Solo trip from Toronto

[Jay Alexander]

Hey guys!

So thinking about a trip I can do from Toronto solo in June/July. Unsure about where to go, and wondering if anyone wants to share their experiences/ideas on where to go/what to do.

Ideally I'd be staying in cheaper motels, as I don't plan on carrying a ton for camping. I have a Ninja 1000, and plan to travel minimally and mount a hardcase on the back. Ideally, I'd like that to be the only storage, without carrying more. Also probably buy a cheap gel seat to put over the regular one, to avoid spending big on a better seat.

Another thing is, I've never done anything like this before on a bike. I've done road trips in cars a ton, but this will be a first for me. Any considerations to take into account will be helpful.

I've done the St Lawrence through Quebec trip in a car years ago, and loved it. Thinking of that again, maybe up to Saguenay and back. Don't know about specific routes for bikes, as I def do not want to be riding 5 hours in a straight line to Montreal on 401, of course. I've use detecht a bit to look for bike-friendly roads.

Roughly a week-long, maybe longer if worth it.

Anyone have ideas?

 

[Gaoler]

How much time do you have?
I'm somewhat biased, but... I like going west.
'Just love riding in BC

 

[Jay Alexander]

How much time do you have?
I'm somewhat biased, but... I like going west.
'Just love riding in BC

I'm thinking about a week, maybe a week and a half tops. BC is way out of range for me

 

[Gaoler]

I'm thinking about a week, maybe a week and a half tops. BC is way out of range for me

Then I'd go do a tour of Northern Ontario...

As mentioned, I'm biased... I spent so many summers as a kid in the Maritimes that if I never go there again it'll be too soon.
Going East doesn't thrill me at all.
If you wanna go East AND don't mind riding in the US these days... Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine look like a REALLY nice way to get "down east"

 

[PacoT]

Also probably buy a cheap gel seat to put over the regular one, to avoid spending big on a better seat.

YMMV; for me, the AirHawk was a game changer. There are some knock-offs available on AliExpress that you can find for $30 to $40.

 

[MacDoc]

There are some knock-offs available on AliExpress

Any links on that? My original Airhawk is really showing many miles of travel and the cover is falling apart in the tropics and new cover is stupid expensive. Figure I can grab a knockoff for the cover.
This might work - at the very least I get straps.

Coussin de siège de moto générique, facile à installer pour le cyclisme longue Distance, accessoires de coussin de siège de moto confortables et de qualité supérieure - AliExpress 201355758

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

••••
OP

For length of time you can go north to North Bay on slab then cut into Quebec and ride up to Rouyn Noranda on the secondary roads. Then do the Northern TransCanada south and stay north of Montreal - take the side roads over to Saguenay and make sure you catch Parc Mauricie for a terrific fun ride. You might want to make the run twice.

I have no info on the roads for to Chapais....I've been down the road from Rouyn-Noranda to Mont Tremblant a couple of times and enjoyed it. Some nice lake scenery.
I checked HWY 113 across the northern part and it looks in good nick. Might be fun if somewhat boring long stretches of forest.
You never know you might get lucky with aurora. No light pollution that far north.

Mind your fuel coming down the TC through Quebec through the many parks. Also some places may close on Sunday.
Stay hydrated too....had a bad experience with that coming down that route.
The Saguenay Fjiords I like and lots of small places to stop. Not much curvy riding and pavement quality in Quebec roads is all over the place.
Mind the wild life as well....Actually saw and otter crossing the road and almost decapitated by a big turkey. How it missed I don't know- was planted face down on the tank trying to make myself small.
Careful of the area around Tremblant on the weekends...stupid busy traffic jams. Stay north. If you had longer your could try to hop to Gaspe but your time is short if you do the route above.
Some depends on the weather ....can get bad around the St Lawrence on the North Side and be gorgeous on the S SIde.
Enjoy,.

Thinking about this - you also could do James Bay but do your research...it's up there.

 

[timtune]

Then I'd go do a tour of Northern Ontario...

As mentioned, I'm biased... I spent so many summers as a kid in the Maritimes that if I never go there again it'll be too soon.
Going East doesn't thrill me at all.
If you wanna go East AND don't mind riding in the US these days... Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine look like a REALLY nice way to get "down east"

This. The near north. If you draw a line from Parry Sound to Ottawa it will pass thru more good roads than you can likely ride in a week.
That said it's "cottage country" so accommodations may be more expensive. (We usually rough/vagrant camp)

For that trip you don't need much more than your wallet and a few changes of clothes. FWIW My record for wearing the same clothes continually is three days. (yeah just took my boots off and climbed into the bag)

I'm old's cool so I would have a paper map to ponder over breakfast. Sometimes even hiliting the route so far.

 

[xrljoel]

My favorite route in Ontario is along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence to the Quebec border. It's very scenic, good pavement and accommodation options. You could then turn left and follow the Ottawa river up to Ottawa and turn left into the Highlands as they call them, or continue north to Matawa and across the top of Algonquin. Or do both. I thought Matawa was kind of cool.
As was mentioned there's plenty of good roads and scenery out that way for a week + of vacation.

This site may give you some ideas.

Ride The Highlands

The ultimate motorcycle playground, Ride the Highlands is located in Ontario, Canada.

www.ridethehighlands.ca

 

[sburns]

Check this out, lots of info:

Thread 'Re: The best roads/routes in Ontario/Quebec/U.S.'

Mar 15, 2010

Re: The best roads/routes in Ontario/Quebec/U.S.

A few notes: Google Maps occasionally updates or even some of the websites further down, and so some of the links below may not work - if you find something not right, please let me know and I'll correct it.

For an excellent and free motorcycle route planner, I use MyRoute-App.

This is by no means a complete list however it does contain a wealth of the best roads north and to the east of the GTA. Remember that many of these roads may have little traffic on them all season long, so any sand that accumulates over the winter may...

• shanekingsley
• Replies: 54
• Forum: Cruising / Touring

• 

 

[Jay Alexander]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

I'm thinking maybe going eastern US (Maine, Virginia, Vermont), so I can get some mountain riding in. The thread of routes is an amazing resource - thanks @sburns!

 

[shanekingsley]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

I'm thinking maybe going eastern US (Maine, Virginia, Vermont), so I can get some mountain riding in. The thread of routes is an amazing resource - thanks @sburns!

At the bottom of the first post in that thread, I also have a bunch of ride reports, from many trips that are around a week in length. Have a look around and any questions - just ask
From the GTA, a one week round trip on a Ninja 1000 will take you to a host of amazing locations. I'd suggest using a waterproof tailbag / dry sack if don't use a hard case.

And if the US is on your radar, then yes the New England states are amazing, as is Pennsylvania and the Virginia's / Ohio. If you are fine with long days on the bike, then you can hit the Smoky's too.
Lot's of good suggestions already given too.

 

[PrivatePilot]

YMMV; for me, the AirHawk was a game changer. There are some knock-offs available on AliExpress that you can find for $30 to $40.

You get what you pay for with these. Even the genuine Airhawk isn't as good as the originals anymore, they cheaped out with the material used on the actual air-cushion now, the new ones are polyeurathane vs neoprene rubber on the originals.

If you want a high quality pad, look at the Wild Ass now - it's the same as the original airhawks with high quality supple neoprene rubber for the bladder. I've got around 75,000km on mine now and it still looks 75% new.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

I'm thinking maybe going eastern US (Maine, Virginia, Vermont), so I can get some mountain riding in. The thread of routes is an amazing resource - thanks @sburns!

Personally, I'm not going to the USA this year simply because I don't feel like they deserve a penny of our tourism money, but to each their own.

If you are OK with that decision, then it's hard to beat WV, VA, and TN. If you're Ok with a big day 1, shoot straight down to Elkins WV (it's only 800KM) and you'll find yourself in riding heaven south of there as well as along the mountains all the way down to TN. Lots of reasonably priced accomodations in many of the podunk towns, and endless campgrounds all over the place. Then of course you can knock off the Dragon, the Cherohala, Back of the Dragon (don't miss it, it's underappreciated, I've always enjoyed it more than the dragon itself), etc etc etc.

The whole area is littered with amazing riding and it's totally doable in a week as long as you rack some miles on the first and last day for the to/from.

If you're looking for Canada focused, the Gaspe Peninsula and east coast along that area is awesome, although it's a lot of slab to/from.

If you're looking for hard core adventure (albeit not particularly exciting roads), look at the James Bay Road. Lots of write ups here on that adventure including mine from last summer. Could be easily coupled with some northern quebec riding through the mountains.

 

[Mad Mike]

Then I'd go do a tour of Northern Ontario...

As mentioned, I'm biased... I spent so many summers as a kid in the Maritimes that if I never go there again it'll be too soon.
Going East doesn't thrill me at all.
If you wanna go East AND don't mind riding in the US these days... Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine look like a REALLY nice way to get "down east"

I’m a big fan of Northern Ontario. Lots of great roads, small towns, history and it’s relatively inexpensive.

I spend a lot of time in the greater Timmins area, near zero traffic on roads, wilderness camping everywhere, lots of wildlife, and modest roadside motels for under $100/night.

It gets better if you have an ADV as there are endless gravel highways logging/mine roads for light adventuring - double that if you’re a capable dual or single track rider.

Weather is great right now - it was a blistering 32c today and most nights go comfortable in the high teens.

This week i did some logging roads - seen a few moose (found a 60” wide rack shed - both sides, wolves, several bears. A giant lynx was in my yard on Sunday.

On Sunday I tossed a line in the water at a small local lake. Pulled in a handful of 10+ pound pike in a couple of hours.

If urban travel is your thing, Northern Ontario might mot be for you

 

[MacDoc]

I'm thinking maybe going eastern US (Maine, Virginia, Vermont),

It's been a while since I've been there but the mountain roads were in horrid condition in Vermont. Looks good on the map but some were downright dangerous on a motorcycle. Mind your speed in New York as it has arrangement with Ontario for traffic infractions .....PA does not and cops are bike friendly.

West Virginia better than Virginia for riding IMNSHO and Pennsylvania is wonderful.

 

[guzzirider]

I am a big fan of the Rideau Lakes area if you do not mind riding twisty roads
with not another vehicle in site.
Rather than a point A to B mentality in planing routes I try to pick a central point to stay for several days
then do loops from this location.
I have route maps of this area in .gps or .kml format that you are welcome to.
You will need some sort of navigation device as there can be up to 40 road changes in a day.
I use my iPad running MapsMe using off-line (no data required) maps.
I tried an Airhawk on my Guzzi but did not like it (tried every air setting possible).
I move a lot on the seat when setting up for corners.
A good fluffy towel electrical taped to the seat works depending on how much you move on the seat.
Not pretty but cheap!
AirBnB is sometimes a better deal than cheap motels.
I hate trunks as they mess with handling.
Keep the wieght low and close to the center of the bike.

 

[PrivatePilot]

I tried an Airhawk on my Guzzi but did not like it (tried every air setting possible)

Did you try basically flat?

That’s how they’re supposed to look when properly inflated. It’s literally only 1cm or so of thickness ideally, it’s about distribution of weight vs cushioning. Many people over inflate them and don’t like them accordingly.

 

[guzzirider]

I tried it flat and then It was better to use only the cover.
It would probably work on a cruiser but not for ME.

 

[PrivatePilot]

I tried it flat and then It was better to use only the cover.
It would probably work on a cruiser but not for ME.

Cool. Yeah they don’t work for everyone, but just getting it out there as inflating it like a balloon is the problem many experience.

 

[guzzirider]

I am the first to admit it is my riding style not the product.