Trials and all that!

Recently returned from the centenary event of the Scottish Six Day Trial at Fort William and the pre-1965 two-day event for older machines.

What a week!  Compounded by the most fantastic weather possible.

Highlights including watching legend Sammy Miller on his famous Ariel 500 and Gordon Jackson on his ‘one dab win’ works A.J.S. lead the Sunday parade of competitors through Fort William High Street and, and observing Emma Bristow performing on a new advanced design Spanish OSSA 250 in the main event.

Emma Bristow

She is a talented young rider with a smooth determined riding style and finished in the upper quarter of the results’ table overall.

To tackle some of the fearsome rock sections involved this year required high levels of skill, balance and throttle control combined with an attacking style, careful choice of line and, above all, courage.  Several competitors were forced out of the trial due to injury including ex-world champion Dougie Lampkin.

In order to spectate and to park easily near to the observed sections, some of which are adjacent to single track roads, travel by motorcycle is almost mandatory.

This year I decided that a light agile machine was required and opted for my recently acquired 1989 MZ 300cc two-stroke.  Most spectators use a wide variety of trail bikes of all vintages and sizes adding to the interest of spectating.

The MZ proved to be ideal on the winding Highland byways, especially so for the two days spent in Ardgour, Moidart and Ardnamurchan (the most westerly point of the British mainland) accessed by the Corran Ferry 8 miles south of Fort William.  Scenery here was so incredible that concentration on the switchback, snaking single track routes alongside sea lochs and over mountain ranges through spectacularly scenic villages was continuously and dangerously distracting.  A southerly single track route runs to a short ferry crossing to Mull at Lochaline and northwards the road joins the main Mallaig road near Glenfinnan at Harry Potters’ railway viaduct and Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s 1745 raising of the standard monument etc. as tourist attractions.  En route we glimpsed soaring eagles and playful seals and I rediscovered my long-forgotten two-stroke riding techniques involving much more use of rear brake and early squirting out of corners.

Lack of engine braking on gravel surfaces requires a very pressure-sensitive right boot!

Three weeks prior to the trial event I had attended an MZ riders’ club meeting at St. Mary’s Loch on the Moffat to Selkirk route and met with an interesting and diverse crew of about two dozen from all over central and southern Scotland riding a mix of well-used practical transport, immaculately restored models and some lightly modified.

In the latter category was a lurid yellow early leading-link forked 250 model expertly transformed by the fitment of a water-cooled diesel engine with auto-transmission and fuel consumption figures estimated of at least 120 m.p.g.

The East German MZ factory based in Zschopau post-second world war occupied the premises previously used by D.K.W. who manufactured inter-cooled supercharged two stroke racing machines pre-war and held some world speed records.

D.K.W. was relocated in the western sector and eventually combined with Auto Union to become a group including Audi cars hence their present car badge logo.

MZ however was part of the I.F.A. group including Trabant cars, providing basic transport needs.

However the competition success of MZ far surpassed their tiny resources materially and economically.  The factory has a fascinating history and heritage stretching far beyond the confines of the Berlin Wall with competition success of world-beating standard.  In the I.S.D.T. – the equivalent of today’s International Six Days’ Enduro during the 1960s, and in Grand Prix racing of the same period mainly due to the genius of scientist and development engineer Walter Kaaden, the world authority on two-stroke design and tuning of his time.

His previous employers, the Nazi party, had used his talents to develop the pulse-jet engines of the V1 rocket or doodlebug!

Combined with the racing talents of a certain Council worker from Cumbria and involving exploits and plots that would not be out of place in the world of James Bond, Walter Kaaden’s story and contribution to the world of Grand Prix racing was as influential as it was exciting!

Ducati Group visit the Buccleuch Arms Hotel in Moffat

All will be revealed in the next blog and my next trip will be to revisit the Alpine passes of France, Switzerland and Italy from a base in Chamonix aboard a certain F8005 B.M.W.

Castles, Abbeys & Oil

Robert L. Stevenson famously wrote “to travel hopefully is better than to arrive”.  Although the reliability of his mode of transport may have had some influence on this quote.  Modestine, his companion in the Cevennes, proved to be at the extreme end of the obstinate donkey spectrum.

However, modern motorcycles seldom fail to transport their rider to a required destination as long as basic maintenance schedules are observed and expensive fuel administered.

The variety of interesting destinations, particularly buildings of historical interest in Dumfries and Galloway is immense.

To the north east of Moffat the A708 route to Selkirk via the Grey Mare’s Tail Waterfall and St. Mary’s Loch is widely regarded as one of the best biking roads in the United Kingdom and leads to the very historic 13^th century Four Abbeys of the Border towns, designed by French Masons and Architects.  Damaged and ravaged at different times by Edward I and Henry VIII of England, one still houses Robert the Bruce’s heart in its lead-lined casket after its return from the Holy Land Crusades.  These are the Abbeys of Melrose, Dryburgh (near St. Boswells), Jedburgh and Kelso.

Sweetheart Abbey at New Abbey

To the west of Moffat lie further medieval Abbeys and Castles galore.  One sample route from Dumfries following the A710 Solway Coast Road would take in Sweetheart Abbey at New Abbey, then via the B711 Coastal Road from Dalbeattie to Dundrennan Abbey from where Mary Queen of Scots left Scottish shores for the last time to be imprisoned and eventually executed by Elizabeth I, onto 16^th century MacLennans Castle in central Kirkcudbright Town and finally to the A75 near Gatehouse of Fleet to visit 15^th century Cardoness Castle or detour back to Castle Douglas to nearby Threave Castle and Gardens.

A shorter trip from Dumfries via the Glencaple Road southwards on the east side of the River Nith takes you to impressive 13^th century Caerlaverock Castle (Fort of the Skylark) a unique triangle or shield-shaped structure successfully besieged by Edward I in 1300 using stone-hurling catapults (trebuchets) an example of which is on display next to the Café and return by Lochmaben Seat of the Lords of Annandale – Robert the Bruce’s Family, although the castle once more suffered severely at the hands of the infamous Edward I (the ‘Hammer of the Scots’ as he was later titled).

Many alternatives to purely historic sites exist also – Scotland’s most southerly whisky distillery is sited at Bladnoch near Wigtown (Scotland’s Book Town) to the south of Newton Stewart and offers a very smooth rounded dram incorporated in the guided tour – or maybe best purchased for later consumption at leisure!

A fearsome example of the Border Keep still amazingly intact is Hermitage Castle in Liddesdale hard by the border with England.  Owned by the Earl of Bothwell, Mary Queen of Scots husband and famed in Sir Walter Scott’s Border Novels.  It lies to the east of Newcastleton just off the impressive B6399 route towards Hawick – multiple swooping bends all the way and a section of Steam Railway line to visit.

On the west coast of Galloway lies 16^th century Dunskey Castle looking over to the Antrim Coast of Northern Ireland.  Also near Stranraer is Glenluce Abbey.

Drumcoltran Tower near Beeswing on the A711 from Dumfries to Dalbeattie offers the following thought provoking advice to visitors, carved above the doorway:- “Conceal what is Secret, Speak Little, Be Truthful, Avoid Wine.  Be Merciful, Remember Death”.

Like the threat of death a major increase in petrol prices concentrates the mind wonderfully and Governments are seldom merciful.

The recent tragic events in the Gulf of Mexico highlighted the hazards of deep ocean oil production when human failings bypass the fixed safety procedures and apparatus.

Does this give an emotive justification to the very recent announcement of a further 10% hike in fuel prices in the near future?

Extensive oil resources still exist on our globe but are becoming more expensive economically and environmentally to harvest.  The politics of USA consumption levels which seem to be regarded almost as a civil right contrasts with the attitude to the environmental damage caused by the BP Well.

All of this impinges on us as users of two-wheeled transport.  Many non-motorcycling car drivers innocently regard motorcycles as very fuel efficient, being superficially light, with small frontal area, small fuel tanks, one driven wheel and no scrubbing effects of steering while cornering.  They are surprised when informed of real consumption figures.

So – why are motorcycles not fuel efficient when compared to a car weighing 4½ times more plus passengers.

A modern leanburn fuel injected Royal Enfield 500cc single cylinder (revving to 5-6,000 rpm) with a power output of 27bhp can attain an average of 87mpg cruising at about 60-65mph – broadly similar to a 1950’s British 500cc single of equivalent output but without noise and emission technologies in place and one fewer gear.

A modern Sports Bike often has a consumption figure in the low 30’s but with a power output of 120bhp plus and revving to 12-15,000rpm.  High revving four cylinder engines have associated increased internal friction due to pumping losses and oil film shear.  Maximum torque may be at relatively high revs e.g. 6-7,000 rpm.  These power levels result in higher power to weight ratio and accelerative performance compared to a good performance car.

An average petrol engined saloon is rarely revved above 4,000 revs and is geared for cruising at about 2,500 revs with maximum torque at low revs.

Aerodynamically at motorway speeds and above a motorcycle does not compare well with an efficient car design due to ‘tail turbulence’ of the much shorter vehicle.  Also the  rolling resistance of motorcycle tyres tends to be higher as they are designed for maximum road grip.

New Scientist Magazine

Research reported by New Scientist Magazine discovered that exhaust system catalysts result in engines burning more fuel by depressing their efficiency, resulting in increased CO2 production. The research also showed that nitrous oxide levels produced by catalyst systems has doubled since their introduction.  This gas contributes 7% of the greenhouse effect.

Also the global contribution of all road traffic worldwide was less than 0.5% of all CO2 production compared with over 3% from industry and much more from air travel.

Should we be buying motorcycles that are more fuel-efficient with less performance – who really needs or uses more than 80bhp consistently?

What matters in the real world is useable power i.e. torque at lowish revs over a wide power band to pull higher gears at smaller throttle openings and still have plentiful cornering fun and unrestricted exhaust systems so that pedestrians can hear your approach i.e.  old British motorcycles minus oil leaks, vibration and Lucas (Prince of Darkness) electrics – oh no!  In retrospect I may have gone too far – ok 1980’s bikes!

So – should we be influenced by race technology or by environmentalists?

Are we fashionistas or grime under the fingernail traditionalists?

What are the scientific facts relating to our value judgements?  Is one bike ever enough?

These and other questions are best left to an evening in the pub with your mates.

Happy Bendswinging.

Trials and Tribulations!

May has been a busy month on the biking front for me, starting with a visit to the scottish pre-65 and six day trial at Kinlochleven and Fort William. Thankfully the weather proved much kinder than the monsoon of the previous year and on the first day of the main trial we were reminded that modern machinery is not infallible and that the event, which began in 1911, is still titled ‘The Scottish Six Days Reliability Trial‘.

So, perched on the large round boulders of the last group of observed sections of the Monday Route at Lagnaha, in the sunshine to watch the efforts of the 270 entrants, my two sons and myself were witness to an unfolding drama which would affect the final result five days later.

Dougie Lampkin, previous multiple winner of the trial and former world champion appeared, did the usual ‘recce’ to determine his riding line through the section and after an exasperating effort failed to restart his works Beta 290. Head in hands he consulted with his cousin and riding companion James Lampkin, also Beta mounted, and proceeded to swap various electrical components from one bike to the other to identify the problem. Eventually after contact, by mobile phone he pushed the silent machine downhill to the main road to reappear forty minutes later minus seat and rear mudguard to blast through the remaining sections as though a main road. The resulting time loss incurred a 27 mark penalty and instead of emerging the clear winner at the end of the week by 7 points, he finished the trial in 8th place due to a faulty HT Coil.

The modern trial covers between 70 and 110 miles per day. Approximately half of this distance is entirely off road and taking in around 30 observed marked sections per day. The modern day trial bike is an ultra-specialised, lightweight, torquey, low-geared machine with incredibly supple suspension, vast ground clearance with grippy soft tyres running at 5-7psi and a fuel capacity of 2-3 litres. A two wheeled mountain goat!

Compare these conditions and equipment to those of an entrant in the 6 day trial in 1929 by the name of T.G. Meeten, a strong exponent of two stroke engines when these were regarded as suitable for utility use only.

In this amazing account he rode his 172cc Villiers two-stroke Francis Barnett, three-speed hand gear change machine producing around 7bhp to the finish, but with a sidecar attached incorporating his wife as passenger. Sceptics doubted his ability to climb many of the mountain passes without seizing the air-cooled engine or to finish the full six-day event at all.

At this time trials machinery consisted of lightly modified production road bikes with lowered gearing and knobbly tyres, so were a real test of manufacturers standard machine design strength and reliability.

The trial started in Edinburgh on the Monday (as did the current trial until the late 1970′s) and on the first day tackled steep rock-strewn drove roads, passes and river fords via Kilsyth to Loch Lomond. Then over the steep ‘Rest’ and ‘Be Thankful Pass’ to arrive in Oban on the West Coast in foul weather.

The Tuesday route continued Northwards to Bridge of Orchy through Glencoe to Kinlochleven, then via the Mamore Road (still used by modern trial, still completely unsurfaced and now part of the West Highland Way) to Fort William…for lunch…! Then North to Fort Augustus at the Southern end of Loch Ness for the evening stop.

The Wednesday route led via Strathpeffer (on the Black Isle to the North of Inverness) to Lochcarron (not far from the isle of Skye) to tackle the six mile climb of the pass of the cattle over to the West Coast at Applecross!

This is the highest mountain pass in the British Isles starting and finishing at sea level and rising to around 2000feet. There was no continuation of this road beyond Applecross until around 1970 so the steep route had to be repeated in reverse back down the 6 hairpin bends.

When I first tackled this road in the late 1960′s with a 500cc Velocette and Steib Sidecar plus girlfriend the surface was still loose gravel and untarred, and drifting the outfit around the steep upper hairpin bends was the only means of maintaining momentum. this was with 34bhp at the end of the throttle wire.

Mr Meeten and spouses Wednesday adventures continued further Northwards to Diabeg on the shores of Loch Torridon, a remote spot even now, and in conditions of high winds and rain, returning to Strathpeffer for the evening stop.

Thursdays run headed South through Inverness then by a very long route further South to Aberfeldy in Perthshire for lunch followed by an afternoon climb from Kenmore on Loch Tay, South to Amulree on the Sma’ Glen Road towards Crieff. (this is still a demanding road to drive in modern times) to check in at Edinburgh in the evening. All in all around 200 miles.

Fridays run took place in hurricane force westerly winds from Edinburgh to Ayr via Carnwath, climbing Lanark Hill in a ‘sea of mud’ and almost losing Mrs M. She bounced backwards out of the chair as the outfit found sudden grip and was rescued by T.G grabbing her leg to pull her back to safety.

Saturdays route came Southwards by Moffat to climb Bodesbeck Hill which was very difficult and slippery. I still find this steep rocky route demanding on a trail bike. A twin-track sidecar outfit must be much more demanding in skill to pick a good line for grip without overturning and much more physically testing.

The lunch stop was at Selkirk then back to Edinburgh for the final climb at Blackford Hill which was still a feature of the final day many decades later.

This overall achievemt in terms of mileage, ardous weather conditions, stamina and fortitude is almost unbelievable while Mrs Meeten’s contribution was to complain of the state of her hairdo while motoring into gale force wind and rain. Machine troubles were limited to punctures and broken drive chain.

The modern day event is considered a tough and demanding challenge and to gain a finishers award is a great achievement but which era would you prefer?

My final biking experience of the month of May after riding in a club trial on my rebuilt Fantic Twinshock was to take in a tour of Exmoor and Dartmoor before catching the ferry to Santander and six days exploring the Picos De Europa area of Northern Spain and into the Duouro Valley of Portugal.

These Northern Iberian roads across mountain ranges, some above the snow line up to 7000 feet, are biking heaven with virtually no traffic and with wide variations in road surface from sublime and grippy to tooth rattling. In some ways reminiscent of Galloway B routes.

My seven companions often dispersed and on one occasion across Northern Portugal I spent most of the morning solo across two mountain ranges, travelling uphill for around twelve kilometers on cambered smooth tight turns in 2nd and 3rd gears at high revs. Alternating right and left continuously in a smooth rhythm-such sublime ‘Motorcycle Nirvana’, I was laughing out loud!

My BMW GS mounted companions eventually appeared at the cafe lunch stop some time later but  I failed to catch my Buell Ulysses mounted buddy who had set off a minute ahead.

The F800 rear tyre has never been more evenly worn despite the motorway miles to Plymouth and back.

The scale and remoteness of these mountain roads, coupled with an almost complete lack of other traffic made this trip more memorable than the Italian, Swiss, French Alpine passes I have sampled in the past and are highly recommended! There’s room for all!

Happy Bendswinging!

Motorcycling and Freedom

Motorcycling to many equates to a philosophy of personal freedom of travel and exploration of the open road. There are few areas left in the UK where this dream may be fulfilled but we have just such a secret locale on our doorstep in Dumfries and Galloway,  South West Scotland.

A singular aspect of this freedom relates to the very fact that this is a relatively unexplored rural area off the main North-South tourist route and so displays a traffic density more akin to the 1960′s than the 21^st century, but still with fast easy access to other areas such as the Eastern Borders, with its characterful towns and Abbeys, the Lake District and Perthshire easily within striking distance of a day tour.

Our South-West rural routes often trace ancient roads which followed higher ground to avoid the marshy boglands and dense woodlands of previous centuries, lending themselves to some real roller-coaster bend swinging.

These pre-nineteenth century roads were constructed for horses and coaches. Revolution in speed occurred when a durable weatherproof hard road surface was put into use by one John MacAdam of Tarmac fame who is buried in the old graveyard in Moffat across from the Buccleuch Arms Hotel, next to the final resting place of the Coachman and Guard of the Edinburgh Mail Coach whose horses failed to drag it through deep snowdrifts above the Devils Beef Tub in February 1831. Would modern transport have fared better?

I consider the motorcycle to be the definitive replacement for the horse in following our local routes. It is interesting to make comparisons with the types of horses bred for specific purposes with the evolution of different motorcycle design types. Eg: Clydesdale – Heavy v twin cruiser, Shetland Pony – monkey bike or mini-moto, Welsh Cob – trail Bike, Arab Stallion – race replica sportsbike etc…

This leads me towards a subjective discourse on our personal choice of suitable machinery to maximise this much sought after sense of freedom.

My preference has always been towards semi off-road or alpine pass type exploration; Try the Bealach naBa pass to Applecross, opposite the Isle of Skye on the Scottish West Coast mainland, the highest pass in the UK or the Hardknott and the Wrynose Passes in the Lake District or locally try the 1 in 7 gradient climb from Tweedsmuir on the A701 across St. Mary’s Loch via Talla reservoir and Megget Dam. Unfenced single track – fun! And sheep!

So, one dimension of touring where Mr MacAdams technology has failed, resulting in potholed, gravel strewn surfaces holds no fears and adds a dimension or vehicle control and road surface reading skill which gives more feedback and satisfaction than the pure adrenalin rush hyper-speed on a race-replica supersports.

This reflects in my personal choice of motorcycle. I prefer relatively simple, light, torquey, fuel efficient, low revving machinery which I feel I can service and repair if necessary, but with more and more design constraints as technology and electronics advances. In addition to a few true off-road machines in the stable, road-type machinery of the previous ten years has included a Ducati 600ss, BMW R100 flat twin (still in the garage), Yamaha TTR 600 Trailie, Yamaha 1100 Bulldog Vtwin (shoulda’ kept it!), Honda CBF 500 (toured Holland, France and Italy with ease), Triumph T100 Bonneville (Hinckley), Ducati 1100 Multistrada, Honda CBF 1000, CCM Rotax 600  (still in the garage) and the latest BMW F800S Twin. In the next blog as an adjunt to exploring our local byways I would like to relate the adventures of one competitor in the 1929 Scottish Six day Trial and its relevance to modern motorcycling.

More to follow!

First Poll!