Sighting ride to the Lakes

[sagalout]

After buying the bike this week, and going on holiday tomorrow, I decided to get up early and make the most of some decent british weather for a change.  I live in North Yorkshire, so have the dales and the lakes on my doorstep.  I'm not into trails riding (yet) so this was to be roads only, but some very minor unnamed ones - the sort I've never been down before on a sportsbike.

I planned the route using the excellent googlemaps and http://houghi.org/tomtom/index.php - you probably all know about this site, but for those that dont, it allows you to plan your routes using google maps, dragging out the roads and routes, then paste the link into that site and it creates the waypoints as a TomTom ITN file.


Heres the route

All started off well - I actually got up on time for once and headed out towards Ripon/Masham.  The bike feels lovely, with that distinctive triple whistle and bags of torque, making the windy country roads a real pleasure.

Just north of Leyburn:



Continued to head on through some fantastic scenery - unnamed roads I hadnt ever been on before and they are right on my doorstep.



Then came near disaster :(  After taking the shots below just passed buttertub pass, I got back on the bike and headed back toward the road.  Unfortunately the mud was a lot softer than I realised, the wheel spun up and the bike went down.  I should have got a shot of the poor downed tiger, but I was too pannicked and just wanted to haul it back up.





I was so ****** off I was really considering going home, but decided to ride to Hawes first, a lovely little market town with a great bikers cafe.  A cup of coffee to steady the nerves and a good look around the bike and I decided to press on.  It was only the front right indicator that wasnt working - I'd just have to be extra careful when overtaking!

So, pushed on towards Kirkby Stephen, when sun began to really shine and the roads opened up into some glorious twisties.  The bike really surprises me here.  I'm pretty sure I'm no slower than I was on the sportsbike point to point - you just have to be a lot smoother, which is a rewarding way to ride anyway.







By now I was about 90 miles in, and within Cumbria/The lake district. I found a little road down to Haweswater, which is a lake I havent been to before.  Unfortunately it came to a dead end so I had to head back towards Ullswater, one of the major lakes.  This was taken over some estate land on single track roads/lanes.  Very pleasant just cruising along and not meeting a single other vehicle.

Haweswater:





Ullwater:



From Ullswater it was a climb up Kirkstone pass, a 25 degree climb that the Tiger just devoured.  Stopped at the top for a quick beer.

View from the top of kirkstone pass:



From here I was running out of time, so took the main A65 road back home, stopping at Devils bridge, which is a fairly major bike meet point through the summer.  Again, the bike provided ample power to cruise between 60 and 100mph on the short dual carriage ways and A roads home






So that was my ride.  205 miles and I feel like I'm starting to get used to the bike.  No real aches or pains when I got home, so thats all good.  its just the manouvering around I'm struggling with.  I was terrified of dropping it after earlier in the day.  I think I need to find a car park and just practise slow control and balance - its so different to the zx9 which I could ride at walking pace no problem.

More to the point I'm loving the ability to tackle roads that the ZX9 just wasnt happy on.  Whilst they look smooth in the photos, they are bumpy and potholed as hell on a sportsbike.  I've found about 100 miles of roads today I've never been on before, and these are all close by.  With the googlemaps routeplanning it seems to have opened up a whole new world of biking, and for the first time ever I'm actually taking in the scenery :)

[fano]

Then came near disaster  After taking the shots below just passed buttertub pass, I got back on the bike and headed back toward the road. Unfortunately the mud was a lot softer than I realised, the wheel spun up and the bike went down. I should have got a shot of the poor downed tiger, but I was too pannicked and just wanted to haul it back up.

Now that you got it out of the way, you will have more fun. Dropping the bike off road is really not big deal.  :lol:

[Stretch]

Not a big deal at all.  Unless one is a skilled trials rider, it is to be expected.  I was pretty ticked off the first time I dropped mine, but it was at zero speed (just got off balance and my foot slipped trying to straighten it up).  The engine guards and Jesse cases kept the damage to nil.

I would strongly recommend engine guards (crash bars).  Touratech and Thunderbike seem to be the most popular ones.  One drop with the handlebars turned the wrong way, and the gas tank is toast.

BUT...

Glad you got your fist Tiger Drop out of the way with minimal damage.

Thanks for the ride report.  Great pics.  Now that I've ridden Alaska, my next Big Bike Trip is going to be the British Isles.  Don't know when, as I'm going to have to pay for Alaska before I can save for the UK.  But some day...

Happy Trails.

[fano]

Engine guards are definitely a must. At least for me  :D