Toronto to Vancouver and back

[afelotreyu]

Hey guys,

I am just asking .. no reason intended (yet!) just would like to know if any of you have done a trip from TO to Vancouver and back.

1) have you done it?
2) what route you would take?
3) how long would it take to go the and come back?
4) How much riding would you do per day?
5) cost?
6) things you probably need?

Please try to keep the response with the subject, I know we love to sidetrack

EDIT: Ideas and suggestions are also welcome for any of the questions above.

[carl240]

Hey, I haven't done it, but I am looking into doing this trip this summer.

850 to 950 kms a day should be almost comfortably doable - 4 hours in the morning and 3.5 hours afternoon averaging 120km/h. I think the weather, finding places to stay, and the objective of the trip are going to be major factors in how long it takes.

I would do a smaller, one or two day trip with the gear you plan on bringing. That way you will be able to find out the fuel economy of your bike with the extra weight, how far you can comfortably ride in day and you will be able get a better idea of what you need to bring. Also go to a bookstore and look for a Canadian travel book like the rough guide to Canada, it has average precipitation, temperatures, blackfly seasons, campsites, maps, places to eat, phone numbers + costs for eating/staying, etc. which should help you plan out possible places to stop.

Things I'm thinking I will need to bring are:

Rain gear, a couple tarps, some tools(an upgrade of the tool kit that comes with the bike), spare key, air pump + tire plug kit, spare gas can(empty unless I know I will be going for a long stretch without gas stations-my gs500 seems to do around 280 kms before i need to switch to reserve), some tubing to siphon gas, chain wax, oil filter, oil, garbage bags to keep stuff dry, tent, sleeping bag, self-inflating mattress, rope, copies of important documents and numbers in case stuff gets stolen or lost, propane and single burner stove. I might just buy new clothes along the way and throw away the old ones to save space and time. This will probably change once I figure out how I'm going to attach it all to my bike.

What bike are you planning to use, are you staying in hotels or are you going to try and do the trip for cheap?

Cheers,

[Gummiente]

1) have you done it? - In a manner of speaking, yes. Did three trips from Calgary to CFB Borden and back, although that was in '89. Did a Kingston to Regina run about eight years ago and am doing it again this coming july. From Calgary, I went out to Vancouver Island for a couple months, back in '88.

2) what route you would take? - Trans-Canada to Sault Ste Marie, crossing into Michigan and taking US 2 West all the way to North Dakota, then popping up into Sask at Esterhazy, back up to the Trans-Canada and follow it all the way to BC. Or just take the Trans-Canada all the way, both ways.

3) how long would it take to go the and come back? - Straight riding, probably around 5-6 days each way.

4) How much riding would you do per day? - 900km to 1200km, depending on weather.

5) cost? - Depends on many factors such as fuel economy, camping vs motels, restaurants vs cook your own meals, etc, etc.

6) things you probably need? - Cell phone and money. Anything else is dependant upon how you'll be traveling (as per question 5).

[Gummiente]

4 hours in the morning and 3.5 hours afternoon averaging 120km/h.

"Average speed" is determined by the amount of tme elapsed from start to end of the day and includes such things as fuel stops, meal breaks, etc. If you want to average 120kmh you will need to be traveling MUCH faster than that, taking lightning quick fuel stops and no other breaks. Which would include not stopping for the many police cruisers on your tail after blowing through all the speed traps along the way.

A much more realistic average speed for the 7.5hrs traveling time you stated would be closer to 80kmh and 600km total distance, and that's with a cruising speed of around 100kmh.

[snowboarder]

A trip is supposed to be fun. Riding that far is just self torture. To each there own I guess. Lol

[Gummiente]

A trip is supposed to be fun. Riding that far is just self torture. To each there own I guess. Lol

But it can be a lot of fun, IF it is planned and executed properly. If your idea of long distance riding is sitting in the saddle all day until you can't ride any more, then stopping for three hours sleep on a picnic table before heading back out on the road then, yes, THAT is self torture. I've done many a long tour and have enjoyed every one of them - except for the time I came back from a camping trip with severely sunburned legs and riding in a 40C August heat wave, but that's a whole other story in itself.

[RichinOville]

1) I've driven the route before, but this summer will be the first time on bike. It's not confirmed yet but I'm going the last 2 weeks of July for 14 days, coming home on the August long weekend. I will be riding 2-up, with my son, on my FZ1.
2) On the way there, mostly Transcanada but zig zagging off the route to take various sideroads to Waterton. Then into Montana and back into BC, up to Banff and then zig zagging across BC. Visiting family in Vancouver for about a day and a half and boot it home across the States. 8 days of so to get there, at roughly 700kms/day. 5 days to come home with a few 1100km days. 10,000kms in total, so far.
3) It better only take 14 days, since that is all I have. Although, I do have backup plans that involve flying home and selling the bike there or shipping the bike home.
4) 700km/day on the way there with lots of tourist stops and 1100kms/day on the way home without many detours or photo stops.
5) The cost of gas, food and hotels for 14 days. And some of my hotels, that I have picked out, I already know will not be cheap. I could probably camp if I wasn't taking my son with me.
6) Everyone is different with their comfort level with how much stuff they are going to haul. Cell a must, CAA Plus recommended, money, clothes, bike gear, bike tools, camera, etc... Make sure you know what you fuel range is since the gas stations in Northern Ontario can be few and far between. If in doubt, stop and get gas. Don't ride at night, especially once you get north of Sudbury until you get to Manitoba. Hitting a moose has a way of ruining your day.

[RichinOville]

"Average speed" is determined by the amount of tme elapsed from start to end of the day and includes such things as fuel stops, meal breaks, etc. If you want to average 120kmh you will need to be traveling MUCH faster than that, taking lightning quick fuel stops and no other breaks. Which would include not stopping for the many police cruisers on your tail after blowing through all the speed traps along the way.

A much more realistic average speed for the 7.5hrs traveling time you stated would be closer to 80kmh and 600km total distance, and that's with a cruising speed of around 100kmh.

I agree somewhat with this. When I travel by myself on long trips, I usually don't stop for a sit down meal until the end of the day. Start early and end early was my motto. About 5 years ago, I could easily average 100km/hr for a day's ride. Now, with the increased police enforcement in almost every jurisdiction, the best I can usually do is about 90-95kms/hr. When I travel with my son, that average drops to about 80kms/hour. He wants to sit down and have real meals for lunch.....go figure.

[RichinOville]

A trip is supposed to be fun. Riding that far is just self torture. To each there own I guess. Lol

If travelling on long trips seem to be self-torture to you, then you are doing it wrong.

[Gummiente]

When I travel with my son, that average drops to about 80kms/hour. He wants to sit down and have real meals for lunch.....go figure.

I hear ya on that one. I used to be hell bent for leather on all my trips until SWMBO came into my life and forced me to start taking 10 minute breaks every 150km and eating light, proper meals at the appropriate times of day. This severely affected my average speed and lengthened the trips by at least a day.... but, dammit, she was right. It became so much more enjoyable doing it her way that I've all but lost my competitive edge.

[afelotreyu]

This is amazing info, thank you all for sharing.

I was kinda looking into the route and was thinking maybe all the way there via Canada and then return via US routes. Just to make it interesting.

I am usually very pick up and go, not much of a plan ahead but it really looks like I should think this properly and plan it on the day by day.

I hope to see who else has done it, plans on doing it or may be thinking about it

[TIBURON]

you have to see the movie "ONE WEEK" thats the trip Toronto-Vancouver on a motorcycle!!!

[snowboarder]

If travelling on long trips seem to be self-torture to you, then you are doing it wrong.

i said "riding that far", a farcry from what you just interpreted

[Lightcycle]

I was kinda looking into the route and was thinking maybe all the way there via Canada and then return via US routes. Just to make it interesting.

I did exactly this a couple of summers ago. Previously did a coast-to-coast ride through the US, but wanted to do an all-Canadian ride out to Vancouver and back.

I rode up through Sault Ste-Marie up through the north coast of Superior, which has some of the best scenery in Ontario. The fog gets pretty bad some mornings and you have to do some fuel management especially if you are travelling very early or very late when the gas stations aren't open yet.

Thunder Bay to the Manitoba border starts to taper off in terms of interesting scenery, but it's not until west of Winnipeg that things start to get mind-numbingly boring. I took Transcanada 1 through Regina and Medicine Hat all the way to Calgary and the scenery just does not change. The prairies are a beautiful place, and maybe it's my ADD, but after about 3 hours of the same terrain, your eyes ache for a change in the environment. The land is so flat you can literally pick a the spot on the horizon and know that you will be in that exact location in 60 minutes even travelling at 140 kms/h. I amused myself by setting and beating the top speed on my GPS. There is no place for law enforcement to hide where you can't see them half an hour away in the distance...

The real ride starts after Calgary as you enter the Rocky Mountains. I went in August and expecting the usual muggy North-East weather, I wore my mesh gear. What a mistake. It was snowing in Canmore on the way to Banff! I had to take every piece of clothing from my luggage and put it on, riding Michelin-Man-style! I took Hwy 93 north and then TC1 through Revelstoke, to Merrit and then Hwy 5 to Hope on to Vancouver. This is just a rough itinerary, I actually spent quite a bit of time between Calgary and Vancouver, there are so many scenic twisty roads in the area you can go back and forth on some of them without getting bored at all.

In BC, there are great riding routes, but my favourite out there is the Sea-To-Sky Highway. I haven't been back since they repaved that narrow twisty road that leads to Whistler for the Olympics, so they may have straightened the fun out of it, but from what I remember, most of the joy arrives north of Pemberton as high-speed sweepers lead you all the way to Lillooet and then you take a tight, winding canyon road back through the BC interior through Lytton.

Originally, I had planned on doubling-back through Canada, but after having done the Canadian Prairies once, I was (and I am) in no rush to do it ever again. I think everyone should at least ride it to experience the Great Gap of Canada.

So I rode from Vancouver down to Washington State. When I was a car guy many ages ago, my favourite road down there was Chuckanut Drive that winds its way down the Pacific Coast south of Bellingham. Great oyster place called the Oyster Bar, definitely stop in for a meal there. It was my first time doing this on a motorcycle, and it's a lot more fun on two wheels than four! I rode my normal route through Deception Pass, down to Oak Harbor and Whidby Island, taking in the beauty of the shores of Skagit Bay and Puget Sound. Then took the ferry back to the mainland at Mukilteo.

I had to meet my wife to see the MotoGP races in Indianapolis, so I rode through Hwy 2 Mount Baker National Forest (amazing!), up through Glacier National Park (hit 0C), down through South Dakota, ran out of time so I rushed right pass Mount Rushmore (pun intended) without seeing it and ended up in Indiana in a couple of days flat! The scenery through the northern US is so much better than traversing the TransCanada even when you're rushing.

If you're interested I can try to find some of the nicer roads in BC and Washington state on the map for you. You should spend most of your trip there if you're a twisty road/scenic bypass type of person.

Advice is to bring warm gear for the mountains, book extra time so you can actually see stuff instead of rushing there and back. I took about 2 weeks and felt I could have used another 3 or 4 days (perhaps 18-19 days would have been perfect), spending more time in BC and northern Washington State.

[Jag_V4Ape]

One Week movie download:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8Z10AAI1

Guy going from Tdot to BC.

Enjoy

[Gummiente]

There is no place for law enforcement to hide where you can't see them half an hour away in the distance...

Each time I've gone through there, the RCMP have been set up under an overpass on the TC just east of the exit for the Winnipeg bypass. Very difficult to spot them until it's too late; in fact the only thing that saved me from a ticket last time was a Connie rider who passed by in the other direction, frantically pointing to the underpass in the distance and making the "slow down" signal. And don't forget, if you can see them 1/2hr away they can also see you - and LIDAR has a very long range.

[Lightcycle]

And don't forget, if you can see them 1/2hr away they can also see you - and LIDAR has a very long range.

I must have had horseshoes stuck up somewhere dark that ride...

[Gummiente]

I must have had horseshoes stuck up somewhere dark that ride...

Could be. I grew up in Sask and was stationed for 4yrs in Calgary when I was in the military and, while there isn't near as much of a police presence on the roads out west as there is in Ontario, they do have a way of appearing at the most inopportune times. I found that cruising at 15-20kmh over the limit isn't normally an issue with them, but anything above that and the chances of getting your wallet lightened increase very rapidly.

[04turbowagon]

I've done the trip. We did it about 9 years ago. Took 6 days to get there and we stayed in Canada. The prairies suck! That's the only place we got pulled over by the RCMP. We never rode at night and trucked the bikes home. It was awesome to see the country side on the bike. Prairies was the only place where we were concerned about getting gas for the bikes.

[Ritchard]

1) I've driven the route before, but this summer will be the first time on bike. It's not confirmed yet but I'm going the last 2 weeks of July for 14 days, coming home on the August long weekend. I will be riding 2-up, with my son, on my FZ1.

Your son must really like riding pillion.