North East 250 (NE250) motorcycle tour
In September 2018 Lesley and I took a trip on the motorbikes around the North East 250 (NE250). I grew up in Fraserburgh then went to university and worked in Aberdeen so I know the north east of Scotland pretty well. This was a bit of a combined trip: a bike ride round the NE250, show Lesley where I grew up and a friend was having a leaving night out in Fraserburgh as he was moving to New Zealand.
Accommodation was a combination of camping pods and hotels so we just needed clothes, our sleeping bags and the stove. We ordered a NE250 visitor membership pack so we could collect the stamps along the way.
Day 1: Edinburgh to Ballater - 132 miles
With Lesley having Red, her trusty Honda CG125, motorways are a no-go so we have to click the “Avoid motorways“ button in Google Maps. It’s always interesting where you get routed as you’d usually miss these less travelled parts of Scotland. We found ourselves on winding back roads we’d never been on, through towns we’d never heard of like Yetts o’Muckhart, Some of the roads were great to ride. Particularly the A832 to Gleneagles and the road from Stanley to the A93 that crosses the River Tay over an old bridge.
We left later than planned and it didn’t get off to a great start as the rain came on quite heavily around 10 miles in. We got on our waterproofs and about 5 minutes later Lesley learned a lesson about wet brakes as she couldn’t stop at the line at a large roundabout - just as a lorry was coming around. She travelled over a bike length onto the roundabout. Luckily the lorry was straddling lanes and there was space but it could have been a different story. The Tiger has substantial brakes but the CG125 doesn’t, so she now pulses the front brakes now and again when riding in heavy rain.
By the time we got to Glenshee it was getting dark and cold so we stopped at the ski centre to layer up. It was a truly memorable trip through Glenshee as we were pretty much the only ones on the road - it felt like we had the entire valley to ourselves. This was Lesley’s first time riding through twisty mountain roads in the dry - she absolutely loved it! We had intercoms on and every now and then the silence would be broken by an excited “weeee” as she chucked Red into a tight corner. Later she said that she had a lump in her throat as it was such a special experience. And that’s why we ride motorcycles.
Accommodation for the night was a camping pod at Howe of Torbeg, just before Ballater on the A939. There were a few kamikaze pheasants on the road (mating season) and one jumped out in front of Lesley. She swerved but it definitely lost a few feathers! Nicole, the owner, was looking out for us as we’d emailed to say we were arriving late. She was absolutely lovely, as were the pods and facilities. The only thing to note is that if you do come by motorbike, park at the top and reverse in as the ground is rutted and sloped.
We dropped off our gear in the pod, jumped on the Tiger and rode into Ballater for food and a pint at the Alexandra Hotel - non-nonsense pub grub.
We didn’t take any photo’s on the day but here’s some of the pods in the daylight:
Day 2: Ballater to Aberdeen - 79 miles
For breakfast we brewed tea on the porch and a bag with fresh croissants, apples and local jam had been delivered to our door. What else could you ask for? We had a shower, packed the bikes then handed in our key and had a chat with Nicole. The NE250 route took us east through scenic Royal Deeside and our first stop was Aboyne for tea and cake at a cool cafe called Spider on a Bicycle. Randomly, we were sitting at the same table as a guy I went to uni with and his family. It was nice to chat and catch up.
We then headed north to the Grampian Transport Museum - the back roads around there are great. However, there was a little “incident” on the way. The road we wanted to go on was blocked and we were sent on a detour. My Sat-nav couldn’t quite handle this and kept trying to route us down all sorts of farm tracks. I eventually caved in and turned right down a narrow single track road with grass down the middle. I immediately realised I’d made a mistake! Lesley followed me down but stopped further up the hill. My bike was pretty laden so I couldn’t push it back with my toes and I couldn’t get the stand down without it slipping - I was stuck. Lesley managed to (wo)man-handle Red back up to the main road. She then came down to push, pull & cajole me and the Tiger around. It was unnecessarily stressful & sweaty. To top it off a row of cows had gathered at the fence and were watching us - added pressure!
The museum is great, it’s definitely worth a visit - there’s lots of interesting stuff including motorbikes and a lot of Guy Martin vehicles. We also got our first NE250 stamp for Royal Deeside.
We then headed to visit a friend in Stonehaven for a cuppa. It’s a nice place, the harbour is quaint and Donnottar Castle is spectacular. Unfortunately, we then had to tackle the busy Aberdeen traffic as our hotel was in the city centre - the Ibis Quayside. We got changed and headed along to the famous Ashvale fish & chips restaurant before meeting some friends in town for drinks.
Day 3: Aberdeen to Fraserburgh (the Broch) - 58 miles
We rode down to the beach for breakfast at the Inversnecky cafe (just behind the infamous, but now defunct Amadaus nightclub). Unfortunately the food was disappointing and not what I remembered. I then took Lesley on a mini tour of Aberdeen: Marshall College, the Gordon Highlanders Museum (I was a Gordon Army Cadet & we got our 2nd NE250 stamp there) and Old Aberdeen / University of Aberdeen.
It was time to get on our way so we rode north to Cruden Bay to see Slains Castle. With only a few miles to go, Red started to play up. It kept stalling and wouldn’t idle. I had a look but with only basic tools was limited in what I could do. We were only 30 miles from Fraserburgh so decided to limp north and deal with it the next day. Our hotel was The Saltoun Inn which was very different since I was last there. We got changed and went for a walk to see the harbour and beach. A few friends had come up from Edinburgh so we all went out in the old stomping ground with “the Brochers“ (folk from Fraserburgh!).
Day 4: Fraserburgh to Cullen - 39 miles
Due to alcohol consumption and lack of sleep, we had a late start. We called Greenflag as Red had to be towed away so we re-jigged things to go 2-up on the Tiger. We left some kit with friends to take back to Edinburgh so we could get both our gear on one bike. First up was a mini tour of the Broch including: Fraserburgh Lighthouse & museum, Broadsea, my old houses & school. We should have got a stamp at the Lighthouse museum but they couldn’t find it.
After the trip down memory lane it was time to get on our way. The Fraserburgh to Inverness coastal roads (B9031, B9139, A942, A98 & B8040) have some of the best hidden gems in Scotland. Our advice would be to spend at least two full days exploring all the beaches, bays & quaint fishing villages.
Our first stop was Aberdour beach. It was a nice day so we got the drone up. The next stop was the stunning coastal village of Pennan, famous for the film Local Hero. You need to visit the lovely lady at the Coastal Cuppie shack. She does great homemade cakes and sausage rolls. She’s originally from Fraserburgh and we told her that we didn’t get our East Coast stamp so she gave us a Coastal Cuppie stamp - yay! In Doric, “ie“ is added to the end of a lot of words: cup = cuppie, man = mannie etc. A girl I went to school with has a great Doric Dictionary for Kindle.
We then headed along to the neighbouring towns of Macduff & Banff, seperated by the river Deveron. Banff beach is huge and well worth a visit. Next up, the quaint harbour town of Portsoy. The recent remake of Whisky Galore was filmed here and not on Eriskay (South Uist) in the Outer Hebrides where SS Politician ran aground.
Our hotel for the evening was the Cullen Bay Hotel. Cullen is a popular seaside town famous for it’s beaches, viaduct, ice cream and Cullen Skink (a creamy fish and potato soup). It’s taken so seriously that there’s World Championships which Cullen Bay Hotel won in 2017. I can say first hand that it’s really good!
Being a Sunday, we pretty much had the hotel to ourselves so we had a nice dinner, a cheeky whisky and an early night.
Day 5: Cullen to Bridge of Cally - 113 miles
We woke up to a beautifully calm, sunny morning so we went for a walk along the beach and took some fantastic photos. Breakfast was locally caught smoked kippers - not for everyone but I love them. We got another NE250 stamp, jumped back on the bike and headed a few miles west to Portknockie. It has a lovely little harbour and the famous Bow Fiddle Rock. Unfortunately the weather got bad and we couldn’t get very good photos. We were looking for a cafe and ended speaking to Ian, the owner of Portknockie Fish & Chip Shop. A really nice guy who advised us to head along to Bijou by the Sea outside Buckie. Great advice; their cakes were amazing and with a sea view, even better.
We headed up for a quick stop at the Scottish Dolphin Centre at Spey Bay but the weather got worse so we headed south following the river Spey - Speyside whisky country.
We stopped at Aberlour for some lunch at The Byre cafe then popped into Aberlour Distillery to get another stamp. Unfortunately, we’d just missed a tour so we pushed on to one of our favourite roads; the A939 from Tomintoul to Royal Deeside. On the way, we got another stamp at The Lech Ski Centre.
Accommodation for the night was a plush camping pod at Corriefodly Holiday Park at Bridge of Cally. We parked up the bike and headed straight to the village store to stretch our legs and buy some food. We decided to have “a pint” at the Bridge of Cally Hotel. Now, I don’t want anyone reading this to think that we have a problem but….we got chatting with the barmen and a few pints led to a few whiskys. It was raining heavily outside and a lady came in, spotted my Triumph t-shirt and asked if we’d help her unload her Street Triple from the van. It turns out she was the lead U.K. mechanic for Triumph and was heading to Shirlaws in Aberdeen but wanted a blast on the road we just came down. We had a chat with her for a while then walked back to our pod in the rain to tipsy cook dinner on the stove.
Day 6: Bridge of Orchy to home - 87 miles
Nothing too exciting today. We rode home on the M9 to start the inevitable post trip unpacking and cleaning. We’d didn’t take any photo’s so here’s all our NE250 stamps:
In summary
A memorable & fun 6 day, 508 mile trip around a fantastic part of Scotland. We’d thoroughly advise exploring some or all of the NE250, especially the Moray Firth coastline at the top. If you’ve never spent any time in the north east, it’s possibly a good idea to find a Doric phrasebook before you go.
Red got delivered home the following week and I got to work cleaning the carburettor but no joy. We put it into the garage and it turns out that the valve timing was off. Lesley was riding it like she stole it for a couple of warm days so let’s chalk that one down to “riding the wheels off it“.
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