Trip around Finland on a -81 GS850G

[Guest]

As an emergency solution I cut a piece from a birch tree with a camping knife and then covered it with duct tape to make an ad hoc plug for the filler hole.. seems to hold so far.

 

[Burque73]

As an emergency solution I cut a piece from a birch tree with a camping knife and then covered it with duct tape to make an ad hoc plug for the filler hole.. seems to hold so far.
View attachment 63252

Nice work. Hopefully you come across at least a plumbing supply place or something. Have seen folks use various rubber stoppers in similar fashion.

 

[Guest]

After the filler cap incident, continued to Pykeija, which is at the tip of a wind swept peninsula. The roads there were pretty epic following the coast. I only heard about this place after I left for the trip. It is at least party Finnish speaking area. I could order food from the bistro in Finnish, great! The weather has been pretty bad today. Below 10C and mostly raining. The heated grips are keeping me in driving condition but I have to pull over regularly to do some jumping and running

 

[Guest]

Returned from Pykeija to the main road, which followed the coast for a while still before turning inland. The scenery became more flat but still impressive. The road then entered the river valley of river Tana (Teno). In Tana bru it was a decision point to either stay there or push forward and hope I come accross a camping site. It was about 6pm so I decided to continue forward. Nothing came up very soon and I was getting really cold. One camping site was apparently closed for the night and it looked like a set from a horror movie so probably a good thing. I ended all the way to Utsjoki, which is a crossing point back to Finland. From a tourist info sign I spotted a camping area on the Norwegian side 30km away. I phoned there. They were closed but said that they’ll rent me a cabin anyway. I had been dreading of being forced to set up my tent in the bushes somewhere in rain, so this was great! Last 30km in dimming light and cold were not a problem anymore when I knew there was a warm cabin waiting.

edit: distance covered 270km / 167mi

 

[Guest]

Left the camping site and followed the road along river Teno, which also marks the border between Norway and Finland. Road was nice and weather decent. The river looked really interesting with sand banks in the middle of it. There were occasional showers but nothing constant. Temperature just about tolerable. Nice bit of driving all in all.

 

[Guest]

I really wanted to take a closer look at the sand banks on the river, so I kept looking for a track which would lead down to the river. Almost all tracks ended in fields or to yards of country houses, at which point I always took a U-turn. Finally I found an old tractor track and got down to the river. The track was a bit rough but the GS has a decent ground clearance

 

[Guest]

Had lunch in Karasjok, where most of the people were clearly Sami. Since about Ivalo, Finland, all street signs have also been in Sami language, and on the Norwegian side I think in few different Sami languages. Anyway, again a decision whether to return to Finland or continue on the Norwegian side. Returning to Finland would’ve meant some backtracking on roads I have already been on. So, a turn further into Norway, to Kautokeino. Again nice roads a bit higher on a sort of a plateau. It was easy to keep up good speed in these roads. Only few reindeer but some sheep. Stopped by a beautiful lake which had sandy beaches. If only it was about 25 Celcius warmer!

 

[Guest]

Stopped in Kautokeino for a chocolate bar and Red Bull. It was again late afternoon so I didn’t stay for sightseeing but continued directly to the Kivilompolo border crossing station. I had hardly seen another motorcycle after the classic jap bike meeting in the beginning, but now two Swedish KTM Adventure riders drove by while I was doing my warming up routine by the road. Exchanged waves and thumbs up. At the border crossing nobody even stopped me. I guess Finland allows people from Norway now without a Covid check? Don’t know, it changes all the time. Weather was getting better so I started thinking I should do at least one bush camping on this trip. Stocked up in Enonteki? and pushed on to Muonio on Swedish-Finnish border. After Muonio I started looking around and found a promising wood harvester track. I checked the orienteering map -app that there are no houses nearby and followed the track about half a kilometer into the woods and set up camp.

edit: distance covered 380km / 236mi

 

[steve murdoch]

This is some hardcore touring.
Great travelogue, Juke.

 

[Guest]

Temperature dropped to +2C at night but I had learned from earlier tent nights to wear practically all clothes in the sleeping bag, and it was Ok. And a good way to warm up is to put on the riding gear and pack up the tent etc. I exited the woods and continued south on the main road. The scenery was again flat and foresty. The road soon started following Muonio river on the border between Finland and Sweden. Muonio river soon connected with Tornio river. The Teno river between Norway and Finland runs north to the arctic sea, and the Muonio/Tornio rivers run south to the baltic sea. In Ylitornio is a bridge crossing to Sweden and cars seemed to be passing back and forth without any covid control checks. I checked the official pages that yes it’s Ok to pass and with the double vaccination I don’t have to go to quarantine or anything. So, I crossed over to Sweden and continued to follow the river on that side.

 

[Guest]

It was about 70km drive to Haaparanta/Tornio which is divided in the middle by the border. I didn’t stop anywhere on the way except to take a picture. This time when crossing over to Finland there was a stop with Finnish customs officers asking everyone where the were coming from. They looked at me like the idiot I was when I told I had just crossed over from Ylitornio Later I heard that people coming from southern parts of Sweden were required to show the certificate of vaccination. At this point I was getting pretty tired so I made good speed to Oulu, where I got to spend a great evening and night at my wife’s relatives place. Sauna, a dip in the river and a warm bed were really welcome!

distance covered: 384km / 238mi

 

[Guest]

This morning started the last leg to home. I noticed one of the side box fixing brackets had come loose and the other half had fallen off. Made a quick fix with steel wire and headed off. It was going to be a boring transport between points A and B. Now it was most important to get home in time to say good night to the kids.

 

[Guest]

The notoriously boring road number 4 was just as boring as ever. Stopped only for food and petrol and adding oil. It was again pretty cold and when I got home at 9:30pm I was just about cramped into the driving position. Kids had waited up and later some food and sauna felt absolutely great. Some summary and more (and better quality) photos to follow!

edit: distance covered 648km / 402mi

 

[Guest]

Two weeks have passed since I returned, and I've had some time to reflect on the trip. First of all it was really exhilarating to step outside the super-busy family life for a whole week, on a motorcycle, with only a rough idea of where to go. All the uncertainties about where to sleep, eat and will the bike hold together, only made the idea more fun. When traveling with family, all of these things would have to be planned and sorted out in advance. So, starting the trip was actually one of the best experiences on it, a hollow feeling in my belly but a grin on my face.

On the first days it was also cool to see how motorcycling connects people. On just about every petrol station someone would come over and ask about the bike and maybe tell what they had driven in the past. On my first stop for petrol I actually left my tank bag on the rear seat and started driving, and it of course fell off. When I noticed, I turned around and found the bag few km back. Another Suzuki driver (TL1000) had stopped and picked it up from the middle of the road and was trying to find contact information on it to return it. After 1.5y of limited social contacts due Covid all this was very moving.

In southern Finland the scenery and roads felt familiar and the wobbling handlebar took some of the joy out of driving. When I had the issues with my front tyre sorted, and got around to the arctic latitudes, there was some really good bits of driving which I will remember always for sure. It was a special feeling, going on some totally empty roads in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by rough scenery, the 40 years old engine buzzing on day after day. I would often stand on the footpegs for long periods of time and try to take it all in.

Crossing to another country made me feel almost guilty somehow since it has been practically banned for so long. This combined with the presence of the exotic arctic sea made the Norwegian part of the trip extra special. After crossing back to Finland, the last few days were just about getting back home. The long days and many poorly slept nights were taking their tax. I was surprised that I didn't get any back, leg or arm problems at any time. I guess the driving position is really natural. Anyway, returning home was great, but now I'm already planning where to go next . Some random pictures below.

P.S. I also got around to subscribing to an image hosting service, and have now changed all the pictures on my previous posts to a higher resolution.

The route on google maps.

A bonfire on the first night, at the Japanese classic bike club meeting.

Some fellow travelers in Kuusamo, with more modern machinery.

The eastern border has many memorial sites about the war against Soviet Russia during WWII.

On this road to Raate took place one of the most famous battles against the Soviets in January 1940.

The border control between Finland and Norway is pretty relaxed...

Kirkenes, Norway. The hotel in the picture was full unfortunately, but I got a room from a nice place a bit further away from the shore.

Road to Pykeija, Norway.

 

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Great story. And the pictures are awesome now. Keep them coming. Looking forward to more of your journeys.

 

[2BRacing]

Thank you for sharing your experience. It is interesting to see all the beautiful scenes in your country.

Your trip shows how reliable these 40 year old bikes are!

What was the total distance of your trip?

 

[GSXR7ED]

Great pics to go with your story. Thank you for sharing.

Ed

****

 

[Guest]

Thanks everyone for your comments!
Total distance was just under 3500km / 2175mi

 

[steve murdoch]

Quite the adventure!
The distance is impressive enough by itself but when you factor in the difficulty quotient....take a bow.

 

[gs scott]

Congratulations on a safe and successful road trip, and thank you for sharing! Great descriptions and pictures - such beautiful scenery. It's very exciting and rewarding to head out with minimal plans on sleeping arrangements, which is great for flexibility, but a bit worrisome when it starts to get late - even more so if the weather isn't cooperating. Sounds like your GS did fantastic overall, and critter / deer avoidance was equally successful. All in all, sounds like an awesome and very memorable trip, and you have some really beautiful pictures of your adventure! Thanks again for sharing.

I did a similar, not-well-planned adventure earlier this year and this is motivating me to share that as well. I could have taken my 1100ES but I ended up taking my 2018 Gold Wing. Next time...