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  #1  
Old 15 Jul 2009
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Question Bike shops Southern Sweden/Norway
Ural trip round Europe fell through, Ural trip round Estonia fell through. however, have managed to salvage 10 days around Sweden and Norway on the XR in August.

Can anyone advise me of any decent bike shops in Southern Sweden/Southern Norway?

The likelihood is that I will need to do an oil change whilst out there, and packing space is at a premium so I don't want to carry more than necessary!

Oil is best bought out there.
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Old 15 Jul 2009
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You may think that you don't want to bring oil and tools with you....but when I entered Sweden and started thinking about an oilchange I found that full synthetic oil cost something like US$ 45 per liter. A front tire that would have cost me US$100 in Germany cost $200 in Norway. Etc. So maybe you want to think about doing any and all maintenance yourself, or doing it before entering Scandanavia, or bringing parts and tools with you, or whatever.

I liked the shop I found in Stockholm, but I can't find any sign of any paperwork from them, so I can't help direct you there. The BMW/Kawasaki dealership I went to in Tromso were nice folks, but the mechanic was a bit green, to say the least. Doesn't sound like you're headed that far north anyway.

FWIW, the scenery in Sweden isn't that interesting, at least in the south. I'd say the same about the southern Baltics plus northern Germany and Poland. If you're not already planning it, you might consider taking a ferry across and getting to the fjords as quickly as possible. Norway is wonderful riding, so have a blast!

Mark
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Old 15 Jul 2009
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I will be doing a full service before going but oil needs changing every 2000km.

Tools I can pack, but oil is going to take up a lot of room, for the space i have, unless I bungee it to the outside. Norway is probably where we sill head. We spent 6 days north of Bergen and that was fantastic, even if it rained on 4 of those days!
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Old 16 Jul 2009
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What kind of bike requires an oil change every 2,000km and why?
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Old 16 Jul 2009
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Originally Posted by MJungowski View Post
What kind of bike requires an oil change every 2,000km and why?
It's called a URinAL, or given that you are in Germany you may better know it as a late '30s BMW clone.
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Old 16 Jul 2009
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Quote:
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What kind of bike requires an oil change every 2,000km and why?
Quote:
Originally Posted by farqhuar View Post
It's called a URinAL, or given that you are in Germany you may better know it as a late '30s BMW clone.

Nice. So you've not tried a Ural then?

As it happens the bike that needs changing oil in this case is a Honda XR, and needs it more frequently and of a more expensive variety, but you can't make silly names with "Honda".....

As for why, ask Honda... I'm just going according to the manual.
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Old 17 Jul 2009
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Nice. So you've not tried a Ural then?

As it happens the bike that needs changing oil in this case is a Honda XR, and needs it more frequently and of a more expensive variety, but you can't make silly names with "Honda".....

As for why, ask Honda... I'm just going according to the manual.
Yes, I've ridden a couple of Urals when I was in Russia last year Warthog. Sorry if I upset you re the name - I've always called them that.

Yes, you can make silly names for Hondas and other bikes too - I call Hondas "Hoondas" because it's hoons who own them. ...... and yes, I currently own two Honda motorcycles and one Honda car.

2k kms does sound ridiculously frequent for oil changes - is this only for offroad conditions, or also when on the road?
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Old 17 Jul 2009
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Yes, I've ridden a couple of Urals when I was in Russia last year Warthog. Sorry if I upset you re the name - I've always called them that.

Yes, you can make silly names for Hondas and other bikes too - I call Hondas "Hoondas" because it's hoons who own them. ...... and yes, I currently own two Honda motorcycles and one Honda car.

2k kms does sound ridiculously frequent for oil changes - is this only for offroad conditions, or also when on the road?
No worries. If the bike does breakdown, I'll no doubt call it far worse.

The oil's for an XR400R.

Allegedly a competition bike, hence the oil change frequency. Air cooled so I suppose the oil does work harder.

In fact 2K is pushing it (manual says every 1000km!!), but I am not nailing it when touring, and I am no off-road bullet, so it'll have to make do or I'll be changing oil and filter more than I am tanking up....

It still stuns me when I think a Dommie with bigger CC, and comparable dry sump system can go for 3000 miles (4500km) on a single oil change. Such is life.

So any Scandinavian shop locales will help me plan for that.
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Old 17 Jul 2009
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Depends on where in the south of Norway you're looking. You are welcome to use my garage to do maintenance if 25 minutes south of Oslo is ok. As for oil: What kind do you need?
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Old 17 Jul 2009
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Depends on where in the south of Norway you're looking. You are welcome to use my garage to do maintenance if 25 minutes south of Oslo is ok. As for oil: What kind do you need?
Wow that cold be really great!! Not sure on our route yet, but thanks for the offer, all the same.

As for the oil, it would be 10-40 Semi synthetic from a decent oil company, not crappy stuff.
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Old 17 Jul 2009
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Don't worry. We know our oil in Norway... I checked the XR400R Service Manual. 1.8 ltr of oil on a change, 1.9 with oil filter. Not a lot. Hence the short intervals I guess. Anyway: My garage is your garage.
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Old 17 Jul 2009
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Hej,

can't express it better than Indu: My garage is your garage.

Sweden, west coast, approx. 80 KM south of Gothenburg.

Anyway - have a great vacation.

Uwe
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Old 17 Jul 2009
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Great stuff guys.

Thanks for the generosity and pointers.

If we run into any problems, I'll be sure to give you a bell...
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