Hey Nigel, I have done the NC500 on my CBR650 when I was living in lincolnshire. 1500 miles round trip in 8 days. There were two cars with me so I threw my luggage and my wife in on of them lol! I would need to find the map I had done but I have changed phones so you will need to PM me and I can send it across once I find it. DAY1: Linconshire to Livingston DAY 2; Livingston to JOhn O Groats via Glenshee (long route) DAY 3: JOG to Ullapool DAY 4: Ullapool to Isle of Skye DAY 5: Isle of Skye DAY 6: IOS to Loch Lomond DAY 7: Loch Lomond - Home bound That was my plan, pick any cheap accommodation if you are on a budget, most places are family run B&Bs so I would call them to ASAP to find accommodation or else most of them will be gone. I used AIRBnB to find most of them. The weather was baking hot in 2018 hope you get the same weather this year. Don't carry to much unless you are camping. try to keep your luggage minimum. I never took a motorway in the entire trip it was either A, B or single track roads. I mapped them using Google maps. Takes some planning though. You wont regret it !
it seems your 25% closer to perfection than me... anyhoos, the way i see it, i'm a human from plannet earth
Cheers Rusty, plan is coming together now, all accommodation booked by my missus ( she don’t do budget) here’s one of the stop overs https://inverlodge.com/dining/ we’re doing a similar route Dumfries, Inverness, John O’ Groats, Ullapool round the top and down the west coast through applecross, including a night on Skye, and onto Loch Lomond and Lake District on the way home to Shropshire, a week all in and really looking forward to it.
yup, that sounds like a good plan. A word of caution the roads on the west coast had bad surface as they had a bad winter and it messed up the surface. This should be ok for the Multistrada but there can be a pot hole here and there. I took my CBR650 through these routes and I found it decent on the rough parts but the MTS should fly through them without any fuss. Don't miss the sandy white beaches and bluewaters on the way I think there are a few between the north west coast all the way down to ullapool. Cannot remember the names as they are hard to pronounce for me and even hard to remember lol! I think there is something called the 'wee mad road' if you google it you will get a map. I think it falls in the NC500 route without diversion from your plan. I do insist you map it and visualise the trip before you take it on ( I am sure you have done all of this before, just reminding!) If it's going to be warm (like last year) you need to be prepared for midgies (whatever those rascals are called) they will be intense if the weather is good. We suffered on the last leg of the journey especially near loch lomond that we had to relocate ASAP and the airbnb host was an asbolute inconsiderate human. Also make sure you make provision for fans in your rooms (again if the weather is going to be like 2018). I hope these little things have helped to make better arrangements and preps. Regards, Rusty.
Things done to mine since purchased 2017 same model year as yours. By the way you have USB under the rear seat. 1ifferent screens tried, settled on MRA Vario with spacers. 2:Centre stand. 3:Heated grips. 4:Navihalter above speedo sat nav mount & sat nav. Wired to correct point under tank. Twat to get to. 5:Full termi exhaust system with upmap, very expensive but a good addition. 6:Shorty levers. 7:Genuine LED spotlights. 8:Changed from Scorpion2 tyres to Michelin road5's. 9:Givi engine bars but would recommend a different make as the ones by givi mean you have to leave the rear section of front mudguard off. 10:If not already done then adjust the headlight down as it points in the sky & blinds everyone.
Thanks for that, I have commented on each point within the quote (in RED). Could you kindly let me know once you have.
OK so here we go. screen images showing spacers. Centre stand essential for me as we go over moors quite a lot & park on rough surfaces like gravel etc. Heated grips not standard but come with touring pack as does centre stand. Shorty levers, I just bought cheap ones off ebay, some say they are crap after someone adjusted them wrong & bound the calipers. Mine were fine. Spotlights have a dedicated supply at front left of tank I will post pictures later as some work to do just now. Road 5 tyres very good grip is great. read up on them as some prefer other types. Will also post some pics of givi crash bars later too.
That scsreen does look far better than stock. I get battered on my shoulders though. Does this fix that turbulence ? I have moved the damn thing everywhere, does do a good job on the head side of things not so much on my shoulders. If this works, I can add it to my list of the rest 101 things to buy hahah!
That's a question I cannot answer for you. For me it is quite a lot better than stock. The aero fin you can adjust while riding to suit yourself. Never felt problem with shoulders, hence comment. Pictures of Give bars & spots. I had to make my own brackets for the spots as the Ducati ones would not fit due to me fitting none standard crash bars. The spots once fitted have be activated by a dealer. Mine did it free. Oh & a different seat cover with gel pads. A bit more comfy.
