Touring round Scotland/ UK

[mchaggis]

A while ago, I gave thought to a plan for something to do this next summer once I've got a proper bike and a bit of cash slopping around. A tour of Scotland and Northern England sprang immediately to mind, as it's something I've always had an interest in, visiting my family and my past. As I'll just have graduated in that July, it'll likely be my last summer/ autumn free before career business sets in. So, today, I decided to sow the seeds of proper planning.

Firstly, I made myself a big map by spending too much time on https://www.multimap.co.uk and MS Paint. It should be useful for planning a UK trip, so I thought I'd share it with you guys. (Attached, 250 kB approx and very large. If anyone wants me to send them a better quality jpeg, (<1Mb, just say so )

Then, I made myself a list of places I know I want to go. These are mainly houses I've lived in in the past, as well as family visits. As it turns out, the basic route I have an idea of fits these pretty well.

- North from home, up the east coast of England, stop in Durham to have a wander around the Cathedral and Castle.

- Then, north from there to go and do some touristy stuff in Edinburgh.

- North again to Cupar & Dundee, to see my Dad (& brother though he's probably coming with me on the ride.)

- North a bit more to Aberdeen to see my sisters and marvel at the ship in the middle of the street by the railway station some more.


- Northwest to Elgin, to go and have a look at a few old homes and old schools.

- Down the River Spey, up the A9 to Inverness, then northwest to Ullapool.

- Down through Wester Ross to Fort William via Loch Alsh, then southwesterly all the way to Loch Tarbert via Glen Coe, to go and have a look round Islay, Jura and Arran (and get some Laphroaig at the same time no doubt. )

- Up around the top of Loch Fyne, maybe have a look at Inveraray Jail (not been there since I was about 8 or so), down to Otter Ferry to see what a mess the Forestry Commission have made and to see if the house is still standing.

- Over Glendaruel to Dunoon and across to Greenock. (Maybe venture into wegie land, but not a lot of history there).

- Pootle down the West coast to Galloway, and go house hunting around Dumfries (where I spent the longest period of my youth).

- Down through Gretna to the Lakes (maybe spend a day or few walking as I've never been to them before).

- Then from there it looks pretty much like the Cat & Fiddle back home again.


Inevitably we shall get lost and rained on multiple times as well as experiencing all those other jolly Scottish weathers. I'll have a trip into my past fulfilling a longstanding ambition of mine, get to see much more of Scotland than I did as a child, and enjoy myself riding with good company. The getting wet camping business is all part of the fun. The bike I shall hope to have by then will most probably be a GPZ 500.

I've not plotted a proper route yet to see how far it is, but I expect that it shall be at least 1000 miles altogether, so at least a couple of weeks with stops probably.

Now then, what things do people suggest doing and seeing in Scotland that I haven't got on my basic list? Any roads I absolutely have to ride? Any tips, hints, advice, opinions? Have I fired up any imaginations for anyone to do anything similar?

What do you think?


Edit: I've altered the route according to the excellent suggestions from Stinkwheel and VTR SP1. Thanks guys. I might have to come have a pint at your local. Bear in mind this probably isn't likely to happen until August/ September time though.
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I must not be a troll...
Mmmm, Guinness
Discovering the delights of Hammerite and a 3/4" brush.

[NickD]

Tips?

Choose your next bike well.

(and if there's a gelpack seat option..........take it)
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I was only doing what it said on my licence officer....
Tear along the dotted line!

[mr.z]

Honda 90! tour it hard!

I'd personally ride arround scotlad the costal route, north england and wales following the outline NO MOTORWAYS!.. but then i am wrong.

I'd suggest a big trilie maybe, because they are reasonably comfy and should be fun come twisty time... which lets face it is the point right?
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>RidingSkills<->Tech Tips<->MyBikes<

[mchaggis]

[instigator]

[stinkwheel]

You are missing out all the best roads in Scotland. Try to get into the north west area, anywhere north of Fort William.

Rather than heading down from Inverness, why not head accross to Ullapool on the A835 then take a day travelling down the coast towards Oban and the Kintyre paninsula. A long detour which would take a couple of days but the roads are worth it. If the weather is fine, you could ride round the Applecross road which is the second best biking road in the UK (IMO, the best is the road from Ullapool to Durness).

Depending on how long you have, some route ideas. I have ridden along most of the roads you are talking about on a GPZ500s, it will be perfectly up to the job. These are my suggestions, some will take a lot longer but are more fun.

- North from home, up the east coast of England, stop in Durham to have a wander around the Cathedral and Castle.

- Then, north from there to go and do some touristy stuff in Edinburgh.

Well, you can't go wrong with the A68 although there are a lot of speed cameras on parts of it. Just past Newtown St. Boswells you can turn off towards Melrose and Galashiels and pick up the A7 to Edinburgh. There are no Gatsos on that bit of the A7 and it is nice and twisty.

- North again to Cupar & Dundee, to see my Dad (& brother though he's probably coming with me on the ride.)

Well, you probably know this anyway but the roads round there are pretty boring, nothing to be done about it I'm afraid.

- North a bit more to Aberdeen to see my sisters and marvel at the ship in the middle of the street by the railway station some more.

If you turn off the A90 (which has SHITLOADS of gatsos) at Edzell you can go through Fettercairn and onwards to Banchory over the Cairn-o-Mount road which is an old drovers route. Mucho twisty and up 'n downy. Do not attempt this road in foul weather. Then take the North Deeside road into Aberdeen.

-Either up to Peterhead and across, or just northwest to Elgin, to go and have a look at a few old homes and old schools.

Nothing spectacularly interesting roadwise in this area, WHY Peterhead It is a shithole, avoid unless you have a good reason to go there. A96 is boring as feck too. If you have time to waste, you can turn up the A941 from Elgin and cut along Speyside on the A95 which is a much nicer ride. Then just blast up the A9 to 'schnecky

- West to Inverness, down Loch Ness, southwesterly all the way to Loch Tarbert, to go and have a look round Islay, Jura and Arran (and get some Laphroaig at the same time no doubt. Very Happy )

- Up around the top of Loch Fyne, maybe have a look at Inveraray Jail (not been there since I was about 8 or so), down to Otter Ferry to see what a mess the Forestry Commission have made and to see if the house is still standing.

- Over Glendaruel to Dunoon and across to Greenock. (Maybe venture into wegie land, but not a lot of history there).

I haven't really done much in this area, too busy for my liking.

- Pootle down the West coast to Galloway, and go house hunting around Dumfries (where I spent the longest period of my youth).

Girvan road is interesting but a bit dangerous so be carefull. The A75 from Stranraer to Gretna is one of the dullest roads in the area. A detour along the A712 through New Galloway circumvents a lump of this and should give you a good fix of twisties.

- Down through Gretna to the Lakes (maybe spend a day or few walking as I've never been to them before).

Loads of Fell passes to make life interesting. In summer, avoid Windermere like the plague, Hordes of tourists and slow moving coaches everywhere. Gimme a shout if you are in the area, email is best. I live at Silloth, stop off for a pint and a gas. I have spare room if you don't mind my desperatley untidy house.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[VTR SP1]

I rode to Inverrary last year. You have to do the Glencoe Pass and the Ullapool road is one of the best around.

sp1

[mchaggis]

I've just made myself a route up, and calculated it to be around 1300 miles, at least 40 hours riding. With stops it'd be a good fortnight's trip methinks.
____________________
I must not be a troll...
Mmmm, Guinness
Discovering the delights of Hammerite and a 3/4" brush.

[AcIdBuRnZ]

[stinkwheel]

We did about 1000 miles this summer on our Orkney run in a week which included three days spent on the Isle of westray so a fortnight should leave you plenty of time for visiting/sightseeing (one of the guys was on an H100).
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Flip]

Your missing out North Wales!?

Does sound very cool though.

[AcIdBuRnZ]

One piece of advice for anyone heading to the north of Scotland - be very careful.

Most of you lot from down south have no idea what it's like up this way - miles and miles of (excellent, but very dangerous) roads going through some of the most fantastic scenery you'll ever see (very distracting).

It's like being on the planet on your own! This means however, that should something happen, you'll have a fair bit to wait for an ambulance.

Sorry to have to say that, but you should have at least an idea of how remote some of our roads are. All I'm really saying is be safe, ride safe, and you'll have a wicked time
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Past: Honda NSR125R >> Kawasaki ER-5a2 >> Kawasaki ZZR-600e1 >> Suzuki GSXR-750Y >> Honda VTR 1000 Firestorm
"Chickity China the Chinese Chicken..."

[M1ke]

Touring is fun, Me and Maurice (off here) rode down to south france this year, covered around 2500 miles in 8 days!

We have a bigger trip planned for next year (see map)

May I suggest on the way back taking a detour through some of wales, places like aberwystwyth have soem excellent roads and around welshpool/newtown. Also the horse shoe pass near Wrexham is well worth a visit.

Gpz is perfect for touring although you could do it on a sports bike if you really wanted to. Maurice and I did france this year on a vfr400 and a cbr250 which arent exactly very toury

[mchaggis]

Thanks again for all the help and ideas people.

When it gets a bit closer to the time and suchlike, I'm sure arrangements could be made to accomodate further volunteers.

Having not lived in Scotland since about 10 years ago, I've not had any experience at driving/ riding the roads up there and someone who did actually know where they were going and what to look out for would be a bonus.

My brother seems to be up for it, whether he tries to recruit any more people remains to be seen. I'm aiming for probably the beginning of September, hopefully I'll have cleared off my overdraft and got a proper bike and a full licence to match by then. At the moment, it's really just dabbling my toe in the water whilst I'm having a break from coursework deadlines. Doesn't hurt to be prepared and to plan in advance though. (It's a nice goal to be aiming for to help get me through the swaithes of work that this final year is too.)
____________________
I must not be a troll...
Mmmm, Guinness
Discovering the delights of Hammerite and a 3/4" brush.

[Lone-Wolf]

[Mr.Everready]

[Bendy]

https://www.wildcat-motorbike-tours.co.uk/scotland-hebridean-odyssey-photo-gallery/slides/Quirang%20road.jpg

Hopefully going in April/May.

[mchaggis]

I meant the Tarbert on Loch Fyne. According to my map at least, the fjord there West Loch Tarbert, as there is a West Tarbert at the end of it.

[NickD]

[Mr.Everready]

[stinkwheel]

The roads through Glencoe can be great fun, there are sometimes a few tourists on there though and the police have been having a clampdown on speeding recently because quite a few bikes have wiped themselves out on it. Intensley scenic and good on a bike if the weather is OK. If it is stormy, Rannoch moor can degenerate into survival conditions fairly quickly though.

Bendy, that looks like part of the Applecross road?
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[mchaggis]

[Bendy]

[AcIdBuRnZ]