 | Home > Expedition & Overland > Proposed route through Norway. |
 
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| The Monkey Member Since: 11 Aug 2013 Location: Meath Posts: 63  
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That was the plan at the start nordkapp or bust. Think I'll just gave to bite the bullet and take 3 weeks off work once in a life time trip after all.
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28th Jul 2015 1:08am |
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| Grenadier Member Since: 23 Jul 2014 Location: The foot of Mont Blanc... Posts: 5808  
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As the saying goes, 'Don't regret what you did do, regeret what you didn't'....  Monsieur Le Grenadier
I've not been everywhere, but it's on my list..... 2011 Puma 110DC - Corris Grey |
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28th Jul 2015 8:57am |
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| Supacat Member Since: 16 Oct 2012 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 11018  
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Been to Norway many times and never made it all the way to the top.
Planned it one year and started to do it but on the road it started to get a bit like chasing a rainbow. There are so many nice places to divert off to and stop and take a look at. It would be a shame to rip past all of them for achieving a notional "target". |
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28th Jul 2015 11:58am |
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| Grenadier Member Since: 23 Jul 2014 Location: The foot of Mont Blanc... Posts: 5808
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By complete chance, I saw this and thought of you.
Given Bikers and Defender drivers are kindred spirits, (indeed Mr Cole is the owner of a very tidy 90) I thought this might help with planning, or at least get the loin stirring... Very, very jealous. I love Norway and love the Norweigians. Now, did I ever mention the evening in the carwash.....  Monsieur Le Grenadier
I've not been everywhere, but it's on my list..... 2011 Puma 110DC - Corris Grey |
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28th Jul 2015 12:20pm |
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| Supacat Member Since: 16 Oct 2012 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 11018
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Think he has an older lwb/110 tucked away somewhere as well?
Nice bit of film there and makes the point on the huge distances in heading north - it's as far from Oslo to the northern point of Norway as going from Oslo to Rome! |
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28th Jul 2015 12:49pm |
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| Grenadier Member Since: 23 Jul 2014 Location: The foot of Mont Blanc... Posts: 5808
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Yes heard that, absolutely mental. Wetter as well!! Lots of the areas are familiar from a 5-week exercise I did with the Battalion back in 2000. Summer Mountain Ex, run by Commanding Officer who was former SAS. Beasted every opportunity, but what a trip. Stayed in/around Voss so a lot of the footage looks familiar. Loved every minute of it. Bergen beautfiul as well. As I said, very jealous. It is the greatest shame about living in the French Alps, the urbanisation, and what I love about Norway, the fact it is equally beautiful but empty and unspoilt....bon route!!
Monsieur Le Grenadier
I've not been everywhere, but it's on my list..... 2011 Puma 110DC - Corris Grey |
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28th Jul 2015 1:15pm |
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| CR Member Since: 28 Jan 2010 Location: Ireland Posts: 947 
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Looks like an amazing trip, you have me looking at the maps
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29th Jul 2015 9:16am |
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| The Monkey Member Since: 11 Aug 2013 Location: Meath Posts: 63
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More than welcome to join me CR..
Ive 3 options. I'm going to try get on the Immingham-brevik route failing that I'm gonna get on the Immingham-Gothenburg and failing that its up through Europe. If i go through Europe ill be adding a couple of extra days. Road books to follow.. |
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29th Jul 2015 7:52pm |
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| Chrismcc Member Since: 22 May 2013 Location: Bergen Posts: 29 
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Hello,
I'm more of an observer on here and admirer of Defenders, but wondered if I could offer any local knowledge as I live just outside of Bergen. Until earlier this year I was a Discovery II owner but circumstances changed and the sensible option for me was to sell up and I have moved onto the new 2015 model Subaru Outback for reliable family transport through summer and winter but still with a good 4x4 system. Anyway, I just thought I'd offer some advice on tyre choice if you haven't already purchased...? It is the law here in Norway to use both summer and winter tyres but as others have stated you could if you wish run M+S (snowflake) tyres which would be rated all year but these tyres fall in the middle of not being the best at anything. don't get me wrong they are great off road but sadly green laning is illegal in Norway so you won't be doing much off road anyway. On the Discovery II I drove BFG All Terrain in the summer and Nokian Hakkapeliitta studded tyres in the winter. Even though my BFG's are all year rated I still changed to the Nokian in winter. As a tourist you might be able to dodge it as you are just passing through but lots on cities (Bergen included) charge an additional road tax for running studded tyres in the city as they are proven to churn up more dust and cause localised air pollution or smog. Like I say though if you chose to run studded tyres you might be able to dodge it and if your stopped by police then you can easily plead ignorance 
As others have maybe said studded tyres are best overall as they excel on ice, but that said new good non studed tyres are still very good and will do you well back home for a few seasons beyond your trip. There is a group here called NAF very similar to the RAC in the UK and each year they carry out tyre tests. This is a link to the 2015 tests on their site. if you use Googe translate you will get the jist of it quite easily. But quite simply Nokian are rated top in both studded and non studded tyres. Piggdekk = Studded Piggfrie = non studded https://www.naf.no/forbrukertester/dekktes...test-2015/ in addition to this if you stop at a petrol station you will find spray cans of a product called 'Snow Grip' produced by turtle wax and if conditions are bad and you feel yourself sliding a little or indeed if you find yourself stuck (not majorly) then you can spray this product on your tyres and it will melt off any snow / ice stuck into your tyre tread and temporarily make the rubber more sticky until it wares off. Its worth having a can in your vehicle just in case. I have seen others suggest that it is an acceptable thing to have snow build up on your tyre and somehow this offers more grip but I'm sorry to suggest I don't believe this is true. there is no point in having nice sticky rubber with extra sipes and/or studs if they get clogged with snow and ice they are ineffective and you will slide..... this is where the magic snow grip in a can comes in to strip that off and you will regain traction. Another phenomenon you will encounter is the corrugations of ice you will find on some roads. They do not scrape roads here till they see tarmac. You will find hard packed snow/ice which is a good solid base and the snow tyres will do their job. The corrugations I speak of are caused by the snow ploughs which 'chatter' on the surface of this ice causing corrugations and in the Discovery this was quite noticeably loud. Chris |
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4th Nov 2015 10:32am |
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| Cold_n_Wet Member Since: 15 Oct 2012 Location: Bergen Posts: 244
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We almost neighbours Chris, and I agree with what you have written.
I have run Defenders on studded and non studded and cheap tyres, I had a really bad experience on STT on snow covered sheet Ice near Flesland Airport. I run studded on Livingstone my 13 LXV and cheap studless on Rafiki my 07 MY. On my 06 G4 I ran Discoverer M+S, all the tyres work, but the studded Nokians are my favorite. The most important is to drive after the conditions and skills, the last is very easy to over estimate. enjoy your trip, you will find good Land Rover help if needed on www.lrforum.com/forum Glen "Rafiki" 2007 110 STW - Rolling rebuild. |
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4th Nov 2015 8:44pm |
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| Grenadier Member Since: 23 Jul 2014 Location: The foot of Mont Blanc... Posts: 5808
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Good winter tips,
Last year we had a mild winter here in the Alps, but we did still have a number of large dumps. 4-5. I ran my Cooper STMaxx throughout, without too many problems. But then the main roads are nearly always cleared by the time I'm up and out!! Sadly we cannot used studded tyres here in France, so it's either M+S or full winters. Might pop some Nokians on this year, have heard great things about them. Quite like this Turtle Wax sticky stuff. The greatest issue is less the snow, more the conditions when it's more slippery under tyre. Occasionally feel the back wobble on twisty roads. But I agree with Chris that build up of snow is a bad thing on winter tyres. In 8 years of living in the Alps, in all winter conditions, I have never used chains. Winter tyres are great if used properly. But the two occasions they become less effective are when there is excessive snow build up and when they're too warm. Top tip for those Brits coming on holiday during winter. If you're shooed with Winter tyres and the snow's falling, take your time and drive at a sensible speed to keep the tyre temps down so that they're within their optimum working window. Notably, if you've barrelled down from Calais and are about to climb to the high resorts with uncleared snow on the Tarmac, take time to stop for half and hour or so, let the tyres cool down, then tackle the climb. You'll be amazed by the extra grip. Monsieur Le Grenadier
I've not been everywhere, but it's on my list..... 2011 Puma 110DC - Corris Grey |
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5th Nov 2015 9:45am |
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| Bumpymike Member Since: 18 Nov 2015 Location: cheshire Posts: 71 
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When I went to Nordkape in Feb 2014 ...the final stretch is done by convoy - the driver of the snow plough checked everybodies tyres ... 3 Italian lads in a 4x4 fiat panda had been refused the day before so they had gone off and bought new tyres as had m&s type tyres.
I was running Nokian artic tyres - and I got blown side ways across the road by the wind ...a very strange feeling. There are central European winter tyres and then there are arctic tyres....which are a lot softer compound. By prepared for very short days of daylight ...like 6 hours. I managed the round trip from home in warrington in 9 days [via Immingham - Gothenburg] going up through Sweden ...I was going to take longer and drive back down the Atlantic coast but found it a little tedious due to speed limit and thought the isolated forest route of Finland more frightening !! |
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11th Dec 2015 9:59am |
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| Bumpymike Member Since: 18 Nov 2015 Location: cheshire Posts: 71
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Tyres I used Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 235 70 16
Bought from Nordic Tyres in Lockerbie Dumfries and Galloway DG11 2JA 01576 203020 |
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18th Dec 2015 2:53pm |
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