Salter Fell on a Van Van

steve hughes

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Cold day lots of ice , whats not to like.

Rode back down into Settle for a brew and stated chatting to a guy on a 17 plate V4 Panigale

Couldn’t decide who’d had more fun! £24k versus <2k.
 

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Nice one :thumb How did it cope on "the hill". I have taken my GSA down there from the Wray end a couple of times but have wimped out towards the top of the hill.
 
Nice one :thumb How did it cope on "the hill". I have taken my GSA down there from the Wray end a couple of times but have wimped out towards the top of the hill.

Having never been up ther before I had no plan so I just ploughed up the left hand side. Got about 2/3 rds up and went slower and slower finally got stuck. However because its so dry, my pal pushed me across onto the grass/ mud on the rhs , the fat tyres got some traction and I cleaned it.
 
I have seen guys on little light KTM 2strokes blast up the hill like it’s not there. I have taken a Yam XT660 up there a few times. I have always ground to a lumpy bumpy stop about half way up but with a lot of clutch, Revs, and paddling I always made it up easy enough. The rest is now a doddle. Until about 10years ago it had massive ruts, and I mean HUGE impassable ruts apparently caused by a TA unit using the road as a shortcut. Great road
 
Looked a cracking if brisk day for a ride... :thumb
 
Did it a few years ago on a VanVan but did it the easier way towards Slaidburn. Most of it was a doddle as it had been dressed not long before.

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Did it a few years ago on a VanVan but did it the easier way towards Slaidburn. Most of it was a doddle as it had been dressed not long before.

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Yes the route from High Bentham is still dressed Mark. Understand thats to do with the game shooters as they come up the fell in that direction. When you get to the hill that Austin mentioned earlier its footall sized boulders mixed in with graded stone of about 4” diameter. So coming up it just saps the power.

A crosser with sufficient speed would just glide ver it all. So its a route of two grades really. Right at the start about 1 mile before the hill is a tough little section consisting of appx 10” concrete steps.
 
Was a bit warmer this day.

Always makes me smile when I go out on mine, seem to do more touring on the VanVan than my bigger bike, I do have a 200 now though.

Mark
 

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I helped with mountain rescue exercise and I went up the concrete steps, we staged a crash at the bridge before the steps.
 

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Cold day lots of ice , whats not to like..

Was the sheet of ice on the concrete incline after the south entrance gate there when you went though? end up stopping dead in the middle of it and gingerly creeping backwards, noticed there was water running far left under the ice, so rode over that and the ice gave way to terra firma.

Nice one How did it cope on "the hill". I have taken my GSA down there from the Wray end a couple of times but have wimped out towards the top of the hill.

If you think its intimidating in daylight, try going down there in the dark on Conti Trail Attack tyres....lots of paddling but got down without dropping it....an experience I'd not like to repeat...but coming over the tops at Sunset was quite stunning. Going down is easy just stick it in first and chug down stay loose on the bars as they kick like hell and brake very gently if at all.

A crosser with sufficient speed would just glide ver it all. So its a route of two grades really. Right at the start about 1 mile before the hill is a tough little section consisting of appx 10” concrete steps.

An 1150GSA and 12GSA LC can be ridden over the concrete and up the rock slope without much trouble providing you have chunky tyres like AW's, TKC80's or Karoo3's etc, the hexhead GS on tourance's or something didn't fair so well though.

It's a great lane that one due to the length, the gates are a pain through.
 


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