Mr Wolf and Rusty head to The Highlands .....

[Rusty]

Well, after much planning ( not by me obviously ! ) and much excitement I finished work yesterday to start a few days Annual Leave. Panniers packed, not with much though, and a tank of fuel this morning I headed North to somewhere called Bradford .... Steve lives here ( crikey ! ) .... Well someone has to ... And here I find myself being very well looked after and pampered by "The Wolfes" .....
In the early hours of tomorrow we are off to the west side of Scotland taking in beautiful scenery, historic sites and hopefully some fine Scottish hospitality. Mr Wolf .... Steve .... Will be in charge of most things ... Photos, posts and general directions whilst I take it all in and enjoy ! It will no doubt be a cracking few days and we hope to keep you posted with a daily drip feed of our adventures ...... 
Lets just hope it stays dry !!! 

[O.C.]

Good luck, ride safe and enjoy fellas.

Plenty pics are expected when you return 

[Rossendale Rider]

Have a good trip fellas. Enjoy the scenery, fantastic roads, friendly people, the occasional wee dram .... :censored:rds.

[Debs]

Well done Rusty for getting yourself further north than Watford Gap...    Be careful you dont get a nose bleed..  

[Silverback]

Rusty, LW,

Have a brilliant time, ride safe, and enjoy the wonderful scenery

SB

[O.C.]

I was thinking that we should really expect you both to provide a daily update, so I hope you've got your notebooks and pencils with you    

Enjoy   

[Boomer]

I was thinking that we should really expect you both to provide a daily update, so I hope you've got your notebooks and pencils with you    

Up where they are going high speed communications are still done with pigeons. 
Have fun guys and sink a malt and a pint for me at the Applecross Inn.

[Lonewolf]

OC it goes without saying that there will be updates daily. We're currently at Loch Lomond enjoying an ice cream

[mecki]

If you do the West coast and Fort William going via Kinlochleven is a must!
IMO one of the best roads in Scotland. 

[O.C.]

OC it goes without saying that there will be updates daily. We're currently at Loch Lomond enjoying an ice cream

LW I hope that's not what you call an update...

[Lonewolf]

There will be more. We're settled in the hotel now, just need to upload some pics to photobucket and then get them on here.

[Lonewolf]

Well day one is drawing to a close. I'm sat here in a lovely hotel in Glencoe opposite Rusty, we've just had some locally produced beef which was terrific and now its time to put a few pics on of what we've been doing today.


We set off at 6am from Bradford this morning, first stop of the day was Kirkby Lonsdale and it was deserted, even the snack bar was closed. Rusty kept saying, "Did you see those sheep, did you see those fields". I tried to tell him that it was nothing special but it seems he's not used to seeing such sights.





We had a bit of drizzle on route to The Bridge but nothing too bad. Next stop the M6, yes the M6 Geoff. Again Rusty was shocked at how little traffic there was on it. We made good progress travelling North avoiding the lens of a speed camera on one of the bridges.


First fuel stop was at Abingdon, Rusty went into the lorry park and suddenly realised the GTR doesn't run on diesel so sheepishly returned to where he should have been in the first place. The bikes returning 58 mpg so far which is pretty good considering the pace we were setting.












As we entered Scotland Rusty let out a triumph "Yes" and threw his fist up in the air, he was getting giddy, I can see I'm going to have to keep an eye on him over the next few days!


We had some inspiring overtakes on sweeping roads and made really good time before stopping at Tarbet in Loch Lomond for an ice cream. We had an 88 as opposed to a 99 because the assistant had run out of flakes so put a kit Kat stick in instead.


There were some local bobbies there relaxing after a hard days graft cycling around who we got talking to. In fairness they did explain the dangers of working where they did and to be honest I could relate to what they were saying.





We then decided that we'd take the GTR's down by the Loch to try and do an arty shot, as usual Rusty couldn't help but perform for the camera.








I have to say at this point that the GTR has been outstanding on the trip, totally awesome, and met every demand asked of it. It's just a shame that its filthy now, hopefully it'll rain and wash some of the crap off.


We made our way into the Trossachs where after stopping for some directions at a local garage we saw this German couple on an interesting bike and sidecar rig.








That beard is a bit wild!


Our Police friends who we had met earlier warned us that there was a mobile speed camera on route to Glencoe on the long straight section which could pick you off at over 3 kilometres. That's something not to be taken lightly so we trundled along at a steady rate as we entered the Scottish Highlands.







Further down the road there had been a nasty accident where a biker had been t-boned by a car and who had to be airlifted to hospital. Hopefully he will be ok, his mate said it was more of a precaution than anything else as he had banged his head on the car. Fingers crossed he's back home now, safe and well.


As we approached the village of Glencoe we pulled over for a few photo opportunities, Rusty insisted that his bike be in the foreground, something to do with green ones being better!





Did I mention earlier that Rusty was in a constant state of giddiness?





This is a typical view looking up one of the valleys as you near Glencoe village. Possibly the photo doesn't do the scene justice but it was awesome.





We struggled to find our hotel and tried to book into another one with a similar sounding name before the receptionist informed us that we definitely did not have a booking at her hotel. Eventually we pulled up in a lay by and rang the hotel asking for directions, when asked where we were now and we provided a landmark, the receptionist informed us that we were outside the hotel!  How stupid did we feel, personally I blame Rusty as he didn't see the four inch squared brass plate by the hotel door as we drive past.

A few drinks, some decent food and that was us settled for the evening. The following morning, the weather was reasonable & I found Rusty outside surveying the traffic and having a cuppa.

Breakfast is served M'Lord 







We asked the waitress to take a piccy, bit blurred but it's better than the attempt of the guy at The Bridge who couldn't master pressing the shutter.


After our Scottish brekkie we headed out to Fort William and Spean Bridge stopping at the Commando Memorial. You could say it was raining a bit!



Next port of call was Eilean Donan Castle before heading to our accommodation in Skye.



From Eilean Donan we used the Glenelg Ferry.



Eight miles down a single track lane which twisted like a snake, riddled with pebbles and my glasses were steaming up. It wasn't an easy journey to the ferry.
I have to admit I was apprehensive about getting the GTR on the ferry. Riding up the slippery metal ramp, parking the GTR on the saturated wooden planks which rattled as each car drove onto the ferry and then everything in reverse at the other side. I have to admit I was glad when we landed on the other side!



Even the staff on the boat didn't seem to be enjoying the weather.



So now on the Isle of Skye we headed to Tallisker Distillery which was pretty close to the hotel we were staying at. Two bottles of the local syrup purchased and time to head to the hotel.

The Sligachan Hotel, I couldn't believe the size of the rooms, they were massive.







More drinks and local pheasant was eaten before returning next door to the main hotel where Rusty noticed his bike was toppling over. Must be a green thing cause mine was right next to it and stable as anything.
Midges, bloody midges were everywhere. A quick trip opposite the hotel to the river where I tried to take an arty photo or two.





Have to admit I was happy with those.

The following morning another fry up was scoffed while keeping a watchful eye on the bikes.






From Skye we headed back down the A82 towards Culloden battlefield and then out towards Fort George. Now although Fort George was only 5 miles from Culloden battlefield we did a 60 round trip didn't we Rusty. Sat nav's are bloody brilliant aren't they?

Late afternoon we landed at our next accommodation at West Lewiston, Glen Rowan, run by a retired DS. I've stayed before and very pleasant it is too. It must be on the quietest street in Scotland.






Lovely gardens with a trout river at the bottom. Although the odd salmon has been known to wander up apparently.



The owner Alistair and his wife Vanessa are more than happy for us bikers to put their machines in his large double garage and he has a drying room should you need it. Very reasonable rates too.


Evening meal at the Lochness Inn just further down the street, beautiful soup starter, Cullen Sciven I think it was called and then a big juicy steak to finish off with.







Breakfast was described as a Scottish heart attack, (by Alistair), not us I hasten to add.



Our host.



Saying goodbye, he's a keen biker is Alistair but understandably with the business he doesn't get out as much as he would like.




From West Lewiston we had about 250 miles to do to reach a favourite haunt of mine, Portpatrick on the West Coast.

The Waterfront Hotel. A Gem as Rusty described it.



This cute little dog was quite fond of my GTR, Rusty will no doubt put the other half of the photo on soon.




I cant remember exactly what time we got back to my place, we stopped off at The Bridge to wait for someone.....but they never showed up.

The stats. Total mileage and MPG not that I was that bothered about the MPG it's just the way things worked out.




I couldn't let Rusty go home without having a proper Bradford curry so that's exactly what we did. You can't beat a bit of curry with your naan bread can you?

[Rusty]

Well Steve has done the usual cracking write up ... Me ? Spent an hour or so doing the same only to find that my pictures are massive and I can't paste them over to the forum ... I blame this sodding iPad ( like all things, it's fantastic most of the time ! ) but of course the problem is me and my thick fingers ... The final straw ..... ? ..... me deleting what I had just written so before I throw my teddy in the corner and this IPad into the Loch I shall bid you all a good night and when Steve has stopped giggling at my incompetence I may just find the time to post something about this great great trip we are on ! 

[O.C.]

Great stuff you two, and lovely pictures as well. it looks like you're having a good trip, I hope it continues that way and that the weather is kind to you

BTW You would have almost certainly been able to see the imprint of mine and Geoffs arses on that very bit of wall at the Bridge, where it gets extremely 'bike busy' at weekends, hence the "bikes only Parking" restriction for Saturdays. Sundays and Bank Holidays ...yeah really !

Enjoy yourselves and keep the posts coming   

[STMGTR]

Enjoy your trip lads and ride safely....some friends and I heading over to Applecross during the week for a couple of days ride.