Strontian "Norton" meeting

 First of all I didn't take a Norton this weekend, neither did Fiona, mainly in an effort to have a chilled weekend. Myself, Fiona, Alex, Budge and John T left our house before 1 and decided to take the back road to Bankfoot to avoid the A9 Traffic, it seems Google had directed all the tourists the same way, actually I have read about the locals in Almondbank and Pitcairngreen complaining to the powers that be about the state of the traffic as people avoid the state of the traffic on the A9!!

The intelligence of the people charged with coming up with these schemes has to be witnessed to believe how low down the evolutionary scale they fit in! I suspect if you ask 30 primary 1 schoolkids to come up with a plan they could do no worse and maybe better!

The A9 from Perth which has been a Dual Carriageway for decades had been reworked into a Dual carriageway ? but its now extended to Dunkeld (almost) after years of traffic congestion it opened just after Covid. Then the local council agreed to put in a new Bridge over the Tay at a cost of Tens if not Hundreds of millions to the local taxpayer (We will be paying it back for years after the people that made the decision have died) This involves digging up the new A9 again and disrupting the traffic for months during the very busy Summer period causing mayhem. I believe the "New Road" will open fully this week just before a load of lycra louts will lock down most of Perthshires roads This coming Friday (Whilst our generous Council who cant afford to repair roads or heat the swimming pools can come up with £280,000 pounds to help the organisers no doubt make a profit) Am I pissed off? yes!!!!!

Anyway after the total clusterfuck that is House of Bruar the road was better, some fuel at Dalwhinnie and a brilliant run to Spean Bridge then following Philly's advice we turned of at the Commando memorial and avoided most human contact until the Mallaig road and eventually rode down to Strontian. It was an excellent road apart from a Local trying to Kill/ Scare us in an Audi A4, luckily we got him at the petrol station in Strontian and had strong words, realising he was quite possibly mentally retarded I stopped short of physical violence but I do have a video!

A great weekend, very good crack on both nights and as always great to tell bike stories but the torrential rain all day Saturday meant we couldn't sensibly get out for a run. Unfortunately not a lot of Nortons but Keith Burdon flew the flag with a Model 50 (350) single all the way from Livingston, Phil was on his Commando and Alan on his Mk3, Robert from Inverness arrived later on the Saturday to complete the Norton bringers, I must try harder!!

I was woken by my brother around Midnight on the Saturday to tell me the dash lights were on the mk3 Le Mans, water had got into the electrics (Despite me praising Italian electrics earlier in the evening)  I switched the ignition on and off in a vain hope to sort it then tried to start it, problem was the starter motor kept churning round no matter what I did, including pulling all the fuses!! I managed to disconnect the battery and the following morning left it next to Tims house to collect this week!!

We caught the ferry no problem and had a good run down the road, because we were early it was quiet, breakfast at Tullybannocher and a final farewell saw the end of the weekend. Wonderful weekend in superb company, thanks to all.  

Ready for the off!

Keith's Mod 50 (he left his trousers there to get a good soaking later, oops)

Phil's bike looking good

Friday night pub time

Robert with his Commando

Alan's Nice Mk3

Very trick 6 cyl Kawa

Nonsense being talked

A used Commando, looks raw and braw!

Maybe the sun will come out

Maybe no (The Geese were happy)

Bike talk

Bert and Laurenne were on the BMW's

Some of the crew on Saturday night

On the Ferry

Looking towards Fort William

Penultimate chance for nonsense being talked

A busy Classic week

 Fiona was away down South for work so I ended up going to the Yetts o Muckart classic meeting on my own. In the morning I had a ride out on the Mk3 Le mans which was nice and no rain, late afternoon I waited until the rain stopped falling before setting off through Dunning Glen to Yetts, its a stunning bit of road if you have time to look at the scenery (I was on the T3 so I did) Dinner at the Inn was very nice and then a couple of hours talking in the car park to like minded souls, what else to do on a dry (ish) Wednesday night , some pictures to prove it did happen.

Dunning Glen

Interesting Tribsa

The chap that was on this is a avid watcher of my you tube nonsense, I never caught his name unfortunately but he was telling me he has 30K miles on this in 2 years and apologising for not doing more as he had an operation this year, Respect sir! He reckons that when you get going it rides like a normal bike but with more grip on the front!

Nice Trident

Archie's trike, well made and if it keeps you on the road as you get older a great idea

Alan appeared on his V100

John Hyman aired his Commando

Kawasaki retro

Fraser appeared on his nice BSA

An older Ural

Modified Guzzi Stornello

Alan appeared on his Constellation

John Buchan's mint R100 with less than 8k miles from new!

Bsa Thunderbolt

Now a Classic

Very tidy Monster

Another BSA arriving

And finally an Ariel

Wee Smokey

Well Eric managed it again, despite the forecast being of biblical rain it was a dry day for the meeting. Fi and I took a couple of Interstate Commandos, MVD which is recently been put back on the road and the Mk3 which has had major work over the winter, neither have done more than 200 miles since the various work was carried out. MVD was fine for a while but the vibrations are bad, normally on a Commando you can get a sweet spot to sit in but no, this vibrates more than it should, I have adjusted the Iso's (The rubber bushes) but to no avail, it vibrates and handles like shit, that plus I seem to be getting rust from the inside of the tank which then blocks the needle valve and then either pisses out all over the place (Dangerous) or makes the throttle very jerky (Also dangerous) That said it is looking well but I'm afraid its coming apart again to fit new Iso's (again) and to check a couple of things I'm not happy with, this has been my go to bike for decades and has taken me all over Europe so it's a bit disappointing but I will get it sorted before next year! On the way to Dundee Fiona asked if we could go a bit slower (not like her) so I slowed down to 60 - 65mph then along the Kingsway (The Dundee bypass) she said there was something wrong with the throttle and could we stop. Transpires for some reason the top of the carb had vibrated off and the slide and spring were visible at the top, I managed to eventually screw it back on but not before I'd dislodged the fuel pipes! Looks like the fuel pipes have gone soft with the Ethanol in modern petrol, now where possible I put the best low ethanol fuel in but even then it seems to be corroding some rubbers. So to all you eco warriors F**K you and thanks for making our hobby a bit more dangerous and expensive!! I though about getting a "Just stop Oil" T shirt and adding "Leaks" to the end (Danny's idea)

Eventually we got to Arbroath and met John T and Budge who had also arrived just before us. A large breakfast was called for and a calming cup of tea. We talked with countless old friends and to be honest there wasn't enough time in the day to get round everyone which was disappointing. It is a wonderful friendly meeting and long may it continue (Especially if Eric can keep the weather gods happy) Of course time to go home and both bikes were reluctant to start (mines because of the flooding carb) and Fiona's was just enjoying playing to the crowds! We did make it home without further mishap but I had decided by then that MVD should be better and deserves to be better so another major strip down is planned! Budge followed us home and his recently restored BMW never missed a beat.....funny that!!!

Enjoy the Photos I probably missed half of the classics but you'll get the picture..

Ex Norton Owner Johnny T thinking thank god i bought a new bike!

The Rondelli Nortons looking nice (despite their bad behaviour)

Loop Guzzi

Hona 400 4

Nice Panther

Norton Electra

Older Two strokes

This was interesting

I think its based on a newer 900ss

A10 with very new panniers

Tidy Triumph

Bsa A65

Norton ES2

I think this is Andrew's Square 4 (I recognise his wiring)

Tidy MV

The theme was triples

and again

Mellow Yellow

Comet

I raced one exactly the same

Not sure the blue mudflaps go with the colour scheme

Very tidy R60 with the big tank

Very nice series 2 T3

Tidy

BSA

Tidy pre war HRD

A Used Le Mans

Two stroke RE

Panther

And another

Dereks very nice RGS

Great to see it getting an airing