Not much on the North side of the Black Isle itself where I stay unless you like fire roads. There are pockets of woodland that have some converted deer tracks but take a bit of local knowledge to find.Better off on the south side where you have easier access to Learnie and all the off piste stuff there and further along at Eathie. I think there is also some stuff around Ord Hill by North Kessock and possibly some at Drumderfit Hill overlooking Munlochy Bay.Basically anywhere with a hill, forest and reasonable access will have something hidden away.

On the plus side, as long as you have access to transport you are never further away than about half an hours drive from loads of stuff mentioned in previous posts (and more) and an hour or so from proper epic riding.

If you do move up here then the folk on the Highland Trail Riders closed Facebook group will be a great place to start and seem to be a very friendly lot.

Dunno about your Bronson V1 but can confirm that fabric cageless bottle won’t fit on 5010 V2 as you cant push the bottle far enough towards seat post tube to locate the bottle on the fixing points

On One Parkwood 27.5 in small. £67, I’m building one up for my second oldest with 26″ kit and 165mm cranks.

I have a Charge Scoop on MTB and a Fabric Line now on the CX (same cover material) and they feel a lot less slippery than the San Marco I linked to above just as a comparison for you

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/SASMPNZARW/san-marco-ponza-arrowhead-saddle

Tried one on CX to see if central channel made any difference to comfort as cheap, felt disturbingly slippery each time I got on it compared to saddles on my other bikes

Thanks for that, definitely looks to be a neater hose routing at the very least.

Thanks for the info guys, and some cracking photos there too:)

I think I’ll give it a shot, I’m not too proud to get off and push if required!

Dunno how your bikes would handle it, but you can use the forestry roads on the north side of Loch Garve to reach Contin rather than the main road on the south. The main road is not somewhere I would contemplate cycling on,blind corners on crests etc

YEAR REG CAR COLOUR

1981 W AUSTIN MAXI 1750 HLS BIEGE
1976 P FORD ESCORT 1300 SPORT MK2 YELLOW
1984 B FORD ESCORT 1.3L MK3 RED
1983 A OPEL MANTA GTE HATCH SILVER
1985 D FORD SIERRA 2.0 LASER MET RED
1986 D FORD FIESTA XR2 MK2 BLACK
1985 C FORD CAPRI 2.0 LASER BLACK
1990 G VAUXHALL CAVALIER GSI2000 MET BLUE
1990 G HYUNDAI PONY PICK-UP RED
1985 C AUDI COUPE GT5 RED
1986 D FORD ESCORT 1.4GL MK4 RED
1989 F NISSAN 200SX MET RED
1990 G NISSAN MICRA 1.0 WHITE
1990 G VOLKSWAGEN GOLF GTI 8V MK2 BLACK
1977 R FORD ESCORT 1.1 POPULAR MK2 GREEN
1979 V FORD ESCORT RS2000 MK2 BLUE
1987 E PEUGOT 405 1.9GR GOLD
—— — FORD ESCORT MK2 SHELL ORANGE
1981 W FORD CAPRI 2.8 INJECTION MET BLUE
1990 G FORD SIERRA SAPHIRE COSWORTH WHITE
1980 W FORD ESCORT RS2000 MK2 RED
1989 F FORD SIERRA XR4x4 2.9 MET BLUE
2000 W FORD PUMA 1.7 SILVER
1994 K BMW 320i COUPE MET GREEN
1993 K RANGE ROVER VOGUE Tdi MET GREEN
1990 G PEUGOT 205GTI 1.6 WHITE
1996 P SUBARU IMPREZZA TURBO 5DR MET GREEN
2000 W VAUXHALL ASTRA 2.0DTI ESTATE SILVER
1989 G VOLKSWAGAN GOLF GTI 8V MK2 MET BLACK
2002 52 MAZDA6 TOURING S DIESEL CONTRAIL SILVER
1995 M VOLKSWAGON GOLF GTI 8V MK3 RED
1994 L AUDI COUPE 2.0 16V PURPLE
1998 R SUBARU IMPREZZA TURBO 5DR MET GREEN
2002 52 FORD GALAXY GHIA TDI SILVER
1991 H MITSUBISHI PAJERO 2.5TD SWB MET GREY
2005 54 RENAULT GRAND SCENIC 1.9TD MET BLUE
1995 M BMW M3 COUPE MET BLACK
2005 05 RENAULT CLIO SPORT 182 INFERNO
2000 X VAUXHALL VECTRA 1.8LS BLACK
2006 06 VAUXHALL ZAFIRA 1.6 ACTIVE MET BLUE
2006 06 MAZDA6 TS 2.0 ESTATE MET BLUE
1998 S AUDI S4 2.7 BITURBO QUATTRO SILVER
2001 51 FORD FOCUS 2.0 GHIA MET BLUE
1976 R LAND ROVER SERIES 3 88” BLUE
2001 51 BMW 320d TOURER GREY
2003 03 SUBARU IMPREZZA WRX 5DR MET GREEN
2001 ` Y ALFA ROMEO 156 1.8TS MET BLACK
1992 K RANGE ROVER VOGUE HSE 3.9 MET BLUE
1991 J RANGER ROVER VOGUE 3.9 MET GREY
1997 P MERCEDES SPRINTER MWB WHITE
2003 52 BMW 330D SPORT TOURING MET SILVER
2008 08 FORD S-MAX TITANIUM SPORT MET BLACK
2003 03 AUDI RS6 MTM AVANT MET BLACK
1989 G BMW 525I MET SILVER
2008 58 NISSAN NAVARRA LWD MET BLACK
2011 61 HYUNDAI I800 (Beachy Vern) MET GREY (Current)
2004 04 SAAB 9-5 VECTOR MET GREY
2013 13 FIAT PANDA 1.2 LOUNGE (Ruby) WHITE (Current)

57 CARS
1 SHELL

YEAR REG BIKE COLOUR

1983 A YAMAHA RXS100 MET RED
1981 W YAMAHA XV750 SILVER/GREY
1993 K YAMAHA FZR600 R/W/B
1996 N HONDA CBR600 R/W/B/Y
1992 J YAMAHA FZR1000 EXUP BLACK
1997 P HONDA CBR600 R/W/B
1998 S HONDA CBR900RR FIREBLADE BLACK/SILVER
1998 R YAMAHA YZF R1 BLUE
2002 52 SUZUKI DRZ 400 S BLUE (Crashed)
1996 P SUZUKI BANDIT 1200 BLACK
2001 Y HONDA FIREBLADE 929RR R/W/B
2003 03 KAWASAKI Z1000 MET BLACK
2004 04 KAWASAKI ZX10R MET BLACK
1993 L HONDA FIREBLADE R/W/B (Crashed)
2004 04 HONDA XR650R SUPERMOTO RED
1996 P SUZUKI BANDIT 1200 BLACK
2001 Y HONDA SP1 RED (Crashed)
2000 W YAMAHA YZF R1 RED
2005 05 KAWASAKI ZX10R GREEN
2002 52 APRILLIA RSV-R1000 MATT BLACK(Crashed)
1978 S HONDA CB750 N/A
1976 P HONDA CB750 N/A
2005 05 YAMAHA YZF R1 MET BLUE
1998 S SUZUKI BANDIT 1200 MET RED
2002 02 YAMAHA FAZER 1000 BLACK
1998 T HONDA FIREBLADE BLACK/SILVER
1971 – HONDA CB750 N/A
2005 05 SUZUKI GSXR1000 K5 BLACK
1991 H HONDA VFR400 NC30 TYGA WHITE
1991 J HONDA VFR400 NC30 R/W/B
1990 H HONDA VFR400 NC30 ORANGE
2002 02 CCM R30 644 SUPERMOTO MET BLUE
1999 V HONDA BLACKBIRD CBR1100XX MET RED
1982 Y BMW R80 CAFÉ RACER BLUE
1992 N/A BETA ZERO 249 TRIALS
2002 02 TRIUMPH SPEED TRIPLE 955 MET BLUE
2000 W APRILIA RSV-R BLACK
2004 04 KTM 690 SM COMPETITION ORANGE
2005 N/A GASGAS 200 TXT PRO YELLOW
1985 C BMW R80/7 UNDECIDED

CURRENT BIKES

2010 10 SUZUKI GSXR1000 L0 WHITE
1989 F YAMAHA RXS 100 MET RED

42 BIKES

Not a trader, all bought for my use, or later on in life for family.

I’ve been told I was addicted to the process of buying and selling, probably agree…..

All over period of 18 years apart from the first6 on list…..

I have a 61 plate 8 seater i800 since new, 27000 miles, average 27mpg, but mostly short runs.
Has rattled inside like it had 150000 miles on it since new but never got any worse so quite well built if not very ‘tactile’ inside ??
Ate front discs and pads by first mot last week, but it is big and heavy.
Massive inside, easily takes my four kids under 10,wife and inlaws along with heaps of luggage when required.
3rd row of seats bolted down but if removed could get several bikes in. Takes my large 29″ Cube sting diagonally in boot upright with front wheel off and 3rd row of seats in place.

Make sure that if out of warrenty(5 year) that the handbrake works, common problem that actuators at rear stick and then it’s a £1400 bill from main dealer to sort

In summary, it would appear we’re all doomed :-)

Taken from another area of the internet:

A vision of the re-validated United Kingdom:
Firstly Scotland, the new powers promised (yet to be confirmed what exactly they are, or could be possibly), after much wrangling and watering down due to the Westminster back benchers refusing to tow the (official) party line, are granted. Crucially these include tax raising powers,ability to borrow funds against assets, and the ability to ring fence healthcare spending and hence prevent ( or seemingly prevent) the stealth privatisation of these services happening elsewhere in the UK. One power that will not be on the table is to have any increased representation regarding negotiations with the EU on common policy’s.Bear in mind that privatisation of nationalised industries/services is not a UK government policy as such, but a direct result of the conditions designed to create a free marketplace imposed by the IMF et al when lending money to bail out the UK from the late 70’s onwards. Now this is a very important point as we will see.
Returning to the powers granted to Scotland, in return for these powers ( which will come with the caveat, as is now, that the Westminster government can over rule the Scottish parliament at any time it chooses if the policy in question does not suit it’s own agenda),the current Barnett formula will be abolished. Again this is a very important point for the rest of the UK, but not for the reasons you may think, we will come back to this later.
There will be, for a time, a block grant allocated for funding in Scotland until such time that all the mechanisms for the collection and distribution of taxes are in place, then this will be ended.
Now the Oil question, regardless of what the Yes campaign told us about oil revenues in an independent Scotland, the truth is that it was the cornerstone of their funding plans in the short to medium term. Without the oil revenues an independent Scotland could never have managed to convince any lender to fund the start up costs of a new country with no assets. An asset is in the eyes of a lender a tangible thing, that if worst comes to worst can be appropriated in order to cover the debt owed, the intellectual ideals, or the amount of wind and waves around a country is not a sufficiently tangible asset for a lender to take a chance on!
These oil revenues and reserves will be classed, as they are now, a UK asset, and will continue to be used as a financial lever for borrowing and taxation will continue to go to the UK government to be distributed as they see fit.
Back to taxation powers, from the taxes raised by the Scottish parliament, an expectation will be made by the UK government that from those tax revenues, payments will continue to be made against our shared outgoings/ debt repayments i.e. military, defence/ offence capabilities ( 2 totally separate things),etc based on percentage of population of the UK as a whole. If the UK borrowing continues to increase despite austerity measures, as many experts predict it will, then Scotland’s expenditure on its share of the debt repayments will increase also. Now this becomes a catch 22 situation for Scotland. In order to provide income to service it’s debts and social responsibilities, the money has to come from somewhere. Three options present themselves, increased taxation in whatever form, go cap in hand to various financial institutions for funding, or request that the UK government and the Bank of England intervene with bail out finance.
Increasing taxation overtly is never a popular choice with politicians, so to begin with there would most likely be an increase in stealth taxes along with cuts in public services, as is currently the case. This will only slow down the rate of decline for a while and then the choice of 3 will return. The most likely choice will depend on the make up of the Scottish government at this time, a predominantly nationalist government will likely approach alternative lenders for funding due to sheer resentment at their treatment during the 2014 referendum (and would likely have little other choice than to do so, although with no tangible assets to use as a lever, not sure who would be willing to lend), a more UK leaning government would approach their natural bedfellows and go to the UK government for a bail out. Either way the end result would be the same, as any lending from either source would result in the same conditions being imposed re privatisation of public services etc and an inevitable rise in taxation to cover the costs of increased borrowing,and so the cycle continues. Of course, if Scotland had voted for independence and had control over the oil revenues,it would be in the same situation re privatisation of public services etc as it would have still had to have borrowed in order to set up the required infrastructure to run a successful independent country, but at least the revenues MAY have been enough to pay of this debt within a reasonable timeframe IF managed correctly, and at this point possibly started to enjoy a relatively decent level of prosperity.
Now for the UK.
Firstly the Barnett formula. Contrary to what people think, this formula does not apply only to Scotland but to the whole of the UK, it was designed in an attempt to equalise the distribution of public spending by giving a higher proportion of funding to areas that were deemed to be “poorer” as an average at the expense of the “richer” areas to give all areas a more level playing field,(very much a simplification). What this means is that places like the North East of England received a higher level of public funding than the relatively more prosperous South East of England as did Scotland. With the abolition in Scotland of the Barnett formula, it would be inconceivable that this formula as is could remain in place for the rest of the UK, as Scotland,although with ‘devo max’, is still part of the UK,and rules must be applied evenly across the board.
The Barnett formula could conceivably be replaced with another method of funding distribution within the rest of the UK, but if so would probably not be as generous to some areas in these times of austerity as previous. This would again lead to further cuts in public expenditure in these affected areas with the inevitable loss of vital public services and associated private supply business and hence jobs. These areas are then into the cycle of having to increase public spending on the benefit system, but with less funding to do so. Without the powers to increase income taxation directly, these areas will have to resort to yet more stealth taxation on the populous, for example increasing the council tax on private property,increasing tax in business property etc.
This then becomes a problem for the UK government,reduced level of tax revenues but an unwillingness to borrow more money to keep the country afloat. There is no gold reserves left to sell as a short term fix,if corporation tax is raised it will deter investment and possibly force companies that can to relocate to more ‘suitable’ territories, what to do? Raise individual tax rates will be the answer to that, raid the pension pot again a la Gordon Brown and hope that gets the UK by for a while.
Eventually at sometime in the future there will be 2 options available, to start printing money again in the hope that it does not cause hyperinflation and basically devalue the currency, which it will. The crash and burn of Greece’s economy will be nothing compared to the UK in this scenario.
The other option is that the EU will come to the rescue with a bail out at this point, but there will be serious concessions to be made for this due to the fact of the 2017? Referendum on EU membership will have been held by then. This will be a vote to stay within the EU, but again by a narrow margin, and the EU commission will be in no mood to play nice with a country that only just wants to stay within its organisation. One of the condition of this bail out, where it to happen, will be to join the common currency with all the loss of control over interest rates, taxation etc that that entails.
Meanwhile in the UK, the rise of the politically far right leaning parties in (coalition?) power will lead to a corresponding rise in radicalisation and separatism of disaffected ‘minorities’ with the inevitable results but at least the security services and police will be busy.

Anyway, many other things that I have left out in my rant, I’m sure people will point out where I’m wrong, but hey nobody can predict the future and I sure hope it does not turn out as grim as I write here.

Have a nice day