[Yves072]

Yes .... I would much rather do that trip than the NW500. If you have time you could/should allow for riding around the Isle of Skye as that is impressive. Also .... allow a little more time for the Applecross section. You approach Applecross from east to West by going over a high pass called Bealach na Ba (Pass of the Cattle). There's a very good pub and food on the waterfront at Applecross with a view across to Skye. If you don't want to repeat the Pass in the opposite direction theres a very pretty road around the coast (via Fearnmore and Shieldaig) and as you are heading north it's worth doing (but slow). You rejoin the main Inverness road at Achnasheen.
Then yes It looks like you have the route correct after Inverness, but if you want to avoid the slightly boring and very busy A9 you could turn off and take the A95 to Speybridge then through Tomintoul (single track with passing places) past Braemar and Glenshee then rejoin the A9 at Pitlochry. That way you see more of the Cairngorms than following the route of the A9 all the way.
How are you getting to Scotland - Ijmuiden to Newcastle?
Mike
PS - it's Scotland so take wet weather gear

Bealach na Ba looks great! Have found a pic of an map from who did this years ago and sent it to me...

 

[Dave B]

Neist Point Lighthouse.......

I had my honeymoon in one of the keepers cottages there in 1991...parked at the top and luggage was taken down on a platform via a cable and pulley system....then a wheelbarrow....we divorced a year later....oops

Sorry, I digress.
Yves, the top loop on that old map is the NC500 route around the NW, N and NE points of Scotland. The quiet single track roads within it are superb.

 

[mike5100]

I had my honeymoon in one of the keepers cottages there in 1991...parked at the top and luggage was taken down on a platform via a cable and pulley system....then a wheelbarrow....we divorced a year later....oops

Sorry, I digress.
Yves, the top loop on that old map is the NC500 route around the NW, N and NE points of Scotland. The quiet single track roads within it are superb.

yes, but the distance from Inverness up to the top (via the eastern side) is huge and boring. As is much of the road westwards from John oGroats. Admittedly thew west coast down to Ullapool is very good but is it worth the effort of getting there when there are many routes further south which IMHO are better. (I love South West Scotland too and this is an area ignored by most people, but there's some great roads up around Leadhills and the Forest of Galloway)
Mike

 

[mike5100]

Here's a pic of my AT on the very pretty road near Wanlock Head in South West Scotland. If you go this route take a gold-panning kit. They discovered gold in the little stream off to the right of the road about 10 years ago.
Mike

 

[Doug McLaren]

Agree with you Mike, the south west of Scotland has superb biking roads. Moffat is a great place to use as a base for exploring that area. The owner of the Buccleugh Arms is very active in Scottish biking and has lots of information on where to go and what to see.

 

[DoubleThumper]

... the distance from Inverness up to the top (via the eastern side) is huge and boring. As is much of the road westwards from John oGroats. ...

Sounds like much of Canada. (How big is the land mass of Scotland?)


Like in many places on the planet, interesting roads tend to be near some sort of water.

 

[mike5100]

Sounds like much of Canada. (How big is the land mass of Scotland?)


Like in many places on the planet, interesting roads tend to be near some sort of water.

Haha - yes our UK ideas of distance must be seen in relative terms.
Mike

 

[Dave B]

yes, but the distance from Inverness up to the top (via the eastern side) is huge and boring. As is much of the road westwards from John oGroats.

Huge depends on the rider and their daily limits I suppose. It is 120 miles one way on a pretty quiet, well surfaced A road that follows the coast and has some interesting bits. You can do a brilliant 250 mile loop using just a few miles of A9 and including the Struie Pass. Many riders from abroad come to Scotland to ride its apparent vastness....big open areas of nothing. German riders who could be in the Alps in a matter of hours make the pilgrimage. It is one of those 'find out for yourself' locations IMO (and why I had said I'd avoid the NC500 but ride the roads in the middle of the loop.
15 mths ago a group of us stayed in a place called Tarbat House, south of Tain, a big self catering house with a hot tub. We rode the North, the Cairngorms and the West Coast/Skye on day rides and were always back for 5pm, hot soak and a beer. Brilliant....but others may well like shorter days or A to B, B to C, C to D etc

 

[Yves072]

Maybe someone has gpx-files of their rides there...?

 

[Hood]

Might be worth looking at, you base yourself in Crieff and do the routes each day.

Crieff Cloverleaf :: A great motorcycle touring holiday in Scotland.

Welcome to the Crieff Cloverleaf - four amazing, all-day, FREE motorcycle routes in Scotland, staying in the scenic town of Crieff.

www.cloverleaf.scot

 

[Yves072]

@Hood. I was more thinking of a road trip around a part of Scotland. I dwnloaded the gpx files on the site you gave . Handy.

 

[Art]

luggage was taken down on a platform via a cable and pulley system

We saw the bent and broken remains of a cable lift beside the steep footpath

How big is the land mass of Scotland?

The land mass of Scotland, including lochs, is around 30,000 square miles (78,000 square km or 3½ times the size of Wales) but the parts we speak of here are the Scottish Highlands which are around one third of that.

 

[3 Twins]

I’m an old git and have been touring Scotland for quite a long time. Ist trip up the West (wet) coast in 1983.

• April May June is a great time of year to go its normally Drier in Scotland in spring (as it is in N.Ireland were I’m from) but even if sunny it can be very cold esp. at night (frosty) so if your using hotels and B&Bs you will be grand. Camping could get uncomfortable. As an example I ended up riding through snow from Invergarry to the Kyle of Lochalsh on Mayday 2017 😊
• What you will be able to cover depends on weather you want to enjoy the roads and scenery or whether you want to sight see. I tend to be a enjoy the roads and scenery sort of a rider so don’t stop that much at sights so to speak
• If you do the NC 500 I would miss the east coast section and go up through the middle of the top of Scotland via Bonnar Bridge Lairg and Altnaharra. At Altnaharra you can chose to ride up past Loch Loyal and end up in Tongue (who doesn’t like tongue😊)or a very narrow road past Ben Hope and the ancient Broch Dun Dornaigil.
• You can’t go wrong with the west coast and Islands for scenery. Get off the main NC 500 when you can For example the route through Lochinver down to Ullapool is a lovely (mostly single track road Diversion).

Starting in Newcastle I'd take the inland route and head towards Kielder. There is a (toll) dirt forest road there its very easy (last time i did it on an r1200rt ) Moffat is not far away and the Buccleuch hotel is a great place to stay. Dave the owner is very knowledgable about the local roads. If crossing the central belt. I'd recommend two routes

Take the minor Single track routes towards Gourock and take the ferry across the Clyde to Hunters Quay From there you can head to Strachur and Inverary then up towards Dalmally. You can take a coastal route north from here if you turn left toward Connel or the more senic route over Glencoe if you turn right. There is a lovely single track road along Glen Orchy that takes you out onto Rannoch moor. An alternative is a lovely quiet single track road along the side of Loch Awe that runs south of Oban. Which you can use to get to Oban for the Island ferrys or you can head north towards Fort William avoiding it across a couple of mostly unused moorland roads.

Or thread minor roads together between Glasgow and Edinburgh and end up in Bonnybrigde at the start of the B818 (Crow road I think) then head to Aberfoyle and the Dukes pass. From there you can turn right toward Killin and head north via lovely minor roads past Ben Lawers dam and Tummel Bridge before heading west at Dalwhinne towards Spean Bridge. Turn right and you can go up through Crainlarich and Tyndrum to head over Glencoe and join the rough route above. Whatever you do you will have a ball Scotland and Ireland if you ever get here are great countries for motorcycling. A few photos of past exploits to bore you with I've toured with the bike in Scotland at least 30 times and I'm not bored of it yet.

The top of Bealach na Ba April (easter 2005)

Bit easier further down!

Kylesku Bridge 2002

View of Ben loyal from the Kyle of Tongue 2004

Commando Memorial Spean Bridge (missus in the background lurking)
Lovely backroad from here through Gairlochy and down to Corpach (missing Fortwilliam) good route coming from or going to Mallaig or to access the Moidart peninsula.

Touring on a gsxr600 Glencoe April 2005

Swing Ferry Glenelg to Kylerhea

Talla Reservoir Borders Nr Moffat May 2022

Mull road to Fionnphort Oct 2022

1300 mile 2100km trip from 2008

 

[Dave B]

Yves, how long are you planning on taking on this trip? May give us a better idea of a suitable route rather than trying to cram too much in a short period.

 

[Yves072]

@3 Twins . Thanks! Very helpfull! For sure it's going to be a roundtrip at the south west of Scotland.
@Dave B I was thinking around 7 days in Scotland, ferry ijmuiden- Newcastle and back not included.

 

[Dave B]

Thanks. That really opens it up then. If you use something like Kurviger you can plot routes taking in what has been suggested in this thread and your preference for daily mileage. Re accomadation, lots of places get booked up early on the West Coast of Scotland so be careful that you don't end up miles from anywhere where you can go out and eat (or use the bike)

 

[Yves072]

Thanks. That really opens it up then. If you use something like Kurviger you can plot routes taking in what has been suggested in this thread and your preference for daily mileage. Re accomadation, lots of places get booked up early on the West Coast of Scotland so be careful that you don't end up miles from anywhere where you can go out and eat (or use the bike)

I'll be using RMA routeplanner for this, but I'm new to this so have to learn how use the app.

 

[RonaldW]

Ik ga met een groep van 8 personen en 7 motorfietsen in juni naar dit mooie land, geen van ons is hier ooit eerder geweest.

 

[3 Twins]

You will have a wonderful time. Just don't be too dissapointed if your holiday coincides with a wet spell!

 

[RonaldW]

Je zult een geweldige tijd hebben. Wees niet teleurgesteld als uw vakantie samenvalt met een natte periode!
[/CITAAT]

Wij gaan eigenlijk altijd rond juni met de motor.
Ook een keer naar Engeland en zelfs daar geen regen gehad, vorig jaar Noorwegen in juni en daar 1 dag regen gehad.
Waarschijnlijk hebben we het geluk aan onze zijde.

Mede door de door u geplaatste foto's heb ik nog meer zin gekregen om te gaan, ik kan niet wachten.