Pickle Lake to/from in 5 days.

[Brian P]

I've done 129 a couple of times. It's one of the best and most scenic roads in Ontario.

Tip. Take 108 into Elliot Lake. Fill the fuel tank to the brim there (very important!). Keep going north past Elliot Lake (turns into 639). Turn left at 546. Turn right at 554. Turn right on 129. Thank me later.

It's 177 km from Elliot Lake to the Aubrey Falls trading post, which is the only filling station on that whole stretch. It's 292 km from Elliot Lake to Chapleau. Google Maps is saying the Aubrey Falls trading post is "temporarily closed", which means you had better be able to get all the way from Elliot Lake to Chapleau just in case. As always when travelling in northern Ontario, never miss a chance to fill the fuel tank to the brim. edit: Looks like there is another trading post with a single fuel pump just north of the 554-129 junction.

 

[shanekingsley]

Nice report!
Happy to read you made it back safe and sound.

 

[PrivatePilot]

Thanks for sharing. Looks like a good ride. Did you have motel reservations?

Are your friends camera shy, PP?

Just being respectful of people’s privacy. And I do also limit what I post here so far as personally identifiable info / photos within reason. ?

PrivatePilot. You did better with food in Pickle Lake and much better with critters tho a fox today and a couple of deer added to the total. I found the heat oppressive even when riding. Amazing you could do those distances...must have been the MotoSKiveez

Well, as you likely noticed I’m not exactly an ATGATT guy when the weather gets stifling. I’d pass out I swear, so I have to make a decision to shed some layers. It is what it is.

Only tried the the Skivvies in day 1. Felt decent but not 100% the solution. I think the sciatica is causing more of an issue than I expected as I was able to find some relief when I slid the airhawk half off the seat forcing more weight onto the right ass cheek (non sciatica side) and rode that way. But noting was perfect - it was far from ideal.

But yeah regardless we did some big miles every day. I really truly do love the endurance thing - I just wasn’t able to really zen out on this trip as the seating comfort thing just isn’t there yet unfortunately, but still enjoyed the miles.

Having my right side highway peg bust the morning of day 2 didn’t help either. That’s another story, grrrr

As for animalsMy buddy pointed out the moose when he was leading otherwise I’d have probably missed them. Fox was sitting on the side of the road as we passed and just stared at us.

The Spyder looks like a great ride for this kind of trip. I gather it handled to trip just fine.
I've had no luck weather wise travelling in Northern Ontario. Always been cold and rainy when ever I've gone.
Clearly you didn't have those conditions!

Spectacular weather from the lack of rain perspective. 10 minutes of light rain north of the soo (I’d been watching the radar and let the worst of it pass before we continued) and every bit of the rest of the trip was blue skies. Hot though.

Spyder did great. Bigger fuel tank = didn’t need to carry a “just in case” Jerry can like I had to.

I’d like to know about the motel reservations too.

Also...this new stretch of 40kms of road....where does it go to? What’s there? I can see it on Google maps ok.

I made hotel reservations at al our intended stops, particularly night 1 (after 1100km we *needed* to be sure there was a room at the end) and Pickle Lake as there’s not many options aside from sleeping with the bears at the park otherwise.

Ended up changing 2 reservations on nights 3 and 4 to tweak our miles. No problem cancelling existing reservations and getting new ones with a few phone calls - lots of options along the trans Canada and certainly less travellers this year.

 

[kiley]

Nice ride report PP
Wow, that's a lot of bugs...do you attribute that to mostly dusk and dawn riding?
(one would think the middle of the day the bugs wouldn't be too bad)

How were the bugs when you stopped for a break?
I've heard it can be quite miserable when you stop

if you average 380kms to a tank would you need the cherry can?

 

[MacDoc]

Rather than double up ride reports I'll answer and few questions and this one is thorough.
Bugs ....less than I expected tho I suspect my windscreen has a different opinion.



Some of these are downright dangerous if your visor is open ..
As for stopping ...yeah some black flies but geared up were not an issue. Mosquitos at dawn were there but did not stay around to get a count...I did take bug spray and if you broke down it would be invaluable. Used it once. I do like motels where you can park the bike right by the door.

Lots of bees out and dragonflies which create quite a mess and would hurt on bare face. I was just pulling the visor down and something large bounced off it. About the same level as The James Bay trip - maybe a bit less. If you are doing anything outdoors, fishing, walking etc you certainly want bug spray.

•••
Range ....just don't depend on small stations being open but 380 km is fine...I was on a 300 km range that I was confident of tho not much more and only screwed up once coming south through the parks south of Wawa. Pulled over at 315 and had 30 km to go and did not trust the bike to make it. Was about to call CAA on the 1 bar signal ( there are many areas with no coverage ) when 3 Quebec riders pulled up and one had a liter.
Got me to the station. This bike is still new to me and has a non-functional fuel gauge but it gets better mileage than the 2009 I had. Of course would have felt seriously stupid as I had a 2 liter fuel can with me ?...empty of course. Did not expect an issue after I did the 300 km to Pickle Lake on 599.
But yeah fill up when it gets to half way. Was spoiled with the CB500x which gets nearly twice the mpg and similar size tank 17.3 vs 19 on the CBF1000a. Actually was thinking the latter was 17 liter so would have made it on what I had.

 

[Hack]

17/11 Sault Ste. Marie to the Manitoba border is a great ride...
It sets you up for the two days of flat and straight that lies ahead on the way to the coast...

 

[Evoex]

It sets you up for the two days of flat and straight that lies ahead on the way to the coast...

?

 

[MacDoc]

The northern route to Hinton is slightly more appealing but still..... ?

 

[kiley]

Looks like I will be heading to Alberta around July 24th so all this information is valuable to me.
Thanks for all the input.

 

[Evoex]

Looks like I will be heading to Alberta around July 24th so all this information is valuable to me.
Thanks for all the input.

Enjoy! Was out there 2 years ago for the first time, beautiful.

 

[tricky]

Very cool write-up PP! Seems like a great trip, brought back some nice memories for me. Sitting in the Pickle Lake Motel drinking coffee and watching the float planes take off and land is a great way to pass some time

View attachment 43848

Looks like the Otter from Pickle Lake Outposts (they have a Beaver as well which is now red and white). We've used them, and that exact plane, to fly out on a few fishing trips over the years.

 

[PrivatePilot]

Nice ride report PP
Wow, that's a lot of bugs...do you attribute that to mostly dusk and dawn riding?
(one would think the middle of the day the bugs wouldn't be too bad)

How were the bugs when you stopped for a break?
I've heard it can be quite miserable when you stop

if you average 380kms to a tank would you need the cherry can?

Did very little dawn and dusk riding honestly, a few hours tops - our longest days were on the west legs of the trip so we had nice long daylight hours to work with. We had maybe 30 minutes of day 1 headed into Jackfish that was dusk and about 15-20 minutes headed into our motel on the island. The rest of the time we were in full daylight. There was just a lot of bugs, and yeah, I concur with Macdoc, the dragonflies were the worst - I had a few hit my legs as the kamikazi'd into the bike from all directions and they smarted. But no shortage of other bugs with red/blue/purple/yellow internals either LOL.

Bugs ranged from not bad when stopped if there was a decent wind to pretty thick in Pickle Lake itself. Had bug spray and my Thermacell. Used both.

I can't do 380km on a tank. I think the absolute best I did was 343km and when I filled the bike up I did the math and had only 250ml (!) left in the tank - I was pretty much dry. I only had the courage to do that because I'd had the jerry can on the back just in case with 9L in it, so a hefty safety margin if I did run out on the side of the road.

The bike averages around 250km range under typical 100-120 kph riding. I once had the low fuel light go on at 200km under some (*ahem*) "spirited" riding with a FJR buddy. And my record was 343KM on this trip with a mix of 90-110kph riding. I never *needed* the jerry can on this trip but like I said, because of a few "Meh, we'll just gas up at the next station" choices I came close a few times. I like having the insurance of having it.

 

[GreyGhost]

Aw bugs. Before I used to carry a wet cloth in my pocket, this was from a lap around algonquin on a 450 nighthawk (roughly cobourg>belleville>62>Maynooth>Pembroke>North Bay> Huntsville>Minden>Lindsay>Cobourg) With the way I had it tuned and cruising speed, it was 100 to 200km per tank so there was an inordinate number of gas stops that day. After that trip, the wet cloth became part of the riding gear as it was getting hard to see through the fuzz.

https://imgur.com/89Kbk0i

 

[Evoex]

The bike averages around 250km range under typical 100-120 kph riding. I once had the low fuel light go on at 200km under some (*ahem*) "spirited" riding with a FJR buddy. And my record was 343KM on this trip with a mix of 90-110kph riding. I never *needed* the jerry can on this trip but like I said, because of a few "Meh, we'll just gas up at the next station" choices I came close a few times. I like having the insurance of having it.

bleh!

Well my new toy (this Saturday if nothing fails) may not be much better! And my goal is to get into the touring scene with it, oh well.

 

[PrivatePilot]

The Vulcan does make you pay to go fast, but it also rewards you for going slow.

The disadvantage of pushing the broadside of a barn through the air I guess. It's the motorcycle equivalent of an old 80's squarebody Chevy pickup.

 

[PrivatePilot]

Aw bugs. Before I used to carry a wet cloth in my pocket, this was from a lap around algonquin on a 450 nighthawk (roughly

Couldn't do it without a windshield. I got maybe 2 or 3 splatters on my sunglasses the entire trip - the windshield(s) pushed the rest up and over my head.

 

[Evoex]

The Vulcan does make you pay to go fast, but it also rewards you for going slow.

The disadvantage of pushing the broadside of a barn through the air I guess. It's the motorcycle equivalent of an old 80's squarebody Chevy pickup.

amen. my new chariot is...somewhat more aerodynamic. we can only pray to the fuel efficiency gods for their mercy.

 

[MacDoc]

WInd plays a big role in mileage with the touring machines. This ride was kind of weird as seemed like I had a tailwind all the time but I suspect it was just very little wind.

 

[PrivatePilot]

amen. my new chariot is...somewhat more aerodynamic. we can only pray to the fuel efficiency gods for their mercy.

According to the computer I averaged something in the 6L/100KM range most of the trip. Not terrible considering the bike and the speeds, and my ass on there as well of course.

20L tank, so yeah, that 343km stretch without gas would, by the math, have me nearly dry. It's not really that much more than my VTX1300 used to use and it's making a ton more power in the end, so no complaints, but yeah, if I was doing serious iron butt competition riding on this bike I'd have to add a fuel cell in the beer box or something.

Speaking of ass....I'm still REALLY struggling with comfort on this bike....which was a bit of a bummer, pardon the pun. I love zenning out on long mile rides and unfortunately my ass prevented that for about 95% of this trip as I just could NOT get perfectly comfortable no matter what I tried.

I'm half tempted to call the guy who bought my old VTX (for which I could ride a 1500km day and get off as comfortable as I was when I got on) and ask him to go sit on it for a half hour and see if it's the ergo's of this new bike, the seat, or just ME that's causing this.

The time I was laid off and sitting around the house as a potato didn't help the waistline much, and the sciatica is still reminding me it's still there as well, so I'm wondering if the combination of those 2 things is what's causing this however, not the bike/seat/whatever else I want to blame it on.

 

[PrivatePilot]

WInd plays a big role in mileage with the touring machines. This ride was kind of weird as seemed like I had a tailwind all the time but I suspect it was just very little wind.

Yes, very true - I certainly did see variances in fuel consumption on this trip that can only be attributed to wind direction and speed - coming back down from Marathon to the Soo I definitely used more fuel but we were going headlong into the hot southern wind that day, so it makes sense.