HAIBB Blood Bike ROSE - Heading to the Fundraiser at Sainsbury`s in Nairn

On board the latest addition to the HaIBB motorcycle fleet, a recently purchased brand new BMW R1300 RT assigned with the name of "Rose", already completed its first scheduled BMW service and close to approaching 2k miles. The footage today picks up on route to Nairn via the back road from Inverness, keeping off the A96 for as much as possible. With today being the same day as the Nairn Show, expected the roads to be busy. When I travelled up to Inverness earlier in the morning from my home to pick up the new bike, I swung in past the road leading into the showground in Nairn and the traffic was already arriving and building up, therefore on my return to Nairn I decided to head through Auldearn and arrive at Nairn from the eastern side which directly leads into Sainsbury`s location. Spent six hours at Sainsbury`s, thoroughly enjoyed the day interacting with my fellow volunteers and the customers, spreading the word. "Rose" proved to be very popular with the younger generation, climbing on board for a parent/s photo op, and then demounting for a quick debrief with a sweetie and HaIBB sticker for the little ones. The new bike seems to be a little more streamline and less bulkier than the R1250RT, different engine/transmission sounds, similar handling characteristics and controls, still a heavy bike for manhandling around, the weight disappears as soon as you get moving. It also has a power assisted centre-stand to ease with the manual process of getting the bike off the deck, however I found this bike easier to lift onto its centre-stand without the power assist than my own bike which has a lowered suspension. This new model also has a feature to auto adjust the suspension, lowering/raising at stops/starts for the shorter riders who struggle to put their feet down, however not on our model. It does have the bonus of a quickshifter installed, slicker gearchanges, it will take a bit of time to explore all the options and settings, at the moment though, I still prefer the older R1250RT, however see how things go after a few longer runs to see if it changes my mind! From an old TV advert for Cadbury`s chocolate Roses with Norman Vaughan from a good few years ago..."Roses grow on you", we will see...showing my age now. The name of Rose was put forward by one of our own volunteers as she suggested...the motorcycle was purchased in the Summer and a rose is the name of a lovely Summer flower, and can be the same colour associated with blood.   ( I had an Auntie Rose who originated from the Muir Of Ord, despite living most of her years away from the area in other parts of the country, she never lost her lovely distinctive accent. )  In a footnote: This new purchase is a direct replacement to FLORA, one of the older R1250 RT motorcycles which has recently been retired from service after accumulating a total in excess of 75k+ miles. FLORA is presently on sale/available for purchase, comes with a full BMW service history, first registered in 2021, well maintained and looked after by the HaIBB Fleet maintenance team.