Winter road travel

Mad Mike

Mad Mike

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I’ve been thinking about an epic winter adventure… riding the winter road from Smooth Rock falls to Moosonee.

Lots of fat bike riders are doing this now, some going all the way to Fort Albany. I was thinking about trying it on a small motorcycle, maybe a TW200 with ice spikes.

Anyone done an ice road excursion?
 
Neat idea. You might want to do some math to see how much heated gear a TW200 charging system can handle. Fat-biking is a lot of work that'll keep you warm, but I wouldn't be able to do that trip on a motor bike since my hands get painfully cold even with heated grips and heated gloves. Most people won't have that problem to the same degree though. I usually run my heated grips on medium even in 20*C weather.

I'm assuming you've seen Ed March of c90adventures:

 
GreyGhost said:
That's awesome. Check the GVW of the TW200. I assume you plus warm stuff plus gear may add up substantially.
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TW will be fine, it has a 400lb payload, which is plenty. 50 km/h is the max speed on the ice roads, might be able to push that to 65. I picked that bcause I've had one before and my good neighbour offered me his low mileage TW for a case of beer.

I wouldn't do it Noraly style; I'll only try if I can go like Boorman (balloons in my saddlebags and a safety escort truck following me with all my kit).

I know a few guys who run light vehicle deliveries up the ice roads. I can run with them, my kit in their pickups.

I'm headed on an adventure up the Hudson Bay coast tomorrow. I have a few hours layover in Moosonee, and I'm having coffee with an experienced ice road driver.

The Wetum Ice road runs from Otter Rapids to Moosonee, about 170KM, and takes 4- 5hours. Trailer bike(s) to Otter Rapids, bikes and riders return on the Polar Bear Express train (to Cochrane).
 
Whoa that would be very cool. I've a friend who travels up there for work and it's not a easy place to get to, at least by car etc. (he gets flown in).
 
sburns said:
Whoa that would be very cool. I've a friend who travels up there for work and it's not a easy place to get to, at least by car etc. (he gets flown in).
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Ya, not easy. You can get to Moosonee by rail, Northland's Polar Bear Express - that's how I ' normally go.

I'm working at a settlement up the western James Bay coast, -- gotta fly in. Not for the faint of heart, 9 passenger cargo planes, loaded to their max takeoff weights, weather isn't usually clear, gravel or snowpack runways.
 
Mad Mike said:
Ya, not easy. You can get to Moosonee by rail, Northland's Polar Bear Express - that's how I ' normally go.

I'm working at a settlement up the western James Bay coast, -- gotta fly in. Not for the faint of heart, 9 passenger cargo planes, loaded to their max takeoff weights, weather isn't usually clear, gravel or snowpack runways.
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I thought someone went up there on a dirtbike using the rail road. Or that might have been Churchill MB, same kinda deal only accessible by rail or flight. I think I heard there are some roads next to the rail lines for servicing etc, but not meant for commuting use and what not.
 
Ash said:
Neat idea. You might want to do some math to see how much heated gear a TW200 charging system can handle. Fat-biking is a lot of work that'll keep you warm, but I wouldn't be able to do that trip on a motor bike since my hands get painfully cold even with heated grips and heated gloves. Most people won't have that problem to the same degree though. I usually run my heated grips on medium even in 20*C
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I read Paul Mondor's account of his motorcycle trip across the country in the wintertime and he brought up a good point that we've since tried to adhere to in all our travels. He said never to rely on electrics when youre traveling through remote places: no electrics for heat, no electrics to pump up your tires, etc.

If your survival in the wilderness depends on a battery, that's a lot of trust placed upon a single point of failure. Especially in the extreme cold which has an adverse effect on batteries.

Ever since then, we do carry electrics with us: heated gear, portable air compressor. But we also supplement it with blankets, additional layers when riding and a hand-operated tire pump. If storage space becomes an issue, like when we travel on our enduros vs our ADVs, we ditch the electrics first.

We are often riding in places where we do not see a single soul for days. If anything happens to us out there, someone will probably stumble upon our bodies months later.

However, in the event that happens, a battery failure will not be the cause of it!
 
Gaoler said:
"Cool"...?

It would be f****** freezing.
No thanks. Imma stay here by the fireplace with my cup of hot chocolate and my fleece pajamas..
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Ice riding isn't much different from snowmobiling in terms of cold. Like snowmobiling, it can be quite comfortable if you have the right gear, and quite uncomfortable if you dont. I have good gear that keeps me comfortable down to -45. I have fur gauntlet mitts and a fur hood with a decentruff. I use a heated shield and heated grips.

That trip is a no-brainer on a sled.
 
Lightcycle said:
I read Paul Mondor's account of his motorcycle trip across the country in the wintertime and he brought up a good point that we've since tried to adhere to in all our travels. He said never to rely on electrics when youre traveling through remote places: no electrics for heat, no electrics to pump up your tires, etc.

If your survival in the wilderness depends on a battery, that's a lot of trust placed upon a single point of failure. Especially in the extreme cold which has an adverse effect on batteries.

Ever since then, we do carry electrics with us: heated gear, portable air compressor. But we also supplement it with blankets, additional layers when riding and a hand-operated tire pump. If storage space becomes an issue, like when we travel on our enduros vs our ADVs, we ditch the electrics first.

We are often riding in places where we do not see a single soul for days. If anything happens to us out there, someone will probably stumble upon our bodies months later.

However, in the event that happens, a battery failure will not be the cause of it!
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That would mean a very simple bike, no FI, stator powered CDI or points. The TW is that simple - doesn’t need a battery to run.

You can’t completely eliminate electrics on a motorcycle, but you can minimize things so you’re only depending on a stator, coil, CDI and spark plug.

The TW I’m looking at is 2016, it’s only got 4200km and has a kickstart kit along with electric start. I sold my last TW with 65000km, the motor ran like new, I did nothing but regular maintenance on that thing. That’s why I like Yamahas and Suzukis - made to ride, not to fix.
 
Mad Mike said:
That would mean a very simple bike, no FI, stator powered CDI or points. The TW is that simple - doesn’t need a battery to run.
You can’t completely eliminate electrics on a motorcycle, but you can minimize things so you’re only depending on a stator, coil, CDI and spark plug.
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I don't think Paul Mondor was talking about shunning electricity on the motorcycle itself. After all, he did ride a BMW F650GS for his winter ride across Canada.

I think he was referring to peripherals like heated gear and compressors, and not relying on them for survival if the bike breaks down in the middle of an icy tundra.
 
Maybe not as grand idea, I’ve contemplated a Ural for winter riding.
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