11th May 2019

A trip to Ardvasar, Isle of Skye, to pick up a scooter

I am feeling a bit disloyal to my old trusty 125 cc scooter, but it is very slow and a bit uncomfortable.

I saw this Yamaha Majesty YP250 advertised on Gumtree for several weeks.

Yamaha Majesty    250cc Scooter
Isle Of Skye, Highland   £300.00

‘T’ reg. Apart from needing a new front tyre is in good order for age. Clean bike. Some spares available. South Skye.

link to advert


It dawned on me that probably no one is going for it because it is in such an inaccessible place – Ardvasar on the Isle of Skye is at the back of beyond and maybe a bit further!

Last Friday (3rd May) I drove over to Skye in my wee Ford Ka and met Tim who was selling the bike and viewed it. Commandment number 10 had long gone by this time. I wasn’t really wanting another scooter but the price was so good for the seeming condition of it. The bike had no MOT but seemed in really good order for a 20 year old machine. The price was £300, after haggling we settled on £250.

These are the pictures that were on Gumtree.




Anne, Mairi and myself left Contullich at 7.30 and headed to Inverness to Harbour Road and ‘Focus Vehicle Rental’. I had reserved a short wheel base Transit online. It took a while to do the paperwork and I paid a £17.50 deposit to lower the excess from £750 to £250. In the end I didn’t need it but it gave peace of mind. We drove out of Inverness and onto the Fort William Road. We went down by Loch Ness and headed West to Kyle of Lochalsh.

At Kyle. We stopped for the loo. We also had something to eat.




This is my two little helpers.


We motored on turning left before Broadford and headed down the Sleat Peninsula. We reached Ardvasar and met Tim. I paid him the £250 and we wrote up the paperwork. Then the four of us manhandled the scooter into the van up a plank. I was terrified. If it slipped it would be a disaster. But all was loaded and tied down safely.

So glad of my two little helpers. Tim was a great help and seemed massively strong.



We headed to Broadford. We went into Blythswood and then stopped in the village. We had a picnic lunch. The day was beautiful but the wind was cold.




We then went for a little walk out to the harbour. There are swallows about.





This is Marsco.


What bluebells are in Skye.





And primroses.


We got safely back to home and unloaded the van. I had a much broader plank in the garage which made it safer and easier. What a relief to get it back on solid ground. It started no problem and I drove it into the garage.
 

I took some pictures once I had returned the van and got safely back home. It is in pretty good order.





I am not a lover of the looks of scooters. I’m really a motorbike man. But they are so easy to use. So I now have two of the things. I feel so disloyal to my wee scooter. I intend to MOT the bike in the summer. I have too much other things on just now. I’m a bit excited about the thought of driving it. I will see what its like. Its not my intention to keep it long term.