Scottish members and the NC 500

Dee Dub

Active Member
I've decided not to chance an overseas trip this year, so it's a good opportunity to do the North Coast 500. If any local members want to join me for a day's ride, or meet up for a wee dram in the evening, please PM me for details. Broadly, I shall be here:

D=Daytime E=Evening
Sat 15 Aug E:Near Glasgow
Sun 16 Aug D:Trossachs E:Dornie, Kyle of Lochalsh
Mon 17 Aug D:Applecross/Ullapool E:Lairg (Yes, I know it's not on the NC500!)
Tue 18 Aug E:Lairg
Wed 19 Aug D:Loch Shin/Durness E:Strathy Point
Thu 20 Aug D:JOG/East Coast E:Inverness
Fri 21 Aug D:Cairngorms E:Near Glasgow

It may count as the slowest tour of the NC500! Most days I'll be doing less than 200 miles.
 

Lowflyer

Well-Known Member
Please be aware if you are camping, they may only accept campers etc equipped with toilet facilities.
There are some that will permit minimal tent pitches to comply with the usual stuff.
The West coast is more strict than down south.
 

Steve T

Well-Known Member
I could easily meet up with you on the 21st as you head south through the Cairngorms from inverness - I'm in Elgin so I could roll west and maybe meet you in Grantown then ride as far as, say, Glenshee?

Steve T

:cool:
 

Dee Dub

Active Member
Great! I have a call to make that morning, so probably won't leave Inverness until 11-ish. I'll probably reach Grantown-on-Spey about midday on 21st. Does that work for you?
 

Steve T

Well-Known Member
Tis fine for me Sir :thumbsup:

Are you coming down the road from Nairn? Take the back road from Inverness that takes you past Culloden & Cawdor. You'll come to the A939 that goes from Nairn to Grantown. You will love it.

Am I looking for you on the RT Behemoth or the 650 Strom?

Steve

:cool:
 

Dee Dub

Active Member
Take no notice of Scots complaining about midges, and rain, and cold, and... Sunny every day but the last, no midge bites, fantastic scenery, very little traffic. I think they just want to keep it all to themselves.

Great trip:

Glencoe.
c10Glencoe-IMG_0752.JPG


Eilean Donan Castle.
d10EileanDonan-IMG_0782.JPG

Dornie shore.
d40DOrnie-IMG_0812.JPG

Loch Thin.
d50LochThin-IMG_0828.JPG


Bealach na Ba pass. It's steeper than it looks here!
e10BealachNaBa-IMG_0832.JPG

Highest point of Bealach na Ba, looking towards Skye.
e40BealachNaBa-IMG_0847.JPG

Salmon jumping up the Falls of Shin.
f60FallsOfShin-IMG_E0903.JPG


Ardvreck Castle.
g10ArdvreckCastle-IMG_0909.JPG


Yeah, I know.
j10JohnOGroats-IMG_0961.JPG


Still John O'Groats.
j30JohnOGroats-IMG_0974.JPG

Lowflyer and me above Dornoch Firth.
k10LowFlyer-IMG_0983.JPG


k20LowFlyer-IMG_0985.JPG

z10-IMG_0921.JPG
 

Lowflyer

Well-Known Member
Shhhhhh, you're supposed to say it was all "shit n orrible", they will all want to come up here now.:D
Good to meet up again Dave, been a long time.
Glad you enjoyed the trip and hope you liked our wee detour around my local area :thumbsup:
 

Dee Dub

Active Member
I'm so impressed with that bike. Hours long on motorways and trunk roads and it's just a breeze. I wondered if I'd struggle on the 'single road with passing places' - which are "shit n orrible" - but it was fine along them too. Most of the narrow roads in Scotland have good visibility, no hedges and banks on the side of the road. On narrow lanes in Wales the wide panniers are a pain because avoiding the grass and moss in down centre means I risk scratching the pannier lids. I don't recall having that problem once in Scotland. (Also, there are loads of passing places and they're well-signposted.)

For reasons I won't bore you with, I will need soon-ish to change from two bikes to one. Neither Death Star nor X-Wing do everything I need, so I was thinking of changing to a GS. Now I'm wondering if I can hang on to these two for a little longer!
 

Cabby

Member
Oh well....on your way nip in to that Druids island and bring me back one of the Honda Pacific Coasts for sale there.
Someone can buy my Alp or Dr350 to pay for it.

Hope you're all well.(•‿•)
 

Dee Dub

Active Member
Oh, that's extremely generous, @DaveS ! I did test ride the GS a couple of years ago, and I would go for the GS TE with lowered suspension. As I say, I'm sorely tempted to hang on to this one for a continental trip next summer.
 

DaveS

Administrator
Staff member
Forum Supporter
Oh, that's extremely generous, @DaveS ! I did test ride the GS a couple of years ago, and I would go for the GS TE with lowered suspension. As I say, I'm sorely tempted to hang on to this one for a continental trip next summer.
Yeh mines the rallye TE version but not lowered I’m afraid. I find the height and weight more of an issue though nowadays. Maybe I’m getting older! Was thinking of moving back to the standard GS.
 
Top