Bucket List – Riding a motorcycle to the Lofoten Islands – Part 1

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

The daily stages

Here we go, the adventure begins!

I've finally managed to tick off one of the top items on my bucket list. For those of you who don't know what a bucket list is, it's a list of things you'd like to do or achieve in the rest of your life.

And the reason why the headline „motorcycle“ and not „Harley-Davidson“ is basically quite simple. I wanted to ride to the Lofoten Islands with my buddy when I was 18, and we were both still riding XT600s at the time. We often rode our motorcycles in Norway but never as far as the Arctic Circle, or as high as the Lofoten Islands drove. I've only just managed to complete this project and, over 35 years later, I've successfully ticked the experience off my bucket list.

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

I had already ticked off the North Cape in 2017, but I skipped the Lofoten Islands due to time constraints - make no mistake, what looks like a short stage on the map can be anything but short. At the beginning of July 2022, I made up for the tour with the Road Glide ST 117. I simply took the opportunity and set aside a good week for it.

Sometimes there's no other way, otherwise you keep postponing 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.

Departure for Hirtshals, the northernmost port in Denmark

I set off at five o'clock in the morning, but it was a shame that I chose a morning when it had been raining cats and dogs for a long time. Anyway, I set off and after a kilometer I remembered where my sleeping bag was. It was still at home in the cupboard, I'd say I'd forgotten it. Not really a problem, just go back and get it quickly was my first thought. But the question was, where to put it? It has to stay dry, so I ended up throwing everything that could have to do with camping and tents off the trestle.

Five o'clock in the morning, heavy rain, the tank still empty, no coffee and already no more time.

I was already in a bad mood because of the weather anyway, I didn't actually expect it to rain until we got to Norway. Just stay in a hotel, you'll always find somewhere at short notice, that was my thinking. I'm an experienced Booking com user and I'm pretty sure from experience that you can always find somewhere. What didn't really suit me was that I had to fill up with gas, which I usually do 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 was now full and off we went to the tip of Denmark. I had about 500 kilometers ahead of me, and in Denmark you always drive perfectly on the freeway with cruise control activated. The current Harley-Davidson touring models have this 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 are not allowed to drive that fast in Denmark, here on the highway 110 km/h to a maximum of 130 km/h is the order of the day. You have to be very careful on the highways, I don't want to say that the Danes can't drive, but they do everything else but that. No one here is focused on driving, unlike here, where you are allowed to drive even faster. I've had to experience a few critical situations here.

With the superspeed ferry to Larvik in Norway

My goal is the Superspeed Ferry of the ColorLine, which takes about 3:45 hours for the crossing from Hirtshals to Larvik in Norway. You are supposed to be there 60 minutes in advance and the superspeed ferry departs at 12:45. The next one doesn't leave until 22:15, which is not an option for me, because I want to drive another 150 kilometers north in Norway to the first stop.

The ingenious launch area on the ferry

I can also give you a tip for the ferry, there is a launch area on deck 8 where you can reserve a table for the crossing and pay €27.90 (as of 08/2022), the really interesting thing about it is the buffet. There is plenty of food, drinks and cake, all included in the price. It's a really good way to recharge your batteries and we disembarked in Norway at 16:30.

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

The sun had gone to Norway, and immediately the good mood came up, because it was dry and even sunny! On the ship, I booked a hotel by the lake in Vikersund selected. It wasn't exactly a bargain, but the location on the beautiful lake was worth it. You have to treat yourself once in a while, I had refueled in Denmark, so I was able to do the math.

Larvik is a port town in the south of Norway. If you are interested in the Viking people, the town of Kaupang is 3 kilometers away. It is assumed that Kaupang was the first Norwegian town. Over 100,000 finds have been unearthed during excavations in the Viking town. And in Dalen, which is just around the corner, you will find the unique Telemark Canal, which is well worth seeing and has already been classified as a cultural monument. There's definitely something to see here if you have the time, I just wanted to go to Lofoten and had to go straight on to Vikersund.

Right through the middle of the Norwegian Telemark

My journey continues north, I now drive about 140 kilometers across the Telemark region of Norway. Telemark got its name from a group of people who lived in this area during the Viking Age, so everything is somehow connected to the Vikings who used to live here. In the early evening I was already sitting in the Tyrifjord Hotel, on my outdoor terrace with a view of the beautiful lake. This decision was spot on.

The invitation to Lillehammer

Sometimes I am invited by biker friends on my tours. So I made a detour to Lillehammer to visit 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 indulges in the fun - he can't really do without it. He lives on a mountainside near Lillehammer, a mega view included. Dirk knows what he's doing, he lives in the middle of nature and can afford a Harley-Davidson in beautiful Norway, so it's easy to keep up.

He gave me a few tips on how best to get to the next destination on my day's stage. My plan is to ride as far as Trondheim and spend the night there. After we philosophized a lot about the Harley world, I had to make sure I got on, otherwise the Buddle would be on the table, which was really close.

The Circle K coffee mug can pay for itself

But disciplined as I am, I juggled the Road Glide ST off the mountainside again and rode together with Dirk towards Trondheim, he accompanied me for another 100 kilometers and in between we had something to eat together at the petrol station. What was really cool, of course, was that he gave me a Circle K coffee mug as a gift, which I can take with me on every Circle K filling station in Norway for free.

But he had forgotten to tell me that it only applies in Norway at the petrol stations in question, which then led to a lengthy discussion in Sweden between an unsuspecting North 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 stage destination is Trondheim

I said goodbye to Dirk in Vinstra and continued north on the E6. I still have about 300 kilometers to go, I've already driven 330 kilometers this day with a break in Lillehammer. The weather is playing along so far, it's still dry and cloudy, but already quite fresh.

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

It's a really unusual feeling, first paying for the fuel at the till and then having a go at the coffee machine. It works, I'm out again without being stopped. It's kind of a cool thing, but that's the way it is with the Norwegians, on the ferries the coffee till is left open, in that country they still have a lot of trust in their customers.

First a short break and a breath of Nordic air. A glance at the sky tells me that it's going to be damp. It's already getting colder, now it's time to see where I want to spend the night.

Hotel booked 200 kilometers before the finish

Everyone certainly has their own practice, I always look at Booking com and sometimes I get good offers by e-mail promptly if I have already selected the locations before. I was repeatedly suggested a hotel with the name St. Olav. Not directly in the town, but still under a hundred euros with breakfast and 3 stars. I won't be arriving in Trondheim until late anyway and will only be staying for one night, so I won't have to spend the night in the middle of town. But what I had actually booked there should still amaze me.

From Dombås to Trondheim I still have around 200 kilometers to go, and in Norway it takes three hours to cover the distance. Ahead of me is a beautiful route towards Oppdal, where I last cycled in 2017. There are always impressive mountain ranges along the way. 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 dryness was over.

Hotel rooms in Trondheim ^(Affiliate)

Too late for the rain gear

My rain gear should actually have been used in Dombås, but my thought was that it would still work. The rain came slowly and got heavier and heavier, and the last 50 kilometers before Trondheim I got a real battering. My H-D rain suit is great, the zipper on the legs means you can get into it quickly, but if you put it on too late, it's no good at all. My good leather jacket, Rokker trousers and even my boots were soaked. I went into the underground parking garage opposite my hotel and had to check the situation first.

Happened, nothing can be done about it, checked into the hotel without further ado, but now it started, what kind of hotel is this? The St. Olav Hotel is not only opposite the clinic, the whole hotel has the style of a hospital. The bathroom, the lamps, sockets and switches everywhere, the only thing missing was the ward round bursting in. It wasn't comfortable, but that doesn't matter today, maybe it's all right, they can just wipe up the next morning when I'm gone again.

It was a great day, I experienced a lot again, I'm already realizing how Norway slows you down, the beautiful nature around you, really nice people and even if the weather doesn't really play along, but that's part of this challenge.

In the next part, I drive towards Mo i Rana, a fishing village with 18,000 inhabitants, making it the third largest town in northern Norway. I spend the night here just a few kilometers below the Arctic Circle. The second part of my Lofoten tour will follow the next Sunday.

The second part will follow, or Thursday, May 4th. I'm just about to finish it. Status 18:00

Text & picture credits: Harleysite