Norway, Germany, Czech motogp (5200miles) [pics!]

[V4_AllTheWay]

Introduction:
Here is a short write-up of a trip I have just got back from. My first big bike trip outside of the UK, taking in everything from the fjords of Norway to the Czech motogp. Took loads of pictures including some rather nice HDR ones, just thought I would share the experience with the guys at BCF.

Interesting Details:
Total Distance: 5202 Miles (8371km)
Total Time: 24 Days
Average Distance per Day: 216 Miles (347km)
Max Distance Travelled in one Day 572 Miles (920km)!

Bike: Yamaha Fazer FZS1000 (2001) Black
Luggage: Full Givi Hard Luggage (2x36Litres 1x45Litres)
Tyres: Michelin Pilot Road (Rear) + Pilot Power (Front)
Accommodation: Mainly camping (youth hostel/hotel occasionally)

Countries Visited: France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Czech Rep.

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Day 1 - Tues 29th July 2008
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Left home (in Devon) after breakfast, all packed up and prepared from the night before. Had everything I needed stuffed into the two side panniers leaving lots of spare room in the top box. This is of course the way it should be, to keep the weight as low down as possible.
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Travelling up the M3 motorway, only 120 Miles from home I manage to get a puncture in the rear. I call up the recovery people who send out a van to collect me, had to wait an hour or so until they took me to a nearby tyre shop. Prognosis is bad, the tyre cannot be repaired. This means that the brand new tyre that I put on for this trip is destroyed already! So on goes a new tyre and I am ready to head off again.

Good job that I had booked the Euro Tunnel for tomorrow, so no real delays to any of my plans because of this. I had a few things to take care of in Guildford in the afternoon and tomorrow morning, so the first night was camping in Wanbourough at the Homestead Farm Camp Site (cast £12 for the night). Was the first real night I used the tent I bought, a Vango Tempest 200. Is light and packs very small, fitting into the panniers easily. All my camping gear (tent, ground sheet, airbed, sleeping bag, Trangia stove) went into one pannier.

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Day 2 - Wed 30th July
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Left the campsite quite early to finish some work related things in Guildford, then off to Folkestone to catch the 14:20 train. Nice straightforward journey, 35mins to Calais. There were only two other bikers on the train, a pair from NL who had spent a few days in England.

Leaving the train I exit directly on to the motorway, didn't even stop in France. Had to stop for fuel eventually in Belgium, and then later in the evening needed to find a campsite. Quite easy, just consulted the satnav and found a place outside Waasmunster. Turned up at 8pm and cost €9.25 for the night. Unfortunately it was near to the motorway and was quite loud during the night, as well as the campsite being very busy and full right up.

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Day 3 - Thurs 31st July
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Woke up early and quickly packed everything up, then squeezed the bike out past the barrier on the entrance as no one else was up yet. Nearly non-stop on the bike today, got as far as Nyborg in Denmark before I called it a day. Amazingly I feel no discomfort at all! No numb bum, no back ache, no leg ache. After the 572 miles today it feels like I have not been on the bike at all.

The trip was quite boring, all motorway miles, with flat featureless countryside. A couple of interesting bridges along the way and some views of the sea, but nothing special.

Found a great campsite at Nyborg, right by the sea with a wonderful view of the Storebaelt Bridge. A nice warm evening and a brief stroll along the beach before getting some sleep.
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Day 4 - Fri 1st Aug
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Norway or bust! All day on the bike again, straight through Sweden to Norway without really stopping except for fuel and service station snacks. Again, no aches or pains from the riding which is really great. My experience of Sweden, from the motorway up to Oslo, was that it looks a bit dull. Just seems to be flat and a bit boring. Maybe the other parts will be a bit more interesting? Hopefully I will find out...

Spent a while looking for somewhere to 'free camp', but couldn't find anywhere suitable. Eventually came across a campsite in Seljord with a great view by the lake.
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Day 5 - Sat 2nd Aug
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The first real day of the holiday, finally a chance to relax and do some sightseeing and exploring in Norway... and guess what... it is raining! Very demoralising as I had great sunny weather all the way up here travelling on the motorways. So I decide to head west and see if the weather is better over there. Found my first mountain pass, was amazing even in the rain, the mountains are just spectacular. Even better was coming down the other side to find glorious sunshine!
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Getting into the fjord lands now, truly amazing and wonderful to ride through. The roads go right past huge waterfalls and steep banks covered in trees. Hopefully the pictures give some idea of the views. I say my first glacier across a lake on the way to a campsite in Odda with a plan to pay it a closer visit tomorrow.

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Day 6 - Sun 3rd Aug

It was Sunday today, so I took a day off riding. Luckily was also a nice morning so I decided to walk about 6km to find the Buer glacier that I saw yesterday. Unluckily it started to rain just as I got near the top and since it was very steep and slippery I thought it best to turn around before I die falling down near vertical rock faces! Got a few great pictures of part of the glacier, but did not get to walk on it
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Got soaking wet walking back to Odda, but managed to find a dry set of clothes for the afternoon which I spent looking around the town. Everything was dead quiet as it was Sunday, but still very interesting to look around.
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Day 7 - Mon 4th Aug
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Left Odda early, past the beautiful Eidforden on an amazing morning where I managed to snap a fantastic rainbow picture. Leaving the fjords in this part I then start climbing up the mountains in spiral tunnels, very weird, but cool. On the top it is completely different to the fjords, just see the pictures. In the afternoon it began raining again, quite heavy this time and I got soaked. My boots (which I thought were waterproof) became filled with water and the rain began to come in my sleeves and drenched my gloves.
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Bugger camping in this, I thought, and found hotel in Otta where I could dry everything out and warm up for the night. Also managed to wash a few clothes and get them dried as well.

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Day 8 - Tues 5th Aug
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Had breakfast in the hotel, typical continental things. Chose to stay another night and get a nice relaxed days riding done. With this in mind I headed off over the mountains towards a Stave church at Urnes, the oldest of its kind in Norway. Then took a ferry across the fjord and then explored the Jostedalbreen national park for a bit.
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Spent a long time on the bike despite the relatively short distance travelled. All mainly due to the crappy speed limits in Norway. Ah well, can't have everything, anyway there was no need to travel fast with so many beautiful things to see along the way.

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Day 9 - Wed 6th Aug
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Left Otta after another nice breakfast in the hotel with the destination of Trollstigen. Quite a famous road in Norway, eleven hairpin bends to the top. Amazing view back down the valley, really is worth a trip if you ever travel to Norway.
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In the afternoon I decided to take the Aursjoven road over the mountains. This is a gravel road and was interesting to say the least. Pretty bumpy all the way, but the bike coped fine. Well worth the effort, simply amazing, very wild scenery.
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Got to a campsite in Fugelvag and just as I put up the tent a massive thunderstorm passed over. Luckily I was safe and dry inside by this point, but only just!

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Day 10 - Thurs 7th Aug
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Upon leaving the campsite the first place I visited today was the Atlantic Road. It was OK, but nothing special. Hardly a trip highlight, but worth a visit if you are in the area.
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Off to Trondheim next, with a bit of a detour through the countryside. Lots more farming in this part of Norway, not as hilly and flatter fields.

Passed a motorcycle garage on the way to finding a campsite, called in and asked to see if he had a new chain for my bike, because at this point the one that I had on there was knackered, making a horrible clunking noise when pulling away. He said come back in the morning and he would sort it all out.

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Day 11 - Fri 8th Aug
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Left the campsite and went straight to the garage in the morning to get the chain replaced. Also changed the front sprocket at the same time, was VERY expensive, but unfortunately necessary.

With the bike running fine now I headed into the city centre to have a walk around for most of the day. There is an impressive cathedral and a lots of interesting buildings including an old fort. A pretty good city as far as cities go.
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In the evening I leave Trondheim heading towards the border for Sweden, camping just inside Norway for one more night. Just as I go to put up the tent the main pole snaps! This is obviously bad news as I need the tent to sleep in! Quick thinking and I speak to the campsite owner, they also have some huts available which I jump at the chance to stay in. Was not that much more expensive than camping, 310NK if I remember, (tent pitch was 120NK).
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Day 12 - Sat 9th Aug
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Left Norway and the nice hut in the morning, over into Sweden. This far north is was getting colder and wetter, I thought about spending a few more days around here, but decided just to head south in search of better weather. Still not that impressed with the scenery in Sweden, lots of trees but not much else.
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It rained most of the way down and I got as far as Kristenehamn. Still with a broken tent I located a youth hostel for the night, 185SEK (£15). Was a pretty good place, everything there you could need (kitchen/shower/tv/etc) and was empty apart from me.

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Day 13 - Sun 10th Aug
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Wet, wet, wet, wet! All the way down to the south of Sweden, the whole day it rained. Got soaking wet in all the usual places. Needing somewhere to stay I tried the youth hostel which I had planned to find in the morning, but this time it was full. Had to stay in a nearby hotel instead, but at least I got everything dry again.

Tomorrow it would be just a short ride to Trelleborg to try and find a ferry to Germany. I had no idea what time it would be leaving, so planned to turn up quite early and find out.

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Day 14 - Mon 11th Aug
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After a nice breakfast in the hotel I made the short journey to the port town of Trelleborg. The Ferry left at 15:30 so I had all day to spend walking around the town. It was a great warm day and the town was quite nice to look around. It made a welcome change from riding around in the rain.
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The ferry to Rostock took quite a long time, arrived at 21:00. With a broken tent I still need to find a youth hostel to stay in. The first place I try is closed for the night so I quickly ride to the next. Luckily it is still open and they have a place sharing with 4 other people in a room for 6. It was a noisy night, but I manage to get some sleep.

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Day 15 - Tues 12th Aug
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After checking the Internet I locate a big camping store in Berlin and decide this is a good place to try and get my tent fixed. So I left the youth hostel in the morning and blasted down to Berlin. The place was huge and they were able to replace the broken part, didn't even charge me for it!

I explored a bit of Berlin after that, went up the tall television tower and had a coffee at the top in the revolving restaurant. Pretty good, but there was a very long queue. I even managed to spot my bike parked up below, couldn't resist taking a picture.
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Dialled in the satnav to take me to a camping site and it says there is one in the middle of Berlin. Odd I think, but seeing as it is so close it is worth checking out. So I pull into the street and have a quick wander around but see nothing at all, no signs, no entrance, nothing. Then the weirdest thing happens. This bloke walks up and asks if I am looking for the campsite. Yes, I reply. He says that it is just the office for the campsite here, no actual site. Bugger, I think, oh well time to leave I guess. He says that loads of people come to this place, camper vans and everything looking for the site. He then mentions that he is renovating his flat and has a spare room where I can stay the night.
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Feeling a bit of a "long way round" dodgy experience coming on I reluctantly agree to take a look at the room and check everything out. Looks legit, he even lets me have a set of keys to come and go! Turns out he was a great bloke, working in computer design, had his office downstairs. Only does this sort of thing for bikers that come along. Saw me pull up from the cafe across the road where he was sitting. He also gave me some advice on Berlin at night and where to eat, was all good in the end.

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Day 16 - Wed 13th Aug
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After saying good bye to my host in the morning and leaving him a pack of beer (seemed like a good thing to do) I headed back into Berlin to do a bit more sight seeing. Parked up at Potsdamer Platz, then walked past the holocaust memorial and the new American embassy building which had sprung up since I was in Berlin a few years ago.
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I then needed to find a roll mat to sleep on since my fancy airbed developed a puncture somehow when I tried to use it the night before. I located another campshop in Berlin and sorted that problem.

Having had enough of Berlin I decided to leave and head south on the autobahn towards Dresden. Found a campsite for €11 and got speaking to some dude from NL who let me have a couple of sausages to eat, yummy.

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Day 17 - Thurs 14th Aug
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Explored Dresden today, after fist stopping off at the local Hein Gericke for some stuff. Dresden itself was actually very good, much better than Berlin. There are loads of great old buildings and architecture to see, just check out some of the pictures.
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I found another campsite south of Dresden for the night, also costing €11. Thought it best to now eat some Swedish meatballs that I had picked up in Sweden a few days ago! It was the first chance since I bought them really to get some cooking done. I heated them up on the Trangia, and it was very tasty even if I only had bread to go with them. That was about the most cooking I used the Trangia for, other times just to boil water.

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Day 18 - Fri 15th Aug
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Left Dresden for Prague in the morning. Not so impressed with the city, don't really know why, but after Dresden it just didn't appeal to me, everything was crammed in and a bit boring. Plus it had started to rain again, so I decided it best to leave and make the rest of the trip to Brno.
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I got to the Brno race circuit, still in the wet, and had to set everything up whilst raining. It was a VERY noisy night as I am sure anyone who has camped at a motoGP will know. To add to all that there was thunder and lightning storm.

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Day 19 - Sat 16th Aug

Watched the warmups and the qualifying today. It was damp in the morning and rained around lunchtime so everyone got wet. A bit dryer in the afternoon, so tried to take lots of pictures, but the wet weather not lending itself to good shots. Never mind, there is always tomorrow.
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Another very noisy night, but no rain for a change. Spotted a KTM RC8 and a Ducati 1098 side by side parked up at the campsite, both on UK plates.
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Day 20 - Sun 17th Aug

Race day. Went up to the circuit early to catch the warmups, and then the 125cc and 250cc races. Glorious sunshine for the day, just a little overcast for the main motoGP race.
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Caught these guys on the track between races.
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Valentino Rossi was the winner after Casey Stoner put his bike in the gravel trap. Managed to get lots more pictures of the action today.
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Was much quieter at the campsite tonight, most people had left straight after the race.

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Day 21 - Mon 18th Aug
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Left the circuit campsite and the Czech Republic in the morning, only stopping for fuel. Road signs are rubbish here, even with the satnav I managed to get messed up in Prague on the way through.

Was recommended the B470 in Germany, so included that in my route to Nuremberg. It travels through a scenic route in this part of Germany.
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Nuremberg was OK, just like any other city though, got a few pics and then headed off to find a campsite.
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Day 22 - Tues 19th Aug
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Put "Avoid Motorways" into the satnav heading to a place called Worms, just because it sounds cool. Was planning on stopping and exploring, however it started to chuck it down with rain, so instead I decided to skip the town and blast north through the rain. Eventually found better weather and turned off the motorway heading west again. Found some great roads on the Germany/Belgium border, some really cool twisties including hairpins etc.
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Found another campsite just outside Namur for €9.25.

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Day 23 - Wed 20th Aug
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I explored Namur in the morning on foot, they have a cool citadel there, so I walked up to the top of it. As is the general theme with this trip it started to rain just as I got to the top. It was only short showers though so I managed to complete my tour of the city.
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Finished the day heading back towards Calais, found a campsite near the dunes at Gravelines, €6.36 for the night.

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Day 24 - Thurs 21st Aug
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Left the campsite, straight to the Eurotunnel to catch the 10:20am train back to UK. Another smooth trip just like the way out.
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Decided to take the south coast roads back to Devon, bit of a nightmare from Hastings to Brighton, but otherwise OK. Weather was also good which was nice. Got home at 4:30pm.

For those interested in the satnav setup, it is a RamMount aquabox, with a Tomtom inside, wired up to the bikes 12v via cigarette sockets, also used for charging my phone and camera batteries.
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Thanks for reading!

[Fnatic]

Really cool trip

[jay12329]

Nice trip, and great pics. What camera set up have you got?
How much planning did you do before? or was it just fancy going here here and here and the rest was free form?
J

[V4_AllTheWay]

I took a Canon EOS 300D with me for most of the pictures you see here.

Planning wise I really didn't do anything except the night before each day getting a general route ready for the morning.
The main aim was to go to Norway, so I just plugged it into the satnav and rode there first. Then I picked up some leaflets at tourist information places and just went around visiting the places that looked good.
Norway is a good place for this as there is just so much to see if you just ride anywhere, around every corner is something new.

Whilst in Norway getting wet and cold I remembered that there was a motogp race coming up, and Brno did not look "that" far away, so just went there next.

[EuropeanNC30R...]

Awesome trip report, I enjoyed reading that. Great pictures especially in Norway, that waterfall looked a bit Jurassic Park.

Think you were unlucky with the tent, I've had the same one for a few years and not had a failure on it yet, you must have got a duff manufactured pole or something.

[instigator]

Fantastic.

I would be going to Scandanavia tomorrow if it weren't for the fact I had alredy been to norway, sweden and denmark last year (albeit not on a bike) and wanted to differentiate. That and I want some decent weather.

I guess it helps that a lot of them speak english too!

I've yet to confirm my route but plan to get as far as bratislava and maybe zagreb, starting tomorrow.

[ajacko]

Wow!!

Man + Bike + Camera = THAT!!!

Fantastic.

Can I come next time?
____________________
Current bike:- Suzuki GS500 '02 plate. Next bike CBR600F or GSX650F. I'll leave the race reps to the kids.
www.xembly.com

[Carl_steveo]

wow nice one mate looked like a load of fun

cant wait till i can do that kinda thing

if you dont mind me asking....how much did this trip cost u all in all

[Phoenix]

Looks like an excellent write up, not read it yet just had a quick browse through, will do later.

If my holiday time get's confirmed I plan to be doing a very similar route in 2weeks time, though I only have 9 days so it won't be quite so relaxed. I have a norweigan friend at work who is giving me pointers on the best places to visit and roads to use, he also said that Sweden is really quite boring, but a bit better in the north, I planned to just motorway through it in one day as you did to reach Norway.

[V4_AllTheWay]

Thanks everyone for the comments so far.

A rough calculation of the costs comes back at about £1500 for just over 3 weeks. That includes food, fuel, camping/hotels, eurotunnel, ferries, entry tickets, tolls and a little spending money.

That does not include the cost of consumables (tyres, chain, oil, etc) nor the cost of preparing the bike (panniers, satnav) or any camping gear.

I didn't keep count, but working on my cruising speeds, I manage ~220miles to a refuel of ~18ltrs, giving 55mpg. Total cost of fuel in that total was maybe £450-500?

[alt101uk]

Outstanding write up and pictures from the trip. Glad it went ok for you and looks like you had a really good time.

[NinjaLee]

great write up and awesome pictures mate

I love the glacier pictures, looked stunning
____________________
Current bike: 2006 zx636 C6F
Previous bike: 2000 zx6r J1, 1990 cbr400rr nc29
Restriction ended: 17th november 2010

[kitty kat]

fantastic pictures there and a very enjoyable read
____________________
Enjoy everyday, tell those you love everyday you love them
Life is too short to fall out with people

[reu]

Great pictures mate +1
____________________
125cc Pitbike <sold> Aprilla Mx50 <current>

[N.C]

[magpiemale]

I REALLY liked your pictures of the trip cannot see if you wore a one piece suit or a diff jacket and trousers.Either way did they leak I also have the aqua box from RAM mounts for my mobile phone,is the sat-nav an ordinary car bluetooth one ? or the tom tom rider,was the box waterproof too.Was this your first trip abroad if so how was riding on the right lol an is fuel cheaper abroad or the same as england
____________________
NSR125 1992 (sold) kawasaki Z750S,fazer FZ1 07 now gone present bike 2012 fz1s Fazer,beowulf rad protector,heated grips,sw motech gps holder,power socket.

[Luke_Retrofly]

1 word, COOL!

How did know where to camp/stay, I'd always worry about where to stay from one day to the next.

Very nice pitures aswell

Luke

[V4_AllTheWay]

[magpiemale]

next time you go try about a rst suit (textile) or something from getgeared website cheap but good or decent stuff.
cheers for the reply
____________________
NSR125 1992 (sold) kawasaki Z750S,fazer FZ1 07 now gone present bike 2012 fz1s Fazer,beowulf rad protector,heated grips,sw motech gps holder,power socket.

[Der Bandit]

Great trip, did a trip to North Cape myself this June and it always rained too.

Glad you liked Dresden, my hometown.

[magpiemale]

Hey V4 one more Question a topic on your headlights
Did you get flashed by other traffic or did you use beam deflectors ?
____________________
NSR125 1992 (sold) kawasaki Z750S,fazer FZ1 07 now gone present bike 2012 fz1s Fazer,beowulf rad protector,heated grips,sw motech gps holder,power socket.

[V4_AllTheWay]

[Faldo]

Only just seen this thread.

Really good write up, and the best tour pics I've seen on BCF.

That's a fair old trip for your first time and being on your own.

I'm now thinking of doing this kind of route next year.


____________________
Current: ZZR1400
Previous: ZXR 400 L9, ZX-7R P5, ZZR 400, ZX-7R P6, Bandit 600, GSXR 750 Slingshot, DRZ400, DR650, ZX10R C1H, ZXR 750 L1, ZXR 750 L3, '99 ZX7R P4, KTM 300 EXC, ZX-9R E1, TDM850

[magpiemale]

Well I did not change my lights and was not flashed going there to germany but funny thing was all the brittish traffic going there and back flashed me (as the fazers lights are mega bright) but not while abroad and it was just serviced a few weeks ago to.
____________________
NSR125 1992 (sold) kawasaki Z750S,fazer FZ1 07 now gone present bike 2012 fz1s Fazer,beowulf rad protector,heated grips,sw motech gps holder,power socket.

[oriel dave]

Awesome post

I'm hoping to go to norway next summer - did most people speak ok english or do you speak any norwegian?

dave
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Europe Trip 2009