Scandinavia - 15 days, 7000 miles, 1 female rider

Roxyy · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 01 Sep 2012 Karma :

Hi all,

Not long back from my trip to Finland Norway and Sweden so just thought I would share it on here...

In summary:
1 bike - Suzuki GSX650F (current mileage: 57k, bought it 2 years and 2 months ago with 7.5k miles on the clock...)
1 female rider (me)
7000 miles
12 countries
15 days (stayed in Poland for 4 days though and only did 200 miles over these 4 days so 11 days of riding)

First I know I will probably get comments like why do I do such a big mileage in such a short time why do I not do less miles instead and stop in places longer and enjoy the places etc well I don't feel a need to stop long especially when I'm on my own, maybe it would be different if I was with someone, I don't know. I enjoyed it anyway and if I had more time then yeah I would do it over longer period of time but I only had 2 weeks and wanted to do it anyway.

So here's the story..
I didn't know what day I was going to leave until last minute. It could have been Friday, at some point during the weekend or Monday. Finished work on Friday at 5pm and on the way home I decided ok, I will get home get packed and leave. So got home, got packed and left Glasgow at 7pm. Rode to Dover, got ferry about 3:20am to France and rode for the rest of the night and day through France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany and got to Poland in the evening (1200 miles, 24 hours) and stayed there for 4 days.

It was north west part of Poland where I was, so next couple days I spent heading to the east then Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. When I got to the east of Poland I noticed a problem my chain, quite a bad problem, broken chain link... But decided to take a risk and keep going, and if it gets really bad then find bike garage and get it replaced.

So then took the ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki, spent next couple days riding in Finland Savonlinna castle, Oulu, Rovaniemi, Santa Claus village, start of Arctic circle and few other places on the way. Then went to Norway and decided to go to Nordkapp, the furthest north point in Europe. From the start I wasn''t sure if I will make it to Nordkapp as it's a long way, so it was a place I really wanted to go but it was just a big 'maybe'. Anyway I made it. Met two other bikers there, they did almost the same route as me from Poland, only with a difference of few hours. They even took ferry the same day as me to Finland just couple hours later. And they were planning of doing similar route as I was planning to do next, so I spent the rest of that day and following day riding with them.

When we got to Tromso, I decided to take a bit different way. So left Tromso on my own.. About 30 miles later I noticed a biker in my mirrors getting closer so I though 'ok, let's race!' what a silly mistake!! As I accelerated a bit more, he put his blue flashing lights on.. 1.5k pounds speeding fine, was a bit painful... Worse part was that it happened at 3pm, I had to go back to Tromso and stay there for the rest of the day and half of next day and go to pay this fine the following day at 1pm... By the time I got it sorted it was 3, so wasted a lot of time which means I had to start heading back down south the quickest way, not the way I wanted.

But still the same day, I got a lot further than I thought, got to Lulea in Sweden that night so I made up a bit. So I decided to go back to Norway and make the Atlantic Road and Trollstigen. Next day early evening I stopped at the petrol station near Trondheim, there was a group of bikers. At first I wasn't going to talk to them as I didn't have much time, but they approached me and asked if i have a problem with a chain (noise was actually bad and it was getting worse). They said they have a clubhouse 5 minutes down the road and they have a spare chain and that they can replace it for me! So went with them, they replaced the chain, they didn't even want any money for it... Amazing group of guys! And the bikes that they had, mostly custom Harleys but also some cafe racers and one with the side car, was so cool! Just shows how amazing bikers community is, always help each other no matter where on the world you are.

So next day I did the Altantic Road and Trollstigen and then just started heading back towards Oslo, down South of Sweden, through the bridge to Denmark which was amazing! It was like 3 miles long and then down into tunnel. And then just back through Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, ferry to Dover and back to Glasgow.

Well that's it. Now just need to wait till April/May when I can go for my next trip.
Very Happy

Here's just a short video of the whole trip, will upload longer videos in next few weeks. Quality is bad at the end cause accidentally changed quality setting in my cam.. :

(can't figure out how to embed videos on here so here's the link):

(TRAILER) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqjP0UyUDy0&list=PLtf-0H6VOgQS1TrWTllMbc8b2CdxTYOoz&index=1

EDIT - FULL VIDEOS:

(PART 1 - ROAD TO NORDKAPP) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6WBtoaQhyE&index=2&list=PLtf-0H6VOgQS1TrWTllMbc8b2CdxTYOoz

(PART 2 - OLDERFJORD TO TROMSO) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etkYxzYHTdQ&list=PLtf-0H6VOgQS1TrWTllMbc8b2CdxTYOoz&index=3

EDIT:
Map of the trip: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1uLbdSRlsEXf6e4aTipctRV2C_ko

arthurmo · Borekit Bruiser Joined: 24 Feb 2015 Karma :

7000 miles! my bones are aching just thinking about that and the fine would've finished me off.What was the highlight of the trip riding wise Trollstigen or Nordkapp perhaps?
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B5234FT · Brolly Dolly Joined: 28 Sep 2009 Karma :

That's a hell of a trip! Especially from Glasgow. The first 24 hours must have been pretty gruelling (I've done similar in a car and wouldnt want to on my bike!).

£1500 fine is horrendous, what speed were you doing when you got caught Razz

Sounds like a great trip though, I love covering ground on roadtrips and seeing the change in the topography and architecture as you pass through.

Pigeon · World Chat Champion Joined: 27 Sep 2012 Karma :

Wow. Very cool! Great scenery, really stunning.

Congrats on surpassing -Matt- as the largest BCF fine abroad. Brutal.

Polarbear · Super Spammer Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Karma :

Very impressive. I have only done one trip abroad on my own and like you, I did many more miles than I would have compared when I was with friends. Must be something to do with not sure what to do with yourself on your own. Laughing

£1500 fine, Jesus wept. Still, they have to pay for these migrants somehow.

It's something to look back on many years hence Thumbs Up

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Roxyy · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 01 Sep 2012 Karma :

Snowdonia Rider · World Chat Champion Joined: 17 Oct 2014 Karma :

Epic

Apart from the chain link, how did the bike do? In fact, how has it done in 50k?
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Roxyy · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 01 Sep 2012 Karma :

Lupo · Trackday Trickster Joined: 12 Oct 2012 Karma :

Thanks for the write up, some stunning scenery in the video, really enjoyed it.
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TheDonUK · World Chat Champion Joined: 20 Feb 2006 Karma :

Cool, 1200 mile day is a big one Laughing

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derillius24 · Trackday Trickster Joined: 08 Aug 2010 Karma :

Cap doffed - that's quite a trip!

Thanks for taking the time to write it up, it's always enjoying reading these reports. Scandinavia is something a bit different, too. The scenery looks brilliant, as do the roads, however the prospect of financial ruin for being pushed on a bit by an unmarked bike or doing a small fistful over the limit is, errm, a bit off putting Shocked

. You're made of stern stuff.

Cheers,

Mark Thumbs Up

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pepperami · Super Spammer Joined: 17 Jan 2010 Karma :

Impressed

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Enduro Numpty · Could Be A Chat Bot Joined: 31 Oct 2012 Karma :

Good write up. Sounds like a lot of fun apart from the speeding fine.

Edit: Went back and watched the video - great. Have been thinking about something similar for a few years - Overland to Murmansk then cross into Norway. Me and my wife go to Europe most years on the bike but haven't had a monster trip since 2012. Need to start thinking big again. Wink

Sload · World Chat Champion Joined: 28 Aug 2011 Karma :

Nice one, you should have the honorary title of Ironbutt Thumbs Up

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STONEY! · Brolly Dolly Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Karma :

Looks awesome, definitely now on my to do list, where did you get the speeding fine? My lot have trouble staying under 90mph so could get expensive quick!

chickenstrip · Super Spammer Joined: 06 Dec 2013 Karma :

Awesome is a word that is over-used these days. I think it actually applies here. Very well done Thumbs Up

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Roxyy · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 01 Sep 2012 Karma :

-Matt- · World Chat Champion Joined: 28 Apr 2013 Karma :

Looks like a great trip and effort - especially doing it on your own with a tent.

Out of interest, how did the speeding situation get sorted? Was it "turn up and pay tomorrow or you will be Norway's Most Wanted" Razz

? Did you get away without any impound/court/ban fiasco?

Roxyy · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 01 Sep 2012 Karma :

Snowdonia Rider · World Chat Champion Joined: 17 Oct 2014 Karma :

tom_e · Brolly Dolly Joined: 27 Feb 2016 Karma :

4k miles with an actual hole in a chain link, that takes some balls! Laughing

Sounds like a great trip though apart from the painful wallet. I'd have been tempted to just fuck off and leave my licence then tell the DVLA I'd lost it when I got home.

Roxyy · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 01 Sep 2012 Karma :

Colinzor · Nova Slayer Joined: 10 May 2014 Karma :

Wow awesome post, really enjoyed the short read and looking forward to watching the videos later, i have them bookmarked ! Can i ask what year your bike is? i have an old 96 GSX750F i planned to do some travelling on myself but havnt got around to doing anything. How was doing this trip alone? i know you said you were riding most of the time and just stopped over a short while in most places. Id love to do something like this but just not sure if i could do it alone.

I have loads of questions but a few off the top of my head Smile

1. did you plan this or just go with what you felt on the day and if so how did you arrange accommodations and food ect?

2. how did you find stopping off in places alone, tourist attractions? a quick look around and back on the bike and off you go i take it ?

3. Oh and roughly how much did it cost you in total, food, petrol, accommodation (camping?) ect if you dont mind me asking

thanks for the post !
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Roxyy · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 01 Sep 2012 Karma :

Colinzor · Nova Slayer Joined: 10 May 2014 Karma :

Brilliant some great information there, thanks for sharing this really has me thinking of a bike trip next year sometime even going by myself if the situation arises. so i take it for directions you just planned a rough route through to where you wanted to go and followed the sat nav and road signs? using it to direct you to camp sites ect along the way or petrol stations/food?

seems pretty straight forward. Smile

any language barriers or anything of that sort? im guessing most places you go theyll speak some sort of engish.
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