Anyone thinking of this ride next summer? | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Anyone thinking of this ride next summer?

Have you done long trips before? What bike are you taking?

Whatever average mileage per day you're calculating, that last 900km stretch of gravel on the Dempster is going to significantly lower it. One silver lining is that you'll never run out of daylight in the evenings...

Also, pray for no rain for that whole week before and during your attempt. Otherwise you'll be dealing with a lot of mud! :shock:

Bring a bug shirt (and hat) and lots of mozzie repellent.

Best of luck! Take lots of pictures and post them up on here!

This would be my longest trip. I ride a CBR 250R. Years ago I rode across Canada and also to North Carolina. I did a 1000 mile ride in two days on my CBR 125 this summer, and I find the 250 much more capable and comfortable. I have ridden a bicycle across Canada, so I think I've got an idea of what long hours and days in the saddle will entail. I'd imagine I'll need to go hard the first week in order to have the time to ride the gravel safely. It would be nice to ride casually the entire trip, but better to ride what I can when I can rather than waiting for an ideal situation that may never come.

As for riding vs trucking. I don't really care about bragging rights, but for me it's about the journey at least as much as the destination. I think everyone should transverse the prairies overland one way or another at least once in their lifetime. I didn't really find the prairies boring; I'm fascinated with the openness and the 'big sky country'. Coming to the mountains after days of prairie riding is an experience that's hard to describe. It's like you've passed a test in order to be admitted to the views and splendor of the mountains.

Weather will be what it will be. Riding west against the prevailing winds may be rough, but it beats staying home.

Blackfin; the picture you posted kind of sums up exactly why I want to do this. I know flying there would be interesting, but riding there will be an experience of a lifetime.

Shanekingsley; yeah, I know what you mean about the gas prices, and they seem to go up in the summer. Just thinking out loud here and making broad assumptions in order to make some comparisons. I agree Tofino would be better than the Baja in July. What I was getting at is if I'm riding 14000 km's, I can go almost anywhere in North America and there's lots of amazing places to see that are much closer. Even so, I'm thinking that if I don't do it this year when I have the time and money, then things can happen and maybe it will never happen. I've seen too many people recently with grand plans for their retirement who find when the time comes that they are either too sick or too dead to live out their dreams.
 
I think everyone should transverse the prairies overland one way or another

Nothing says you have to fly or truck both ways...we flew out and rode home

As for riding vs trucking. I don't really care about bragging rights, but for me it's about the journey at least as much as the destination.

So you would prefer 4-5 days in the prairie vs 4-5 days in the mountains ??
Cuz thats the trade you are talking when you only have 3 weeks.
 
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It's not necessarily a choice between riding mountains or prairies. Doing the trip on the cheap is stretching my resources as it is. Adding a thousand bucks to the cost of the trip is more than I can justify

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Thats a different decision.

You can fly to Calgary for $265
Truck the bike for $500ish.

IF you are camping ...it's a no brainer it will save money. If you are not camping ...new set of calculations.

3400 km 10 fillups ..$200 in fuel...take from there. Know what the choices are in actual dollars.
 
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so food and campground another $30-40 a day so net extra cost maybe $4-500 to truck and fly provided no motels.
For that you lose 4 days in the mountains......and you are correct....doing the west coast may be a once in a life time...sure you want to give up 8 days getting there and back? 4 seems a better trade off and in that 4 days on the way back you could snag Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, Chief Joseph and the Black Hills ....:D
 
I'm thinking that if I don't do it this year when I have the time and money, then things can happen and maybe it will never happen. I've seen too many people recently with grand plans for their retirement who find when the time comes that they are either too sick or too dead to live out their dreams.

I like the way you think.

Carpe Diem!
 
16-18 hours total from Toronto to James Bay via Quebec and Voila you're at the southernmost point of ... the Arctic Ocean!!
 
Hehe ...as long as you put your wheel in the Bay. Hehe ..one of the riders from here

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It's an okay ride to do once....I wish I did the Power Station tour ...still on the bucket list.
Most bikes need spare fuel as well for the one long stretch.
 
Hehe ...as long as you put your wheel in the Bay. Hehe ..one of the riders from here

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It's an okay ride to do once....I wish I did the Power Station tour ...still on the bucket list.
Most bikes need spare fuel as well for the one long stretch.

How is that bike sprocket-deep in that mud yet not have a speck of mud anywhere else?

Was it parked there then it rained and a river came up or a tide or ... ?
 
The road to Tuk is open but not yet finished.
I will wait a few years until it's smoothed out and there are some gas stations on the route.
It's great to say you were first, but your bike is still sitting at KM 285 because of no gas or it fell apart into 12 pieces.
 
How is that bike sprocket-deep in that mud yet not have a speck of mud anywhere else?

Was it parked there then it rained and a river came up or a tide or ...

There is mud on the bike ( splotch on the tank ) but that's not so much mud as saturated gravel with rocks mixed in.
It's awkward stuff to ride in even if you are not on the edge of the bay. Don't think there is a tide on James Bay....
 
Nothing less than the doer words of discouragement I would expect here. For me the fun of the trip is the road getting there. If I could, I would do that trip in a minute. It would be best done on an ADV bike, but you could do it on a lot of bikes. Bring an extra fuel can, change your rear tire before the loneliest stretch and bring a bottle of Slime, tools, and an air pump. This is not going to be about having a comfy boring vacation on the beach, it's an adventure.
 
Except for one - who is being discouraging ? It's the time frame for OP that is the problem. That's not an easy trip on a bike. There are many gotchas beyond a flat tire.

We're just plotting to do Tuk by cage from Vancouver in june/july 2019 and figure 4 weeks with 2 drivers out of Vancouver. We've done part already on our Alaska trip and enjoyed it ....so straight north this time :D


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http://ith.dot.gov.nt.ca

http://www.tawnabrown.com/galleries/inuvik-tuk-highway/

We've covered part of this before on our Alaska trip but this would cover Vancouver Island and all the way up from Dawson City which we liked to Tuk.

Maybe even have time to take the paddlewheeker on the Klondike this time.

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That picture looks like pretty soft gravel. I'm impressed with my bike's ability on gravel. This summer I commuted through a construction zone early in the morning that was still paved. Until it wasn't. I hit packed gravel at about 100km/hr and besides needing to change my pants afterwards it was fine. That loose freshly graded stuff looks like 50km/hr max material.
I'm guessing I'll need enough tools to adjust a chain, Allen wrenches for the body panels, tire slime or plug kit for the tires, air compressor... Anything else?
I see a lot of adv guys seem to travel with an extra tire. Is that because they're riding a long distance and are wearing out tires or is it to replace a destroyed tire on the side of the road? I have tire irons and rim guards for changing tires. Maybe get a tool to break the bead?

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I see a lot of adv guys seem to travel with an extra tire. Is that because they're riding a long distance and are wearing out tires or is it to replace a destroyed tire on the side of the road?

A couple of reasons.

Long term travelers carry an extra set of tires so they don't have to wait for new ones to ship to wherever they are, because they want a specific tire that you can't find everywhere.

Another reason is that the knobby tires that do so well on dirt wear very quickly on asphalt. So they'll use street tires to get to the gnarly stuff and then switch to knobbies when the road turns to dirt.

Very rarely are the extra tires insurance in the case of a destroyed tire. Most guys will just patch the tire or tube.
 

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