Stay Safe

[duck-strom]

I know some of you blokes on the forum enjoy visiting my neck of the woods (South of Scotland) to enjoy the roads.

 Please be aware many of the roads are now subject to a 50mph limit due to a spate of fatal accidents involving bikes.

My ride last night came to a stop due to a road closure on the B6357 near Saughtree due to another fatal accident.

Despite what all the bike press say about the great roads,  sweeping bends and beautiful scenery, these roads will quickly catch you out. Most of them are far from race track smooth, you're more likely to encounter potholes, gravel, subsidence and if you look at the scenery too much you'll easily miss any combination of these.

Stay safe ...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj68k4ej6gxo

[nigel s]

Will be interesting to see if it makes a difference to the figures.
I suspect it will ....but just because bikers will now go another way. Hopefully that will be taken into account in the figures. But hold little hope.

In East Anglia many stretches have been reduced to 50 that have almost no accidents ( car or bike ) under the " pretence "  of safety.  I have a completely unproven theory based on using them that is as much a cost cutting exercise as anything else in many cases. When the road is reduced to 50 from a national the need for a higher level of road maintenance seems to drop too. Some of those that were 60 ,now, 50 , the surface has just been left to moulder compared to before, and they weren't that good to start with . ( tinfoil hat off now )

Still ..your warning is welcome..But many who need to take that advice  ( not  the good members on here, seems to me ) are the type who won't  take advice in any case , and  should maybe get some more training 
 As Graingerblazes recent BMW following event over Hardknott Pass showed..it is not always speed is the problem 

[NeilM]

I live in South West England and visit Scotland as often as I can.

I have found many A roads in Scotland to be a lot better maintained than those down here.... however. I have also found that the replaced surface of a road can return to the original surface almost at random, and more than once, especially on roads less used by tourists, I have found a significant change in surface either mid corner, or near the entrance / exit to a corner.

The one I especially remember was on the A839 from Lairg to Ledmore, which is an excellent road on which to 'make good progress'. I was fully loaded on my 650, enjoying the road and half way around a rise and fall left hander (with a blind apex), the surface changed from new, smooth tarmac, to broken, top dressed gravel / tar. The suspension took care of things and we rattled over the horrible bit, but at most I was doing 62 mph, so a more 'sporting gentleman' could easily have found themselves in trouble.

 I've had the same in Devon, where the County decided to top dress, with nice fresh, loose, gravel in random quarter mile sections, one of the most enjoyable roads in the county. That made for a puckering experience... several in fact, as the gravel was so deep that even at 20 to 30mph it was very much like green lane riding.

Keep safe everyone.

[2112]

I noticed the new 50 mph limits on my last ride. It didn't seem to deter most bikers but the Police prescence was quite high. Still a canny enough ride at 50 mph mind 

[duck-strom]

Jeez, if only I listened to my own advice!!

Stopped to take a pic of the scenery, flicked the sidestand out onto the edge of the road, or so I thought.
Next thing I'm stood on one leg in the bottom of a ditch trying to shove the Strom back to vertical, no chance.

No chance of picking it up on my own as it was below horizontal, had to leg it down to the cottage to ask for help.

Amazingly no damage at all, only a small tuft of grass under the gearshift rubber and a bit in the rear footpeg, I did manage to remove the top of the Givi Airflo before I let it completely down as it was going to catch the far side of the ditch.

Only a bit of soreness the next morning but luckily, I couldn't have picked a better spot to fall over. Picture is a bit blurry as I was still puffing a bit from the effort of trying to pick her up on my own.

Think it was Karma getting me back, I'd earlier been chuckling at Charlie Boorman doing a similar trick on the latest episode of Long Way Home.   

[vstroman]

Glad you weren't hurt and the bike survived with minimal damage, those soft road edges can be tricky,
have to say though, 'you can't park there sir'

[UK_Vstrom650]

Not good, but glad you're OK and apart from soreness the only damage is to your pride. Good job someone was around to help you pick it up 

I once nearly rode into a ditch after just setting off, something on the top of the screen caught my eye so I looked at it (a fly!) and inadvertently steered onto the grass verge. If it wasn't slightly banked up I may have rode straight into it 

[Asmith61]

Glad you are OK be it a bit sore.  Not a great place to try to pick it back up, good job there was someone close by to help you 

[2112]

Bugger - pleased you've avoided injury and the bike's escaped too 

I got stuck in a ditch on the way down the Applecross Pass once. A cantankerous old tw@ in a huge campervan insisted that he was coming through regardless. I stopped right at the very edge of the tarmac, only to see the said tarmac give way and I ended up in the ditch. It took a few of us to get the Guzzi V85tt out, but we managed. Luckily, we met the same campervan parked up beside a cafe we were planning to stop at the next day. I still have the valve centres from all 4 tyres in my garage...

[nigel s]

2112,
You give Bikers a bad name...............good work...  

Ho Hum

[nigel s]

As duck-stroms lift was off road......sort of......this may help next time , if solo, 

 There are loads on yt...and I like this bloke, but watch the flat cap....he really needs to get over the bald spot and own it..most of us have 'em...



'corse.... if this bloke had got a 250 Rally, he would never of dropped it anyhoo......no one does that.......... 

Ho Hum

[The Doctor 46]

I wouldn't want to buy a bike off that chap, and his helmet may not be is such great nick either because a part of the video shows it sitting on the ground with the shell down.

Good vid though.   

[MisterDavey]

With the frequency of falling off, it's just as well he's good at picking up bikes....

[nigel s]

Having watched a few of his vids now ... I have a slight interest lately , for obvious reasons ........he is indeed a serial motorcycle abuser...

Ho Hum