I've been meaning to go to Mull for a while, so when the forecast was looking good i decided to go. I'd only ever been to Tobermory and that was years ago and i wasn't on a bike. i knew it had a lot of single track roads and in the past that has always put me off. i didn't really know what to expect regarding road conditions and scenery but as i was taking my GS i knew it could handle any road surface with ease! I took the morning ferry from Oban, i was the only motorbike, I'm guessing bikers are put off with having to take a ferry which takes about 50 mins and also the single track roads, although the road up to Tobermory is mainly a great twisty 2 lane road. Part One took this photo just off the main road to Tobermory, didn't go down the track just thought it was a nice view Tobermory is a nice colourful village View down to the Harbour from the road above i left Tobermorry and took the A848 across to the west coast it's a lovely twisty road with bits of it like a rollercoaster great fun!, i couldn't take any photos at that part as there was nowhere to stop, i passed quite a few lochs! Stopped off at a view point and met a guy who was on a KTM 390 (met each other a few times throughout the day)
Part Two passed a few lovely beaches café at the beach Parked up to soak the sun up for a while! so many lovely views, just as well i wasn't in any hurry! Met up again with the KTM rider at the Iona ferry, if you zoom into the big boulder on the beach you will see it's split in half, i went down to take a closer photo it must have been over 10ft high
old boat wreck one of a few waterfalls i past one of quite a few coffee stops waiting for the ferry back to Oban This is the route i took, it was well worth doing the detour to the Iona ferry (waypoint 11) i would say about 70% of the roads are single tracks but apart from the road up to Tobermory where i passed maybe a dozen cars, there were only about 6 cars i passed all the way round the rest of the island! and i think they must have been locals as the pulled over as soon as they could. It was a lovely day and it was early in the season for tourists, Mull exceeded my expectations but i imagine it wouldn't be near as much fun if the roads were busy, and if the weather didn't play ball! Here's a few pics from Pulpit hill overlooking Oban and some of the nearby islands And of course you cant go to Oban and not have Fish n Chips
I think I did about 130 miles on Mull, If I didn't do the detour to the Iona ferry it would only have been about 100 miles! I wouldn't recommend it for a sports bike,although the road to Tobermorey and the road to Iona would be good for them but unless you had a bike with higher bars you'd struggle on the single track stuff,
Wow, brilliant, stunning, absolutely fantastic pictures. Write up wasn't bad too . What a fantastic ride out that was. You must have felt brilliant on your BM. Nice one Dougie, and thanks for posting.
Thank you, great report and fantastic pictures. Been round Mull a few times on the bike. I love those roads but some of the lads hate them. We’re all different, luckily. You went past what we call Dave’s ditch. For reasons best known to himself he decided to throw his 1150RT into a ditch and needed ambulances to take him to Oban hospital. He was fine, eventually. We’ve been back since to revisit the scene of his great embarrassment. Honestly we didn’t laugh. Much. Your great pictures and write up brought some great memories back. Thanks again.
Another brilliant write up @Dougie D . I do wonder how you have time to take so many fantastic pictures.
I'd loads of time on Mull , but normally I'll stop every 40 miles or so when I'm out a run anyway so if there's a nice view I'll take a photo, orher times if I see a nice view I'll just keep the bike running and take a quick photo
Terrific ride report, @Dougie D! What spectacular scenery and beautiful photos. And look at that BLUE, SUNNY sky finally! I particularly loved the photo with your bike towards the bottom and the road up through the trees with the caption "parked up to soak the sun up for awhile". And the one of the ice cream shop with the whale sign. Thanks for taking the time to stop, snap, and share!
