Longest Day Up - Lands End to JoG on a 300 quid bike

m@tt

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A week today I’ll be in Penzance looking forward to the early start on Monday morning .
At sunrise I’ll be setting off an old Honda CBR1000f purchased for not much more than 300 quid and hoping to make it to John O’ Groats by dusk .

What could possibly go wrong ?

I did look for a Ducati for the trip , but couldn’t even find an engine in budget . Hopefully the big Honda is the right choice for over 1000 miles without one mile on a motorway . I’ve put on some motocross bars I had laying around so it’s a bit more comfortable and I can stand up to relieve the aching buttox as needed.
It’s going to be a real endurance test . I did a shake down run this week of over 650 miles , so have some confidence that the bike will make it at least

Charlie isn’t coming along, as it’s not going to be a fun trip , but she’s been on some training runs . It’s not just the long day ride, of course , I still have to get back home.
The plan is either to do the NC500 on the way back , or roll the bike into the sea at JoG depending on how it goes

The run is to raise funds for Cancer Research , so if anyone feels like donating , here’s the link

Matt and Charlie’s Long Way up




Matt......
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Good Luck.
Interesting that you’ve posted this up; only last night I was thinking: Is there a “shortest night across” run?
I love riding at night.
I was thinking of watching the sunset on the West cost and then scooting across to the East coast for the sunrise.
Lands End to Lowestoft would be ideal, but I don't fancy the run down to Lands End to start the journey, it’ll have to be something like Blackpool to Scarborough, or similar.
Does the community have an idea for a start and a finish point? Somewhere nice to watch the sunset and somewhere nice to watch the sunrise with a few enjoyable roads in between.
Don’t want to hijack this thread.
Should this be in a thread of it’s own?

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Good Luck.
Interesting that you’ve posted this up; only last night I was thinking: Is there a “shortest night across” run?
I love riding at night.
I was thinking of watching the sunset on the West cost and then scooting across to the East coast for the sunrise.
Lands End to Lowestoft would be ideal, but I don't fancy the run down to Lands End to start the journey, it’ll have to be something like Blackpool to Scarborough, or similar.
Does the community have an idea for a start and a finish point? Somewhere nice to watch the sunset and somewhere nice to watch the sunrise with a few enjoyable roads in between.
Don’t want to hijack this thread.
Should this be in a thread of it’s own?

View attachment 21434
Higher up than blackpool.. selerfield way on and across to whitby of north landing at flambourgh?
 
Good Luck.
Interesting that you’ve posted this up; only last night I was thinking: Is there a “shortest night across” run?
I love riding at night.
I was thinking of watching the sunset on the West cost and then scooting across to the East coast for the sunrise.
Lands End to Lowestoft would be ideal, but I don't fancy the run down to Lands End to start the journey, it’ll have to be something like Blackpool to Scarborough, or similar.
Does the community have an idea for a start and a finish point? Somewhere nice to watch the sunset and somewhere nice to watch the sunrise with a few enjoyable roads in between.
Don’t want to hijack this thread.
Should this be in a thread of it’s own?

View attachment 21434
Clarkson did that one year but I think it was 🤔 fuck , can't remember...
Easiest place to do it is a place called Mavis Grind on the Shetland mainland, would only take 2 minutes to walk though as it's virtually only as wide as the road 🤣
 
I made it to JoG at 2am , 1041 miles no Motorways and a pretty tortuous route from Northwich to Garstang, via Holmfirth , Halifax others with traffic filled single carriageway roads I hope never to ride again
Pissing down from Lands End to Cirencester , then luckily brightened up
North of Preston and Scotland was a joy . The route included a ferry to Dunoon and then some fantastic roads to Fort William and onto Inverness
The last leg from Inverness to JoG was tough , very cold and I really should have checked out the headlights on the Old Honda before then . Other than that she performed faultlessly

On the way home now via the NC500 .. some great roads , some single lanes more like farm tracks which was a surprise.
Big ride from Ullapool area to Cumbria tomorrow and home on Thursday
 
I made it to JoG at 2am , 1041 miles no Motorways and a pretty tortuous route from Northwich to Garstang, via Holmfirth , Halifax others with traffic filled single carriageway roads I hope never to ride again
Pissing down from Lands End to Cirencester , then luckily brightened up
North of Preston and Scotland was a joy . The route included a ferry to Dunoon and then some fantastic roads to Fort William and onto Inverness
The last leg from Inverness to JoG was tough , very cold and I really should have checked out the headlights on the Old Honda before then . Other than that she performed faultlessly

On the way home now via the NC500 .. some great roads , some single lanes more like farm tracks which was a surprise.
Big ride from Ullapool area to Cumbria tomorrow and home on Thursday
Fair play buddy!!
 
I made it to JoG at 2am , 1041 miles no Motorways and a pretty tortuous route from Northwich to Garstang, via Holmfirth , Halifax others with traffic filled single carriageway roads I hope never to ride again
Pissing down from Lands End to Cirencester , then luckily brightened up
North of Preston and Scotland was a joy . The route included a ferry to Dunoon and then some fantastic roads to Fort William and onto Inverness
The last leg from Inverness to JoG was tough , very cold and I really should have checked out the headlights on the Old Honda before then . Other than that she performed faultlessly

On the way home now via the NC500 .. some great roads , some single lanes more like farm tracks which was a surprise.
Big ride from Ullapool area to Cumbria tomorrow and home on Thursday
Well done👍 How long did it take in all ?
 
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