Lapland

[Olof_imp]

Who: myself and my wife Eva
What our summer holiday ride, confined to Sweden due to closed borders.
Where: up north, close to the arctic circle, which sounds dramatic but really only puts us in the middle of Sweden.
Why: see the midnight sun (sort of), feel adventurous, gain bragging rights.
When: departure day (D-day): June 24,, return day: ooh, we'll see, loosely mid-July
How: by negotiation - Eva enjoys riding providing stops are good (sleep, eat, culture), while I go along with such stops if riding is good. Not always easy to get both.
Report: to be added, in bits an pieces as soon as I get my pictures sorted.

 

[Olof_imp]

D-8. One week before departure. Everything planned, timed, booked and trial packed. We were to start from Råå on D-day, stay overnight in Trollhättan (D-day), Sälen (D+1), Järpen (D+2) and end up in Saxnäs on D+3 where we had booked a small log cabin for five days. Saxnäs faces Marsfjällen, the most southern Lapland Alps, and is one of a handful of very small villages (groups of houses really) along the Wilderness road.

 

[Stichill]

 

[Olof_imp]

D-7. I sign for the last unregistered black CB1100RS in Sweden - a bike that has been sitting in my local dealer's showroom for years. I won't go into the details here, let's just say that an opportunity emerged out of the blue which was impossible to resist. This included trading in my old bike, so this new RS would have to be the ride for Lapland. Delivery on Saturday, i.e. D-5. Tight, but I figured I could get her sorted in time.

D-6. Development at work forced me to reschedule to travel the following week, right up to the day of departure, instead of working from home as previously planned. Suddenly a bit of stress there. The rest of the day I spent in the garage with the old bike, frantically removing all the small bits and pieces that I tend to add to my bikes over time, while seriously questioning my own sanity.

 

[j3gq_imp]

Hi Olof,
did you see, feel, eat or otherwise get in close contact with any mosquitoes the size of a match box, ... past D3 ? Or has climate change driven them all into Finland ?
Please keep adding pictures after the unexpected work is done.
Happy continuation, good luck with the RS, and
Have fun !

 

[Olof_imp]

D-5. Delivery day! Set up included a new battery, to avoid issues with the now four year old original one. A gallon of fuel and then thumbing the starter. For some reason I expected a bit of reluctance, having sat for do long but no. It fired up instantly and settled into a steady idle as if it rolled off the assembly line yesterday. The ride home was equally undramatic.


D-4. Now, since I'd be working in Stockholm for three days the only way to sort the first service before D-day was to take the bike. The round trip would mean 1100 km. As it happens, most of the old main road up.north hrough Sweden remains, running parallell to the busy dual carriageway. Sleepy, twisty and nostalgic. Perfect for running in. I arrived late in the evening after an uneventful ride. No oil consumption, vibration, niggles. It just... ran.

 

[Olof_imp]

D-3. Work
D-2. Work
D-1. Return from Stockholm for 1st service. To be in time meant starting early. Not really a problem as the night was warm and bright. This picture was taken at 03:30 am.

Nothing much to say about the 1st service. Factory filled oil went out charcoal grey, Motul 7100 10W30 went in, chain and throttle cable were adjusted. Then home for repacking - office gear out, holiday gear in.

 

[peterbaron]

Olof, beautiful RS

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

D-3. Work
D-2. Work
D-1. Return from Stockholm for 1st service. To be in time meant starting early. Not really a problem as the night was warm and bright. This picture was taken at 03:30 am.

Nothing much to say about the 1st service. Factory filled oil went out charcoal grey, Motul 7100 10W30 went in, chain and throttle cable were adjusted. Then home for repacking - office gear out, holiday gear in.

Wonderful Olof.

 

[Olof_imp]

D-day. Uneventful ride to Trollhättan and Fredrik, who were to join us for the next leg. This happened to be midsummer's eve, the shortest night of the year and a big cause for celebration in Sweden. Tradition calls for pickled herring in multiple forms, served with sour creme, chive and new potatoes. Tradition also calls for beer and snaps but we skipped that part as we had an early start the following morning.


D+1. Trollhättan-Sälen, 400 km on beautiful A- and B-roads normally quite congested this time of the year but today completely empty. We made good progress, adjusting the pace to Fredrik as he was breaking in his freshly rebuilt 900 Bol d'Or engine. No dramas, it didn't eve use any oil. A very nice day, ending with a drizzle light enough to be more refreshing than annoying.

 

[Cormanus]

I’m enjoying this, Olof.

 

[Vic_imp]

Olof, nice ride, fun to see your summer dinner and the 24 hour summer day. I see rlets made their way on. :biker:

 

[GoldOxide_imp]

Olof, nice ride, fun to see your summer dinner and the 24 hour summer day. I see rlets made their way on. :biker:

Great eye there Vic.

 

[pdedse]

What a fun trip! Please be generous with photos...I likely will never make it to Sweden, so it would be nice to see your area of the world from the mc trip perspective.

 

[Olof_imp]

Thanks guys. Yes, RLETs went on straight away. I have few sets in the fridge for sudden needs like this. I know you don't believe this but rubber gloves, plain water and less than 15 seconds of wiggling on each side does the trick.

 

[Lord Popgun]

Mmmmm RLETs

And the Ring purrs…

 

[peterbaron]

Mmmmm RLETs

And the Ring purrs…

I just wonder if the Ring is purring, can you actually hear it happening ???

 

[the Ferret]

D-3. Work
D-2. Work
D-1. Return from Stockholm for 1st service. To be in time meant starting early. Not really a problem as the night was warm and bright. This picture was taken at 03:30 am.

Nothing much to say about the 1st service. Factory filled oil went out charcoal grey, Motul 7100 10W30 went in, chain and throttle cable were adjusted. Then home for repacking - office gear out, holiday gear in.

3:30 AM ?

What time is dark 30?

 

[Stichill]

That plate looks absolutely fresh and delicious, Olof. What a beautiful presentation.

You and your bike look good together! I'm looking forward to the rest of the story.

D-3. Work
D-2. Work
D-1. Return from Stockholm for 1st service. To be in time meant starting early. Not really a problem as the night was warm and bright. This picture was taken at 03:30 am.

Nothing much to say about the 1st service. Factory filled oil went out charcoal grey, Motul 7100 10W30 went in, chain and throttle cable were adjusted. Then home for repacking - office gear out, holiday gear in.

3:30 AM ?

What time is dark 30?

Isn't that fascinating? Olof is so far north that the summer sun doesn't fully disappear for very long during the night. It's like daylight savings time x10. Of course, in the winter the situation is reversed and there are many hours of darkness and not much daylight.

 

[Olof_imp]

D+2. Breakfast at Gammelgården Gammelgården - Sälens mest stämningsfulla hotell with, from left to right, bear sausage, moose salami, fennel salami and smoked rain deer.

Eva and I headed north while Fredrik turned back home. Also this was mostly a day for covering miles. Several of these ran alongside Storsjön, the lake surroundin Östersund.

Surprisingly little traffic and even fewer bikes, which allowed us to experiment with the crusing speed. We agreed on 105 km, where both the RS and the V-strom have happy spot in the rev range. Also spotted the trip's first rain deer, in the middle of a ski resort. It seemed quite clueless but the we're told they're always like that.

View over the Storsjön lake. Still not much wilderness, more quiet countryside. Eva's bike, the V-strom, is new to her too. She's been riding Ducatis, mostly Monsters, so this adventure thing is new to her. Very happy with it, having had it since May and done 1400 km.