Iceland Trip 2007
 

Recently had 14 days in Iceland, brilliant weather and great riding. The total trip was just under 5000 miles in total and the bike ran great. I replaced a rear tyre in Egilsstaor as the TKC 80 was worn out after 2500 miles. The replacement tyre a Michilin T63 gave better grip and looks as if it will last longer. Touch screen failed on the Garmin 2610 but I could still use it. The lack of a decent sump guard became a worry as two holes got punched in the Honda plastic sump guard. The bike soaked up a lot of punishment, Iceland is 99 percent off road, sand, rocks and scores of river crossings.

Nice pics!

Iceland is fantastic!

The ferry arrived on the east coast at Seyoisfjorour, I headed west along the north coast.

While in the Western Fjords I rode the Route 30 from the Iceland Overland book. The sea has washed the road away some it is unpassable, it is going to be a big job to open it again. I free camped on the penisular next to the sea.
I rode out to the most westerly point in Iceland and down the west coast to the Snaefell glacier. As I rode over Snaefell at around 700 mts the skys were clear and no wind.

After Snaefell I headed inland towards the Langjokull Glacier witht the intention to ride north of the glacier.
Again using the Iceland overland book for reference I heade north east on the F578 route but turned back at the Norolingafljot river as it was very fast flowing and deep. It would have been possible to walk the bike across but I did not have to do it so turned back towards Husafell.

Iceland has a lot of huts and lodges I found this one by the coast. Great spot for an over night stop.

Just out of interest, how did you get the bike there? Boat or plane? What were the costs? Tickets, fuel, food, beer etc?

I went there before the book Iceland Overland book was published so I don’t know the routes.

My trip was something like:
http://www.actiontouring.com/iceland.gif

Personally I found the area west for Askja most interesting. The area around F910(?) and the old F910.
We managed to see reindeers in the east and then you had all the birds:
http://www.actiontouring.com/lunde.jpg


I agree on the TKC80 subject, T63 is far better!

The change of route meant heading south on the 550 and east on the F338 which is well mantained dirt road south of the Langjokull glacier. I headed south on the F337 to encounter the first deep sand.
after an overnight stop I headed to the tourist sites of Geysir and the waterfalls at Gulfoss. The next few days was spent riding south and east picking up route one.
The river crossings can be very tricky because of the fast flowing water, some of my crossings where not perfect but managed to stay upright. The glacial rivers are scary, deep brown waterwhich flows fast. Turned back from two crossings as the risks looked too great.

I agree the area around Askja is the best.
It is possible to get into some isolated places. Working out fuel stops is a concern. Mostly camped wild apart from the nature reserves where it was not allowed.
The low first gear on the Transalp is so underrated, it means I can tackle some obstacles slow and steady. It is great for controlled accents and descents, brilliant in soft sand; I covered many a mile in sand standing up, first gear engine temperature high and the radiator fan on all the time.

The pumice sand has loads of grip so you can take some liberties riding fast and some rear wheel steering for fun. Some of the sand has high levels of dust so if the wind is behind you as you ride you end up in you own dust storm and can’t see where you heading.

I found isolated hot springs and even a hot water fall.
It is on my list of places to go back and see.

Steve

Again, very nice pictures!

I found that it’s easier to cross the rivers in the morning. The glaciers melt slower at night and at late daytime it can be pretty hard.
http://www.actiontouring.com/divinggs.jpg

The black sand is fantastic :funmeteryes:
http://www.actiontouring.com/pic/svart.jpg

The Smyril ferry leaves from Scrabster which could be called the port of Thurso, Scotland. Trip takes 39 hours including a short stop over in the Faeroes. The return trip requires a 3 night stop over in the Faeroes or you have to go to Denmark. Bike and rider was £225 with a bunk but it is worth getting a cabin which could cost the same again but the cost could be shared. North Atlantic can be very rough seas, but the ship is good and very stable.
There is not much to spend your money on in Iceland; I never went to Reykjavik as the weather was too good to be in a city. Petrol is £1 a litre, eating out which I did once, cafes are rare, is expensive and very disappointing, camping is £4 for basic site, a shower if there is one will cost £2 and most towns have a camp site, I used a camp site 3 times and either free camped or in the sites run by rangers in the nature reserves, they cost between £4 and £8. I used a couple of refuge huts in isolated places they vary in standard but can be a bit of luxury for the night. The are loads of swimming pools which offer showers for a £1 so the only other reason to go into a camp site is to wash clothes. You do need good quality kit, camping and riding gear needs to be the best to survive the worst weather as accommodation is not cheap. I checked out the cost of a B&B, and a single for the night was £70 but they are few and far between. Underestimating the weather could have serious consequences, as could messing up a river crossing, this is a country which can bite back. Don't let the blue skys fool you I used my heated grips almost all day every day and alway had my thermals on with the liner in my jacket. Never had any frost but a couple of nights felt cold enouth for one.

Steve

next year
 

really love the pics steve. i'm all wound up to do iceland next year but taking in some scandanavian countries on the way. ex-g/f wants to come also! what you think about travelling the interior 2'd up? also was there anything you missed? as in should you have taken anything you did'nt etc?
all in all great stuff though!!!!:thumbup1:

Hi Kevin,
2 up in the interior is going to be tough in places, but I guess it is possible if you choose your routes. The pillion will need to walk some sections of sand, rivers and hills. The Iceland Overland book has good descriptions of routes and what is possible with which bike. For example it will tell you there is lots of deep sand or big rocks, and warn against taking heavy bikes on some routes. Be prepared to turn back if the risk is too high, I would say don’t ride anything you can’t ride back over. That might sound bollocks but I have learnt the hard way, many times over the years.
Having said that, Iceland has lots to offer on the main routes so I might suggest you stay on the main roads with a pillion, you will not be bored that’s for sure. Route 1 which follows the coast around Iceland is mostly sealed, 99 percent of the rest is dirt. I found the North West had spectacular roads and scenery.
The only thing I took which I did not need was a water filter. I am going to chuck the bloody filter, it's the second trip I have taken this on and never used, it must have done 25000 miles. I carried 5 litres of water and that was good for two days, if I couldn’t find any water everybody was happy to give me some if I asked. I think it is good to be self sufficient in terms of tent and cooking as there are so many opportunities for wilderness camping. If you use a GPS I can share some waypoints. I used Garmin / Mapsource world map.

Steve

I'd be very interested in having a look at your GPS info for the trip.
I'll PM you my email address, so if you can send the file over it would be much appreciated.
I've downloaded the free mapset from here, which seems pretty comprehensive:

ourFootprints.de · MapSource-Map for Iceland

Where did you order the Iceland Overland book from? I've seen it listed on an Icelandic website, but it works out pretty pricey.

Mark,
I also down loaded a map set but I don't remember where from, it is called Island-Topo. The detail is good but there is some amiss with the scale. I used a combination of the Topo maps and Worldmap on the gps and paper maps. The book does give descriptions of the routes but it does not cover all of them. I used the paper map of the central highlands. Many of the road junctions have large maps showing roads and tracks and services with mileages so the information is accessible.
Here is a general description from the book,
"Rough road for bikes, occasionally there will be some windblown sand on the route, heavier bikes might struggle from time to time. Riding two up is not a good idea. Few bikes do this route because of the long distance between fuel stations"
It then goes on to say when you should go, any accommodation, description of rivers. A description of a river could be ”In rainy conditions these rivers might be a NO-GO for bikes." Then it gives waypoints at key points along the route
After I had ridden a couple of routes I got a handle on the description and my ability to ride them. It was good to know what to avoid. It covers about 50 routes. I ordered it from Domestic books < Shopping cart < Vefsvæði utivera.is
I still have loads more to see in Iceland so I will be going back.
Steve

Hi,

I just came back from my trip (1 week in iceland). Unfortunately I had a much worse weather than you, lots of cold, rain and wind :(

Realy fantastic trip SteveAttwood !
Regards,

Hello guys !

I certainly agree upon Iceland been just fantastic. We were driving 4x4s up there and just want to share our experience with you as well... If you did not wanna go before, I guess these pictures want :cool4:
Island på kryss og tvers, sommeren 2007 - Pirate4x4 Skandinavia


I could advise, if U were more than 4-5 riders to use a 4x4 to carry your luggage and stuff. We met a german team of 10-12 riders with a Gwagen as a luggage carrier and they were mostly riding African Twins and bigger bikes. One girl, not very experienced, cam to a stop in one of the rivers at Landmannalaugar and silently fell into the river.
She did not stand on the bike, but was sitting, like the others and thats maybe a reason ? We met them again later and she just wanted to take the plane back home.

To my opinion, unexperienced riders would do better on a smaller bike...

Im dreaming about, next time, to bring 2 motocrossbikes, one 65 for my son at 8 and maybe a 250 for myself and just drive together on the bikes on some of the tracks in the inland. This would require a secon driver on the cars, since I would like to have my car as the primary transportation...
My son is now riding a KTM 50 Pro LC :mchappy:

would be nice
 

would be nice if you could share any info on iceland. photo's are great! i'm hoping to be there in july/august next year for a month or so.
i just bought my garmin/mapsource so its a bit complicated at moment but i'm getting there! give me a spanner before a keyboard anyday!!! sent you my e-mail in pm.

Narrona leaves from Hanstholm to Bergen, then Lerwick in the summer before going to Faroe and Iceland,so any one from the Mainland would have to come to Shetland from Aberdeen or via Scrabster ,Orkneyto Shetland.
Anyone passing through i would be happy to hear from them

Nice one Steve. thanks for sharing those great pictures. The pumice sand looks really fun - not for the feint hearted I reckon ! It looks really deep . just for the record how many times did you drop the bike in the sand ? :mchappy: :oops2:

Not so, Norrona sails from Scrabster the last two weeks in june, all of July and August.

and if you want to go back to scrabster in 2008 you have to spend 3 days in the faroes and then go via bergen.
smyril-lines 2008 sailing schedule is on their web site NO LERWICK.

Nice one! That will keep the "captive audience" in the bar, afloat or ashore!
Some of the ferries to Spain from the UK do something on the same lines, without the intermediate landfall.

Change from the normal Faroes to Scrabster route then? via Bergen seems a bit severe. The Faroes are well worth the three day stop off (so long as you forget the weather) Great place and well worth including in you holiday if you can.

Iceland Overland
 

I've just ordered this along with the map of the interior, both from Vefsvæði utivera.is. As a guide it cost me £25.47 (I'm in the UK) and arrived in about 5 days.
It's a small spiral bound book and looks very professional. Unfortunately its sealed in polythene and a present for my girlie so I wont get to 'borrow' it for a couple of months!

Hoping that we can both take our bikes there in 2009.

Much respect for your forward thinking!!
 

Hells teeth, that is forward planning!!

I'm a good little planner...
 

lol
2009 does seem like a long way off but I'm planning on taking my girlie along with her own bike and she has no off road experience. The timescales allow for some touring in 2008 to build up her confidence and some off road training / experience which will be valuable for us both.

I find it useful to have both short term and longer term touring plans as you always have something to aspire to :cool4: