Touring in Scotland

by Jameshambleton Mon 11 Jul 2016, 9:40 am

So as some may know I'm going to scotland touring on the cb at the end of this month and I'll be doing some wild camping (about 1500 miles). This is my first holiday in about 7 years and it'll be my first time touring as well as properly camping, so I'm wondering what should and shouldn't I take with me. I know there are some experienced people on here so I'm just wondering what the pros and cons are, as well as other things that could be handy.

I'm taking my laptop, and other electrical stuff, gas hob and gas bottle in my topbox.
On the pillion seat I'll have the tent, sleeping bag and floor mat.
Under the seat I'll have an extra battery, 12v tyre inflator. disc locks and two first aid kits.
I'll have my clothing in one of my panniers so what else should I take with me since I'll have an empty pannier. What sorts of tinned food should I take with me?

by skyrider Mon 11 Jul 2016, 4:07 pm

Heinz 57 finest BEANS Laughing

and don't forget to take a pan to warm food up and knife fork and spoon and some food you will be able to get from shops when you are up there that will save a bit of weight

whereabouts in Scotland are you heading

by skyrider Mon 11 Jul 2016, 7:30 pm

you will certainly see some fantastic scenery on your trip, a few years ago I worked in both pitlochry and aviemore and the roads around that area are brilliant just look out for the low flying haggis they look like a small pig with wings Laughing

anyway let us know how you go on and ride safe Touring in Scotland 737901405

by trophydave Mon 11 Jul 2016, 9:48 pm

Take some Avon skin so soft,I kid you not,it keeps the flying beastie midges away.

by sullivj Tue 12 Jul 2016, 6:57 am

Don't take tins. Beans are available in plastic jars, which are much lighter.

Take a puncture repair kit and some cable ties. Also a length of fuel pipe might come in handy if you run out and can syphon from another bike / car.

by Llewelyn1965 Tue 12 Jul 2016, 8:31 am

I wouldn't worry about taking too much in the way of food unless you are planning on staying out in the wild and not venturing through any towns. Just take a couple of days worth of basics and top it up each day on your rideouts. As Sulli says, don't take tins unless you don't care about the weight. On my last tour of South of England I even took a lightweight folding chair. Not very practical for a bike tour, but would I take it again? Bloody right I would. Much better than sitting on a log or a floor.

by Jameshambleton Tue 12 Jul 2016, 8:52 am

you will certainly see some fantastic scenery on your trip, a few years ago I worked in both pitlochry and aviemore and the roads around that area are brilliant just look out for the low flying haggis they look like a small pig with wings anyway let us know how you go on and ride safe

low flying haggis Laughing

trophydave wrote:Take some Avon skin so soft,I kid you not,it keeps the flying beastie midges away.

definitely noted, guess I'll need to get some of that then!

sullivj wrote:Don't take tins. Beans are available in plastic jars, which are much lighter.

Take a puncture repair kit and some cable ties. Also a length of fuel pipe might come in handy if you run out and can syphon from another bike / car.

I have 36 litre hard panniers (givi e360's) so weight isn't really an issue.
I think some of the others on the trip will have the repair kit, although the cable/zip ties are a good idea. We're doing about 250miles a day so there will be plenty of fuel stops although a rope for towing someone might be an idea.

Llewelyn1965 wrote:I wouldn't worry about taking too much in the way of food unless you are planning on staying out in the wild and not venturing through any towns. Just take a couple of days worth of basics and top it up each day on your rideouts. As Sulli says, don't take tins unless you don't care about the weight. On my last tour of South of England I even took a lightweight folding chair. Not very practical for a bike tour, but would I take it again? Bloody right I would. Much better than sitting on a log or a floor.

Didn't think about a folding chair although that seems like a great idea.

Thanks everyone for the help and suggestions I'd better start making a check list.

by Llewelyn1965 Tue 12 Jul 2016, 8:55 am

I bought my chair from 'Go Outdoors' for a fiver. Fits across the back seat and over the top of panniers without protruding.

by liverpool_f_ Tue 12 Jul 2016, 9:51 pm

Don't forget a reasonable selection of tools. My leatherman would be the first thing I pack

by sullivj Tue 12 Jul 2016, 10:34 pm

If you're going to take a tow rope, take a ratchet strap instead (without the ratchet). Foot peg to foot peg is th pe way to go - plenty on youtube about it.

by Beresford Wed 13 Jul 2016, 9:55 am

sullivj wrote:If you're going to take a tow rope, take a ratchet strap instead (without the ratchet). Foot peg to foot peg is th pe way to go - plenty on youtube about it.

I carry a ratchet strap in the tool kit all the time. If you get a puncture where the tyre parts from the rim, it's essential for spreading the tyre to seal on the rim, so you can re-inflate after you plug it .

by Stooby2 Wed 13 Jul 2016, 12:49 pm

You want your sleeping bag in a pannier. You absolutely don't want it getting wet.

Army mess tins double as cooking pans and plates/bowls and take up little space.

You'll need something to either transport clean water or sterilise river water if you want cold water for drinking. Boiling it takes a lot fuel and not very instant.

In some places there are surprisingly few petrol stations, so make sure you've got plenty to get from place to place.

Throw some large black bin liners in - very handy for keeping stuff dry and if stuff gets wet, keeping it separate from dry stuff.

by **eternally_troubled** Thu 14 Jul 2016, 9:20 am

Stooby2 wrote:
Throw some large black bin liners in - very handy for keeping stuff dry and if stuff gets wet, keeping it separate from dry stuff.

Yep - they are also good for sitting on if the ground is wet (assuming you don't take a chair).

If you are in the middle of nowhere you should take a) bogroll, b) a small shovel and c) hand sanitiser.

Do you have some waterproof clothing that *isn't* your motorcycle gear? It can get a bit hot walking around in bike gear at this time of year, even if it is raining.... it isn't essential but just a thought.

If you mates are taking 'tools' then make sure you have a quick look over what they are taking beforehand, just to make sure. Also make sure someone has a puncture repair kit.

You got some decent maps of where you are going? May not be best to rely on mobile coverage in the wilds of Scotland. Big maps also make route planning a lot easier - you can see a lot more of the route in one go than on a phone/sat-nav screen. As a minimum I would buy/obtain an up to date UK road atlas (one of the ones that is about 1 inch to 3 miles scale and preferably has a spiral binding) like this.

If you are going to explore an area better you would want an OS 1:50000 scale, but these can get expensive. 1:25000 is probably too big for on the bike, but great if you plan to do any walking/hiking etc.

How good are you at telling the direction (N E S W) by the position of the sun? If you aren't any good then a cheap compass (here) at least allows you to orientate the map in the correct direction.

ADDITIONAL:

Just remembered:

You should take a minute or two (or a phone call) to check that you think *everyone else* has what they need/sensible quality of stuff etc - it can really put a crimp on our enjoyment having to have your mate stuck in a tent with you because he 'didn't realise' that a £10 tent from Tesco might not be up to it... ;)

by Llewelyn1965 Sat 16 Jul 2016, 11:03 pm

Have you planned your routes yet? There's an article in RiDE magazine on routes in Scotland. I think you can download them from the RiDE website.

by topher Sun 17 Jul 2016, 2:37 am

I live in Inverness and take the CB on wild camping trips every now and then.
If you get this far up north you will have some of the very best biking roads at your fingertips (or boot heels!).
Also west and north of here is some of the most beautiful, remote and awe inspiring landscape.
No trespass laws as such, so wild camping is easy. Just be aware of stalking season if you're out in the hills!
Don't worry about carrying lots of bottled water. Water from springs and free flowing streams and rivers is perfectly drinkable.
Also, for keeping biting beasties aka the dreaded midge, there's a new player in town - Smidge. Available from Tesco up here,and a lot of local shops. Works as good as,if not better than Skin So Soft.

by topher Sun 17 Jul 2016, 2:43 am

Also, I assume you're not purely wild camping, otherwise you should seriously consider NOT taking your laptop or a lot of electrical stuff.
Have some good waterproof gear for both on and off the bike, and as mentioned, plenty of bin liners!

by Jameshambleton Mon 18 Jul 2016, 2:35 pm

topher wrote:Also, I assume you're not purely wild camping, otherwise you should seriously consider NOT taking your laptop or a lot of electrical stuff.
Have some good waterproof gear for both on and off the bike, and as mentioned, plenty of bin liners!

We're going to be doing most of the NC500, so rural camping for the vast majority of the trip, I'm going to be taking 3 GoPro's with me, a sj4000, my laptop, gimbal/stabiliser, 230v inverter, dslr, 2 powerbanks and my phone. My tripod will be strapped to one of the panniers, as will the chair on the other pannier.

by topher Mon 18 Jul 2016, 4:00 pm

I've never heard of the NC500 but goggled it just now. That's a good route.

Well if you're going clockwise from Inverness, all of that until you get to Caithness (Wick/Thurso) is freaking awesome riding - especially the Inverness to Ullapool route. The pass road (Bealaich) from Lochcarron going up and over to Applecross is mind blowing and full of torturous hairpin bends but you're rewarded at the top by stunning views over to Skye etc. Just don't get distracted by the scenery while riding lol. It won't be pretty.

I actually did a similar route a few years back with some mates who came to visit, when I had a Sprint 900, but we went straight from Inverness to Ullapool and then followed the same route as the "NC500" to loop back down again.

I go hillwalking quite regularly around Wester Ross, Ullapool and Dundonnel area, so get to combine the best of both worlds - riding my CB on fantastic roads and climbing big awesome mountains lol.

All in all you'll have a great few days riding, hope you enjoy it! Definitely pick up some Smidge from Tesco tho, can't recommend it enough! And definitely plan on the weather being shit. If it is, you're ready for it, if it isn't, bonus!!

Cheers
Toph

by ashcroc Tue 19 Jul 2016, 10:49 pm

Jameshambleton wrote:

topher wrote:Also, I assume you're not purely wild camping, otherwise you should seriously consider NOT taking your laptop or a lot of electrical stuff.
Have some good waterproof gear for both on and off the bike, and as mentioned, plenty of bin liners!

We're going to be doing most of the NC500, so rural camping for the vast majority of the trip, I'm going to be taking 3 GoPro's with me, a sj4000, my laptop, gimbal/stabiliser, 230v inverter, dslr, 2 powerbanks and my phone. My tripod will be strapped to one of the panniers, as will the chair on the other pannier.

How do you find the sj performs compared with the GoPros?

by Jameshambleton Wed 20 Jul 2016, 9:43 am

liverpool_f_ wrote:Don't forget a reasonable selection of tools. My leatherman would be the first thing I pack

I've got a few for what I need, 3-10mm hex keys, spanners, screwdriver.

sullivj wrote:If you're going to take a tow rope, take a ratchet strap instead (without the ratchet). Foot peg to foot peg is th pe way to go - plenty on youtube about it.

Definitely noted and I shall take one of those then.

Llewelyn1965 wrote:Have you planned your routes yet? There's an article in RiDE magazine on routes in Scotland. I think you can download them from the RiDE website.

Route is already planned out, I'll post it all in a new topic with details after the ride has happened - you know basically an unlocked bike location isn't the best thing to be posting on the internet.

topher wrote:I live in Inverness and take the CB on wild camping trips every now and then.
If you get this far up north you will have some of the very best biking roads at your fingertips (or boot heels!).
Also west and north of here is some of the most beautiful, remote and awe inspiring landscape.
No trespass laws as such, so wild camping is easy. Just be aware of stalking season if you're out in the hills!
Don't worry about carrying lots of bottled water. Water from springs and free flowing streams and rivers is perfectly drinkable.
Also, for keeping biting beasties aka the dreaded midge, there's a new player in town - Smidge. Available from Tesco up here,and a lot of local shops. Works as good as,if not better than Skin So Soft.

We're going to be going counter clockwise since we're all from the North East...ish and it's easier to head directly up that way on and then do counterclockwise around scotland and then home. That's good to know about the water although I'll try to get it refilled from a tap if possible. I'm presuming that river water is better than loch water?
I've got some midgey spray just the other day.

topher wrote:I've never heard of the NC500 but goggled it just now. That's a good route.

Well if you're going clockwise from Inverness, all of that until you get to Caithness (Wick/Thurso) is freaking awesome riding - especially the Inverness to Ullapool route. The pass road (Bealaich) from Lochcarron going up and over to Applecross is mind blowing and full of torturous hairpin bends but you're rewarded at the top by stunning views over to Skye etc. Just don't get distracted by the scenery while riding lol. It won't be pretty.

I actually did a similar route a few years back with some mates who came to visit, when I had a Sprint 900, but we went straight from Inverness to Ullapool and then followed the same route as the "NC500" to loop back down again.

I go hillwalking quite regularly around Wester Ross, Ullapool and Dundonnel area, so get to combine the best of both worlds - riding my CB on fantastic roads and climbing big awesome mountains lol.

All in all you'll have a great few days riding, hope you enjoy it! Definitely pick up some Smidge from Tesco tho, can't recommend it enough! And definitely plan on the weather being shit. If it is, you're ready for it, if it isn't, bonus!!

Cheers
Toph

I'm from the North yorkshire Dales and I'm often in the lakes so distraction from the scenery shouldn't really be a problem for distracting me. I'll have to keep you well posted and I'll have to keep a good written log of events, suppose I could write it out in an evening when I'm transferring the footage from my memory cards to my laptop. Would be better for narrating the videos after too.

by Jameshambleton Wed 20 Jul 2016, 9:43 am

duplicate post

by Jameshambleton Wed 20 Jul 2016, 10:46 am

ashcroc wrote:How do you find the sj performs compared with the GoPros?

Terribly, the codec is uses to encode the video only likes to go in a linear fashion during playback and editing so you can't really skip through or go back through the video without problems, it happens in Vegas Pro 10/12/13, VLC and media player.

The picture quality is alright but it's a massive faffing about to get the video to be cut down.

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