Had a ride out on my Ktm 1050 on wed to the lakes , went with two other lads on Ktm 1290 adventure and a gs 1200 , did wrynose and hard knot passes and on to wass valley ,in glorious weather , came back over the passes ,stopped to help a gs rider who had dropped his bike and could not lift it up , then headed on to hawes ,and then a fast ride back home in all 285 m , some off the roads where in poor condition with lots of gravel even tho I love my gtr the 1050 is a perfect bike for single track gravel strewn roads , :biker3:
Its got to be the right weather and the right bike. I went to The Lakes at the beginning of the month. Rained all day. As you say, some smaller roads were covered in muck and bullets and it was a bit of a nightmare on the GTR with wet, off-camber hairpins and a side wind :no:
As many on here know I lived in the Lake District from 1992 until 2014, consequently I've ridden over those passes on a few occasions, and you guys are absolutely correct, they are great in good weather, but still demand utmost care as the gradients and cambers are severe, also other less confident road users can be a serious problem so hang back and give the cloth cap /blue rinse brigade plenty of space for those unexpected manoeuvres :2guns:
In wet weather the road surface is generally covered in crap/crud so extra vigilance is a must
In short these aren't routes for less confident riders :smiley:
I've also done Wrynose (easy) and Hardknott (challenging) many times and in al sorts of weathers. Stunning scenery without a doubt.
Funnily enough I was just talking to Charlie this morning about taking him over Hardknott this coming Sunday.
This is the same Charlie who has form for dropping his bike on smooth tarmac garage forecourts! :whistling:
Quote from: The Wolf on April 23, 2016, 08:44:14 AM
I've also done Wrynose (easy) and Hardknott (challenging) many times and in al sorts of weathers. Stunning scenery without a doubt.
Funnily enough I was just talking to Charlie this morning about taking him over Hardknott this coming Sunday.
This is the same Charlie who has form for dropping his bike on smooth tarmac garage forecourts! :whistling:
:mfr_lol:
Make sure he isn't in his flip flops :mfr_lol:
We did the Hardnott back in 2009 on the way back south from a few days in Scotland. I was on a Multistrada :embarrassed:
The weather was great but of course that brought out the sight seeing blue rinse in their cars which did make things interesting :biker3:
We found some great passes in Portugal the other year, warmer weather but some of the shear drops on the bends were a bit un nerving
Charli can do it in flip flops or otherwise. Prob better to do on his gtr though better handling.
Quote from: PRD on April 23, 2016, 11:33:47 AM
Charli can do it in flip flops or otherwise. Prob better to do on his gtr though better handling.
Yes I agree, do it on the GTR and then if he drops it and every plastic panel shatters at least he still has the best bike to fall back on. :popcorn:
Quote from: The Wolf on April 23, 2016, 01:12:17 PM
Yes I agree, do it on the GTR and then if he drops it and every plastic panel shatters at least he still has the best bike to fall back on. :popcorn:
lol! You are just jealous because you no longer own one!! Hopefully he will be able to find fob before he goes!! And he may be wearing a very nice shirt!
What sort of a shirt?
Someone mention me :innocent: