I'd like to guage interest on this....
A trip to Lochinver, in Assynt, WAY up in the far north west of Scotland.
A full day to ride up there from central Scotland, obviously selecting the best roads to have fun on.
Rent a house, or let everyone sort out B&B etc.
A day to explore the roads up on the far north coast, return to Lochinver.
Possibly a 2nd full day - depends on appetite for that as it will obviously add to costs...
A day to ride back south.
I have a contact for the rental of a decent sized house, very close to the pub - but not sure if we can get it for a weekend only.. plus we'd need at least 6 to make it viable.
Alternatively there are a few B&B's - heard good reports of them - and a 'bunk house' (Lochinver Mission) - good clean place, although may have to share with, well, anyone
It`s a fair old run up to Lochinver, but worth it as the roads up there are stunning.
If we are lucky with the weather it will be stunning - guaranteed!
If there`s enough interest I`ll start making enquiries - accepting of course that it`ll be impossible to pick a date that`ll suite everyone.
So, what`s the level of interest?
Was up that area in midsummer last year. Scenery is stunning around there. Left Ullapool and headed to Reiff bay. It was like something out of Jurassic Park in places, fantastic! Then backtracked as it is a dead end and headed north to Lochinver. I was on a DRz400SM which was perfect for those roads. Planning on a repeat at midsummer again. Petrol stations can close early and be far apart up there and a DRz doesn't hold a lot. Me and my mate were advised if you saw a petrol station open fill up no matter how little it is by the guy at the Kyle of Lochalsh petrol station as you don't know if and when you will see another open one. Big thanks to him for letting us top up AFTER he had officially shut 5 minutes earlier.
there's a wee place north of lochinver called scourie. It has a petrol pump at the wee shop that allows you to use your debit card so you can fill up 24hrs a day even when its closed , the same as you get in shell garages .Very handy indeed
Just above Inverness there is a Train station that has the old rail carriages set up as bunk houses. There is a local pub there that has a restaurant serving food from local area. it's a great place to tackle further North if your interested Mike
I was thinking of doing something along that lines myself for BM troops.
If you want we can get a natter on Sunday about it. How ever you started the idea/thread first so your call and happy to help if you wish
That's worth knowing, the community filling station at Applecross is the same I think. Definitely card only and unmanned so presumably 24 hour sales. Also slightly south of Reiff Bay at Achiltibuie (middle of nowhere) there is a small village shop/petrol station set back off the 'main' road slightly.
Theres a scottish event planned already for the last week in july, we could meet up for a wee social, cuple of us may be moving on from fort agustus, further up north so cud meet anywhere along the way
I've been up to Lochinver on the bike twice, never had any issue with petrol stations - ZZR had a range of around 150 miles - was a tad low at one point, but nothing too worrying.
Once you get north of Fort William it just gets better and better road wise.
I will be heading up that way again end of June with a small bunch of friends, a great chance to refresh my memory of the route I'm hoping to use for the BM trip if there's enough interest.
I've spoken to a few B&B's - prices per person per night seem to be around £40 each for two sharing or £55 for a single. A bit punchy.
There's the Lochinver Mission bunk house, but it closed and changed hands - I believe it's meant to open again by Easter, but we'll have to wait and see if that comes good.
Petrol stations on the main road yes, but get off the beaten track exploring like we did meant monitoring our mileage. 150 miles is a lot more than 90 which was about the most I could get before going onto reserve.
me and martyn (bandito12) will be off exploreing up that way last week of july, if any of ye want to coordinate meeting point, we are plannin our route from fort agustus next weekend.
okies, i havent looked at the map yet, but martyn and i were thinking of heading out from fort augustus for a cupla days mid week ti explore higher up then come back down for the last cupla nites in augustus....howerver the other folk dont seem to be interested in meeting up wi us
Mr mike, Do you fancy joining up with or if the dates cross over, seeing if we can have a meet up whilst we are all up north. Lyn (Dizzydot) and myself are looking at travelling further on from Fort Augustus, I fancy doing Highland Coast road again, but am open to suggestions if anyone is interested. The road is awesome as is the scenery. Just putting it out there and all are welcome :)
Steve, Well done on organising the run again maty, realy enjoyed last year. Am looking at doing similar to last year, spend some time with you peeps at the camp then heading off for a few days and possibly coming back to you before I head off home. The camp site is excellent, as was the company last year. Lyn is looking to join me for the few days run out, and anyone else is welcome too.