Winter run to Braemar and Gopro upgrades.

 

January! New year, same me but possible a new bike! More on that in the future, but first have a look at some of these photos. They were taken by my mate John on the way up to Braemar. We had booked some of the excellent cabins up at Braemar campsite for this years winter run. Braemar is in the Cairngorms just north of Glenshee and the Cairnwell Pass, the highest public road in Scotland. It's a great run on the bike, even in winter and it's always funny sitting with the skiers having a bite to eat.

We had lunch with Tim at the top of the pass before we rode down to Braemar. As we pulled up to the campsite Yachtmaster turned up having ridden down from Caithness. A few hours later Snake and Ferg arrived. They'd also ridden down from Caithness but on much smaller bikes. Ferg on a newly acquired CG125 and Snake on a tiny CBR125. A few hours after that Lewis and Richie arrived. They were in a car as Lew was heading back from college. The weekend was spent mostly drinking and talking pish with very little biking being done. I'll get a video edited together and get it up on youtube soon.

 

Thanks to John and Ferg for the photos.

I've also got a new microphone set up for the Gopro. Now I can get the sound of the bikes rather than just wind noise. I tried it out on the C90 while showing off my bling new wheels.

That's it for now. More to come in February, I might even share my new bike!!

Mike

Mikey Sunter, the red BMW K75s

Sometimes something comes up that you can’t say no to. It’s too good a deal to pass up. A no brainer. The K75 was one of these things.

A few years ago Smillie from the Massif got himself a red K75s, BMW’s bombproof triple from the late 80’s/early 90’s. Smillie ran it for a while with the only niggle being that it occasionally snapped clutch cables.  Smillie changed bikes, selling the K to John from his work. John was getting back on two wheels after a break from biking and the beemer was ideal for him. Being an engineer, when the clutch cable snapped on him, John set about finding the problem. After replacing the clutch and the pushrod he finally found the problem to be the wee plastic piston that had seized. Problem solved, John ran around on the bike for a while before getting something else. The K75 sat in his garden unused and John wanted rid of it. This is where I come in. Long story short is that John was selling the bike at a low price to get rid of it. It had no MOT and hadn’t run for a while, but as I said; it was one of these things I couldn’t pass up.

I got the bike through it's MOT, gave it a service and gave it a name! Naming vehicles has always been a bit of a bizarre thing to me. My mate Mikey Sunter is the only person I know who has really ever done it properly, so I named the K75 after him. It's called Mikey Sunter, although I'll probably just refer to it as the K75 on here just to keep things understandable. I'm trying to get #MikeySunter trending on Instagram so feel free to join in.

Mikey Sunter and the Bass Rock.

I've fixed a few niggles like the broken pannier hinge. Doing the service showed the state of the front of the engine, so I'll give that a clean and a lick of paint. It'll need tyres soon too, so if you've got any recommendations get in touch. I'll need something that lasts a reasonably well while working in the wet and cold. Half worn tyres aside the auld beemer goes well. K75s are super smooth and have that slow revving, heavy flywheel feel. It's comfy despite being surprisingly stretched out. I'm yet to do a proper long journey on it but 150 or so miles down the borders proved it to be right enough. It handles ok, if I'm pushing on bumpy roads then it gets a bit all over the shop. Still, it's very manageable. Brakes are good (ABS no less) but there's a slight warp on the rear disk which I'll need to get sorted at some point.

Mockit.

Previous owner and abusive Fife halfwit Smillie rides by.

Mikey Sunter meets his modern relatives.

Great roads down the borders.

Originally I had planned on fixing the bike up a bit and turning it over, but I really quite like it, so Mikey Sunter will be staying for a while at least. It's got heated grips, panniers and everything. It's ready to tour! I just need to come up with a plan.......

Another winter run maybe?

More soon.

Mike 

The Dam Bike Run

Once a year my local classic bike club, the Lothian and Borders Classic and Vintage bike Club have the Dam Bike Run, where they all meet up and have a run over the small roads around the reservoirs and lochs of the area followed by a meal at the Barony Hotel. Faither and Greaser are members so I decided to join the ride on my XR.

Only issue was a couple of weeks ago I had went out for a half hour spin around the hills. Half an hour became about three hours after I got a puncture. Having no tools to fix said puncture and no phone signal resulted in a three mile push. Finally I got a message out. Egor collected my van and came to my rescue only for us to discover the XR didn't fit in the van! We strapped the bike in as best we could, tied the doors shut and drove home. Very slowly.

There's worse places to get a flat I guess.

Not all heros wear capes. Thanks Egor.

With the rear tyre truly gubbed I had to choose a replacement. The last tyre had only lasted 700 miles or so. It was a proper nobblie with loads of grip. I was willing to sacrifice some grip for a longer tyre life so I went with a Mitas E09. It was a total bastard to fit but after sweating profusely, getting blood everywhere, nipping the tube and putting it into the shop where it was done properly, the new tyre was fitted.

A couple of spins proved the Mitas to be pretty good. It never had the grip a proper nobbly has but there was enough for what I was doing, plus it was easier to slide the back out which is always fun. The Massif came with me on one of the runs, the heavier, more road based bikes proving a bit of a handfull compared to the XR's dirt pedigree, especially on muddy or loose sections.

 

With the XR cleaned up I headed to meet the folk for the Dam Bike Run. I felt like I was cheating a bit riding my "classic" 1995 XR alongside a 1929 Sunbeam, but everyone makes you feel welcome no matter what you're on. There were a few folk taking part on modern bikes too. The route that the club had organised was really nice. Despite riding around the area for most of my biking life I found myself on a couple of new roads. We stopped at Bowhill for a lunch break and to have a look around the bikes a bit more, before heading over the Megget And Talla road and back up to the Barony for a meal.

Velo the dog on his Beemer.



 

 

 

I had really enjoyed riding with the club. It was great to see all the old bikes running well and hilarious following the haze from the two strokes along the country lanes. There's no danger you'd get lost following a GT500! I had a great day out and I'd recommend coming along on the run next year. The Dam Bike Run is open to non club members. Follow their page on Facebook for info on how to join the club and to keep an eye on when the events are on .

 

 

 

 

Mike