“Fortunately, I haven’t faced any severe difficulties as of yet. The times when I feel the worst, in general, is when you make some bad calculations, and you end up with everything going wrong at the same time; No charge left in your power banks, no reception, it starts raining, or it gets dark while you finally get your camp set up in a hurry with everything being soaking wet. You can feel lonely and sad during those times, but it’s only for a brief moment. When the sun rises, and you start the next day you realize what it is that you are doing. Being on this adventure, and it puts a smile on your face again. And then you just carry on.” – Nicklas Aittamaa
Nicklas Aittamaa is a twenty-two year old photography and video enthusiast that hails from Sweden. “I was brought up outside the city, living in a house near the forest with my family. From an early age, I was riding toy bikes like pit-bikes, quads and all of those fun stuff you have when you live near the woods and love anything with a motor. When I was around fourteen, I started riding real motocross bikes. I still remember my first real bike; it was a 2002 KTM 125. After that, I had a Kawasaki 300, a Suzuki 85 and so on till I decided it was time to get a street legal ride. My plan to purchase a street bike only really came about when I decided on doing a world tour, so that’s actually how I eventually decided to get my license, only so I could ride legally.”
However, the world travel bug didn’t bite solely due to riding motorcycles in his native Sweden. Before Nicklas’s current adventure he worked a day job at a minimart in his home town as a manager. “I started working there after finishing high school in 2015. During that time I took three months off which I spent two months of working as a seasonal farm worker in Australia while also traveling around. From there I traveled up to Indonesia where the idea for my trip was born. It happened on a tourist trip in Bali. I ended up renting a scooter as so many do. I drove around like crazy, and afterward, I just kept thinking about that trip and the adventures on the scooter. Suddenly I said ‘what if I’d just kept on going? Maybe I’d have ended up back home in Sweden?’ And that’s when I got the idea, yes, why don’t I do it, but in the opposite direction? So I decided to set some goals for myself. I traveled back home, started saving money while also planning for the trip. One year later I was leaving Sweden on my big adventure.”
“So far during this trip, I’ve ridden through fourteen countries. My initial plan was to go to New Zealand, but I’ve started making plans to continue my journey after a break there and to head on to South America and so on. Maybe closing the circle doing a full lap all the way back to Sweden.” Nicklas’s trip is completely un-sponsored. So for his wheels, he purchased a brand new Honda MSX 125cc from the dealership in Sweden. “I chose my small motorcycle because I wanted to show that you don’t have to spend big money on a bike that weighs almost 662 lb / 300kg to go around the world with. I wanted to do something different.” That he has achieved in bounds since he’s just crossed the 12 450 mi / 20 000 km mark on his odometer. “To date, I haven’t had any problems with the bike. Honda if you are reading this I am truly impressed. It is incredibly reliable, and the best part is that I can fit where bigger bikes can’t!”
For the first upgrade, Nicklas changed the rear shock to a YSS unit to handle the extra “kilograms I’d be piling on as luggage.” He also purchased a no-name brand luggage rack from msxaccesories.com to help distribute the load. A new Bride GEL seat was fitted for comfort. To gain some better top end speeds Nicklas upgrade to a seventeen tooth front sprocket which helped to lower the RPM’s while trying to do highway speeds. “I also opened up the forks top caps and adjusted them a little bit to increase the clearance. It actually worked, and I don’t bottom out the forks so often after that.” Dual USB ports that Nicklas installed and hardwired with a switch to the battery keeps things charged. “In Turkey, I changed out my Puig universal windshield to a random Yamaha branded scooter windshield that I had custom fitted. I also had a custom crash bar built in Istanbul together with new rear mounts to carry some extra gas tanks.” Also installed on the crash bars is a set of LED lights and a pair of Enduristan Bottle holsters.”
For navigation I use Maps.me along with Google maps on my phone. I didn’t want to spend travel money on a GPS when my phone provides the same functions in a much more user-friendly interface.” A Meacom phone mount holds Nicklas’s phone, or as he calls it; “a RAM mounts copy,” but he reports that it still works perfectly. Nicklas started his trip with a set of Enduristan Monsoon 3 soft panniers. “In Turkey, I decided to change things up, so I sent one of them back home. The other one I decided to throw on the back of the bike. I prefer this because it doesn’t create any wind resistance and feels way lighter. It also forces me to keep my luggage light since I haven’t got a lot of space. Light travel is good travel. You truly don’t need so much stuff.”
“For me, it’s important to do whatever makes you feel good. Riding solo is something that I prefer although the occasional company is also appreciated as long as you are always open and honest about how you want to travel. I take it as it comes, I’m very casual. If I happen to come across someone that has the same next stop as me, I’m happy to have company. However, having a permanent partner that you have to share the decision making with is something that is very hard for me to imagine.” When Nicklas had originally set off on this trip, he’d planned to ride with two friends. “We started getting on each other’s nerves, so I thought it best to go my own way. The first day I did so, I was in Graz, Austria, where I spend a few hours looking for somewhere to camp at the edge of the city. After a while, I gave up and instead asked the first people I came across. I was so surprised at the amazing response I got. They knew the area well and made several suggestions. However, in the end, they asked me if I wanted to camp on top of the mountain. So they made a call and then showed me to a spot with the most amazing view. Later that night they even returned with some food and two bottles of beer. I felt like I was in heaven.”
“I try always to be open minded and not put too much pressure on myself. You have to remember that you are doing this for you and nobody else so you should take every opportunity you can to do the things you want to along the journey. You also need to be prepared for things to go wrong and that plans will change. To find things to do and to not feel lonely was the thing I feared the most. But for me, just being easy going and because I love approaching new people with a smile, it seems to work out. It almost always leads to new friends, new plans, new locations and new things to do along the journey. Basically, there will always be other people and more life at the end of the road you are on, and you will be a part of those people and activities when you get there.”
For more of Nicklas’s adventure follow his Instagram account or check out his YouTube channel.
All images copyright Nicklas Aittamaa.
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