Scotland, Vincents and a classic movie

What better way to tour than on a 1952 Vincent Black Shadow motorcycle?

 This summer's vacation in the western isles of Scotland left me with a taste for Scottish heather ale and new respect for riders of vintage British motorcycles. 

I personally didn't ride; I drove, enough of a challenge for an American getting used to staying left and shifting with my left  hand. 

Still, I was filled with wonder at the wonderful (narrow!) roads of the island of Mull and the sight of two Vincent motorcycles in the colorful port of Tobermory on Mull. 

This was quite a summer vacation for a resident of Florida. It was a big change going from a place of oppressive summertime sun to a place where any sunshine at all is a welcome godsend. 

Rain didn't prevent this Vincent from taking to the road.

A special treat was making our way to spots on Mull used in the making of the 1945 movie "I Know Where I'm Going," staring Roger Livesey and Wendy Hiller.

If you've seen this classic movie, you know that it also stars the awesome Highland geography of Scotland and the wild sea that surrounds Mull.

Driving through that geography means miles on end of single-track roads, diving into occasional pull-outs to avoid on-coming traffic. If no pullout is close you may have to back up to find one.

The single-track roads we encountered on our vacation seemed just as narrow as they were in the 1945 movie!

Walking along a single-track road on the island of Mull.

"You're TOO CLOSE on my side," my wife would shout.

"I'm too close on my side, too," I'd respond.

There was no room to spare, and here we were driving one of the smallest cars Americans have seen: a Fiat 500.

Respect for people who do this daily.

And respect, too, for the riders of the Vincent motorcycles we saw, and not only because of the roads. The weather was a factor too.

"You'll have to wipe the rain off the seat," a wife advised a rider preparing to mount.

Vincent on tour, in Tobermory, island of Mull, Scotland.

But, oh, the glorious melodic sound of that Vincent V-twin as the he rode off.

I could develop a taste for that sound.

First, though, I'd like to quench a different taste developed in Scotland: for Scottish heather ale. The whiskey is fine, but the heather ale is heavenly.