Best bike for touring scotland
 

Hi all just thought I would ask the question

when I go touring around Scotland I always find myself wanting to
take it easy get off the main roads stick to the back roads and try some forrest trails and to see things that I haven't seen before .

so is a smaller bike more suited to travelling round Scotland
if riding a 1000/1200cc bike do you just ride to fast and miss allot of the lovely scenery and get allot less mpg

so if you were on a 600cc getting 70 mpg at a leisurely pace would
this be an ideal size of bike for touring Scotland

thanks for your thoughts on this

cheers

Dave

If you are talking about current models the Honda NC700 looks pretty good, I have not ridden one but have spoken to an owner and sat on one and it felt good, had adequate power and did about 80 mpg.

Hi not really speaking about models of bikes just thinking is less better
maybe even just 600cc single as being a ideal bike for touring a small
country

cheers

Dave

Depends on your budget really, and how much 'sports' style fun you want to have...?

I've a Bandit 600 that was pretty cheap that allows me best of both...

Braemar road + Cairn O Mount are definates for your visit... Let me know if and when you're coming, and i can even help out with digs etc and show you some fun roads/tourist/anti tourist places locally

Reject the premise of the question that there is "an ideal size bike of bike for touring" anywhere, let alone Scotland.

Wildman has a point...

But to try and answer your question from a personal point of view - on a liesurely ride on little singletrack backroads my 18 bhp 350 Enfield Bullet is awesome. It was designed for just that style of riding on just that type of British backroad. It makes a great noise and cruises at 50mph - just right for that kind of road. An open face helmet completes the dreamy summer day out.

On really wee roads I actually find my XT600E too fast. You accelerate away from a corner and before you know it you are doing 60mph coming into a right angle bend!

However, some of Scotland's roads suffer from heavy traffic and the Enfield is frustratingly poor at overtaking. Its not a bike I enjoy riding on the A82, for example.

I guess if I could name the bike I would love to tour scotland on it would be something like a BSA A10. Fast enough, but nice and liesurely on little roads. But then I like old brit iron. Something more modern? Maybe a Kawa W650?

Of course, we are all different. One of the things I like about the Bullet is that when I get to the end of a long day I feel like I have acheived something! :)

For me touring in Scotland has lost some of its appeal (still enjoy it though). I've been most places and its just too damn easy. I bought a BSA Bantam to liven things up but actually that was a step too far. It's fun for tooling around town but too slow on country A roads.

Part of me is tempted by the dark side. I'm only a drunken night on ebay away from buying a vespa...

Matt :)

Bianchi, I know where you are coming from. I have done tours on a big bike and I always end up doing too many miles, too fast, and not enjoying the counties I pass through. I've just sold my Triumph Sprint and bought a BMW F650GS for this very reason.

For these purposes, my XT600E was a bit lacking in power and not comfy enough over a long day's riding. The GS seems like it might be the ideal compromise. I can only say for definite when I have a few touring miles under its wheels, but it's looking good so far.

There is no ideal unless you picked the right six numbers and can buy a bike for each trip.

I had a 500 Bullet, it was perfect on the B-roads but unless you spent Thursday night after work changing the oil you were going nowhere Friday afternoon. My MZ's are a bit less labour intensive but at 20 years old can break.

I ran a 790 Bonneville for 8 years. It was mostly just fuel and ride but was a touch too heavy for unclassified roads. The 120 mile tank range was a PITA. The Kawasaki is better made but not that different.

I've had an XT600E, an F650 and now a Weestrom. They are a compromise and as such are a bit heavy and lacking some of the fun factor but as the least extreme solution they work time and time again. You will be home early enough on Sunday to iron the shirt for Monday.

One day when I have three weeks free, I will just buy a scooter from a pizza company, chuck stuff in the box and see how far I get, but that's not for a normal run out.

Andy

I was in Scotland for a few days earlier this year.
I was on my 2002 F650GS single which the local bike enthusiast hotel owner reckoned was the perfect bike for touring Scotland.
I've no idea if he is correct or not, just passing on his comment.

I have just returned from a 1400km trip over and round and about the Pyrenees ( I live in SW France so easy access) on my F 650Gs Twin (800) I bought last September. What a cracking bike for this sort of terrain, light; agile; chuckable in the twisties; sufficient power; ultra reliable, and an MPG you wouldn't believe.
3.8litre per 100km is equivalent to 74mpg. In the mountains, light and manoeuvrable is the mantra, with good bottom end grunt.

Ideal bike for touring Scotland?? Ideal bike for touring anywhere! ( IMHO):D

Nc700x
 

I'm taking my NC700X up to Scotland from Wiltshire to tour for a week, if I remember, I'll come back here and let you know how it goes!

I used to think my old 600 Tenere was just about perfect,all year round,having said that I had a great time on my Africa Twin today,on some old favourite roads.Can see the attraction of a smaller bike too,I'm still on the lookout for a CD175,just for old times sake.In truth anything is fine ,it's a great place to ride.

Yes, I think so; there were a couple of threads running concurrently a while ago (but in different parts of the HUBB IIRC), both about "big bikes Vs small bikes" - I found them both interesting because in one thread the big bike was as you define = around 1200cc while the small bike was around the 650cc.
For the other thread, a small bike was about 250cc and the big bike was a 650.
"Go figure" as the saying goes, but I keep one of each in my garage (250 and 650).

BDZ, You're getting sucked into the F650GS single cyl experience! Nothing wrong with that of course.
The longest distance I did in one day on that bike was 560 miles, more or less all on the autoroutes.

To add: the F650GS single used to turn out about 75 MPG for me without any effort toward economical riding on my part.
The current 650 twin Versys achieves around 65-69 MPG when sticking to the speed limits in France (but with 10% ethanol sans plumb in the tank, this dropped to around 63 MPG; sans plumb 98 octane with no ethanol became the rule at a few Euro cents per litre more in price). :offtopic:but the OP mentions 70 MPG.

ps Conclusion: 70 MPG can be achieved fairly easily at less than a leisurely pace, if one wishes.

I went around the islands of west Scotland on a 400 cc Burgman scooter this summer.....I coped well on the bumpy B roads and the one track roads......even got me up the so called 'road' to Kintyre lighthouse.
This bike has an automatic clutch and coped well....even on the steep 25% inclines.
The size for me was ideal and the bike reasonably comfortable,,,,,,,,,,in the distant past I went around Scotland on an old 250 BSA C11,,max speed 50 MPH......and it even made it up Shap in the days before Motorways!:innocent:

Having spent the last 15 years exploring Scotland on a variety of bikes from super sports to supermotos, it all depends on your destination/route. Every bike has its own merits, 1000cc supersports is a blast on the cassiemyre, a9, cairn o mount etc but the scenery is a blur. The most fun I've had is on a ratty old trailie and following my nose. No particular destination in mind, just spot a track and see where it goes :)
You won't regret whatever bike you choose to use, it's a stunning part of the UK. Altho a big v-twin echoing Round Glencoe is one of the most spine tingling feelings known to man :)

I have toured Scotland on a Transalp 650, a Varadero 1000, and an XT660R. The Varadero had full aluminium luggage and I felt embarrassingly "over-biked" . Size, weight, power, luggage, all too much for sightseeing the wilder parts of Scotland. The Transalp and the XT were both about right.

DR650 cheap light and simple, all you need.

I toured the west coast of scotland last june on a varadero 2 up,alu panniers fully loaded and enjoyed every minute...in fact going back next year on same bike.

I've toured Scotland(easy, because I live here!) on a load of bikes from a BSA Bantam to my Mk1 TDM, and it's all good!

Charlie

I agree that there's a lot of bikes that would be great in scotland. The road conditions can be varied though so it depends on the type of riding you want to do.
My first camping trips around scotland were on a cbr 125. This bike isn't the fastest, especially when fully loaded, so I tried to avoid the major A roads when possible. Even at 60mph (close to the limit of that bike on the trip) you'll get cars travelling far too close to you on the A9, because they want you to go faster. Likewise, if you are behind the trucks you'll lack the power to get past safely. I remember a couple of times truck drivers indicating for me to go past them, but being unable to as i was pretty much flat out ! Once I was on the tiny roads it was fine though, but travel on busy routes is sometimes unavoidable.

Overtaking is something you should think about too. There are lots of campervans/caravans/coaches etc in the summer so they can be quite annoying. You might be happy to coast along behind them, but other impatient drivers become annoying as they rarely follow at a safe distance. I'd reccomend something that has enough power to deliver quick acceleration even when loaded.

The other thing you should know about a lot of roads in scotland is that they are single track. The advantage of a bike here is that the quick acceleration and braking means you can get up to speed quickly after passing places, and stop quickly when you see something coming. Progress on these roads can be pretty slow otherwise.

As for off road, I really wouldn't worry about it. As far as I'm aware, there isn't really anywhere that you can do it legally. There are forestry tracks etc, but these are ususally working logging areas and can be busier than you think. I wouldn't risk it.

Doesn't matter really. My bikes have a throttle control which allow me to go as slowly or as fast as I like. I think this idea will catch on! :rolleyes2: I find my GS perfect for most all of the roads up here and it can manage 50mpg+ if I'm not in the mood to spank it-they are easily the most common bike seen during the summer- but I have more fun on my Laverda RGS. Where are these forest trails of which you speak?

Whatever, when the roads are empty and the sun is out, it's all good...

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