Viking World Tour

[Dr. Rich]

My wife and I decided that it was time to visit the homeland. My great grandfather was born in Tondor Denmark and we had never been there. My dad who flew B-17's in the second world war was shot down and spent 16 months in a POW camp on the Baltic Sea near where Germany and Denmark join. I wanted to see the country, the landscape and the area that had such a great impact on my relatives' lives.

We also have a very good friend in Sweden who comes to the US every year looking for 55 Mercury parts and stays with us and for years has tried to get us to come visit him. Visiting a bunch of Swedes is about as high on my list of things to do as putting my hand in a blender, but we felt we needed to expand our horizons. (Rumor is that the Swedes are to the Danes as the Irish are to the Scots).

One of the things that made this trip special was our ability to meet two of the guys who frequent the FJR Forum, to see their bikes and their passion for riding and to experience their country through their eyes. I will write more about meeting Henrick in Denmark and Enn in Estonia further down in this thread. Hotels, museums, airports tend to blur at the end of a trip but being with people in their own environment and experiencing life through their lenses is the magic of travel.

I will start with a picture of a couple of shirts that I bought in Denmark. The last picture is a Danish Policeman on his FJR escorting some dignitary to the airport or some official event. As I sort out my pictures I will probably break this down into our time with Henrick, our time with Bengt in Sweden and our time with Enn in Tallinn Estonia.

 

[beemerdons]

Old Michael and Papa Chuy have anxiously been awaiting this Viking World Tour Ride Report, this will be about just as much fun as a colonoscopy without anesthesia! jes' sayin' and nuff' said!

 

[Dr. Rich]

Old Michael and Papa Chuy have anxiously been awaiting this Viking World Tour Ride Report, this will be about just as much fun as a colonoscopy without anesthesia! jes' sayin' and nuff' said!

For you sissies that rode the alps this summer, you should try a real road in Norway where there aren't guardrails and you have a waterfall to wet the pavement!

 

[ahchiu]

Nice RR Rich, looking forward to more.

 

[Old Michael]

Old Michael and Papa Chuy have anxiously been awaiting this Viking World Tour Ride Report, this will be about just as much fun as a colonoscopy without anesthesia! jes' sayin' and nuff' said!

For you sissies that rode the alps this summer, you should try a real road in Norway where there aren't guardrails and you have a waterfall to wet the pavement!

Sacramento Mike wets his own pavement, thankyooverymuch.

Looking forward to the pics and prose, Dr. Rich.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Old Michael and Papa Chuy have anxiously been awaiting this Viking World Tour Ride Report, this will be about just as much fun as a colonoscopy without anesthesia! jes' sayin' and nuff' said!

For you sissies that rode the alps this summer, you should try a real road in Norway where there aren't guardrails and you have a waterfall to wet the pavement!

Actually, we're headed to Norway next summer with Edelweiss.

Can NOT wait!

:yahoo:

 

[wheatonFJR]

Alright!

Looking forward to a report from the Danish perspective for a change...enough with the Irish for awhile. :clapping:

 

[beemerdons]

Alright!

Looking forward to a report from the Danish perspective for a change...enough with the Irish for awhile. :clapping:

I fully agree with my Maun Wheatie, let's have some "Comic Relief"! :clapping:

 

[Old Michael]

Yo, Rich. We're not gettin' any younger here.

Git to gittin', or I'll write this report FOR ya! ...with embellishments.

 

[beemerdons]

Yo, Rich. We're not gettin' any younger here.

Git to gittin', or I'll write this report FOR ya! ...with embellishments.

My Brother Michael, I fully know as a loyal friend to Dr. Rich for many years you have done your very best to wise up this damn Dane to the ways of the world. I clearly remember this scene where you were trying to instruct Dr. Itch in the proper manner of fondling a fine and full female breast, you can clearly see by the dazed and confused expression on his mug he was as baffled and addled as ShinyPartsUp or SkooterG in a Juarez Whorehouse! You can only carry this Nordic burden so far Mick, never forget that a Dane is just a Swede with his brains beat out! Erin ga' bragh, Slainte!

 

[Bustanut joker]

Thank gawd I was naked when I opened this thread :yahoo: .... Anybody want pictures?

 

[escapefjrtist]

Looking forward to the rest of the RR Rich.

--G

 

[Dr. Rich]

The tour started with a flight from Seattle to Reykjavik Iceland that took about 8 hours. One is struck immediately by the barren landscape and the lack of trees near the airport. The runway is built in a lava field and is located about a 45 minute drive from town. My wife kept suggesting that with the quality of the roads and the openness of the countryside, this would be a great place for a race like the Isle of Mann TT. Once in Reykjavik we got the feel that this is a town with a very youthful culture and is kind of edgy. There are lots of nightclubs and the town is pretty wild around midnight.

This is some of the art on the walls of the buildings that line the main street.

There are several main attractions in Reykavik... The most recognizable is the church that is built on the hill above the center of town.

Here is a picture of town from the top of the church.

A statue of Lief Erickson that was donated to Iceland by the USA.

This is an Icelandic Coast Guard Cutter in the harbor

This is a shot of their new opera house which they claim is one of the tops in the world.

Please note the resembelence.....

A food shot for my skinny friend in Arizona!

Puffins were everywhere!

Looking down the main street.

So as not to bother you with other shots of Iceland... We now move to Denmark where we met up with Henrick...

The trip to Denmark was so that I could see where my family had come from and to understand why my great grandfather had immigrated to the US. Before we could go exploring in Tondor we met up with one of our FJR buddies that lives in the north west corner of Denmark... His name is Heinrick Kristensen and he and I had communicated about getting together for lunch to talk bikes, families and life in general. Heinrick is a supervisor for a company that imports industrial glass from Poland and then they cut and finish it for large commercial projects. He was kind enough to take the day off and we met in a little town on the west coast named Blavand. The drive from Copenhagen took about 4 hours and it was made rather enjoyable through the efforts of our rental car company that didn't have the car we had reserved so they gave us a brand new Audi A5. Richard, I now know why you love your Audi! Here are some pics of Henrick and his immaculate 06.

I took him a shirt from the rally in Castlegar and one from the Reuben Run... He just could not understand the distances we would ride for a sandwich.

He in turn gave me a shirt from their club and a laser cut stainless steel kick stand plate that has FJR cut into it.

I tried to get him to commit to coming west to meet the crazies out here and I think someday we will see him...

If you look at Henrick's saddlebag, he is missing the little Yamaha plastic insert. If you have an extra and want to donate it or sell it to one of our Danish FJR family, send me a note and I will get it to him.

 

[beemerdons]

Now we are finally getting somewhere, many thanks Dr. Rich! Any aebleskiver photos? Carlsberg?

 

[Old Michael]

Is it my imagination, or is it not a fact that every '06 owner is a handsome *******, ...with good taste?

Please note the resemblance.....

I'm leaving this alone, .....for now.

 

[beemerdons]

Is it my imagination, or is it not a fact that every '06 owner is a handsome *******, ...with good taste?

You could be on to something Mick, Marcus also owns a 2006. jes' sayin' and nuff' said!

Nice RR Rich, looking forward to more.

 

[Dr. Rich]

It is pretty clear that this crowd is interested in pictures of food and items made of steel and aluminum so I will try to tailor this report to those critera...

After visiting with Henrick we went to Tondor and visited where my great grandfather was born. Took lots of pictures of the church and the baptismal font where he was baptized. From there we went over to the island of Aero where the streets are lined with houses from the 1600's. Hard to imagine this little island was the major port for Denmark back then.

We spent several days in Copenhagen and loved it.

This is what they call the new harbor...

Here is a real Viking lunch... Two types of fish (herring and cod) and a piece of pork covered with red cabbage served with brown bread. Not much better in life when served with a good Danish beer!

Susan had a slightly more traditional lunch..

You can see the results of a great hour spent on the waterfront in Copenhagen..

Lots of pictures of Copenhagen but we now move to Sweden...

Years ago I met a young man from Sweden who was in the US looking for parts for a 55 Mercury. He stayed with us and over the years Bengt has returned many times and we now consider him to be part of the family... He has tried to get us to come to Sweden for years so we finally went.

A new house that he just built

Some of Bengt's cars. He has them in barns and garages all over town... I have no idea how many he has!

Some of Bengt's shop and barn..

Bengt took us to see some Viking carvings in the rock...

We went to the town of Eskiltuna where we toured a museum dedicated to the industrial history of the area...

Heater in the corner..

They had a backhoe simulator so you could practice your eye hand coordination

One of the things this town is famous for is their knives. I was able to purchase a Grandsfors Bruks Axe which I will add to my collection.

Downstairs was a display of old engines and equipment...

One of the highlights of our time with Bengt was a trip to see an incredible bike... The story behind is... It has been fifteen years in the making. The man that built it is a machinist for Volvo and works in the heavy transmission division in Koping. He has been there from thirty some years and his specialty is to take gears or other items that are not done correctly by the digital / automated machines and manually fix them... To say his is a master machinist is an understatement. He decided to make a motorcycle and over the years hand crafted all the parts for the bike. I believe the only internal parts that he did not make were the pistons and camshaft. He made the entire gear box along with all the other moving parts. The bike had not been started yet but was going to be fired up within the month. All the body work was hand done by one of Bengt's friends. He is the one sitting on the bike. I believe the bike is scheduled to be in Easy Rider magazine in the near future.

 

[beemerdons]

Trick Question: How do you know Danes are even bigger drunks than we Irish? Because they put their Ride Reports under Other Bike Related Discussions topic header!

I love the photo of the steam locomotive, I am buggy about old timer Trains (especially European railways)!

 

[Dr. Rich]

We finished our trip with an excursion over to Tallinn Estonia. Estonia has only been out from Soviet control since 1991 so the country is growing and transitioning to a western economy. I contacted Enn prior to coming to ask if he needed any parts for his 08 FJR. I took him a "Big Foot", a set of Vibronators and a set of Grip Buddies. I also took a shirt from Castlegar. Enn was kind enough to offer to have Susan and I over to their house for dinner. They have a beautiful home that is very warm and inviting. Enn's wife Marina who is a doctor cooked a wonderful dinner and Enn BBQ ed some marinated lamb chops. It was a wonderful evening and was one of the highlights of our trip. I am scheming on how to get Enn and Marina over here to ride with the West Coast Crazies! Great trip and I hope you enjoyed the pics.

Enn and his dog "Joe"

Marina ( the doctor )

Enn and Marina's home

Enjoying dinner

Tallinn