I've just returned from a 1300 mile round trip to the Orkney Islands. I went with two pals, Dave on a Triumph 1200 trophy, and Mike on his KTM Super Adventure. The journey started from near Liverpool in North west England, Dave and I rode up on Thursday afternoon to Mikes apartment in Edinburgh, it rained for most of our 200 miles except for the last 50 or so from Moffatt on the A701. This is a stonking road for a bike, fast straights, sweeping bends, hills, valleys great views and very little traffic, and no cops.
We left Edinburgh on Friday morning in rain, we passed through Perth and headed up to Glenshee, Braemar, past the Lecht ski centre and into Grantown on Spey for the evening. We stayed at the Fir Hall Guest house which was excellent and just a short walk from the town centre. We spent a very pleasant evening in Craig Bar, lots of military and in particular RAF memorabilia throughout. Excellent beer and a great speciality pie menu.
Saturday morning gave even heavier rain as we rode up the Scottish east coast along the A9 towards John O' Groats and the ferry port at Gills Bay, the wind was very strong and the ferry crossing an hour long, was rough. We arrived on Orkney main island at 2.45pm to more heavy rain, we were starting to get a bit cheesed off, my goretex lined boots had started to leak, and everyones gloves were waterlogged. We had a 15 mile ride to our guest house (Karrawa) in Kirkwall, we crossed a few causeways en route and saw some of the old ships that had been sunk between the islands to prevent German subs getting to the British fleet that was anchored in Scapa Flow during both world wars. The only exploring done this day was of the pubs in Kirkwall.
Sunday morning the weather improved a little, so we visited several of the tourist venues including the ancient stone circles, and the Neolithic village at Scara Brae, the famous village of Twatt that keeps getting it's place name sign stolen, the distillery etc. The landscape is hilly and bleak, no trees to be seen (probably to windy for trees) we did around 90miles riding that day.
On Monday morning we visited the Italian chapel that was built by ww2 Italian POWs and tried to get to the Balfour gun battery on the cliff tops, but access has recently been denied because of safety concerns. Back on the ferry to Gills bay at 11.50am then a 150 mile ride along the top of Scotland, down the North west coast to Ullapool. This part of our journey was fantastic, the rain had stopped the wind dropped and the roads were drying out. Motorcycle heaven, the views along this route are magnificent, and some very fast riding can be had quite safely as there is very little traffic, the roads have a grippy surface and the population is scarce. we arrived at the Dromnan guest house at about 6pm invigorated after our very brisk ride.
There are plenty of pubs and places to eat in Ullapool, the Ferry Boat inn is OK, but we ended up at the Arch Inn for several pints of An Teallach and Chilliburgers.
Tuesday was even better, the sun was out, blue sky in abundance until we got to Glencoe, but it often gets dark and murky there (some would say dark and mysterious) Our route took us via Loch Ness south shore, to Fort Bill, then Glencoe, Crianlarich and on to Stirling where we jumped the motorway back to Mikes place in Edinburgh. A curry and several lagers were consumed at a nearby restaurant. Then today at 0930 dave and I headed south again for Liverpool back down the A701, and the A6 avoiding as much motorway as possible. A quick brew at Devils Bridge and home in time for tea, all on dry roads with sunshine most of the way.
My S10 fuel consumption never dropped below 50mpg sometimes showing 56mpg, which considering some of the very naughty speeds isn't too bad. The KTM averaged around 45mpg and the Triumph 38mpg (imperial) The KTM may have an extra 40bhp over the S10 but it never really showed, and Mike is a quick rider. I think the S10 offers so much more value for money against the KTM, I don't think the Austrian bike is worth an extra £5000 over the Yamaha, even if Mikes arse was kept warm by his heated seat.
Photos to follow.