Motorcycling and Freedom
April 30, 2010Motorcycling 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 21st 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!
