Highlanders Meet / Ride Out & BBQ Sun 6th March

[LargeWayRound]

No problem ..

[LargeWayRound]

Updated Attending List on first post.

XRV Forum Members are in the lead ..

[LargeWayRound]

So I was out today doing some more recon for my ride out .

Went down to find the irish bridge near Stonehaven , found it again .
The roads where pretty poor down the single track roads today, unbelievable amounts of grit , sand, mud , slippery etc .
Irish Bridge


From the Irish Bridge , made my way across to Ballater using some nice back roads.

Quickly shot up to Braemar for a coffee , it was dry but still lots of snow by the sides of the road .

Again even the main roads were very gritty, at some points about 4 inches in the middle of the lane.. So carefully picking my lines and keep a sensible speed , I made good progress.

Back from Braemar , worked one of the possible routes back eastward.
Main road to Ballater , Ballater lower road to Strachan then up over CairnOMount.
Met a brave soul on a 125 on the top of cairnomount and we had a nice chat for 10 minutes.
Back down to the ford at Clattering Brig , which did have some water running .
But since it was getting dark and cold , skipped it and headed for the main road and Stonehaven again. Flew up the dual carrigeway to home, Just in time for tea.

All in all a great day out . All smiles

Only a couple of Pictures today.

Another Pics of Irish Bridge


Some Examples of the good roads today




I did say these where the good roads, the worst roads where much worse than this .
:laugh:

Need to clean the bike tomorrow morning for sure .. get rid of all the salt. :pinch:

[africajim]

Ah, the beauty of a winter hack Craig mate! I wash it when I can't see the lights and numberplate! Lookin good tho!

I was out too, stoopid apprentice left the paperwork at the last job on Friday, between Dufftown and Huntly. So muggins here decided a run on the Ickle Beemer to retrieve the said paperwork. A good run up Speyside over to Glenfiddich country then out toward Huntly. Off the road and up into the hills to my customers farm, well off the road and up the hill, stunning view looking over to Dufftown and Ben Rinnes, snow covered in the distance! A run home via the other side of the River Spey and home by Lhandbryde (home of welshman SteveT), a good rideout. Ickle Beemer running well, popped a few wheelies, boot hit the ground at one roundabout, must be gettin brave again after my off! Clutch still slipping at high revs tho might have to replace it soon. You must have a run on it man, crackin Ickle bike!

Looking forward to your rideout mate, roads soundin good to me!

[LargeWayRound]

Aye Aye Jim

It was a lovely clear today wasn't it .

Your trip today sounds great , dam apprentices Haha

Yeah , I thought of a good couple of routes for my meet , and plenty of options in case roads are bad, weather wise.

A mix of fast roads (Braemar to Ballater), Minor Roads , single track , 2 fords (sometimes there is no water, like today for one). P.S. If the fords are deep there are plenty of alternative routes if needed, we are talking about small streams not raging rivers.

Need to make sure that the timings are ok , so the BBQ can go down at the right time.

For some the Adventure will be just getting to Braemar , so I have been keeping this in mind.

Cheer LWR :laugh:

[africajim]

Aye, weather was crackin, just hung out washing and a shower passed over! Moved it into the bike shed and headed off once the shower passed. Otherwise a nice clear day! Leathers for the first time this yr, was fine.

Well, knowing how greedy and lazy I am the clutch may not be done on the Beemer so not too much fast roads! Tried it today, around 85 is as quick as the poor thing can go! The clutch starts slipping around 6000rpm, but sitting at speed limits it manages fine. (Hence my reluctance to change it this winter!)

Aye, if you've a three figured run to get to the meet a run of much miles could be hard going! It's quality miles everyone will be looking for not quantity. Out of the way roads we don't normally use is the ticket. Water is always good! LOL! The run will be a big success! Don't worry mate!

Fiona's in comms with Hudders regarding him staying here for your gig, hopefully he can make it, organising his home life's the issue but hope he comes, be good to see him,he's a star!

Lookin forward to the best Highlander run ever mate!

[LargeWayRound]

I was out again yesterday , lovely afternoon but it became very cold later.

Looking at possible routes and the condition of the roads, errr potholes, mud , gravel .. normal then . :woohoo:

Edited video from yesterday .

[video size=100 width=425 height=344 type=vimeo]19822597[/video]

:cheer:

[africajim]

Well, the good news is I've fitted the new clutch to the Ickle Beemer so I'm all set for the run mate. I would have worried about it otherwise.
We're over in Aberdeen tomorrow for the big test ride of the Tiger, might see you?

[LargeWayRound]

HI Jim

Excellent news about the BM

Good luck on the test ride . I will be washing my bike in the morning , in fact might just wheel it out the shed; forecast not so great .

As ever your welcome to drop by .

[africajim]

due to the rain we're goin to head home mate, the rain's grim! Speak later, in yamaha just now, stevet lookin at an xtz 660!