Riding the Canadian and maybe US Rockies - recommended roads/routes

You have no idea what you are missing.
There IS an off button

He missed a turn as I did
Poorly marked
He thought he was waiting for me to catch up

Nice ride to hook up
Close encounter with a deer. 5 meters standing on the pavement looking straight at me.
He had to scare off a bear Both saw deer off the road - I saw a moose

Geez when the kid gets lost ..



Half pavement half gravel...mostly white knuckle twists and switchbacks and 20% inclines.
Needed his dirt skills for sure.....no wonder he was beat. On an FZ-08 with street tires.
Being a diabetic if he falls he's got problems ...which is why I was so concerned

He says he was as tired as the first day he went dirt riding.....

quite adventure ...ended well but ....

Tired puppies - I got up early and rode the 87 km back to where he was staying....let my guard down coming into town and nose to nose with a deer...

Just had a salad finally with grilled chicken - both of us been wanting veg and salad after the last two days of very marginal meals.

been looking for a spot to swim but damn rivers are wickedly powerful.

and the one we stopped at yesterday for kenz to cool off in was glacial….he got into his knees and bailed.

It was weird as the rivers and streams were sooooo cold and the air temp mid 30s - we were in the mesh armor and hot, then teeth chatter, then hot….it was crazy - temperature layer cake for many km

it’s 32 here= 4 degrees warmer than Clearwater Florida…not fun to ride in and it’s mostly busy highway tho think it’s going to get better now as we climb.

Booked a Super8 with a hot tub in Valemont

will get there in a couple of hours. We like the chain and it was $99 on deal and I'll get it back on travel points.

Liittle cabin in the woods....sort of



a lovely view



RIght price...$70 a night since we don't have out own bedding...

But a reasonable ending to an unintentionally adventurous day. Some lessons learned.

FILL THE DAMN SPARE GAS TANK!!!

fill up when you have a chance.

We did NOT expect a 200 km stretch of no fuel on a major highway ... with strongish headwinds that even the Wee was down to one bar on a 292 km run between Valemont and Prince George.
Mind you that was 292 KM....given the speeds the kid was running ahead of me he was down to fumes at a place that had gas but was only open on weekends.

We had a chance to top up at McBride...but I was still on 5 bars but the kid was down two out of five. Neither of us thought there would be a blank stretch so long.

So I trekked the 60 km in to get fuel and 60 back ...kid has a nice conversation with a lady waiting for her husband who was bicycling the road.

Nice going back with the wind for a bit.

SInce we were delayed an hour and had skipped going to Jasper ( so have an entire day extra ) I figured we'd cut it short and stop in Vanderhoof which seemed a going concern......error ...ugly forestry town.
Booking.com was good and cancelled our reservation as did the Inn owner.

Certainly NOT suitable for leaving motorcycles let alone seriouly unappealing town.

Made another reservation for Fraser Lake....would have been okay but too utilitarian...excellent phone signal tho so checked Piper Resort and wow...$60 a nigh for a cabin and just 13 km back the way we came.
Finally.

Kid had a bad low we had to sit out a bit ....both of us cranky ..he had good reason...me just frustrated as was hot in the sun mucking about in Vanderhoof sorting things.
At least you can apologize on the SENA and of course when his sugars came up he was mellow and when we figured out the wireless here....all is good with the world.

Even the CN line running between us and the lake was good for a laugh. Ear plugs will deal with that tonight.

Fewer aches and pains today....we could easily have done the 520 scheduled ...it's only 70 km more but I recalled Jude and I having trouble finding a place last year arriving late.

Short day tomorrow and kid wants to swim ....there is a sandy beach in the Beaumont Provincial Park next door.

Not my photo


Saw one deer along the edge of the highway ...once reason to call it a bit early.

Sorting out tech that works and doesn't.
iPhone 5 eats batteries....4 works the charm.
Lithium Battery with multiple connections ( will charge a cell 4 x and start a bike ) has been very useful. Anti-gravity Batteries....Microstart.

...really works well and gives you a super long lasting bright flashlight as well as an emergency bike starter.
Review is here...I'd say must have for the tech carrying motorcycle tourer.

Cup holder is still a work in progress....needs the right size bottle ( 750 ml ) ....some bear is likely licking a litre of pepsi off the highway.
The 500 ml fit but once down to 1/3 are too light to stay inside the cup holder.

Spare 5 litre gas container....well worth having along...fits snugly between the frame sliders and the Jesse cases on the Wee with a couple of bungies.

The Jesse cases are simply superb.
The GIvi and Shad topcases work well for us.
The Madstat with the Givi screen is excellent in any wind conditions once adjusted.
Amazing how many bugs INSIDE the screen.

AFX-55 Helmet has been confortable ...built in sunscreen is welcome at times.

The SENA 20s systems work very well ....easy conversation even at speed once we got the foam covers on the microphones. The kid is on a mostly naked bike and even at 120+ we could chat without interference at all from wind.

Voice command for the iphones through the SENA allows stop and start music, automated phone calls and of course rider to rider for the SENA itself for about 1/2 KM.
Sometimes is obtuse tho....might try SIRI as an alternative.

Very long lasting battery ...I use my own earphones and love it. Kid is using earplugs and the SENA in helmet speakers and also loves it.

Gonna install the speakers in mine as well just in case the earphones get damaged.

Settling into routines tho scewed up a bit today...my fault. Ovefilled oil....forgot tank bag...kid helped with both.

After shaky start and mozzie infested cabin....a lovely 520 km ride to Stewart BC just across the border from Alaska.
Both felt we were good to go 700 km if needed....

We will visit Hyder Alaska and Salmon Arm Glacier tomorrow. Lots of pics but slow limited internet in Stewart.
Then off to Terrace BC.
Comfortably on schedule and then some. Prince Rupert by Friday morning is a cake walk. So will enjoy the spectacular scenery if the weather holds.

Some of this is a repeat as I summarized for another forum.

A few salutory lessons the last couple of days.....
Make sure you know the meet up place....
Take the right gear.

Kid got a fail on both of those but it all worked out okay tho the RCMP looking for him were not so amused.

Day one ....started well - catching the flight tho a tank bag almost got left behind....tip...carry your own gear to the cab.

Arrived at the airport and no problem with the helmet carry on or the tank bags.
We checked the one top case and it got to Vancouver okay. Cheap flight ...no meals...tip - carry some on the plane with you.

Picked up the bikes at Air Cargo in Vancouver - about a 2km taxi ride from the terminal.

The bikes were on the palette well strapped down.

Meandered about looking for a motorcycle shop - Kenz wanted some knee protection.
Was hot and I was cranky about the side trip but finally made it out of the GVA and onto 99 north ....Sea to Sky Highway ...the one they spent a bunch of money on for the winter Olympics.

Was perfect weather for riding even to squid level


Many bikes out along this lovely stretch by the coast before Whistler.

Hwy 99 is superb!!!! Has to rank up there with some of the best riding I've done.
Kid zoomed ahead......and

Learning point added to Touring tips.
Have an Agreed meet up place

Kid and I after a great but long day ended staying 87km apart
Sigh

I was certain he knew where we were headed 99 n to Cache Creek
Told him stay on highway

He missed a turn. So did I but caught it early

He did not realise he was not on 99
Of course I was on 99
He waited for me to catch up ....thought he saw me pass where he was waiting....

Poor kid wandering in the dark - low on fuel - no cell connection....sees a sign for food and fuel....30 km of treachery later...no fuel, no accommodation.
You know from the switchbacks on the map below and 20% grades signed that was quite a ride.



Poor dad called the rcmp. Diabetic kid gone missing
He only got in cell range at 10.30 pm
He had all his diabetic gear with
Him. Also both laptops

Met in the morning - he said it was the hardest off pavement he's done - and he's on a FZ-08 with street tires on 20% grades.!!! One very tired puppy after a day that started at 5 am in Toronto and he called me at 10.30 pm after finally getting back to civilization.

I mean Damn we were chatting on the Senas all day

Ah well...the good weather had to end sometime. Over night in Stewart BC as it turned out.

But the ride into Stewart was in glorious if chilly weather



kid had a ball playing hooligan on the last stretch away from the Cassiar junction to Stewart.
It was truly lovely and I did lots of photo stops



The river valley is surrounded by mountains on both sides



Several glaciers....



The presence of glaciers and riding beside a glacial river the whole way in from Maitzinlin Junction might have had something to do with it.

This was recently an avalanche zone - very recently and there are warnings all along the route not to stop.

9 degrees and raining in the morning..

a blurry Canada border station coming back from our short foray into Alaska.
.had to forgo Salmon Arm as 20 miles of gravel to get to the view point and it was foggy and rainy.
Still managed to sneak into Hyder Alaska ( there is no US customs since there is no place to go apparently ).....checked with Canada customs on the way out.
But it cleared a bit as we got on the road - enough to enjoy the ride into Hyder.
Still spectacular even with no sun....kid had never been in any mountains other than Pennsylvania



the richness of the west coast temperate rain forest is astonishing...even on a grey dim day the green comes through


We went as far as Fish Creek where the bears will be next month. You can be 3 meters from a grizzily fishing for salmon.

Lovely and remote...Hyder Alaska


well worth the effort.


Just as we were leaving Stewart a black bear loped across the road a few meters in front of us...we were going slowly so no risk to us or bear but was nice to see.
Another one on the Cassiar was a few hundred meters away and that was fine as we were boogeying....it's a very wild stretch...not much in the way of twists....some good twists but there were good sweeps and really a wilderness area with little signs of development.

The Caassiar is very remote ...indigenous lands with very little development.

Skipping to the end of a chilly day......



His teeth were chattering when we got to the B&B in Prince Rupert.....he got pink right quick in this.

Geez - must be BC....wait an hour and the sun comes out.

MM

I cannot imagine chatting while riding... never will I have such a terrible device. The only voices I want in my head while riding are my own... or the music I am playing at the time. I can't imagine having my Dad rambling away while I am trying to enjoy a ride, I think I'd blow the next curve on purpose just to end the horror show.

Click to expand...

talking to two experienced riders from Switzerland today staying where we are and riding for 3 months in Alaska and BC.....have done Australia and New Zealand and all over Europe ...they would never be without coms for the same reasoning I adhere to.

It's safer, more enjoyable. They have longer range ( 5km ) comms on their bikes in Europe.
They rented BMW GS800s here and use the same SENA 20s. $6k each to rent the bikes for 3 months!!!!!!....they did not know about the AIr Canada cargo deal to and from Europe.

Their blog and photos here if you can read it
http://www.toeff.org
Coll photos tho

For $850 they would have flown their own machines over to Calgary.
Nice to swap touring stories.
They are heading where we've just been and then likely returning down a similar route and into the Yellowstone area as I don't think there is enough in Alaska for 3 months - just not enough roads.

Odd they ended at the same B&B....owner thought we were riding together.

Recommended place in Prince Rupert either going to or from ...lovely breakfast included.
Even had a boot drier which kid really needed....and the headache with heavy racing gloves which he wears.....they take forever to dry.

Enchanted Rainforest

Directions
3-star B&B
Just off Yellowhead Highway this casual B&B is 4.2 km from the Kaien Island rainforest. … More
Address: 706 Ritchie St, Prince Rupert, BC V8J 3N5
Phone250) 624-9742

Click to expand...

Kudos to Cindy and grandson for making cold wet riders welcome. Nicely appointed and she even arranged sunshine today

Had gear draped everywhere....



but the master ensuite was just lovely, heated floors and huge soaker tub.

Kittschy common room but again excellent facilities,


full kitchen - truly good coffee and I'm fussy. Big breakfast made to order.



Second floor deck facing west which is lovely just now at 7 pm.

On the ferry down the Inside Passage at 9 am tomorrow and looks to be a nice if chilly day.
Kid at least has some better gear now after a trip to the outdoor store.

BTW - Mike....if you bring up a kid with type one diabetes, which I don't wish on anyone, as I have as single parent since he was 14.....helicopter parentlng is part of the package.
Or perhaps you missed that little detail.

This will be memorable

The smallest fawn I've ever seen spooked from the grass in front of us and galloped down the road away from us.....
Then stopped just at a crest almost out of sight...
I'd gotten the camera out and it came bounding back towards us and then stopped :huh









Finally scampered between the bikes and disappeared...

••••

Local guy chatting with us at the coffee shop said best June weather in the 45 years he's lived here.....was truly lovely day on the ride down from the Inside Passage ferry end at Port Harding to Port Alberni BC

Long stretches of forest at the north end of the island...



a major industry and the red wood against the blue waters and greenery quite photogenic.



along with fishing



the odd angles on some of these shots are from shooting on the fly. 19a meanders along the coast ...a continuous N California experience frozen in time....tie dye and all.

Then we turned up away from the coast towards Port Alberni and eventually Tofino tomorrow.



brilliant road...

Back into the heat along the route from Port Alberni to Victoria then - brrrrrrr along the s coast - damn that water is frigid...
Had to cut short a ride in the twists

June 20, 2014 - 4 star route rating4.0

This is a nice quick ride with lots of twisties, the ride starts in urban surroundings but quickly turns to a rural road through forested areas. Visibility is limited because the vegetation is so close to the road sometimes but the road surface is very good. Traffic is usually light, with hardly a copper to be seen in the rural setting. A great short ride, not far from the downtown core!

Click to expand...

Surfaces were "interesting"....kept you on your toes and Big Bertha ....new name for the Vstrom wallowed a lot.
Was too much fun yesterday when we went to Uclulet with the bikes relatively stripped down. and a fabulous riding road. ( HWY 4 through Port Alberni to Tofino ).
You had to be on your toes and since it was Sunday traffic was a challenge but we had a good time out and back -it's not listed on the Motorcycle roads BC but certainly should be. Technical and dangerous in sections - traffic compounding it but some serious fun too.

This was the route planned for today but we had to cut it
http://www.bestbikingroads.com/moto...-columbia-/east-sooke-road-loop-_5d953c4.html
by half as kid was having a bad sugars day and we needed to get back by a route we could stop regularly and make some time as we were getting a bit into deer and elk o'clock when we pulled in finally.

Day started out very well and we got from Port Alberni to Victoria right quick by the main highway.
Had a pig out for kid's Bday at an Indian Buffet Saaz he picked out. Good value for money but he ended with too many carbs and a pretty severe high that his real time monitor did not catch in time.
Very cranky boy and frustrated...all the tech and things still go south.

But he's fine now and had an amazing good value for money meal across the parking lot at the MGM in Nanaimo.
http://www.mgmrestaurant.com/nanaimo

Soup or salad
A whole list of tasty entres ( I had the 1/2 rack of ribs tho was more like 1/3 rack - very tender )
Then apple pie for desert

For the princely price of $11.45...and this is supper menu.!!!!!
Kid had what he termed the best Greek salad ever.....chock a block with ripe tomatoes

So nice treat after a difficult afternoon and the motel is fine.
Sitting outside overlooking the bikes.




Harbour Light Motel ....excellent positioning for the ferry and lots around tho it's a noisy stretch.

http://www.harbourlightmotel.com

$70 a night. Superb wifi 50 mps down. Content....busy day tomorrow with rescuing care packages from motorcycle dealer Tuff City Powersports nearby, getting ferry and then a ride to Copper Mountain BC. Hopefully catch this loop late tomorrow or the next morning

International Selkirk Loop : Sandpoint - Creston - Kootenay - Nakusp http://www.bestbikingroads.com/moto...ia-/international-selkirk-loop--_6fc5d64.html

Froze along the ocean and then cooked in the valleys....locals all complaining of the heat.


tho many clearly enjoying it.

Got to 36 in Lilloet where kid got lst last week.....brutal as it's damp.

B.C. heat wave broke records this past weekend
www.vancitybuzz.com/2015/06/bc-heat-wave-breaks-records/
B.C. heat wave broke records this past weekend. By Lauren Sundstrom. 9:26 AM PDT, Mon June 08, 2015. Comments. NewsWeather. SHARES. Share on ...

Click to expand...

Perfect 23 out now at dusk tho a bit of an inversion makes it a sticnky one given all the industry along the coast.

Getting past Victoria a few KM and the clean wind off the PAcific was a real relief tho man was it cold. FOg banks sitting offshore looked neat.

Pics soon but too tired to post up just now.
Likely veg with Netflix and get going early while it's cool.

Google mapping sucks for the southern part of the island...you really have to chase rider reports.

If our care packages don't get in early might redo some parts tomorrow.

Helmet looks civilized again aa one care package made it.

The other was "out for delivery" so will go back home.
Only casualty of that is no spare earphones......and Murphy's Law....getting off the ferry and was rushed a bit - forgot to put the balaclava on over the UE Earphones and thought I pooched one completely...
Realized the back came off of one of the earphones and was MIA but cables were intact - slotted the thing together and ....yeah....duct tape....works the charm

Hot trafficky...ride to Burnaby - me growling ....kid hung up the Sena...hmmmmph
He wanted new gloves.....dealer had his size and got $400 gloves for $171 all in.



Happiness all around......

https://www.planet-knox.com/product/handroid-motorcycle-gloves/

Tired from rough night with sugars but lovely ride to Hope BC...tailwind, 23 degrees and Mount Baker in all it's glory

plus mountains on all sides. That shot of Mount Baker would be about 100km away !!!

Speed limit is 110 and people boogey faster.

Big Bertha is a handful in GVA with weird hills and cambers. Glad to be gone....couple minor GPS errors didn't help.

Ferry ride was 2 hours and we got a late start but day ended on schedule tho looked unlikely there for a while as mcycle dealer visit took an extra hour.

Not my smartest navigating day tho the weather was lovely and one stretch was stunning ....sun and wind behind us, no traffic and spectacular scenery . the river IS that green





It's part of this loop and its famous enough to have its own road sign

International Selkirk Loop : Sandpoint - Creston - Kootenay - Nakusp http://www.bestbikingroads.com/moto...ia-/international-selkirk-loop--_6fc5d64.html

Should have studied it a bit more an done more of the loop in Canada instead of hot and boring too far south towards Spokane.
Instead cut south from Hope BC too soon and while it was a sweet rural road .....eye to eye with doe out way too late in the morning!!!!.....then missed a cutoff that would have saved 60 km and more interesting
....better prepared for tomorrow which features a fab road to start, the Glacier Natl Park,

Montana Highway 37 between Libby and Eureka is known as "The better than sex highway...


http://ridewithgps.com/routes/253450


Would have been nice today with the sun behind us but its a spectacular clear day ( we had some cloud and a few drops early in the day today ) teed up for tomorrow and kid is all organized to go early.
The cliffs along the edge should shelter and the lake will be still in the morning.

Yikes - tired puppies holed up in Augusta Montana

Gorgeous day - then it snowed....

stay tuned

Getting behind but bit of catchup - skip forward to Fathers Day.

couple of meters from a bull buffalo ambling up the road….that was nerve wracking being on a bike and looking him in the eye…




no pics of that as on a slope holding the bikes….damn they are big up close!!!! He was about this size, tongue lolling out as he ambled up the road for about 45 minutes - gave us the once over but figured we were harmless and he went on and we got scarce right quick.

Even the big elk were up close and personal

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JINo5DVGUeE/VYgPrmUcljI/AAAAAAAAN7I/KhQqe1NmFLg/s1152/Screen%252520Shot%2525202015-06-22%252520at%252520Jun%25252C%25252022%252520%252520%252520%2525202015%252520%252520%252520%2525207.34.41%252520AM.jpg[/im]

traffic was horrendous in Yellowstone….Fathers Day on a Sunday…!! No choice in planning - distances dictated it.
It was neat to see thousands of buffalo along the valley

[img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t_knPGEP6A8/VYf_-th9JXI/AAAAAAAAN50/3og0le_Ubvo/s912/Screen%252520Shot%2525202015-06-22%252520at%252520Jun%25252C%25252022%252520%252520%252520%2525202015%252520%252520%252520%2525206.11.30%252520AM.jpg

did the Old Faithful thing…fortunately went off 15 min after we arrived - not sure Kenz was too impressed



we were both tired and fried after that - stopped in a pretty valley - we were riding in most of warm gear in Yosemite ( anticipating Beartooth) and took a 1/2 hour to dry it out and rest….traffic was a bear.



then geared up for the Beartooth pass at 11,000 feet
total hoot riding ….switchbacks like crazy - that got the juices flowing...grins all around
That tall pole behind the bike is how high the snow gets….this is mid june !!!!
It was cold but of course there were hardcore, no gloves no helmet, no jacket on Hardleys......teeth gritted







gorgeous tho and we had fun and Kenz more fun playing hooligan in both up and down.



Switchback after switchback....commentary ..."it's STILL going up !!!!"





Bashed the hell out of the centre stand on a downhill over a creek at faster than I should have...bike is loaded, I'm no sylph and the rate of speed ..ahem...
Shocks compressed with braking and then this metal plate across the road was uneven....sturm and drang even with earphones in.

Bike handled the abuse fine tho.

staying at a nice place with pool and hot tub in Red Lodge Montana…and great meal last night a Bogarts….a form of chili I’d never had….was delicious
Breakfast and a hot tub coming right up

Not a bad Father's Day on a 50th anniversary ride with my kid. Our highlight days seem to involve snow and glaciers....

Heading for Mount RUshmore and Dakota Badlands

staying behind this so slowing down a bit

Took a short day with decent mileage at speed.....cost us arm and leg in gas for 468 km.
We both pulled into the first stop AND the second stop on fumes.

But stunning day and went by quickly at 130-150 indicated.

130 actual is the speed limit here !!!!! 80 mph.



Kenz took off ahead to the booked room and I took it easier to get some photography in with the sun behind me.

Came a across a lovely herd of antelope....with young....the saw me stop and started running but not too far.





Nice place in Gillette Wyoming.

Heading to Mount Rushmore and Badlands tomorrow cruising behind the storm,

Good things happen at times...Super8 screwed up our booking so kid gets the hideabed and we BOTH get the in room Jacuzzi.



Very welcome after 620 km on an 11.30 start.

I had work and kid was immovable lump in bed...made it up by 130-140 the whole way - gulping fuel.

Nice meal and very affordable spot along 90 ...Al's Place I think which looked to be a wanna be Wall's Drug Store which is a soul searing tourist trap.

This place on the other hand had delicious food in addition to 5¢ good coffee ( and I'm fussy ).

We're much further east now slabbing the whole way .....Rushmore was a joke to be avoided which we did. $11 for parking and they blocked all the views outside
No thanks

Despite having a National Parks Pass. Crazy Horse partially done down the road at least you can photograph from a distance,

The area is gearing up for Sturgis 75th anniversary...kid played tourist for a couple of hours, we got old time photos done, matching Tshirts etc.

Looks awesome. I'm jelly

I'd bet not so much just now - hot and flat in Wisconsin.....skipping the ferry and slabbing around the end of the lake through CHicago after rush hour....oh joy.

Successfuly so....damn ferry would be like $400 Cdn for us and the two bikes.

longest day yet …..dodging rain ( successfully mostly ), traffic, (marginally tho could have been far worse) fog…..not all…..weird ride at speed - no sense of where I was …..could have been headed for Memphis given the crazy tangle of highways and different states. Had to trust the GPS as I would have been horridly lost ( we took a slightly longer - 18 km - route around Chicago rather than deal with the downtown expressways at 7 pm.

Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan all converge here.

room is freezing - we'll have a fight over that...kid likes it cool.

747 km from home ….all slab after doing 770 today and landing east of Chicago on the lake.
Two days ahead of schedule but that's fine for us both.

Home again. home again....

Dodging storms but all worked out.

Stayed behind a front yesterday successfully tho fog was horrid.

Then this was on our heels all day but nary a drop ....mostly sunny and nice.



Gonna be a wet weekend in the GTA by the looks of it.

Bloody hell - cold too....glad we pushed.

Warnings
11:26 AM EDT Saturday 27 June 2015
Rainfall warning in effect for:

City of Hamilton
Rain, at times heavy, is expected.

An unseasonably strong low pressure system over Ohio will bring a significant rainfall to the regions today and tonight as it tracks northeast just south of Lake Erie.

The heaviest rain will move out of the Windsor and Sarnia areas by this evening, and later on tonight for regions further east.

Latest indications now suggest that many areas will receive near 50 millimetres of rain by Sunday morning. Locally higher rainfall amounts are possible in areas that receive downpours during a brief thunderstorm.

Heavy downpours can cause flash floods and water pooling on roads. Localized flooding in low-lying areas is possible.

Rainfall Warnings are issued when significant rainfall is expected.

Environment Canada meteorologists will update alerts as required. Please monitor local media or Weatheradio. To report severe weather, send an email to storm.ontario@ec.gc.ca or tweet reports to #ONStorm.

Click to expand...

Post this else where but wanted to add to it here.

Just did some math, around 39 fill ups in total. This is gonna be really fun or I'll never try it again lol

Oh, only have full leathers now, bad idea for a 33 hour ride I suppose? lol

Click to expand...

You will have to have a very odd idea of "fun".

Kid just did 21 days on his FZ-08 with this set up.



Economics on 7,000 km

About 450 litres of fuel...approx $540
1/2 set of sport tires $200

7 motel nights. $700
Food etc even eating at McD's $200

Things like sprocket and chain wear etc all add up.
Call it $1600

••••

Versus fly the bike to Vancouver $1900 and that's round trip for you and the bike.
Same for Calgary. At least with Calgary or Van you can ride some of the Rockies, catch Banff, Jasper and Bow Valley


http://www.bestbikingroads.com/moto...es-in-canada-/british-columbia--___13400.html

To do 1,000 km days you have to be up at sparrows and be willing to push hard all day til late in the evening, then do it again and again and again and that's figuring on little construction and no weather slow downs.

Having just come 3200 km from Yellowstone to Mississauga in 4 days...I can tell you you will have both tho we avoided most of the weather.
Plus we had S Dakota speed limits of 130 kph to help....you won't get that on the Canadian route.

Took me 50 years of riding to get around to a cross country....you gonna do it, do it right and include riding the Rockies.
Because there were two of us motel costs were split ( in theory and if you travel in the US meals are often so huge one is enough for both.

My thinking for the future is that a person can fly the bike to Vancouver. Ride 99 north ( one of the best rides ever for me....both scenic and way fun ) to the Yellowhead, across to Jasper and Banff then southern Rockies, and do Yellowstone ( not on a weekend ), Beartooth Pass, Rushmore ( marginal ), Badlands and ride home in 16 days. ( two weeks plus the extra weekend ).
Beartooth was a total highlight....miles and miles of sweeps and twists leading to 11,000 feet.



Leave on Saturday morning on the early flight and be riding by 10 am Vancouver time up the Sea to Sky Highway along the coast.

Doing it again we would have skipped Vancouver Island and the Inside Passage ferry for more riding in the Rockies especially the southern part as the map shows, tho sneaking into Alaska was fun.
It's the lower Rockies in Canada and the states where all the action is....just don't do Yellowstone on a weekend

Highly recommend Audible for books. You can nav with your smart phone easily and listen to the books and music. Throttle lock

••••

addendum...
I figure there are three 16 day trips to be had.

The one above.

Then Vancouver south, catch the area around Mount Rainier

and Mt St Helens and



then do the BRP - don't get on it too soon as it's very foggy to the North of San Fran.....stay in the mountains instead. The S of San Fran get along the coast.



as far south as San Luis Obispo and then cut over to Yosemite, Utah, Arches, Zion and Grand Canyon and home via Colorado

Then another to catch the desert areas further south tho less interesting from a riding perspective.

Thanks MacDoc, good read. I'm glad you guys had a great time even with the small hickups. I'll be heading out to Victoria next Monday so should be fun...