Kilted Ginger
08-10-06, 10:17 PM
:o Well did the dukes today for only the second time ever :twisted:
It was dry this afternoon for the first time in about 3 weeks so whipped off the seat cowl and clipped the pillion seat back on as the g/f was keen to go for a spin.
Headed out through dunipace, couple of laps of the pirnhall roundabout then hit the A811 from stirling heading to balloch.
Great road, long sweeping bends, good visibility, 80-90 kph all the way :wink:
G/f starting to get some confidence back after last very twitchy ride due to tyres and slipping clutch.
Got to the Azel, crossroads and south (glasgow) and west (balloch) both loooked decidely overcast so headed north to aberfoyle.
Nice run, plenty of overtakes, but traffic surprisingly light.
Hit the first switchbacks and scraped right toeslider (TS) and gave myself a bit of a shock, 3 switches later and left ts down, (remember this is with a pillion)
First half of the run (to the loch) was good ts down apx 5 more times (more through necessity than design, think i was out of 2nd gear twice on this section, couple of the tight ones kept on tghtening and dropping away and was nearly caught out a couple of imes but on the whole I was taking it quite easy and was enjoying it.
The downside was the DP is definately not a road for a pillion, she was getting flung all over the place, nearly dropping off the back to trying to press me into the filler cap, needless to say she did not really enjoy it. Needless to say this was due as much to my riding as the road. I DEFINATELY NEED MORE TRAINING/ PRACTICE/ EXPERIENCE,
Unfortunately the second half of the road was wet for long sections and had a severe case of wet leaf build up so I had to take it very easy although the g/f did enjoy getting airborne on the long straight.
Stop for coffee and Haggis toastie in calander then great run back down through dunblane, doune, br of allan, stirling and home.
All in all a good day out, starting to get confidence back and finding that getting toe down through necessity without thinking about it was a bonus and can only be a good thing. (before if a corner felt too tight / fast i would brake and stand the bike up)
only saw 3 other bikes all day, 1 bmw, 1 gxr and something else, never saw a single bike on the dukes and only 2 tour buses nutty :wink:
Sorry for rambling on but, biking's great and each ad every time i go out I love it more and more :D , even the days where the rains coming down that hard its bouncing back up, thats just another learning experience,
Anyway, take care all and ride safe. :grouphug:
It was dry this afternoon for the first time in about 3 weeks so whipped off the seat cowl and clipped the pillion seat back on as the g/f was keen to go for a spin.
Headed out through dunipace, couple of laps of the pirnhall roundabout then hit the A811 from stirling heading to balloch.
Great road, long sweeping bends, good visibility, 80-90 kph all the way :wink:
G/f starting to get some confidence back after last very twitchy ride due to tyres and slipping clutch.
Got to the Azel, crossroads and south (glasgow) and west (balloch) both loooked decidely overcast so headed north to aberfoyle.
Nice run, plenty of overtakes, but traffic surprisingly light.
Hit the first switchbacks and scraped right toeslider (TS) and gave myself a bit of a shock, 3 switches later and left ts down, (remember this is with a pillion)
First half of the run (to the loch) was good ts down apx 5 more times (more through necessity than design, think i was out of 2nd gear twice on this section, couple of the tight ones kept on tghtening and dropping away and was nearly caught out a couple of imes but on the whole I was taking it quite easy and was enjoying it.
The downside was the DP is definately not a road for a pillion, she was getting flung all over the place, nearly dropping off the back to trying to press me into the filler cap, needless to say she did not really enjoy it. Needless to say this was due as much to my riding as the road. I DEFINATELY NEED MORE TRAINING/ PRACTICE/ EXPERIENCE,
Unfortunately the second half of the road was wet for long sections and had a severe case of wet leaf build up so I had to take it very easy although the g/f did enjoy getting airborne on the long straight.
Stop for coffee and Haggis toastie in calander then great run back down through dunblane, doune, br of allan, stirling and home.
All in all a good day out, starting to get confidence back and finding that getting toe down through necessity without thinking about it was a bonus and can only be a good thing. (before if a corner felt too tight / fast i would brake and stand the bike up)
only saw 3 other bikes all day, 1 bmw, 1 gxr and something else, never saw a single bike on the dukes and only 2 tour buses nutty :wink:
Sorry for rambling on but, biking's great and each ad every time i go out I love it more and more :D , even the days where the rains coming down that hard its bouncing back up, thats just another learning experience,
Anyway, take care all and ride safe. :grouphug: