Just Ride.

Should this ride thread be just a.... well, thread? Or should there be a dedicated Forum topic?

  • Yes, it's own topic in the Forums

    Votes: 19 90.5%

  • Nah... threads good enough.

    Votes: 2 9.5%
  • Total voters
    21
  • Poll closed .
Nice!

Random question: I was stationed in Iceland for a while and noticed that "vik" is a common ending for the names of towns and cities (Keflavik, Reykjavik). I see it's used in Norway too. I wondered if that meant "town" or "city" in English?
 
Downeaster said:
Nice!

Random question: I was stationed in Iceland for a while and noticed that "vik" is a common ending for the names of towns and cities (Keflavik, Reykjavik). I see it's used in Norway too. I wondered if that meant "town" or "city" in English?
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No, "vik" means bay, so most all places ending with "vik" is situated at a bay. Narvik was previously called "Victoriahavn", after queen Victoria. ("havn" is Norwegian for harbour or port)
Some towns and villages also end with -nes, which means point or peninsula. Like Kirkenes, Finnsnes, Hansnes ......
On the other hand, -stad means town or city, like Fredrikstad in Norway or Karlstad in Sweden.
 
arcticXS said:
Had an appointment with an ortopedic surgeon today, in the next town, Narvik. Some of you may have read about the battle of Narvik in 1940. Narvik is also known as the port where the Swedish iron ore is shipped out from. The weather was ok, so I took the XS. About 230 km one way, 460 round trip. Norweigian road/route E8 and E6.Just northof Narvik on E6, there is a brand new suspension bridge "Hålogalandsbrua". It is more than 1500 m long, almost 1 mile! The top of the towers are 150 m or 500 ft above sea level, and at the southern end of the bridge, you go directly into a 300m tunnel. Unfortunately, all the steel work was done by a Chinese contractor, but this bridge is still a pretty impressive bit of engineering. The concrete towers and all foundation work was by Norwegian/Swedish contractors.
On my way home, I stopped for lunch at a hamburger place in Bjerkvik. They have dedicated motorcycle parking :)
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NARVIK!! Definitely on my bucket list to see.

For naval history buffs, the Battle of Narvik is absolutely one of the top 5 ever.

The Germans occupied the town and fjord to secure the iron ore route and had 6-8 big destroyers in there and then the Royal Navy sailed in with about the same number of destroyers including several of the big Tribal class and.....HMS Warspite - a WW-I era QE class battleship with eight 15” guns - and they all had quite the set-to in a narrow Norwegian fjord. Bad day for the Germans, I’m afraid.

Wow - what a tale.
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I’ve even got a book about the battle - and it’s a great read! You can likely get a copy on ABEBooks.com.
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MaxPete said:
NARVIK!! Definitely on my bucket list to see.

For naval history buffs, the Battle of Narvik is absolutely one of the top 5 ever.

The Germans occupied the town and fjord to secure the iron ore route and had 6-8 big destroyers in there and then the Royal Navy sailed in with about the same number of destroyers including several of the big Tribal class and.....HMS Warspite - a WW-I era QE class battleship with eight 15” guns - and they all had quite the set-to in a narrow Norwegian fjord. Bad day for the Germans, I’m afraid.

Wow - what a tale.
View attachment 148736
Click to expand...
There was also pretty extensive infantry action around Narvik at that time. Norwegian, Polish, French and British infantry managed to hold the German "Bergjager" at bay for a month or so. Those German soldiers were specially trained in alpine warfare, so definitely not just regular troops.
 
arcticXS said:
No, "vik" means bay, so most all places ending with "vik" is situated at a bay. Narvik was previously called "Victoriahavn", after queen Victoria. ("havn" is Norwegian for harbour or port)
Some towns and villages also end with -nes, which means point or peninsula. Like Kirkenes, Finnsnes, Hansnes ......
On the other hand, -stad means town or city, like Fredrikstad in Norway or Karlstad in Sweden.
Click to expand...

Ah. Thanks for the lesson! Actually, I should have figured the "stad" and "havn" as it's the same (or very similar) in German.
 
arcticXS said:
Had an appointment with an ortopedic surgeon today, in the next town, Narvik. Some of you may have read about the battle of Narvik in 1940. Narvik is also known as the port where the Swedish iron ore is shipped out from. The weather was ok, so I took the XS. About 230 km one way, 460 round trip. Norweigian road/route E8 and E6.Just northof Narvik on E6, there is a brand new suspension bridge "Hålogalandsbrua". It is more than 1500 m long, almost 1 mile! The top of the towers are 150 m or 500 ft above sea level, and at the southern end of the bridge, you go directly into a 300m tunnel. Unfortunately, all the steel work was done by a Chinese contractor, but this bridge is still a pretty impressive bit of engineering. The concrete towers and all foundation work was by Norwegian/Swedish contractors.
On my way home, I stopped for lunch at a hamburger place in Bjerkvik. They have dedicated motorcycle parking :)
View attachment 148733 View attachment 148734 View attachment 148735 .
Click to expand...

Nice ride! That’s an impressive day trip for your vintage bike! Cool bridge too!
 
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Pretty dark, and pretty cold. And sometimes windy too. That pic was apparently from April. I think the sun reappears around mid January, after being absent from end of November. If you ever go to Narvik, go mid March for the annual Winter Festival, and don't forget to bring your downhill skis (or snowboard if so inclined). The slope is World Cup standard, and you can ski down to the hotel door, more or less. Check it out here: https://www.narvikfjellet.no
 
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arcticXS said:
Pretty dark, and pretty cold. And sometimes wi dy too. That pic was apparently from April. I think the sun reappears around mid January, after being absent from end of November. If you ever go to Narvik, go in late winter, and bring your downhill skis. The slope is World Cup standard, and you can ski down to the hotel door, more or less. Check it out here: https://www.narvikfjellet.no
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Sorry - but no, not with my dodgey knees. Skiing left my reportoire many years ago I'm afraid.

Pete
 
Downeaster said:
Made it to the Vintage Motorcycle show at Owl's Head. Couple hundred bikes, took some pictures of the ones that stood out for one reason or another.

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Appears to be an inline 2 cylinder 2 stroke. Guy had loaded up and was leaving before I could ask. EDIT: Badge on tank says "Sunbeam".

Hi DE,
The bike is a Sunbeam S8. Sunbeam was it's own company for many decades until it was absorbed by the BSA group.
The S8 and it's sister-bike the S7 (16" fat wheels, cast muffler & sage green paint job) were 500cc fore & aft vertical twin 4-stroke shafties.
Alas that the mfr's choice of a worm & wheel rear drive that self-destructed if fed more than 22 HP led to a sad lack of performance.
T
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Just out for a quick ride after work. Had to stop and take a snap shot of the ol’ girl. Casino Moncton in the background in this ritzy part of town. Located right handy to Magnetic Hill, the water park and outdoor concert site. Kinda flat around here and not much for views. Still a good ride overall.

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Well, the weather has cooled to 105f and it's Bike Night at the Barrio Brewery. I removed the cobwebs from the wheels and dusted the seat off. Started her up and went on base to the gas station to top her off. Then it was off to The Bario! Took the crosstown expressway (all 6 miles of it!) to blow the cobwebs out of carbs and pipes. Nothing special in the parking area except the mid 50's BSA single. 2 owner. I'm burning time waiting for something special to show up and I was rewarded with a real Indian. '53 engine, late 30's frame. Finish was mint. Ran as well as it looked. Like a Singer sewing machine. Glass smooth. An early H-D Shovelhead showed up too. Another nicely done special build. I will post pics when I download the pics from the .
 
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Gator xs2 said:
Guess so. Still beautiful. But better than Hot, humid, two week winter in NCFL. And no Spring, No Fall. Just hot. Then a 2 week break. Then hot again.
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Yup. I may piss and moan about the "9 months of Winter and 3 months of tough sledding" climate of Maine, but I've lived in Florida (Pensacola), South Carolina (Charleston), Virginia (Norfolk) and the Philippines, and Brother, that's all the heat and humidity I ever intend to do.

Furnace kicked on for the first time this morning...:sick:
 
Cloudy day ride -

It’s been hotter than Hades here. But there is the promise of rain coming in the next few days. Today was a day of transition, the high pressure system that has been parked over Arizona, holding in all that heat in, is being replaced with a low pressure system. So today was windy at times with big fluffy clouds moving in and the temperatures dropped down below 100 degrees for the first time in a long while.
I pulled out my black bike for a ride......a black and white ride.

I rode out West from my house towards the Town of Whitman, where I turned North and headed towards the Bradshaw Mountains. My ride will take me right past the Chrysler automotive proving grounds, ( out literally in the middle of nowhere ) that’s the entrance right across the road. Pete! C’mon out! I know you’re in there working on something top secret!
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I turned left there and followed the fence line around the property, this place is huge! I eventually run in to Arizona State rte 74 , a mostly two lane highway that runs through some very pretty open desert, ringed by mountains.
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I stay on this road, and ride past Lake Pleasant and continue on back towards home.
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By the time I was back to the outskirts of town, I was getting pretty low on petrol so I stopped at a gas station. While I was filling up this man pulled up behind me and came over to me and wanted to know all about my bike. He was very nice and was telling me he had a Honda CL450, that high piped scrambler. It was nice talking to him.

I pulled out and headed back to my home, a round trip of about 65 miles. I had a lot of fun. I’m just itching to get my riding season back.


Later.......
Bob
 
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