Touring

Hi,
Can anyone give me any good ideas on where to go touring on my 'Cat this summer???Its the first time I've been and don't want to be too adventurous for my 'first time'.
Also whats everyones favourite tyre for the Thundercat???


Cheers Ellie xxxxxxx

Hi Ellie - do you want to go abroad? If not, I would recommend the UK.....

Seriously, Scotland is beautiful, the Lakes, the South West; pick an area and research some quieter roads to get there slowly - it's about the journey, not the destination. (Come on the Big Mac...)

If you want to go further afield France is so easy to get to and after 15mins on the "wrong" side I wondered why I had worried about it at all. My first Euro-tour took me to Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and France over 2 weeks and it was, without exaggeration, the best holiday I have ever had. There is a trip to Nurburgring planned elsewhere on the site; you wouldn't have to actually go on the Ring, and the people who are going are nice enough...well, most...well, one or two.....em.............

Lee

I echo what Lee said. My first tour was a long weekend in Scotland - bloody amazing it was!

After that I took on the Alps a couple of times and the Pyrenees - depends how much time you have. If you go Dover - Calais ('cos it's cheap), prepare yourself for a day to a day and a half of motorways to get to the fun stuff. It IS worth it. Like Lee, these holidays were the best I have ever done. In fact when I moved to the US I missed it so much I flew to London, rented a bike for a week and hooned around the Alps with a buddy for a week. I did my Europe tours for 7 days and each one racked up approx 2500 miles so there's some serious saddle time but it is a wonderful, wonderful experience! Some pics -

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Ellie,

Depends on how far and how long you want to tour. For a first time I'd suggest sticking in the UK. You'd probably want to try shortish runs, testing out your luggage arrangements and other bits and pieces. Mind you for my first long trip I'd thought a trip to Scotland from London would be a good intro (it's not really that far), followed by a Big Mac (nope not a small hamburger, but a Big ride-out!)

Do all my riding on Michelin Pilot Road 2CT's, hard wearing and pretty good all rounder. If you need extra glue in the corners the Pilot Powers, think would be a waste for me (don't go around corners fast enough).

-Steve

Cheers Chaps,what a helpful bunch, I can't wait, thought about France, but England maybe more sensible, bit worried about leaving bike safely over night.
Doing Route 66 next year, but will see about car or bike......

Now over the trauma of actually passing my test (grimsby has left me phycologically scarred,and being an ex-A&E nurse that aint easy!!!), I just want to ride........and ride....and ride.......

Wild-Kat-Wolf wrote:as long as you can cope with the evil midgies

LOL, how true is that. Got North of Ullapool and couldn't see, although stopping wasn't much of an option as those little mites get everywhere!

I think...Dunlop Sportsmax??

ellie wrote: bit worried about leaving bike safely over night.

The Scots can assist with whats hot and not for places to go and stay. My time there has been great, but guided. After a few days they make sure I leave :whoop:
When I did Wales, I had similar concerns and did Google searches for bike friendly B&B's. Was amazed at how many results I got. Tried the same in England and have found some too - even in Blackpool ( oops did I say that!). Most places I have stayed have a garage or a safe parking area. A decent chain should keep the in place, I manage to keep my chain under the seat.

ellie wrote:
Now over the trauma of actually passing my test (grimsby has left me phycologically scarred,and being an ex-A&E nurse that aint easy!!!), I just want to ride........and ride....and ride.......

Well done, and sounds like the making of a real biker.

-Steve

Wales, Wales & a bit more of Wales please Stunning scenery, stunning roads & great peeps too.
I've a bike forum buddy in Grimsby who rides a CBR & is a driving instructor & he reckons you have some great roads up there, So much so that three of us are heading up for a weekend in May to sample them.
He was a Wales virgin until this year & was really impressed by what it had to offer, Including the rain

I cant personally say too much about staying well away from the Bridgestone 021's, Awful tyre with a serious design flaw which resulted in an FOC front
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I know people don't like them but i like Dunlops

Living in Lincolnshire, we have some great roads but its always nice to see the rest of the world...Touring holiday is an 'extra holiday' as I've recently come back from Florida and want to do Route 66 next year (as I am the big '40')

I havent a clue about tyres they feel fine to me.....I have noticed how much better it is since fitting renthal sprocket and DID chain though.(and heated grips...!!!).

Just need it painting...then I'm sorted.....

I worked in an A&E department for 15 years, and while Lincolnshire roads are great fun, they also catch people out,and for a long time we had the biggest death rate in the country,so be careful, but I also drive a Fiesta ST,and know that Lincolnshire corners are great fun....But enough seriousness...looking forward to going touring this year, thinking about going to do nurbergring also..(a few of us).

ellie wrote:Lincolnshire roads are great fun, they also catch people out,and for a long time we had the biggest death rate in the country,

My Grimsby buddy reckons alot of your corners are of a quickly tightening radius when cornering which can easily lead you into them too fast. He was quite surprised when visiting us how constant & predictable our roads were so I'm gonna be on my guard when I visit

Your mate is right RC

You would be amazed (or maybe not) by the amount of people that are caught out on our bends - we have some fantastic bends if you like that sort of thing - revesby, bardney etc but a lot of our roads appear to be fairly straight with a bend on it that you can see - it's only when you get up to it and going round it that the bend is actually a tight corner... one of the traffic officers was meant to be giving a talk to our club about cornering as thats where a lot of our single vehicle bike and car accidents occur - unfortunately some idiot in a car decided to do a u turn on a main road in front of him and smashed into him and his bike so he's still on crutches at the moment!

A few years ago the police said that you're less likely to have an accident on lincolnshire's roads but if you do you're more likely for it to be fatal. We still have extremely high accident rates in the county and a great deal of them are by idiots who are going too fast for a bend get half way round it then realise it's sharper than they thought. Unfortunately a lot of lincolnshire people just don't know how to drive properly they are far too hesitant on junctions etc and just generally don't look in their mirrors or further down the road.

the county council have now responded by making a load of the county's roads 50mph where there's seemingly no need for it - a52 to skeg from boston and the 1073 to peterborough being 2 - it's a real bind when i'm working and i have to remember not to go faster than that in the job car (not that i ever speed anyway you understand ) when i'm not working i just remember the cameras

revesby's great fun, learnt lots on my 125 vardero pre-test going that way!! The road to willingham is good too, but the new bi-pass to Skegness from Spilsby is sooooo boring.

do you think so - i think it's a pain in the arse revesby end but then again it's only because you can't get a decent run on it til you're halfway round

Ezzy's Mum! wrote:

Unfortunately a lot of lincolnshire people just don't know how to drive properly they are far too hesitant on junctions etc and just generally don't look in their mirrors or further down the road.

Me thinks that would be a National (International for the Welsh-Scottish separatists ), problem then .

This could turn into a sub topic all of it's own, but I fear would only be the "Self appreciation Society", in that we would all just generally agree on things such as (incorrect/inappropreate) mobile phone use, etc. etc. etc.

A point well made never the less Suzie

ellie wrote:
Just need it painting...then I'm sorted.....

How bout something like this and the fur would keep your bum as warm as the grips do your hands
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This gets my vote : -

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Yamaha's answer to go faster stripes :whoop:

'ave that on yer cat !!! Sssssmokin' [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

ooer - you'd certainly see it coming (or going!!) but your bum would be warmer on the tiger!! it's actually a local bike - passed me in coningsby in the pouring rain one day when i was in the car - it looked bedraggled to say the least and no doubt probably smelt a bit ripe on drying out too!!!

being an ex-A&E nurse that aint easy!!!), I just want to ride........and ride....and ride.......

oooeerr missus, yup you wanna come to scotland...
sign up for Big (or wee) Mac ...usually a good mix of different riders. And the nightlife always brings a few laughs...

You could always do the national rallies (Welsh is in may, Engalnd will probably be around June and Scotland is usually the end of the summer) but depeneds on how long you want to go for. but they are good fun.

Robertcains - What happend to the tyre. I've always had bridgestones, currently BT021's without problems.

Other cat owners have said Conti's are good n grippy.

Alternativly, get a list of regular/ large meets/ride outs from all round the country together and get to as many as possible.

Cheers for all the 'colourful' suggestions....
I'm hoping to get out on a ride one of these days, Taste of Lincolnshire maybe...????
Scotland a bit far as I have a 10 yr old pillion and she gets a bit bored (and falls asleep!), ......but we'll see.......

Still can't make my mind up about the colour scheme........(I used to be indecisive but I'm not so sure).......