Ireland, Scotland and Europe trip

[wannars125]

Ok, I don't know if this is in the right place or not but I'm planning on going away on the bike with my other half to Ireland, Scotland and Europe (on different 3 different trips).

I couldn't find much in one place that gave all the information that I wanted for a complete beginner to touring on a motorcycle coupled with taking someone that hasn't been on a motorbike before.

So, I've started writing a blog to cover what I'm going through at the moment, the planning stages of our trip and the general adventure building up to the trip and the actual trips themselves.

The link to the blog is here if you're interested in following our journey!

http://2onabike.blogspot.com/

[Danny-B-]

I'll be keeping an eye on it, as its something to use as ammo to convince my Mrs that its a good idea too

Best of luck.

[DG]

Hey Wanners

I've done a couple or three Euro trips, been to Scotland pretty much every year for the last 5, plus Ireland. I've got another Euro trip coming up mid April this year and later on in the year I'll be heading over to Northern Ireland.

Check out this link http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthre ... ife+begins

If you need any info or advise feel free to ask or pm me.

DG

[wannars125]

Just to let you know the latest post is now up.

Cheers DG, I've not done so yet but will take a look at your link.

Just incase anyone is thinking of taking a look, here is the first post

The start of a whole new journey!

So the journey began last August having taken a trip to Wales alone with the bike having gone away for a couple of days riding round some of the best roads I have ever come across even though it rained, hard, for a solid 24 hours.

I knew that I always wanted to go away on the motorbike but couldn't have left my other half behind. This was the first time we'd spent the night apart in over 5 years through choice rather than not having any option and it felt odd.

When I got back home though, to my surprise, Nikki my long suffering girlfriend, had decided that she did want to go away on the bike as a pillion and the cogs started whirring!

A couple of weeks later and it was holiday renewal time at work. 1 week in May for our anniversary, another week in July (going away in June has always brought about trouble for us!) and 4 weeks starting at the end of August all approved by my manager. The time was booked off for our first second and third motorbike trips!

It didn't take long to decide roughly where we were going. It was decided that we would visit Ireland first as we'd always wanted to visit but hadn't been, Scotland second, our 6 month anniversary was spent in Edinburgh and we'd always wanted to go back but hadn't got round to it and then 4 weeks round Europe.

Roll forward to 2 weeks ago and we'd not done any planning on where exactly we wanted to go, not thought about what luggage we needed for the bike, not thought about riding gear, intercoms and sat navs and most importantly, the bike was off the road due to not having brakes and something wrong with the steering...

Time to start planning!

[wannars125]

Just been reading your report DG. Sounds like you had a fabulous time. I love the idea of not really booking anywhere to stay and I think by the sounds of things it's the right way to go especially taking the camping gear around that time of year

[DG]

Best way to travel IMO, no deadlines, ride at your leisure and there's plenty of B & Bs and campsites along the way

[wannars125]

Hey,

Just a quick note to let you know the latest posts are up!

This weekend was my other half's first time on the bike!

 

Pulling away initially, the bike felt a lot more stable once up to 30mph. The first roundabout came and we made it round perfectly! I knew from there onwards that everything would be fine.

The first time we stopped after riding for about 10 minutes incorporating national speed limits I heard a voice from behind me "I know you can't see this, but I've got a massive grin on my face!". I don't think I could have heard more reassuring words and at the next set of lights, we done our first bit of filtering. As I approached the front of the queue though, the lights changed earlier than I expected. Accelerating harder than I had done previously from 1st gear, the front wheel lifted but no more than a foot! It was at this point that I felt I would feel one of my pre arranged signals - hit my shoulders repeatedly if you're worried - but to my surprise it never came! A swift change to 2nd and back on the power ensured a smooth landing for the front wheel and off we went down my usual roads to Portsmouth.

From then onwards, every time I had a chance to speak, the signs were good from Nikki letting me know at one point that "this is amazing!". I think as a biker, we forget sometimes that feeling and exhilaration of being on powered two wheels for the first time.

The bike was flowing nicely through the country lanes, the fresh, cool, crisp air funneling smells of freshly cut grass through the helmet was fantastic and the sunshine infront warming our faces through the visors was perfect. I couldn't have hoped for a better day to have brought Nikki out on her first ride. We even spotted Lama's in a field that we had driven past so many times before!