Scotland it is!
Taking a Great Rides BMW GS out onto the road, my first impression - after years of owning sports bikes like my current R1 - was ‘what the hell had I done?’ It was like I had ridden into a different dimension!
60 minutes later, it was time for the mandatory coffee and flapjack stop at the wonderful northbound M6 Tebay services. Already, I was debating the pros and cons of the handling of such different machines. The R1, with its race track suspension, gives a much more definite feel to what the front wheel in particular is doing - but when that largely comprises jolting from one road repair to another with not much in between, the end result is a jiggly, bumpy ride with only the occasional good corner line. On the GS however, its real world suspension just soaks up the ‘interference’ of different surfaces, leaving you with a much greater feel of being in control and a far better average of ‘perfect’ corners!
So much did the BMW inspire that the usual blast straight up the M74 and M8 motorways through Glasgow and over the Erskine Bridge was substituted by a truly great ride up the A75, A76 and A77 through Dumfries and Galloway. Here, there are some really superb sections of road that amply highlight just how the big BMW can pick its heels up through fast sweeping bends when you want to hustle it along.
A tootle through the outskirts of Glasgow and then it was ‘over the Erskine Bridge and away’! The lower section of the A82 alongside Loch Lomond is a fast road which can also be relatively busy, especially on a Friday evening. But with a new found understanding of the boxer BMW and its power / torque characteristics, picking off short convoys of cars playing follow-my-leader to a logging truck was entirely quick and safe – although admittedly, a little bit more forward planning was required than on the R1. Oh yes - and a constant reminder to myself to not forget those cavernous BMW panniers sticking out wide behind me when heading for gaps!
As many people know, once at Tarbert the A82 becomes a narrow, twisty, bumpy lane hugging the loch’s ‘bonny banks’. This kind of terrain is just ‘meat and two veg’ to the BMW. (It’s also a stretch of road that I don’t usually enjoy on the R1, since I always seem to end up scaring myself silly when I overcook a damp, bumpy corner; in contrast on the GS this was suddenly quick and safe and fun). After this stretch, the route through Crianlarich and then Tyndrum is a playground of lovely fast tarmac with mile after mile of sweeping bends as you climb up towards Rannoch Moor and Glencoe.
However the usual quick-ish blast over Rannoch would have to wait until the morning as the first hostelry of the trip was reached – the wonderful Bridge of Orchy hotel. Whilst mainly a haven for walkers, particularly those treading the West Highland Way, this is an equally fantastic oasis for bikers in need of a nice pint, some wholesome food, and somewhere to get your head down – in either the hotel or the much cheaper adjacent bunk house. And then, of course, you also have porridge and a full Scottish breakfast to look forward to in the morning!
An early start – well ok, a planned early start (that’s the price you pay for comfy beds and a magnificent breakfast) then it was a case of following the beautiful A82 up over Glencoe, past the Three Sisters and the helipad / car park, and then down to Ballachulish and Fort William a few miles beyond.
Just outside of Inverness a couple of stretched bridges over the estuaries were subject to some serious side winds. This would affect any bike, but with the BMW it wasn’t the drama I was anticipating –its low centre of gravity and compliant handling providing valuable extra reserves of stability and direction.
On reaching Bonar Bridge, we diverted onto the A836 and A837 to cut across to Ullapool. Previous recollections of some of these A roads across Scotland’s highland massif were of narrow, often single track roads with only the regular A road designation signs giving reassurance that you were still on the right track! As ever, due care needed to be exercised, but with the reassurance of the BMWs electronic wizardry there were no worries at all on the wet, narrow band of meandering, roller-coaster tarmac (with the odd patch of downhill corner gravel thrown in for good measure). In fact, what would on the R1 have been a longer journey full of trepidation was now a pleasurable journey across to the West Coast and dinner, b&b in the particular comforts of Ullapool.
And then, the best bit of all, because who could deny that the A835 / A894 north out of Ullapool is truly the road of all roads?
This is a fantastic stretch of road, truly unmissable, meaning that our return journey south was put on hold for a prior hour or two’s sheer fun heading up the coast to Scourie. This is time-warp land where almost nothing has changed in centuries, serving up wonderful photographic opportunities with the benefit of a very civilised morning tea at the Scourie Hotel. With beautiful skies overhead, it was nonetheless strange to get the odd flurry of snow and even hailstones to further sharpen our experience! No worries with the bodily extremities though, the tootsies being nicely sheltered by those two big, hot cylinder heads and as for the hands – well, just crank the heated grips up to gas mark 6 and feel the comfort arrive on demand!
From Scourie it was a ‘hug the coast’ ride back through Ullapool to Gairloch, before resting that night at the Applecross Inn and a fantastic sunset looking across to Skye. Just don’t go ‘on spec’ in season - it gets booked up months ahead.
The twisty, windy coast road down to Loch Carron - with sheep, deer and a smattering of ice and snow still on the ground made us think of Alpine touring as much as our native Scotland. And a big point worth mentioning here - the far greater tank range of the GS means there isn’t the usual panic of topping up every time you pass a filling station in the Highlands.
Going further – that’s what a big GS inevitably encourages you to do. So much so, that we really had to put in some serious motoring to get back home on time. I’m starting to push the BMW now, and it responds wonderfully in that effortless, no-nonsense way that is all its own. Whilst the R1 is obviously a wonderful machine in ITS element, I challenge anything to match the big GS for safe, secure and totally versatile touring such as this.
So to a great ride back, and with half the usual amount of stops. Then I got back on the R1. It seemed a far worse change than when I first got on the BMW. It actually felt like I was riding the bike holding on to the wheel spindle with my bum three feet higher than my head!
So - plenty of food for thought here. First off - why have a sports bike? Well, obviously for pure fun. But a GS is equal fun too – it just does things differently. But this BMW also does so much more. So why not just rent one when I need one? Especially if I can take loads of extra gear in those expandable panniers, thereby skipping hotels and B&Bs in favour of some wild camping?
This is why renting a BM from Great Rides is such a brilliant concept. Yes, it’s not cheap, but as a ‘total value’ package it’s just terrific. It lets you do things that previously just weren’t possible, especially for sportsbike riders like me.
Ewan and Charlie – well perhaps not quite yet. But for me, Great Rides has really sown the seed for bigger, longer trips. Not Siberia or the Road of Bones, but most likely starting off with a week or two island-hopping around Mull, Skye, Uist, Harris and Lewis in the autumn...
That would be just perfect!
Tim Waite
