Not "polishing" then.....? :-0)
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Not "polishing" then.....? :-0)
B
ButchersPencil
Guest
Lol no! Get out and ride it! It does it the world of good.
Spent the bank holiday weekend doing a 1,200 mile jaunt to bonnie Scotland with my manfriends.
Blast up the M6 as the sun set on the friday after my shift to meet the guys at Moffat. I was the last to arrive at gone 10pm.
Saturday - Rode around the west coast through Inverary and Oban. Multi hatchback pileup on the A85 north out of Oban shut the road so our original plans went right out of the window. We turned around and went back to Oban, lost the VFR rider in the craziness, ended up on narrow back lanes that the locals were also using. Some delicate negotiation of cattle grids, fuel tankers, cows, gravel and sheep was involved. We pulled over to try to get in contact with Mr VFR.
Met up with Mr VFR outside the Glenorchy Lodge, where we decided to spend saturday night. Spectacular views and fantastic hosts.
Mr BMW was mad-determined to get Applecross and Loch Ness in, so Mr ZZR, Mr VFR and I went for a day out past the Five Sisters of Kintail and walked around Eilean Donan Castle. Then off up to Skye to Portree. I LOVED the A87 with the Old Man of Storr in front of you northbound and the Cuillin Hills in front of you southbound.
Next came the most exciting part of the trip. We left Portree to catch the last ferry from Armadale, which google told us was possible based on the ferry timetable and the journey time. We left Portree and merrily made our way down to the junction off the A87 towards the ferry crossing, where a big illuminated sign informed us that the next ferry was at 0830 the next day.
Mr ZZR proposed that 'perhaps they just don't think we can get there in time?' He went ahead as the quickest of the three of us. Once we arrived at the little port, the ferry was there but Mr ZZR didn't look too cheery. 'It's full, these people have been waiting... they might have been able to squeeze one of us on but not all three.'
Squeezed in by the skin of our teeth!
Nicest weather I've ever had in Scotland and it was Mr VFR's first trip up there. I think he was the source of the good luck to be fair!
Stopped for a cuppa in Onich just as the sun was setting. I found another Blackbird to park next to and scoped out where they'd fed their indicator wires from their wing rack. Found another one at a petrol station out the top of Glasgow on the way home the next day too.
Now Bob needs a new front tyre and new rear brake pads.
Spent the bank holiday weekend doing a 1,200 mile jaunt to bonnie Scotland with my manfriends.
Blast up the M6 as the sun set on the friday after my shift to meet the guys at Moffat. I was the last to arrive at gone 10pm.
Saturday - Rode around the west coast through Inverary and Oban. Multi hatchback pileup on the A85 north out of Oban shut the road so our original plans went right out of the window. We turned around and went back to Oban, lost the VFR rider in the craziness, ended up on narrow back lanes that the locals were also using. Some delicate negotiation of cattle grids, fuel tankers, cows, gravel and sheep was involved. We pulled over to try to get in contact with Mr VFR.
Met up with Mr VFR outside the Glenorchy Lodge, where we decided to spend saturday night. Spectacular views and fantastic hosts.
Mr BMW was mad-determined to get Applecross and Loch Ness in, so Mr ZZR, Mr VFR and I went for a day out past the Five Sisters of Kintail and walked around Eilean Donan Castle. Then off up to Skye to Portree. I LOVED the A87 with the Old Man of Storr in front of you northbound and the Cuillin Hills in front of you southbound.
Next came the most exciting part of the trip. We left Portree to catch the last ferry from Armadale, which google told us was possible based on the ferry timetable and the journey time. We left Portree and merrily made our way down to the junction off the A87 towards the ferry crossing, where a big illuminated sign informed us that the next ferry was at 0830 the next day.
Mr ZZR proposed that 'perhaps they just don't think we can get there in time?' He went ahead as the quickest of the three of us. Once we arrived at the little port, the ferry was there but Mr ZZR didn't look too cheery. 'It's full, these people have been waiting... they might have been able to squeeze one of us on but not all three.'
Squeezed in by the skin of our teeth!
Nicest weather I've ever had in Scotland and it was Mr VFR's first trip up there. I think he was the source of the good luck to be fair!
Stopped for a cuppa in Onich just as the sun was setting. I found another Blackbird to park next to and scoped out where they'd fed their indicator wires from their wing rack. Found another one at a petrol station out the top of Glasgow on the way home the next day too.
Now Bob needs a new front tyre and new rear brake pads.
Was a great weekend to be touring Scotland@tu*
Lol no! Get out and ride it! It does it the world of good.
Spent the bank holiday weekend doing a 1,200 mile jaunt to bonnie Scotland with my manfriends.
Blast up the M6 as the sun set on the friday after my shift to meet the guys at Moffat. I was the last to arrive at gone 10pm.
Saturday - Rode around the west coast through Inverary and Oban. Multi hatchback pileup on the A85 north out of Oban shut the road so our original plans went right out of the window. We turned around and went back to Oban, lost the VFR rider in the craziness, ended up on narrow back lanes that the locals were also using. Some delicate negotiation of cattle grids, fuel tankers, cows, gravel and sheep was involved. We pulled over to try to get in contact with Mr VFR.
.
Impressive mileage for a weekend's rideout...! @tu*
The view from the Glenorchy Lodge is towards Cruachan (on the left of the picture). I'm originally from Eredine village, 12 miles south of Cruachan on Loch Awe.
The view from Cruachan looking north up Loch Etive is outstanding, especially with snow lying. Almost every calendar of Scottish scenery that is published includes a picture of it.
If not then it's always a moody shot of Kilchurn Castle, which is on an island at the head of Loch Awe, a couple of miles down the road from where you took your pic. You would've probably seen at as you rode to or from Oban.
B
ButchersPencil
Guest
Oooh lucky you! We rode up the single track road running alongside the Orchy River; I could have spent a week camping along there mucking about on the waterfalls! What a lovely place to grow up.
Bob is now out of action for a little while; took his front wheel off to get a new tyre on the front and snapped the lower right caliper mounting bolt (I'd looked up the required torque and set the wrench but it still sheared off). The broken bits of bolt came out easily enough but I'm waiting on replacements.
I've also taken a crack at mounting his new wing rack, which has also thrown up a nice little issue. The spacers it came with for mounting the metal rail that sits over the rear grab rail are too wide by at least 1mm, it must be one of those tiny differences between the carb and fuel injection models. Either that or they're the wrong spacers or god alone knows what.
So I'm now on two weeks off work and denied my two wheels. I reserve the right to sulk!
B
ButchersPencil
Guest
I spent sunday evening grinding the spacers down 'till it fit, but only time will tell if it's a good enough fit to take the forces off the plastics. I had to order new, longer bolts for the smaller, further forwards set of fixings on the grab rail as the thickness of the rack's mounting bracket and the spacer (even ground down to the minimum thickness to clear the grab rail) combined was still too thick for the bolt to bite into the captive nut inside the tail.
But I got into bikes for the challenge, not for the posing opportunitiessh1tehppns
Bad Luck about the caliper bolt..! At least it happened post weekend rideout.
I had the opposite. Slight clunking from the front when braking which turned out to be a missing bolt that must've dropped out while out on a local rideout. Nervous riding until I got home...
noobie
Clueless in most things
I fitted the same as you, the monorack.
What I noticed was it was not a natural good fit on the arms. I thought it would be like the last one in that they would line up easily, bolts go in and taa daa
However when I tried the rear bolt first I couldn't get the front bolt in, it took playing with them quite a bit between the bolts before they would line up.
I am probably like you in keeping an eye on any impact on the body fairing. What I did do, although it probably makes little difference, I used a small rubber washer from B & Q's plumbing dept, between the spacer and bodywork once I had managed to get everything to line up.
What I noticed was it was not a natural good fit on the arms. I thought it would be like the last one in that they would line up easily, bolts go in and taa daa
However when I tried the rear bolt first I couldn't get the front bolt in, it took playing with them quite a bit between the bolts before they would line up.
I am probably like you in keeping an eye on any impact on the body fairing. What I did do, although it probably makes little difference, I used a small rubber washer from B & Q's plumbing dept, between the spacer and bodywork once I had managed to get everything to line up.