Baffle Culture ride the NC500
One of Fuel Motorcycles goal as a company is to support like-minded free spirit, two-wheeler explorers, in their adventures around the world. When our friends from Baffle House contacted us about their plan to ride the beautiful wetlands of Scotland facing the cold and harsh weather conditions you will find in the famous North Cost 500 route, we didn't doubt to support their expedition and put into test our garments, always seeking for feedback to keep improving and deliver the best quality products to our customers.
And this is the story of their journey...
Day 1 - Inverness to Tongue
After the nine-hour trek from Cardiff to Inverness, Oli and Harry spent a night recovering before packing up the bikes and hitting the road the next morning. After a brief visit to Inverness Castle they made their way up the east coast. Harry watched nervously for the first hour as Oli made gestures about his steering and suspension. Having just collected the 30-year-old Africa Twin the bike was relatively unproven, just what you need for a long road trip! It turned out having all of the gear on the back of the bike was severely impacting the steering and after some redistribution they were back on the road. Passing through John O'Groats, the most northerly point of mainland Britain, they finished the day in Tongue and got well acquainted with the highland midges at their camp spot.
Day 2 - Tongue to Applecross
Pushing on to the north west from Tongue, the duo stopped in Durness on Oli's insistence that the beach was on par with those in the Caribbean. Harry described it as 'very lovely'. Day 2 consisted of mainly single-track roads through Ullapool, Gairloch and Ardheslaig. They concluded the day by wild camping in Applecross just after a short stop off at the Applecross inn, where they had the best haddock and chips they'd ever eaten. Both riders agreed that day two contained the majority of their favourite roads and continuously epic scenery.
Day 3 - Applecross to Inverness
Day three got off to a jaw dropping start as Oli and Harry hit the summit of Applecross Pass. Cresting the mountain, they were greeted with an incredible view of the road ahead and the loch below. This easily stole the accolade of being Harry's favourite part of the trip which he likened to a Swiss alp! Heading back to Inverness with a stop along the way for some wild swimming the Baffle Culture BC500 trip drew to a close. They loaded the bikes up in the van and headed back to Wales. The duo had covered 180 miles on day 1, 200 miles on day 2 and the difference on day 3. Adding the drive up and back from South Wales the total came to almost 2000 miles in 5 days. They returned home shattered but happier than ever.
“We saw a lot, learned a lot and hopefully became better bikers for it.”
Harry and Oli
You can find out more about the Scotland North Coast 500 or NC500 on Baffle Culture website, YouTube channel and Instagram.
