At 0600hrs at Hazelwick services in Crawley, we embarked on our exciting journey. All filled up with fuel, full of camping gear and ready to go! We were talking to each other using our Scalar Rider headsets . I must admit the first 200 miles on the motorway was mmm, well boring shall we say. There’s noting much I can say about it. My Aprilia was comfortably cruising at 60mph. Upright riding position, lip on screen for wind protection and a big comfy seat. Not to sure about my friend Perry on his little 250. Narrow seat, small fuel tank but with a lot of modifications! I can’t describe what I was witnessing. Huge windscreen, aftermarket headlight, 45 litre top box, charging ports, cup holder, phone holder, Sat Nav and loaded with a ton of camping gear! We all stay together as Perry can confortable get to 60mph on his little 250. We would stop for fuel about every 100 miles just to take break and to fill up with fuel. After we cleared the Motorways, we began to ride the last 100 miles on the fast back roads in North Wales. The roads were fantastic! You could see for miles ahead with the gorgeous scenery in the background. All around you, there were mountains, villages, waterfalls and old historical houses and buildings. Not to mention that the weather was superb! Eventually, we made it to Snowdonia in a local campsite, in the middle of nowhere just beside mountains. It makes you feel so small compared to how tall they were! The campsite was filled with tourist and local resistant’s with caravans, campers, tents and much more. Our camping dinner was good old boil in the bag food. Yuck! Actually its not too bad when your really hungry! Everybody had they’re own mini BBQ. We had access to bathrooms, showers and bought firewood for the price of £5 for a bag. The only downside was that we had no reception on our phones because of the mountains. However, there was a pay telephone on a landline.
On the next day, we all woke up with an unexpected rainfall. Wasn’t the best start of the day to be honest. Midges everywhere, packing our wet camping gear in the rain and feeling cold in my wet riding gear. Normally we would feel miserable in the rain but lets not forget that we are on an adventure. That’s is what gets us motivated! We rode from the North of Wales to North Pennines to find another campsite to stay for the night. That’s about 200 miles to our next stop. Although on the way, we were trying to find a gravel trail (We all wanted to do a bit of off roading!), which would lead us to our destination. Although, we couldn’t pin point where it was on the map. Oh well, at least we tried. We stayed on a campsite at Hags Bank next door to a bunkhouse. This campsite was a lot better than the one we stayed at the night before. We had access to sophisticated bathrooms, showers, toilets and washing machines. Not to mention that Danny (the owner) was a biker himself. So we made camp on top of a hill on a flat piece of land. The site wasn’t as big as the campsite in Snowdonia (the night before) but we were able to walk around the hills and mountains to admire the view. It’s a good thing that I didn’t have my beer before climbing these hills otherwise I would of come down a lot sooner!
The next day, we planned to enter Scotland. At least we didn’t have any rain! Phew! We backed up and rode through a few A and B roads which then leaded us to the motorway. The majority of the journey was to take the motorway to get us into Scotland sooner. So less distance the travel the next day. By the time we arrived into Scotland, we were got caught in the heavy rain. At least I had my waterproof overs on. Eventually, we stopped inside Glasgow for some lunch. There was a Ducati dealership just by where we stopped. We couldn’t resist going in! Even though I looked like I just came out of the sea! The shop was filled with ultra expensive bikes and clothing. It felt like walking in a millionaire’s garage. As soon as I looked at one of the price tags, it was at least £15K for a Ducati. So after having a walkabout in the city of Glasgow, Perry topped up his bike with engine oil. Oh and we didn’t buy it from the Ducati show room! There was another biking shop a few blocks down the road. What surprised me was that there was a Derbi Terra 125 Adventure. One of my previous bikes (well the non adventure model) still I was quite surprised because they had stopped importing these bikes since 2013. With only 150 registered models on the road! So after getting everything in order, we decided to head towards Fort Williams for our next check point for the night. As the weather was suppose to bad for the night, we soon decided to check in to a hotel. About £80 for all three of us and we got to eat a traditional Scottish breakfast in the next morning. The hotel was just a little lodge with a double bed and one single against the wall, with a television, tea, shower, towels and so on. On the plus side, there was a bar next door!
After having a cooked breakfast in the morning and packing up our goods, we set off. We were about 150 miles away. Taking the last stretch of A and B roads we soon made it to our lodge in one piece. The roads leading up to where we staying became long and tiring along the single track roads. Where there were hills and dips. We were officially in the middle of nowhere. The roads were dead quite which was unusual compared to back home. So after our last stretch of our journey, we finally made it! I was quite surprised by how big our lodge was! Even though there were only two bedrooms, a bathroom, corner kitchen and a living area. We could have had more people staying. I was relived we got here after how long and tiring this trip was. This would have been the furthest point we or I have ever travelled. I was surprised that I wasn't feeling too tired. Maybe it’s the adrenaline and the motivation to carry on riding was still going strong, or by drinking a lot of tea on the way!
The next morning felt much more comfortable, no wet camping gear, soggy clothing or any packing. I just got out of my bed and just relaxed in the living room. We were lucky to have a sky box In our lodge but we only had access to about 5/10 channels. We couldn't watch channels such as channel 4, Dave, Discovery etc. This didn't bother us at all as there was plenty to watch on the BBC 1 channel, but it was the Scottish channel. So as its our first day at the lodge we weren't in a hurry to go or be anywhere but we were originally planned to visit placed such as John o Groats and to visit the highest road in England, wales and Scotland near Apple cross. As we weren't in a huge rush we had to consider other important things such as food and water. I was planning on going to the nearest local corner shop which was about 10 miles away but unfortunately I had an issue with my top box. It just won't secure properly. Either it was the box or the rack. I soon discovered that hinge connected to my rack was bent at an angle. Meaning the box could not hook or attach itself to the rack. So I spent about an hour trying to fix the problem. Mind you I tried to avoid using a hammer, as I was afraid I would break the rack. It was only made from tin, which isn’t the strongest metal in the world. I had a couple of extra bungees to help secure it properly if I was desperate. After the others came back with food, we soon went out and have a play on the back roads.
During the day, we went down to the sea defence in Loch Ewe, which was only 5 miles away from where we stayed. There has been evidence of flat platforms for guns and concrete bases. We could walk against the cliff and climbed all over the hills, looking far ahead in the ocean.
On Tuesday morning, the day we made it to John o groats. As the weather was calm, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to ride up to John o groats as the weather was at its best. We set off about 1000hrs in the morning. Riding the fast B roads (No Motorways!) up in the beautiful highlands. It was about 300 miles away. I was dressed up in my waterproofs ready for god’s rainfall. We stopped about 3 or 4 times just for fuel and to let the weather pass. The only problem was that the further we went away, the harder it was to get fuel. About 6hrs later, we made it! We were at the highest point in all of Scotland, England and Wales! The town was dead quite. All you could hear was the sea in front of you. There were other tourists around. After a short coffee break at Starbuck, we all set off back to the lodge. I was very lucky on fuel when I realised how much I had left. I thought I was goanna be stranded as the local fuel station closed around 5pm. About 20 miles later of careful riding on the reserve pipe, we managed to reach an Esso garage. By the time I filled my bike up I was only had about 300ml of fuel spare in my tank before we arrived! Coming back felt much more comfortable afterwards. Going through a couple of villages, along the coast and back to our holiday home. It became dark around 9pm. We were cautious about goats, sheep or any animal dashing across the road. There have been a few! On the final stretch, I was jumped by a group of goats sitting on the verge. They just suddenly appear out of nowhere!
Wednesday was my kind of relaxing/laziness day. No riding just went out on a nice walk on the beach and along the single-track roads. There wasn’t much going on at the time but I soon realised why I should have at least started my bike up.
Thursday I woke up with a surprise this morning. We were going to see the highest road in England, Scotland and wales but I ran into some problems with my bike. Bike didn’t wanted to start, full choke on and it would cough with black smoke. I thought I was in real trouble and decided not to ride today. I did have a look at the bike, checking the air filter, listening for any strange sounds and any other clues. At first I thought my fuel filter was really dirty. With a bit of luck I did manage to get hold of some Paraffin off Perry’s friend and soaked the fuel filter. Despite how clean it was getting, it did not make much of a difference. So with the process of elimination, I soon came to the conclusion it was the carb. I believe that by nearly running out fuel the day before, some of the crap from the bottom on my fuel tank much of got into the carb. I did attempt to take the carb off the next day but at the stage when it was ready to come out. I ran out of tools! So I had no choice but to put everything back together and hope for the best. I knew there was going to other problems in the future. I needed RedX fuel cleaner!
On Friday, the bike starts up but still smoking. I thought by taking out for a ride I might be able to force the crap out of the carb via the breather pipes. Bike just felt horrible on the road. Power was lacking, jumping back and forth and just consumed more fuel than it should! We went out to Apple Cross, which had one of the highest roads on the mountains. The clouds were physically above our heads! The road leading down the hill made us realise how far up we were. Just a gently ride down and we made it back down to the bottom. Surprisingly we did see a couple of commercial vehicles including a lorry! Must be wanting to take the scenic route!
So the Saturday morning at 5 am, bike wasn’t starting. This was going to be a nightmare as we were almost 1000miles away from home! I tried pushing the heavy lump of metal out of the driveway, up a hill, trying to bump it but still no luck. Eventually I had no other choice but to call for help. So after a disappointing effort, pushing the bike back to the lodge, I called Swindon. They respond surprising quickly within an hour considering we were in the middle of nowhere. By the time the van arrived, I had to push my bike out of the driveway again but in the rain! Great, now the bike goes and the weather blows! The van driver who rescue me help load my bike in his van and took me 20 miles away to a car garage. I was assuming the van driver would help me fix my bike on the roadside but he didn’t in the end. Must of been the heavy rain but he still could of worked on it inside the van. Eventually I arrived at the garage at around 0700hrs. Frankly I was surprised that the mechanic wouldn’t have a proper look at my bike! I know that he isn’t a bike mechanic but it’s only a single cylinder with a carburettor. Its not as complicated compared to the car with modern engines. I just wanted him to check the simple things such as the airflow, fuel, filters, spark plugs signs etc. I personally would of check these signs myself but I did not the basic tooling! I wish I did now! So I eventually came to a conclusion that the bike was a no go and decided to ring Swinton again. Luckily it was our first day setting off home, at least I didn’t miss out on anything. However we were originally planning on going to Knock Hill to watch the races. So I rang swington again, told them the situation and they replied back to me and said” I’m sorry sir, we can only deal with one incident at the time” So I replied back to them saying “The bike hasn’t been in the garage, its been sat in the van the whole time, you sent me to a car garage and there is nothing the mechanic can do”. So after a lot of explaining swington eventually allowed me to get my bike recovered back home. I was hoping to finish the journey! Instead I spent 17hrs on the same day being recovered back home. So the van driver who originally picked me up took me all the way to Inverness where I was due to have my bike loaded on a lorry. About 3 hours later, we arrived and my bike was winched on the lorry. We did stop just outside of Inverness to pick up another bike – A Suzuki GSXR 600. The truck driver told me the bike was due to have its brakes replaced due to a manufacture recall. Both bikes were taken all the way to Dundee where I was dropped off. Loading my bike off the ramp was very tricky in the wet. Even the Suzuki was much more difficult but with a little help, we got both bikes off without a scratch. My next driver arrived in a small pick up van. Much easier to put my bike on and 40 miles later we arrived outside of Glasgow on the motorway services. While I was waiting, I was asked by a couple of people about my troubles. It’s nice to have a bit of sympathy. I did ring the others and told them were I was while waiting. My last driver turned up in a Morden transit van with a bike carrier. The van was covered in Chevrons like a police van and had a sign on the door saying “999 Recovery”. I soon said to the driver “What seems to be the problem officer”! A bit of laughter always cheers everybody up. This van was by far the easiest to get my bike loaded! The driver took me on my last 600-mile stretch back home. Did I stay up during the journey? No! I was up since 5am that morning. Finally after a long drive on the motorways, I managed to make it back home on Sunday at 2am in the morning! Bike stored away, back in my comfy bed and “zzzzzzz”.
The next day I soon discovered that the only thing that was causing the problem was the spark plug! The carb must of made it really dirty as it was smoking. I could of rode it back and enjoyed finishing the journey with my other friends who I had to leave the day before. Although it was running a bit rough and needed a service. So throughout the whole journey I’m pleased to say I have covered over 1600miles in just over a week. Not bad for my first motorcycling adventure. It has been a fantastic experience with a few ups and downs but that’s what the adventure is all about, and also with my good friends who have supported me on the way up. It’s a shame I couldn’t be with them on the way down but they have made it worthwhile despite my miserable experience back home!
