Lowther Castle Run

Helen an I went out yesterday for a run up to Lowther Castle. We had visited the castle a few weeks back in the car and had decided we should have a run up on the bikes as it has a nice cafe on site.

We left home and headed up to Clitheroe services to fill up for the day. From here we followed our usual route to the A56 at Settle via Sawley and Wigglesworth. We then followed the A56 to Devil’s Bridge at Kirkby Lonsdale. Devil’s look very busy so we carried on and as expected the A683 was quiet. We followed the A683 towards Sedbergh but turned off just before on the B6256. We then used the A684 briefly to get to the B6257 and then followed that to the A685. This we followed over the M6 and down into Tebay. We then joined the B6260 to Orton and then followed the B6261 back under the M6 and over to the A6 near Shap. We joined the A6 and headed north into Shap, where we stopped briefly to use the toilets. We then followed the A6 and passed through Hackthorpe, after which we turned off and headed over to Lowther Castle.

After lunch we headed back to the A6 and then headed through Shap and then over the top and back down towards Kendal.  Just before Kendal we turned off to the left and headed for Meal Bank on minor roads. We then crossed over the River Mint and headed for the A685. We crossed over the A685 and continued on down Paddy Lane  and then crossed over the A684. We followed Hayclose Lane to the junction with the B6254 at The station Inn. Here we turned left and followed the B6254 through Old Hutton towards Kirkby Lonsdale. We sooned arrived in Kirkby Lonsdale and then headed over to Devil’s Bridge for an ice cream. It was still very busy but we managed to spot some of our old biking buddies Pab, Gary and Mick.

After our ice cream and brief catch up we left and followed the A65 through Ingleton and then turned off and headed on our tried and tested route passed Stocks Reservoir and through Gisburn Forest. We then joined the B6478 and headed through Slaidburn to Newton-in-Bowland. We then continued on the B6478 over Waddington Fell and back down into Clitheroe. We stopped in Clitheroe for fuel, my new bike isn’t getting the same mpg as my old one, hopefully as it breaks in it will improve. From there we headed back home via Sabden and the A56/M66.

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Stem Mount, Plates & Rear Sets

Yesterday I installed a stem mount on the K1300S to enable me to attach my Garmin SatNav to when I get round to installing that and the rest of the wiring for the Autocom system. I got one of the custom made mounts from Telferizer, they almost look like a factory option. The quality and look is great and it was so easy to install.

After that I decided to install some invisible film on the heal kickplates as they are renowned for scratching up very easily. I got some Auto-Protek film off Amazon, it is designed to protect paintwork from scratches and stone chips, but is perfect for this application as well. I removed the kick plates from the bike, a far harder job then is necessary due to Loctite again and the rear master cylinder on the otherside. Once removed I cut the film to suit and then installed with a slip solution. You then just squeegee out the water and bubbles, I also used a hairdryer to apply heat to help the corners stick down better. As the name suggests the film is pretty much invisible although you can see the edges if you get very close to the plates.

I then adjusted the position of the HP rearset pegs, they can be placed in 1 of 6 different positions. They come installed at position 1 which is the lowest, I rotated 180 degrees and installed them in position 2, which is slightly higher but no further to the rear of the bike. Again BMW have made the job much harder than needed. Green Loctite this time on the bolts, they are never going to come out. They also used Torx bolts and the frame was in the way of the top ones. So off to Screwfix to get a set of allen keys with Torx heads on them. They just about fit in to get the top bolt out, although I did have to put Duck Tape on the frame to protect it.

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