O The baronial-style Ackergill Tower hotel is among the stops along the NC500.
WILD AND T ORTUOUS NORTHERN ROUTE.
COAST 500 Story and photography by Christopher P. Baker
The 500-mile loop, which begins and ends in Inverness, carves a tortuous course around the untamed northwest extreme of Britain. Established in 2014 by Prince Charles’s nonprofit North Highland Initiative, the already iconic NC500 combines epic scenery with exhilarating switchbacks and twisties, presenting as thrilling a motorcycle journey as any in the British Isles. I had ridden a Roadmaster in South Africa in 2015, so I knew the behemoth bagger was responsive enough to handle the NC500’s sinewy and vertiginous single-lane roads. Boosting its résumé was Indian’s new Ride Command telematics, with a 7-inch touchscreen interface, and the bike’s vintage styling—which suited my plan to visit some of Scotland’s finest historic hotels. I had arranged for a new Roadmaster through Saltire Motorcycles in Edinburgh and was soon setting out from the city for Inverness.
O Intricate design details make the Roadmaster an eye-catcher along the route.
I’m barely 5 minutes into my ride to Inverness when I spy a deer running parallel to my left, almost within reach. I’m amid a glade of pines, and the road is slick from last night’s rain. Suddenly, the deer skews right and bullets in front of me. As I jerk on the brake lever, the panicked animal hits the deck with hooves flailing—and I gain an immediate appreciation for the Indian’s ABS. It’s raining again when I depart Rocpool Reserve, a Georgian manse turned hotel in Inverness. The North Sea is barely visible through a thickening shroud as I hug the coast on the A9, bound for Wick. On an adventure bike I’d be drenched, but the full-dress tourer’s vast batwing fairing and adjustable electronic windshield (with a 4-inch range activated by a switch on the bars) guarantee against being drookit. Fortunately, there are plenty of intriguing sites at which to duck the weather. South of Brora, I break at Dunrobin Castle, which, pinned by its fairy-tale towers, appears transplanted from the Loire Valley. And although I don’t tipple while riding, I add a stop at Clynelish Distillery for a Whisky 101 tour. Climbing steeply to Berriedale, I struggle to read the tight corners hemmed by endless walls of wet Caithness flagstone. Navigating the dense veil of cold fog is made easier thanks to the brilliant tablet-like touchscreen display, which is flanked by twin analog gauges. I can select a fullscreen satellite navigation map or opt for a split-screen combo that displays the map alongside customizable bike and road data that includes real-time tire pressure. The clouds clear as I draw up