Mair Mototrip to Glen Coe
This is the first major trip I've ever taken on this bike, and the second journey on a motorcycle ever over 100 miles (I once took my old Mutt Mongrel up to Ben Wyvis when I lived in bonny Inversnekie), and embarking on a one-day trip up to Glen Coe on any bike, yet alone my dinky 125cc Honda Grom was extremely daunting!
I decided to buy the Grom, despite the multitude of cheaper used chinese or old reputable 'big three' manufactured bikes because, aside from my CBT license restricting me to 125cc bikes, I wanted something cute with character; This is something the Grom has in spades above and beyond most, if any, other bike. I feel like a goblin (a gromlin if you will teehee) darting around on this wee thing. I can earnestly say that I want to keep it forever to blast around town doing wheelies and to take out with my friends who are restricted to lower power bikes. Unfortunately this exact type of trip is the one area the Grom particularly struggles; and its advantages become drawbacks.
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The Grom is nimble, accelerates to 45mph quickly, its 108kg wet-weight means that I can physically doghandle it between parking spots and it makes me feel adorable; but at high speeds it numbs your arse with vibrations and it has a top speed of only about 55-60mph on a flat (I've gotten it to maybe 73mph or so downhill with a tailwind!). The longitudinally mounted single-cylinder engine goes some amount to reducing the feeling of being in the pear wiggler compared to a traditional vertically mounted engine common on 125cc motorcycles, which basically shakes up and down like it's jerking you off, but it can never eliminate it.
I expected the low top speed to be the main hurdle, but around the B roads, country lanes and even the A roads like the A82 running alongside the Lord-of-the-rings-esque (I guess this really means rural New Zealand but whatever) visages of Loch Lomond north of glasgow; I often found I kept pace with or even overtook traffic. I found that if I kept my energy in the corners and essentially constantly pinned the throttle I could weave through the passes comfortably at 40-50mph; whilst cars could only perform a pedestrian 25-35mph in the same turn. I suppose minmaxxing my bike for agility has its perks!
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The First leg - Crow Road, Aberfoyle and Duke's pass
You can never really relax with city riding. I find it fun to see the other bikers in Glasgow and tootle around, but you never shirk the feeling of imminent doom from a Karenwagen wiping you out. Thankfully my flat is in a part of the West End that is easy to escape north from in around 15 minutes. from there I'm taking the direct rural road through to campsite glen and onwards to crow road. If you're looking to get into the Glasgow automotive or biker scene then this spot should be high on your visit list. It has beautiful overlooks onto Glasgow below and has a number of fun hiking trails connected to it. This is my favourite waypoint to pass through going on a ride to clear my head, or to do something more. It's far enough from Glasgow to represent a significant journey, but close enough for convenience. You can always find some quirky characters here which I like to share instagram handles with and look at their cooler, bigger bikes (please use having a bigger bike to flirt with me, actually no just any bike to flirt with me) and joke to race them with my low-power machine XD. Come to think of it I should get a tail or something for my bike to signal to other furries that I'm cool and sick and stuff; the Grom would suit it. The other appeal of this spot is what lies beyond with Crow road.
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On from here, Crow road (when it's not a gravelled construction site as it is at time of writing) is a thoroughly satisfying section of winding backroad, running between Lennoxtown and Fintry, that is easily accessible from Glasgow. This makes it a popular evening spot for bikers and boy racers in their debadged corsas. This is a thin road, with blind, winding corners and open straights with laybys that often have doggers or campers parked in them; so some amount of good judgement and decorum is required to ensure you share the road safely. Though with danger comes fun! taking these corners at speed can be enchanting, it has a rough approximation of every feature on a racetrack. Switchbacks, chicanes, hairpins and winding straights (more like winding gays) and best of all; I've never seen a cop here, so you can enjoy the tarmac unbothered. I can overtake a decent number of cars here, but I'm often gapped on my tiny Grom, even by other foolhardy 125cc riders taking some blind corners far faster than is sensible. Unfortunately it's only a few miles in which to enjoy the cliff views over Glasgow and flowing fields, so ride it to the fullest.
From Crow road to Aberfoyle, the foot of the famous Duke's Pass, is mostly pleasurable and unpopulated backroads. The weather of late summer here is great and probably the best time to ride through the regions around Glasgow, as Glasgow is renowned for its terrible winter weather (did you know Glasgow, some years, gets literally zero perfect days?! that's a day without cloud cover, rain or snow). I personally had absolutely brilliant weather for the full trip. It's a region of photogenic farmland but not much else, it's inherently transitory (trans i tory? interesting). Aberfoyle is a quaint place, which is mobbed with motorcyclists this time of year. It's quite funny seeing my tiny Grom in a big gaggle of proper touring bikes like some kind of cheap porn scene (me with the big robot girls). I stopped for an ice cream in the sun and to let my sweaty pits breathe a bit; yes I do accept DMs.
Duke's Pass needs no real introduction and has been covered extensively on Youtube and by other writers. But yeag basically it's good. The only issue is that it's well known enough to attract lots of people, with whom comes annoyance. You'll be playing a waiting game here with the throngs of campervans and road trip SUVs. With the increased presence unfortunately comes a lot of police, who will eyeball you unnervingly the whole time you're on the asphalt. I'd say this road is definitely worth visiting, just be prepared for annoyances in tourist season.
One thing I neglected to mention earlier is that previously in this week, my motorcycle battery had failed and I was push starting the bike; this thankfully ended after this point in the journey as it seems the alternator had gaped the battery with enough raw current to kick some alacrity into the starter motor.
leg 2 - Glencoe and Oban
When Scottish poets write about Scotland, I reckon they think of here. the entrance to Glen Coe is remarkably tangible; you crest a steep hill (I felt my struggling Grom trying every bit of its 40mph best up it) and then suddenly you're in a landscape of giants and total desolation. Apart from all the motorhomes.
I had to remind myself to keep my eyes on the road at points because of the level of incredible natural beauty on display, even if it is a little samey. I think I could do a solid week at one of the guest houses here, marvelling at the rocks and heather, until I was inevitably bored and wanted to move on. Unfortunately the low power of the Grom became particularly notable in this section of the journey; which a combination of long, straight single track roads and relatively heavy traffic meant I had to pull off a number of times to let lines of traffic go by me. The experience of having traffic follow you is unpleasant but not nearly as bad as I was catastrophising it to be; honestly it's mostly fine as long as you let impatient drivers overtake you by slowing down a bit. The Grom gets excellent fuel mileage, often close to 150mpg, but it only holds about 150 miles of fuel! so this leg of the trip was marked by some anxiety from seeing if my 1/3rd of a tank of gas could push me through an area that makes building fuel stops illegal because of 'the environment' or 'natural beauty' or something. Thankfully I was able to run the blockade to Moss and top up my remaining fumes. If you road trip through anywhere in Scotland; please make it Glencoe. Taking my fuzzy butt up here was the best decision I've made in a while.
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about now I was considering whether to push on to Fort William, a lovely place that catches all the rain that breaks on Ben Nevis, the UK's largest mountain that it sits at the foot of, or to return home. It was drawing close to 15:00 by this point so I made the unadventurous decision to turn back, but decided to take a detour to keep myself in this lovely trip a little longer. The village of Oban might be one of the most beautiful places in the world, nevermind Scotland. And the road there doesn't disappoint in the slightest. You'll find more pleasant and winding forested roads here that overlook Loch Leven and Loch Linnhe, with hundreds of boats of all kinds parked in the saltwater off the shore. A scattering of islands break up the reflection of the setting sun, many of them with old forts or docking facilities on them that make you want to explore this place for a decent while with good friends. It makes me legitimately annoyed that not everywhere can be like this. I'd say the A82 is the best way to transit to Oban, as it's decently curvy, has the amazing views and you're not constantly battling tractors.
Oban is like something from a fairytale. the way it conforms to the hills around it like only a place built before planning codes were invented and the mix of medieval and renaissance architecture along the harbour, filled with ships running all the way out well into the water, is a sight you just have to kind of sit and pontificate at for a while. I took the time I had here to snag a lovely fish and chips with cheese from the local chippie. Oban has great central motorcycle-only parking too, so it's worth a spot on your moto-tour for anyone.
This was unfortunately all the adventure I could allot, so it was time to turn back
On a pale horse (Halo reference not the bibble)
The return journey was uneventful, I was able to take the A82 right back to Glasgow where it becomes the main road just outside my flat. I'd say that the A82 around the western edge of Loch Lomond is particularly lovely; it has lots of embankments built against the loch and winding curved that make it feel energetic in a manageable way. I'd previously crossed the eastern edge, and I'd say I prefer this way, it's also far faster due to the large, multi lane road. Unclipping all my gear back at home marked the end of this journey, which I would also encourage any Glaswegian moto-enthusiasts to join me in completing! I totalled roughly 450 miles, 5 fuel stops and many amazing views. For the love of dog do this in summer so you don't get rained on the whole time XD.
