[Nick Calne (OP)]

I have an ongoing fascination with the idea of riding as far North as possible.  See the Northern Lights, eat a polar bear, fight an eskimo, get cold, wet etc.  I would probably hate it, but I wonder who here has gone furthest North and what happened?

Top of Norway?  Top of Canada?  Alaska? Anyone gone nuts and done Northern Russia?

[HockleyBoy]

Not been further north than the Highlands of Scotland on the bike!

Have Scandinavia on the to do list, would love to ride up through Norway as far as the Artic Circle some time.

[HockleyBoy]

Tiger meet in Tromsoya anyone? 

[Geoff W]

A friend of a friend of mine ( George) told me about his trip to the North cape in Norway, which is usually regarded as the furthest North possible on a road. Finland; mile after mile of flat straight gravel roads with no view other than thousands of conifers, and when you stop the millions of mossies will eat lumps out of any exposed flesh, including inside nostrils. Beer is > £10.00 for a bottle. Finland takes about three days to cross South to North. Hotels are ridiculous prices for simple accommodation. He then crossed into Norway went to the North Cape, which is a road near a headland and turned Left to ride back down the Norwegian coast, more conifers, and mossies beer still >£10.00 for a bottle, hotels possibly even more expensive. The fjords are very scenic, but after the first twenty or so the novelty wears thin. 50 mph speed limit rigidly enforced with huge on the spot fines.

In the end he said it became an endurance event rather than a trip. I was also considering a similar trip, George put me off it totally. He is a bloke in his 70's who has travelled all over the world as a photo journalist, and ridden his bike all over Europe and beyond. I respect his opinions.
 However..... taking the ferry from Travemunde to Helsinki, then crossing the Gulf of Finland to Estonia and riding down through the Baltic States does appeal to me very much. Scenic if rather flat countries with very interesting 20th Century history. Beer is €2-3 a bottle and hotels are very reasonable. And you can ride to the Russian border and stick two fingers up to Putin, as long as you can ride faster than a bullet!
Then either cross Poland , big and still very cheap, or take the ferry from Klaipeda in Lithuania to Kiel. Finish off with Germany and Holland. Or do it the other way around and end with the ferry from Helsinki to Travemunde. All very do-able and an enjoyable trip to be had.

[Timbox2]

I'll be heading North in a couple of weeks, Stafford, the nights are really long

[Chris Canning]

A friend of a friend of mine ( George) told me about his trip to the North cape in Norway, which is usually regarded as the furthest North possible on a road. Finland; mile after mile of flat straight gravel roads with no view other than thousands of conifers, and when you stop the millions of mossies will eat lumps out of any exposed flesh, including inside nostrils. Beer is > £10.00 for a bottle. Finland takes about three days to cross South to North. Hotels are ridiculous prices for simple accommodation. He then crossed into Norway went to the North Cape, which is a road near a headland and turned Left to ride back down the Norwegian coast, more conifers, and mossies beer still >£10.00 for a bottle, hotels possibly even more expensive. The fjords are very scenic, but after the first twenty or so the novelty wears thin. 50 mph speed limit rigidly enforced with huge on the spot fines.

In the end he said it became an endurance event rather than a trip. I was also considering a similar trip, George put me off it totally. He is a bloke in his 70's who has travelled all over the world as a photo journalist, and ridden his bike all over Europe and beyond. I respect his opinions.
 However..... taking the ferry from Travemunde to Helsinki, then crossing the Gulf of Finland to Estonia and riding down through the Baltic States does appeal to me very much. Scenic if rather flat countries with very interesting 20th Century history. Beer is €2-3 a bottle and hotels are very reasonable. And you can ride to the Russian border and stick two fingers up to Putin, as long as you can ride faster than a bullet!
Then either cross Poland , big and still very cheap, or take the ferry from Klaipeda in Lithuania to Kiel. Finish off with Germany and Holland. Or do it the other way around and end with the ferry from Helsinki to Travemunde. All very do-able and an enjoyable trip to be had.

We’ll deal with Norway first!! I’ve a couple mates who live on the Isle of Man they ride that slow I never ride with them ‘I’ll see ya at the other end’ they go to Norway and stopped by the law and get an almighty bollocking speed limits over there are an absolute joke so if your going do it on a CG125 might save on the speeding fines. 

As for Finland my wife’s cousin has lived there(just outside Helsinki) for the last 15 years while on a visit went we into the Triumph dealer in Turku and asked which route they take when going to Southern Europe they say either ferry to Sweden or Germany when I ask about going via Estonia they look at me astonished  they say the same as other post lots of trees and speeding fines and not much else.

Whilst in Finland we see all the motorways have fences it’s the Moose he explains!! Really I ask 
he says very few folk over there don’t know someone who hasn’t had a encounter with such and that is in a car.

[threepot]

Furthest North I've travelled to is John O Groats,during our 2014 meet☺. The Scandinavian countries look nice,but expensive😕
If you use YouTube,there's some stuff on there. ,'the missenden flyer' did a recent trip there. Didn't watch much after they crossed the Nijmegan bridge in the way. He got all emotional,saying how his grandfather served in the army,then praising the allied forces for their contribution,and sacrifices,whilst riding across  on a f_____g German bike!😡
A good on to watch is 'harry s garage' . He travells up there in a 70's RollsRoyce☺

[Chris Canning]

We have far too many wet holidays our golden rul is always go south two weeks tomorrow we rode out of the Aragon MotoGP at a mear 37c 

Two weeks on the road pissed down one night in the Pyrenees while we were tucked up in bed and a wet mist going over the mountains en route to Bilbao.

[Nick Calne (OP)]

Furthest North I've travelled to is John O Groats,during our 2014 meet☺. The Scandinavian countries look nice,but expensive😕
If you use YouTube,there's some stuff on there. ,'the missenden flyer' did a recent trip there. Didn't watch much after they crossed the Nijmegan bridge in the way. He got all emotional,saying how his grandfather served in the army,then praising the allied forces for their contribution,and sacrifices,whilst riding across  on a f_____g German bike!😡
A good on to watch is 'harry s garage' . He travells up there in a 70's RollsRoyce☺

You watch the same people on Youtube as me.  Both Harry and The Missenden Flyer are really good.  The Miss Flyer could keep things a little more concise at times.  Another one I like, who is a really good source of instruction, is Mototrek.

[Nick Calne (OP)]

We have far too many wet holidays our golden rul is always go south

Ah! so that's why we never see you on tiger triple trips.  It always rains on Tiger triple trips.

[threepot]

Don't remember it raining on the Cotswold meet last year? Did it rain on the recent ' let's keep it a secret ' meet?😁

[Timbox2]

I'll be heading North in a couple of weeks, Stafford, the nights are really long

Uh, scratch that, we have Storm Callum beating at the doors

[Nick Calne (OP)]

Was that the 'keep it a secret meet' that you were invited to, but had jury service?  Yes it did, btw, quite a lot!

It rained briefly on the day of the Cotswold ride. Doing the prep and research for that day got me absolutely soaked a couple of times.

Stafford looks like a no go for me too.

[Sparky]

I have an ongoing fascination with the idea of riding as far North as possible.  See the Northern Lights, eat a polar bear, fight an eskimo, get cold, wet etc.  I would probably hate it, but I wonder who here has gone furthest North and what happened?

Top of Norway?  Top of Canada?  Alaska? Anyone gone nuts and done Northern Russia?

Come over to the West Coast of Canada ride through British Columbia to the Alaska Hwy then North into the Yukon all the way to Whitehorse, Dawson City then ride the Dempster Hwy to Inuvik and on to Tuktoyaktuk on the shore of the Arctic Ocean.  The road from Inuvik to Tuk was finished late in 2017 so this year was the first year you could drive/ride all the way to the Arctic Ocean.  I went with my Dad in June of this year from Vancouver B.C. up the Alaska Hwy to Whitehorse and stayed with a friend for a few days we headed South on the Stewart Cassiar Hwy to Prince Rupert took the all day ferry to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island and back home to Vancouver.  In the next few years I will be doing another trip North with plans to go all the way to Tuk.  There is a lure to the North the isolation, the wildlife, the Northern lights, and the endless daylight in the summer.  I'll post a few pics tomorrow I don't have them on my laptop.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuvik%E2%80%93Tuktoyaktuk_Highway

[Sparky]

Pics as promised.

1)  Fuel stop on the Alaska Hwy at Pink Mountain, restaurant, fuel and motel that's it.
2)  Dad at the sign post forest Watson Lake Yukon Territory.
3)  Miles canyon on the Yukon River, Whitehorse Yukon Territory.
4)  The Klondike steam paddle wheeler these used to ply the Yukon river in the summers from Whitehorse to Dawson City this is now a national park exhibit.
5)  Bell II ski lodge on the Stewart Cassiar Hwy, fuel and food stop, it's not unusual to find a helicopter in the parking lot in these remote places.
6)  Bear Glacier on Hwy 37A heading into Stewart B.C.
7)  Ferry heading South down the inside passage from Prince Rupert to Port hardy B.C.