I was recently discussing an upcoming trip with a colleague to Scotland, his reply was 20 odd mostly married men away for the weekend taking drink and riding motorbikes, What could go wrong?

The plan - a manager at work decided to organise a weekend away for himself and a few of his guys, then he decided to throw it open to anyone who wanted to go, before long between friends, family and colleagues there were 23 names in the hat and we got ourselves a convoy.

Starting at 5am Friday morning we will leave Enniskillen Co Fermanagh and head for the boat in Belfast at 7.30, this will give plenty of time to get there taking into account early morning traffic and one fag break.

Once off the boat take the long way up to Fort William and book into our hotel, a meal a few drinks and there was talk about a titty bar dont know what that is but alway keen for a new experience.

Day two a lap of Skye and back to hotel.

Day three home which way long or short will depend on the physical state and weather.

I will be on my new bike a Moto Guzzi Stelvio which after my old weestrom has a lot to live up to, but the extra power and quality suspension should make it a doodle. The only downside is the extra fuel, dont mind the money so much but had got used to only filling every 220 miles or so. Have it almost the way I want it just missing a set of Trax panniers and a tank bag, will use a pair of old soft bags I got for £20 until I can afford the Trax boxes. Traveling with me is Davy gs1200 and his weekend wife Gerry on behind, and Denis Triumph Trophy. We have been riding together for a while now and know each other well enough to work well on a run. Or is that well enough to stay out of the way when the need arises.

Got a text message at 03.30 this morning from Dennis “ just out of hospital backs killing me after working on the car last night go on without me” so thats what they are calling it these days? Mmmm.

Unfortunate and he will be missed but theres always next time, 05.15 we met in town and headed off in darkness, 4 degrees and dry with no wind. A few others joined as we went up the road towards Belfast and soon we were close on 20 bikes, by 7am we were in Belfast on the boat bikes strapped down and upstairs for a breakfast, the sun was out and the temperatures rising, well it was now up to 9 degrees.

Soon Scotland came into view, the sun was still shining and it was up to 10 degrees, almost immediately the roads and scenery were just fantastic, bend after bend, just them bloody speed cameras everywhere the sat nav kept binging in my ears as I struggled to keep within the limits.

Fuel was needed after the quick run for the boat, so we pulled into an oldie world petrol station complete with a Morris Minor and couple of old LandRovers in the garage. They had two old pumps and no self service so the owner, and two mechanics rushed about to get everyone sorted, I pushed the bike out of the way to let the next man in but stupidly stopped on an incline and when I let go of the bike over it went, just as well I had the soft bags on, so no harm done. Heres Ricky holding it up as I take the photo.

We managed to stay together until Ayr however due to traffic we split into two groups, within another couple of miles I was on my own with one Davy Tiger 1050 following me. Thankfully the sat nav kept me right and just to be sure I phoned Davy on the Garmin to confirm that we were on the right road.

½ hr later we caught up with the lead group and stopped for coffee, it was still cold and the heated grips were still on but off the bike in the sun was well slightly better. They are a tough lot the Scots kept seeing people walking about in short sleeves?

Headed on for Greenoch to get the ferry to Dunoon, £8.45 per bike but the guy sold us two books of ten tickets for £44 to do the 11 bikes, fair play £4 a head good man.

A local couple gave us the name of a cafe a few miles down the road so we stoped for lunch to find it was holding an OAP convention none of the customers were under 80.

Weather was still holding out bright sunshine and dry roads couldn't get any better, well it could as we got further away from civilization the better the scenery got snow capped mountains could be seen in the distance as we followed the coastline, passed through some beautiful villages and lots of castles and ruins. North to Inveraray over the Connel Bridge on to the bridge over Loch Creran.

One final stop for a coffee at a bar The Creagan Inn with the most fantastic views, back on the road for the last 10 miles with dark clouds on the horizon. Adam 600 Hornet decided to put on his wet gear, what for? sure it wont rain and you only have 10 miles left. Sure enough the rain started about 5 miles out of Fort William and it got cold again. Traffic in Fort William was backed up for a couple of miles through the town. No probs passed the lot and the hotel was found, Was glad to see the Hotel as the water was running down my leather trousers into my boots. Adam also got wet oops. Booked in had a shower and found that the jeans I packed belonged to my 17 yr old son, they looked like they were sprayed onto me. Just what I needed after a full day in the saddle.

Down to the Grog and Gruel for some haggis(mmmm) wild boar burger and a few pints of real ale, most of us were in bed by midnight.

Saturday.

A frosty morning but the sun was shining and the roads were still dry, had to move the bike nto the sun to defrost the seat.

After breakfast we all headed off in small groups to do the Isle of Skye, I was with davy and his weekend Mrs, Gerry on the GS, Ricky on a 955 Tiger, Sam on a VFR 800, Alan on his GSA, big Andy on a CB1300. The plan was to take our time and get as many photos as we could and to stick together until Skye, if the pace was too slow then the run home was up to yourself, a good sound sensible plan that lasted all of 5 minutes. We took the road to Mallaig to get the ferry and to be fair we did stop to take a photo of the Glenfinnan Viaduct the big bridge in the Harry Potter movies.

But as soon as we hit the road again that was it the next 30 odd miles was flat, Sam with near 40yrs of experience took the lead, big Andy needed every one of the 1300cc's to get him up the hill I was mostly behind Andy and was diving at 10 tenths. Before long we pulled in for the ferry and every one of us had a stupid big grin for the next 10 minutes, a great run over some great roads wont forget that one for a long time. At some stage I must go round to Gerry's house to see the wheelbarrow he has to carry his balls around in, respect.

The Isle of Skye from the ferry.

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Got the ferry to Armadale and headed towards Portree at a more sensible pace, thankfully! Stopped in the square in Portree at the Granery for six burgers, every one of us agreed that this was possibly the best burger we ever had, if you are ever there treat yourself.

Over lunch it was decided to do a loop of the top of the island via Uig.

UIG

So we headed off with the knowledge we had a good 4 hrs of riding left before we saw the hotel again, once at Uig we came across the tightest hairpin bend I have seen in a while, at the top of the hill we had two choices carry on or turn right onto a road that had a sign May Not Be Passable In The Winter. It was a single track and the road surface was not good, so thats the one I took, only big Andy and Mr Hondas CB were up to the challange the poor BM's took fright and turned back to take the same road we came to Portree. Andy and I were rewarded with some of the best views you could get from the top of the hill.

The big man on his go anywhere adventure bike.

Now with just the two of us we pushed on for home, this time we went via the Skye Bridge. Up here it seems that every road is a good road, good surfaces, great views and lots of fast sweeping bends perfect for bikes.

Soon enough we were back at the hotel, finished the bottle of red that I opened the previous night and down the Indian for a curry, good company, craic was good and the beer flowed. Across the road for a few in a pub and walked back to the hotel for 1.30ish, town had lots of youngsters running about with very little cloths on, it was Baltic how do they do it.

Sunday

Woke up at 7am, silly man, should of went home earlier, feeling sorry for myself went for breakfast to find a few other silly men, did not feel so bad now. Bags packed and on the road for 9am, the pace was very different this morning as the silly men contemplated their stupidity and tried to answer that old cherry when will I ever grow up. As we left Fort William we were treated to the views of Loch Linnhe that we missed on the way in due to the rain, the water was like a mirror and with the snow capped mountains in the background it was something else. Went via Loch Lomond, stopped at the Green Welly shop for a coffee and guess what found a fellow Stelvio owner. While there this lot pulled in, a bunch of mates hired them out for the day.

As we neared Glasgow we were split again due to traffic lights ect, ended up with Ricky 955 Tiger, Davy 1050  Tiger and Johnny CBR600, relied on the sat nav to guide us around Glasgow. Stopped at a Morrisons for a quick sandwich and back on the road, didnt have a lot of time to waste so had to push on and with all of the speed cameras there would be no opportunities to make time if we ran over. Tiredness was setting in and Cairnryan could not come soon enough, pulled into ferry terminal with time to spare didnt get a chance to take off the helmet and we were directed onto the boat.

There were a lot of very tired faces on the boat, it had been a hard slog this morning, with another 100miles on the far side Johnny wondered if there was any chance the boat could dock in Enniskillen. Time for a bit of grub and a final chat before the run down the M1. Once in Belfast it was every man for himself, as I made for home I had a feeling every man would have a wee smile of contentment after a great weekend, 790 miles in three days. Wardy you may be management, you might be a German and you may be a bollocks but thankyou for organising a brilliant trip cheers.

The Guzzi was spot on, it did every thing I wanted of it and not once did I feel wanting in any department, worked it out that I got 45mpg over the weekend which I was surprised at given the speeds we did, I am sure the weestrom would not have done much better as it would have had to work twice as hard. I have no pains other than general tireness so comfort was as good as any bike I have ridden. According to my satnav I spent 18hrs and 16 minutes riding over the three days and covered a total of 790 miles. Think it going to stay with me for a while, cant bring myself to cross over to the dark side yet and become a GS owner. Cant praise the Garmin 550 enough, have it linked to  my autocom. I can listen to music, take directions from the sat nav, my phone is bluetoothed to the Garmin and can make and take calls on the move plus have a bike to bike set up just need to find someone else with one, dont think I could ever due without it again.

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