Published MC avisa: 22.09.2019 at 20:59

This year’s Straand meeting was a huge success.
Approx.
1,500 buttery-smooth motorcyclists enjoyed themselves in the most beautiful fall days imaginable.
Brilliant sunshine and warmth allowed for both shorts and t-shirts.
Norway is about to get its own “Daytona”, namely STRAAND-TREFFET.

Text and photo: Kyrre Hagen.

Ole-Andreas Isdahl and Bjørn Richard Johansen are the driving forces behind the event, and together with 53 other volunteers, Straand Hotel and the motorcycle industry, they have created a great and unique meeting.

– Ole-Andreas Isdahl explains that the aim of the meeting is to foster the joy of driving, as well as develop driving skills and knowledge.

– “The meeting was arranged for the first time last year, and in many ways it was a year of learning,” says Isdahl.
– “We’ve put in place an organization that worked very well during this year’s event.
We now have the expertise and will develop the concept further.
The Straand event will be the biggest and most important event of the year in the motorcycle industry,” says Isdahl, who is confident in the concept.

Most brands to test drive:

BMW, KTM, Honda, Suzuki, Triumph, Indian, Kawasaki, Moto Guzzi, Husquarna, Yamaha and MV Augusta were among the 80 motorcycles available for test rides on both Saturday and Sunday.
In total, there were approx.
1,100 test drives, which corresponds to approx.
33,000 kilometers driven.
“This is absolutely incredible.
Those who wanted to test drive bikes signed up on lists, and the lists were filled by over 95%.
During the test drive, you had the bike available for 30 minutes.
Along the roads in the area, there were signs recommending that you turn around to get back at the right time.
After the test rides, there was a lot of laughter and smiles, and plenty to discuss with the other test riders.
Only Harley and Ducati were conspicuous by their absence, but Harley has already stated that they will be at next year’s event.

Lecture:

The participants at the Straand meeting were also to be stimulated professionally.
After the welcome on Friday, there was an interview with Erik Kjuus, who has visited the Isle of Man five times.
Erik made the audience listen, laugh and marvel at this madness.
On Saturday, both politics and researchers were on the program with refills for the attendees.

The ladies too:

The Woman’s Internationale Motorcycle Association (WIMA) was also well represented at the event.
They had all the demo bikes at their disposal for the first two hours, before the boys were allowed to ride on the Saturday.
WIMA also organized guided tours among its members, and there was a large group of adult girls who went on the tour.

Enduro:

New this year was that the enduro community, led by Asbjørn Sletholt, had literally arrived on the scene.
A fairly long and demanding enduro track was marked out on the lower side of the hotel.
The national team held a demonstration here, and afterwards the public could try their hand at it.
KTM had made its brand new 2020 models available.
Many people tried their hand at the course, and found out that this was a tough training session.

Prices:

Two prizes were awarded among the bikes that were available for test rides.
The People’s Choice Award was voted for by the participants.
Here, the BMW R 1250 GS came out on top.
A separate jury picked the surprise of the year.
The Husquerna Svartpilen 701 won this year’s award.
The jury’s reasoning focused on design and quality.

Straand Hotel:

The setting for the event is the Straand Hotel in Vrådal, where hotel manager Sigmund Straand wants to have motorcyclists as his guests.
Sigmund and his staff don’t just welcome motorcyclists during the Straand event.
Throughout the season, motorcyclists and motorcycle groups visit the hotel.

– “The hotel accommodated 300 people this weekend, but the capacity in Vrådal is by no means exhausted,” says Sigmund.
“If necessary, we can make 1000 beds available.

We asked many of the staff what they thought, and everyone agreed that it had been a busy but fun weekend.
On the hotel’s website is the text Bikers Welcome.

In the heart of Norway:

In addition to overnight guests, many came for day visits on Saturday.
It is clear that many clubs had organized day trips to visit the meeting.
Vrådal is located in the heart of Telemark, and can be reached from a very large area, both from the south, west, north and east.
And in all directions there are absolutely wonderful motorcycle roads.

We at MC-avisa can briefly summarize that this year’s Straand meeting was a success.
We’re already looking forward to next year, and will return with a more detailed report in the next issue of MC-avisa.
In the future, we will also be posting mini-episodes on YouTube with interviews with several of the contributors to this year’s event.
So stay tuned!

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