Got the chance to go out for a bike ride on Sunday which was totally unexpected. My mother and father in law are staying with us at the moment and I’d woken up early and then fed Hannah, our 2-week-old daughter at about 8am.
My wife came down not long after and suggested I ride the bike down to Inveraray and she, Hannah and her mum and dad would meet me at the George in Inveraray for a spot of lunch.
I was going to take a Harley-Davidson that I have to road test but opted for the Buell XB12S Lightning instead, fitting it with my new wide-angled bullet camera to record some on-bike video with before I left.
I started off in Dumbarton and followed the A82 for about 10 miles then tuned left onto the A817, Glen Fruin Road which cuts across Glen Fruin. Locally this road is known as the Military Road, on account of it being owned by them, allegedly. It’s a very well maintained, fast section of road with some belting corners to boot. There’s a particularly nice Shell Gripped up-hill left-hander near the end of the road which is about as close to heaven a piece of tarmac can get.
At the end of the A817 you can either turn left and head for fish and chips at Helensburgh or turn right which takes you if you choose to Arrochar. The A814, the road to Arrochar is interesting to say the least. It starts of fairly uneventfully as you pass by the famous Green Kettle, which used to be a tearoom but is now I believe a private residence.
Once by the Ocean at Portincaple, a popular spot for diving the road gets very, very interesting. It’s known locally as the Washboard, and it’s aptly named. The surface condition, camber and just about every aspect of the road changes from one corner to the next, of which there must be about 30. Throw suicidal sheep into the mix and you know you’re guaranteed an eventful 20 minutes. On the R1 it’s really not that enjoyable as I usually end up crushing my nads on the tank at least once but on the Buell it was great fun. The torquey motor and huge low-down punch combined with the short wheelbase and wide bars made chuching the Lightning about on such a changable road a doddle.
The sleepy, pictuesque town of Arrochar sits at the end of the A814 in the shadows of the Arrochar Alps. A group of Corbets and Munros dominated by the anvil-like outline of The Cobbler.
I met my mate Scott in Arrochar, he rides a Ducati 900SS, one of the older carb models rather than the newer (and not as pretty in my opinion) FI models.
Whilst chatting at the petrol station we saw a large group of Harley-Davidson’s go by, a rather awe-inspiring sight to see and hear, how the Battle of Britain might have sounded had it been fought at ground level. We donned gloves and helmets and followed the procession of Harleys, who turned out to be members of the Clyde Valley HOG.
We’re now on the A83, which is the route to take if you’re heading for Inveraray, Dunoon, Campbeltown and the Machrihanish peninsula. It’s a fast road with some breath-taking scenery which means it’s chock full of tourists…great for the economy, bad for bikers. In recent years there’s been a few accidents involving bikers and the police are very active in the area so we decided to take it easy.
The view from the top of the aptly named Rest And Be Thankful is superb and it’s well worth stopping here for that alone. There’s also a fantastic left-hander just before it.
We got to Inveraray not long afterwards and had a really good run, the Harley guys cut off towards Dunoon and we didn’t see much more traffic. There was probably about 20 parked up in Inveraray, the usual mix of sportsbikes, hacks and everything in between.
My missus and the out laws arrived not long after we did and we all headed up to The George. I suspect The George has a new chef as the menu has definetly changed for the better. Portions were smaller, much less of a challenge which was nice and the quality of the food was much better. Service was as usual excellent and the prices are as far as I can remember the same. I’d strongly recommend it to anyone travelling in the area.
My wife and the outlaws were going wandering round the tourist shops so Scott and I decided to head back. The run to Arrochar was fairly uneventful, quite a bit busier than it had been on the way down to Inveraray.
All in all a great day out on the bikes, hopefully neither of us picked up any speading tickets though you never really know.
If you’re gonna do this run keep a close eye on your speedo as there are a lot of Police in the area, both marked and un-marked on two and four wheels. There are also a lot of tourists and sightseers so expect the unexpected, especially drivers on the wrong side of the road, sudden braking to stop and take pictures and unexpected u-turns.
Links:
The George Hotel
Clyde Valley HOG
Buell XB12S Lightning
Action Cams
Here’s a short video shot from on board the bike, the mount wasn’t terribly good so there’s a lot of vibration and the microphone positioning was rubbish but it’s worth a look.
Filed under: BUELL, GENERAL NEWS, MOTORBIKE, Uncategorized
