August update

Once again its been a busy old month starting with Bert and Laurens’s party pushed back to August in the hope of better weather and well, it worked, we visited in the sidecar, I rode as far as Gifford where we bumped into Andrew Wilson (former Classic Bike Guide scribe) and some Australian members of the BSA owners club having a wee run to get ready for their trip to the BSA International rally in Denmark the following week. After a cuppa and a wonderful sausage roll at the café Fiona took over and transported me in style to the party, lucky we were there early to get the tent up, space and invites are at a premium so later Bert and I were wondering what exactly was on the telly that kept some people from turning up, must have been good because the party as always was excellent, great food, great company and copious amounts of alcohol, how can it fail. Sunday arrived as it often does after Saturday night and also arrived with a bit of a hangover, funnily enough after lots of alcohol, it’s great we have these constants in life to keep us on the straight and narrow. I handed full responsibility to Fiona to pilot the outfit and me back home which she did in confident style. If you ever want to feel what it’s like to ride in a bobsleigh along the Edinburgh bypass at 70MPH, try a sidecar, after the initial worry its quite good fun, even helps to make you forget the hangover. Oh and if Andrew reads this sorry for not dropping in on the Sunday, I had to rush home to lie on the couch for a while!

The Classic club was next on the agenda, we have missed a couple of meetings and were surprised to see such a huge crowd, great to see so many motorcyclists but I fear the "classic" part of the meeting has been diluted to being non existent, there were a few tasty bike there though.

Martin Connachy , Mickey McEneaney from Ireland and Peter Allen from Colorado were doing a Scottish tour this week, Peter and Martin on their Vincents so at great personal sacrifice I rode up with Alex to Applecross to meet up, a spectacular run up although a fatality near Loch Carron meant we had a 130 mile detour to get there. As always well worth the effort and as well as a convivial night we were treated to a spectacular sunset and dare I say it but it was actually warm! Great to see the regulars up there and a surprise meeting with Geoff Mumford and Heather who were on their holidays, plenty V twins around and only one from Milwaukee. The pics tell the story better than I can, plenty motorcycle content!  

A stop at Pentcaitland to pay homage to Scotlands sidecar hero

BSA at Gifford

Andrew trying the outfit for size

Another BSA, this time Davie Clarks

Bert explaining he wants to sell all his bikes and buy a Norton....

Gus and Barry discuss beard trimming 

Dave Clark, a late entry to the battle of the beards

Now thats a topbox!!!!!

My view from the bobsleigh

Another BSA, really spotless at the Classic club

Pretty pretty

Nice to see Russell (Guzzi Scottish Rally supremo)  just back from an extended European holiday

Kinda busy

Very nice square 4 and outfit

George's V7, tasty

At the viewpoint at Lochcarron just before the road was blocked

First time this year I've had heat at the top of the Bealach

Hmmm sunset

Mist shrouded Raasay

Stunning

And again

Party party

Morning over the bay

Vincent's posing at the pub

Peters bike looking over Applecross Bay

Quite common these Vincent things

Martin with his Vincent grin

Peter and his sister Annie

Heading home, stop for a tea and a burger, not at all bad

Maintenance

So after a week with the nose at the grindstone or in the trough whatever you prefer it was time to catch up on some maintenance. Saturday was spent fitting screens to the Guzzi and to the yellow Norton and changing the postage stamp size screen on the BM outfit to something more barn door like. The screen fitting frenzy took all of Saturday and at times I wished I had 5 arms and hands but its done, main reason for this is the weather, It's been so shit that I'm attempting to get some protection from it, the global warming bullshit has turned Scotland into a even colder and wetter place than normal, and there was me thinking we would have warmer summers as well, I blame it on all these wind turbines, if they build any more in Scotland then there's a good chance the country will take off!! I for one am happy they're stopping subsidy's, a desecration of our landscape and ruination of many fine roads during the construction, I reckon they're turbo-charging the wind and altering the jetstream themselves (I am writing this with tongue firmly in cheek)
Anyhow, a wee run on the Guzzi today showed the screen is first class, a nice cuppa down by the new Forth bridge and then an afternoon twirling spanners again, changing the clutch centre on my Norton in an effort to make it even more unapproachable(Norton Joke) for the run to Belgium next month. Why is it despite having a large stock of consumables the one grommet I need before I start building it up again is not there, oh well a wee job for through the week maybe.

Screen on yellow Norton looks OK I think

Two examples of great engineering (yes the GUzzi is one of them!"

Fiona checking if the stone quay is as comfortable as a T3 seat

Here we go....again

Clutch centre on left showing serious indentations, right is the new one

Ready for the grommet and part 2!

Outer Hebrides final part

Wednesday night after a day lazing around Poolewe we went to the local ceilidh, earlier I had been given a disapproving look in the shop as I bought a half bottle of whisky to fit in my pocket for the ceilidh , guess who was taking the entrance money at the village hall, yes, the same woman. That didn’t spoil my fun or whisky consumption anyway, a great night and a great band, the lead singer / musician Sandra MacBeth who’s from the area but coincidentally we found out lives above Fiona’s Cousin in Portobello in Edinburgh, is a name to watch, very talented.

A pleasant run to Lochcarron for a stock up and a late breakfast at Kate’s Riverside café followed by a visit to Lochcarron weavers, the weather surprisingly warm and pleasant. The run over the Bealach was a challenge for Fiona who was piloting the sidecar, difficult enough without the handful of ignorant arseholes on bicycles and in vehicles not actually suitable for the hill, everybody else has to murder their clutches so that the inconsiderate people can hold everybody else up, that said most users are courteous, a great effort by Fi who kept it together on the way over. Applecross was bathed in sunshine on the Thursday so we sat outside and waited for Alex to arrive, and then we waited some more, just at the point worry was creeping in he arrived with the worst excuse yet for lateness he couldn’t find his boots ! Alex pitched camp then we had a jolly night in the pub, great crack as always and met a couple from Dunkeld who recognised us from a wedding last year, small world again.

The weekend was spent in typical Applecross fashion joined by David and Anne, Liz and Ewan (who arrived at midnight on the Friday, top marks) Bert and Laurenne (in the new Land Rover) Ian, my brother John and  Lesley made up the troupe for the fun weekend. A reasonable run down the road with only torrential rain for the last 20 miles spoiling the fun.

Another great trip, less miles than normal, more wind and rain than normal but it had many special moments, Scotland really is a great place to ride a motorcycle and I suppose if it were warmer the roads would be more congested and the wind and rain kept the midges away. Now I’m lagging behind in the Bealach stakes, I haven’t ridden a sidecar over and Fi’s done it twice!!

River flowing fast

Poolewe

Hoochin and chuchin

At last a sunset

Starting the Bealach

Heavily loaded Royal Enfield (from Germany) at the campsite

Bonny vista

The mountains of sky shrouded in mist

The boys were up for a stag night

Dinner

Must have been a good story

Descent of the Bealach

There she goes

Very bright waterproofs donned (thankfully)

Outer Hebrides tour part 4

We left our campsite and headed a bit further South to the Loch Erisort Hotel, a warm inviting sight after our stormy camp, as we booked in I looked around and saw a similarly confused Ian Coull and family, Ian is our treasurer for the Tay Valley NOC and I used to live in the same village, however seeing that his wife Anne's mother is from this area it probably wasn't that much of a coincidence.
 The hotel was nice with friendly staff and recommended if you are in the area. Monday we headed to Stornoway to the ferry back to Ullapool and then a bit further North to visit Kenny and Sheila at the Culag Hotel in Lochinver, old friends who used to go to bike rallies at one point in a bike and double adult sidecar, fridge strapped between the two, two kids and a huge dog in the chair and Sheila on the back. Kenny gave Fiona some tips on how to pilot the sidecar but remembering a particularly spirited ride across Bute followinh him in the chair I wasn't sure if that was a great idea.
If you're in the North of Scotland, a great place to stay the night,great roads and a huge whisky selection (just don't mix the two)
A trip further South to Poolewe with some nice weather for a change and now a rest day before the Applecross madness. Some flower pictures to show my tree hugging side and to brighten up the otherwise dull pictures!

Leaving the Culag

Nice view

great roads

Pretty

Poolewe

The gardens

colourful

Lunch?

Art?

Look blue sky

Fiona the tourist

Gino the tourist and now Botanist

very pretty