Norway in July & August
 

We are currently planning our summer travels as we have 5 1/2 weeks and will be travelling on a XT250 and a DRZ400 in July & August.

Looking for some more information on Norway...

1 - What temperatures should we expect to work out what bike kit to wear!?!
2 - How bad will the Mozi's be? Do we need Mozi hats?
3 - Any must see places / areas / roads etc...
4 - Distance between petrol stations? Will we need to carry spare fuel?

Thanks in advance! Beej :scooter:

Touring in Norway
 

Search for "motorcycleaddict" Hans P. He made a touring guide for Norway - the most comprehensive I have read.

Temperatures will vary with elevation and wind. Some mountain passes might still be snowbound, though unlikely. Cold wind and rain is more likely. The best gear you have, and keep an eye on the weather. Riders get cold and make bad mistakes.

Mosquitos in some areas drive you mad. Wide brim hats with netting, bug coils, and repellant and whatever else you can think of. The ultra-sonic sound apparatus don't work on our bugs.

Fjords, mountains and lakes, Lofoten, old farms and some towns. I reckon Nordkapp (North Cape) to be overrated. Your choice.

If you have a 200 km range you should be ok - I never let the tank go below half, and crossing mountainpasses does increase consumption.

Remember speed limits are enforced with hefty fines. There are stories!

In some areas you can use the old roads - get good maps. Do you like gravel roads? We have many. Less traffic and more scenary. Please don't make the mistake of rushing through.

Bikes don't pay tolls usually, and drive to the front of ferry queues, the crew fill up small spaces with bikes. Usually its enough to put the bike in gear on sidestand, with a small strap on the front brake, if you're not too topheavy with luggage. Try to park so the bike doesn't scratch other vehicles if it topples.

Norway is a fantastic motorbike touring, but painfully expensive.

Safe travels

Peter, in Oslo

Thanks GSPeter! We now have a list started with suggested places... sounds like we're in for a treat! :thumbup1:

Sounds like we will want to travel in our waterproof jacket n trousers that we were away in last weekend in Scotland! Just need to decide if we should take the liners out or leave them in!?! Last weekend it was wet, windy and temp was about 5-10C. It's unusually cold here at the moment! :freezing:

Also need to think about petrol! The DRZ400 did 110 miles last weekend before needing the reserve. Meanwhile the XT250 made it to the petrol station without changing!

We would like to do some gravel roads... how are these marked on maps? We will be travelling with mainly road tyres (Avon Distanzia), but that can cope with a bit of off road so they would be fun to do.

Do we need to carry our own straps for using on the ferry's?

Touring in Norway
 

Hei Beej, glad to help. Definately bring your liners for your waterproofs. Our weather can change as quick as yours. Also I advise wool underwear (long sleeve and legs) and good wool socks. If you don't use them - great. It can be cold in the evenings too.

Usually gravel roads are marked as minor roads, look for the road going over mountains rather than the main roads along the valley with tunnels and ringroads. Some gravelroads are privately owned and maintained with a toll charge, marked on maps as a barrier, I usually pay, holiday season there are often controls. Might be wise to avoid gravel if the weather is wet, they can be very slippery, and quite easy to slide off if you get the corner wrong.

I use a c. 20 cm long strap which is meant to hold a pair of skiis together, anything will do. The local ferries have no straps, if you are worried bring your own, the crew are there to help you if its a choppy crossing, but their gear is dimentioned for trailers/heavygoods.

Hope this helps,

Safe travels

Peter, in Oslo

Touring in Norway
 

Hei Beej, I got a little confused. This is the link, and you will probably be interested in the "Norway on a Shoestring" section.

Ride Norway | All you need to know for your motorcycle trip to Norway



Safe travels

Peter

Just to make sure people aren't put off riding in a great country by possible costs ..................

Norway can be expensive - if you stay in hotels, eat out, and enjoy a few beers or a bottle of wine each night.

On the other hand it can actually be pretty cheap if you wild camp (free), buy and cook your own food and give up drinking for a few weeks !

Personally, I am happy to 'rough' it in a tent and enjoy the amazing natural beauty of the country - hopefully heading back there later this summer

But of course the most important thing about travelling in Norway is

keepcalm

Hi Pebble35,

Fantastic point! :thumbup1:

Norway (as with any other country), will be as expensive to travel in as you make it! We usually camp, have picnic lunches and cook our own food...partly because it is cheaper but also as I am veggie it is often easier! The odd hotel / airbnb or hostel can be nice but our budget doesn't allow this to be frequent! Other than that it is nice to try a local beer or wine / chocolate / cake etc but this doesn't need to break the bank as long as you don't go mad!

We will travel with a bottle of whiskey and will do our best to remember not to feed the trolls! :eek3:

Hi Beej, Great choice, Norway is absolutely spectacular , a great place to tour, we were there in 2006 which was their best summer for 30 years or so, we had sunshine every day bar one, when it poured down, so probably best to be prepared for anything, just like Scotland, we never had any problems with mozzies,though again like home ,stay away from forests and preferably camp near the coast to get a breeze to keep them away.
As far as where to go, the Aursjoveggen , a gravel toll road was a highlight, along with the Trollstiggen ,but again, most of the roads are great in Fjiordland, superb country for a motorcycle!

Thanks Roymacnic... The more we hear, the more we know we are going to have a great trip. Just trying to work out what bike kit to wear! Sounds like we could experience anything! :Beach: :rain: :freezing:

Hi Beej , Hi all
 

In June 2013 I went for 3 weeks trip in Scandinavia and that ride is still in my mind as one of the best i ever made, i went solo with a GSA (big tank one) and a spare 3l jerrican on the back of one of my panniers which i never used and came back with the same petrol to Dieppe , but i remember been surprise to find so many petrol stations , even in the middle of nowhere like a Bagdad cafe and selling everything, petrol, clothes, food , restaurant/snack, fishing gears ...and more.
I ve seen mosquitos only in finland (lapland) i bought a repellent in a sweden fishing shop ,Wilma Nordic Summer it's in a small round tin box and it's smell like old boat ropes and it's work .
The weather wasn't too hard , a shower everyday and the temperature was minus 2 or 3 at the mini in the northern part at night (well , what should be night normally ) .but when it's cold it's dry cold and very supportable .But take summer and winter gloves. I was wearing winter underwear and a sweatshirt under my combi and a rain suit over when it was too pissy .
Camping is easy , no rules , except the normal human being policy . If you are feed up camping you can rent a Hytter , it 's a wooden bungalow around 300 and 550 Nok , but as the Hytter is for 3 or 4 pers (i even rent one for 8)
you can share it with other travellers and reduce the fees .
Food is easy to find , there re Coop in every village , don't forget to taste their delicious brown cheese (yummy) .As everywhere in scandinavia , booth
is overtaxed (i had 1 L of Whisky and 1 of Calvados , very helpfull for making new friends and to warm up in the evening). Fishing is allowed and free in sea water including Fjords ,so don't forget to bring a small fishing gear or you can buy one in a petrol station or Coop .
Road are quite good , in june there was a lot of roadworks so everything is cleared for july and august , small roads are sometime damaged and gravelled . Take really care about Reindeers Mooses and Sheeps , when you see your first ones you take them in pictures but after a while you think they are too many. In Westland take care of the cattle gates on the road ( we call them canadian cattle gates here) they are made of steel pipes across the road and are positioned sometime in the bents (!).
In my all trip (11000 km) i ve seen only 2 or 3 police cars and one bike , mainly in sweden , but they are loads of statics cameras ,even in very small villages , but the landscape is so beautiful you don't want to speed.

Norway is a wonderful country and i'm sure you will enjoy it as i did , you are so close from nature and it's so clean and pure sometime i was feeling like National Geographic Reporter , i remenber camping along the shoreline in the north of Lofotens and watching whales hunting in the sea , fabulous

I which you a safe trip and give us some news when you're back, take pictures or movies (drift helmet cam is superb) and show them in the next HU meeting you will attend.

Roger

More tips
 

To prepare my journey i went on "najionaleturistveger.no" it s perfect and detailed , you can also go to "visitnorway"
During my trip i traveled one day with a guy named Samuel Longiaru, riding a R60/6 from British Columbia (CA) and HU member (that's why i'm here now) . Sam got a website "thetwilightproject.net" where you will find pictures and comment of his trip.
BFN , Roger

hello Roger , can you please share your route as im sure it will be useful for me and many others ,thanks mate
:scooter:

hi Beej, Omar Mansour and all
 

Firstly, i made a mistake on the Norwegian public road admin. website ,you should read "nasjonaleturistveger.no" .You can also visit "zac&olive" one year trip through Europe with a Ural sidecar including Scandinavia .
I made a movie of my trip with a Drift Ghost HD camera on my helmet and realized a 1h26mn movie which i 'll present on next HU France meeting next September. I'll try to make a quick report of that trip as soon as possible and post it .
Next trip should be Extremadura (SP) and back via Portugal next summer
:thumbup1: (going to be hot i think)
If i can help on your trip let me know ,
have a nice day and ride safe
Roger

Norway is an amazing country, probably the best I've been to so far.

I was travelling last July and the weather was very hot all 9 days I was in Norway, so yes, its super unpredictable. It is expensive but only some items - in particular, eating out and drinking out too. The food and beer in supermarkets were reasonable, camping was fine, hotels were actually fine too. I traveled all the way to Nordkapp but enjoyed western fjords the most. I still think Nordkapp is worth it - not the destination but the journey, midnight sun, reindeers e.t.c.
Mosquitos were not too bad - I've used the repellent (especially in the northern part when wild camping), but they were vegetarians compared to mosquitos in Finland.

You also might want to check out my trip report for the route and some practical tips, Norway starts from Day 3:
http://www.rideinwild.com/dublin-to-...rip-july-2014/

Enjoy your trip and good luck with the weather!

thanks Roger for all the info :thumbup1:

very nice blog lots of good info , thanks mate so much :thumbup1:

I've been in Norway last year in August, visited Oslo, and I have no words to describe the beauty of that city. Very very small place, but in the same time, it's very cute town. Regarding your questions about temperatures, it was quite cold there even if it was August (about 20 Celsius and sometimes less than 20). I do not agree with this ->

The food and drinks in supermarkets were reasonable

Everything is pretty expensive in Norway and food in supermarkets as well. For example, I paid the cheapest bread in a supermarket about 5eur and yogurt 250ml about 7eur. I think it's not cheap!

Thanks for your reply Luckytravel. We are planning to take as much food as we can to help with the costs. Looking forward to it though... not long to go!

Hey there. We are currently returning from Nordkapp, so actual advices are - be prepared for very cold weather - min was 2.5 celsius and all day raining. I am riding with my thermo t-shirt and pants underwear, hoodie, jacket with protectors and second jacket with goretex and feeling pretty ok. Also don't underestimate service of the bike. Expect lot of kms, we are now stucked in Tromsø and were told that noone in north Norway has a chain replacement kit for BMW bike on stock, even BMW authorized service. Option is standard 3-5 days delivery or overnight delivery for 1000NOK. So the final thing is - expect everything is very expensive - bread 5€, common burger at gas station starting at 5€, coke 4€ etc. On the other hand - it's the most beautiful country i've ever been to - be prepared for stunning views and roads with almost no traffic with great engineering ;) ... Happy travels P.


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Thanks Petr for the up to date Norway info. We leave on Friday so not long to go now... we're also having bike trouble, which we hope will be sorted today! Hope you get your bike back on the road soon, Beej

I really enjoy reading this... -as i'm about to start my tour to Norway, too :thumbup1:
My plan is to go thru Sweden somewhere as north as Kiruna and then explore small roads in Norway towards north.

Riding Norway
 

Hi everyone riding Norway.
I just got back from familyvist in UK.
Looking at the weather predictions on yr.no it seems there is a stable situation with not much rain. This I would call optimistic.
If you find your gear is not holding up try the farmer/fisherman stores like Felleskøpet or Samvirkelaget locally, or the big stores selling construction materials and tools. Maxbo and the like, usually on the outskirts of town.
All sportsshops have bad weather gear, but the emhasis is on lightness and ventilation, which is not robust enough on a bike in bad weather. You need workingmans gear.
For cold conditions you need wool, the technical fibre underwear is for skiers and runners in motion. It wicks away sweat as long as you keep moving, stop, or sit on a bike, and you get cold.
Cotton is a big no-no for bad conditions.
I am away a lot with no net the next few weeks, but please contact me if you have questions, maybe I can help.
Safe travels

Peter, in Oslo

I went out there last August/September for three weeks and had temperatures ranging from 4C to 29C with only a couple of days rain, wished I had my heated jacket at times but I do feel the cold. Travelled up via Sweden, ferry to Finland, up to the top of Finland & into Norway then slowly headed south-ish vaguely following the E6 but taking plenty of detours.

Didn't have any issues with mozzies and they normally love me - spray & coils worked ok.

I had a few issues getting petrol in Finland & had to use my spare can twice! Lots of unmanned automated fuel stations which would not accept any of my cards & I had a selection of three different ones!

Nordkapp is a marmite sort of place, I loved it along with the wilds of the north. Lofotens are glorious as are the island/ferry route you can take from Bodo south (Fv17 is the road) to Levang. Geiranger/trollstigen are wonderful if you can catch them when it's quiet as are most of the "tourist routes" (http://www.nasjonaleturistveger.no/en).

Need to go back to see more of the south as I ran out of time. Have a great trip & my tip is don't over plan your trip - go with the flow & have room for detours & side trips as there's plenty to see.

A good resource is The Arctic Highway by John Douglas, it is out of print & was written a long time ago but the vast majority of the things mentioned are still there. Can normally pick one up for £30-35.


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Just thought of another thing. Often you'll come across a relatively new tunnel and the old road is still there. Sometimes the old road is worth taking for a mini adventure - it will definitely be more scenic than the tunnel and may or may not be rideable to the other end of the tunnel. Attachment 15690


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