Iceland Adventure?

[hbadventure]

So I am thinking of taking my family to Iceland for a 6 day Dual Sport ride across Iceland. Has anybody done this or know someone who has. I have been speaking with the owner of the company and he is very excited to have a family come and has thrown some discounts to get us to come (I think he just is trying to get a booking). My wife is quite concerned about the 701 Husky being too tall. But he is getting back to me on finding a different bike for her. Anyways I am just looking for input on this particular trip. Good, bad, and the ugly kind of thing.

https://ridewithlocals.is/6-days-icelan ... adventure/

[ajayhawkfan]

A friend of mine had gone a few times. She recommended to me not to do Iceland on a motorcycle the first time we visit. The reason, there is so many places you wont want to pass to take pictures, hike and explore that being on a bike and then having to take helmets and jackets on and off and changing motorcycle boots to hiking boots takes time away from seeing things. She said go in a car first and then come back and do it on a motorcycle.

Again that was her recommendation. Mine, it looks great-GO FOR IT!

[Stu]

I rode across the interior of Iceland from Reykjavik to the eastern coast & up to the northernmost part of Iceland which is only about 12 miles or so from the Arctic circle. Most of the roads were gravel and pot holed. In the interior there are no bridges so you face swift flowing mountain streams up to a couple of feet deep in some places. Race face on! It was a great trip with unbelievable scenery. Waterfalls were outstanding. Getting caught in an Arctic gale in the north with rain made it memorable. The food at the farm houses & hotels was outstanding. I would do it again. You can take a large dual sport and go two up but experience doing that off road is highly recommended. If you can ride your big bike 2 up successfully at Perry Lake's torn up tracks you would be ready for Iceland which isn't anywhere near as bad as Perry. Also get some sand riding experience. You can take a newer cell phone and get some good pictures that will print at 8.5x11" just fine. Hiking in Iceland is in remote areas. The walking you would do there around waterfalls, as an example, can easily be done in dual sport boots. Just carry your jacket. I left mine on my bike (a BMW 650 single). Iceland is pretty safe.

On my next trip to Iceland I rented a 4WD and took my wife. You must have 4WD to take a regular car into the interior by law. Anyway with the 4WD I was able to take several lenses & a big camera for better photography. My wife found Iceland to be incredibly beautiful. We did the rim road all around the island near the coast (2WD capable everywhere) with a few excursions into the interior.

Stu

[Stu]

If your rental bike is through Viking Biking in Reykjavik they are not entirely trustworthy. Document everything including cell pix of the bikes, the suspension, the brakes and any scratched or bent bits. Parts are at least 3X the price here. A clutch lever is over $110. If you go into the interior DO NOT get a bike with mag wheels. Insist on spoked ones. Two riders with me split mag wheels. Not only was that expensive but it stopped them cold. You can replace tubes in spoked wheels, or install them if not there but with a split mag wheel with parts of it missing it is not possible. There are countless sharp, large, irregular shaped volcanic rocks that you will encounter. If you start out with iffy brakes, for example, as I did, you will be charged $1,000 to replace a rear rotor and entire disk assembly when all that needs to be done is replace the pads and sand the disk clear of debris. (I didn't pay.)

Stu

[hbadventure]

Thanks for that Stu! Sounds like you enjoyed the trip. I think we are gonna look at this one for next year. My sister is going this summer to photograph waterfalls. I'm gonna have her swing by the ride with locals guys place and see if it seems legit.