Stelvio goes Norge

[Xlratr]

That's a good start! 
2 correct!

[Xlratr]

"Yeah, heard that Guzzi drumming all down the line.
Oh, heard the wires a humming all down the line.
We're gonna open up the throttle yeah.
All down the line
We're gonna bust another bottle, yeah.
All down the line"

Slept a little longer today and it was already 10:00 by the time I got on the road. I stayed just north of Trondheim and had to pass by the town heading south. It may be a nice place, I don't know. Just passing through. And it isn't great biking country. But a little further south and it starts to get interesting again.

My first planned stop was Lillehammer where the 94 winter Olympics were held. That's a good indication that I'm heading for hilly and curvy country, and that's just what it is. Climbing up, the countryside starts turning more stark and dramatic and it looks suddenly more like the North again. Unfortunately it was raining. In fact, it was a very interesting combination of weather! Strong winds (I could hardly stand straight when getting off the bike), temperatures down to 8 degrees, low clouds making visibility poor, plus torrential rain. Cars were pulling over and stopping it was that heavy. But I had a schedule to keep so I pressed on. The roads were really wonderful though.

But I did have one scary moment. Approaching a corner I could suddenly smell something familiar. Just as I realized it was the smell of gear oil, I rounded the corner to see the road covered in rainbow colors! Don't touch anything, slowly roll off the throttle and hope for the best. A puckering moment, but all went well!

Came down into Lillehammer and suddenly the sky was blue, temperature was 20 degrees and people were walking around in t shirts and shorts. I stood there dripping rain water.

Back on the road, and things are starting to look a bit more urban the closer I get to Oslo. Skirted the city and found a hotel further west. Just 200 km short of Kristiansand now where I catch the ferry back to Denmark tomorrow.

Here's a list of all the things that have gone wrong with the bike so far:

..

PS: I put some more pictures in the album
https://www.flickr.com/gp/125498347@N05/X3mU25

[TobyJug]

Stones - All Down The Line.

They're damn good photo's by the way.

Jug

[Nic in Western NYS]

"Yeah, heard that Guzzi drumming all down the line.
Oh, heard the wires a humming all down the line.
We're gonna open up the throttle yeah.
All down the line
We're gonna bust another bottle, yeah.
All down the line"

  Yes, but can you play it in open G with a 5 string like Keef? 
Did you ever make it through the little hamlet of Froysnes? 
Thanks for this - it's great that you've shared your trek.

[Xlratr]

  Yes, but can you play it in open G with a 5 string like Keef? 
Did you ever make it through the little hamlet of Froysnes? 
Thanks for this - it's great that you've shared your trek.

Nic, I messed up! I'm sorry! Before I left on this trip I tried to find Froysnes in Google and in the map I have, with no success. I thought maybe the spelling was wrong. But when I read your message earlier today when I was on the Ferry, I keyed it into the app version of Google Maps and lo and behold it came up with "Oystein Froysnes". It seems to be a very small place, but I must have ridden through it on last Sunday morning. But I didn't know and didn't take any pictures.
Maybe Pebra (who I met this morning) can take a photo the next time he rides that way?

[Xlratr]

"Flow river flow, let your waters wash down
Take me from this road to some other town"

Spent the night in a very pleasant hotel in Sandefjord. After a good breakfast I was ready to head off to the ferry.
Pebra from the WG board came over to the hotel to meet up and it was nice to spend time talking about all sorts of stuff, including of course Norway and Guzzi. It's great to put faces to names :-)

The road down to Kristiansand isn't very exciting and had quite a number of speed cameras. But the weather was perfect and I just cruised down the 200km to make the ferry with plenty of time to spare.

I've developed a new tactic for talking to GS owners! You can probably imagine there were hundreds of them in Norway, mostly kitted out with the full Touratech kit. When they see the Guzzi they usually say "Oh, a Moto Guzzi. You don't see many of those. Are you happy with it? (Meaning = surely you have a lot of problems!). If I say I'm happy, then the direct question about reliability usually comes. So when I arrived at the ferry and parked behind a group of GS, I decided to be proactive! So I asked if they were happy and if they had any problems yet! It was quite amusing to turn the tables :-)

When the ferry docked in Denmark it was just a matter of cruising down the motorway for 550km until I was home. I've leaned to appreciate the Kaoko cruise control. When I first tried it I didn't really get it and I thought it was a waste of money. But when you get used to it, you start to appreciate it. It isn't a cruise control of course, it's just a throttle lock, but it takes a lot of the stress out of the long haul stuff. Coming down through Denmark and northern Germany, I just locked it at 4,500 rpm, grabbed the bars close to the risers like a racing bicycle, and tucked down behind the screen. Really good way to cover miles.

So now I'm home, with just over 5,000km more on the clock vs last week and a lot of impressions in my head. I really enjoyed it, despite the occasional "shower", and the Stelvio behaved perfectly. I know I didn't write extensively or take a lot of pictures, but I hope you all could get some impressions of this beautiful country. It's my favorite riding destination.

Road tested by -Xlratr!-

[Nic in Western NYS]

Nic, I messed up! I'm sorry! Before I left on this trip I tried to find Froysnes in Google and in the map I have, with no success. I thought maybe the spelling was wrong. But when I read your message earlier today when I was on the Ferry, I keyed it into the app version of Google Maps and lo and behold it came up with "Oystein Froysnes". It seems to be a very small place, but I must have ridden through it on last Sunday morning. But I didn't know and didn't take any pictures.
Maybe Pebra (who I met this morning) can take a photo the next time he rides that way?

Ha, no worries at all!  I'll just associate that photo of the rainbow with the village. 
Any interesting Byrds up there?

[Xlratr]

Any interesting Byrds up there?

Oh yes! Roger that! 

[Jerdo1]

John,

Glad you made it back safe - great adventure & great pictures

You're right about the scale of things compared to other places in Europe.

If ever you fancy a trip over in Scotland - there's a well publicised one called the NC500 which takes you on a 500 mile round the top, mostly west, coast of Scotland.  I understand it's been busy this summer because it featured in"Top Gear" - but it'll return to it's normal, sleepy, self.  I've travelled parts of it and it's breathtaking.

I'm going home to Scotland from France with my Stelvio next month and am going to try and fit it in with my brother before the snow starts.

I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Jerry

[ejs]

Frøysnes
2 pics from google streetwiev...

[ScepticalScotty]

I've a mind to take a trip through Norway just staying in the camping huts. One day! My job has been abolished and there is a 66% chance I wont have a job at the same salary come November so everything longer term is on hold.

[pebra]

The Beauty and the Beast......
We had a chat over breakfast in Sandefjord on the day he left the country.
I still can't fathom how he can ride 1,000 km in one day on Norwegian roads......  Speed limit 80 kmph in some Places, but most of the time you can't do 80! EDIT: and that's not because of the speed limit!

[Nic in Western NYS]

Fr�ysnes
2 pics from google streetwiev...

Thank you!  : )

[Xlratr]

The Beauty and the Beast......
We had a chat over breakfast in Sandefjord on the day he left the country.
I still can't fathom how he can ride 1,000 km in one day on Norwegian roads......  Speed limit 80 kmph in some Places, but most of the time you can't do 80! EDIT: and that's not because of the speed limit!

Thanks Pebra!  . It was great to meet up, thanks for coming out to see me.
Well, the total trip was 5,013 km according to my GPS, but not a bad average per day I think, considering that on some days I only managed 400 to 500. But the 1,000 day was a long one, starting very early and ending at 2200, just in time to get a hut. The Stelvio has a big tank!

Is the speed limit 80??? 

[Huzo]

Thanks Pebra!  . It was great to meet up, thanks for coming out to see me.
Well, the total trip was 5,013 km according to my GPS, but not a bad average per day I think, considering that on some days I only managed 400 to 500. But the 1,000 day was a long one, starting very early and ending at 2200, just in time to get a hut. The Stelvio has a big tank!

Is the speed limit 80??? 

The final 200 seems a long way doesn't it...

[pebra]

Is the speed limit 80??? 

  I hope you're pulling my leg!
Getting caught is costly, particularily in slow zones.

On secondary roads on the west coast I find the road engineers must have a sense of humour -  there are signs for speed limits 50 kph (urbanisations) and 80 kph, but the roads are so twisty and narrow that you're not able to drive at 50 anywhere.
Same goes for signs indicating turns in the road and narrower road ahead  -  why put up signs when you're more than aware that you're already been driving on a twisty and narrow road! 

[Nic in Western NYS]

"Pulled out of Hamburg rolling up the eastern seaboard..."

  Hamburg NY is about 3 hours northeast of Pittsburgh PA you know.