Stenaline Bike Days

[Captain Starlet]

For anyone interested Stenaline are doing the motorbike offer to Scotland for £40 return again. Code is BIKERDAY24

Motorbike Daytrip to Britain | Stena Line

Take your motorbike to Britain for a daytrip with Stena Line for only £49 bike & 2!

www.stenaline.co.uk

 

[Stebo]

Any good route suggestions, that can have you back on the ferry in the same day?

 

[andy9201]

Booked it earlier, works for 48hr returns. Good deal when a foot passenger is £72

 

[Laundrymike]

My van identifies as a Motorbike - reckon Stenaline need some kind of proof?

 

[Stebo]

I'm trying to organise a bit of a trip for a few mates and myself. I've never really done a trip like this on a bike before, so I'm not sure what a reasonable distance to travel in a day would be. I'm trying to get as far North as Skye, but trying to avoid motorways so speed will average a bit lower. I'd roughly thought about the below routes for each day.

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Sign in - Google Accounts

It is 350miles on day 1 and 400miles on day two. Day two can be made a lot shorter easily if we find that Day 1 was too much (and we don't want to miss the boat!), but is this overly ambitious? (and do those links to maps work?)

 

[Lee]

Those links to routes require a sign-in. But reading your post, I would say that 400 miles is a long time on the saddle in one day, even on a comfortable bike. You don't want to take the enjoyment out of the trip by getting aches.

 

[Stebo]

My Maps
My Maps

Maybe that will work?

I've did a similar trip in a car, but I'm struggling to judge if the bike will let me cover ground a lot quicker, of if the twisty roads and lack of over-taking mean that the bike won't really be any faster. I think the fact that I suspected it was maybe too much, was maybe telling anyway.

I'll maybe take another look at trimming it down. I'm also mindful that those mileages are from when we get to Scotland, and don't take in a ride to the ferry either.

 

[Slimsbikers]

Tbh even at 250 miles a day you're not really stopping anywhere too long. 400 miles is doable but you'll know you've done it afterwards. You'll be stiff and tired.

 

[Nicky]

Think of going on a Friday afternoon and up to Fortwilliam, then doing the NC500 on Saturday before ending up at Fortwilliam to stay and then a leisurely jaunt back towards the boat on Sunday.

 

[chrisQ]

Myself and a few mates booked it there today, out Friday morning and home Saturday night....we're planning on doing glencoe and got a decent hotel at reasonable money.

 

[soccersmyth]

Would be handy for nipping over to the BSB in knockhill

 

[Stebo]

Myself and a few mates booked for 9th-10th June

 

[Stebo]

Best £40 I've ever spent

Had a cracking couple of days in Scotland. Covered 640 miles over two days, had the best of crack, seen some mind-blowing scenery, rode some sensational roads, and only got wet on the way back to the boat from Glasgow.

Thanks @Captain Starlet for giving us the heads-up

 

[Scuba Steve]

outstanding! heard it was snowing in places i guess you avioded it well?

 

[Nicky]

That’s a lot of luggage for an overnighter…

 

[Stebo]

That’s a lot of luggage for an overnighter…

Mostly empty, but had to run with the two sides to keep it well balanced. One side was over-night bag, other side "just-in-case" / "because-it's-a-ducati" tools. Top-box was empty so I could stash a few lids when we stopped.

I could have went with just a backpack, but figured I may as well use the paniers when I have them.

outstanding! heard it was snowing in places i guess you avioded it well?

Small bit of drizzle when we got off the ferry, then a glorious Sunday and Monday morning. After lunch on Monday, while riding south of Glasgow, the roads started to get wet and really dark clouds in front of us. We ended up riding right through a big storm for about an hour, but when we got to the far side of that the roads were dry and weather sunny again. I think we were very fortunate though.

 

[Scuba Steve]

@Stebo not to bad then, you have gortex gear? if not its worth the money! as for ducati problems, should buy a v4

 

[Nicky]

@Stebo not to bad then, you have gortex gear? if not its worth the money! as for ducati problems, should buy a v4

Yes, and it can sit beside a friend of mines that is lying up in Millsport as they won’t stand over an electrical fault under warranty… 2/2 Ducatis in our group suffering the same fate; electrical faults and horrendous dealer service…

 

[Stebo]

@Stebo not to bad then, you have gortex gear? if not its worth the money! as for ducati problems, should buy a v4

I've Alpinestar's version which they call "Drystar". I'm not sure that it will last as long as proper Gortex, but it performed perfectly in some really torrential weather at motorway speeds for over an hour. My mate was in RST trousers that were supposed to be waterproof and ended up soaked and foundered. I only recently got the Alpinestar gear and he was slagging me saying RST is just as good and with Alpinestar you're only paying for the name....... then on the boat home he was cursing RST

I'm absolutely in love with my Multistrada 1200 - Apart from maybe quick-shifter and auto-blipper, I can think of anything else I'd want it to. The thought of spending an extra £10k to get a V4 version, with plenty to go wrong so it can sit at Millsport, does nothing for me

Yes, and it can sit beside a friend of mines that is lying up in Millsport as they won’t stand over an electrical fault under warranty… 2/2 Ducatis in our group suffering the same fate; electrical faults and horrendous dealer service…

I'd an issue with my dash, which Millsport wanted over a grand to sort buy just replacing everything (which would have left the bike with a new mileage of zero miles!). I sent it to a guy in The Netherlands who fixed it for me for under £200! I still love Ducati though - there's just something special about them.

 

[Captain Starlet]

Best £40 I've ever spent

Had a cracking couple of days in Scotland. Covered 640 miles over two days, had the best of crack, seen some mind-blowing scenery, rode some sensational roads, and only got wet on the way back to the boat from Glasgow.

Thanks @Captain Starlet for giving us the heads-up
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View attachment 437361

Hard to beat an adventure for £40, the ferry works out the cheapest part, but worth it. Bike looks great, perfect bike for that.

 

[Scuba Steve]

Yes, and it can sit beside a friend of mines that is lying up in Millsport as they won’t stand over an electrical fault under warranty… 2/2 Ducatis in our group suffering the same fate; electrical faults and horrendous dealer service…

Sorry to hear that mate honestly, ive 6th bikes from milsport and 4 of them been ducatis and never had an issue with Billy nor Aaron sorting issues i may have had. What is the fault anyways? Have to remember also mate, if ducati told them no, its not their fault end of the day too.

@Stebo im on my 2nd V4, my first one had an dash issue and ducati changed that out no problem and then front discs got worped and they replaced them too under warranty lol, i must be lucky lol!

 

[Nicky]

Sorry to hear that mate honestly, ive 6th bikes from milsport and 4 of them been ducatis and never had an issue with Billy nor Aaron sorting issues i may have had. What is the fault anyways? Have to remember also mate, if ducati told them no, its not their fault end of the day too.

@Stebo im on my 2nd V4, my first one had an dash issue and ducati changed that out no problem and then front discs got worped and they replaced them too under warranty lol, i must be lucky lol!

First 1 had a massive electrical meltdown all caused by a quick shifter and water ingress into the tail light. Millsport tried to charge £290 to diagnose the faults on a year old V4S, even though the guy had it direct from Ducati in Italy that there would be no charge. They weren’t going to release the bike until it was paid, then when Ducati let the owner of the bike know that it was all sorted with MS, they didn’t even ring the guy to say to come and lift his bike even though it was ready over a week. Poor form… They also said he would have to pay the labour to get another part fitted, even though it was being replaced under warranty too. Sounded to us like they were wanting paid twice for everything, both from the owner of the bike and from Ducati when they’d have submitted the warranty bill. He has ended up since taking it to Rosso Ducati in Dublin to get the rest of the work done as it’s easier to transport it down than deal with MS.

The other V4S is currently there with a failed ABS sensor which caused a complete electronics system meltdown and MS have tried to say it’s because a rear hugger was fitted by someone other than them, but have since changed their argument to it being that the rear tyre was changed a few months ago by someone else… Basically sounds like they only want every Ducati owner to take bikes to them to get absolutely everything done, or they won’t honour warranty work when the need arises, which it seems to do all too often…

The only positive tale I’ve heard from them is another guy I know whose father in law buys a 1 or 2 new bikes there every year and only puts a few hundred miles on them, had his bike collected from the house, taken in and repaired without a word said within a couple of days as he bought the bike alongside his FIL’s latest purchase. Obviously the more you spend anywhere then the better service you receive, but that seems a bit unjust…

 

[Scuba Steve]

@Nicky i wouldnt say the more you spend the better service you get tbh, ive always been treated well by all the staff in the place. Well i can understand warrenty and aftermarket parts being fitted that can void a warrenty thats the same case anywhere. Sure we have all seen the video about your fella from here with his car on youtube (forget his name) and the hassle he has over an exhaust being on the car and not covering some hybird issue (dont know the whole in and out lol hes hard to watch and listen to)

regardless of experinces of the dealship lol, was just saying the V4 Multi is alot more improved over the older gens lol! didnt want to start a keyboard outrage here lol

I've Alpinestar's version which they call "Drystar". I'm not sure that it will last as long as proper Gortex, but it performed perfectly in some really torrential weather at motorway speeds for over an hour. My mate was in RST trousers that were supposed to be waterproof and ended up soaked and foundered. I only recently got the Alpinestar gear and he was slagging me saying RST is just as good and with Alpinestar you're only paying for the name....... then on the boat home he was cursing RST

I was never really a textile person until i got the multi, i even had RST stuff that was "waterproof" aswell and got soaked in it aswell, but when i asked about it - they said its really only good for "light showers" LOL! Gortex stuff is impressive, ive the richa gear myself and was so impressed!

 

[Nicky]

regardless of experinces of the dealship lol, was just saying the V4 Multi is alot more improved over the older gens lol! didnt want to start a keyboard outrage here lol

Neither are my bikes, so not my problem to be fair, just very annoying for the mates being without their bikes. It would definitely put me off going anywhere near the brand and dealership though.

PS - most of the aftermarket parts were fitted by MS for a hefty sum…

 

[Scuba Steve]

Neither are my bikes, so not my problem to be fair, just very annoying for the mates being without their bikes. It would definitely put me off going anywhere near the brand and dealership though.

PS - most of the aftermarket parts were fitted by MS for a hefty sum…

i understand, but end of the also you are better making judgement on your own experinces not of others, we all have the habit of playing the "hard done by card"