mcatrophy
Privileged to ride a 2018 FJR1300AS
So, on Sunday she says "Why don't you take your new bike to Scotland for a few days? We're not doing anything this week, but the next two are booked up. The weather doesn't look too bad. And, the weather in Scotland in October ..."
Hmmm. Bike's booked in to have its 600 mile service on Wednesday. Can I bring it forward? I ring the dealer first thing Monday.
"Sorry, we're short of a technician, and we can't really bump any of our other bookings."
I can understand that, I wouldn't want my appointment bumped.
"Can you do it first thing Wednesday, and I'll wait for it?"
"Ok, bring it in for 9:00."
So, I ring round a few of the hotels I've used before, and put together some sort of itinerary. A short hop on Wednesday, then some longer runs, most importantly making sure I can meet up with some friends who live near Gairloch.
Wednesday.
So, bike in for service. Takes him a couple of hours (he was quite thorough, I watched and chatted with him for a while). Back home by 11:30.
Had a quick sandwich (She makes nice sandwiches) and a cup of tea, put on the (pre-packed) panniers and tank bag, and off.
First leg was Derby to Scotby, near Carlisle. Deliberately short, because I knew it would be a late start. Programmed Tomtom to "Avoid motorways" as a compromise route. Had a good ride up, played with suspension settings (another subject), arrived in Scotby at a nice guest house (all these places I'd stayed at before - better the devil you know...). Greeted by Liz and John (who own the place). A shower, and a good dinner John prepared. He's a very good cook, even if he is Irish.
Day's statistics:
(Click on image for larger view)
Bike park:
Local wild-life:
Possibly stalking an FJR?
Thursday.
A bit longer today. Carlisle to Gairloch is a fair haul, well over 300 miles. I've programmed a reasonable route into Tomtom, starting off on the motorway to get out of England, then onto Scottish roads, with Scottish views.
Loch Lomand
There's that bike again.
A bleak view (I like bleak):
The road:
View from a different angle (that is a nice looking bike):
Arrive in gairloch in good time, staying at the Myrtle Bank hotel. Used it many times. Parked opposite, looking out towards the Isle of Skye, but hidden by rain in this picture.
The locals have a saying: "If you can't see Skye, it's raining. If you can see Skye, it's going to rain."
Later that evening I went round to see Peter and Fiona. Peter used to run Highland Rider Motorcycle Tours, which was where I first found out about riding in Scotland. He's retired from that now. Currently recovering from nine broken ribs and a broken collar bone. Fell off a pier onto some rocks. Too much whisky (though he'd have you believe there's no such thing).
He sat on my bike and drooled (not been on his FJR for over a year because of his accident).
Had a very pleasant evening in their company.
Statistics:
The route.
Friday.
Came the dawn
You can see Skye on the horizon.
Bike's still there.
Note the wet, it poured overnight, but very bright now. When I came to pack the bike, I got eaten by midges. Tiny little things, but they come in clouds. Had to go back into the hotel to put my helmet on. Three days later, I'm still scratching. Should have taken my own advice and used a midge repellent spray. Later that day, I passed some roadworks, the men working all wore net masks over their heads.
The riding today was from Gairloch to Tongue, about 140 miles if you go the sensible route. But, who'd do that on a motorcycle in Scotland?
Today was always going to be my best day. I made a route following many of my favourite roads, through the wilds of the Scottish Highlands. Mostly single track, winding, hilly, mostly good surfaces but some broken or gravel. Talking of gravel - if you cross a stream over one of the little single track bridges, there is usually gravel in the middle where car tyres don't sweep it, and you always want to cross over that centre-line there because the bridge is inevitably the middle of a tight S-bend. Can get exciting if you do.
One of the advantages of being on your own is that you can stop any time and take a picture. I did some, but not too many, I was enjoying the ride too much.
A fairly typical road:
A fairly typical view:
A two-lane road – luxury.
Clouds often looked threatening
but it never rained on me.
Low tide:
Further on:
Never far from the sea
A fishing boat
Today's stats:
The route.
Saturday.
Wanted to check out a hotel in Lairg for possible use next year, so that was my first stop. Wasn't impressed. Carried on.
Some roads were very wet from rain (the weather forecast was for occasional showers).
But I never encountered rain, though often saw it.
Passed Eilean Donan Castle, stopped for a few minutes.
Actually a very busy tourist spot, it was crowded. I was very fortunate to get such a good picture. Except for that bike in the foreground. Seems to be in many of my photos.
Carried on to my hotel, again via a fairly circuitous route.
Statistics for the day:
The route.
Sunday.
Today I more-or-less just headed for home. Gave Tomtom an itinerary, told it to avoid motorways for the first part. Wanted to go down the A7, a road absolutely made for the FJR, full of sweepers, and with little traffic; plenty of overtaking opportunities when you do come up behind something.
Weather was bright sunshine.
Found out that the sun reflecting off the clear top to my tank-bag onto the screen of the Tomtom made it difficult to view. It's all to do with angles ...
I wasn't pushing the speed, mostly kept at a steady 60 (GPS), the legal limit on open, single carriageway roads. Came up behind a couple of BMWs. They were slowing too much for the bends, so I lit the booster rockets dropped two gears to flash by them, reverted to cruise mode, and watched in my mirrors as they tried to follow. Eventually they gave up.
After the A7 reached Carlisle, I used the motorway for much of the rest of the journey, it is really the only sensible route if you want to make reasonable time. Turned off early to enjoy some of the roads closer to home.
Today's stats:
Today's route (except for a few miles at the beginning, forgot to tell Tomtom to record).
Overall stats, Tomtom and Trip 2 (reset on leaving home).
We do know that satnavs can report erroneous speeds, don't we? It's also missing some miles when I didn't need it to visit Peter and Fiona in Gairloch.
Fuel usage: Last filled just before the motorway coming home, so up until then 105.2 litres in 1269 miles, that's 12.06 miles per litre, 54.83 mpg (imperial) or 45.65 mpg (US).
Other comments:
This '14 FJR gives me far more confidence, particularly in bends. Don't know why, tyres are the same as on my Gen II, the suspension is certainly different, not necessarily better; I did play with its settings quite a bit, but I guess it was designed for someone a little heavier than me. Nevertheless, I was much happier cornering than on any previous bike.
This is my first multi-day trip on my own. The disadvantages are that I have to decide on routes, hotels and stuff, also there's no-one to follow to judge the road for me. This latter was pretty much nullified by that confidence factor. Also there's no-one I know to eat and talk with in the evenings, though there are always people around who want to talk about the bike, often non-motorcyclists. I suppose the biggest advantage is that i could choose my own pace, whether slow to soak in the scenery, or faster to enjoy the feel of the bike doing what it likes to do. Also I could stop whenever I wanted to.
So, why the topic title "Motorcycling Heaven"? Particularly after the second day, I'm sure whichever god designed these Scottish roads was a motorcyclist, and I was with him on this trip.
You can find all the photos I took on this trip here.
This was written in a hurry, sorry if that shows through. Out of internet touch for a few days, so won't be able to answer any complaints for a while.
Hmmm. Bike's booked in to have its 600 mile service on Wednesday. Can I bring it forward? I ring the dealer first thing Monday.
"Sorry, we're short of a technician, and we can't really bump any of our other bookings."
I can understand that, I wouldn't want my appointment bumped.
"Can you do it first thing Wednesday, and I'll wait for it?"
"Ok, bring it in for 9:00."
So, I ring round a few of the hotels I've used before, and put together some sort of itinerary. A short hop on Wednesday, then some longer runs, most importantly making sure I can meet up with some friends who live near Gairloch.
Wednesday.
So, bike in for service. Takes him a couple of hours (he was quite thorough, I watched and chatted with him for a while). Back home by 11:30.
Had a quick sandwich (She makes nice sandwiches) and a cup of tea, put on the (pre-packed) panniers and tank bag, and off.
First leg was Derby to Scotby, near Carlisle. Deliberately short, because I knew it would be a late start. Programmed Tomtom to "Avoid motorways" as a compromise route. Had a good ride up, played with suspension settings (another subject), arrived in Scotby at a nice guest house (all these places I'd stayed at before - better the devil you know...). Greeted by Liz and John (who own the place). A shower, and a good dinner John prepared. He's a very good cook, even if he is Irish.
Day's statistics:
(Click on image for larger view)
Bike park:
Local wild-life:
Possibly stalking an FJR?
Thursday.
A bit longer today. Carlisle to Gairloch is a fair haul, well over 300 miles. I've programmed a reasonable route into Tomtom, starting off on the motorway to get out of England, then onto Scottish roads, with Scottish views.
Loch Lomand
There's that bike again.
A bleak view (I like bleak):
The road:
View from a different angle (that is a nice looking bike):
Arrive in gairloch in good time, staying at the Myrtle Bank hotel. Used it many times. Parked opposite, looking out towards the Isle of Skye, but hidden by rain in this picture.
The locals have a saying: "If you can't see Skye, it's raining. If you can see Skye, it's going to rain."
Later that evening I went round to see Peter and Fiona. Peter used to run Highland Rider Motorcycle Tours, which was where I first found out about riding in Scotland. He's retired from that now. Currently recovering from nine broken ribs and a broken collar bone. Fell off a pier onto some rocks. Too much whisky (though he'd have you believe there's no such thing).
He sat on my bike and drooled (not been on his FJR for over a year because of his accident).
Had a very pleasant evening in their company.
Statistics:
The route.
Friday.
Came the dawn
You can see Skye on the horizon.
Bike's still there.
Note the wet, it poured overnight, but very bright now. When I came to pack the bike, I got eaten by midges. Tiny little things, but they come in clouds. Had to go back into the hotel to put my helmet on. Three days later, I'm still scratching. Should have taken my own advice and used a midge repellent spray. Later that day, I passed some roadworks, the men working all wore net masks over their heads.
The riding today was from Gairloch to Tongue, about 140 miles if you go the sensible route. But, who'd do that on a motorcycle in Scotland?
Today was always going to be my best day. I made a route following many of my favourite roads, through the wilds of the Scottish Highlands. Mostly single track, winding, hilly, mostly good surfaces but some broken or gravel. Talking of gravel - if you cross a stream over one of the little single track bridges, there is usually gravel in the middle where car tyres don't sweep it, and you always want to cross over that centre-line there because the bridge is inevitably the middle of a tight S-bend. Can get exciting if you do.
One of the advantages of being on your own is that you can stop any time and take a picture. I did some, but not too many, I was enjoying the ride too much.
A fairly typical road:
A fairly typical view:
A two-lane road – luxury.
Clouds often looked threatening
but it never rained on me.
Low tide:
Further on:
Never far from the sea
A fishing boat
Today's stats:
The route.
Saturday.
Wanted to check out a hotel in Lairg for possible use next year, so that was my first stop. Wasn't impressed. Carried on.
Some roads were very wet from rain (the weather forecast was for occasional showers).
But I never encountered rain, though often saw it.
Passed Eilean Donan Castle, stopped for a few minutes.
Actually a very busy tourist spot, it was crowded. I was very fortunate to get such a good picture. Except for that bike in the foreground. Seems to be in many of my photos.
Carried on to my hotel, again via a fairly circuitous route.
Statistics for the day:
The route.
Sunday.
Today I more-or-less just headed for home. Gave Tomtom an itinerary, told it to avoid motorways for the first part. Wanted to go down the A7, a road absolutely made for the FJR, full of sweepers, and with little traffic; plenty of overtaking opportunities when you do come up behind something.
Weather was bright sunshine.
Found out that the sun reflecting off the clear top to my tank-bag onto the screen of the Tomtom made it difficult to view. It's all to do with angles ...
I wasn't pushing the speed, mostly kept at a steady 60 (GPS), the legal limit on open, single carriageway roads. Came up behind a couple of BMWs. They were slowing too much for the bends, so I l
After the A7 reached Carlisle, I used the motorway for much of the rest of the journey, it is really the only sensible route if you want to make reasonable time. Turned off early to enjoy some of the roads closer to home.
Today's stats:
Today's route (except for a few miles at the beginning, forgot to tell Tomtom to record).
Overall stats, Tomtom and Trip 2 (reset on leaving home).
We do know that satnavs can report erroneous speeds, don't we? It's also missing some miles when I didn't need it to visit Peter and Fiona in Gairloch.
Fuel usage: Last filled just before the motorway coming home, so up until then 105.2 litres in 1269 miles, that's 12.06 miles per litre, 54.83 mpg (imperial) or 45.65 mpg (US).
Other comments:
This '14 FJR gives me far more confidence, particularly in bends. Don't know why, tyres are the same as on my Gen II, the suspension is certainly different, not necessarily better; I did play with its settings quite a bit, but I guess it was designed for someone a little heavier than me. Nevertheless, I was much happier cornering than on any previous bike.
This is my first multi-day trip on my own. The disadvantages are that I have to decide on routes, hotels and stuff, also there's no-one to follow to judge the road for me. This latter was pretty much nullified by that confidence factor. Also there's no-one I know to eat and talk with in the evenings, though there are always people around who want to talk about the bike, often non-motorcyclists. I suppose the biggest advantage is that i could choose my own pace, whether slow to soak in the scenery, or faster to enjoy the feel of the bike doing what it likes to do. Also I could stop whenever I wanted to.
So, why the topic title "Motorcycling Heaven"? Particularly after the second day, I'm sure whichever god designed these Scottish roads was a motorcyclist, and I was with him on this trip.
You can find all the photos I took on this trip here.
This was written in a hurry, sorry if that shows through. Out of internet touch for a few days, so won't be able to answer any complaints for a while.
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