Bucket List – To the Lofoten Islands by motorbike – Part 1

Bucket List – To the Lofoten Islands by motorbike – Part 1

The first part goes from Schleswig-Holstein, via Denmark to Norway. My stages in Norway go from Larvik to Vikersund, Lillehammer, Trondheim.

The daily stages

Here we go, the adventure begins!

I finally managed to check off one of the top items on my bucket list. For those who don't understand the term bucket list, it is a list of things that you would like to do or achieve in the rest of your life.

And the reason why the headline says “ Motorcycle ” and not “ Harley-Davidson ” is actually quite simple. When I was 18, I wanted to go to Lofoten with my friend; we were both still driving XT600s at the time. We have often been to Norway driven to the Arctic Circle or up to the Lofoten Islands I have only now achieved this project and was able to successfully tick the experience off my bucket list over 35 years later.

With the Harley-Davidson Road Glide ST 117 to the Lofoten

the North Cape in 2017, but I passed the Lofoten Islands due to time constraints. Don't be mistaken, what looks like a short stage on the map can be anything but short. At the beginning of July 2022 I caught up on the tour with the Road Glide ST 117. I just took advantage of the opportunity and gave myself a good week of time to do it.

Sometimes there is no other way, otherwise you keep putting off those adventures and end up not doing them at all. The original plan was to take the tent and everything that goes with camping. Camping in the great outdoors is best done in Norway.

Start for Hirtshals, the northernmost port in Denmark

I started at five o'clock in the morning, the only stupid thing was that I chose a morning where it was raining heavily again after a long time. Anyway, I set off and after a kilometer it occurs to me, where is your sleeping bag? It was still in the closet at home, just forgotten I would say. Actually no problem, my first thought was to go back and get it quickly. But the question of questions was, what to do with it? It has to stay dry, so it ended up being that I threw away everything that could be related to camping and tenting.

Five in the morning, heavy rain, the tank is still empty, no coffee and already no time left.

I was already in a bad mood because of the weather, I actually only expected the rain in Norway. Just sleep in the hotel, you'll still find something at short notice, was my thought. I'm experienced with Booking com and I'm pretty sure from experience that you'll always find something somewhere. Which actually didn't suit me, I still had to refuel, which I usually did the day before the tour, but I just didn't have the time.

The first stop is the port of Hirtshals in Denmark

The journey began, the tank is now full and off we go to the top of Denmark. I had around 500 kilometers ahead of me; in Denmark you can always drive optimally on the motorway with cruise control activated. The tourers of the current Harley-Davidson models have a very useful cruise control, as it is called in cars.

I often use cruise control, especially on long journeys

At Harley-Davidson it goes up to a maximum of 140 km/h, you're not allowed to drive that fast in Denmark, here on the motorway the speed limit is 110 km/h to a maximum of 130 km/h. You should be very careful on the motorways, I'm not saying that the Danes can't drive, but they do anything but that. Here, no one is more focused on driving, unlike here, where you can drive even faster allowed to drive. I have had to experience a number of critical situations here.

With the superspeed ferry to Larvik in Norway

My destination is the ColorLine superspeed ferry , which takes about 3:45 hours to cross from Hirtshals to Larvik in Norway. You should be there 60 minutes beforehand and the superspeed ferry leaves at 12:45 p.m. The next one doesn't leave until 10:15 p.m., that's not an option for me because I want to drive 150 kilometers further north in Norway to the first stop.

The brilliant launch area on the ferry

I can give another tip for the ferry, there is a launch area on deck 8, where you can reserve a table for the crossing and paying €27.90 (as of August 2022), which is actually interesting about it especially the buffet. There is plenty of food, drinks and cake here, everything is included in the price. It's a really good way to recharge your batteries and we disembarked again in Norway at 4:30 p.m.

I reached the port of Larvik in Norway in the late afternoon

The sun had moved to Norway, and the mood was immediately good because it was dry and even sunny! On the ship I chose a hotel by the lake in Vikersund . That wasn't exactly a bargain, but the location on the beautiful lake should be worth it. You have to treat yourself sometimes, I had filled up in Denmark, so I was able to count on that.

Larvik is a port city in the south of Norway. If you are interested in the Vikings, you will find the town of Kaupang 3 kilometers away. It is believed that Kaupang was the first Norwegian city. Excavations in the Viking city have already uncovered over 100,000 finds. And in Dalen, which is around the corner, you will find the unique and worth seeing Telemark Canal, which has already been classified as a cultural monument. In any case, there is something to see here if you have the time for it, I just wanted to go to the Lofoten and had to go straight on to Vikersund.

Right through the Norwegian Telemark

My journey continues north, I'm now driving about 140 kilometers across the Telemark of Norway. The Telemark got its name from an ethnic group in the Viking Age who lived in this area, so everything is somehow always connected to the Vikings who used to live here. In the early evening I was already sitting at the Tyrifjord Hotel , on my outdoor terrace overlooking the beautiful lake. This decision was absolutely right.

The invitation to Lillehammer

It does happen that I am invited by biker friends on my tours. So I took a detour to Lillehammer to see Dirk, who has lived in Norway for over 20 years and is of course a total Harley biker. It's not a particularly cheap hobby in Norway, but he allows himself to have fun - without it he can't really do it. He lives on a mountainside near Lillehammer, with a mega view included. Good Dirk already knows what he's doing, he lives in the middle of nature and has a Harley-Davidson in beautiful Norway, so it's easy to endure.

He gave me a few tips on how best to get to the next destination on my daily route. My plan is to drive to Trondheim to spend the night there. After we philosophized a lot about the Harley world, I had to make sure I was making progress, otherwise the buddle would be on the table, that was really a matter of hair.

The Circle K coffee mug can pay off

But disciplined as I am, I juggled the Road Glide ST off the mountainside again and drove with Dirk towards Trondheim. He accompanied me for a good 100 kilometers and in between we ate something together at the gas station. What was really cool, of course, was that he gave me a Circle K coffee mug, which I can use to get my fill of free coffee at any Circle K gas station in Norway.

He just forgot to tell me that it only applies in Norway at the gas stations in question, which then led to a detailed discussion in Sweden between an unsuspecting northern German and a resolute Swedish woman who said I should please pay for the coffee. But I'm not in Sweden yet, the story will come later.

The next destination is Trondheim

In Vinstra I said goodbye to Dirk, now the E6 continues north. There are still around 300 kilometers ahead of me, I have already driven 330 kilometers this day with a break in Lillehammer. The weather is fine so far, it is still dry and cloudy, but already quite cool.

My next fuel stop is in Dombås, a small town with 1100 inhabitants, where the first Cirkle K gas station happened to appear in front of me. First use for my new coffee mug that Dirk gave me.

It's really an unusual feeling, first paying for the gas at the checkout and then having to work on the coffee machine. Runs, I'm out again without being stopped. That's kind of a cool thing, but that's how it is with Norwegians. On the ferries, the coffee cash register is open, and in that country they still have a high level of trust in their customers.

First take a short break and breathe in the Nordic air. A look at the sky tells me that it will still be humid. It's already getting colder, now it's time to see where I want to spend the night.

Booked the hotel 200 kilometers before the destination

Everyone certainly has their own practice, I always check Booking com and sometimes I receive good offers via email in a timely manner if I have already selected the locations beforehand. A hotel was repeatedly suggested to me called St. Olav . Not directly in town, but at least under a hundred euros with breakfast and 3 stars. I'll arrive late in Trondheim anyway and only stay for one night, so I don't have to spend the night in the middle of town. But what I had actually booked was still to amaze me.

It's about 200 kilometers from Dombås to Trondheim Ahead of me lies a beautiful route towards Oppdal, where I last drove along in 2017. There are always impressive mountain ranges that you can drive along. Central Norway has its charms, you don't always have to drive all the way to the top. I was still able to enjoy the drive along the mountain ranges, but then the drought was over.

Hotel rooms in Trondheim ^(affiliate)

Too late for rain gear

My rain gear should actually have been used in Dombås, but my thought was that it would still be possible. The rain came slowly and got heavier, and I really got hit in the last 50 kilometers before Trondheim. My HD rain combination is great, the zipper on the legs means you can get in quickly, but if you put it on too late, it won't do you any good. My good leather jacket, rocker pants and even my boots were soaked. I'm in the underground car park opposite my hotel, now I had to check the location first.

Happened, you can't change anything, checked into the hotel without further ado, but now it started, what kind of hotel is that? The St. Olav Hotel is not only opposite the clinic, the entire hotel has the style of a hospital. The only thing missing from the bathroom, the lamps, sockets and switches everywhere is that visitors come in here. It wasn't comfortable, but that doesn't matter today, maybe it's a good thing, they can just wipe it off the next morning when I'm gone.

That was a great day, I experienced a lot again, I can already feel how Norway slows you down, the beautiful nature around you, really nice people and even if the weather isn't really good, but that's part of this challenge.

In the next part I drive towards Mo i Rana, a fishing town with 18,000 inhabitants, which is the third largest city in Northern Norway. Here I spend the night just a few kilometers below the Arctic Circle. Next Sunday comes the second part of my Lofoten tour.

The second part follows, or Thursday, May 4th. I'm just about to finish it. As of 6:00 p.m

Text & image credit: Harleysite