Leport Photographic: Blog https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog en-us (C) Leport Photographic [email protected] (Leport Photographic) Sat, 01 Aug 2020 15:43:00 GMT Sat, 01 Aug 2020 15:43:00 GMT https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/img/s/v-12/u766264334-o223347738-50.jpg Leport Photographic: Blog https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog 120 120 Star Photography https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2020/8/star-photography I've been asked a few times about night shooting, shots of the stars and light painting. I don't claim to be any kind of expert on this, but I do know the basics. This guide should be enough to get started.

 

Gear

I use a Canon 5d mk3, it's a great camera but you don't need to get professional gear to take these shots, it just makes it easier.

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You'll need a tripod or secure means of holding the camera steady. For long exposures you need the most stable tripod you can find, these tend to be big and heavy (the opposite of what most people are looking for) but you really need the stability. Redsnapper tripods are a good mix of stability and cost.

You also need a ball or geared head to connect the camera to the tripod, again big and heavy is the way forward for stability. I use a manfrotto ball head, it's extremely solid when locked and would break your foot if you dropped it.

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Camera. Ideally a digital SLR, however anything that allows you to control focus, aperture, ISO and shutter speed to shoot on manual will do. If you try to shoot using automatic modes you'll struggle. There may well be apps for things like Iphones to achieve the same results but I have no idea.

I use a cable remote release, it plugs into the camera and stops you creating vibrations when you trigger the shot. You can get cheap ones for about £5 from ebay, or use the camera self timer if you don't have one.

A torch. Seriously, get a good torch, ideally a headlight. LED Lenser make good ones but they're spendy.

 

Setup

Firstly remove any filters from the front of the camera, they can give weird reflections. I use the lens hood to cut any sidelight and protect the lens.

Ideally go the area before sunset, it makes it easier to line up shot if you know (for instance) that there's a mountain out there somewhere. For locations you're best off away from towns or sources of light. Waiting for a few hours after dark often allows high level cloud to disperse as the temperature drops.

Put the camera into manual mode. If you can focus on something in the distance use this to set the focus, then switch off autofocus. If you can's get the camera to focus automatically just switch off autofocus and move the focus ring to infinity.

Switch off any stabilisation on the lens or camera, the way lens stabilisation works can cause vibrations when it's on a tripod.

Attch the remote release, or set the camera self timer for it's longest option. 

Setup the camera on the tripod and lock everything, movement of any kind will ruin your shots.

Be aware that the camera screen will look really bright when you're standing in complete darkness, so the photos may be dark when you look at them on a computer. I use the camera histogram to make sure that the image will be viable, basically you need to make sure that the graph doesn't hit the left or right edges. This is a topic of it's own so if you intend to use this google is your friend.

 

Camera settings

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Apeture (f number) as low as it goes, normally large apertures mean short depth of field. this doesn't matter with stars as they're fairly far away so it lets in as much light as possible. Depending on your lens this may be around f2 to f4.

ISO (film speed) as high as you can get away with, really high ISO tends to mean unacceptable levels of noise. You may be able to fix some level of this in photoshop so try a few different shots until you know what the camera can do.

Shutter speed, which way you're facing makes a difference due to the relative movement of the stars. As a basic setting 20 seconds will work in almost all situations for really sharp shots, you can push this to 30 seconds at the risk of some movement in the stars, anything much over that and you're into star trails territory.

 

Then just go out and try it! 

Milky way over Tarbert, HarrisMilky way over Tarbert, HarrisClear skies and the lack of light pollution on the Wester isles mean that you can clearly see the milky way.

 

You can use similar setting for light painting, and star trails.

For star trails you set the camera up to take repeated 30 second exposures (on jpeg only) then set it to run for a few hours. The resulting hundreds of images can be stitched into a star trail using free software at startrails.de

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Light painting. Set the camera for 30 seconds (or more) then get busy with torches, flames, whatever you can come up with.

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This photo was done by spinning burning wire wool on the end of a cable, the wire wool is stuffed loosely into an old whisk (yes really) lit then spun. Set the shot up as you would for the landscape or background you're using then trigger the camera, spin the burning wire wool and revel in the results. Obviously don't wear anything flammable or do it in areas that may catch fire.

Voxter Voe spinVoxter Voe spin

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[email protected] (Leport Photographic) https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2020/8/star-photography Sat, 01 Aug 2020 15:30:49 GMT
22-7-16 Trip to the Nordkapp and back by Triumph Explorer, day 15 https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/22-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-15 Day 15 Lillehammer to Oslo 120 miles 20160721_090911000_iOS20160721_090911000_iOS I set off on another lovely day, it ended up being 26 degrees again. Riding down the relatively dull E6 gave me time to think about the journey and how much I've enjoyed it. Even though the bike now needed a service, tyres and brake pads. And about a 9 hour wash and polish. My arse also hurt from steady 10-12 hour days in the seat without a break, and I felt generally tired. I got the bike back to the depot for about 10am and strapped down into the shipping frame, got changed outside as it's a big place and the toilets were miles away, then got a taxi to the train station to return to the airport. The trains and flight were uneventful. It was good to be home!

 

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Out of the whole run the section in the arctic circle was my favorite, amazing roads with less people and great scenery. I really do like Norway, even though it's an extremely expensive place to go I'm really impressed.
I spent two days each in Sweden and Finland and would like to see a lot more. 

Over the whole trip everyone I met was helpful and friendly. 

If I was to do a similar journey again I'd probably attempt to have some more short days as I was getting pretty tired towards the end. I'm not the sort of person to worry about missing museums or other attractions though, I really just want to ride my bike and take pictures. Even towards the end of the trip I was still waking up early ready to get on the bike and get moving.

I'd have liked to have camped more but it was so sunny that I really struggled to sleep.

I would take a tankbag for the camera as I did spend quite a bit of time stopping, getting off the bike and unlocking the topbox to get the camera out each time. I'd also see about a more comfortable seat, the bike was otherwise faultless.


Cheerio Norway, Sweden and Finland. I think I'll be back!

 

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[email protected] (Leport Photographic) Brent Finland Leport Nordkapp Norway Scandinavia Sweden Triumph explorer motorbike motorcycle road roadtrip scottish solo touring trip https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/22-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-15 Thu, 28 Jul 2016 16:39:38 GMT
21-7-16 Trip to the Nordkapp and back by Triumph Explorer, day 14 https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/21-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-14 Day 14 The road to Lillehammer 220 miles 20160721_090911000_iOS20160721_090911000_iOS Looks like I forgot to take a screen shot in Lillehammer, it's 80 miles north of Oslo Got up in the morning to find clear blue skies and fog burning off from lower in the fjords. The road out of Hara is a good example of the Norwegian way of building things. I came into the town via the switchbacks and left via a tunnel that completes a full circle before emerging on the top of the hill. It's a very strange feeling going up a spiral inside a tunnel. Roads around HaraRoads around Hara It was 17 degrees when I left at 0830, and got gradually hotter until it hit 26 degrees around mid day. I set the nav for Lillehammer simply because I'd heard of it and it was only 120 miles north of the bike drop off. By this point I'd done everything I had planned to do as well as everything I'd hoped I might have time for. This meant back tracking around 40 miles or a much longer route past oslo. It was actually quite good to see some of the views I'd missed in the rain and I spent quite a while taking photos. I got a good view of the bridge between two tunnels with the fog in the fjord below. IG4A2515IG4A2515 IG4A2503IG4A2503 IG4A2492IG4A2492 The road ran along the side of the fjord for quite a while and the higher sections were out of the fog, then the road would drop back into it. IG4A2511IG4A2511 IG4A2512IG4A2512 IG4A2513IG4A2513 IG4A2519IG4A2519 IG4A2520IG4A2520 I had lunch at a Thai takeaway van, that also took credit cards via an Iphone and card reader. I hadn't carried any cash at all since the first day in Oslo. 20160720_095040165_iOS20160720_095040165_iOS The second part of the route crossed a high section of mountain roads, the trees finished and the road ran through rocky terrain with numerous lakes. IG4A2544IG4A2544 IG4A2538IG4A2538 IG4A2528IG4A2528 Finally the road dropped into Lillehammer and I got a nice hotel for the night, then went out and had a great steak dinner. Another fortune spent but worth it for my last night in Norway. I was kind of tempted to camp or get a hut for my last night, but couldn't risk getting the tent wet (I'd be storing it for nearly a month before I picked up the bike) and I was already next to the hotel.

 

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[email protected] (Leport Photographic) Brent Finland Leport Nordkapp Norway Scandinavia Sweden Triumph explorer motorbike motorcycle road roadtrip scottish solo touring trip https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/21-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-14 Thu, 28 Jul 2016 16:39:10 GMT
20-7-16 Trip to the Nordkapp and back by Triumph Explorer, day 13 https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/20-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-13 Norway day 13 Laerdal tunnel 218 miles Norway day 13Norway day 13 I woke up in my hut to the sound of rain. This was bad as I'd parked the bike on grass and the road to the site was just an earth farm track. I got up late after lying in bed hoping that the rain would stop and headed out at around 9.30, managing to forget my plug socket adaptor in the process. I got out of the campsite without any drama and headed off into the heavy rain. I could see a lot of great scenery but didn't stop for it as it was raining so heavily. IG4A2461IG4A2461 After one ferry I got to the longest road tunnel in the world, the Laerdal tunnel traveling 24.5km underground. There are laybys 5 km from each entrance and one in the middle, all lit up blue. I stopped in the middle one to take some pictures, it was quite nice as it was dry and 20c, instead of wet and 11c outside. 20160719_101437020_iOS20160719_101437020_iOS IG4A2468IG4A2468 IG4A2471IG4A2471 Finding the usual lack of places to stop for lunch I decided to risk another garage hotdog. This turned out to be a mistake and I binned the "meat" before eating some of the bun. The hotdogs seem to be really popular but are really nasty. I rode further through even more elaborate tunnels, two of them had roundabouts in them. This caused some confusion as the nav didn't have a signal and I hadn't paid attention previously. One of the tunnels finished and I found myself on a bridge high above the fjord before plunging into another tunnel on the opposite cliff face. I was starting to think the tunnelers are getting bored. The rain continued all day and after stopping in Odda but not liking the look of the hotels there I eventually found a hotel in Hara at around 6pm. It had a lovely view and the bed was up a ladder above the living area. The food in the hotel restaurant was pretty good too. They let me park the bike in the garage so at least it was be dry by morning. I'd learned by this point that if I wanted more than one drink with dinner it was easier to order them up front, so I confused the woman at the bar by ordering ciders but only one glass. IG4A2474IG4A2474 IG4A2477IG4A2477 20160719_171059611_iOS20160719_171059611_iOS 20160720_060027000_iOS20160720_060027000_iOS During the day I thought my motorbike gear was leaking, it turned out that I was mostly dry underneath apart from some water wicking down from the neck area. It was just so cold it felt wet. The heated vest helped a lot, well worth the cash. I had the heated grips on high for most of the day with my hands in the non-waterproof side of my gloves as you get better feel and more heat that way. I ended up with steamed hands though. Once I got myself into the room and stood in a boiling shower for as long as I could stand I had to spead out all my gear so it would dry by morning. This is where camping really falls down as there is no-where to dry anything.

 

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[email protected] (Leport Photographic) Brent Finland Leport Nordkapp Norway Scandinavia Sweden Triumph explorer motorbike motorcycle road roadtrip scottish solo touring trip https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/20-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-13 Thu, 28 Jul 2016 16:38:51 GMT
19-7-16 Trip to the Nordkapp and back by Triumph Explorer, day 12 https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/19-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-12 Day 12 Molde to Trollstigen and Geiranger fjord. 263 miles 20160718_194410000_iOS20160718_194410000_iOS I woke up at 0645 to light drizzle, got some breakfast and then checked out of the hotel. There was a really drunk guy singing and dancing, he looked quite young but he was too drunk to understand that I couldn't understand him. IG4A2337IG4A2337 IG4A2342IG4A2342 IG4A2348IG4A2348 IG4A2353IG4A2353 I headed out of Molde and instead of getting the ferry I rode around the fjord, it added 70 miles to the journey but was well worth it as the road was lovely and mostly empty. Then I headed over the Trollstigen, lots of hairpins and a very steep road meant that I gained height very quickly, there are few crash barriers and the bike would fit through the rocks placed at the edge of the road. Very scary! Lots of tour busses full of Japanese people too, at one point I'd stopped to take a picture and returned to the bike to find people taking pictures of it. There is a cool visitors centre at the top with a walkway above the river. Then the road meanders back down the other side, it's pretty but quite gentle in comparison. Once I got down the other side I headed for Geiranger fjord, but missed the turn for the ferry and went about 20 miles the wrong way. IG4A2355IG4A2355 IG4A2363IG4A2363 IG4A2366IG4A2366 IG4A2373IG4A2373 IG4A2386IG4A2386 IG4A2376IG4A2376 IG4A2381IG4A2381 IG4A2392IG4A2392 I eventually worked out what I'd done and got the ferry 1.5 miles a cross the fjord. Geiranger was incredibly busy with tour busses and camper vans galore. The road and scenery are amazing though, and again it's really high. The roads back down through the mountains were stunning. The landscape changed dramatically as the road climbed out of the fjord and cut through the high rocky plateau. There was still quite a bit of snow, it felt really barren compared to the lush forests of the lower areas. IG4A2413IG4A2413 IG4A2414IG4A2414 IG4A2422IG4A2422 IG4A2423IG4A2423 IG4A2431IG4A2431 IG4A2451IG4A2451 IG4A2452IG4A2452 I eventually stopped in a small town for a pizza (as I rode past the smell hit me and I had to stop) at about 7pm before riding another 60 miles and getting a hut for the night on a small campsite. I'm not entirely sure where the campsite was, it wasn't near any towns but there hadn't been any for about 40 miles previously so when I saw it from the road I turned off and asked about a hut. The campsite was run by a couple living in a large caravan with an awning and a sign saying reception. I didn't have any cash at all by this point but the guy was totally unphased and produced an Iphone with a card reader! The hut was £35 and comfortable enough. I did consider using the tent but the sky was clouding over and it looked like rain was likely.

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[email protected] (Leport Photographic) Brent Finland Leport Nordkapp Norway Scandinavia Sweden Triumph explorer motorbike motorcycle road roadtrip scottish solo touring trip https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/19-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-12 Thu, 28 Jul 2016 16:38:30 GMT
18-7-16 Trip to the Nordkapp and back by Triumph Explorer, day 11 https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/18-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-11 Day 11
Steinkjer to Molde via the Atlantic road

267 miles.


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Today started damp, then wet. I left the hotel at 8 in light drizzle, and quickly had to stop at a garage for a large can of red bull and to put on the heated vest as it was 12 degrees.  This transformed my spirits and I was quickly heading down the E6 with the music on in my headset and feet on the engine bars singing along.  

The E6 is a pretty dull road, short sections of dual carriageway followed by long sections of single with barriers either side.  At one point I noticed that I was riding through the Hell tunnel so quickly doubled back to the town of Hell to get a picture. Temperature outside the tunnel 14.5, inside 21. Most tunnels are cold so far. 
I did notice that Hell is smaller than you'd think. 

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Obviously now I've been to Hell and back!



The weather was getting steadily better but at one point I went through a series of short tunnels with small open areas between them and got a different season in each.  After what felt like an eternity I turned off onto smaller roads headed for the Atlantic road, then a familiar rider passed me going the other way, it was Tommy! 
I called him and we agreed to meet up, thus was followed by about 20 miles of missing each other and texts.  

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Ever wonder if you're in the wrong line?



We eventually ended up in the same place and got onto the ferry towards the Atlantic road.  

We headed up the sweeping roads towards the 64 Atlantic road, eventually coming to an amazing looking bridge where we did a little greenlaning to get a better photo while being watched by bemused fishermen.  



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We had to pay a toll to go onto the Atlantic road, and we could see other bikes at the front of the long line. We rode past all the cars and campers and asked them where to pay, it turned out they had parked the bikes beside the booth then walked in front of the cars. 
We quickly did the same while being stared at by quite a lot of annoyed people. 

The Atlantic road is less amazing than the roads leading to it, and we both felt a bit disappointed. Apparently it looks amazing from the air. We both agreed that we had ridden on far more spectacular roads that didn't have tolls on the way to the Atlantic road.

 

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As we headed towards Molde the weather got worse and we got soaked.   I decided to stay in Molde and Tommy headed further as he needed to be in Stockholm in two days and it's 550 miles away.  I got a room in the Thon hotel but there was some sort of market in town and the main street was closed. After a bit of riding around it became obvious that the hotel was inside the pedestrian area so I rode in slowly and parked the bike on the pavement outside before heading out to dinner in another quiet restaurant. 

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[email protected] (Leport Photographic) Brent Finland Leport Nordkapp Norway Scandinavia Sweden Triumph explorer motorbike motorcycle road roadtrip scottish solo touring trip https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/18-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-11 Thu, 28 Jul 2016 16:38:02 GMT
17-7-16 Trip to the Nordkapp and back by Triumph Explorer, day 10 https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/17-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-10 Day 10 Route 17 290 miles 20160716_193326000_iOS20160716_193326000_iOS The weather started off quite cold and damp then warmed through the day.
When I left Mo I Rana at 8 in the morning I had my heated vest and seat on. I couldn't work out why the roads were so quiet, then I found out it was saturday!  

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 I met a Norwegian couple on a GS at the first crossing and they told me just to go to the front of each que, not a problem!  They also found out that there were three stops on that ferry and that we were the last one, the first stop was an an island 4km long. It's lucky that I got talking to them as I hadn't noticed the number of stops or where I was actually headed for.

Ferries are surprisingly cheap given the cost of everything else, short crossings were around £4. Apparently they're heavily subsidised. 

  After the first crossing I decided to find somewhere for lunch but before I found anywhere I was back at the next ferry, just in time to ride straight on as the last vehicle, past a big line of campers.  

On the next island I finally gave up and stopped for a garage hot dog, they really aren't big on places to eat. The pump was automatic with a card machine like most, but it finally asked me what grade I wanted, there was only one nozzle for unleaded, and two buttons marked in Norwegian. 

I had to shout to the guy at the next pump for a translation, turns out it was to pay at pump or in the shop. I'd already paid.  I talked to the guy and his mate as I had my hot dog (that I tasted for the rest of the day), they both worked offshore, one in Norway and the other in rig fabrication in Korea. 
Both seemed surprised at the distances I'd been covering. Again I was pleasantly surprised by how friendly the people are in Norway.  

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The scenery was amazing, by now I was starting to get used to seeing stunning views at every turn. 


As I approached the last ferry I saw a cruiser in  the distance, two up with lots of luggage. I expected to overtake them pretty quickly but it took me almost to the ferry to catch up. 
It was an 1800 Indian, the rider was wearing a bike club vest but seemed friendly anyway and was interested in the triumph. He just laughed when I commented on how long it had taken me to catch up, then showed me where the exhaust pipes were ground down in the corners. 

The last run down the 17 to the E6 was a bit of a slog as the weather got really rainy. I'd got a text from Tommy saying he was 50 miles away waiting at the ferry, I didn't realise he was 50 miles behind me until later! I'd been riding along wondering where the ferry was for quite a while before I zoomed out on the sat nav and discovered there were no more ferries on my route.

  I eventually stopped at Steinkjer, I'd stopped at a best western first but It was like a cheap travel lodge and £130 a night.   
I got an apartment on the campsite for £60 as they were out of cabins and I was too tired to look any further, it was like student halls but it had the important roof and blinds so I could sleep. A dinner of cheese and ham sandwiches after a trip to the nearest supermarket then bed by 1030.
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[email protected] (Leport Photographic) Brent Finland Leport Nordkapp Norway Scandinavia Sweden Triumph explorer motorbike motorcycle road roadtrip scottish solo touring trip https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/17-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-10 Thu, 28 Jul 2016 08:39:05 GMT
16-7-16 Trip to the Nordkapp and back by Triumph Explorer, day 9 https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/16-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-9 Day 9 Lofoten to Mo I Rana down the E6 207 miles 20160715_184243000_iOS20160715_184243000_iOS IG4A2159IG4A2159 IG4A2162IG4A2162 IG4A2166IG4A2166 The day started badly, we were both feeling a bit less clever after the drinks on the night before and only getting a couple of hours sleep. The weather was still pretty poor and we left in more drizzle to make the short run to the the ferry from Moskines to Bodo. As we were waiting for the ferry tommy decided to see if he could find some breakfast and rode off. Then the ferry guy came around to collect payment and told me to move to the front of the line. As we began to board there was still no sign of Tommy, I tried to call and text him with no response. Finally he turned up just as I had secured my bike on board! He did arrive with freshly baked cinnamon buns though. 20160715_082539753_iOS20160715_082539753_iOS While I was strapping the bike down the Spanish people next to me were quite helpful. The lady who was riding pillion was about 4'9" and really bossy! She got us all organised really quickly. IG4A2181IG4A2181 Bye Lofoten, hope you have nicer weather if I ever get back!IG4A2196IG4A2196 The ferry took 3.5 hours (and was surprisingly cheap at about £35) to get us to Bodo and we sat out on the deck in the rapidly improving weather. Once the ferry docked we headed onto the E6, we had both been warned that it was a very boring road. However it turned out to be a wonderful run that snaked through the mountains and down into the forest as we came out of the Arctic circle. IG4A2203IG4A2203 IG4A2202IG4A2202 We were making progress and both had a absolute blast, my face was sore from grinning like an idiot. The triumph explorer was running well with the haunting howl from the exhaust echoing off the rock faces beside the road. As we approached Mo I Rana I at almost 6pm I decided to call it a day and get somewhere to stay for the night, Tommy decided to head further to the coast as he had less time than me to complete his route. We said our farewells and went our separate ways after a great days riding. IG4A2204IG4A2204 Tommy on his Triumph Tiger 800 I managed to get a hotel in the town and got some dinner in an empty restaurant before falling asleep.

 

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[email protected] (Leport Photographic) Brent Finland Leport Nordkapp Norway Scandinavia Sweden Triumph explorer motorbike motorcycle road roadtrip scottish solo touring trip https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/16-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-9 Thu, 28 Jul 2016 08:38:44 GMT
15-7-16 Trip to the Nordkapp and back by Triumph Explorer, day 8 https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/15-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-8 Day 8 Harstad to Moskines on Lofoten 222 miles Well this was a less than brilliant day. Low cloud with intermittent rain all day meant that I got glimpses of how beautiful the lofoten islands are, but not many! It's apparently one of the most beautiful places in Norway so it was quite frustrating. 20160715_085419000_iOS20160715_085419000_iOS IG4A2053IG4A2053 IG4A2064IG4A2064 IG4A2069IG4A2069 IG4A2089IG4A2089 My nav took me on a random detour, after a short distance I decided that this wasn't the right road and found a spot to turn the bike round. As I was doing the U turn I stalled the bike and dropped it at 0 mph! I kind of casually stepped off as it fell over and was left standing over it totally unhurt. As the road was quiet I attempted to do the back to the bike and lift with your legs thing, that may work on smaller bikes but mine with luggage weighs about the same as a small moon. All I managed to do was strain myself and make my knees squeak. As I started to take off the top box and seat bag a camper van and BMW bike turned up, the guy on the bike quickly helped me lift the triumph and stayed long enough for me to see that it would still run. Damage was minimal, the crash bars and left pannier took the hit and you couldn't see the damage if I didn't point it out. I was more embarrassed than anything else. IG4A2118IG4A2118 IG4A2150IG4A2150 IG4A2102IG4A2102 I continued to head to the south of the island and noticed there were a lot of people camping in laybys. Didn't really think anything about it until I'd spent two hours trying to find somewhere to stay! Even the campsites were full and there isn't much flat ground anywhere to wild camp. I was also running low on fuel as I'd expected to fill up in Bodo after getting the ferry to the mainland. The petrol station on the nav turned out to not be there. I worked my way further north and eventually got a room in a hostel type place, cheap and a bit rough but dry! It reminded me of the sort of places I used to stay in when I was working as a contactor in Holland, just with less stoned scousers. There was also an unmanned petrol station in the same small town and I got 19l into the 20l tank. As it was still wet I didn't realise the puddle beside the fuel pumps was diesel until I stopped at the next junction and just about fell over again as the sole of my boot was coated in the stuff. I'd been messaging Tommy that I met in the Arctic circle place in Finland so he rode down and got the last room. It was his birthday the next day so we had a few drinks to celebrate while we planned the next days ride. ]]> [email protected] (Leport Photographic) Brent Finland Leport Nordkapp Norway Scandinavia Sweden Triumph explorer motorbike motorcycle road roadtrip scottish solo touring trip https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/15-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-8 Wed, 27 Jul 2016 18:59:44 GMT 14-7-16 Trip to the Nordkapp and back by Triumph Explorer, day 7 https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/14-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-7 Day 7 Harstad 170 miles ​I decided to have an easy 170 mile day so got up late and packed the bike after a great nights sleep in the cabin. £130 well spent! I decided to miss out Tromso as it would be another 120 miles, half of which has coming back on the same road. I was starting to get tired after a week of 10-12 hour days on a motorbike, and I decided to take the advice of one of my friends to have an easy couple of days to recover. I was already well ahead of where I'd hoped to be by this point. 20160713_132018000_iOS20160713_132018000_iOS IG4A2050IG4A2050 IG4A2048IG4A2048 The weather looked a bit grim with low cloud and 12 degrees, and as I rode through the mountains on the way to harstad I went into the clouds so was down to 20 mph. I finally had the need to try out the heated vest that I'd bought specially for this trip. I'd ecpected to need it through most of the arctic circle but the weather had been really good. The heated vest was initially a big disappointment, I couldn't really feel the heat. After a while I decided to stop and check the fuse, but the controller was still lighting up, then I checked that the controller was actually plugged in and found that the output side wasn't! Instant heat came as soon as it was plugged in. Harstad is a pretty big place, the capital of the Lofoten islands. I had dinner in a steak house after asking the girl in reception for recommendation she walked me about a quarter of a mile up the road to show me where to go. Cost £90 all up for a good steak, two small ciders and some apple cake. Lovely though. 20160713_172434717_iOS20160713_172434717_iOS This is a £50 steak...20160713_165623000_iOS20160713_165623000_iOS The hotel was decent (although decorated like it was still the 90s) and I got another good night's sleep. When I parked up I just dumped the bike in the pedestrian area outside the front of the hotel as I couldn't be bothered finding out where I should park. Then when I came back for dinner I found 4 BMW next to it from France and Germany! Oops

 

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[email protected] (Leport Photographic) Brent Finland Leport Nordkapp Norway Scandinavia Sweden Triumph explorer motorbike motorcycle road roadtrip scottish solo touring trip https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/14-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-7 Wed, 27 Jul 2016 18:55:26 GMT
13-7-16 Trip to the Nordkapp and back by Triumph Explorer, day 6 https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/13-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-6 Day 6 Nordkapp to almost Tromso 320 miles 20160712_182621000_iOS20160712_182621000_iOS I woke up drenched in sweat in my insanely bright tent at 6.11 and decided to get up as more sleep was unlikely. A breakfast of biscuits and water set me up for the first 20 minutes or so and I was on the road at 7. I had a lovely swooping ride through the nordkapp and back to the mainland via a 7 km long tunnel, I didn't bother setting the sat nav as I was heading for the E6 and it's pretty much the only road. IG4A1987IG4A1987 IG4A1996IG4A1996 This turned out to be a mistake as one of the nav functions is to tell me how far the next petrol station is on the route planned, if you don't enter a route it won't tell you. I wasn't too concerned when the fuel light came on, petrol has been plentiful for the whole run so far. But as the range remaining ticked down from 50 miles to 5 miles I began to worry, so I checked the nav and discovered that I was between petrol stations that were all over 20 miles away. The miles remaining countdown hit 0 at 180 miles on the tank full, but I still had 20 miles to go til the next fuel stop. I tried the fuel saving trick that's almost worked before, keep it in a high gear and use a little throttle to maintain speed then pull in the clutch to roll as much as possible. As I trundled along at 40 mph in top gear I wondered how long the AA would take to get to me, and quietly regretted the fun I'd been having early on in the day. After a very fraught 20 miles on a bike that was now sounding slightly different I managed to get to the petrol station, and got 19.97 litres into the 20 litre tank. 20160712_073010524_iOS20160712_073010524_iOS oops I decided that I wanted a nice hotel for the night so headed towards Tromso as it's the biggest town in the area. I was doing well taking my time and keeping mostly to speed limits when 3 BMW GS with Ukranian plates passed me like I was standing still. So I tagged onto the back of the group and had a great hour or so making good progress. I then ended up leapfrogging them for the rest of the day. IG4A2017IG4A2017 IG4A2002IG4A2002 IG4A2009IG4A2009 IG4A2043IG4A2043 As I rode down the coast the scenery got more and more spectacular, I must have spent hours taking photographs and being frustrated by the lack of places to stop. Then the sat nav (with 50 miles to Tromso) told me to turn right and take the ferry. Turns out that the fastest route involved 2 ferries and at least 2 more hours, and it was already after 5 PM and I'd been on the road 10 hours and was about ready to stop

After a bit of deliberation I decided to keep riding, and stopped after an hour or so at a campsite with huts. As I wanted a shower and toilet in my hut I got a big one with 2 bedrooms and a kitchen. And blackout blinds, bliss!
It was more a wooden bungalow than I hut, and at £130 a night about the same as a hotel would have been.

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  When I pulled in there were the three Ukranian BMW bikes. It's a small world really, I had a chat with the riders and they're attitude towards the speed limit was that it didn't really apply to them!

I got a giant pizza from the on site takeaway and on the way back to my hut noticed that there were a bunch of Harley Davidson bikes parked at the one next door. I kind of expected hassle from the riders as there were all wearing cut off jackets with patches on their backs, but they turned out to be really cool and gave me some great routes for further along my journey. 

One thing I did struggle with was getting food during the day. In the UK petrol stations have become little supermarkets and you can easily buy lunch there, in norway a lot of the petrol stations are unmanned or only really sell nasty hot dogs. I had intended to buy food in shops but sandwiches go off on warm days as the luggage turns into a small oven.

 

20160712_173617811_iOS20160712_173617811_iOS Amazing pizza that I mostly inhaled after missing lunch.

 

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[email protected] (Leport Photographic) Brent Finland Leport Nordkapp Norway Scandinavia Sweden Triumph explorer motorbike motorcycle road roadtrip scottish solo touring trip https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/13-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-6 Wed, 27 Jul 2016 18:54:13 GMT
12-7-16 Trip to the Nordkapp and back by Triumph Explorer, day 5 https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/12-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-5 Day 5 Finland to the Nordkapp 290 miles Norway day 5Norway day 5 After a nice nights sleep in the hotel and a relatively late start I wandered down for breakfast only to be told it was shut, turns out Finland is on a different time zone from Norway and Sweden. This was the first time it mattered. When I went out to the car park there was only my bike and two cars left! Even the bus tours had gone before me. IG4A1930IG4A1930 Hit the road about 10.30 I stopped in some random place for lunch, reindeer again. I'd decided I don't like them after my near miss yesterday so was trying to eat as many as possible. I worked my way north through Finland then cut East to the Norway border, there were a couple of sections of roadworks on the E6. The first one was ok, just a rough surface with a bit of gravel. The second section was deep gravel that hadn't been compacted, the triumph was all over the place and I came close to dropping it a few times, eventually I had to put my feet down and walk it through the deepest parts. IG4A1923IG4A1923 IG4A1938IG4A1938 As I rode north the views got better all the time, northern Norway is spectacular. The weather stayed dry and warm but was looking increasingly like rain so I made a booking for a hut on my phone near the Nordkapp. Judging by the booking websites I'd got the last one. 20160711_105122856_iOS20160711_105122856_iOS I'd stopped for fuel (160 a litre, robbing bastards) and an ice cream to calm me down after the gravel when a familiar looking BMW k75 pulled in, I'd been talking to a member of the BMW forum online a few days earlier and had bumped into them at a random petrol station in northern Norway! One of the lads in their group had a Ducati with a very sorry looking numberplate and soft panniers. The pannier had shifted, rubbed against the wheel and caught fire! I found out later that the same bike needed tyres in Finland before having to be abandoned in Germany due to electrical issues. IG4A1948IG4A1948 IG4A1953IG4A1953 IG4A1951IG4A1951 Nordkapp tunnel I continued to head north stopping more and more frequently to take pictures of the spectacular views, then re overtaking the same busses each time. The weather stayed dry and the sun came back out so the afternoon was lovely and 16 degrees. I was kind of thinking that it might be nice to camp, but I had a hut booked. I finally got to the campsite to find they'd double booked the hut, so I got to put up the tent instead. It wasn't a particularly nice campsite but I was there already and there was a restaurant. The "camping area" was just a slightly flatter area of long grass and gravel, I bent two pegs hammering them in. IG4A1974IG4A1974 Midnight! IG4A1963IG4A1963 IG4A1967IG4A1967 IG4A1972IG4A1972 I went the last 8 miles to the nordkap through amazing twisty roads that snake up the hills to the coast. Then paid 30 quid to get in and five quid for a sticker. Got my photo with the monument in the sunshine by swapping cameras with a Swedish couple that were taking it in turns to get pictures of each other then headed back to camp to investigate dinner. It turned out the restaurant didn't actually sell food so it was looking like emergency noodle time when a nice Swedish couple asked me if I fancied some chicken. They were traveling by car but have bikes at home, we had a tasty meal and some of the havana club rum I brought, I ended up chatting with them for a couple of hours. Then a crap shower and off to my chilly tent, that miraculously turned into a searingly bright oven by morning as the sun came round. 20160712_004144000_iOS20160712_004144000_iOS This was taken at 2.30am I really struggled to sleep with 24 hour sunlight, I thought that working shifts for my entire working life would help but found that I just didn't feel tired at midnight when it was still sunny then kept waking up.

 

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[email protected] (Leport Photographic) Brent Finland Leport Nordkapp Norway Scandinavia Sweden Triumph explorer motorbike motorcycle road roadtrip scottish solo touring trip https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/12-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-5 Wed, 27 Jul 2016 11:44:11 GMT
11-7-16 Trip to the Nordkapp and back by Triumph Explorer, day 4 https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/11-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-4 Day 4 Finland and the arctic circle 350 miles 20160710_193246000_iOS20160710_193246000_iOS An early start to the day in bright sunshine with 17c at 6am. IG4A1899IG4A1899 I was still pretty tired after 3 night of broken sleep. After packing up the tent and my gear I moved the bike a fee feet forward to get it a bit more level and easier to get onto but in doing so I lost my footing on the wet gravel at the same time as the stand caught on the ground and folded back up. The fully loaded bike began to fall towards me and I could feel the weight build as it moved away from vertical. I managed to jam my knee under the fuel tank and stop it dropping any further, then muscled it back upright. I'm not a small bloke but it took a lot of effort to do. The fully loaded bike probably weighs somewhere over 300kg. The road to the border was a mix of single and dual with barriers to stop the traffic colliding. Frustrating when you want to overtake the car in front. IG4A1901IG4A1901 Once over the border I headed north on some lovely sweeping bends. Twice I've come across sections of the road that can be used as runways in emergencies, huge long straight parts that are at least 6 lanes wide, these areas were just on normal 2 lane roads so came as a bit of a surprise. on the first section I started to wonder if I was supposed to be there as it felt like I'd ridden onto an airfield. Lots of reindeer today. They're properly stupid, one crossed the road in front of me three times before deciding it was happy with that side. On the plus side the number of biting insects had dropped to a more survivable level. A lot of people had told me that Finland would be the worst for insects but the forests of Sweden had proved to be even more populated by the little buggers. Weather was good until the last hour or so, it kept getting warmer as I went north. 22 at the Arctic circle tourist rip off centre! IG4A1910IG4A1910 I met a bloke in a triumph tiger 800 there. As I pulled in he asked me if I was British (he'd seen the numberplate) it turned out that he's from Edinburgh, about an hour and a half from my home in Aberdeen and is taking a similar route through norway. We might meet up again later in the trip. After leaving the centre i could see the dark clouds building but it was still 22c and sunny, I stopped at a place advertising very good food on a big sign, then after looking inside had a Pepsi and filled the bike up instead. The roads up here are great, wide with big areas either side of them so you can see the reindeer. I took a detour after looking for places to eat on the nav and ended up having a lovely reindeer stew for lunch. That'll teach them! Eventually I caught up with the weather and rode on wet roads in brilliant sunshine for about 50 miles before rain for the last hour or so. 20160710_123526143_iOS20160710_123526143_iOS IG4A1912IG4A1912 During the heavy rain I had a near miss with a reindeer running across the road, it was moving far faster than any I had seen so far. I saw it run out of the trees to my right and I hit the brakes, then had to get off the brakes and swerve hard onto the other side of the road. I missed it by a couple of feet at most while still doing around 50mph. I had a quiet moment to myself afterwards. Karma for lunch? 20160710_172644720_iOS20160710_172644720_iOS 350 miles for the day and I decided to stay in a hotel to escape the rain. I picked one I with lots of bikes outside, this turned out to be a fairly poor way of picking hotels. The room is decorated like it was done in the 70s. In Russia. The shower was one of the random hot/cold type, almost like trying to crack a safe. I went for a wander around Saariselka in the evening to see all the santa crap.

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[email protected] (Leport Photographic) Brent Finland Leport Nordkapp Norway Scandinavia Sweden Triumph explorer motorbike motorcycle road roadtrip scottish solo touring trip https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/11-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-4 Wed, 27 Jul 2016 08:09:04 GMT
10-7-16 Trip to the Nordkapp and back by Triumph Explorer, day 3 https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/10-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-3 Day 3 Sweden, up the E45 road 490 miles 20160709_185229000_iOS20160709_185229000_iOS Today was a day of cruise control drudgery, 490 miles of pretty much solid forest with occasional towns. Some of the towns were pretty big, and busy. But I reached them after riding 80 miles of almost empty roads, don't these people go out? The weather stayed dry during the day and was comfortably warm. IG4A1890IG4A1890 This is what most of the day looked like.... Lots of classic American cars in Sweden, more than I saw in the states 50s to 70s stuff mainly, a lot of big fin tailed caddies. I stopped at a campsite at 7pm after a solid 12 hours of mainly really boring riding, at one point I found myself changing gear so there would be a different noise for a while. I had been pushing on to get to Finland but when I saw a decent looking campsite about 20 miles from the border the urge to stop and rest was strong. There were heaps of insects on the road, I had to stop and clean the visor every half an hour as I would get to the point that I couldn't see. Then every time I stopped the bike would be swarmed by more insects because of the amount of insect death stuck to it! I saw quite a few reindeer on the road, most of them just stand and watch you before ambling off into the trees eventually, possibly a reason for the low speed limits. I got the tent up just in time for the sky to cloud over and a huge thunderstorm tested the waterproofing. Thankfully I stayed dry! The bike got slightly cleaner too. Each time I opened the tent then got back into it I would need to spend 5 minutes killing all of the biting insects that got in with me. I don't think it's fair to have midgies and mosquitos in the same country. IG4A1895IG4A1895 IG4A1892IG4A1892 Sleep was disrupted by local kids making loads of noise in the river, and other ones making loads of noise on the road with cars racing and doing burnouts. I'm now at the point of 24 hour daylight, it was properly bright when I got up to check the bike and tell the remaining kids nicely to shut up. The police arrived at the same time. Wrapped up in my sleeping bag with an eye cover on I slept until 6.10 when I woke up in a bright oven. Up and showered by 0700 with just the tent to pack away, then into Finland where there might be some scenery I could see... ]]> [email protected] (Leport Photographic) Brent Finland Leport Nordkapp Norway Scandinavia Sweden Triumph explorer motorbike motorcycle road roadtrip scottish solo touring trip https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/10-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-3 Wed, 27 Jul 2016 06:04:51 GMT 9-7-16 Trip to the Nordkapp and back by Triumph Explorer, day 2 https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/9-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-2 Day 2
375 miles

Time to pick the bike up!

Well my 95 quid hotel room was crap, too hot to sleep with the windows shut but too noisy with them open.  Also £3.80 for a chocolate bar


I got up at 7 (I was too excited to sleep any longer) and had breakfast before asking reception about taxis to get the bike,  they had no clue how much it would cost and couldn't call one.  In the end I flagged one down and offered cash after checking online to see how much it should be.  

After a slightly scenic route to the shipping place (I don't think the driver knew if it was right, he took off as soon as I was out of the car) and eventually got my bike,  still fully wrapped. 

I asked the guy if he had a knife and he just said no then wandered off, a correct if unhelpful reply. I had to cut it out using my house key as the only knife I had was still wrapped up with the bike!

In this photo the guy is leaving on his forklift.

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The weather was great all day apart from 15 minutes of serious rain in the afternoon,  18-25c otherwise.  

Riding through Sweden just over the border I met a cool guy on a 1975 Norton commando he'd restored himself. Utterly lovely bike that had me idly searching to see how much one would cost that evening.
I had stopped to take a picture when he pulled into the same layby and I asked him about the bike. We ended up having lunch together an hour and a half later due to the lack of restaraunts in this part of Sweden. I'd eventually found somewhere to have lunch and he arrived about 10 minutes after me!

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He asked me what I do and explained my job on the rigs in the north sea, he said that he was on the barge next to the Alexander keilland when it turned turtle, after 6 more months he quit and never went back. Seeing them recover the bodies from the sea played on his mind too much.  I think motorbikes are one of few hobbies that would allow two complete strangers to share a meal then continue on seperate journeys.  

Rode 375 miles stopping at 7 when I found a camp site.  The scenery had been lots of trees, all day. Just lots and lots of trees.


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I camped for the first time in 22 years, I had decided during the day that I would like to camp to try out the gear and the tent. Dinner was some of my 'emergency' noodles so that I could try out the stove and feel a bit more like an adventurer (while sitting on a campsite with the shower block about 50 yards away). They were actually OK!


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Noodles and rum, what could possibly go wrong...


It took a while to get comfortable in the tent and as it was pretty cold I got right into my warm sleeping bag and zipped it all the way up just leaving a little hole at my face.

I woke up an hour later so hot I could barely breathe!   

One thing about it being light all the time, the birds never shut up.  

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This was about as dark as it got all night, and this was pretty far south in the general scheme of things!  IG4A1880IG4A1880

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[email protected] (Leport Photographic) Brent Finland Leport Nordkapp Norway Scandinavia Sweden Triumph explorer motorbike motorcycle road roadtrip scottish solo touring trip https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/9-7-16-trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-triumph-explorer-day-2 Wed, 27 Jul 2016 05:43:41 GMT
8-7-16 Trip to the Nordkapp and back by Triumph Explorer, day 1 https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-motorbike-day-1 8-7-16 This is the first day of the trip I'be been trying to do for the last 7 years. The ferry from the UK to Norway last sailed in 2009, there have been rumors about it re-starting every year since. I decided at the end of 2015 that I was going to find a way to do this run instead of waiting any longer and found a company in Manchester called Euro bike trans that could ship the bike by road to Oslo, but they couldn't store the bike while I work offshore. So I got a local shipping agent to store the bike for two weeks then ship it to Manchester to be crated and put in a truck for shipping to Norway. Norway probable routeNorway probable routeThis is the route that I decided should be possible in two weeks through Norway, Sweden and Finland on my Triumph. My motorbike is a 2014 triumph Explorer. A few people have asked me what I did to prepare the bike for the trip. I got new tyres fitted as I knew I'd pretty much go through a set on the run, the large aluminium Jesse panniers were fitted to replace the smaller Triumph ones the bike came with after I did a trial run around Scotland. The large topbox has been on a while, it's a Givi trekker 52l. I put the Lomo drybag on the seat to ship my motorbike gear in so I wouldn't have to carry it on the plane, the steel mesh bag around it is from Pacsafe as a security measure. I fitted a sidestand foot extender to enlarge the bottom of the stand and stop it sinking if I needed to park on grass. This replaced a small plastic puck as I tend to loose them. I've used sat navs on bikes for years, it's not that I can't read a map, just that I don't really have a sense of direction and they take the hassle out of traveling through places you don't know. It's also good for finding fuel and hotels. I fitted the short screen to the bike after a bit of trial and error with different heights to reduce buffeting. I found that having the wind hit me at shoulder height was best as it means my head is in clean air and the helmet vents work well. I also took a sheepskin seat cover having been put off airhawk seats for some reason. I'm not sure how well the seat cover worked but it looked cool! (not in the photo below). Tools wise I packed my usual puncture repair kit with co2 canisters. I've needed to use one previously and it saved the day so there has always been one under the seat since. I also carry a leatherman multi tool, a welded up 17mm bolt to remove the front wheel spindle, a small socket set (again been handy in the past), an adjustable spanner, tie wraps, tape, spare fuses and a selection of various nuts and bolts in case any make a bid for freedom during the journey. Essentially things that don't cost a great deal but can be a pain to find away from home. Major repairs would involve breakdown cover. 13394002_503180626536906_510474257366034409_n13394002_503180626536906_510474257366034409_n The camera I use is a full frame Canon 5d mk3, with a 24-105mm lens on it. It's a large and quite heavy camera but I'm happy to take it for the results it can produce. I shipped the bike by road a couple of weeks before flying over so it would be ready to pick up on the 9th, then I flew over from Aberdeen to meet it in Oslo. This was the only way I could get to ride up to the Nordkapp within my two week time frame, I'd have loved to have ridden all the way round from Scotland but working on oil rigs with a fixed rota meant I simply didn't have time. I arrived in Oslo in the late afternoon, it was fairly warm and after getting the train from the airport into the central station I walked to the hotel. Eventually. My sense of direction has always been awful and I hadn't made any notes about the hotels location, maps on my phone came to the rescue and I got checked in. Later on I went out to find some dinner and after a bit of a wander about I ended up eating in an Irish bar, it's a habit I can't shake! Burger and fries with a pint of Irish cider was £30 and was served by a brash Australian bloke that quickly explained that there is a tipping culture on top of the crazy prices. Oslo seems like a nice city and I really haven't seen any of it. There is a heap of building work ongoing though!

IG4A1858Oslo buildings

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[email protected] (Leport Photographic) Brent Finland Leport Nordkapp Norway Scandinavia Sweden Triumph explorer motorbike motorcycle road roadtrip scottish solo touring trip https://www.leportphotographic.co.uk/blog/2016/7/trip-to-the-nordkapp-and-back-by-motorbike-day-1 Tue, 26 Jul 2016 19:29:34 GMT