Featured Rideout Borders For A Few Days In A Tent

Excellent.

I'm certainly going back at some point.




The 1st pic is a sporting estate where Koo Stark (Prince Edward's associate at one time) did a porn shoot there, apparently
The 2nd is the beach at the end of that road, HUISINIS

 

St Mary’s loch?

 

Near but not quite, its actually Megget reservoir which is just up the road and turn left on a right hand curve. A lovely road through the valleys, well worth a detour.

Previously it was a good wild camp spot but not this time. It's simply become too popular with cars full of people turning up and yappy dogs; disappointing.

A portaloo has turned up which obviously adds convenience but, so has a sign on the tree.



The Ranger woman comes around to check up on everything.

It's a shame as years ago I had the place all to myself on various visits so maybe scrub that one off my list now.

 

And cross the border and on my way home ..... until next time.

 

Summary of snippets.

Bike performed faultless with no issues.

Dash shows an average of 64.7mpg and this covers very mixed riding. Sometimes it was a potter and at other times I was looking for a 6th gear.

Standard gearing is spot on.

Standard brakes, with ebc pads in, are perfectly adequate for this style of bike in my opinion.

The YSS rear shocks I installed have a difficult job. If I set them up for two up sag its a bit too hard on my own; If I set them up for solo then they have too much sag two up. Consequently I've set them up in the middle, and with the camping load here they were spot on for this trip even over jumps

Triumph rear rack carried the tent well and kept the waterproof sack on the back seat. It allows numerous anchor points for bungees and straps etc. Recommended.

Total mileage was just under 500.

 

I think it's easy to obsess about "touring" bikes. I'd be doing this kind of trip on my 865 Bonneville, not so different to yours. Got me across France OK, so somewhere like southern Scotland should be easy enough. And this time, unlike when I rode it to Spain, I won't have to waste valuable luggage space carrying a windscreen wiper mechanism for a VW Passat. A story for another time, really...

 

I only ever tour on naked bikes' last 3 times I've done Ireland, it was on a street triple, a T100, and a Superduke.

 

For me motorways and main road riding are to be avoided, just boring. The chance of speed cameras and traffic just turn me off so I minimise using them.
I might do an hour or two just to get somewhere, then fill the rest of the day on as many b roads as possible.

A naked bike for me creates no issues like @andyc1 said and is my preferred choice.

 

I really like these Avon tyres that are on now but I think the rear tyre objects a little to big handfuls out of the bends. A combination of twin power delivery and grippy roads produced this.





Previously, I would have said the rear suspension is lacking rebound damping as its the trailing edge of the pattern, but in this case the suspension feels just right.
Consequently, I'm putting this down to the abrupt torquey power delivery of the twin.

The Tec cam really helps this engine come alive and Triumph should be ashamed of themselves of the rubbish article they installed, that I can only assume marketing requested, to avoid damaging the 1200 sales figures.

 

[QUOTE="Eldon, post: 640419, member:
This calmed things down quiet a bit, which was lucky, as a few miles further on the road is in shocking condition. One pothole I saw, looked to be about 600mm in diameter, and with water in it, so no idea of how deep it could be [/QUOTE]

It seems I'm not the only person to note the bad condition of the A708, a quick Google search found this below.

Absolutely shocking in places, go careful guys if you're thinking about that route to Grey Mares Tail or St. Marys.

 

The state of that road sounds horrendous.

 

It was!

One spot, going the opposite way, didn't look great at all and I could easily see a car/van running wide onto my side to avoid such deterioration.

A real accident waiting to happen, if not already ocurred.

I reported it on "fix my street" although no idea what that will do, but better than nothing.

 

Anyone interested, if I mention and review my camping gear used on this trip, and others?

 

What a brilliant thread, @Eldon! It looks like you had a fantastic trip. I thoroughly enjoyed all of your wonderful and diverse photos and your interesting and informative commentary as well. Thanks for posting!

 

As an update, let me share the following screenshot of an email just received.

Bizarrely DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY COUNCIL view such reports with disdain!
Apparently and despite various reports, they are aware of the issues and " monitoring" them.

Now call me cynical but is this a case of the council is strapped for cash, so is happy to use their liability insurance and ensure they get value for money if, no, when, an issue arises?
Talk about passing the book!

Remind me why our insurance premiums, across the board, are rising?

Dumfries and Galloway Council, you should be ashamed!

 

As a further update on the state of this road please read the pictures attached.

Be careful out there guys, the councils are saving money in the wrong places!

 

Really, “Claim denied because it is on their list of already aware.”

How do these people get away with this vandalism, which is what it is. FFS sake how many damaged vehicles or accidents do they need to see before they do something about the condition of this road.

 

Unbelievable isn't it?

An FOI could soon put them in hot water with little to no wiggle room.
IMHO the directors etc on £100k salaries should be prosecutable for this as it's blatantly turning a blind eye and consequently negligent.

Alternatively, sack all this top heavy management and spend the money saved on the actual requirements and obligations the council/ highways have!

 

Here you go @Wessa this is a response someone received which basically mirrors what you said.

Absolutely shocking!

 

This may help
https://www.whitedalton.co.uk/motorbike-blog/2018/09/the-perils-of-potholes/