AFP

Part of the 1000-bike run to the shore of Lake Tyrifjorden that saw members of rival clubs riding together for the first time, to honour of the victims of the July 22 shooting spree at a Labour Party youth summer camp on the island of Utoeya.

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Bikers from rival Norwegian motorcycle clubs have forged an unprecedented truce to lay flowers on a shore facing the island where 68 young people perished in a crazed gun rampage.

Rider Henrik Bauer Larsen said at Lake Tyrifjorden, looking out towards Utoeya island: “We've got Hell's Angels, Coffin Cheaters and Outlaws riding side-by-side out here tonight - the first time these gangs have ever ridden together.

“These groups are not friends - normally, they fight tough - but we agreed there would be no politics here, that everybody would stand together.

“In each of these clubs, somebody knew people who died on the island - we just wanted to pay our respects to the victims and their families.”

Holding the hand of his fellow-rider girlfriend, Larsen said 550 riders had come from the Norwegian Motorcycle Union, a big Harley-Davidson group that organises a run once a year to mark a major event.

Hundreds more joined from Bergen and other cities on German and Japanese bikes.

Riders comfort each other on the shore of lake Tyrifjorden after a run to honour of the victims of the July 22 massacre on Utoeya island.

AFP

“The truce won't last,” he admitted, “but even the police bikers wanted to join in when they saw the Tommy’s Facebook invitation on Sunday.”

His friend Tommy Hansen, who came up with the idea, added: “They cleared our way from Oslo out to Sundvolden, and arranged for us to have space for the bikes out here so we could go down to the shore.

“It's the biggest bike run in Nordic history,” he said. “People have come from all over Scandinavia and people on their holidays have joined in on the road - we just wanted to show our sympathy.”

Another rider, Christian Andre Hellebergshaughen, a Harley enthusiast who works at a bike shop in Oslo, summed up the mood, saying everyone wanted “to pay our respects to the victims... of this crazy, crazy man”.

The riders had all learnt how Anders Behring Breivik's lawyer, Geir Lippestad, described his client earlier on Tuesday as “insane”, in a clear hint at his line of defence should the case come to trial.

One, who sat pensively by herself on the shore watching a police mini-submarine maintain its search for those still “missing” in the water around Utoeya, said there might not be much point.

She said: “Giving that man a platform from which to spread his manifesto of hate will achieve nothing - whatever is decided, he must never be allowed back out into society.”

Across the water, a mini-shrine has sprung up to the dead, where heart-wrenching pictures drawn by young children depict lost brothers and sisters in the water crying for help. - AFP