fuel I head for the Portavadie ferry and the new marina has a cafe/bar along side the ferry road and they serve breakfast. This is good as I arrive at 09:50 and the ferry left at 09:45 so I have almost an hour to kill. This place only has a conti. brekkers but any port in a storm. Your incompetent author failed to take pictures, I can only apologise. Actually I forgot to take a decent camera so all the pictures will be c**p anyway so you aren't really missing much.

One frighteningly healthy breakfast later and I trundle down to the slip.

A really weird day by Scottish standards as there is no rain.

Here comes the ferry

On board and a friendly couple from East Kilbride point out the house that was the base for the military, planning the hit on the Norwegian "heavy water plant" in WW2. Naturally I fail to take a picture but even if I had it would just be a wee white blob because I forgot the decent camera. Sorry.

At this point my typing will be deteriorating as the level in the wine bottle drops but at least you know I got hoem so you can skip he rest if you're bored.

It's starting to look as though the weather men are true to form

but at least the residents of Tarbert must be behaving themselves.

And so I get back on terra firma and head north to Lochgilphead and run into showers, the HG Master suit keeps me dry and better still I dropped in there the other day (HG Glasgow) and they said that I still have a guarantee, yippee as two zips suffered from north American dust disease and are less than perfectly healthy. Anyway, today....

Some will recognise thsi (damned wine, actually rather good Rioja, half gone) and the sun was back out...

Still heading north. early afternoon and home is south, I'm en route to Fort Bill and plan to stop at GC's Lochy Inn for soup and a coffee. Unfortunately, even without wine, the memory has failed me and I can't find the place, I was sure that it was on the A830 which I think is the "road to the isles" but despite doubling back twice I can't find it. Oh well onwards pointing towards Mallaig although I'll turn south before I get that far. I can't see if OOny is waving

I turn south on the A861 at Lochailort and the road is good. In fact so good that there is a dearth of bad photo's for some time. I stop at Strontian and get a sandwhich and cup of tea as it's about 3-time and I missed the Lochy somehow

A quick trip on the Corran Ferry and I find that I'm going the right way, the queue going west is backed up onto the main road. It's south for me and a prudent fuel stop at Glencoe, 189.9 mile indicated. I could probably have made it to Tyndrum but would have felt properly stupid if I hadn't, there isn't a much more deserted place in the entire UK.

Looking back

And if I move just enough to get the sun out of the sensor

Try art with a 4½ year old phone camera, well I did at least try

 

[Grizz]

Great pics.

Makes me want to ride Scotland.

 

[Packer]

I thought that I better save that lot before I managed to loose it all along with the will to replicate it.

I carry on for Tyndrum, full of happy people on very shiny super sport replicas but I ride straight through town, I don't need fuel and I'm an antisocial barsteward.

Fate rewards me as I run into Crianlarich, the front end of the bike feels dire and I pull into a car park and check the front tyre pressure. What pressure, the gauge fails to respond in any way, oh dear. Happily all the junk that I dragged to Deadhorse and back is still in the right pannier so I pump up the tyre. I can't hear any hissing but there again I have tinitus so it has to be pretty good hissing to overcome the whistling that I hear all the time. I go for a slightly over inflated 36psi (yes, I'm old) and hit the road after a friendly chat with a couple of other motorcyclists sharing the carpark. I then run hard and fast to try and get home before it goes flat again so no more grotty pictures. Then of course I realise that if it is going flat pronto and I hit the brakes big time the tyre may dismount itself. This may not be good. I slow down and decide not to use the front brake. Have you ever tried to stop an 1150 with panniers half full of tools and a fullish tank of fuel from 70mph whilst only utilising the rear brake? I don't recommend it. Perhaps 50mph is a better idea.

I choose a layby and check the pressure again just after the Balloch roundabout. I still have 30psi but decide to feed it again as 40psi seems like a better idea.

The miles slip past and I arrive home at 18:30 hours. 100 miles on the odo. So, that is 95 + 189.9 + 100 =, hang on whilst I try and engage my brain, 384 miles ish on a mostly sunny Scottish October day.

The withdrawal symptoms are stayed for a bit at least. Now to sort the front tyre as I'm supposed to be riding to London Wed pm to let Steppers loose on the bike for an overdue 84k service whilst I attend a seminar.

So that was my micro adventure, very micro, the only thing that went wrong was a flat tyre and I had a pump. And the next glass

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Nice one Kev and glad the Heidenau air leak mystery is alive and well

 

[Packer]

Why thank you Grizz. A better camera would have flattered my abysmal photog. skills but Scotland in the sunshine is like paradise. You can verify this fact by asking the 0.00001% of visitors who have actually managed to ride here in the dry and sun. Or ask Arsey, he was right impressed at the first Ullapool GOTC.

 

[Packer]

Nice one Kev and glad the Heidenau air leak mystery is alive and well

If I can't get new tyres fitted tomorrow I'll need to cancel with Neil and fly down, I can't risk a flat on the motorway running flat out (for an 1150) at 75mph. The back tyre has over 10k as well and is quite an interesting profile. Today as I was riding on and off shell grip I could feel the bike changing direction on the material transition. Even though I was riding my usual sedate pace.

 

[doyle]

Well done in taking advantage of a good day,
Gc may be along shortly with directions tho

I had a wee burl myself up intae bamfshire,no so far as yersel but a couple of hundred cold miles, 4 degrees at one stage! Unfortunately i hit rain but not too bad.Worse was a vintage lorry rally coming over the cabrach, complete with diesel on every corner
Only one pic,of my new bike.

 

[Packer]

Diesel is great as long as you don't have to ride on it.

Sorry to see you've got a 1200. On Bilco's ist '12 trip the 1200's had problems. In the combined mileage of around 50,000 for the 6 x 1200's they suffered a total of 2 headlamp bulb failures, one (expensive LED) indicator failure and one broken screen bracket, horrifying The bracket though was on Bilco's bike and that has done over 5,000 miles. About 16 times over

West coast, being gods country, was about 10-12 degrees so none of this single figure malarkey.

 

[doyle]

Hardly any bikes out on the cold east today.But i did follow a group of 4 harley riders up towards the Lecht.They looked awfully cold in their leather harley chap like troos.But at least they were out.

Me ,i was all rukkad up wi the toasty grips on

So i can look forward to a multitude of problems with the 1200.

Will ye go for the same heidinau tyres again?

 

[Packer]

Will ye go for the same heidinau tyres again?

I brought a new spare rear back from Alaska but as I've got a track day organised for the 20th at Knockhill I'll probably try and get a set Road Smarts or Michy Road 3's.

I was going to do it on the knackered Heidi's and see just what they could still do but I can't trust the front to stay inflated, it must have been damaged when I crashed through the crater in America. It bottomed out the front suspension big time, a mighty crashing sound from the front and I had the Wilbers set up with a lot of damping for better control at speed on metalled roads.

 

[Davy F]

I do one day trips too by getting the 03:30 ferry from Belfast, ride as much as possible round Scotland and then the 19:30 back to Norn Iron. Great fun and I do sleep well that night.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[boatman]

Sounds like a cracking day out Kev
I had a wee run out meself down to the Galloway area Mitt ye wife
GOOD run
Bikie still on the heidie k 60,s strange thing is the front does the same as you are reporting ie it goes down
Good pics thanks for posting
All the best SY

 

[AndyT]

Looks like a great run oot. It was a cracking weekend over here on the east coast. I had visitors up so I couldn't go out on the bike (That and I've knackered my back) but did see quite a few folk out along Deeside. Supposed to be nice again tomorrow but I'll be at the Chiropractors again so no bike for me for a while :-(

 

[Micky]

Great piccies

Ta

 

[Roberto]

Nice write up and grand pictures..

I'd better organise a trip to Scotland again soon..

 

[G.C.]

Here you go Kev.

Less than a mile into the A830 (just after the roadworks for the new ) hang a left before the Caledonian Canal.
It was a really nice weekend, looks like you made the most of it.

 

[Dogknob1]

Great report and love the photo's

Just gets me thinking I need to go to Scotland for a trundle around

 

[(RIP) petcul]

 

[wully]

Shyte foaties Kev You should have dropped by to see us- we were on Tiree

Nice moosheen Doyle , welcome to the world of comfy biking.

 

[Packer]

Here you go Kev.

Less than a mile into the A830 (just after the roadworks for the new ) hang a left before the Caledonian Canal.
It was a really nice weekend, looks like you made the most of it.

I knew it was around there somewhere, all the redevelopment threw out my points of reference, I went back and forwards a couple of time but I was too far along the road. Next time