Scotland

[Hinch]

Just got back with my son from a 2 day 700 mile round trip to Scotland and back in atrocious weather and not a single complaint from our trusty Africa twin. We had every weather imaginable, rain, sleat, snow, minus 5 degees, dense freezing fog and, strange as it may seem for Scotland, even a little bit of sun. So..........

The Highs
· Not falling off (The laws of physics, ice and slippery surfaces suggests we should have slid down the road at least a dozen times)
· Haggis, tatties and neeps in a whiskey and cream sauce on Saturday night (oh and several drams with the local highland clan)
· Awesome scenery
· A 5-6 mile off-road ride along a trail in Northumberland on the way home today
· Log fires in pubs
· Oh............ and riding an Africa Twin of course

The Lows
· My son melting his plastic over-boot on the exhaust. (you have to remove the exhaust guard to fit the Zega panniers, anyone know how to remove molten plastic from the exhaust???)
· Bad weather including the rain freezing on to our visors
· Deleting all the waypoints in the Sat Nav by accident.
· Ive gotta go to work tomorrow.

Part of the reason for our trip was to prepare and familiarise for a trip to Morocco in March and test out some gear so.............

Whats Hot?
· Touratech's Zega Panniers
· Continental TKC 80 Tyres - never skipped a beat
· Road Angel 7000 Adventurer - Will never leave home without it again.
· Oxford Hot Hands. Being a kinds sort of a chap I wrapped them around the grab handles for my 13 year old son instead of the handle bars.
· Gortex boots and gloves. Costa fortune but well worth it.
· Autocom 200 rider-pillion system (transforms long distance touring and stops you singing to yourself)

Whats Not?
· Toratech's handlebar mounted map case. They leak
· Not being able to leave the exhaust guard on with the panniers.
· Left hand grab handle is hindered by the touratech Zega frame kit.
· Silk inner gloves -Didn't feel any difference with them (come to think of it didnt feel anything at all my hands were so cold)
But the ultimate question. Was it worth it?

Oh yes

Uploaded 3 pictures on the site in the gallery but i am not sure how to insert them into a thread so you can view them there.

[tonyk]

Hi,
great report,thats a hard core trip good trial run,dont think youll have to endure the same weather conditions on the big trip ,keep us posted be interested to see what your kit end up been before the big trip.

regards

Tony K

[Chad]

nice one and that infos a real help for anybody setting up for touring

scotlands ace innit