Coast - Lewis/Harris/Uist

[Gizmo]

Did anyone see Coast on BBC2 last night? Its got me tempted to think about an island hopping tour next year, possibly going Ullapool to Stornaway riding Lewis/Harris taking ferry to Uist spending a day there then getting ferry to Uig or Mallaig. has anyone done this on a bike? any tips for fuel/accommodation?

[Spud Raver]

Ive done trips to Stornoway in the past with my work and TBH you would have to threaten me with a gun to get me to go there voluntarily!!!! :D

I use the The Tower B&B when I go to Stornoway but the place next door is much better. Be prepared to say hello to a lot of McLeods......everyone seems to be called that there! I can only imagine why!!!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Spud Raver]

The breakfast on the Ullapool ferry is pretty good......:D but Stornoway is a @@@@ing @@@@hole IMHO :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:

[239desmo]

Did anyone see Coast on BBC2 last night? Its got me tempted to think about an island hopping tour next year, possibly going Ullapool to Stornaway riding Lewis/Harris taking ferry to Uist spending a day there then getting ferry to Uig or Mallaig. has anyone done this on a bike? any tips for fuel/accommodation?
Michael, I covered the Western Isles for my work and I have relations in Lewis and business connections on Benbecula. If you want I can easily find out best places to spend the night if you give me an idea of what level of luxury you are looking for.
As far as fuel goes it is pretty expensive compared to the mainland but then again if you check the mileages involved you will struggle to use a tank of fuel I suspect.
Weather is either wet/warm/windy or wet/cold/windy depending when you go!
There is a reason why there are no trees there!!
If you get a dry/warm (and windy!!) day it is spectacular. You'll struggle for your coffee shots I suspect though and don't expect much in the way of nightlife. PM me if you need help.

[weeian]

Great sights michael but id never do them on a super. . . . the roads are mostly single & full of gravel. but yea its definetly worth doing if u have a multi, GS, KTM, or perhaps a monster.

/ian

[ProjectImola004]

Did anyone see Coast on BBC2 last night? Its got me tempted to think about an island hopping tour next year, possibly going Ullapool to Stornaway riding Lewis/Harris taking ferry to Uist spending a day there then getting ferry to Uig or Mallaig. has anyone done this on a bike? any tips for fuel/accommodation?


I watched this last week. Brilliant and spectacular place. The jury is still out on the windfarm though and they have finally agreed to lay the power cable underground from Ullapool down to Beauly instead of giant pylons matching across the Highlands. :)
Not sure I'd want to do it on a motorcycle though - then again I'm not as mad as Michael!!! :p ;)

[BDG]

Michael, i've done it and was incredibly lucky with the weather in June time.

We just camped on some of the beaches and had a superb time. I'd agree with the comments about the roads, lot of single track roads and lots of gravel which wasn't a problem as we were on XR 250 enduro bikes. The biggest problem was riding them all of the way from Manchester with camping gear.

Very remote, beautifull and isolated. DOn't even think of trying to get a drink on Sunday, or petrol, or aything for that matter. Very religious and everything was shut. May have changed a bit now as it was over 10 years when i last went to the Outer Hebs.

We went via Skye and came back to Ullapool so got to wander round a bit.

Throughly reccommend it.

[Steve748]

Did anyone see Coast on BBC2 last night? Its got me tempted to think about an island hopping tour next year, possibly going Ullapool to Stornaway riding Lewis/Harris taking ferry to Uist spending a day there then getting ferry to Uig or Mallaig. has anyone done this on a bike? any tips for fuel/accommodation?

I did it 1990 before the bridge was built and we bought a rover type ticket which covered the three crossings. Just turned up and went on the next ferry. Probably different now with only two crossings as I seem to remember the Skye bridge is now free to cross? Stayed in Stornoway Friday night and the local totty are really friendly!
their claim to fame are the Callanish standing stones which is like Stonehenge except they were all pi55ed when they built it and the stones ended all over the place!

[Gizmo]

thanks everyone, Calmac (http://www.calmac.co.uk/hopscotch-rover.html) still do a rover ticket so i can get all the ferries needed for abot £100. we'll be on the multi ( unless it gets swapped for a gs before then :eek:) and Linzi's F650 so narrow roads and gravel shouldn't be a problem, plan would be just to cruise and take our time and stopping to take photos, sort of like a holiday type thing :D :D

[berto]

I did Mull/Coll and Tiree on the Monster and the roads are she_ite and I wouldn't do it again.Beautiful scenery and wonderful air and Calmac are pricks about securing the bikes we had a fight on every crossing about cocks trying to strap over tanks etc feckin inbred teuchter bastids..Take a van filled with supermotos and it would be perfect..The mainland still has some top spots that have the advantage of top roads..

[Gizmo]

Aye, we did Calmac last year and it wasn't really a problem getting bikes tied down but they weren't exactly careful. I usually take a couple of the looped climbing straps ( no idea what they are called) loop them around frame and i ask them to attach the tie down strap to the loops, never had a problem doing it that way. we'd be going for the scenery not the roads :) suppose i should really do it on a mountain bike :eek:

[gordj65]

NO giz, you should never do anything on a mountainbike. for they are the instruments of the devil and will surely cause problems with your nether regions:eek:

[Freak]

Got KTM and waterproofs... I'm tempted if it's an open trip Michael

[239desmo]

Got KTM and waterproofs... I'm tempted if it's an open trip Michael
Stabilisers to keep you upright in the wind?....:D

[BDG]

Michael some great beaches at the end of he dead end road to nowhere on the western side of Harris near Aird Uig and Islihhig

The advantage of being on proper dirt bikes was it didn't matter what the Calmac guys did to them, it couldn't be worse than us crashing them all the time.

On this years trip when i was on the 950 i did the same as i do on any ferry, just supervise the strapping of the bike or even do yourself.

I usually take a couple of tie downs anyway when going on ferrys in case there is a shortage of them which has been known if theres a lot of bikes, and they can also be used as a tow rope if stuck.

[Dukess1999]

My folks lived in Lewis and Harris, and I've taken a Monster and 900ss there and to N.Uist; Monster slightly better on the roads.The roads are very variable and you'd really be going there for the scenery rather than the riding.

B&B tends to be along the lines of the mainland, polyester sheets etc, but certainly clean and cheapish in my experience, and hearty breakfasts. There were a couple of upmarket restaurants with accomodation in the wilds, Scarista House in S.W. Harris being one of them. The Rodel Hotel in SE Harris has apprently been done up since my last visit. Worth a visit in a gruesome kind of a way on a Friday or Saturday night, though I got my one-and-only breathalyser on the way back home on a Friday.

Wouldn't go quite as far as others on the horrors of SY; might be worth going there during the Celtic music festival (every July I think), late licences and a good atmosphere I thought.

[berto]

Watch out for the Local Ducati Owners...
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p147/bertos4/P1010076.jpg
lovely stuff
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p147/bertos4/P1010069.jpg

[berto]

Cos he only has a 996 +900ss he really wants a monster "go on baby,take it yeah "etc etc)
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p147/bertos4/nevthesemi.jpg

[Freak]

Cos he only has a 996 +900ss he really wants a monster "go on baby,take it yeah "etc etc)
http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p147/bertos4/nevthesemi.jpg

More like I love those rinky dink baby monsters.... urrrggggh! :eek:

[Geoff]

Hi,
I toured the western isles in August of this year on my monster with wife on board and was great. The selected Hopscotch ticket was eleven I think from Calmac. Covered 1500 miles in total. It's amazing how many miles you can cover going along dead ends and back. I travelled from Glasgow to Mallaig and then got the boat to Sky. Stayed two days on Sky and then got the boat from Uig to Lochmaddy. Travelled along the coast road going North then west and basically headed towards Benbecula then South Uist passing over many causeways. Rather flat but peacful apart from the continuous rain. In all spent two days on Uist. On the whole main roads are fine but I spent a lot of time going along dead ends which had some gravel - but the scenery was excellent. We then caught the boat from Berneray (North Uist) to Leverburgh (Lewis). The road from Lochmaddy to the North is excellent with money being spent improving it for tourists. Once on Harris we travelled along the Golden road ( obsolutely amazing) and although single track good adhesion with little gravel. This is the east coast of Harris. Spent one night in Leverburgh and then toured the west of Harris with it's beautiful unpopulated white sand beaches.. We then travelled into Harris along some excellent roads. They're expanding the main roads and are mostly two way with excellent adhesion. Apparently they're building a windfarm in Harris/Lewis so they're spending a fortune improving the roads for the trucks that carry the materials. The section from Harris into Lewis is amazing with fast sweeping bends and superb scenery although still raining and windy. Spent three days in Lewis travelling to the the most Northerly point and visiting the place where they found the Lewis Chess pieces. On the whole Lewis is rather flat without much scenery but still worth the visit. We then caught the boat from Stornaway to Ullapool and headed back home.

Boat:
Booking. They advise you to book ahead but for me that was not ideal. In the end once we decided to move on I booked the previous day and there was no problem. With so little bikes around you could probably just turn up but with limited crossings not ideal.

Food: Uig: If you want to eat at night book ahead. If not you need to travel back to Portree - guess what happened to me?

Petrol: Uist - Petrol stations in Lochmaddy , Benbecula and South Uist. The islands not that big so I had no problem with petrol.
Accomodation. I was B&B and I would advise you book ahead. Basically I booked my next night accomodation whilst I was touring around for the following day.

Lewis/Harris
Petrol: Had no problem with stations dotted about. On a Sunday the station in Stornaway was open. Apparently the owner fell out with the council because they wouldn't let him sell alchohol on a Sunday so he decided to open for petrol.
Accomodation. Book ahead

Sheep :
Uist - plenty to avoid
Harris - plenty to avoid
Lewis - for some reason hardly seen any.

Accomodation is difficult to find at certain times as they have a large number of German tourists that basically take over the Islands. This also applies to English tourists. In other words try to avoid the German/English popular holiday times if possible.

The wee free church are very big on the Islands and there's also a more stringent form that have fallen out with the wee free. On Sundays the place is very strange - it's like a ghost town. They still lock up the swings in the swing parks would you believe and any form of work on a Sunday is frowned upon.

On the whole a nice place to visit with good roads, which, contrary to popular believe are excellent for motorcycles. Very little traffic and no crazy motorcyclists trying to run you off the road. In fact on Uist I saw one. On Harris two. It's not until you get into Stornaway that you see more bikes.

I would recommend the trip and believe me you've no need to worry about the petrol and quality of roads especially on Harris/Lewis. If your camping I did see some sites so I wouldn't envisage any problem.

I did ask one local about the lack of bikes. Apparently it's considered by many too windy and dangerous for bikes!!

Police presence - cameras etc. Throughout the whole trip on the Islands a saw only one in Benbecula near the airport. There's a strange housing scheme next to the airport which looks very out of place with the rest of the island.

I've toured the complete coast of Ireland starting at Dublin and working my way round taken as much coast road as possible. The road surface is appaling so for me the Western Isles was heaven.

Hope this provides you with an insight to touring the Western Isles.

Geoff

[239desmo]

Geoff,
Reason for the Benbecula (or Ben Peculiar as it is often known!) housing is the military presence as the island is used a test base. Little known fact that if was (maybe still is) in the Guinness book of Records for holding the worlds smallest marathon. The course was two laps of the island and from memory there were 11 runners. (could have been less!) People entered London and Benbecula to say they had run in the largest and smallest marathon in the same year. Sort of blew it when that became popular though!

[Geoff]

Hi,
So that's why. I'm sure it's a nice place but looked rather unfriendly and not in keeping with this rest of Uist. Put it this way whilst in a shop I left the wife to guard the bike.

Geoff

[239desmo]

Theft is a crime that is almost non existent in the islands. Where the hell would you go? there's only one way out and even the thickest policeman would just stand at the ferry and recover your bike on the way past! Now drink related "crimes" are another matter!..;)

[Scotty]

humm now ive been given the impressio nthat crime in the highlands in general is none existant, and that what crime there is, is seasonal with the tourists :?

[Scotty]

are these drink related crime's putting ice cubes in whisky ? and such like

[Gizmo]

phew, lots of useful info there folks. Calmac summer timetables aren't on line yet so i can't work out the best ferry route but i'm almost certain we'll be doing it next summer. Probably leave here on a Saturday so we end up on the islands Monday , do 3 days and get to Ullapool and on to Kylesku then Durness.

[239desmo]

humm now ive been given the impressio nthat crime in the highlands in general is none existant, and that what crime there is, is seasonal with the tourists :?
Certainly theft and housebreaking is very uncommon. Until recently most folk would leave the keys in their cars etc overnight and house doors open. (literally) Changing a bit in certain areas with people moving in from the South and some bring their bad habits with them. However Islands are pretty much untouched as they have not had the same influx of newcomers as say around Inverness. Drink related problems such as drunk driving and drunk & disorderly were and are still not unusual but again with advent of nightclubs in the larger towns the end of night brawl is starting to feature. So far the Western Isles in general are much the same as they were say 30 years ago perhaps with Stornoway being the exception. Crimes such as mugging have so far not arrived and I hope they never do. As for polluting a good malt?....we still impose the death penalty here for some things!:lol2:

[Geoff]

Hi,
I was only really kidding when I mentioned leaving wife to guard the bike in Benbecula. It's just the buildings etc reminded me of a nice area I grow up on the south side of Glasgow. As you say where would they go on an island.
One thing I did notice whilst travelling along a number of dead end roads in Harris and especially Lewis was the number of wrecked cars sitting basically outside the house. In some case they had one stacked on top of the other. These were just rusting wrecks - maybe being used for spares or something.

Geoff

[239desmo]

Hi,
I was only really kidding when I mentioned leaving wife to guard the bike in Benbecula. It's just the buildings etc reminded me of a nice area I grow up on the south side of Glasgow. As you say where would they go on an island.
One thing I did notice whilst travelling along a number of dead end roads in Harris and especially Lewis was the number of wrecked cars sitting basically outside the house. In some case they had one stacked on top of the other. These were just rusting wrecks - maybe being used for spares or something.

Geoff
It's ok, I didn't think you were being deadly serious! The problem with disposal of vehicles is that firstly there are relatively few on the islands and generally they are "run into the ground" as there is not the same kudos with having perpetual new cars. The vehicles there are a necessity rather than a luxury and the salt air does not encourage you to buy a ferrari! Until recently minor details such as MOT's and licences (and insurance!) were seen as "optional". ( I have some great stories on lack of such "inconveniences") Things are tightening up now and some islands have more than 1 policeman and can now corroborate any offence!:eek: As a result the cost of disposal of old vehicles is prohibitive and rather than pay a fortune to take to the mainland they will just biodegrade wgere they sit. Always comes in useful as a windbreak for the sheep!:D

[gm7pbb]

Hi Lads

If your thinking of coming to the western Isles pop in at Eoropie, which is up at the Butt of Lewis, Used to live in Derbyshire and moved here 8 years ago, we have just opened a tearoom/cafe "www.eoropaidh.co.uk" Ducati riders get free coffee or Tea, :cool: hahaha. Run a 916 Bip myself so would be nice to see a few more bikes on the Island. Plenty of places to camp near the beach or in our garden, which is close to the beach and pub up the road.

All the best and hope to see any of you.

John

[Gizmo]

Hi Lads

If your thinking of coming to the western Isles pop in at Eoropie, which is up at the Butt of Lewis, Used to live in Derbyshire and moved here 8 years ago, we have just opened a tearoom/cafe "www.eoropaidh.co.uk" Ducati riders get free coffee or Tea, :cool: hahaha. Run a 916 Bip myself so would be nice to see a few more bikes on the Island. Plenty of places to camp near the beach or in our garden, which is close to the beach and pub up the road.

All the best and hope to see any of you.

John

Did someone say free coffee? :D i can never resist that one :D

we'll definitely be there this year so will take you up on that. If you need a barista I'm available all summer :)

[Steve748]

Hi Lads

If your thinking of coming to the western Isles pop in at Eoropie, tearoom/cafe "www.eoropaidh.co.uk" Ducati riders get free coffee or Tea, :cool: hahaha. Run a 916 Bip myself

All the best and hope to see any of you.

John

Davie, see that free coffee, free tea, wahooooooo Davie gotta go there eh! when I get me knee fixed! bring it on! Davie will be your best (or worst) customer! ;) :rolleyes: :D John, words you may live to regret :eek: