My IBA SS1000 ride | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

My IBA SS1000 ride

There are other IBA rides that I would like to attempt in the future, but I will not be attempting another IBA ride on my Bandit! I know that it isn't a sport bike, but for my body, it IS too sporty for anther 1000 mile ride. I was quite comfortable up to the 500mi point and if the day had ended there I'd have been happy to grab some sleep and get up and do another 500mi the next day. However, after completing the SS1000 I spent most of the next day sleeping or lounging on the couch, too tired to do much else.

I've been wanting to get a new bike for a while now. Not sure what yet. I've been looking at the Wee Strom, Concours 1000, and ST1100. Finances aren't really in place for a newer FJR or ST1300. I love the Concours 14, but again its the $$.

When I do get some $$ together and if I buy a more comfortable bike (who knows, I might lose my mind and buy a z900 next, they're sweet!) I have my eye on doing an SS1000 around Lake Ontario and Lake Erie as well as the BB1500.
 
Congrats.

The 1000 is on my to do list as well but I do agree that it should be easy - slabbing it one can easily maintain a high KM/H average and even some traffic or unforseen circumstances still allow for a sizeable buffer.

I inadvertently (Yeah, long story LOL) did a ride that would have probably qualified for an IBA a few weeks ago but I hadn't planned on it and had nowhere near the required documentation.

I would like to plot out a trip with no backtracking though as I hate that - I was thinking around the lake myself. I had considered a lake Ontario/Erie loop (A recognized common route on the IBA website) but the border crossings and big cities (Cleveland is the biggie) are hard variables to account for without careful consideration as to rush hour times, etc.

The mileage works out perfect though, 1629KM is the loop basically...and easily done inside 24 hours. For example, right now it shows under 15 hours and 45 minutes to complete. That's an EASY daylight day trip.

Hmm. Depending on how I feel after the 4500KM trip next week...I might knock this off the last week of August, actually. This has got me to thinking now. ;)
 
Congrats.

The 1000 is on my to do list as well but I do agree that it should be easy - slabbing it one can easily maintain a high KM/H average and even some traffic or unforseen circumstances still allow for a sizeable buffer.

I inadvertently (Yeah, long story LOL) did a ride that would have probably qualified for an IBA a few weeks ago but I hadn't planned on it and had nowhere near the required documentation.

I would like to plot out a trip with no backtracking though as I hate that - I was thinking around the lake myself. I had considered a lake Ontario/Erie loop (A recognized common route on the IBA website) but the border crossings and big cities (Cleveland is the biggie) are hard variables to account for without careful consideration as to rush hour times, etc.

The mileage works out perfect though, 1629KM is the loop basically...and easily done inside 24 hours. For example, right now it shows under 15 hours and 45 minutes to complete. That's an EASY daylight day trip.

Hmm. Depending on how I feel after the 4500KM trip next week...I might knock this off the last week of August, actually. This has got me to thinking now. ;)

Border crossings? Last week at the 1000 islands there's building work on the Canadian side adding a new set of booths etc. There was over 1h wait and I didn't see a nexus line either and that was a quiet day.
 
Border crossings? Last week at the 1000 islands there's building work on the Canadian side adding a new set of booths etc. There was over 1h wait and I didn't see a nexus line either and that was a quiet day.

Indeed that can be a variable, but border crossing times are also highly dependent on day and time..and which direction you're going. Crossing at 1AM on a Wednesday is going to yield a big difference vs 2PM on a weekend. ;)

Much like the time you will be hitting the big cities (one would want to avoid Cleveland during morning or afternoon rushes, obviously) it needs to be carefully choreographed. I would probably leave at around 4AM on a weekday, that would put me at Ganonoque around 6:30AM (before the cross border shopper/tourist AM rush headed south into the USA), so the border is usually extremely fast - sometimes you drive right up to the booth and are gone in <5 minutes.

It's about 6.5 hours from there to Cleveland which would put you passing through between 1-2PM given rapid fuel stops and such. Even arriving at 2:30 will put you through before rush hour.

From Cleveland to Windsor is about 275KM, so about 2H45M, arriving around 4:45PM. If the border is delayed there one can simply skip up to Sarnia alternately, the mileage isn't that much different in the end. There will probably be some border traffic but generally Windsor is well staffed and fast. Worst case scenario 1hour.

Rolling again at around 5:45.

Once across the border the next traffic concern is Toronto, but you'd be coming through around 9PM anyways, so minimal traffic to worry about by that point.

Home before 9PM. Still only 18 hours - 6 hours to spare. Heck, might even be time for a nap (or a sit down meal) for an hour or so after clearing the border at Windsor if you wanted. ;)
 
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My all Canadian route was Toronto -> 400N -> Sudbury ->17/417E -> Ottawa -> 416S/401E -> Montreal -> 401W -> Toronto

It's almost exactly 1600 kms, so I got gas in the East Montreal suburb of Repentigny before heading back to TO. Total mileage by Google Maps was something like 1640 kms.

It's not perfect. Montreal traffic is worse than Toronto, but if you time it so you hit off-peak hours, this makes for a good All-Canadian 400-series highway SS1000 loop.
 
Congrats OP that's great! I did the 1000 a few years ago with some members from here on my 250....awesome fun. It was m CBR250, a ZX1000R, busa, and a Blackbird 1100. Went down to the states just outside of NYC and back. Both border crossings took 10min because they were very late/early and took about 20hrs. Have never actually filed the documents but they're here somewhere so I think I still can.

Would never do it on a 250 again though.
 
My all Canadian route was Toronto -> 400N -> Sudbury ->17/417E -> Ottawa -> 416S/401E -> Montreal -> 401W -> Toronto

Interesting option as well, but how many hours did it take you?

The reason I'm partial to the around the lake route is that it's all superslab. Not usually what one would desire of course, except when time is important.

I have heard of people that tried the 1000 and ended up riding for 21-22 hours to make it work because their choice of roads didn't allow for the sorts of high speeds you can reach on superslab, or they ran into unexpected road construction/diversions, etc. At 20+ hours awake there's no way you're safe on a bike anymore - your attention isn't there the way it needs to be.
 
There will probably be some border traffic but generally Windsor is well staffed and fast. Worst case scenario 1hour.

Rolling again at around 5:45.

Once across the border the next traffic concern is Toronto, but you'd be coming through around 8PM anyways, so minimal traffic to worry about by that point.

Windsor to Toronto in 2:15??



via Tapatalk
 
Windsor to Toronto in 2:15??



via Tapatalk
Honda vtx1300 and a determined wrist.
Or just an approximation, may have been off a wee bit.

Sent from my SM-A500W using Tapatalk
 
17 hours 53 minutes

Cool. I like that route, I'll keep it in mind. The lack of border crossings certainly removes a lot of potential issues.

Windsor to Toronto in 2:15??

Honda vtx1300 and a determined wrist.
Or just an approximation, may have been off a wee bit.

Oops, typo. ;) . 3:15 - Windsor area to the west side of Toronto where traffic issues start to be a concern.
 
Congrats OP.

I was hoping to do the Loop around the lakes 24hr IBA this year but who knows.
 

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