Forums
475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - Printable Version

+- Forums (https://www.carpe-tdm.net)
+-- Forum: Cake Meet Up (https://www.carpe-tdm.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=7)
+--- Forum: Ride Reports (https://www.carpe-tdm.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=50)
+--- Thread: 475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms (/showthread.php?tid=1066)

475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - fixitsan - 29-08-2021

My pal wanted a weekend away on the bike as a pillion so we decided on a 2 day trip, 1 day up to Inverness via some popular biking routes and back through the Cairngorms country park

The trip up was made great due to sunshine all the way, heading north west from Stirling, we turned off towards Aberfoyle to take int he Duke's Pass and rejoin the main road to Tyndrum, for lunch at the Green Welly (irresistible Cullen Skink) .

Bumped into an old pal in the carpark so that was an added bonus. We discussed suspension and how my bike's rear shock has almost died.

The rest of the day took us through Glencoe (via Glen Etive), where a blind pickup driver pulled out in front at the last second....... on to Fort William, then Fort Augustus. The Highlands had never looked better. We hit every swing bridge over the Caledonian Canal so there was a small traffic queue at each one, whcih made my pal laugh when we just overtook the lot of the cars and jumped to the front. Cheeky Wink

The bike was superb all day, the nearly worn Angel GT tyres were a difficult decision - change them for new ones before heading off, or rely on them being a known quantity, I chose the later, inflated the front to 34 and the rear to 38psi  and it turned out to be fine.

A night in Inverness with good food and local music, and a leisurely start at 9.30 heading south, with a fuel stop at Aviemore, where I met another old pal who was in Harley mode with his HOG chapter, and they had already made a plan which matched the first part of our trip so we tagged along behind as far as Tomintoul, where we parted company.

The next hour or two was spent riding through the ski resorts, and back into Perthshire, down through Perth and then Fife, avoiding the motorway.

 

As for the bike it couldn't have done better, not least of all considering we clocked over the 109,000 mile mark yesterday. ('02 bike on a '04 plate, TDM900)

I weigh 17 stone, my mate weighs about the same, and we had 2 Givi E21 panniers on, but, despite that, and despite the  '-1'  16 tooth front sprocket (superb mod for taking a pillion up hills) , and despite the remap and disablement of the overrun fuel cutoff, we've clocked 197 miles today since filling up in Aviemore, there's still 1 bar on the fuel meter so I reckon 220 miles would have been possible.so it's hard to fault fuel consumption........It definitely needs that new shock though

 

 

EDIT -just realised the low fuel  consumption I mentioned is arrived at through the  -1 front sprocket....1/17th overstated, or 6% overreading ...so my 220 mile estimate is probably actually 205 - 210 miles, on a standard sprocket.  Still happy with that !

 

 

Another surprise were the Cardo Scala Q1 intercoms. You can select different functions for audio, bluetooth music, mobile phone calls, and a rider  to passenger intercom function, as well as standby mode (in standby mode they can last for days i think)  They did over 5 hours each day (recharged overnight)  with the intercom permanently activated while we yacked in 'full duplex'. The in helmet speakers aren't too powerful so we used in-ear type headphones plugged into the socket for the helmet speakers.

 

Can't find faults with the TDM really, given it's age and mileage, Without question it's been the best value for money bike I've had



475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - drewpy - 29-08-2021

sounds like you had a great few days. weather is amazing atm as friends are on the NC500



475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - fixitsan - 30-08-2021

Quote:sounds like you had a great few days. weather is amazing atm as friends are on the NC500

 

Saturday was full sun all day, warm all the way, even up through Glencoe.

 

Sunday was a bit overcast with a heavy dew in the morning, but by lunchtime the sun was out again and followed us home.

 

Probably couldn't have been luckier !


475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - dapleb - 30-08-2021

Lubbly. What a noice ting to do for yer mate.

475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - fixitsan - 30-08-2021

Quote:Lubbly. What a noice ting to do for yer mate.

 

He gets his last eye operation in a few weeks which will either stabilise things as they are, improve things slightly, or make it much worse. Rather him than me !

I just rode the bike, and drank the beer Smile


475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - Studley Ramrod - 30-08-2021

Nice trip. :good: Thanks for sharing.


475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - fixitsan - 30-08-2021

[Image: 3E1A2F0B00000578-4302072-image-m-2_1489167169237.jpg]

 

 

Of course, we took in Glen Etive

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTRyoHFWjSY



475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - fixitsan - 30-08-2021

Rannoch Moor

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-XbIHtudi0



475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - bjorge - 30-08-2021

Quote: We discussed suspension and how my bike's rear shock has almost died.


I scrolled through the shed the other day to find all TDM-related stuff to go with the bike and found the old shock from Sidestand's 9er. It has made some 27k miles. I'd give it away if you cover the freight - some £40 or thereabout. Or do you want a proper shock, maybe? 😁

475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - fixitsan - 31-08-2021

Quote:I scrolled through the shed the other day to find all TDM-related stuff to go with the bike and found the old shock from Sidestand's 9er. It has made some 27k miles. I'd give it away if you cover the freight - some £40 or thereabout. Or do you want a proper shock, maybe?
Thanks for the offer Bjorge, it's very generous of you. I had to have a think about it.

On one hand I fancy another bike, but on the other I wouldn't get very much money back for selling a 900 with 109,000 miles, and it's going well.

I don't want to spend much on suspension for such an old bike, but, I just fitted Bilstein shocks to my car (B6 front, B4 rear) and the difference is night and day, so I'm thinking I might invest in a decent rear shock to enjoy, and sell it on if I lose the bike for some reason.

Thanks again



475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - bjorge - 31-08-2021

Quote:Thanks for the offer Bjorge, it's very generous of you. I had to have a think about it.

On one hand I fancy another bike, but on the other I wouldn't get very much money back for selling a 900 with 109,000 miles, and it's going well.

I don't want to spend much on suspension for such an old bike, but, I just fitted Bilstein shocks to my car (B6 front, B4 rear) and the difference is night and day, so I'm thinking I might invest in a decent rear shock to enjoy, and sell it on if I lose the bike for some reason.

Thanks again
I totally get it Smile - the stock isn't exactly superb...


475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - bjorge - 31-08-2021

..but if anyone else would need it - you'd save it from the bin 😁

475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - fixitsan - 31-08-2021

Quote:..but if anyone else would need it - you'd save it from the bin

 

Why not put an advert in the for sale section ?

 

By the way have you any experience of YSS shocks ? They're the cheapest option at about £220, rising to about £450 for an Ohlins, with Bitubo and others in between

 

Spoilt for choice !


475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - bjorge - 01-09-2021

Quote: 

Why not put an advert in the for sale section ?

 

By the way have you any experience of YSS shocks ? They're the cheapest option at about £220, rising to about £450 for an Ohlins, with Bitubo and others in between

 

Spoilt for choice !
 

No, haven't tried the YSS. Experience with Nitron, Wilbers and soon Ohlins  Tongue .

 

Will put it in For Sale!


475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - fixitsan - 02-09-2021

Quote: 

No, haven't tried the YSS. Experience with Nitron, Wilbers and soon Ohlins  Tongue .

 

Will put it in For Sale!

 

I've been watching MT-09 shocks on ebay, they seem to be a perfect fit, however the spring needs to be increased in strength to suit the 900 due to the different setup.

 

The Ohlins  S46DR1 for the 900, costs a fair bit more than the S46DR1  for some other bikes, yet they're pretty much the same item , apart from spring rates, so I've found a couple of sellers who will change out the spring for free and still give the benefit of the lower price.

 

Need to wait for payday though, they're still spendy


475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - bjorge - 02-09-2021

Quote: 

I've been watching MT-09 shocks on ebay, they seem to be a perfect fit, however the spring needs to be increased in strength to suit the 900 due to the different setup.

 

The Ohlins  S46DR1 for the 900, costs a fair bit more than the S46DR1  for some other bikes, yet they're pretty much the same item , apart from spring rates, so I've found a couple of sellers who will change out the spring for free and still give the benefit of the lower price.

 

Need to wait for payday though, they're still spendy


I received a S46DR1S for the Tracer yesterday, really excited to see how it changes the feel of the bike. Also expect to reveal that front forks - although seemingly enhanced on this model - are not up there😐. I haven't found shim stack type valves fitting this model, only Ohlins cartridges which cost an arm and a leg.

475Miles Up The Trossachs And Down The Cairngorms - fixitsan - 02-09-2021

Quote:I received a S46DR1S for the Tracer yesterday, really excited to see how it changes the feel of the bike. Also expect to reveal that front forks - although seemingly enhanced on this model - are not up there. I haven't found shim stack type valves fitting this model, only Ohlins cartridges which cost an arm and a leg.
:good: