mcatrophy
Privileged to ride a 2018 FJR1300AS
Just come back from a week's tour in Scotland.
My trip starts with a 300 mile journey, starting in Derby, ending in Linlithgow (near Edinborough), about 6 hours, about two thirds motorway (mostly M6), then cutting across on the A7 which is a very good motorcycling road, with sweeping bends and undulations, not a lot of traffic, and with good overtaking opportunities. Three stops, one for fuel, two for me.
This was the first long trip I've made on my FJR; after the first hour I was aware of how firm the seat was. I was also experimenting with my posture, in the end I found sitting back a little on the seat, keeping the weight off my wrists and tucking my elbows in gave the best compromise of comfort, control, and cured any tendency for my right hand to go numb. I have done the throttle spring release and taken out all the throttle cable slack to ease wrist ache and improve control. Apart from that and a front fender extender, the bike is absolutely stock. With occasionally moving in the seat a bit, and my few stops, comfort was no longer a problem.
The tour proper, with Highland Rider, was a great combination of motorcycling, sight-seeing and wildlife viewing. Peter, who leads these tours, is exceptionally knowledgeable about motorcycling, Scotland, its history and fauna, and seems to know everyone we meet.
The bikes: three FJRs (Peter's '04, Richard's 03, my '06 AS [AE]), two BMWs, a Ducatti, a Suzuki, and a Honda. The people: Peter leading, Janet on her Duke, Jed on his BMW, Ken and Janet on his BMW, Richard and Jackie on his FJR, me, Simon and Martin (brothers) on the Suzuki, and Mark on his Vstrom.
All the people on the trip were good riders and good company. I'd met all but Simon, Martin and Mark on previous trips, though even they were repeats of Highland Rider. Peter decided our order from the start, and everyone seemed happy with their positions.
From the first day, Peter was having puncture problems. His rear tyre refused to stay sealed with the pink gunk he had in it, I think he had a stone, and it was probably moving and breaking any seal. After most days the underside of his rear mudguard (fender) was covered in pink stuff, and it would drip off overnight, so we left a pink visiting card wherever we stopped! Luckily I'd brought an electric pump, so we could easily re-inflate his tyre. We periodically poured more pink gook in more air.
We didn't let this worry us, we rode along wonderful Scottish roads through great scenery.
The weather was always fairly mild, with a couple of days of heavy rain (well, this is Scotland). We crossed to Orkney on a ferry, an island steeped in ancient and modern history, from 5000 year old settlements to Second World War activities around Scapa Flow, with its sunken vessels, Churchill barriers, and leftover armaments.
Back on the mainland we visited Dunnet Head, the most northerly point of the UK mainland, then headed for Gairloch on the west coast.
En route, we stopped at a wayside ice-cream seller, and decided Peter's tyre was totally unfit.
It had worn dramatically around its centre, presumably due to under-inflation, and its metal cords were beginning to show. The lady serving said she might know someone who could help, and after a couple of phone calls, Peter was talking to a garage where the owner said he had a tyre the right size, and he would stay open until we could get there. As this was a bit off our route, everyone - except Peter and me - headed for Gairloch, Peter and I went into the middle of no-where (or so it seemed, a place called Spinningdale) to find this little garage.
The guy efficiently changed the tyre (he took the wheel out without any problem except the pinch bolt on the axle was almost seized), but only needed the bike on its centre stand to manoeuvre the wheel out. I can highly recommend Spinningdale Motors.
When we set off from the garage, with only Peter and me, we could ride reasonably briskly, and it was a very enjoyable run (but by the time we arrived at Gairloch, well after 9 pm, I was getting tired, it had been a long day).
My FJR behaved impeccably (of course). The only moment I had was stopping in a car-park, on a slope, with a gravel surface. My foot started to slip slightly, and in tightening myself up, I unintentionally put on a little throttle. The first I realised this was when the back wheel started to spin up! Unnerving, but in the end no drama, though one of the guys later asked me why I did it! He must have thought it was intentional. Another possible disadvantage of the AS (AE). But without YCCS I'd not be motorcycling ...
No fluid loss over a total of 1740 miles; 53.5 mpg (UK), 44.6 mpg (US) in 8 days of varied riding.
I am writing this up for my web site, it's in progress here, but will be a few days (or possibly weeks) to complete. My full gallery is here, but again there's a lot of editing to do.
I'm retiring from full-time work in early August (65 years young), and my better half has booked me on another tour in late August as a combined birthday and retirement present
.
My trip starts with a 300 mile journey, starting in Derby, ending in Linlithgow (near Edinborough), about 6 hours, about two thirds motorway (mostly M6), then cutting across on the A7 which is a very good motorcycling road, with sweeping bends and undulations, not a lot of traffic, and with good overtaking opportunities. Three stops, one for fuel, two for me.
This was the first long trip I've made on my FJR; after the first hour I was aware of how firm the seat was. I was also experimenting with my posture, in the end I found sitting back a little on the seat, keeping the weight off my wrists and tucking my elbows in gave the best compromise of comfort, control, and cured any tendency for my right hand to go numb. I have done the throttle spring release and taken out all the throttle cable slack to ease wrist ache and improve control. Apart from that and a front fender extender, the bike is absolutely stock. With occasionally moving in the seat a bit, and my few stops, comfort was no longer a problem.
The tour proper, with Highland Rider, was a great combination of motorcycling, sight-seeing and wildlife viewing. Peter, who leads these tours, is exceptionally knowledgeable about motorcycling, Scotland, its history and fauna, and seems to know everyone we meet.
The bikes: three FJRs (Peter's '04, Richard's 03, my '06 AS [AE]), two BMWs, a Ducatti, a Suzuki, and a Honda. The people: Peter leading, Janet on her Duke, Jed on his BMW, Ken and Janet on his BMW, Richard and Jackie on his FJR, me, Simon and Martin (brothers) on the Suzuki, and Mark on his Vstrom.
All the people on the trip were good riders and good company. I'd met all but Simon, Martin and Mark on previous trips, though even they were repeats of Highland Rider. Peter decided our order from the start, and everyone seemed happy with their positions.
From the first day, Peter was having puncture problems. His rear tyre refused to stay sealed with the pink gunk he had in it, I think he had a stone, and it was probably moving and breaking any seal. After most days the underside of his rear mudguard (fender) was covered in pink stuff, and it would drip off overnight, so we left a pink visiting card wherever we stopped! Luckily I'd brought an electric pump, so we could easily re-inflate his tyre. We periodically poured more pink gook in more air.
We didn't let this worry us, we rode along wonderful Scottish roads through great scenery.
The weather was always fairly mild, with a couple of days of heavy rain (well, this is Scotland). We crossed to Orkney on a ferry, an island steeped in ancient and modern history, from 5000 year old settlements to Second World War activities around Scapa Flow, with its sunken vessels, Churchill barriers, and leftover armaments.
Back on the mainland we visited Dunnet Head, the most northerly point of the UK mainland, then headed for Gairloch on the west coast.
En route, we stopped at a wayside ice-cream seller, and decided Peter's tyre was totally unfit.
It had worn dramatically around its centre, presumably due to under-inflation, and its metal cords were beginning to show. The lady serving said she might know someone who could help, and after a couple of phone calls, Peter was talking to a garage where the owner said he had a tyre the right size, and he would stay open until we could get there. As this was a bit off our route, everyone - except Peter and me - headed for Gairloch, Peter and I went into the middle of no-where (or so it seemed, a place called Spinningdale) to find this little garage.
The guy efficiently changed the tyre (he took the wheel out without any problem except the pinch bolt on the axle was almost seized), but only needed the bike on its centre stand to manoeuvre the wheel out. I can highly recommend Spinningdale Motors.
When we set off from the garage, with only Peter and me, we could ride reasonably briskly, and it was a very enjoyable run (but by the time we arrived at Gairloch, well after 9 pm, I was getting tired, it had been a long day).
My FJR behaved impeccably (of course). The only moment I had was stopping in a car-park, on a slope, with a gravel surface. My foot started to slip slightly, and in tightening myself up, I unintentionally put on a little throttle. The first I realised this was when the back wheel started to spin up! Unnerving, but in the end no drama, though one of the guys later asked me why I did it! He must have thought it was intentional. Another possible disadvantage of the AS (AE). But without YCCS I'd not be motorcycling ...
No fluid loss over a total of 1740 miles; 53.5 mpg (UK), 44.6 mpg (US) in 8 days of varied riding.
I am writing this up for my web site, it's in progress here, but will be a few days (or possibly weeks) to complete. My full gallery is here, but again there's a lot of editing to do.
I'm retiring from full-time work in early August (65 years young), and my better half has booked me on another tour in late August as a combined birthday and retirement present
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