Riding to scotland! advice, infor, experience wanted.

[Blunet600]

Me and some friends are going to scotland at the end of august, beginning of september, there are five of us going in once car, a corsa 1.2, so i said ill go by bike. This would be the first serious long distance journey i have done on my bike, has anyone else ridden to scotland before? what was it like? and whats the weather like that time of year? any pointers or advice you would give me for the trip?
Cheers.

[T0MMY]

Make sure you take coloured beads and brightly patterned cloths; the natives may trade these for food. Learn local customs, which will vary from tribe to tribe, so you can be sure not to anger their gods or they will be quick to turn on you. If this kind of confrontation develops, make yourself appear physically big and shout loudly to scare them off, even better, if you have a camera, a flash will strike fear into them and they will disperse.

In terms of travel, something like a KTM may suffice, obviously paved roads end at Carlisle so you will need to consider the off road capability of your machine and how easily you can pick it up. As for weather, in late August the average temparature will be around -20 deg C, this will be constant throughout the day as by this point in the year the sun will never set and there will be 24 hour daylight until the spring thaw arrives.
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ZX6R + CBR600RR

[wristjob]

where are you traveling from to go to scotland?
where in scotland are you going?
what bike are you going on?
are you going there for a single event or are you going to tour the the whole lot?
your profile looks like you are a southern flatlander.
5 people in a corsa isnt going to be fun for anyone.

[Darth]

At least once on the trip - make sure everyone drinks a bottle of buckfast. The whole bottle! None of this namby pamby try a bit, dislike it and have a shandy instead.
Weather wise - could be anything from hail to monsoon to sun. Most likely a constant grey drizzle and gail force winds.
If you get lucky enough to avoid a day with gail force winds and are out of town then you will most likely lose at least a kilo of flesh and blood to the midgies. Nasty little bastards!
Where are you going anyway?
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Harold_Shand wrote: I suppose it's like anything, you get your fingers burned when you start out, you learn from it and eventually become a complete arsehole about the whole thing.

[T0MMY]

[Ariel Badger]

Buy fuel in the citys, petrol stations a few and far between in the highlands and if you do find one before your reserve runs out they will charge a fortune to fill up.
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[kawakid]

Don't speed up there, some view it as a police state.
(Especially when I ride in North Yorkshire and there isn't 1 speed camera in a vast area)

Seriously though, I don't ever speed in Scotland.

On the first bridge getting in to Scotland on the A74 (From the M6), lots of police, cameras on the bridges.

Our drivers at work, coming from Glasgow to England, open up once they get to England.

It's nice though, lots of midges though in summer.
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I've a twin and a 4.

[AppleJoe]

[Blunet600]

I will be travelling up on a hornet 600 54 plate. Staying up there for a week in fort william near glencoe and ben nevis.
The plan at the moment is to do half the journey on one day, camp out in scotland then continue the rest of the journey the next day.
Travelling from biggin hill and my friends are in warlingham so surrey/kent area.
Not liking the sound of police everywhere, or the sound of petrol stations being scarce in the highlands! .. . . . .

[Thom]

get a fly screen
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Current Bike: 1996 Yamaha TRX850 (The Japanese-Ducati One).
Previous Bikes: 1990 Honda NSR125 'Rothmans' (The smoking one), 1990 Suzuki GS500e 'Caf? fighter' (The loud one), 1987 Kawasaki GPX400r (The quick one), 1997 XJ600s Diversion (The reliable one), 2000 Kawasaki ER-5 (The spontaneously combustive one)

[Bendy]

[The Original Muzza]

All the routes I've been on have had plenty of petrol stations. Though Ariel's right about prices in the sticks. At my local asda (Portlethen, Aberdeen) unleaded was 89.9p a few weeks back. When I got out to Cullen (nearer Inverness), it was about 101.9p at an Esso garage, and unfortunately Esso's take up the majority of filling stations out in Nowheresland. And the further North you go, the less you will see precious supermarket stations.
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Current Bikes: Husqvarna Svartpilen 401 (2020)
Former Bikes: Honda MSX125 (2014), BMW Funduro (1996), Honda VT500 (1983), Yamaha FZR250 (1989), Suzuki GZ125 Marauder(2005),:Triumph TT600 (2002) (stolen)
From then on, I and the bicycle feelings deeper.

[Blunet600]

There is the option of us renting a bigger car, would you reckon this a better idea than taking the bike?
I dont want to find myself regretting I took the bike.

[sagalout]

They are the best biking roads in the British isles. If you have the perfect excuse to tide them, but decide to take a car instead, you should probably look for another hobby!
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Current Bike: Triumph Speed Triple T309
Previous: CBR600F => ZX9R => Triumph Tiger => Honda Blackbird => GSXR 750 => Versys =>ZX12R

[wristjob]

go on the bike you will love it.
the police out in the sticks you have 1 copper looking after an area the size of manchester(3 houses and 1 road)
if your mates are in a car then you will end up riding alone or waiting for them all the time.
i visit relatives up in elgin a lot (free food and a bed) and the finest roads in the world.
its so much better than wales.

[Scotsman37]

[damz]

if i remember correctly the midgies are fucking awful mid/near end of summer. so wear something around your neck and make sure your completely covered.

also from glasgow upwards there tend to be a lot more traffic police about due to every single bike in scotland riding around the highlands. if you want fun roads go around dumfries and galloway. the police force is like 20 people and 2 cars and only patrol the motorway so theres almost no police presence.

also watch out for wandering sheep and other unusual road litter, last ride there were a few shoes lying in the road in the middle of nowhere.

personally im not a huge fan of the highlands as it seems too popular which is why the police go up there a lot to catch people out.
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Current Bikes RVF400 - 94
Cars: RX7 FD, Eunos Roadster
Former Bikes: FZR 250R 89, ZX7R 98

[Thom]

he's using a hornet luke
____________________
Current Bike: 1996 Yamaha TRX850 (The Japanese-Ducati One).
Previous Bikes: 1990 Honda NSR125 'Rothmans' (The smoking one), 1990 Suzuki GS500e 'Caf? fighter' (The loud one), 1987 Kawasaki GPX400r (The quick one), 1997 XJ600s Diversion (The reliable one), 2000 Kawasaki ER-5 (The spontaneously combustive one)

[ajb]

for the extra cost of taking your bike comapred with a hire car, take the car.

You'll only be riding alone, waiting, refueling more and generally more miserable whilst everyone else is having banter, you'll be alone somewhere else !
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CBR125R '05 > CB500 '00 > CBR600F '99

[kat250]

If you are looking for a direct route to the highlands A9 is the fastest once you are north of Blair Athol there are no speed cameras. Few traffic police on main roads. With regards to traffic police ive seen me go days without seeing a single traffic police car/van it really is the sticks . But the highlands tend to be fairly quiet of police presence if you stay off the main roads (boring as fuck the main roads anyway)
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in the famous word of jimmy pop "would you F*ck me for blow"
In the words of banditshigh "would you blow me to f*ck"

[Chriss]

It's exactly the same as England, just twistier and generally better maintained roads.
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TheShaggyDA: I've got 3 or 4 pairs that predate my wife, so at least 11.5 years old.

[Serendipity]

Sounds like the best of both worlds to me.

Dump absurd amounts of gear in the car and let your mates lug all your stuff about while you bomb about on the bike.

Chuck a jerry can of fuel in the back of the Corsa for when you run low. Presumably the car can manage 300-400 miles on a tank while you can only do 100-150.

Buy a cheap set of 2-way radios and a motorcycle headset (Maplin and similar sell them) to stay in contact with the cager mates.

If you’re relatively young and healthy the distances will be no problem. I’ve done Braemar to South Bucks in one hit. That’s a little under 500 miles. I needed a bit of a sleep afterwards, but quite feasible. That was on a Divvy with a fairing, so if your Hornet is a naked it would be worth adding a screen for the comfort it offers.

Take good waterproofs and a spare pair of gloves for when you get soaked.
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2007 CBF1000 & 2016 CBF1000F - Commuter heaven | 1994 CBR600FR - Awaiting defibrillation

[Blunet600]

I would be riding solo with the rest of me mates in the car. We have a cottage booked, so once up there i doubt the bike would be used much apart from when there is nothing to do and i fancy a blap.
Also, biking to me isnt a hobby, its a prefered mode of transport that isnt exactly convinient or practical most the time.
It sounds like fun from initial thoughts, but i can see it going from fun to less fun when i have to stop every 130 miles or less for petrol, and suffer looooooooooong straight roads eating up miles. Decisions decisions.

[Scotsman37]

[Bendy]

Holy crap, we're talking about a 500 mile fart, not a round-the-world epic. Last time I was up there I threw a bit of chain lube in the bike's general direction and that was it.

Scotland is not far away, it has petrol stations, has shops, telephones, cash machines and everything. Going there does not require planning, preparation and a thousand 'what should I do' questions. It requires you sticking your wallet in your pocket, rolling your bike out of your garage and pointing it north.