Featured Touring Scotland Here We Come

Friday tea, umm delicious, haggis and smoked back bacon sarnies.





Finish the second half bottle of Merlot off, and time for bed.

 

Warning gripe alert!!!

So Saturday morning I found someone's previous camp fire mess and it really boils my p155. Now bear in mind the farmer apparently is quite ok with people camping on his sheep grazing area, but naturally it won't last if the campers don't respect it.



My boot is in the picture for scale, imagine a sheep standing on this and the ensuing vets bill?


This is my frying pan with the rubbish and glass left by the previous inhabitant(s)


And here is another piece, why smash the bottles in the first place, never mind whether a grazing area or not?
If it was in a drunken phase then why didn't they sort it the next moring?
Fookin idiots, and/or lazy barstewards.



Anyway, all collected up and disposed of in a bin
Not impressed, and I would happily have challenged them if I'd seen them.

 

Campsite cleaned, I moved onto a nice selection of country lanes and after resolving one gated stretch had a nice close up interaction with a Roe Doe. As soon as I stopped, she ran, not far but enough to regain the comfort zone.
A few miles further on and time for coffee, Kielder castle.

 

And now firmly heading south and to home.

 

Arriving home, had a great 10 days away and now given myself chance to get everything squared away before GOING TO WORK Monday

Besides a failed usb supply due to rain, the bike has run faultlessly, and according to the dash, has achieved an average 65 mpg.
Happy to potter or thrash, the bikes done me well and the cam really has breathed life into this motor. The rear tyre was replaced just before leaving and the front tyre, typical of the scottish pink stone roads, has suffered and is now scrap. The bike really works on these Avons and so will be replaced like for like, or nearest option.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my reports on this trip and I will add a few more posts to it as ideas pop up in my head

 

1990/91 setting off for Orkney with the first wife and the Jack Russell " Chip".



Kawasaki GT 750 shaft drive.
Motad exhaust.
Koni rear shocks.

Loved that bike and it went everywhere. The dog was on the back when I got pulled by the Police in the Edinburgh suburbs for speeding, 97 in a 70. Neither cop mentioned the dog, probably couldn't/ didn't want to, work out the paperwork that may result

 

Talk about big boys toyz!

Check this out;
This was two guys I was talking to at Tingwall.
1800cc supercharged









A 3 seater and apparently it will do 77 mph on water

Yours for just £24,000

The passenger was previously a member of the " purple helmets" remember those?

 

What worked on this trip....... (edited to add more detail)

Tent,
I have a choice of x3. A large porch area makes life so much easier to get all under cover without everything being wet from above or contact. Vango Spirit 200 +

Sleeping bag,
I took my down bag, again I have a few, but this is the warmest and is compact when packed up.
Mountain Equipment Dragon 750

Oxford Aqua 30 bag,
These are great, bigger sizes are available, although this in my eyes just encourages taking too much clutter. The top straps are just long enough to hold a roll mat so that is convenient. Totally reliably waterproof with excellent construction and good fixing points/ handles etc. Great product.

Triumph heated grips,
Camping can present it's challenges when on a motorbike as everything can get wet but theres no heater or drying facility available. I only took one pair of bike gloves, and when they did get soaked, I put the heated grips on full and dried them out.

Aqua shoes,
Lidl at Kirkwall had aqua shoes for £2.50 slippers for around camp, thistles in the grass , need to nip to the loo etc. You could even go paddling in them or chasing the milk down the river



Richa goretex jacket and trousers,
These just worked in the wet, no leaks or issues. Not cheap but reasonably well made, although I do have a few gripes at this price point. The jacket pockets are not bellowed so anything in them steals space from the inside, strait jacket style if you get my jist. The cut of the body is slender, or very tailored, I wear a size large and it's a bit snug. The trousers have a clip and ONE press stud which is just rubbish. The waist size is adjusted by velcro tabs which works fair enough but turn around for a rear observation, or cough, and the press stud pops open. I'm going to get a cobbler to stitch on a snap buckle belt which at £300 or so a pair I think is poor and penny pinching on the manufacturers behalf. My previous textile trousers were IXS and I didn't realise how much difference the belt made.

Boots,
Falco boots just did what was needed. Easy to put on, comfortable, relatively waterproof given the volume of water I subjected them to. You can happily walk about town or sightsee in them.



Icebreaker thermal,
These are made of merino wool and my version is the 200 and long sleeved. Using the Richa jacket with liner fitted, the merino base layer was adequate most days ( 90% of the time) on its own, no other layers required. Being merino it doesn't suffer the "smelly hanson" title of polypropylene garments. I do have cheaper DL thermals but they are not a match for the Icebreaker product, worth the money in my opinion.

Stove,
A dependable stove is a must and I stick with petrol for fuel so the bike has a reserve and vice versa. MSR XGK that I used is now about 20 years old and still works real good. Every few years, I give it a new service kit and with the Bio Ethanol increasing then I might need to reduce these intervals ( perished and split seals etc). The stove just primes on petrol and works, end of.

Phone mount for maps,
Quadlock, what a great product, reliable and confidence inspiring, quick fit and removal, what's not to like?

 

What didn't work on this trip....

Trainers,
I took training shoes so I had alternative footwear when about camp. One site got real muddy and the shoes looked worse each time I wore them. Aqua shoes beat them and were far more versatile. Whilst being very compact, they are easily rinsed out under the tap or a stream, Trainers I felt were a waste of carrying capacity.

Panniers,
Soft throwovers are never a great solution, but are a cost effective means to an end. A product that is totally dependent on the zip to keep everything in is just waiting for trouble. To make matters worse, the zip was only anchored to the body material by one row of stitching. Over straps need to be included in the design otherwise failure seems inevitable.

 

I wasn't aware of any of that @ajc400 I'll think about it if you think my trips worthy, cheers.

 

Right, no promises but I will try and add some pictures NOT previously used but obviously the odd one may slip in.

 

Scrabster ferry check-in

 

A bit of Lidl shopping at Kirkwall



Them shoes were great and I thought, if I can't fit them in for the ride home at £2.50 I'll just give them away or bin them.

 

Kirkwall by night.

 

Looking east from Orkney one morning

 

Surf meets cloud.