You take the high road and I'll take the low road

[WD Forte]

And I'll be in Scotland afore ye !!.....

So, my deliveroo guy seems determined to go to Scotland on his YBR125 before autumn/winter sets in.
Not I might ad to the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond but to the outer feckin hebrides!
Bear in mind he's still on L plates and bloody clueless on how his bike actually works.
"So that's A roads all way and back then" I say
"OK, what route will you be taking?"
"Google maps" says he

AFAIK the longest ride he's ever done is about 50 mile from the Severn bridge to Hereford about 50 miles and now wants to go from Severn beach to Uig and get the ferry to Tarbert on Harris.

Most of us would hoon it up the M5/M6/M74 then A82/A87 to Uig
thats 600 miles give or take and mebbe 10/11 hours using motorways according to Google who tell me the same journey avoiding motorways and toll roads is 616miles and 16H ish

I tell him if he allows 2x 8 hour days of riding he might just get over the border and sleep/collapse in a hedge near Gretna or Ecclefechan
on the first day if all goes well then do another 8 hours the next day to get to Uig.

I dont want to put him off, he wants an adventure and I really hope he has one, but I'm concerned he hasn't put much thought into it and done little prep work.
The bike was running well last I saw and serviced it and clocking up 1200 miles shouldn't kill it.

But A roads only?
Sod that
I've ridden back to Bristol from Edinburgh on a Sunday afternoon/evening on a CX and Stonehaven just south of Aberdeen on an K100, but that was using motorways and that was tiring enough but had I been forced to use A roads only I'd have gone mental.

I did suggest he aim for say the North Yorkshire moors or Cumbria
or even Loch Lomond but he's got this mad idea to go to the outer Hebrides.

Well good luck to him, I'll be interested to see how far he gets
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[jeffyjeff]

Cheers to the exuberance of youth! Your Deliveroo driver will surely encounter a learning experience; a rich, life-affirming experience, I hope. If he rides alone, he may well test his resolve; should he choose to ride with a mate, he will test the fragile bond of friendship. He will learn the value of planning, packing light, and of riding a well maintained, roadworthy motorcycle. Poor planning may compel him to exercise ingenuity to address self-induced problems along the way. Ultimately, he may learn to listen to the wise advice of those with knowledge and experience. Or not.
____________________
History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men - BOC

[Polarbear]

I did South Shields to Bournemouth on an RD250 on L plates so just A roads. That was back in the 70's when I was at college there. It was bloody horrible. It's one thing doing A roads for the enjoyment but when you are just wanting to get from A to B, no way.

I really hope it doesn't put him off biking for life but.......
____________________
Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[stinkwheel]

If he wants to go to a Scottish island, I'd suggest Bute or Arran.

The hardest bit is getting past Manchester without motorways, there's no good route. He can go up the A49 to Warrington and get on the old A6 once he's at Preston but the bit inbetween is really tricky.

The B7076 then B7078 is your friend if you're going north from Carlisle, that'll take you to at least Wishaw but getting from there to North of Glasgow is very longwinded if you're avoiding motorway. An alternative is the A75, A76 then picking up the A737 and going past the airport and through Erskine which will put you on the A82.

Fucking long way though. I'd probably be leaving 4 days to ride up and 4 back.

It'll be an object lesson in geography anyway and that Scotland isn't just another county.

Bute would be good though. Nice run through D&G and on a ferry so you know you've been on holiday. Option to pop over onto the Kyles and see some cracking roads up there.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[A100man]

Aha! (dusts off old story story form the annals)

My mates proposed a holiday to Dawlish Warren when I was 16.. no room in the cars so I plumped to head down on my FS1E (approx 210 miles).. I took two days to get there breaking the journey at a campsite I had pre-booked near Bath.

After a week of powerful drinking (or so I thought) I headed back and completed the journey with a flagon of cider strapped to my rack, in one 10 hour stint. I stopped regularly to let the beast cool down but managed a fairly steady 40mph most of the way IIRC.

Loved it... To cap it off I drank the cider at a house party shortly after and gained my first carnal knowledge of a lady..

..they don't make summers like that any more.
____________________
Now: A100, GT250A, XJ598, FZ750

Then: Fizz, RS200, KL250, XJ550, Laverda Alpina, XJ600, FZS600

[Fat Angry Scotsman]

Definately do-able on a 125cc but his arse is going to be in tatters at the end of it
____________________
PRESENT: 2018 BMW S1000XR SE Sport.
PAST: 2009 Kawasaki ER-6F. 2021 Zontes ZT-125U.

[jeffyjeff]

[Bhud]

On the transport side of things, it should work.

On the endurance/suffering/shitting in the bushes side, I think he's nuts.

[WD Forte]

Just had a call from him
He's leaving on Wednesday he says and somewhat more realistic in his ambitions.
The Isle of Harris may be a stretch but he MUST at least reach Scotland then take it from there
I did mention D&G etc Stinkers

He's got Google maps but I reckon rather then obeying instructions, having a simple route
to follow will make the ride easy and simple
so I sent him a short list he can memorise or jot down

He can get to Hereford easily as his folks live there
so all he has to do is break off on to the A417 after Gloucester then just before Leominster get on and follow the A49 to Bamber bridge where he can get on the A6 to Carlisle.
Simple in principle and not too bad a ride but Warrington to just north of Preston will be a bit of a chore I reckon.
The A6 after Preston will be better riding and interesting especially around Shap.
After Greta he'll be in Scotland and will have various options so I left that up to him.
I did suggest he avoids Glasgow & Edinburgh unless he really has to
or wants to.

It does occur that if by say, by some misfortune or ill wind all the L plates fell off, he might accidentally find himself on a motorway!!........
Oh the horror!
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[slowasyoulike]

Good for him, at least he can think big. Most of the L-plated yoofs I see are usually congregated in the nearby Morrisons car park with motocross helmets perched on top of their heads, not riding anywhere.

Even if it goes tits up he'll have an adventure, gain some experience and have plenty of stories to tell

[WD Forte]

At 5pm he texted me to say he was 27 miles south of Bamber Bridge, that's basically Warrington and aiming to get to a mates in Caldbeck (about 13 miles SW of Carlisle) this evening.

So, thats about 164 miles done and 125 to go
before it can rub the lotion on its bum.
That's a good 3-4 hours if not more.
Once he's past Preston I hope he'll be able to eat up the miles a bit more.
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[Robby]

Does he know to check/top up his oil at fuel fill ups?

[WD Forte]

Checking his oil has been one of the few things I've managed to
impress on him but that 's not to say he'll actually do any of the
things I've suggested.

Update:
18:50 and he's just texted me to say he's in Bamber Bridge
oh dear, thats about 30 miles in 2 hours with a good 100 to go.
I knew it would likely be a PITA between Warrington and Preston especially at rush hour.
I haven't told him about Shap Fell, should I ?

nah! experience is the best teacher

19:00
Just had quick chat and he's on the A6 Northbound dual carriageway
so he's managing to get a move on after rushhour in Warrington.
I hope the YBR's 35W headight isn't too crap.
The poor sod thought he'd be at his mates before dark....
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[stinkwheel]

It'll be a dark night over Shap tonight, nearly a new moon. He'll be right, character building. Temperature shouldn't get below double figures and only light drizzle forecast.

I've PMed you my phone number. I'm very near Caldbeck so have a van, ramp, tools and the number of a very local bike breakers for if it starts coming apart at the seams. I finish on-call at 12.30 tomorrow lunchtime then I'm on a half day. I've scooped up more than one BCFer off the roads of Cumbria before today.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[WD Forte]

Thanks for that very decent of you.
Hopefully the bike holds together
I've put 2 engines in that 2010 bike since he got it
The original one was fooked when he bought it
and the replacement didn't last long but the current one sounded sweet last time I worked on it.
I've done quite bit or servicing and remedial work on it and he hasn't reported any problems with it for quite a while.
He's usually on his scoots anyway so I doubt its logged up many miles
but who knows?
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[jeffyjeff]

This is cool. Thanks for posting these updates.
____________________
History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men - BOC

[A100man]

[WD Forte]

[WD Forte]

He got to Caldbeck about 10pm
I've been tracking his progress so far

13/9 Day 1
Departed Severn Beach 13:30 0 miles
A38-A417-A49 N
Warrington 17:00 160 miles 3 1/2 hours
av speed 45 mph, not bad for A roads.

Bamber Bridge 18:50 188 miles 5 1/2 hours
av speed 14 mph! ouch!
lots of traffic and speed cameras everywhere
Get on A6 North at Preston to Caldbeck for stop over
arr. 22:00 279 miles
and av speed of 22.5mph for this stage.
-----------------------------------------------
Average speed over 9 1/2 hours & 279 miles 29 mph

Asked about Shap
Remote, pitch black and poor lights but little traffic
which helped.

14/9 day 2
Caldbeck nice so spending a day to chill out
reminded him to check oil and chain.
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[Polarbear]

Well done him.
____________________
Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[woo]

Sounds like a fun adventure!
I have done something similar but I took my 125cc on the motorway doing 60mph all the way from London to Spean Bridge in the Scottish Highlands one day over the years.
I refuse to do the A roads in one day but over 2 days seems like a fun adventure.
Plus having music makes the journey so much easier.
When he gets to the highlands he needs to be aware the petrol stations are not always open when you expect them to be!!

Went to fill up at 5pm Glengarry petrol station this year and it was shut and I was well into reserve as it was a weekday and I thought that station would be open............wrong, so had to head 7 more miles to Fort Augustus.
A group of 6 bikers turned up had the same issue so I told them about the petrol station at Fort Augustus 7 miles up the road.

He will deffo remember this journey for the rest of his life.
____________________
Elen sila lummen omentielvo!

[mrbox]

I am enjoying the updates, it reminds me as it does others of more innocent times in my biking life
____________________
Current bikes: RE Himalayan, Bandit 12, MZ250ES

[Polarbear]

[A100man]

[WD Forte]

He's still at it.
He left Caldbeck around 9:30am he reckons and has stopped at a camp site just west of Invergarry and called me at 9pm
Faichemard Farm campsite to be exact

That's around 244 miles using the A82 according to Google maps.
If he's been riding for say 9 hours
that's an average speed of 27mph. 8 hours 30.5mph
These are rough estimates of course, no idea how often or how long he stopped for fuel, food and rest

Tommorrow he's off to Skye and will think about whether to get a ferry to Harris or not.
96 miles to Uig so that will be a short day for him
2-3 hours I'd expect.

Bike is running well.
No reason it shouldn't of course, but nice to know

BTW said he saw lots of bikes on the roads on his way up
____________________
bikers smell of wee