Spring in North Yorkshire

It has been a most enjoyable Monday of motorcycling. For our second day out this weekend, we headed north.

Inevitably, there was always going to be a bit of reticence about getting up at 7am on a non-school day. Still, the itinery wasn’t mine and it was fixed, so cats were fed and toast was popped, toot-sweet. While the neighbours were stretching and yawnng (probably, we weren’t watching), we were exhibiting some bright-and-breezy anti-social behaviour by starting the bikes ready for our outing.

It seems the Triumph may have a cracked exhaust downpipe, and the weather forcast was favourable, so the Italian micro-stallion was called in to action today. I say ‘micro-stallion’ because @Motopulcino 's Streetfighter thunders much more convincingly with its Akropovics.

8am found us in an almost empty car park where we met the first two of our compnions for the day.

Regular viewers may recognise these two. Yes, the Himalayan started today and no, Alison is not on the forum, despite owning a fetching Tiger 900. I can only assume she’s unable to read and write…

The idea was to ride up to the Route 59 cafe on the A59 (see what they did there) to meet some more of our riding chums. En route, the exuberant Ducati leading the group got a bit carried away and we lost sight of them. Mr Enfield and I stopped, considered our options, and decided to head straight for the second waypoint of the day in Settle. Mostly because I’d completely forgotten we were going to Route 59 in Skipton first. Did I mention it was an terribly early start to the day? By the time we’d worked out who was where, I was already well in to a fried breakfast at the Ye Old Naked Man Cafe.. Recommended.

With perfect timing, as the last of the bacon was eagerly removed from the plate, the call came to say the main group had arrived in Settle and soon enough we one big happy posse.

I suppose you would call this the ‘classic run’ across North Yorkshire. Not that it’s anything but a great day out. Just up the road from Settle is the classic monument that is the Ribblehead Viaduct, which carries trains across the brilliantly named Batty Cross in the Ribble Valley. It’s a popular and impressive sight that draws many visitors but it is quite difficult to capture the grandeur in a photo. Still, here it is for the uninitiated.

Our group of eight bikes was starting to feel like a proper gang, only with pricey bike gear and creeping arthritis. Once again we were outnumbered by the ladies today, And they were riding proper bikes, too. One with the aforementioned Tiger and another with a Street Triple RS sporting a reservoir sock with sage advice stitched on - “Don’t fucking die”. Never mind ‘Think Bike’, I’m sure we can all get behind that sentiment.

After a few more inadequate pictures of the impressive viaduct we said goodbye to the Himalayan and pointed our motorcycles at Hawes. There were hoards of bikes everywhere we went today.

Those clouds look pretty ominous but the weather held and the sun even broke through at times. One cup of tea and a large slice of cake later it was time to nip up the road to Buttertubs Pass. It’s only 15 mins for Hawes and a spectacular piece of England to admire…




…as is most of North Yorkshire. I haven’t been up here for a while and almost forgotten just how lovely it is. If you’ve never ridden a bike around this part of the world, put it on your list of ‘must see’ places. Guided tours always available.

That was supposed to be our last stop but as we were on our way to Grassington we were turned back. An affable coach driver informed everyone that a combine harvester had ‘gone over’ and leaked oil across the blocked road. I’m still trying to imagine a combine harvester losing it on a bend.

And so our last stop for the day was actually Kettlewell, where another group of bikers had gathered to discuss alternative routes and the hazards of combine harvesting.

You can’t really go wrong with the roads around here so although we had to double-back on ourselves it was no hardship. Still, time was pushing on so once we hit the A1 it was just a fast run south. Only three of us were left by this point, the others having peeled off to head home in various directions. The MV isn’t as unconfortable as it looks, not for me, anyway, but even so, the fast, vibey ride was enough on my wrists for one day. Home, change, beer. Perfect

The only question now is, where to go next weekend!

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Nice write up and photos.
Haven’t been over to Buttertubs since we moved up here or the Ribblehead viaduct. Must correct that soon.
Been over to Hawes a couple of times and Settle though :sunglasses:

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Great write up and pictures :+1:

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That was a great write up - what a marvellous area to be on a bike in. Oh, and this made me laugh :grinning:

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Excellent narrative. I often travelled through a lot of that area back in the mid-1970s, but it was in a Reliant van, so I never quite got to explore the full high-speed bend-swinging potential of the roads… Plenty of time to look at the scenery, though.

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The worst experience with the Reliant was driving over Shap Fell on the old A6 after a heavy snowfall. Previous vehicles had left two ruts in the snow…

Bloody hell, you’re a brave man.

You wouldn’t catch me driving a Reliant. :grin:

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Later on I had a Reliant Scimitar coupe, which was a different kettle of fish altogether.

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You are Rodney Trotter and I claim my five pounds :smiley:

Great write up and pictures Saul. As you say a fantastic place to enjoy your bike and some cracking roads. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Last itme I was in Hawes it was with your good self. Hopefully we’ll find ourselves over there again one of these days.

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Yes we definitely need to get a ride together this summer. Let’s get something sorted when Andy and me get back from France. :slightly_smiling_face:

Ohh ladida, going to France… :rofl: just kidding matey, I hope you two have a great time!

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Great account and photos - thank you!

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Was that the time you push started my F800GT at Morrisons Meltham??

I believe it was, much to the amusement of the people filling their cars with petrol.