Well thats it, saw the gritters out last night so now the roads are salty. Thinking now, thats its time to put the bike away for the winter. Can spring come soon enough ? hopefully there's going to be some sunny dry (but cold) weekends that i can get out on it . wouldn't mind another enduro now ... the time is right to see the dirty side of wales again this was my last dirt bike. who else rides off road and on what ?
I rode or more accurately raced in Scottish Enduros for 10 years - badly I might add but loved it. I started off on a WR400F - did one enduro on it and it nearly killed me, starting it every time I fell off or stalled it. I progressed to KTM250exc's and riding purpose built, modern racing 2 strokes was just a joy. I gave it up a couple of years ago for a variety of reasons: Nowhere to practice, very few events and the constant struggle to maintain the level of fitness required plus the older I get the harder the injuries are to take. Other factors were my son giving up the sport and the amount of travelling and costs involved. I sold my bike, spares, trailer and all the bits and pieces and bought a 2012 Fireblade which I recently traded in for my T120. My 10 years racing plus a few more prior to that riding in local woods were brilliant but I can't see me ever getting back to competitive riding. There's no real trail riding in Scotland so kind of pointless having anything with offroad capabilities. Yes the gritters are out here too and I can't get out to play on my road going toys
Hate this time of the year when they start gritting. A couple of years back I thought I would get my winter kicks with a bit of off roading, never done it before. Bought myself a Yam WR250, really suprised by the performance of that thing. How hard can this off road riding be I thought? For a 50+ fat bloke it turned out to be very. Turns out bravery does not make up for lack if skill an example of which is here: Came closer to maiming myself over that one winter than I had in 30 years of road riding so sold the bike to a mate.
We have had a couple of mornings of very light frost up here, as far as I know no gritters out at all on the surrounding roads so far! Bike goes into hibernation at the end of this month until 1st March, earlier 'new' Bonnies are known for corrosion to winter salt. Got the car for winter.
Not for me just yet. Nice and balmy 8 degrees today but temp going up this week before crashing down again, so I have decided to keep on riding for as long as I can through the winter, and as long as the old bones can handle the cold
Once gritter is out, my road bike goes away. Even if it's dry, still salt is on the road and bike gets a nice dusting, ready to get damp and start corroding. So I don't risk it. Rode my brand new SV650 through the winter, made a bloody mess of it under the fairings where I couldn't clean without stripping it down. So no more road bike till February / March for me. I do consider myself lucky in that I have got this little beauty to go out on over the winter - 2003 KTM 250 EXC-racing (now refered to as EXCF), 4 stroke, electric start, bloody brilliant. I have 2 people waiting to buy it off me !!! Had to buy over internet, couldn't find one in Scotland or even northern englandshire. I too am bloody useless at this off-road lark, but still enjoy myself riding the forest trails around me. Had a go at an enduro course last year, came off and broke 3 ribs !!!! More training required, I think. Hope to get on a course next year. No legal trails in Scotland, but so many miles of forest roads in D&G, nobody really bothers you, as long as your not being an arse. Only people I see are occasional forestry worker, they couldn't give a toss, just wave back.
Mrs and I have booked a week with these guys next month: http://www.canarymotorcycletours.com Hoping its going to be a bit warmer off North Africa. Booked a ferry to take the bikes over to Tenerife for a day to ride up the volcano. Should stop me going stir crazy with the bike locked in the garage.
their is a place near Inveraray that do off road courses,I've been thinking about it, but hearing how you broke some ribs and the fact I'm older and fatter than you i might not http://www.motoscotland.com/
I just went to Tinto Park near Lanark, no real instruction, just followed an old guy round their Enduro track, then was playing on the motocross tracks they have, front wheel slid out and down I went. Getting the bike back on the trailer was feckin agony!!! Place down Cumbria do a proper training day for not a lot of money (use your own bike), so think I'll go do that before trying Tinto Park again!
The Bonnie will only go out on bone dry days and will have it's coating of Fs365 applied. Tiger will be used through the winter unless it snows or is too icy to risk it - also with regular Fs365 applications. Got the a*se that I haven't ridden for three days (out today and tomorrow though) so couldn't handle a three month lay up!
Just got back from Southampton - 17.5 degrees in the sun - I was too bloody hot in all my winter gear!
I rode 165 miles this morning to Newark (setting off at 5.45am). It's definitely starting to get chilly now :-(