How wrong are you at 16:50 in video its my pall followed by the rest of us, me on bright red VFR last pall on deeper red one, its the rider not bike👍 VFR 800 is and will aways be one of the best ST you can be on, you 2 need to learn balance and how to use you brakes 😂😂 for your info we all made it. No problems
Lol.ive riden my VFR 800 up hardnott both directions. Once fully loaded with panniers top box and tank bag. And then again this year with the Mrs on pillion with top box and tank bag...so your assessment off the vfr800 not making it up is flawed...its not the bike it's the riders.
Thanks pal at 16:50 in video its my pall followed by the rest of us, me on bright red VFR last pall on deeper red one, as you say its the rider not bike👍 you 2 need to learn balance and how to use you brakes 😂😂 for your info we all made it. No problems
If you watched the Video Clearly, Clearly there was no left turn into the Car park at that road position it was infact a walk way into the car park , and Clearly the Driver Clearly din't know where the hell he was ! Thanks for watching no so Clearly.
@@colsmusicfirst bike past the van was going way too quick, just begging for the passenger door to open and take him out. There was room to pass on the right, and the driver was expecting that and was indicating left to show you this. Crap riding skills, only a matter of time before he learns that one the hard way.
@@colsmusicI'm with you, I noticed it was a cut through for a path. Judgy knobs in the comments. The older biking demographic means, lots of miserable gits😂
Perhaps the very wet conditions made this tougher, but otherwise it's not that difficult, did it on a Lambretta GP200 in 1972 and a Suzuki GT380 in 1975.
So I like the video, braking on cattle grids, poor speed in corners the quoting what will and what will not make the "road river" as you call it, trust me that's not wet,.
Did this route 33yrs ago in the dark September 1990 on a GPZ 750 with my ex husband 😳 that's why he's my ex husband lol 😆. Great video guys thanks for sharing.
Calling the van driver a cnut as you pass on the wrong side because you were too impatient to wait a few seconds. This is the sort of behaviour that makes non-bikers think all bikers are like these two fools. Not a good advertisement for biking.
I remember getting out of my car near the fort and some tourist saying my sandals weren't proper attire for the terrain , when I told him it was men in leather skirts and sandals that built the road 900 years ago he didn't know what to say...his wife couldn't stop laughing at him.
I should imagine they all got up and down despite a bit of surface water lads. Hardknott is an experience but not that technical. Slip the clutch and use the engine braking. Happy days.
I was behind a BMW one day going over the top from east to west and when you get to the tight turn almost at the top the BMW which had been struggling stopped, the female driver got out shouting and screaming obscenities at someone still in the passenger seat, the passenger got out and a hell of an argument followed, I'm just sitting there on my bike about 100 yards behind them watching the show, the male passenger gets in the driving seat and she in the passenger seat and they drive off, I see them parked up later at Eskdale campsite with their two kids unpacking the car for a camping weekend, hope it went smoother than the trip over the pass,
The "worst part" is the best bit, free wheeling with your clutch in is not a good idea, you made that look really hard work, I've done it in worse weather with no problems.
Cameras don't show how steep the Hardknott Pass is! I went the other way. I loved it but saw a motorcycle sidecar smashed up and a VW Tiguan with a blowout. The missus shut her eyes for most of it.
Your partner has no safe road sense. Shame you ride a bike well. Before you ask I ride a bike professionally in my occupation usually in emergencies so I feel im qualified to state my thoughts.. Glad you enjoyed it anyway. Stay safe.
I just did this in a discovery 3😅 BMWs were burning our clutches and slipping badly. I even had to recover a driver. An amazing drive but not for the inexperienced
For the hard of thinking I’ll say this… HardKnott is not about power…it’s about gearing and weight. A bike that’ll do 60 in first, and weighs 500lbs is not ideal. Digest that…lol
Nice one... Did it last in 2022 on my brand new Harley.... Made it over and my heart was in my mouth the entire time.... Sense of achievement in doing the Pass sent adrenaline pumping through my system...then when coming down the other side, that tight double switch back..Oh gawd!!!! Would love to do all the Pass's again at some point...in the dry. :) Great vid btw... thanks for upload.
Think the bloke in the VW was actually indicating left to stop so you could pass him. I wasn’t expecting you both to go down the inside then give him a round of ‘fs’ For his trouble. Crossed wires maybe? Nice video though all the same, well put together.
Youre grabbing the brakes too much going down. Yes its steep but inching down on the brakes is just unsettling the bike and causing you to tense up. Go slow with engine braking and feathering the brakes but keep it smooth.
Warning about 5 years ago i crossed the passes on my triumph 1200 explorer with the wife on the pillion. We came up from Ambleside just as we started to climb up we passed a couple of people with yellow tabards on then suddenly hundreds of cyclists coming the other way. This turned out to be a race taking in many passes in the lakes, we now couldn't turn around and had to traverse both passes with these idiots trying as hard as they could to hit us. Before you tackle these passes at the weekend try to find out if there are cyclists racing that day, best of luck.
Try doing it in the opposite direction, much more difficult. And watch out for dopey old car drivers who have long since forgotten that the Highway Code says to give way to vehicles going uphill, they wont even pull over to one side to let you through. I dropped my bike twice in the space of 200 yards because of geriatric car drivers. Its not easy picking your bike back up when it is almost upside down because of the camber on the road.
Yeah I take my vfr up there no worries. And they were going the right way for those tight bends. Haven't been there for a few years now as I'm getting older and doddery but the last time over it was a 90s cb750 that came to grief toppling over into a off camber grass verge, little damage luckily except to his pride.
Nahhh, us locals ride and drive over this pass multiple times a week through pouring rain, high winds, even a bit of snow and ice at times. It's not that bad of a road as people make out, just a bit rough, especially coming out of winter when the potholes and loose stone chippings are plentiful 😅
Love doing this route, done it several times on various bikes in wet & dry, it's worse when there's traffic so i usually head over nice & early morning
Well done I did it last year ,had to stop halfway up and round one of the steepest twistys due to a cyclist and nearly dropped my gsa ,the camber of the road is another thing to be careful of ,not in any rush to repeat the experience. But one to be ticked off the list .
13.10. I'm not sure putting your feet down is going to achieve anything. Psychological I guess. Having said that. I wouldn't ride this pass. Well done.
Did this in June 20 23 Had a restle4ss night thinking about what would happen if you lost it on the pass , ended up slipping on gravel at a junction outside my hotel and dropped my brand new S1000XR, not happy. Hardknot was easy with some stunning vistas
LOL, unless you tell me all there is ice, I wonder if there’s another hodnodbuzz - this is ridiculous or you just bought your license recently. Yes, it’s narrow, but on your tiny bikes what are you p in p ants? Ran it up and down with a 400kg battleship no sweat in the late darkening evening and next day in the morning back, as we didn’t find accomodation where planned we had to cross it twice, it was fun and easy, a bunch of low-speed sections and on. Here I hear “roads are a river” gosh, it’s just wet, nothing else. Sell your bikes and get a donkey. Have you seen them return before getting up the pass? No, so don’t say they won’t get up, they likel get up faster that pass than you run to the backroom for enlightment.
Drove both many times during the night on rallies back in the 60s. The organisers often split the run into one mile or one and half mile sections at a set avg of 30mph. Hairy to say the least.
I've been up there on my Fazer 600, VFR800, Speed Triple, Tiger 800 and taken a Harley Sportster up there too. Fanatic road and a real challenge. Nothing as spicy as a forward control Harley though!
Used to do it a couple of times a year on the way to Wasdale with SWEASMC, loaded Ducatis, BMWs and Laverdas (camping gear). Fine but take your time and concentrate...
Well Done...I would not want to ride that on my motorbike. I did Hard Knott Wrynose and Honister all in the same day back in 1984 pedal cycling. I was then 31 years old and had done hard riding and time trialling and I was as fit as a Butchers Dog. I have some pics of me then and the Bob Jackson touring bike that I did it on. I stayed the night at the Youth Hostel at the top of Honister. This brought back memories. I didn't walk any of it. I wouldn't be able to do it at all now.😬😬
Went over there on a 600R in the late 80's. Ok on the way up, but going down the other side the road had been resurfaced, and was covered in loose chippings. Bit of an arse-clencher in places where there were deep patches of chippings. If I'd stopped and stood up, the bike would have lifted with me lol.
Did it on Gixxer6. The most frightening thing was the gossamer thin tarmac with rocks sticking up through. Depends on what you meet coming the other way too.
The Lake district roads are not good mbike roads. Too many walls and blind corners and crests, wet patches under trees, too many cars and rains most of the time.
That's my target for next year the six major Lake district passes on my Super Cub 125, already done the Applecross pass/NC500 with it last year but I will not risk it on my 1100 Rebel too heavy I will test the water first on a more nimble machine, this time we will trailer it up to a Campsite with the Motorhome so the other half can enjoy the Lakes while I can go out to play. Loved the sheep cheering you on that down hill river stretch I hope the weather is OK in June when I intend to go I noticed what you meant about the bike not making it , the tyres look almost bald and the bike behind was not much better. August now and I managed the passes in a day 125 was deffo the best choice the surface was so bad on Honister ( my last ) my gps mount gave up and snapped due to all the vibrations from the roads went on to Keswick for coffee before the ride back to Ravenglass a brilliant day out riding the little bike.
Ive done it tice on an old Lambretta, stopping on the way up isnt an option. I found the decent a doddle even on drum brakes, granted the road wasnt as flooded though
I rode Wrynose in the opposite direction after hitting an horrendous pothole that through me into the verge and off, bending my rear brake pedal and left side mirror,luckily only a soft tissue damage to my right hand was my only injury.
30 years ago, Hardknott pass in normal (foul) weather, both ways, for fun……. Long wheel base diesel Auto Mercedes G Wagon, towing a Sprite Caravan 🎉 routinely overtaken by continental drift and sheep………. even pulling over on ascents to let people pass coming down 😂 It’s on my bucket list to re attend on either my Hardly Movinson or my trusty Honda VeryDareYou 1000 ❤ What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…….. 🙂🇬🇧
I can see myself trying that on my little Suzuki FL125, as its very lightweight and nimble compared to my 88 ZX10. Kudos for you for giving it a go, I know plenty of barstool braggers and Matlock makebelievers that would baulk at that purely because there's a cloud in the sky. Every rides a challenge and every rides a lesson. I've had mates do it on all sorts of machinery, from old classics to new Goldwings and they all got something different out of it. I suppose you'll get a lot of comments in the " I did it on such and such a bike and had no problem" style. Every time we ride, we make our own risk assessment. I know people that commute by bike, through a city everyday but bottled out of going down Shore Hill on the Isle of Wight. As a test and development rider for the last 15 years we do sketchy stuff all the time, and it becomes almost normal to do 250-300 miles a day all year round, or ride on cobbled durability surfaces (look up the Pave at MIRA proving ground). I applaud you for giving it a go, you've inspired me to go and do it! Best wishes. Jim.
I did Wrynose in a car and i can tell you that the camera softens the gradient and also the dropoffs at the side; they're worse than they look, certain death at some points. I didn't do Hard Knott and probably don't regret it if i'm honest. The low bit of Wrynose has a few big phuck off rocks poking out into the road, shouldn't be a problem but for quite a few of the locals who roar through there like they're on the RAC rally. Drystone walls are an issue- you see farmers in trucks tailgating tourists because the latter aren't high up enough to see oncoming traffic; but the trucks are, so they try to intimidate. I'm not surprised they're miserable to be honest, i would be- it might be pretty but try making a living there unless you've got a shop selling tat. I relaid the stove fire before leaving a holiday rent at Fell Foot Farm, and by the look on the woman's face you'd have thought i'd left a dead dog in the room.
Me and 10 mates did it from the other direction in 2009, I'd just bought a new Street Triple, I didn't enjoy the road at all, you're all right until going up an uphill hairpin with a 4x4 coming the other way, nowhere to put your feet down because the soft verge tapers away, it didn't help with the bike being my first non carbed bike either, fuel injection is snatchy compared to carbs, 5 came off, fortunately I wasn't one of them!
Don’t fancy it with a pillion with my twiggy aged legs. It’s remembering the camber if you have to put a foot down or stop imo. Applies to many passes where the verges drop and yu can’t. Put foot down. Brake control under power (trail braking) godsend for hairpins
I’ve ridden my old 1100 gold wing over hard knot had to sit over the tank to get around some of the hairpin bends, to keep centre of gravity exhilarating ride