I had a very interesting and remarkably eventful run out on the tigger. The day started with a rendezvous with Morpethmatt at Fairmoor garage which is just off the A1 North of Morpeth. It started to go 'udders skywards' when Matt's GS got away from him and he tested the integrity & quality of the SW Motech engine bars, this is before even leaving the garage. SW Motech have done a great job in designing the bars as no other part of the GS hit the ground and they only suffered a bit of chipped paint, very impressive. So, after picking the GS up (surprisingly easy I have to say) we headed off West for a run to Kielder Reservoir. Only 20 mins into the run and we found a stricken chap on an 850GS who had ended up in a ditch and the bike was stuck fast. He's got a wheel onto the grass, lost control and slid into a 2' deep gully which did not want to give up the GS without a fight. Much struggling, grunting and straining between the three of us saw the GS freed from it's boggy captor. The bike was covered in mud & grass and we left him to pick it clean after a thankful handshake.
We had a nice run to Kielder through Bellingham but discovered to our dismay that none of the cafe's had opened yet. Bugger, we headed up to Kielder Castle (cafe closed) and then it was off to Jedburgh via some tiny little back roads and a very welcome pot of tea & bacon sammich at the Abbey Bridge Coffee House. From there we hit the little roads and headed to Wooler via Kirk Yetholm and stopped for another cuppa and a scone (we're not animals after all...).
It was in Wooler I noticed Matt's bike was quite clean while mine was absolutely minging. Hmmm, perhaps those 'Mudsling' plastic's you get for GS' really do work ? Anyhow, we had a nice run home through Longframlington & Longhorsley before heading in our own directions at Morpeth. I had a new pair of Merlin Adventure boots on and after one or two missed gear changes at the start of the day they started to break in really well and I can tell they will be like slippers in a few months time. Will they be waterproof ? Probably not but I can live with that. A furious amount of soapy love saw the tigger restored to it's former glory. Great day out