SCMC Spring Gathering 26/04/26

Once again it was great to meet up with mates of old to talk bikes and catch up on goings on.

Thanks to the organisers and HUB 71 for making the change of venue a great success, and ordering great weather, which may have helped.

The Rollei photos will be added once the film has been developed.

Looking forward to the next one.

Panorama of the gathering

Great turnout

Z13 in green

Nice custom XS

Very tidy 400 four

The Big Yam and Street Triple parked up

Smokey Joe looking good in the sunshine

Mac's JPN rep

Nice Morini

Fraser's very tidy BSA 650 Lightning

Eric getting ready to depart

Jake exit stage left

Nice Matchless

Stevie and Dave heading off

One my favourite all time bikes

SCMC Wee Smokey, Arbroath

The run to the SCMC Wee Smokie in Arbroath saw us getting the bikes back on the road, after what seemed like a long winter. The forecast was for high winds and wintry showers, but the run up was fine, apart from having to fill up the Big Yam, which took £25 for E5. There were a good number of bikes parked up, and folk gathered by the time we got there just after 11am. It was great to meet up with Classic Club folk and talk bikes again. The run home was braw, apart from getting caught in a shower of hailstones.

Thanks to the ever cheery Eric and Amy for organising the day.

Sweet sounding Honda 350 Four

Lesley's Street Triple hiding the Big Yam

Specials section

Custom 350 LC

Ali's Guzzi Spada

Hector's Norton looking good in the specials section

Eric in good form announcing the prize winners

A brace of LC's, the 400 won a prize

Nice clean BSA

Matchless trials

Hector and Norton

            

July Holiday Week Part 2

The weather for Skye looked better towards the end of the week, and with a wee breeze forecast to hopefully keep the midges away. We had a quiet morning run up the A9, then turned off at Dalwhinnie for our first café stop at The Apiary. It was a fine run to our next café stop at Harrapool. The roads were pretty quiet considering it's peak holiday time. Our destination was Glenbrittle campsite which meant riding past the carpark for the Fairypools, where we encountered a flock of suicidal tourists blindingly stepping in front of us on a tricky downhill section. We didn't have a pitch booked as they don't take pre bookings for tents if you don't want electrical hook-ups. There were plenty spaces and we soon got the bikes unloaded and the tent put up. Our plan was to have our tea off the stove and have a couple of drinks beside the tent. The midges weren't a problem till next morning, which meant no lazing around having breakfast at the tent, instead we chose to use the excellent facilities. We were starting to pack up the camping stuff when I was commandeered by another motorcyclist standing in front of me with a set of jump leads, I suppose you know what I'm going to ask was his opener, oh and I've got a tour of the Talisker Distillery this morning! His Triumph adventure bike's battery was flat so it wouldn't start. I duly obliged, hopefully earning good Karma for a dry and trouble free run home. I did ask him to take a photo of the Big Yam rescuing his triumph, I'm still waiting on the photo which he did take. We had a good run home, apart from the Invergarry petrol station being out of fuel, thankfully we had fuelled up in Broadford which got us to Dalwhinnie. 400 miles of motorcycling in stunning scenery, and lots of café stops. We are busy planning our next holiday back in the beautiful Orkney Islands, sans bikes, but hopefully lots of coastal walks on islands we haven't been to yet.

Ready for the road

Tank bag for Wattie

Parked up at The Coffee Bothy in Harrapool

Bikes parked up at the foot of the Black Cuillins

Cuillin Munro's

Beach walk

Paragliding kit practise

Black and white version

Beer time

Friendly Chaffinch

Loch Brittle

Campsite reception and café

The Yam packed up for the journey home