A tour of Ireland

nerald · Borekit Bruiser Joined: 25 Oct 2012 Karma :

I have got 5 days free in May and am toying with the idea of a trip across the water to Ireland. Both Cairnryan and Liverpool are 3 hours away from me so I can use either. Any thoughts on some good roads to ride given the limited time I have. Did the Giants Causeway and Ballymoney last year on a day ticket from Stranraer and know that the coast road is a pain. Will be camping so any recommendations would help.
Cheers.
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pepperami · Super Spammer Joined: 17 Jan 2010 Karma :

I have absolutely no idea about anything to do with camping and traveling in the Emerald Isle.

I`m fairly sure that if you say " oh diddly diddly diddly, top o` der marning to ya" to anyone you meet you will get along just fine Thumbs Up

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c-m · World Chat Champion Joined: 12 May 2006 Karma :

The lack of responses here makes it seem like there is nothing worth seeing in Ireland.

Sad

barrkel · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Jul 2012 Karma :

stinkwheel · Bovine Proctologist Joined: 12 Jul 2004 Karma :

Some of the roads will wreck your bike unless it is a offroad derived/styled machine.

Add at least 50% to your estimated journey times for covering a similar distance in Britain.

Don't ask anyone for directions, the answer will be similtaneously unhelpful and confusing and probably wrong (Genuinely had someone answer "Well. Sure. I wouldn't start from here." last time I was in Eire).

It is still considered the height of wit to spin roadsigns around to point in the wrong direction.

Do not kiss the blarney stone until you've found out what the locals do to it at night (Hint: It RHYMES with "kiss").
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barrkel · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Jul 2012 Karma :

kitty kat · World Chat Champion Joined: 20 Jun 2007 Karma :

I was over in Belfast in May 2011, we stayed at Dundonald camping park in Belfast. We had a tent & 2 bikes, never had any problems on the site, although it is gated with a security guard. There is an ice rink & a crazy golf couse there for when you are not out on the bike. We were on a Deauville meet and one day we went on the coast road from Belfast, through Larne right round to Portrush and back to Belfast. We stopped at Joey Dunlop's pub & his memorial and rode the North West 200. Another day we were there we went around Belfast, saw the murals, went to the dock where the Titanic was (before the exhibition bit was finished) went to see the Harland & Wolf cranes, went to Stormont and rode across Stranford Lough and stopped for lunch in Newcastle then rode up to Newry and back to Belfast through Hillsborough. There are a lot of good roads to ride in Northern Ireland and we would like to go back one day and see more of Northern Ireland.

insomniac · Nova Slayer Joined: 19 Sep 2012 Karma :

I will be heading over to Ireland shortly on the bike for the first time, but I have been over many times in the car.

A while ago I asked my cousin to come over with me, he went to the travel agent and she advised him not to take the car that the roads are so rough the axels break and it takes 4 to 6 hours to get from Dublin to Galway.

This rubbish just proves how out of touch people are with Ireland.
The main roads are now better than over here, after years of actual investment (unlike here, where the hell our road tax goes I have no idea). Depending on how lawful you want to be it will take approx.. 2 hours to get from Dublin to Galway (a friend of mine said he did it in 1.5 hours, and they way he drives I wouldn't be surprised).
This said the standard of driving over in Ireland still has a lot to answer for. It’s not as bad as the Italians or Spanish but on a bike you really will have to think for every other bugger on the road. Oh and if you do venture to Galway, for god’s sake watch the round abouts, they really do not have glue what they are doing on them (I’ve seen people going the wrong way on them because they wanted to turn right).
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barrkel · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Jul 2012 Karma :

insomniac · Nova Slayer Joined: 19 Sep 2012 Karma :

nerald · Borekit Bruiser Joined: 25 Oct 2012 Karma :

Thanks for the info. Road surfaces shouldn't be a problem, I will be using the Caponord (big old magic carpet). We will probably look at riding around the coast I presume it's pretty rugged coastline based on what I saw of Northern Ireland? So hopefully get to see something interesting.
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V-Twins - 60 or 90?

jowettdriver · Borekit Bruiser Joined: 09 Sep 2008 Karma :

I toured Ireland in 2012 on my R65 and loved it, but seriously heed the comments about the road surfaces.

What I found was you can be riding along at a good pace on a nicely surfaced road and you come over the brow of a hill and the surface justs changes in front of you to something resembling a ploughed field. On a number of occasions I ended up standing on the pegs while the bike crashed about underneath me.

That said I do like taking the scenic route so that might have had something to do with it!!

Cheers Tim.
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