When the good weather started a couple of weeks ago you could see the number of bikes suddenly shot up, end of winter in the Highlands and bikes taxed again
Weathers kinda nice - time to ride!
- Thread starter SteveT
- Start date
No pics.
Had a ride up to Durness to stay with friends there Wednesday night, took the road from Lairg across to Laxford Bridge, which was very quiet..until Laxford and the North Curse 500 chaos descended.
Home via the grassy Loch Hope road to Altnaharra, which I love, but the wind on Thursday was hellish until Lairg again !
Cracking weather.
Had a ride up to Durness to stay with friends there Wednesday night, took the road from Lairg across to Laxford Bridge, which was very quiet..until Laxford and the North Curse 500 chaos descended.
Home via the grassy Loch Hope road to Altnaharra, which I love, but the wind on Thursday was hellish until Lairg again !
Cracking weather.
From this years 1st weekend under canvas, based at the Red Squirrel in Glen Coe (with NO MIDGES - a 1st for me 
)
View across Loch Linnhe on the way to Oban on Saturday
Racer Café on the side of the A828-Cracking food with great service . . . and very biker freindly
Novel bin outside the cafe
Views of Loch Etive from a tiny wee road
Just a great all round machine really, IMHO
Connel Bridge
Took a scenic route to Inverarry that included getting the bikes very, very dusty
On our way back towards Glen Coe
As a little treat before retiring for refreshments on Saturday evening, we did the Kinlochleven Loop. Lord, my face still aches from the smile that just grew & grew as we did that lush bit of road.
A view of the Ben on our way to Spean Bridge and our return to the relative reality of normality!
SteveT
)View across Loch Linnhe on the way to Oban on Saturday
Racer Café on the side of the A828-Cracking food with great service . . . and very biker freindly
Novel bin outside the cafe
Views of Loch Etive from a tiny wee road
Just a great all round machine really, IMHO
Connel Bridge
Took a scenic route to Inverarry that included getting the bikes very, very dusty
On our way back towards Glen Coe
As a little treat before retiring for refreshments on Saturday evening, we did the Kinlochleven Loop. Lord, my face still aches from the smile that just grew & grew as we did that lush bit of road.
A view of the Ben on our way to Spean Bridge and our return to the relative reality of normality!
SteveT
Out on the Rider Refinement run here at Dingwall on Sunday.
Did the Poolewe loop, c140 odd miles.
Good day for it.
Did the Poolewe loop, c140 odd miles.
Good day for it.
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2002
- Messages
- 780
- Reaction score
- 141
Nice photos Steve. Like your new addition, a physically big bike for the motor, so how do you find it? Does it ride well?
Rides fine Ian, you just have to accept that the engine revs to a 10.5k red line for a reason 
Hacking into corners has become more fun, with not carrying as much weight into the twisties - momentum is your friend
Maybe see you on the road
SteveT
Hacking into corners has become more fun, with not carrying as much weight into the twisties - momentum is your friend
Maybe see you on the road
SteveT
North Cornwall was basking in the sun. The old WW2 airport at Davidstowe was empty. Usually model plane and learner drivers on the runway.
I revisited a place i first happened upon in about 1988/9 - Pen y Garreg.
Weather was great, scenery and roads in Wales even better, it was a good weekend.
1988;
2025;
I was on a BMW back then, too;
Weather was great, scenery and roads in Wales even better, it was a good weekend.
1988;
2025;
I was on a BMW back then, too;
A wee birl around the Borders the day ...
Another midweek bimble around the New Forest for me this evening, ended up at the coast near Lymington where there is a small pebble beach...
It was hard enough going for a bike on this ground so it was no surprise to learn that the car (to the left on the first pic) was stuck!
Had a quick word with the youngsters and they had a friend coming who was going to pull them off (so to speak).
On my way out i passed a Landrover so i would think that was the rescuer..
It was hard enough going for a bike on this ground so it was no surprise to learn that the car (to the left on the first pic) was stuck!
Had a quick word with the youngsters and they had a friend coming who was going to pull them off (so to speak).
On my way out i passed a Landrover so i would think that was the rescuer..
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2002
- Messages
- 780
- Reaction score
- 141
Wanted to talk to the service desk at the local dealers in Inverness today, so thought as the weather was good, I’d just nip over there. Turned into a very pleasant trip, including lunch in Fort Augustus at what may have been the must expensive cafe, Cobbs. £13.50 for their special, a chicken quesadilla plus £3.50 for a single can of Diet Coke. Food was just ok, nothing special, but their home-bakes looked good. Ended up covering just over 200 miles in gorgeous weather, and only had 3 people try to take me out.
One was a woman passing a line of parked cars, no issue, plenty of room, but unfortunately her concentration was firmly on her mobile phone, which she was holding to her left ear. 2nd was in Aviemore, when someone decided that giving way to those on the roundabout didn’t apply to him (even the Denali sound bomb didn’t get a reaction), and the last, and perhaps most concerning was a guy on the A82 between Laggan and Invergarry who decided he was ok to overtake because the guy in front of him could do it safely; perhaps they were joined by a piece of elastic. Perhaps the GS isn’t visible enough and I ought to get a bigger bike with more road presence
.
Still, a good run all told.
One was a woman passing a line of parked cars, no issue, plenty of room, but unfortunately her concentration was firmly on her mobile phone, which she was holding to her left ear. 2nd was in Aviemore, when someone decided that giving way to those on the roundabout didn’t apply to him (even the Denali sound bomb didn’t get a reaction), and the last, and perhaps most concerning was a guy on the A82 between Laggan and Invergarry who decided he was ok to overtake because the guy in front of him could do it safely; perhaps they were joined by a piece of elastic. Perhaps the GS isn’t visible enough and I ought to get a bigger bike with more road presence
.Still, a good run all told.
Attachments
Last Friday I had a very late start (1230) but finished a few chores and just had to take a ride in the glorious weather.
Just a wee shake down loop. Tyndrum, Inveraray, Oban, Glencoe, Loch Earn, Crook of Devon.
The evening roads were Very quiet. Brilliant.
302 miles.
Just a wee shake down loop. Tyndrum, Inveraray, Oban, Glencoe, Loch Earn, Crook of Devon.
The evening roads were Very quiet. Brilliant.
302 miles.
Last ride on the new bike before I set off fro Spain next week. As I came back east from the Cambrian Mountains, the traffic going west along the A483 was mental. The beaches and mountains are going to be rammed this weekend so I will stay home.
All in the pink near Dinas Mawddwy
On the road from Machynlleth to Llyn Clywedog
All in the pink near Dinas Mawddwy
On the road from Machynlleth to Llyn Clywedog
Got out early this morning for a ~120 mile bimble ; down to Portsmouth, up Meon Valley to the jewel in Hampshires crown (Basingstoke), Alton, Whitchurch, Stockbridge.
Saw several groups of loaded-up bikes heading west on M27, anything going on or just on their way to ferries?
Saw several groups of loaded-up bikes heading west on M27, anything going on or just on their way to ferries?
........and then got the CX-Periment out in the afternoon for a shake-down run to re-familiarise myself with it and in preparation for the Rat`n`Survival rally in a couple of weeks time.
Bloody thing still goes well, but unfortunately the handling is still dreadful (it`s actually not too bad when you get used to it....)
I was going to do the treble and take the 14 out for a quick spin too but just couldn`t be bothered moving the car and rearranging the other bikes to extract it from the corner of the garage. Next time out i`ll take it. Need more space. Less house, more garden/garage.
Bloody thing still goes well, but unfortunately the handling is still dreadful (it`s actually not too bad when you get used to it....)
I was going to do the treble and take the 14 out for a quick spin too but just couldn`t be bothered moving the car and rearranging the other bikes to extract it from the corner of the garage. Next time out i`ll take it. Need more space. Less house, more garden/garage.
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2007
- Messages
- 1,103
- Reaction score
- 121
Nipped to Skye and back at the weekend and saw Eilean Donan looking grey and gloomy but still a stunning view no matter what the weather.
