Sweden 2007

Al & Annya do Sweden – or “Don’t worry, we’ll catch you up later at the services”

Saturday 2 June – 1pm

I kiss ‘tuther ‘alf goodbye as she sets off down to Herne Bay to get a couple of oil seals fixed by Ant and watch her scoot off down the close. 

Saturday 2 June – 1:30pm

The phone rings….”Al…..I’ve stopped for petrol and I can’t get the bike started again”.  Oh! Bo**ocks

 I throw a couple of tool boxes and the Haynes manual into the car and set off for the A20. On arrival I try everything (not that I know much), but all the usual stuff, wiring, fuses, connections etc. in vain. We call Ant who, as usual, gets it right first time and diagnosis a faulty starter solenoid. We call out the RAC and a very nice man tries his best but in the end gives up and starts the bike by shorting the connections on the starter motor.

We arrive back home about 3pm and start wondering if we can get it fixed by Wednesday in time for Sweden. Calls to local Yamaha agents offer no hope of the required part this side of Christmas, but you can always counts on yer mates! Chimp (aka Julie Salter) to the rescue…”I’ll try BATS at Biggin Hill” she says….a couple of calls later and we now have the possibility of one by Tuesday.

Tuesday 5 June:

Tuesday arrives and success (!!) not only do BATS perform but also Gorozzos’ call to say my speedo detector cable for the trike is in. Now is the time to panic - I ’blat’ over to Blackfen to pick up the cable,  and while I’m putting that on Annya ‘blats’ over to BATS to pick up the solenoid.  The cable goes on OK and after a short ride round the block to check it out I now have a working (of sorts) speedo….more important I have an odometer which doubles as my fuel gauge.

Now for the solenoid. All went well except for one bolt which would not budge…which is always the case…I now start living up to the G.O.B.B. badge on my waistcoat…Grumpy Old Biker Bastard!! Over 90 minutes to get one ‘king nut off….after that 45 minutes later and we had a working Virago and one knackered me! That’s taken care of Tuesday, it’s now 5:20pm and I’m due in work at 20 minutes…must be mad. Tomorrow I’ll do the oil seals…shouldn’t take more that 30 minutes. 

Wednesday 6 June – Ferry Day

Yeah right!!! One seal done and at 11am I give up on the other; we are due the leave at 1pm and I haven’t even started packing yet. Two hours later and we’re ready to leave, I nervously mount the Yamaha “Tri-Star” and it’s off to Harwich. I didn’t have to pay a toll for the trike at the Dartford crossing which is a result (more about tolls later)….. 

We pull up at Harwich Quay at about 3:30 meeting up with the rest of the group, about 105 VSOC members booked on this crossing and we’re all on board by about 5pm. While the others are busily tying down their bikes I calmly apply the handbrake and walk away…(actually left it in gear as well - just in case!).

After finding our cabin and settling in we made our way to the restaurant and tuck in to the buffet and then socialise before enjoying a good night’s kip.  Thursday morning sees wall to wall sunshine and rising temperatures, a smooth sea, and by lunch time we were drawing into Esbjerg. On the dockside we were all split into three groups by our magnificent and knowledgeable leader, Kevin Hoyte. Centre 14 is in the last group leaving at about 2pm….bit of a mistake here as the trike is slower and we really should have set off on our own earlier. Our escort soon get fed-up and before long they give us the thumbs up (I think it was a thumb??) and speed off into the distance. Anyway, we knew where we were going….being notoriously anally retentive I brought seven maps with me!  E20 all the way…brilliant sunshine and fairly light traffic, even around Copenhagen….

Back to the tolls…2 bikes and 2 bridges later we are about £43 lighter and that’s just one way! Cars were roughly double - imagine going over the Dartford crossing to Lakeside to shop and being charged £40 return for the privilege!!!

We keep catching the others up at every petrol stop and at the end of the day, just over the Swedish border at the meeting point, we rejoin the main group only about 10 minutes behind.

We all set off accompanied by our Swedish hosts and a police escort….”Dee Dah..Dee Dah”… and by about 8pm we all arrived at Hanksville Farm in Svalov and set about pitching the tents, finding something to eat and downing a cold beer, or two, perhaps more…who cares.

Friday sees another glorious day and we chilled out most of the morning, walking round the local town of Svalov and then taking the trike down to Landskrona, admiring the landscape and the glorious red poppies bordering almost every field. A short walk around the town and then we head off for an ice cream at (I’m sorry) McDonalds. Friday evening consists of dinner, beer and socialising. The weather is glorious, but with temperatures in the 90s’ most of us are sitting around chatting.

The meals at Hanksville were provided by the Swedish military with a field kitchen; the food was good and wholesome, but we were not sure if we would want the Swedish army on our side if it came to a fight….sort of “Dads Army” meets “Weight Watchers”. The facilities were basic….six or so porta-bogs (non-flushing, but strangely pong free) for 600 plus 3 men’s and 3 women’s showers (luke warm at best)

Saturday seemed even hotter and we joined the ride-out of around 90 bikes (and one trike) around the local villages to show off the bikes - a very nice local bimble of about 90 minutes, but we only saw about a dozen locals. We did however did see a Swedish MG sports car rally including 3 very nice MG-Fs and a MG-A.

Both nights entertainment was provided by the same band, who were quite good and played a fair range of numbers. No disco in-between unfortunately but, being very warm, most rally goers seemed to chill out in the evening.

Sunday saw us packing up and making our own way back over the border into Demark to the YCC clubhouse for a further 2 nights…I found my way there, not even stopping to check the multitude of map(s) - Wing-Co does it again!  Dinner that night was put on by the club…absolutely superb roast pork, spuds and red cabbage: later we were serenaded to sleep by the sound of farting from almost every tent!

On Monday, while most of the others set off for the delights of Copenhagen and the red-light district, Annya and I went sightseeing on our own. We headed off to Frederikssund, up to Kulhuse, over a little ferry to Hundested and back via Frederiksvaerk and down the side of Roskilde Fiord. A really beautiful ride and well worth another visit again in the future.

Off back to Esbjerg on Tuesday, again making our own way there, stopping off for a short look around the town and then finding a little quayside café for coffee and a “danish” before rejoining the others at the quay for Harwich. Again another good crossing home to Blighty and mighty glad of the excellent showers on the Stenna Sirena. The talk in the bar that evening was of the superb hospitality of both the Swedes and the Danes and of next years’ trip to Finland.

All in all, a really excellent trip with excellent company and it was nice that other club members came up and congratulated us on our recent wedding - nice touch folks....thanks.  We arrived home about 4pm, absolutely knackered, tucking into a doner kebab and then an early night as I had to get up the next day at 4:30am…isn’t work wonderful!!!!.......

Al Stephens (aka Wing Commander Al or G.O.B.B.)