I get pretty excited when we get snow. I've always enjoyed driving, riding bikes and cycling on the white stuff. We've had a few dumping's recently but instead of taking the C90 out this time I used the XR. I wanted to get a spin on it to properly try out the new Supertraap pipe. I had visions of drifting around, gracefully spraying plumes of powder everywhere. Unfortunately what I found was that everything had frozen into one giant ice cube. Still, it made for a funny video.....
Mike
There's been some photos and video appearing on social media showing the Mountain Crosspoint museum on the Timmelsjoch pass engulfed in flames. I've been unable to get any further information or find out if any of the bikes were saved. It's a huge loss if not. Joe and I visited a couple of years ago when we stayed at Sölden. It was a great experience and there were some very rare old bikes in the collection. If you hear any more can you let me know?
UPDATE:
Here's the video. It looks pretty bad.
Mike
Back in November our area dropped to level 2 covid restrictions so HB and I decided to get away for a couple of nights. I was pretty desperate to get away on the bike so I took the K75 while HB kept nice and warm in her car. I serviced the K75 and treated as much of the bike as I could with ACF50 in an attempt to keep the damage from the salt at bay.
We decided to posh things up. We'd booked the Applecross Inn and Tim's big cabin at Strontian. Covid restrictions, the lack of daylight and freezing temperatures meant I had to take the most direct route to Applecross. Usually I'd do my best to avoid the A9 between Perth and Inverness but this time I was so grateful to be able to get away on the bike I actually enjoyed it. It was however, freezing. It was wet for a fair chunk of the run too. I rode from East Lothian to Inverness in one go and by the time I got to the cafe in Tiso at Inverness I was properly shivering. I felt much better and warmer after I'd eaten half the food in the cafe and I set off once again.
Inverness to Applecross was a pleasant run. I was hoping for a nice sunset from the top of the Bealach Na Ba. Unfortunately the teaser at Tornapress was clouded out at the top. Still, it was a nice run over and it was great to get down into Applecross.
We had a quiet but good night in the Inn. It was good to catch up with Judy and the folk at Applecross. The weather was cold but sunny the following day making for a really nice run to Strontian. HB was a bit concerned about the icy conditions on the Bealach Na Ba but I never noticed it apart from a few frozen puddles.
2020 is over! We're back in lockdown here in Scotland but with a possible vaccine on the horizon I'm getting hopeful for some good biking in 2021. Clearly, I didn't use 2020 for productive blogging, but I was lucky enough to get away on the bike when it was deemed safe to do so. I also done a fair bit of work to the bikes with the C90 receiving some much needed TLC and the K75 getting a new final drive seal, rear disk and a service. The C90 became my go to bike during lockdown. It's was the ideal thing for tootling a couple of miles to the next village to get shopping. I even added a new rack to the back and bought panniers for it. There may possibly be a trip in the C90 yet.....
Jake advises on the K75 back end.
The K was used for any time it was necessary to go further afield. I was pretty chuffed that my repairs had worked and there was no longer a wee dribble of oil on the rear wheel.
My XR600 had an issue with the exhaust always coming loose. It was jetted to run an old Supertrapp can but the link pipe had rotted away. I got a new one made up by Harrison Performance who done a great job. I can't recommend them enough. It's currently pretty cold here so I attempted to do some snow riding on the XR. Unfortunately the whole place had turned into one big ice cube! I was nearly on my arse on multiple occasions. There was zero grip. None. Even the rough bits were as if they had been polished, the bike just slid around sideways!
As I said, I was pretty lucky to get away over 2020. I've put this wee video together of the Gopro footage I got over the year.
For obvious reasons we had to postpone the Sunart Wildcat Rally but luckily most folk are still keen to attend when we can do it. I've also got an idea for a "Small and Old" charity run with the idea being we do a camping trip around Scotland on bikes either below 125cc, over 20 years old or ideally both. The cost would be either £120 with £100 going to charity and £20 covering the cost of t shirts and stuff, or just proof that you've raised a minimum of £100 for a charity of your choice and £20 to cover t shirts etc. I'd book campsites for everyone but folk will need to cover the costs themselves. I'd try and get us a good deal of course. What's your thoughts on this? Let me know in the comments if you think it's a good/bad idea. I'll also add it to my Passing Places Tours site once I know where we stand with the Covid situation. I've still got a couple of runs to write up as well and a new YouTube idea where I roadtest bikes. I'll post it up soon.
Stay safe everyone and Happy New Year!
Mike
