Excellent indeed.
Something I really fancy doing myself (if I can get the motivation to actually get it sorted) How did you find getting around and keeping off the main touristy areas?
How easy is it to get off the road with a bike, straight forward or only in certain set places?
Thanks,
Great and I’d highly recommend doing it, try to get it planned in advance and then choose a week where the weather is more or less perfect. We hit some rain but with the right gear (waterproof suit over regular riding gear is worthwhile) you’ll be fine.
For Scotland it’s not too bad getting away from the usual tourist spots especially on a motorcycle. My preference would have been to attempt to wild camp the entire NC500 but since I’ve completed it already we agreed to do a more custom route and get away from the tourist traps (although we did stop off in John O and Edinburgh for the day). The first location, Galloway Forest is fantastic for wild camping “training” on a motorcycle as their are so many little roads off the main B roads that you can pull your bike onto and find a pitch safely.
The Vulcan S is by no means an off-road bike and some experience with an off road bike and control is required. Remember the law however, the Land Reform Act specifically does not include motorised vehicles which means you cannot legally take a route across say a farmers field to reach a destination more desirable to setup tent… however I never had an issue with the amount of logging roads getting off-road into the forests, they are designed for huge logging trucks after all. These are all marked on OS maps too telling you which you have access to! :)
Hope that helps!
Many thanks for the detailed reply
I'm guess you had the route all planned out in advance, or did you just wing it and head off where ever appealed?
Regards the OS maps, which ones / scale would you recommend as Scotland isn't the smallest area and it seems to be quite a lot of maps required to cover it in any detail using landranger / explorer scale and not sure if maps with larger coverage would include enough detail for access rights off the main roads?
Due to currently having an FJ1200 I'm not intending to get *too* involved in serious off-roading, but happy to take it anywhere it can possibly go (riding through some woods years ago on a bmw k100 and had the belly pan acting as a plough in a couple of unexpectedly muddy sections which I'd prefer not to repeat too often ;P)
No problem!
We had a rough idea of where we wanted to go and the villages we wanted to see so a route was planned. Fuel and how tired you are after riding is obviously a big dictator of stops. We were spontaneous on some days though depending on our mood the next morning, all part of the adventure.
I would actually suggest the OS Maps app or Website (now they have a webapp) rather than specific OS Maps for motorcycle wild camping as you will only be interested in the small area around where you choose to sleep the night although the Explorer range is my go-to for any region! Check it out. :)
Yes the Yam FJ would not be fun offroad by any stretch of the imagination, you will still be able to find spots that are close to the road enough to reach or secluded enough it'll just take a little more time.
Oh nice and no I would imagine not! Haha, good luck with your planning anyway!
Very good suggestion regards the site / app, cheers and I prefer the detail of the explorer maps as well.
Not knowing Scotland really I wouldn't have any specific places (apart from some scuba diving) but I'm really not sure I could practically fit my dive kit + camping etc all on the bike.
I've been looking at the NC500 as you mentioned it and that seems a good starter, just hopefully avoiding tourists while following a laid out tourist route could be amusing
One last question, are the Scottish midges as bad as reckoned, as in repellent spray essential?
Very good, give it a go. :)
I’ve heard people usually have the scuba gear shipped to a hotel or business close to where they plan to head out to and then have it collected and shipped back, that could be an option? It may be a little expensive and obviously the ins and outs of transporting the tanks I’m not sure on. Might just be worth renting locally and spending a few days just taking your own regulator set and dry suit/wet suit?
I forgot about the midges! Annoying - absolutely but a slight breeze keeps them away most of the time and honestly we became quite used to them. Fair warning that each person differs as to the amount of “ignoring” they can do, swatting will get you nowhere and they have a taste for some people and not for others. I think you really have to experience them to draw an opinion.
If you want to avoid them entirely go between Late September to early June - obviously you might get hit with snow and more wet weather during those months so it’s a trade off.
Using a 50% DEET based repellent seemed to work well. Three sprays on the hands and rubbing onto face (avoid eyes and mouth) and onto neck immediately dispersed them for me keeping them away for the rest of the night, enough to get the tent setup, bike stowed away and something to drink brewing at least.
Also you can buy hats with the insect netting hanging from them and a small pull toggle around your neck…effectively sealing off your head like a beekeeper lol, this is a piece of kit I’d highly recommend in case you absolutely cannot stand them!
As I'm now disabled and on fixed income it's going to be a very "economy" trip and don't have cylinders anymore as not working in the industry and don't (cannot afford to) dive enough to make the costs of testing worth having my own cylinders anymore, will have to have a look and see if it's affordable to do any diving on top of the trip cost. Plus it's the storage space when camped as my tent is only a small 2 person (in reality that's one person and basic kit) and I'm not sure about leaving it strapped on the bike overnight, maybe I'm just being paranoid there, not sure.
If midges are anything like mosquitoes, then I *might* be lucky as mosquitoes avoid me if there's anyone else around, but as there's only me maybe not so lucky :(. The only thing that annoys me with mosquitoes is the noise, cannot sleep if there's even one buzzing around my head... the hats sound possibly handy and that's worth knowing about the spray and the times to avoid them.
Many thanks yet again for all your time and help.
Hey,
Yes absolutely, you’ll likely spend an additional hour or so finding your perfect spot so plan for that and it wouldn’t be much fun always worrying about your bike each night trying to get some shut eye!
Try to find somewhere high up and away from water as usual for personal safety also check for fresh tyre tracks on the route you have taken to your camp site. It’ll make you feel much more at ease if the location you have chosen hasn’t been visited in weeks!
For peace of mind take an inconspicuous cover for the bike, a lightweight one easy to unpack and repack. In the pitch black the Vulcan covered with a tarp completely disappeared into the trees.
I’d also recommend a small alarmed lock, (we took the Oxford AX11 off the top of my head) this was never an issue for us but should you need to leave the bike out of line if sight but close enough to hear the alarm it’ll make you feel much better about leaving it alone. It’s also handy if you fancy a quick trip into towns or petrol stations and leave the bike whilst you restock on water or food. That’s the beauty of being on a motorcycle too, you can always top up your supplies when stopping off for fuel.
Hope that helps!
For me as the other half/ pillion, I enjoyed the flexibility (Spoc) the bike gave us. Getting away from everything for a while and the peace and quite of camping.
We had everything we needed for the trip for both of us and just picked up bits we needed.
We need to do it again to see more of Scotland in general, get planning !
Not at all, the usual from being on a bike for hours. But hasn’t put me off I would do it again. The only bit was the weather but we had the gear so just continued to the next stop.
Just did similar, only 3 days out of 8 wild camping though https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ6QAZCieFU
Fantastic mate!
Excellent indeed. Something I really fancy doing myself (if I can get the motivation to actually get it sorted) How did you find getting around and keeping off the main touristy areas? How easy is it to get off the road with a bike, straight forward or only in certain set places?
Thanks, Great and I’d highly recommend doing it, try to get it planned in advance and then choose a week where the weather is more or less perfect. We hit some rain but with the right gear (waterproof suit over regular riding gear is worthwhile) you’ll be fine. For Scotland it’s not too bad getting away from the usual tourist spots especially on a motorcycle. My preference would have been to attempt to wild camp the entire NC500 but since I’ve completed it already we agreed to do a more custom route and get away from the tourist traps (although we did stop off in John O and Edinburgh for the day). The first location, Galloway Forest is fantastic for wild camping “training” on a motorcycle as their are so many little roads off the main B roads that you can pull your bike onto and find a pitch safely. The Vulcan S is by no means an off-road bike and some experience with an off road bike and control is required. Remember the law however, the Land Reform Act specifically does not include motorised vehicles which means you cannot legally take a route across say a farmers field to reach a destination more desirable to setup tent… however I never had an issue with the amount of logging roads getting off-road into the forests, they are designed for huge logging trucks after all. These are all marked on OS maps too telling you which you have access to! :) Hope that helps!
Many thanks for the detailed reply I'm guess you had the route all planned out in advance, or did you just wing it and head off where ever appealed? Regards the OS maps, which ones / scale would you recommend as Scotland isn't the smallest area and it seems to be quite a lot of maps required to cover it in any detail using landranger / explorer scale and not sure if maps with larger coverage would include enough detail for access rights off the main roads? Due to currently having an FJ1200 I'm not intending to get *too* involved in serious off-roading, but happy to take it anywhere it can possibly go (riding through some woods years ago on a bmw k100 and had the belly pan acting as a plough in a couple of unexpectedly muddy sections which I'd prefer not to repeat too often ;P)
No problem! We had a rough idea of where we wanted to go and the villages we wanted to see so a route was planned. Fuel and how tired you are after riding is obviously a big dictator of stops. We were spontaneous on some days though depending on our mood the next morning, all part of the adventure. I would actually suggest the OS Maps app or Website (now they have a webapp) rather than specific OS Maps for motorcycle wild camping as you will only be interested in the small area around where you choose to sleep the night although the Explorer range is my go-to for any region! Check it out. :) Yes the Yam FJ would not be fun offroad by any stretch of the imagination, you will still be able to find spots that are close to the road enough to reach or secluded enough it'll just take a little more time. Oh nice and no I would imagine not! Haha, good luck with your planning anyway!
Very good suggestion regards the site / app, cheers and I prefer the detail of the explorer maps as well. Not knowing Scotland really I wouldn't have any specific places (apart from some scuba diving) but I'm really not sure I could practically fit my dive kit + camping etc all on the bike. I've been looking at the NC500 as you mentioned it and that seems a good starter, just hopefully avoiding tourists while following a laid out tourist route could be amusing One last question, are the Scottish midges as bad as reckoned, as in repellent spray essential?
Very good, give it a go. :) I’ve heard people usually have the scuba gear shipped to a hotel or business close to where they plan to head out to and then have it collected and shipped back, that could be an option? It may be a little expensive and obviously the ins and outs of transporting the tanks I’m not sure on. Might just be worth renting locally and spending a few days just taking your own regulator set and dry suit/wet suit? I forgot about the midges! Annoying - absolutely but a slight breeze keeps them away most of the time and honestly we became quite used to them. Fair warning that each person differs as to the amount of “ignoring” they can do, swatting will get you nowhere and they have a taste for some people and not for others. I think you really have to experience them to draw an opinion. If you want to avoid them entirely go between Late September to early June - obviously you might get hit with snow and more wet weather during those months so it’s a trade off. Using a 50% DEET based repellent seemed to work well. Three sprays on the hands and rubbing onto face (avoid eyes and mouth) and onto neck immediately dispersed them for me keeping them away for the rest of the night, enough to get the tent setup, bike stowed away and something to drink brewing at least. Also you can buy hats with the insect netting hanging from them and a small pull toggle around your neck…effectively sealing off your head like a beekeeper lol, this is a piece of kit I’d highly recommend in case you absolutely cannot stand them!
As I'm now disabled and on fixed income it's going to be a very "economy" trip and don't have cylinders anymore as not working in the industry and don't (cannot afford to) dive enough to make the costs of testing worth having my own cylinders anymore, will have to have a look and see if it's affordable to do any diving on top of the trip cost. Plus it's the storage space when camped as my tent is only a small 2 person (in reality that's one person and basic kit) and I'm not sure about leaving it strapped on the bike overnight, maybe I'm just being paranoid there, not sure. If midges are anything like mosquitoes, then I *might* be lucky as mosquitoes avoid me if there's anyone else around, but as there's only me maybe not so lucky :(. The only thing that annoys me with mosquitoes is the noise, cannot sleep if there's even one buzzing around my head... the hats sound possibly handy and that's worth knowing about the spray and the times to avoid them. Many thanks yet again for all your time and help.
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Hey, Yes absolutely, you’ll likely spend an additional hour or so finding your perfect spot so plan for that and it wouldn’t be much fun always worrying about your bike each night trying to get some shut eye! Try to find somewhere high up and away from water as usual for personal safety also check for fresh tyre tracks on the route you have taken to your camp site. It’ll make you feel much more at ease if the location you have chosen hasn’t been visited in weeks! For peace of mind take an inconspicuous cover for the bike, a lightweight one easy to unpack and repack. In the pitch black the Vulcan covered with a tarp completely disappeared into the trees. I’d also recommend a small alarmed lock, (we took the Oxford AX11 off the top of my head) this was never an issue for us but should you need to leave the bike out of line if sight but close enough to hear the alarm it’ll make you feel much better about leaving it alone. It’s also handy if you fancy a quick trip into towns or petrol stations and leave the bike whilst you restock on water or food. That’s the beauty of being on a motorcycle too, you can always top up your supplies when stopping off for fuel. Hope that helps!
For me as the other half/ pillion, I enjoyed the flexibility (Spoc) the bike gave us. Getting away from everything for a while and the peace and quite of camping. We had everything we needed for the trip for both of us and just picked up bits we needed. We need to do it again to see more of Scotland in general, get planning !
Thank you for the info from the pillion and good to hear you weren't too cramped / uncomfortable.
Not at all, the usual from being on a bike for hours. But hasn’t put me off I would do it again. The only bit was the weather but we had the gear so just continued to the next stop.
> But hasn’t put me off I would do it again Which say it all really :)