Hebrides?

Anyone taken their bike to the Outer Hebrides? Did they strap it down? I'm worried on the two long legs (Ullapool to Stornoway, and Castlebay to Oban) it's going to fall over. I only have a side stand, no center stand.

Thanks

no but I have taken a few bikes over to the isle of man a few times on the steam racket without any problems and some of my bikes only had side stands, when they rope them down they tell you to put it in gear

Even if it had a centre stand they'd tell you to use the side stand and straps. A lot depends on the weather! Last time I went that way HGVs were shifting all over the place. 'Twas not pleasant!

We took the bike on the Uig to Lochmaddy ferry in 2017 and everything was fine. They got us and another bike onto the ferry first and on our own, so there were no cars snapping at our heels when we went up the ramp. The bikes were tied down, under our supervision, with straps that would hold an artic in place, and we were upstairs selecting the best seat on the boat before hardly any cars were even on the boat.

Bikes are always more stable on the side stand.

Leave the bike in first gear, roll forward to take up any chain / transmission slack, lean it on the side stand, turn the bars to the left and engage the steering lock.

If you're tying it down yourself, pull it down on the right side until the weight just starts to come off the side stand, then pull it down on the left until there's a little more than the weight of the bike on the side stand. This assumes you have two straps. If only one, attach it to the deck on the right side of the bike, pass it over the seat (you may want to use your waterproofs to prevent the seat being squashed out of shape) then attach the strap to the deck on the left of the bike and ratchet it down until it's snug.

If you're really paranoid, look for a wheel chock that the trucks use and jam it in front of your rear wheel. Then, the icing on the cake, tie your front brake lever back.

I've seen bikes on centre stands with enough lashings to secure a car and trailer, and I've seen bikes on side stands with a piece of baler twine to prevent it being able to flip over to the right. Never heard of a bike falling over on a ferry since a BMW centre stand failed coming back from the Isle of Man more than 30 years ago.

Cheers guys, the info is much appreciated.

Excellent and accurate advice from everyone. I've taken bikes on various Cal Mac ferries without mishap .

I meant to post an update once I got back, but it slipped my mind...

The route.

New luggage for the trip.

Bike loaded up for a test ride.

Scottish highlands, between showers.

Waiting for the ferry, about to board.

Bike strapped down. Didn't budge and inch on any of the crossings, and it was nasty on the way back to Oban.

Shawbost Norse mill on Lewis.

Loads more photos here, including quite a bit of the prep before leaving.

https://imgur.com/gallery/7SyMCAa

Four years ago I did the Ullapool to Oban section of your trip on a bicycle including a detour out to Callanish stone circle . To be honest, I was too knackered at the end of each day to actually appreciate my surroundings so next year I'm planning to dust off the trusty ER5 and do it by motorcycle .

Well done on an epic trip ! I salute you for doing it on 125's . You have underlined the point that I made a while ago that you don't need a massive Adventure bike to have a massive adventure . Well done again . This is my ER5 at Durness near Cape Wrath two years ago .

You travel light Fastbob. I always end up taking too much. Even when I did Lands End to John O'Groats on a pedal cycle I was overloaded.

Thanks guys, it was a LOT of fun. My riding buddy and I both used to do a lot of cycling, so see 125s as fast bicycles you don't need to pedal. He had only just passed his CBT and bought a bike, so there was no point me taking a bigger bike anyway as he could only ride a 125. To be honest my 125 is probably the most comfortable bike I own anyway with the upright position, soft suspension, and big saddle so I didn't have a problem with it at all, and may use it again for a long tour, especially now I have a proper rack for it. Plus this wasn't a high speed point to point journey. Having said that we did manage 320 miles in one day. I don't think it would have mattered which bike you were riding on most of the little Hebridean roads anyway.

You travel light Fastbob. I always end up taking too much. Even when I did Lands End to John O'Groats on a pedal cycle I was overloaded.

This was my first attempt at the Hebrides . I Cycled from Fort William to Mallaig then through Skye to Uig across to North Uist then all the way to Castle Bay on Barra . Not bad for a bike out of a skip.

Nice, I love a good bike rescue. I had a couple of bikes off 'freegle' back when it was called 'freecycle'.

Went from this:

To this:

Then got a dynohub and internal gear hub upgrade to this:

You travel light Fastbob. I always end up taking too much. Even when I did Lands End to John O'Groats on a pedal cycle I was overloaded.

When I'm Motorbike touring I try to take exactly the same gear that I would take if I was bicycle touring. The gear I take touring / camping has evolved over many years . I wasn't always so organised .

You travel light Fastbob. I always end up taking too much. Even when I did Lands End to John O'Groats on a pedal cycle I was overloaded.

 

When I'm Motorbike touring I try to take exactly the same gear that I would take if I was bicycle touring. The gear I take touring / camping has evolved over many years . I wasn't always so organised .

Do you always take ed sheeran with you

Looks like you had a great trip.

Very cool. Long old trip! And on 125s?! Nuts. Must've needed at least 2 tanks of petrol.

You travel light Fastbob. I always end up taking too much. Even when I did Lands End to John O'Groats on a pedal cycle I was overloaded.

 

When I'm Motorbike touring I try to take exactly the same gear that I would take if I was bicycle touring. The gear I take touring / camping has evolved over many years . I wasn't always so organised .

 

Do you always take ed sheeran with you

Hey , I've still got my hair and it's still the same colour . That ginger warbling gnome probably wasn't born when that picture was taken. What astonishes me is that we're halfway to Scotland on the M6 and I'm not wearing any motorcycle clothing just a faded denim jacket and a big jumper !

Very cool. Long old trip! And on 125s?! Nuts. Must've needed at least 2 tanks of petrol.

Thank you. It was quite fun, when it wasn't raining. At one point (crossing the highlands) I was wearing a waterproof hiking jacket underneath my waterproof riding jacket and I was still soaked to the bone. But it wasn't continuous, so you had a chance to dry out over night. On the way back down it was just a nightmare, raining for about 48 hours straight. That's when we decided to hire a van, mainly to get out of the weather.

Actually I kept a record! I used 64.8L of fuel, filled up 10 times, which cost £86.25. Total distance travelled (excluding the van from the lake district) was 1,345 miles. I averaged 103.5 miles per day and got 238 miles per tank on average (didn't want to push it and run out in the middle of nowhere. I reckon I could have got about 300 miles or close on a full tank). I averaged 89.96mpg (or 3.14L/100km). Cost roughly 6.7p per mile if you take into account the cost of the service prep work I did before hand (excluding tyres), so basically an oil change and brake fluid change.

Looks like you had a great trip.

Yeah, just wish the weather had been a bit nicer. I didn't take any photos when it was raining, so all the photos make it look nice and sunny... But it was still enjoyable overall. I knew it was going to be colder up there, but I was surprised by just how much colder. I had to retune my carb twice, and buy a second sleeping bag to put my normal (and it's a good one, not a cheap synthetic one) bag inside for extra warmth. You live and you learn!

The scenery was just amazing though, would love to go back, and I'd be happy to do it on the same bike too.

Yup it's grim when it rains, I've done walking up there and had an entire week when it rained. But it's all fantastic scenery and I prefer it when it looks stormy.

what bike is that traily

Mine's a 2006 Honda XR125L (uses the same engine as a CG125) and my buddy's bike is a 2019 Mutt Motorcycles Blackest Sabbath (EFI clone of the GN125 engine).