A New Chapter.

I've been a bit lazy updating my blog recently, but a lot has been going on. I'll start with the biggest first.











I've sold my beloved BMW R1150GS to Ferg.









Its gone.








And been replaced with THIS!!

A nice, shiny, brand new BMW R1200GS Adventure. Which is fucking awesome.

A while back I had a shot of Faithir's GS which I enjoyed, and its sort of been niggling away at the back of my mind. I tried to convince myself that I didn't need or want a new bike but I was wrong. You only live once, so fuck it, get what ye want.

I've spent the past couple of weeks running it in. As always I had the Gopro with me so there's a wee video.

When I picked the bike up from Motorrad Central it was pishing doon which stung my face fucking good style with the open Bamboo lid, so I headed doon the coast to the better weather. My mate Bruce was hosting Forth Fat, a fatbike meet for Pugsleys and other fat tyres pushbikes, so I got the crack with them for a bit. I opted not to join Fat forth as I wanted to get out on the new GS, plus I prefer to keep my beachriding a solo affair or just ride in wee groups with mates.

The GS with the fatbikes.

A few days Andy (you'll see him if you watch the video to the very end) and I got a good evening spin up the hills then doon the coast. It's a favourite route for me. If you're bored enough to regularly watch my videos on youtube you'll no doubt recognise some of the scenery. You'll probably agree with Andy's comment at the end of the video too.
I've been a few longer runs. I headed down the borders on the first really warm day of the year to St Mary's Loch via the fast sweepers of the A7 to Galashiels then the tighter A707 through Selkirk. The road wasn't the only thing that was tighter, I had a few arse clenching moments as there's a few patches of gravel on the road from Gala to Selkirk. The scenery opens up as you come along side St Mary's Loch and I followed another couple of bikes to The Glen Cafe on the bank of the loch where I stopped, planning on getting a quick drink of juice. I hadn't stopped anywhere for cash and the Glen Cafe can't take payments by card, but someone got me a can of juice. Cheers if you're the guy on the white Ducati!.
I carried on to Moffat where I had more seat chewing moments, this time with wildlife and sheep on the road. Apart from that the road is great fun, with some nice twisty bits and some great scenery. I stopped at Moffat where I got a message from Aidan who was also out for a spin. We arranged to meet up. For some reason I suggested we met back at the Glen Cafe where I'd just came from. Now, I was just down the road from the cafe but Aidan was fucking miles away in North Berwick, back up in East Lothian. Forgetting that while Aidan is a very competent motorcyclist, he isn't John McGuiness, I had said that it would only take him an hour to get down to St Mary's Loch. It took him a fair bit longer. I stuffed my face with a nice sausage, egg and chips and shot the shit with an old guy who was out on his bike for a while, before Aidan turned up on his new bike, a Triumph Tiger 1050, and we headed back home via Innerlethen and Peebles.



My GS with Andy's in the background

Dave on a proper bike for once in his life.

Borthwick Castle

At Stow

The Glen Cafe, St Mary's Loch

Heading to Moffat

Aidan's Tiger.

Another run I went on took me over the Forth Road Bridge to Fife where I followed the tourist route along the coast. This turned out to be a fucking shite idea. The east coast part of Fife I was on was quite densly populated. As I rode from The Bridge though Burntisland and Kirkaldy I barely got out of 30mph zones. When I hit Leven I joined the A915 to St Andrews which would have been great fun if it hadn't been pishing with rain and the fuds driving infront of me had went above 35. Still, I've not wrote Fife off, there's some great roads to be found over there from what I remember. Just avoid the fucking tourist route.

Looking over the water to Edinburgh.

St Andrews

So the differences between the 1200 Adventure and the 1150?

Well the 1200 seems waaaaaaay taller. Its like low level flying! The big trallie, lazy lines, pendulum effect is really exaggerated as you swing from left to right, which is fucking good fun. The new motor seems a lot lighter, as in it revs up much faster and has less vibration. It's quite a bit faster too, but I've not really been able to give it the baws yet as I'm still running it in, but even then I can tell its got more go than my old bike. I miss my loud pipe. My 1150 had a full Remus system which was loud as fuck. The standard 1200 system sounds really good for a standard system but I miss the roar of the Remus. The brakes on the 1200 don't have the same bite as my 1150's brakes, but this is probably down to the 1150 having servo assisted brakes. The 1200 has a MASSIVE tank. 33 litres which gives a tank range of over 300 miles and even with a tight new motor I'm nearly getting 50mpg. The 1200 feels lighter and more chuckable when riding, but the 1150 felt a wee bit more stable, the 1200 very slightly wagging it head in high winds, but nothing to write home about. All in all I'm really chuffed with the Adventure, but the 1150 is still a shit hot bike. 

Hope you like it Ferg!

Not so good was my Pugsley. The frame cracked. Fucking nightmare.

What was good though, was Surly. The cracks seemed to be a fault that was affecting lots of Pugsleys and Surly have sorted it all out. So gone is my mint greet Pugsley and here is the new repacement yellow frame. Surly have tweeked the frame a bit which has hopefully sorted the cracking problem, and I quite like the yellow which is a sort of matt finish and I think it looks pretty good with my red hubs.



I quite like the yellow too. I might get Smillie to give this one the mint treatment but I'm happy with the yellow for now.

HB was really fucking chuffed with this. Honest.

I have been out on the pushbike but my wee Ricoh camera broke so I haven't been taking many photos, these ones were all taken with my mobile phone, so sorry if the quality isn't up to scratch. I'll get out and get some decent photos of the Pug and the new GS soon.



Langster.

Mind my Belter? Well it didn't work out too well for me. The singlespeed was OK for my commute and I really enjoyed riding the bike but it was eating freehubs like Elvis ate cheeseburgers. The Edinburgh Bike Co-op had replaced one rear wheel before I took the bike back with another fucked freehub. This time they offered to replace the lot again but I asked for a different bike. I looked at what I could get for roughly the same price as the Belter. Sweeney, the roadie fuck that he is, had tried to get me to go for a full on geared road bike and it was an option I was considering, but. I bought the Belter to commute on. The bike I replace the Belter with will be used to commute on also, and the salt on Scottish winter roads just fucks components up. I don't want to cycle home from work and have to wash down the drivechain of a geared bike so I decided to stick with  a single speed bike, this time running a traditional chain drive. Looking at my options, the bike I liked was the Specialized Langster, a track bike that comes set up with a fixed wheel. The only thing is, as you night have seen in the above video, I've given plenty folk stick for running gay ass arsehole drop bars. So there has been plenty abuse flying my way. A few years back here in Scotland we had a television programme called Still Game. Long story short, some of the cunts I call my mates are now referring to me as "Winston" as they feel I have a passing resemblance to the character. Fucking cheers guys. Google "Winston still game" if you want in on the action.
Anyways, so far the Langster has been brilliant, as were the Edinburgh Bike Co-op in dealing with my fucked Belter. I've read some stuff online about folk receiving shite service but all I got was good service and helpful folk. So a big thanks to the guys at Edinburgh Bike Co-op for helping me out..
Back to the Langster though. The shite, arsehole style, fuckwit drop bars took some getting  used to but its ok now. I've even been going out road riding, as for a while the Langster was the only functioning bike I had and I need to get my fat arse in to some state of fitness. (more to come on that shit.)
Road riding is boring as fuck. It must be even worse when you have gears to take the challenge away.
Here's a few photos of the bike. Notice I've got cool glow in the dark bar tape and flat MTB pedals.
Yeah, thats how I roll.

Totesamazeballs.

There will be a prize for the caption for this last photo.

Winton Massif - Outer Limits Tour

Back in 2010 the Massif set of on a tour of the Outer Hebrides, doing a wee bit of the mainland as well.
GHC and I had decided to set off a night earlier than everyone else and I had arranged to meet up with him at Ballater. He'd sent me a text saying it had been a wee bit chilly on the way up. It was fucking absolutely freezing, so I put my waterproofs on to keep the wind chill down a wee bit.

I chucked the tent up and we headed into Ballater for some food and a few beers. We ended up in a pub and had a few games of pool and GHC gave the locals some football related abuse.



Telt ye it was freezing. there's still a wee bit snow.

GHC giving the jukebox the sticker treatment.



The next day I cooked up some breakfast while GHC scanned Bike Trader for any potential bargains. Black pudding and bacon rolls. Braw. meanwhile the rest of the Massif were hitting the road heading for that night's destination, Lybster. HB is from Lybster so we met up with her Dad, Malcolm for a few drams. We'd arranged to camp on the Notty field down by the harbour.  Notty is a game similar to shinty but played with bits of 2x4 and a piece of cork. the grass was pretty long which made it nice and comfy in the tents.



yum

Whit can I buy?

Andy, Bert and Aaron at Ballenluig

The Winton Massif taking over Waterlines Cafe, Lybster.

Bob gettin his pipe on.









Tron.



Bert's a happy camper


Camping at Lybster

We had a nice meal in the Portland Arms at the top of Lybster before we headed to the Bayview for a few beers. HB and Kirst were up so they joined us along with Malcolm, Zul and the rest of the Lybster crew.

In the Portland

Me and Malcolm

Bert and GHC

Stevie, who owned the Bayview.


Pole dancin'.




The Winton Massif

The next day we got up a bit worse for wear and headed down to Malcolm's where we met up with Ferg. Liam had joined us the night before and along with Tom, HB's brother, fixed Ferg's pannier which had a wee hole in it due to touching on his exhaust. After doing that and getting some scran we headed along the North Coast Road to Scourie where we were camping that night. The North Coast Road is one of the best, really scenic, sometimes dual and sometimes singletrack. We arrived in Scourie and got our tents up just as the rain started. Well most of us did. Aaron opted to hit the pub so he had to put his up in the pishing rain. We had a bite to eat in the wee pub beside the campsite while Aaron was sorting himself out then we headed along for a few beers and games of pool in the Scourie Hotel.

At Tongue

Ben trying to take Ferg's sexy crown.

We woke up in Scourie to good weather and another awesome run. Tonight's destination was Ullapool where we were staying in the Youth Hostel. Today's road was the fast, open road that gives great view's of the Assynt and Cogaich hills. The weather was nice all day so we all stopped a few times for photos.

Faithir.

Ferg

Stac Pollaidh

Me, Ben and Faithir were farting about and this guy insisted on taking our photo for us.

Proof I actually ride my bike and don't just take photos of it. Photo by Ben.

Ullapool is a great wee town to visit. I've been going there since I was wee and I still enjoy being there. We got a curry and visited a few of the Pubs before hitting the sack in the Hostel. 

I tell you what, that room was fucking ripe the next again day. A room full of Winton Massif does not equal a nice refreshing smell to wake up to. We fucking stank.

After breakfast we said our goodbyes to Liam, Aaron and Bert who were heading home and loaded our bikes onto the ferry to the Isle of Lewis. This was the first time on the Outer Hebrides for most of us and the views from the ferry were stunning! Just look at the photo of Ben and Bob with their 3D glasses.

Ullapool Youth Hostel

Bob keepin' it real.

Bobby and Bob

Ben's T shirt is pretty honest.

Morning has broken.

The Ferry

The Massif

Ullapool

Winton Massif

Stunning views. Photo by GHC

Stunning views.

I've seen better views this time.

That'll be us coming back into range of a phone mast then.

Lewis is an amazing place to visit. We got to our campsite at Laxdale, just outside Stornoway and set out tents and stuff up. We went into Stornoway to get some supplies and some proper Stornoway Black Pudding (fuck that Charlie Barley shite as the locals said) before going out to explore the island. There's loads and loads of things to see and do on Lewis and Harris but we only had one night there. We still managed to look at the Butt of Lewis, (hohoho) check out the Callanish Stones and visit the Black House museum. The weather was awesome as were the roads. Some of them were really long and straight but limited to 40mph due to the drives from houses that open onto the road but the views were always nice.

Camping on Lewis.

GHC arriving at the Butt Of Lewis.

Stevenson Lighthouse at the Butt of Lewis.

Photo by Faithir

GHC up the Butt of Lewis

The Blackhouse Museum. The houses were called Blackhouses because they had open peat fires in the middle of the room. Tiny windows and doors combined with the smoke gave the inside of the house a pretty black colour.

Me, Ferg and Ben in the Blackhouse.

Buttview. Chortle.

The Callanish Stones. Photos by GHC

The Callanish Stones. I fucking nearly spewed my ring here when Ferg chased me around the stones with a giant snotter her houked from his sizable beak. I'm still traumatised by the event.

We even visited this ancient mill. But it couldn't take my mind off Ferg's horrible bogie.

After Lewis we headed down through Harris to get the ferry to Berneray at the top of the Uists. Harris is much more hilly than Lewis but we couldn't see much due to a thick fog that cleared as we got to the ferry terminal.

Harris beach. Photo by GHC

Primula cheese and Ritz crackers. A Winton Massif favourite.

Ferry to Berneray

Views from the ferry.

On Berneray we stayed at an old Blackhouse that had been converted into a Hostel. We camped outside the hostel and Faithir and GHC gathered some mussels from a frame on the beach that I cooked up in two massive cauldrons with some white wine, cream, garlic and onions. We made enough to feed everyone that was staying in and around the hostel!

Arriving at Berneray Hostel. Photo by GHC

Old abandoned Blackhouse.

The Massif at Berneray Hostel.

Inside the Hostel

Mussels!

From Berneray we headed down the Uists crossing a few causeways to get the ferry from Eriskay to Barra. We were staying at Barra hostel in Castlebay that night. Castlebay got it's name from Kisimul Castle which sits in the middle of the bay.

We dropped out stuff at the hostel then went for a wee look about. Only really has one road around it thats twelve miles long as the island is pretty small. You can cross over to Vatersay, the neighbouring island via a small causeway too. While we were on Vatersay we had a look at the remains from a crashed Catalina Flying boat killing three of the nine men on board. When you see the wreckage its surprising anyone survived at all. There is a monument to the crew beside the wreckage.

On Barra we also saw the plane coming in at Barra airport. Its quite unique as the Airport's runway is the beach!

One of the causeways on the Uists. Look at the signpost. Photo by Faithir

On Eriskay waiting on the ferry to Barra.

GHC and Faithir

Castlebay, Barra.

The bikes at Dunard Hotel, Barra.



















The Catalina.






Barra Airport.

After exploring the rest of the Island we headed back round to the Hostel and got ready to head out to Cafe Kisimul, Barra's Indian Restraunt, where I tried some of their ace Scallop Pakoras along with a curry and a few beers.

Cafe Kisimul

Scallop Pakora

The next day we had two ferrys to catch. One from Barra back to the Uists where we took another ferry from Lochmaddy on South Uist to Uig on Skye. So we were up relatively early for breakfast in the Hostel then on to the ferry where I seen a bunch of guys who were touring the Outer Hebrides on their little bikes. To save money on the ferry crossings they were loading their bikes onto a van and taking that over, a good idea.

We arrived in Uig and headed to Applecross, one of the Massif's favorite places. Ghc, Bob, Ferg and I stopped in Kyle of Lochalsh for a chippy before an absolutely incredible ride through the Cullins on Skye then on to the Bealach Na Ba, the road over to Applecross. The whole ride was accompanied by amazing weather and awesome light from the setting sun. It really was one of the best bike rides I've ever had.

XT and GS

Photo by Faithir.

Last view of Barra.

Keeping ourselves entertained at Lochmaddy. Do you get it?

At the Bealach Na Ba

Bob on the Bealach Na Ba

The sharp eyed will recognise this.

Ferg at the top of the Bealach Na Ba looking over to Raasay and Skye.

Photo by GHC

Ferg really flew up the Bealach Na Ba kicking arse with his motocross skills. On the way down however he completely cooked this brakes and nearly ended up as part of the scenery! His arse was going like a rabbits nose for sure.

On the way into Applecross we seen loads of deer and took loads of photos. As I said before, it was a ride of a lifetime.

Ferg nearly went off here.

Photo by GHC

Regular readers to my Blog will have seen plenty photos of Applecross. I think everyone that visits there will always take plenty photographs no matter how often they go. We stayed for two nights, farting around the campsite checking out the bikes and other vehicles folk had travelled to Applecross on. We done some fishing, had a look around and generally chilled out. When it was time to head home we stopped into the Waterside Cafe in Lochcarron for the infamous Challenge Breakfast before saying our goodbyes to Ferg at Garve and headed home.

Faithir managed to cast his entire rod into the sea.

The Winton Massif at Applecross.

Ben opted for a normal sized breakfast



The rest of us took the Challenge.





Done.












Photo by Ben.

Epic trip.

 In memory of Bobby "GHC" Fraser.