That's a bummer! Love my Longitude although it doesn't get used so much these days. Shame you couldn't get it welded up to see you through the rest of the trip but good that it didn't cause you an accident!
Three of us did the Badger Divide last week. Epic scenery, great food and good riding. We took the train to Inverness and rode south. 2 nights in camp sites, 2 in wild camps. The weather started with a torrential rain shower as we were riding through Inverness and generally got worse through the ride until we had a full day of heavy rain on the fourth day. The sort of day where you shiver uncontrollably every time you stop and start wondering whether to sacrifice dry clothes to the inevitable drenching. There was a decent amount of snow on the hills above us and the evening temps were around 8 degrees.
Route finding was straight forward and there were plenty of places to camp - not so many resupply points for the second and third days - but I could have done with extra fitness, lower gearing on my bike and slightly wider tyres. MTB gearing and tyres and drop bars would have been perfect for me. I'd happily ride it again if there weren't so many other places to go.
Badger Divide is a great route. Did it on my HT with panniers, like you say I would do it again but lots of other places to go.
