Anyone interested in a James Bay Road trip? | Page 9 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Anyone interested in a James Bay Road trip?

Thanks for the info @jeff96

Yeah if I could do it I would have 3 bikes. Cruiser, adventure, and a standard like a classic Honda from the 80's.

@privatepilot I just need more experience but so far so good. Not worried so much about a few riding scars. Heck I still have last seasons bug splatter on the batwing. I haven't done anything as extreme as the picture posted but I put my bike where it will take me. Curious which tires are you riding on?
 
So many cool bikes to ride and only one lifetime in which to ride them.

https://fortnine.ca/en/kenda-k671-cruiser-st-rear-tire

Like most reviews, some people love them and others hate them. I think I got better traction in gravel than I might have with other road tires, but it's difficult to know. I did hit deep standing water at 110 km/hr with no issues. (The water yanked my foot off the peg) They've worn well and are cheap

My new/old Honda GL has a 16" rear wheel, so dual sport rear tires are out for this one. I'm thinking Kenda Cruisers on the back and a Kenda dual sport tire for the front.

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When you said they had an aggresive thread pattern the K671 was not what I imagined. I run K270s on my KLR and really like them.
 
Riding even a big cruiser or touring bike like a Goldwing on gravel isn't the end of the world, it's all in understanding that despite behaving differently, it's not necessarily inherently unsafe so long as you have an appreciation for the different behaviours, and the different way you need to ride to manage them.

I have ridden my VTX at 80KPH down gravel roads without a care in the world since I trust my bike and I know it's not going to do anything stupid unless I do something stupid to begin with. Yes, there's different levels of gravel, and if you get into a really loose mixture (IE, fresh construction zone pea gravel type crap) you need to manage that differently versus a packed gravel road that you'd traditionally see under normal conditions, but again, you manage that as it's thrown at you.

I know a lot of riders (especially in the touring/cruiser crowd) can be scared (or even mortified) of riding in gravel, but like anything, it's a learned skill with a comfort level that can take some time to build. There are also some who are terrified that the gravel will kick up and scratch or damage their bike, which is a legitimate concern I suppose, but in my case...I don't care much - my bike is for my enjoyment, I'm not saving it for the next person, nor am I worried that a might get a little pit in the paint on a fender or something.

Speaking of the whole "off roading" thing reminds me of bit of a crazy trip I took with a buddy in 2017, chasing listings in the "150 unusual things to see in Ontario" book. Rode basically 5000KM in 4 days and saw a ton of wild and cool stuff, but this "road" we rode down in a little town called Larder Lake (heading to a listing called "Ontarios Stonehenge" sticks in my memory. This is an actual photo of what we rode through.

larderlake.jpg


Now, the washouts and such were at the absolute limit of what my bike could physically manage as I was bottoming out and such...but we got it done. And my buddy was on a decked out Indian Chief, but like myself, he's not afraid of an adventure. ;)

Not far past this spot the road got too poor for our bikes - would have really needed an ADV at that point as we were talking several foot drops and pure loose sand and such. We ended up parking (we knew when to draw the line) and walked the last half K or so to the actual destination for our photos.

his is exactly the kind of road the KLR likes. That said the KLR is also fun in the twisty bits too.
T
 
Keep this in mind when planning fuel for your JBR trip. On both trips we got poorer mileage than expected. Not sure why. It wasn't because we were speeding, we always do.
 
@timtune yes the Kenda cruiser is not aggressive by dual sport standards. It is by sport touring standards and about as good as I've found for a 16" rim. Duro has a dual sport tire that fits the back of the silverwing but not the front. And nothing in stock right now

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I haven't done anything as extreme as the picture posted but I put my bike where it will take me. Curious which tires are you riding on?

Shinko 777's. I've gone through a few sets of them and have noting but good things to say. 30,000KM on my current rear and 40,000KM on my current front. Have ridden in everything from torrential rain to the road in the picture above and they handle everything I've thrown at them. They also don't track tar snakes either, which I know bothers some riders.

Seriously happy with them. I have a brand new set sitting in the garage right now to go on it for this season - I think they're going on Friday, actually.
 
So many cool bikes to ride and only one lifetime in which to ride them.

https://fortnine.ca/en/kenda-k671-cruiser-st-rear-tire

Like most reviews, some people love them and others hate them. I think I got better traction in gravel than I might have with other road tires, but it's difficult to know. I did hit deep standing water at 110 km/hr with no issues. (The water yanked my foot off the peg) They've worn well and are cheap

My new/old Honda GL has a 16" rear wheel, so dual sport rear tires are out for this one. I'm thinking Kenda Cruisers on the back and a Kenda dual sport tire for the front.

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You can get dualsports for a Silverwing but they are going to be mismatches. Duro HF904s are made in 130-90-16 is probably the only rear, Kenda and others -- so lots of choices for the front.
 
Shinko 777's. I've gone through a few sets of them and have noting but good things to say. 30,000KM on my current rear and 40,000KM on my current front. Have ridden in everything from torrential rain to the road in the picture above and they handle everything I've thrown at them. They also don't track tar snakes either, which I know bothers some riders.

Seriously happy with them. I have a brand new set sitting in the garage right now to go on it for this season - I think they're going on Friday, actually.
I liked them too on my cruiser - they go a lot of miles. Have them on my OldWing and love them. I tried them on my FJR and not so good -- great in the dry, but i found them to be a bit slippy when laying power or brakes in wet conditions. They also scrubbed off at 10K, I get about 50% more from Road Pilot 4s.

I tried Metzler Roadtechs this year on my Wee and I'm impressed -- I usually scrub tires off in 10-15K, these have 15K and they're look less than 1/2 done. Gonna give them or the new Dunlops a try them on the FJR this year.
 
I'd love to get my hands on a Duro HF. Fortnine doesn't have them in stock. amazon.ca charges 73 bucks for shipping

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You could also go with a Kenda big blocks on your GL650 -- I think they come in 16 rears and 19 fronts.
 
Thanks for the tip! The bike has decent road tires, but they're approaching 5 years. The plan is to wear them out before I do a gravel ride this summer

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Just be aware that kenda big blocks on a heavier bike will only last 3-5000km.

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Hence riding the crap out of the tires I have now. Wet weight for the silverwing is 529 pounds. Not sure if that puts me in the heavy weight class.

Mounting my own tires takes some of the ouch out of the price, but yeah, that's expensive rubber. Highsiding on a gravel road in northern Quebec would be more expensive though.

I don't have to buy anything for several months, so I'll keep my (limited) options open for now

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Kenda big blocks? Is that a reference to the Trackmasters?

I ran them on my DRZ400 and really liked them. I'd be tempted to mount them on my KLR but not sure what they would be like at 120kph plus. Not to mention the 270's last much longer.
 
his is exactly the kind of road the KLR likes. That said the KLR is also fun in the twisty bits too.
T

I think it's cuz you sit so high with the 21" front ...the lean feels further and as long as you don't have to brake hard it's a hoot.
I'm much more confident in the twists on the Midas 07 than I was on the Dunlop 606s .....but in the rougher stuff like this

larderlake.jpg


The Dunlop 606s went exactly where pointed.

But they were LOUD!!!! on the pavement
 
I’m in as long as it’s 6 days max from TO. Camping is ok for me.

If you have a premium fuel bike, don’t be afraid. Go to CTC to get STP octane boost. $6 bottle does 70l of fuel. Can’t believe you don’t know this!
 
Just be aware that kenda big blocks on a heavier bike will only last 3-5000km.

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I ran big blocks on a TW200 —300lb bike, 500lbs with me on board —they went 10,000km
 
Shinko 777's. I've gone through a few sets of them and have noting but good things to say. 30,000KM on my current rear and 40,000KM on my current front. Have ridden in everything from torrential rain to the road in the picture above and they handle everything I've thrown at them. They also don't track tar snakes either, which I know bothers some riders.

Seriously happy with them. I have a brand new set sitting in the garage right now to go on it for this season - I think they're going on Friday, actually.
Did yo mean 3000 & 4000 km? I got 10k on a Yammie Xv250, my XV920 ate these tires in 5k
 
Did yo mean 3000 & 4000 km? I got 10k on a Yammie Xv250, my XV920 ate these tires in 5k

Are you sure they were 777's? Shinko makes lots of different models, all with different hardness levels.

And yes, I very much did mean 30,000 and 40,000KM on my current set. FWIW I do a lot of long distance riding so a lot of those miles are far from stop and go city riding and that sort of thing, but unless you were riding like rossi I can't possibly imagine how you wore out a set of 777's in 5000KM, especially the front.
 

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