Shipping bikes to Scotland

Jesus!!!!! I did plymouth to aviemore in one hit two weeks ago. 6 hours to Gretna with stops. By the time you arse about loading and unloading half the trip will be done. Adventure bikes or glorified sofas?


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Voyager said:
Back in February I attended a funeral of an old friend from the Ariel Owners' Club (Strokes, then Heart attack, he was 78 :blast). This was South West of Gloucester in The Forest of Dean.

I left home (Edinburgh) at 06:30, had a nice lunch in an Hotel before the Service, took part in escorting the coffin to the Crematorium, attended the reception.

Left the reception at 17:30 and rode home, arriving 00:45. 775 miles - its what 1150 GS Adventures are for :thumb.

Get out and ride the bloody thing :mad:.

Bob.
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To be fair, Bob - you are renowned for long-distance rides..................

The suggestion of purchasing a trailer and driving up - makes sense, though?

I'm going down to the Provence Alps in June, sailing from Poole with a pal - so trailering the bike down to Poole to save tyres and the roads between home and Poole.

Al
 
Santa-2512 said:
Are you for real??? half of the fun would be up the west side round the loop, and down the east side

Bloody sutheners :D
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Oi! Easy on the bloody southerners! Plymouth to Aviemore in one hit, 3 days and 1700 miles later we Plymouth southerners were home

Think the OP needs to give up riding and take up knitting


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Ha! Well that seemed to stir a range of emotions. Thanks for the thoughts y'all.

:thumb2
 
Green Boy said:
Ha! Well that seemed to stir a range of emotions. Thanks for the thoughts y'all.

:thumb2
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Honestly - buy a second-hand trailer for £400 tops - use it, and either keep or re-sell. If you re-sell, you won't lose out!

Pistonheads is a good source of trailers at good prices.

Al
 
Lots of macho chest beaters on this thread.:rolleyes:
 
Nobody doubts the bike has an issue with the ride, the problem is one of time. The OP wants to ride the NC500 but doesn't have the time to ride there and back whilst having enough time to see some of the sites. Its not an Iron Butt contest for FFS.

To be the bike transport guy from Aberdeen sounds like the best option and you can fly to Aberdeen from numerous airports.
 
ymfb said:
Nobody doubts the bike has an issue with the ride, the problem is one of time. The OP wants to ride the NC500 but doesn't have the time to ride there and back whilst having enough time to see some of the sites. Its not an Iron Butt contest for FFS.

To be the bike transport guy from Aberdeen sounds like the best option and you can fly to Aberdeen from numerous airports.
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Exactly. IF I've only got 4 days in total, I could either ride through the night and not sleep (like some of the legends on here :D), or spend 2 days on the motorway, then 2 doing the NC500, or send the bike up in a van, fly up and have 4 days doing the NC500 and actually enjoying it. No brainer for me.
 
The Nutty GSER said:
Exactly. IF I've only got 4 days in total, I could either ride through the night and not sleep (like some of the legends on here :D), or spend 2 days on the motorway, then 2 doing the NC500, or send the bike up in a van, fly up and have 4 days doing the NC500 and actually enjoying it. No brainer for me.
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Or, from Hampshire, you could go west to South Wales, the Brecons and Black Mountains, have a few days of fantastic riding roads and beautiful scenery then do the NC500 when you have more time :nenau
 
bristolsaint said:
Or, from Hampshire, you could go west to South Wales, the Brecons and Black Mountains, have a few days of fantastic riding roads and beautiful scenery then do the NC500 when you have more time :nenau
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Yep, I've done wales a few times. Cracking roads.:thumb

The NC500 is on the list, just not this year.
 
We're mainly avoiding the NC500 and using the roads less travelled, although we will see bits of it, I believe.

If I'd had a little more time I would have offered to ride OP's bike to Scotland for him and then bring it back after his tour. :D
 
scotboxer said:
You've never met Bob (Voyager) have you?:p
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Oh Dear :blast, I was just trying to say that its possible to do these trips without a lot of angst, planning or worry. I just looked at a map, worked out how long it was likely to take, allowed extra time for fuel/comfort/food stops and went and did it.

Its not worth over-analysing it, just get your accommodation sorted and enjoy the ride.

Bob.
 
Personally, I'd ride up myself, nothing to do with being macho (even though I'm harder than John Rambo) but I really don't think you save much time by doing it any other way.

1. Get the bike transported and meet it up there - Fuck about finding someone to transport it for you, spend the time meeting them and loading it into the van. Then book a flight, drive to the airport, check in, wait for a couple of hours, fly, let's say to Glasgow. Disembark and get through to the arrivals lounge. The fuck about either meeting your bike or making your way to where the bike is. Unload it and get yourself suited up and ride North. - Without being a hero London to Loch Lomond is a 10 hour ride including a couple of stops, another couple of hours would see you in Glencoe for the night. How much time would you realistically save by not riding, maybe 5 hours?
2. Hire a van and split the driving - Doesn't save you a single second.

If it was Southern Spain overnight then I could see the logic but not Scotland, it's just not far enough away to justify the ball ache for me.

Of course, I could be missing something really obvious? :nenau
 
My friend and I are planning to do this too soon but the wives would prefer to meet us there by flying up, cheap flights from Heathrow, 30 minutes from home.
Problem is after doing Snowdonia last bank holiday my wife who has not a bike for 5 years says she wants one to ride Scotland instead of being pillion this time but won't ride all the way up and back as well.
So a solution to sending her a bike up would be ideal. I did think about hiring her one but she is less than 5' tall and I will have to
look what would suit her , her last bike was a lowered Street Triple but that was still a tad tall for her.
Nobody please suggest a Monkey Bike :)

Anyway , its getting a bike up to Scotland I am interested in a solution for.
 
Good God man

I've just returned from hols (fishing) hence my late comment, are you american perhaps with a pristine H-D ?
I am over 65 and think nothing of riding from home to Merzouga, gallop around the Atlas and home again on my 640 Adv, if I were you I'd get a car.

M
 
Ok . just back from the NC500. From Shoreham ( not far from you ) First Day here to the Lakes , Graysonside B+B 400 miles . Next day Muir de Ord 300 miles . Next day Ullapool via Applecross 200 miles . Next day Scrabster 250 miles . Next day the Trossucks 300miles ..Then Scarborough via Newcastle upon Tyne then Shoreham 350 miles
All in 2000 miles or so . We basically did the west coast the North Coast then the East . Loved it . It would have been better if I hadn't cooked my tyres but part of the NC500 is getting there. Getting a feckin bus/truck/ Courier would for me have diluted the experience .
Look at it as a Holiday. My GSA was perfect otherwise , bonded with it and my fellow Motorcyclists ( 4 of us )
Don't just tick box this trip , you'll appreciate it more f you do all the miles . Oh and no one nods up there :D
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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