Norwedian Style

Article & Photos by Doug Taylor

IT ALL STARTED AROUND MARCH 2014 OVER A BEER WITH JEFF EELES AT THE GRANDVIEW HOTEL DURING A VJMC GET TOGETHER WITH THE USUAL BANTER OVER CLASSIC MACHINES.

Kawasaki Heaven – Vetle is checking out the KV75s is the background

I had previously mentioned to him that I was looking forward to a trip over to the Isle of Man TT a few months later (that’s another story!) and planned to visit Norway while I was in that area of the planet. Jeff casually mentioned that he knew a classic Kawasaki lover in that country, so graciously organised contact between us – what happened next was truly amazing.

I arrived in Norway and contacted Stale via email just to confirm if all was ok for meeting up, and a confirming email meant that it was ‘Thunderbirds Are Go’ – I couldn’t wait.

Stale and his son Vetle picked me up and we made our way to a farm on the outskirts of Oslo, which had three large barns located not far from the main farm house. He explained that he and five other friends rented the first barn and kept their classic Kawasakis in it, and that one other barn was rented by other friends, and that the third barn was used by the farm owner.

BSA Rocket 3 in the neighbouring barn

VJMC bliss

The second barn was rented by another group of guys and had various classics, ranging from Triumph Hurricanes, Norton Atlas, BSA Rocket 3 and many other Japanese bikes. The remaining barn was full of vintage Yamahas – DS6, AS3, R5, RD400 – the list went on. This barn also had huge industrial racks full of vintage Yamaha NOS parts – all labeled in massive boxes with various vintage Yamaha model identifications. I felt as if I was in Aladdin’s Cave!

We then made our way outside and met up with some other riders – they all meet up every Tuesday evening to discuss classic bikes, their next projects and of course chasing parts. There were two outstanding machines – Steve had a gold Kawasaki H2, and obliged by starting it up and giving it a handful for me – music to the ears! The other guy had a purple and white Yamaha R5 that looked like new – when he ran the bike it sounded as tight as leaving the Yamaha factory. As Norway has the third highest economy in the world these guys leave no expense spared in doing up their machines.

After chatting with the guys Stale gave me a detailed tour of his barn. It was a shrine to Kawasaki, with several HI, H2 and smaller triples on the floor. There were also specials, which included a Z900, GPz750 turbo (with bigger turbo) Eddie Lawson Replica, KV75, Z1300 and the list went on. During this tour I also met Roger, who I quickly figured out to be the main man in organising the barn, as he owned a large proportion of the bikes on the

Steve’s H2 – what a sound!

floor. He was amazed that I was from Australia, and immediately wanted to show me the difference between the sound of the expansion chambers on his H2 compared to Stale’s H2 – I was in heaven!

Stale mentioned that the barn was their haven in winter, as in Norway it is not practical to ride bikes due to the snow and the salt put down on the roads to disperse the snow. He then went on to tell me that they travel throughout Europe to classic bike rallies, and that the UK triples rally in the Midlands every year is a must.

The vintage Yammie’s in the big barn

Lots of Yammie R5 parts! We left the farm after a few hours and returned to Oslo, chatting about classic bikes for most of the journey. I must admit I was amazed at the commitment of the Norwegian classic motorcycling fraternity. They are very passionate about keeping the dream alive, being very brand loyal and above all making sure the restorations are second to none. I was blown away by the fantastic detail they go to, being of the highest standard (courtesy of the bins full of NOS parts!).

The Norwegians are fantastic friendly people and I can recommend to all to put the country on your list to visit – they welcome you like one of their own!