600 (s)Miles from Scotland to London on my new GS

Sleeptalk2020

Member
UKGSer Subscriber
Joined
Nov 7, 2020
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Location
Twickenham, UK
I recently traveled up from London to Bishopton, Glasgow to pick up my 'new' R1200GS Triple Black from one of the members of this forum - Toddy.

First of all a big thank you to him for making the whole buying experience such a pleasure, and for making the transaction so seamless - from making a detailed video of the bike for me when I was considering a few here on the site, to sharing loads of photos and bike history before we 'did the deal', I couldn't have asked for more.

Arriving in the mid-afternoon after a flight up from Heathrow, Toddy showed me around the bike - which was spotless and clearly well loved - and soon after the obligatory 'welcome to your new bike photo', I was wobbling up along the road quickly being reminded of how the weight, clutch biting-point and throttle-response of a GS is quite different to most bikes I've ridden in the decade-or-so since I owned an R1150GSA!

The bike (beast!) is a 2016 model with ~14k miles on it, and it felt brand new as I trundled along adjusting the onboard setup of the DSC, ESA, heated grips, screen and more. Luxury compared to the much more basic and raw Triumph 675 Street Triple I'm used to and recently sold here on the forum! One of my instant observations was how smooth the power delivery is by comparison to my old 2004 GSA, and how reactive the engine is when you need that sudden touch of torque to pull away from a roundabout or overtake - fantastic!

Having ridden 20-or-so miles to get used to the bike, the light was starting to fade and so I followed my tracks back along the banks of the Clyde and headed for my hotel for the night where the local staff were good enough to let me park my 'new' bike right outside the front-door as I settled in for the evening planning my route (thanks to many of you on the site!) for the next morning's trip to the Hexham area. Big thumbs up for Toddy for his recommendation to stay at the Ingliston Hotel - comfy rooms, reasonable price and friendly staff.

The next morning, I was up and out by 9am and quickly realised that the grey drizzle I stepped out to was about as good as my luck was going to get weather-wise that day. Nevermind, I settled-in on the bike, and more or less followed this route:

https://goo.gl/maps/hFrnwqCk735LPJPJ7

and

https://goo.gl/maps/BpLPLALBGKUXrVyJ7

I use a Schuberth C4 Pro helmet with all the audio kit installed and loved listening to various podcasts whilst following the included (surprisingly decent!) BMW Nav 5 onboard SatNav. Stopping at 'The Coffee Spot' (https://goo.gl/maps/zNvtvKTN82MRjyQQ9) in Biggar for a great bacon sandwich and a coffee (again, really friendly staff!), I headed out on the A701 (? I think!), south, only to discover after 5 miles or so that it was closed for works...ah well, such a lovely road, I was happy to turn around and followed the diversions towards Eskdalemuir.

As I neared the town imagine my surprise when after many twists and slippery turns (mind those wet leaves folks...I nearly lost it on one bend) in the p**ing rain, I spot a golden Buddah floating in a lake to my left...and then a welcoming 'Open' sign soon after on my right at the local community cafe/hall...time to stop and learn what's going on here...

I spent a very nice hour having a spot of lunch and learning from some of the locals how there is a local Buddhish monastery in Eskdalemuir, how they all love to wander about smoking Pot, and how there are rumours of plans to build/grow a 100-acre Cannabis plantation in the near future(!) Apparently race horses and (soon to be) medicinal cannabis are big business in Eskdalemuir!

I was politely reminded that I needed to get across the Scottish border by 6pm else face the wrath of the local constabulary due to tougher C19 restrictions and so headed out around 4pm in search of my hotel in Bellingham.

Most of my kit is almost 15 years old and from the now-defunct Hein Gericke store, so thoroughly soaked (except for my legs - thanks to a second-hand pair of Rukka trousers I recently bought) I lifted my jackets, gloves and helmet from the puddles of rainwater I'd created in the town hall cafe, and clambered onto the bike gunning the throttle (OK, it was in 'Rain' mode, so this sounds more dramatic than it really was, but I want it to sound cool OK?) to head to my hotel for the night near Bellingham. Even in the wet (and with me taking my time on the bike) the B709 was brilliant, and I even saw where the sun roughly was behind some lighter-clouds at one point...

Arriving at the hotel - which was almost in total darkness taking me time to find in the dark and with a fogged-up visor - I was shown to my room after having my temperature taken, details logged etc. etc. only to find the room stone frozen cold - it seemed they'd not had guests for so long in that part of the building that they'd forgotten to turn on the heating. Having boots full of water and all but my legs soaked to the bone...and shivering somewhat... I knew that day 3 would be a nightmare if I couldn't get my kit dry on the radiators overnight, and thankfully after a couple of hours the heating kicked in and slowly 'warmed' my damp clothes....The hairdryer was called for....

Woke up to a brilliant fry-up and then - as the weather was still SO bad - decided to sadly miss the route via Kielder Forest Trail, and instead roughly follow this route home:

https://goo.gl/maps/jfeP8ciNyts3zobBA

My kit was dry-ish (actually it was warm and wet, still) and so seeing the terminal rain I decided to tool-up and wear the full boiler-suit I'd brought with me from Richa. This being my 6th (!) layer, I felt much like I imagined boil-in-the-bag-rice to feel in its dying moments as I set off, but soon enough the cool air made it bearable as the rain lashed across me and the bike.

Crossing the moors around the north Pennines was epic and so much fun. Visibility was terrible, the rain unrelenting but I loved it. However, less than an hour or so into the ride I hit what I thought would be a smallish puddle...only to realise it was bl**dy deep - in fact the depth and impact was so much that it clean knocked both my feet off the bike's pegs, filling my left boot almost totally with water - THROUGH the suit. Great. Hey ho, I knew it would warm up eventually so I ploughed on undeterred...the fuel light was on and it was time for a break.

After a refuel and leg-stretch, the skies cleared as I neared Barnard Castle and Staindrop and I took the opportunity to empty my boot, remove the (useless) Richa rain suit (wet on the inside as well as the outside) and find something new to listen to on my headset (if you're a foodie like me then 'Out To Lunch' by Jay Rayor is worth a listen, I discovered.)

Having missed my family for a couple of days I took the opportunity to change the satnav from 'curvy' routing to 'fastest' (knocking 3 hrs from the ETA) and decided to blat the last 4hrs or so home along 'dull' roads.

Sitting at 70ish on the motorway, with toasty warm (wet) hands, and using the bike's cruise control was about as good as sitting on a motorway for hours can be. The screen(s) on the bike did a good job of reducing the buffeting (I'm ~6ft 5 - similar to the previous owner) and I slowly settled in to watch the fuel tank steadily empty itself as I neared home.

Rocking up in Twickenham around 4:30pm I was met by an excited family who all took turns to sit (in their clean clothes) on the (now filthy) bike. Big smiles and exclamations of happiness for me all around ;)

All in all it was a brilliant trip. Something I feel lucky to have been able to do, and to be able to do so to pick up one of the bikes I've dreamt about owning for years.

About 2 weeks ago I was a long-returning UKGSer member looking for his next GS, and now - I think - I'm a fully-signed-up GS owner and I look forward to remaining so for many years to come!

All the best. :beerjug:
 

Attachments

  • 779dfc9c-f0c9-4408-a605-a33e24503fde.jpg
    779dfc9c-f0c9-4408-a605-a33e24503fde.jpg
    267.4 KB · Views: 1,161
  • IMG_1009.jpg
    IMG_1009.jpg
    247.2 KB · Views: 1,183
  • IMG_1011.jpg
    IMG_1011.jpg
    247.3 KB · Views: 1,183
  • IMG_1001.jpg
    IMG_1001.jpg
    245.8 KB · Views: 1,168
Nice one, :)

So Strontian / Portsoy next year will be a breeze ..

i normally do it in 2 day hop


South coast to - Dent or somewhere else next year

Dent onwards to Strontian, or Portsoy next year

Shame you didn't have enough time to turn left when you picked the bike up and a blast up to Glencoe

Get the dates in the diary for next year :)
 
I recently traveled up from London to Bishopton, Glasgow to pick up my 'new' R1200GS Triple Black from one of the members of this forum - Toddy.

First of all a big thank you to him for making the whole buying experience such a pleasure, and for making the transaction so seamless - from making a detailed video of the bike for me when I was considering a few here on the site, to sharing loads of photos and bike history before we 'did the deal', I couldn't have asked for more.

Arriving in the mid-afternoon after a flight up from Heathrow, Toddy showed me around the bike - which was spotless and clearly well loved - and soon after the obligatory 'welcome to your new bike photo', I was wobbling up along the road quickly being reminded of how the weight, clutch biting-point and throttle-response of a GS is quite different to most bikes I've ridden in the decade-or-so since I owned an R1150GSA!

The bike (beast!) is a 2016 model with ~14k miles on it, and it felt brand new as I trundled along adjusting the onboard setup of the DSC, ESA, heated grips, screen and more. Luxury compared to the much more basic and raw Triumph 675 Street Triple I'm used to and recently sold here on the forum! One of my instant observations was how smooth the power delivery is by comparison to my old 2004 GSA, and how reactive the engine is when you need that sudden touch of torque to pull away from a roundabout or overtake - fantastic!

Having ridden 20-or-so miles to get used to the bike, the light was starting to fade and so I followed my tracks back along the banks of the Clyde and headed for my hotel for the night where the local staff were good enough to let me park my 'new' bike right outside the front-door as I settled in for the evening planning my route (thanks to many of you on the site!) for the next morning's trip to the Hexham area. Big thumbs up for Toddy for his recommendation to stay at the Ingliston Hotel - comfy rooms, reasonable price and friendly staff.

The next morning, I was up and out by 9am and quickly realised that the grey drizzle I stepped out to was about as good as my luck was going to get weather-wise that day. Nevermind, I settled-in on the bike, and more or less followed this route:

https://goo.gl/maps/hFrnwqCk735LPJPJ7

and

https://goo.gl/maps/BpLPLALBGKUXrVyJ7

I use a Schuberth C4 Pro helmet with all the audio kit installed and loved listening to various podcasts whilst following the included (surprisingly decent!) BMW Nav 5 onboard SatNav. Stopping at 'The Coffee Spot' (https://goo.gl/maps/zNvtvKTN82MRjyQQ9) in Biggar for a great bacon sandwich and a coffee (again, really friendly staff!), I headed out on the A701 (? I think!), south, only to discover after 5 miles or so that it was closed for works...ah well, such a lovely road, I was happy to turn around and followed the diversions towards Eskdalemuir.

As I neared the town imagine my surprise when after many twists and slippery turns (mind those wet leaves folks...I nearly lost it on one bend) in the p**ing rain, I spot a golden Buddah floating in a lake to my left...and then a welcoming 'Open' sign soon after on my right at the local community cafe/hall...time to stop and learn what's going on here...

I spent a very nice hour having a spot of lunch and learning from some of the locals how there is a local Buddhish monastery in Eskdalemuir, how they all love to wander about smoking Pot, and how there are rumours of plans to build/grow a 100-acre Cannabis plantation in the near future(!) Apparently race horses and (soon to be) medicinal cannabis are big business in Eskdalemuir!

I was politely reminded that I needed to get across the Scottish border by 6pm else face the wrath of the local constabulary due to tougher C19 restrictions and so headed out around 4pm in search of my hotel in Bellingham.

Most of my kit is almost 15 years old and from the now-defunct Hein Gericke store, so thoroughly soaked (except for my legs - thanks to a second-hand pair of Rukka trousers I recently bought) I lifted my jackets, gloves and helmet from the puddles of rainwater I'd created in the town hall cafe, and clambered onto the bike gunning the throttle (OK, it was in 'Rain' mode, so this sounds more dramatic than it really was, but I want it to sound cool OK?) to head to my hotel for the night near Bellingham. Even in the wet (and with me taking my time on the bike) the B709 was brilliant, and I even saw where the sun roughly was behind some lighter-clouds at one point...

Arriving at the hotel - which was almost in total darkness taking me time to find in the dark and with a fogged-up visor - I was shown to my room after having my temperature taken, details logged etc. etc. only to find the room stone frozen cold - it seemed they'd not had guests for so long in that part of the building that they'd forgotten to turn on the heating. Having boots full of water and all but my legs soaked to the bone...and shivering somewhat... I knew that day 3 would be a nightmare if I couldn't get my kit dry on the radiators overnight, and thankfully after a couple of hours the heating kicked in and slowly 'warmed' my damp clothes....The hairdryer was called for....

Woke up to a brilliant fry-up and then - as the weather was still SO bad - decided to sadly miss the route via Kielder Forest Trail, and instead roughly follow this route home:

https://goo.gl/maps/jfeP8ciNyts3zobBA

My kit was dry-ish (actually it was warm and wet, still) and so seeing the terminal rain I decided to tool-up and wear the full boiler-suit I'd brought with me from Richa. This being my 6th (!) layer, I felt much like I imagined boil-in-the-bag-rice to feel in its dying moments as I set off, but soon enough the cool air made it bearable as the rain lashed across me and the bike.

Crossing the moors around the north Pennines was epic and so much fun. Visibility was terrible, the rain unrelenting but I loved it. However, less than an hour or so into the ride I hit what I thought would be a smallish puddle...only to realise it was bl**dy deep - in fact the depth and impact was so much that it clean knocked both my feet off the bike's pegs, filling my left boot almost totally with water - THROUGH the suit. Great. Hey ho, I knew it would warm up eventually so I ploughed on undeterred...the fuel light was on and it was time for a break.

After a refuel and leg-stretch, the skies cleared as I neared Barnard Castle and Staindrop and I took the opportunity to empty my boot, remove the (useless) Richa rain suit (wet on the inside as well as the outside) and find something new to listen to on my headset (if you're a foodie like me then 'Out To Lunch' by Jay Rayor is worth a listen, I discovered.)

Having missed my family for a couple of days I took the opportunity to change the satnav from 'curvy' routing to 'fastest' (knocking 3 hrs from the ETA) and decided to blat the last 4hrs or so home along 'dull' roads.

Sitting at 70ish on the motorway, with toasty warm (wet) hands, and using the bike's cruise control was about as good as sitting on a motorway for hours can be. The screen(s) on the bike did a good job of reducing the buffeting (I'm ~6ft 5 - similar to the previous owner) and I slowly settled in to watch the fuel tank steadily empty itself as I neared home.

Rocking up in Twickenham around 4:30pm I was met by an excited family who all took turns to sit (in their clean clothes) on the (now filthy) bike. Big smiles and exclamations of happiness for me all around ;)

All in all it was a brilliant trip. Something I feel lucky to have been able to do, and to be able to do so to pick up one of the bikes I've dreamt about owning for years.

About 2 weeks ago I was a long-returning UKGSer member looking for his next GS, and now - I think - I'm a fully-signed-up GS owner and I look forward to remaining so for many years to come!

All the best. :beerjug:

Glad you enjoyed your trip Anders. In my experience it always pisses it down when you pick up a new bike. Pleased it didn’t spoil it for you…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
A nice little ride and report to keep us armchair pilots awake.
Similar screen to my 2017 so clearly a good choice on many fronts.
And keep an eye out for some new gear - always something appearing in the F/S
:thumby:
 
Nice report, reading it makes me feel very lucky living in the North East as all the roads you mention, up until changing from ‘curvy’ roads and hitting the motorway, are my regular ride outs. Enjoy the new bike.
 
there is a local Buddhish monastery in Eskdalemuir


ccbfb4828ddb48dba306fff56486a077.jpg


Better weather when I was there by the look of things. Some cracking roads around those parts.
 
Love the hair dryer in the wet boots - great idea and write up. ��
 
That was a great read ..AND the bike looks lovely. Enjoy.:)
 


Back
Top Bottom