the bloke who wants to ride his r1 to the north pole - solo

Sjaak Lucassen is not your average bloke. The Dutch biker has ridden to every corner of the globe, on a shoestring and for the last few years he's been using the same old 1999 Yamaha YZF R1 to do it, which is now up to 320,000km on the clock.

Here's a quick teaser of the sort of guy we're dealing with here...

North pole

Sjaak isn't the kind of guy to shy away from a challenge, and what better challenge than to ride a motorcycle all the way to the North Pole.

He's done some testing by riding around in the arctic circle and Sjaak says the cold itself is "No Problem!" - right.

Sjaak has two main issues. Fuel and tyres.

Sjaak thinks he's nailed the issue of grip up on the polar ice, and to stop his trusty old R1 sinking into the snow. It involves the huge balloon tyre you see above.

fuel for a solo trip

Sjaak's second issue is one that simply can't be overcome. The North Pole is a little bit short on fuel stations, to say the least. Even towing a sled with fuel would still not provide sufficient amounts to be able to make the trip solo. It's the sticking point that's really been bothering Sjaak as he wanted to do the trip without a backup vehicle. As I said earlier, he's not your average bloke.

Some shakedown testing up north

Some shakedown testing up north

The final compromise would be a backup jeep carrying fuel and a cameraman to document the trip. Essenetially Sjaak would still be riding solo and would carry all food and supplies in his lightweight sled behind the bike - only using the support vehicle for fuel top ups.

If you want to support him, head to his website and pledge a donation. He's also on DriveTribe! Keep an eye on his page for updates. drivetribe.com/t/XTaOVjZ9ThW0A6ShXhGV3g?iid=Jx-ghBB8RGKMGAnjiPvXrQ

DRIVETRIBE

ARCTIC SUPER BIKE

Building a bike capable of riding to the North Pole using a Yamaha R1 as a donor

www.sjaaklucassen.nl/en/category/avonturen/north-pole/north-pole-support/