Best time of year for NC500(ish) on a motorcycle?

Midges & traffic & crowds & motorhomes & accommodation & prices aside, what time of year is the best time to cop for some decent dry roads & vista’s?

Asking for a fair weather motorcyclist friend 😉

Taking everything else out of the equation, late May.

Thanks scotroutes. Was thinking along the lines of late May.

I  mean my friend was.

Night time – roads are much quieter so you won’t get stuck behind all the tourists who have thought they’d be the only ones with this great idea and reducing the roads to a massive snail’s pace traffic jam…

Probably an evening near the end of May or in the first 2 weeks of September – probably start about 21:00 and don’t let the throttle go until you get back to the start (I’m assuming due to sheer ignorance that a motorbike will have a decent range in the tank so no need to refuel until you get back to start point).

Taking everything else out of the equation, late May.

That.

Can you book holiday flexibly? The ideal time is just by peering at a weather forecast…

Late May to Early June IMO

Thats what we did. 😉🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿⛰🏍

8 days of pure motorcycle heaven. 😃.     Truth is we didn’t do all the NC 500, but pottered around other bits of Scotland, which is just as nice and empty.

Oof! Nice pics there Vortex.

Yeah, I don’t wish to follow the NC500 route completely – rather nick a few of the good bits bits and leave out others (eg; leaving out the Eastern leg up to JoG on an anti clockwise trip).

We did the western bit up to Ullapool and then headed across country to Inverness.

some more piccies. 😉

Do the western leg, it fantastic !!!!, that what we did and then headed over to Inverness from Ullapool

some more piccies.  😉

We came back on Monday from 11 days of NC500 and Skye fun but we were in a camper van. The whole thing was great.  No midges to speak of and although weather a bit changeable we only had crap weather for a day and a half in the middle (high winds) then rain on our drive back which we weren’t arsed about. The driving experience was great and I found the vast majority of other camper drivers were extremely friendly and courteous and on the narrow roads there are so many passing places to never cause an issue. The only minor issues we had of bad driving were small number of car drivers insisting on overtaking in ridiculous places when traffic was moving at a good speed and quite a few camper drivers who seemed to want to dash from one point to another as quickly as they could which seemed strange given the views etc. I just slowed and waved them on then continued on my holiday, obvs I caught them up behind the next van etc… They were small issues though and the whole thing was great. Anyway September may be the answer.

We booked camp sites for each night

I’ve done the top half of Scotland in April; early, mid and late May and most of September into October. Over the years I’ve never had prolonged bad weather. As above, May or September. (Stuck in traffic won’t be much of an issue for ‘your mate’)

I honestly wouldn’t worry about traffic if ‘your friend’ is on a motorbike – in all my times up in the NW of Scotland it hasn’t been an issue, folk are usually great about using the passing places if they see bikes coming. The weather’s the thing that makes or breaks a trip and I’ve had it all – particularly because we always like to book the accommodation in advance. Chances are you will get wet but will also see sunshine. May / June’s usually my preference.

I’ve also been up that way with my son in our MX5 for the August Bank Holiday weekend. Lots of midges, stunning weather and actually not too much traffic surprisingly. Scotland’s a big place with not too many folk in it away from the cities so I think you notice congestion more if you’re in something like a massive motorhome rather than on a bike or a small car.