fastbob

I'm glad you asked .

Here is a bike recording . https://youtu.be/bPVvyUJDpB8

I couldn't be arsed to read all of it . Where's the fun in that ?

You must find this sort of thing difficult to understand then . https://youtu.be/tZj_4WmsqAA

That's two then .

Gathering in one place from far and wide and then going their separate ways is one thing . Fifty bikes traveling on torturous single track roads with a passing place system and all having to refuel at a single petrol pump in a small village is quite another . Besides this , Aviemore is just off the A9 .

There is a faster method . Somebody pre pays £100 and an assistant grabs the nozzle while everyone lines up , engines running and petrol caps open . A third party is on hand with a note book scribbling down the figures from the pump against the registrations . As long as the filler dosen't replace the nozzle the jobs a good 'un . BUT .... Can you imagine the stress and f****g around trying to gather all the money back ? And bear in mind that this performance could be repeated three times in one day on the north western stage .

That's not altogether inaccurate if you include moving the bike into position , removing gloves , finding reading glasses , figuring out what to do , filling up and moving the bike out of the way . It's not like you can skip these pumps and go on to the next one and I'm not just talking from a Harley rider's point of view either .

And while I'm at it , why has this been chosen as a fund raising activity ? There's nothing particularly difficult or strenuous about it . It's just riding a motorcycle around some roads at the end of the day . Oh yeah , and another thing , has anyone considered how long it would take to fill 50 motorcycles at a single pay by card automated petrol pump ? Think of the noise and the disruption that this would bring to a small isolated community . This thing just hasn't been thought through at all .

There's enough animosity from the locals about people treating the North West of Scotland as an amusement park and , I regret to say , a rubbish tip , without 50 bikers all rumbling around at once . In my opinion this is too many . Anyone with experience of the more narrow and twisty sections of the NC500 should be able to imagine the chaos that such a large group would create . Furthermore , where are these people intending to stay overnight ? Campsites may be open but the toilet facilities are not . For that reason , only camper vans are being admitted and they need to be pre booked . And you can forget wild camping . There has been so much vandalism and rubbish dumping not to mention people depositing human waste all over the landscape that the authorities have been forced to introduce permit only zones for camping . At the moment this is in place around Loch Lomond and the Trossachs but from what I have seen this year the scheme may well be extended to the whole of Scotland . And how do I know all this stuff ? Because I've recently done a large part of the NC500 myself as a solo tour . Hypocritical ? Possibly , but there wasn't fifty of me so my impact was very minimal .

Inverness has some nice enough bits . I've actually spent a great deal of time there waiting for the Bicycle Bus up to Ullapool on my Hebridean cycling adventures . I suppose I just wanted to avoid it because it's a bit of a shock to the system after a week in the Highlands . I've cycled down to Dores and seen the Nessie Hunter who lives in a broken down van . My best memory of Inverness , however , has to be cycling along the canal and stumbling upon the giant model of the Titanic in someone's back garden .

I read a report on the HD FB page this week of just such an incident from a lady on a Sportster touring Scotland . A sheep leapt out , she skidded to avoid it , hit the sheep and killed it , crashed her bike into a river and was airlifted to hospital with bruising . The police left the bike in the river and put Accident Aware tape on it . In the morning the bike had been dragged out of the river and stolen . Talk about a bad day !

It's a reasonable question actually . No , I don't take any self defense items other than a kitchen knife ( for cullinary purposes ) . Once you get north of Glasgow you realise that the current atmosphere of violence and paranoia is something that is mainly confined to the UK's big cities .

Part three . Headed out of Ullapool for a few miles and then turned off the main road to take the long and winding road to Lochinver . This road passes by the slopes of Stac Pollaidh , one of Scotland's most jagged and distinctive mountains . The road is single track for miles and gets really wild in places . Hard going on a Harley if I'm honest . I really had to work the clutch , gears and brakes on some of the more rollercoaster like sections . I got to Lochinver and asked around about B&B or a hotel bed but there was nothing doing . By this time it had got quite cold and windy with the threat of rain . I pushed on to Achmelvic and Clachtoll but still no room on the campsites . So back to Lochinver where I asked in the local bar about wild camping and got told about some suitable sites up the Canisp road . Sure enough , I found a tiny layby with a patch of grass and a stream nearby for my morning coffee . Woke up refreshed and checked the weather . Rain in the far north . So I decided to head homeward but take my time and enjoy the riding . I headed for Inverness on spectacular roads with no rain to speak of and periods of sunshine . I dislike Inverness so I cut it out by taking the shortcut from Marybank to Drumnadrochit which is a good way down Loch Ness . The weather was looking good so I pushed on to Fort William , through Glen Coe and Rannoch Moor , down Loch Lomond and through Glasgow . I hit the M74 to get some miles behind me then joined my alternative route back to Abington and Crawford . I pitched my tent exactly where I had done on the way up and had a peaceful nights sleep . Up in the morning and down to Carlisle and that's it really . Every time I got bored of the M6 I just nipped onto the A6 for a bit . Took my time and arrived back in Coventry before nightfall . All in all a successful trip . The best bit was finding new and interesting places to camp that I wouldn't have bothered to do if it were not for Covid 19 .

Haven't told the neighbors . They'll find out soon enough .

How has it been faultless if he's had to buy a new engine ?

Late to the party but I would have said the same , too much oil will turn the forks into solid rods . Glad it's sorted now .

There isn't a ride-in tomorrow . Content was good but not a lot of quantity . The highlights for me were meeting a few old friends for a natter . There is a Wall of Death and I believe there are also some vintage cars on show in the cathedral ruins . If I'm honest there isn't enough going on to fill a day out but it should be born in mind that pre Covid the whole of Motorfest was concentrated into one weekend rather than spread over a month .

A pleasant ride-in to the Bike Weekend at Coventry Motofest .

PART TWO ... Putting the angry wee man behind me , I made my way down into Applecross . This road is longer and more scenic than the Bealach Na Ba with amazing views of the Isle of Skye across the water. Cup of tea at Applecross then onwards round the coast to Sheildaig .I was planning to stay at the free campsite there but it has been totally transformed into a posh fee paying site for camper vans . No worries , it was a beautiful evening so I carried on up to Gairloch . Nothing doing at the Sands campsite , totally packed out with seemingly hundreds of camper vans . Ok , onwards again . Up to Torridon , through the glorious Glen Torridon to Kinlochewe where thankfully the petrol station is now automated . Onwards a bit more to Poolewe . Poolewe is at the corner of the vast sea loch of Loch Ewe . In the last war this is where hundreds of merchant ships and escorting naval vessels assembled before setting out as arctic convoys to Russia . Time for reflection on the bravery of the hundreds of ordinary men who set out into the unknown with extraordinary determination many of whom never returned . There are still lots of concrete gun emplacements and observation posts dotted around the coast . It was getting late now with the makings of a beautiful sunset so I headed off down the southern shore of the loch and finally found an amazing camping spot . A lovely piece of bouncy ground next to a concrete pill box that even had a hard standing for the bike . A peaceful nights sleep and in the morning I was awakened by the heat of the sun on the tent . A nice coffee made from stream water while sitting on top of the pill box and watching a little boat dropping lobster pots far down below . Off again back to Poolewe for some breakfast . Sitting in a little park that overlooks the torrent where the River Ewe meets the sea , I observed that someone with a modicum of artistic talent had drawn a cock on the back of the bus shelter . It's nice to know that I'm not the only person from Coventry to have visited this pretty village . Up the coast along stunning roads to Ullapool . Ate a massive portion of the finest fish and chips from the Seaforth restaurant . Next , I headed north out of Ullapool past the site of my catastrophic crash of nearly twenty years ago . The vegetation has all changed now so I'm never able to decide exactly where or how it happened but the place still gives me an uneasy feeling . To be continued ...

There are lay-bys and there are lay-bys .

Can't win 'em all .

I would definitely leave the forks in the bike .

Last week during an inspection of my rear brake I was rather shocked to discover that the pedal went right down to the stop without resistance and there was nothing happening at the caliper . So I stripped the master cylinder and this is what I found . The seal that goes on the internal spring was completely ruptured . I fitted a HD rebuild kit , bled the system and all is now well . In fact , the lever travel is considerably reduced which leads me to believe that the seal had a pin hole in it for some time .

Next weekend ..... You're buying a Harley ! Woo hoo !