A long-awaited bucket-list trip to the Scottish Highlands.

I often find myself reading a travel article in Mojo, thinking “OMG, I wish I could do that!” And now I can say I have, with a bucket-list trip to the Scottish Highlands. Here is the story: the good, the bad, and the cow pie.

My daughter has lived in Scotland for 10 years, working as an historian for Historic Environment Scotland, and as my wife and I visited and became familiar with the incredible geography, amazing roads, beautiful scenery, historic attractions — and driving on the wrong side of the road — I developed a dream of riding a motorcycle in the Scottish Highlands. My buddy Vince and I have done a week-long annual trip for many years, covering the Gaspé, the East Coast, New England, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Triple Nickel, just to name a few routes, so we developed a plan to celebrate a milestone birthday with a trip to Scotland. 

Planning included everything from bike rental to routes and accommodation. May of 2020 was the target date, but we all know what happened to most travel plans that year. However, three years later — Scotland 2023, what became known as “The Fish and Chips Tour”, became a reality. 

Rental And Time Of Year Details

A Google search will list motorcycle rental companies in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness. We chose Highland Motorcycle Hire (highlandmotorcyclehire.co.uk) in Inverness for a couple of reasons: the immediate proximity to the Highlands; and as such, less traffic and a relatively easy introduction to driving on the left side of the road, using roundabouts, and riding single-track roads.

HMH owner Raymond Macallister is a real character — a true Highlander with lots of stories and, most importantly, a love of motorcycles. He has some 20 machines out for hire at any given time, and he knows his market. The rental packages include the bike of your choice, insurance, and any kit you need — helmet, jacket, pants, boots, gloves, GPS, rain gear. Raymond has it all and it’s in good repair. 

First impressions can be a bit misleading as HMH is located in an Industrial Park in Muir of Ord, and Raymond’s main business is auto repair. But make no mistake: Raymond is a rider, and in season, his priority is the bike business. Rates for most bikes are 940£ per week for everything from a BMW F750GS to a Triumph Tiger 900 to an Africa Twin CRF1100L — but you can move up to a BMW R1250GS for 1,125£ per week. 

We chose late May as our time frame to beat the busy tourist season, especially in the Highlands, which can become clogged with “caravans” (vans, camper vans, trailers, etc). Apparently, this was fortuitous, as our timing turned out to be just before the midges…