We are riding up on Friday to Dumfries, avoiding the M6 and M74. We are staying in a premier inn just outside Dumfries as a base, and riding out for Saturday and Sunday across the Boarders and north Northumberland.
There are three of us going on x2 Tiger GT Pros and a Suzuki 1000.
Not been into the Boarders for a couple of years, so really looking forward to the amazing riding in the area.
Day 2 looks similar to roads we rode in June and again in August. Lovely ![]()
Have a great trip, Steve!
Some nice roads there. Enjoy!
enjoy Steve! Hope you’ll have time to take some pictures.
Most definitely will provide some pictures ![]()
Did them in firsts week in June, it was a good ride and also went through Bellingham our old fun ground from the good old days…..
Have an absolutely fantastic time!!
Stay safe and enjoy the trip
The second day is a classic and probably in the UK’s “must ride” list… you might find you have time to turn around and ride it in reverse too
I’m proper jellies mate! Be safe and I hope it’s dry for you…
Cheers @DCS222.
It looks like Friday and Saturday will be ok, not sure about Sunday though. Mind when touring you just have to go with it as you cannot control the weather.
Back home after four great days in Scotland. I will sort out some pictures and some background to our rides.
Ok all I’ve had some time today to put together some details following our trip to Scotland.
Day 1
Three of us met at the local garage to fuel up for the first day of our short trip into the Scottish Borders. The bikes were x2 tiger 900 gt pro’s and a Suzuki 1000GX.
Our first leg was up the M6 motorway to get us up to Preston where we could then get into the dales, heading for Settle.
We stopped for a brew and a butty in the warm sunshine having left the rain on the motorway.
Fed and watered we headed for Hawes, onwards to Kirby Stephens and then to Penrith. From here we headed further north to Carlisle on the A6.
At Carlisle we hopped onto the M6 for a couple of junctions to avoid going through the city centre. Once off the motorway we headed for Gretna and then onto the A75 heading for Dumfries and our hotel.
We had a mixture warm sunshine and some heavy showers. We arrived dry at the hotel hungry and ready for some beer.
A couple of pints before our evening meal which was in the hotel restaurant, followed by a few more before bed.
More to come…
Here are some screen shots from my onboard camera as we progressed through the dales.
I forgot this one…
Great photos Steve
More tomorrow please! ![]()
Great start buddy! More please!
Day 2
We started with an all you can eat breakfast in the hotel restaurant, lovely.
Our ride for today was based on a route I lifted from the Simon Weir biking roads in Britain. It was basically a figure of eight with Moffat in the middle of the eight.
We set off from Dumfries heading north on the A701 to Moffat. It rained hard all the way to our first stop and continued after we had a cuppa.
Heading north for the first loop and to the B719 and B7078 to Douglas, and a short blast on the A70 to Cumnock.
We headed down the A76 to the B797 looping north to Elvanfoot and the A702 to Carronbridge. We picked up the A76 again which took us back to Dumfries and our hotel.
We arrived at circa 15:00hs only to find the hotel bar closed until 17:00hs. So a quick trip to the off licence for a few cans and we sat in the beer garden until the bar opened. Amazingly the sun was shining and it was lovely and warm.
A quick shower and we were ready for food and a few beers to finish a fantastic days riding.
Day 3
Again we started with an all you can eat breakfast in the hotel restaurant, lovely.
Today we were heading west towards Northumberland via Lockerbie on the A709 and onto Newcastleton. We left Lockerbie picking up the B7068. This is a must ride road with fantastic views across wonderful landscape all the way to Newcastleton.
We had originally planned to go down to Kielder water, but as the weather had not been that kind to us we decided to head north to Hawick. We stopped for fuel, food and a drink, before heading north to Selkirk on the A7.
We turned onto the A708 heading back toward Moffat where we were faced with a set of roan closure signs. They indicated that there was no way through to Moffat. I had a quick look on Google maps and could not see any closure showing, so we took a chance and headed on down the A708 towards St Mary’s Loch not 100% sure if we would get through. We arrived at the Glen Cafe by the loch to find a number of disgruntled bikes. The cafe was closed for three days lol. And we had thankfully not encountered any road closures getting there.
We had a short rest and then headed onto Moffat and the A701 back to Dumfries and our hotel. We had planned to get a taxi into Dumfries for some food and a drink or two. Unfortunately it was raining so we decided to eat in the hotel restaurant again. Luckily the the food was actually ok, so no real problem.
Another great days riding on some stunning roads.
Are you modelling for “Ye olde naked man cafe” again mate? ![]()
Ha ha….. when in the dales it is mandatory to have to visit. I’m taking the photo, so no modelling for me on this occasion.
How you doing these days? I was thinking about you the other day when reflecting over some photos with @andypandy in them.
It’s a year this week since his funeral.
Absolutely - I called in there the week before last on my way over to Bolton-le-Sands.
I’m very well thanks, still putting the miles on both the Bonnie and the Transalp. Looks like the Tiger is going well and you had a great time in Scotland.
Funnily enough, I was just thinking about the funeral - a sad day, but at least we gave him a good send off, although I expect he would have had something typically Andy to say about it!




































