Motorcyclists, Check In Here!

[Erich]

40 minutes ago, Trekbike said:

 

 

 

 

If only I hasn’t reversed my shift patterns all those years ago!

[gregintenn]

Wife and I rode up through Kentucky on back roads today. Logged in about 130 miles. It was a little hot, but no traffic and beautiful scenery. A great day. I think I’m about to get her on board riding.

[RKRider1954]

'Nother motorcyclist here... 2020 HD Road King Standard. Getting ready to pack up next week and head down to North GA to get some riding in with my brother. I know it's gonna be hot, but I need to put some miles on.

[res308]

9 hours ago, RKRider1954 said:

“I need to put some miles on.”

See, most folks don’t understand this right here. And you can’t ‘splain it to ‘em. 

[OldIronFan]

So the answer to the question that probably no one asked... Where has Oldironfan been? I mean He has not posted in close to two months and only visited once or twice to read the goings on. 

I bought a new bike and took off for a few weeks to ride. 

I had been planning a fly and ride trip over the Spring. I knew I had some time to take off work around the first of June so I was looking at big bore adventure bikes in Texas, Colorado, Oregon, California, and even a few in the northeast. The plan was to fly out and buy a bike then take the long way home over a couple of weeks. All that went out the window when I found a bike about an hour and a half down the road near Cookeville, TN. 

I picked it up near the end of May and promptly tore it apart to set it up for my needs and wired in some accessories. 
I then quickly revamped my plan for a ride during my time off. 

Should I go out to the east coast and places like Cape Hatteras? Nope, the weeks following Memorial Day and the official start of summer beach season would mean traffic and tourists, lots of them. That was out. 
Should I go south to ride the Florida Keys. See above plus it was going to be hot and swampy down there. 
Should I go West toward the mountain passes of the Rockies and the deserts of Arizona or Nevada? Maybe, but the heat would probably be high in the desert and my comfort level off road with narrow mountain passes on a new bike might be an issue. 

North was the only option that made much sense so off to Canada and the Great Lakes it was. I decided I would ride around the perimeter of all the great lakes. I did make the executive decision to ignore lake Michigan and Michigan all together. Too many trips to Detroit, Grand Rapids, Benton Harbor, and Chicago for work made spending much effort on seeing Lake Michigan seem pointless. I needed to dip a toe in Superior, Huron, Ontario, and Erie. 

So June 1 I set off and headed for the west side of Lake Superior. About 10 days later I returned home with an additional 3200 miles in the bike and a bunch of memories to go with the pictures. 

My route was Nolensville, TN > Rockford, IL > Stone Lake, WI > Thunder Bay Ontario CA > Wawa Ontario CA > Manitoulin Island Ontario CA > Wiarton Ontario CA > Kingston Ontario CA > Niagara Falls Ontario CA > Erie, PA > Cleveland PA > Columbus PA > Nolensville, TN (home). 

Through it all I managed to get in about 250 to 300 miles of gravel and forest service roads in Northern Wisconsin and Canada. I camped a few night, stayed in a cabin and a bunkee a couple nights, and hit a few hotels on the way up and back. Also had to hit a hotel in Niagara Falls as there were not many camping options close by. Also snuck in a ferry crossing although it was not as enjoyable as I would have hoped due to rain and upper 40º F temperatures. 

My steed for the ride and my new commuter is my '05 BMW R1200GS that my wife has nicknamed Tucan. 
In addition to the 3200 miles on the trip I have put a about 1800 miles on locally bringing my total for the summer to 5000ish miles. 

 

[Chucktshoes]

I really love the look of those touring bikes. 

[gregintenn]

What an amazing trip! I’m jealous. Thanks for sharing.

[OldIronFan]

12 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

What an amazing trip! I’m jealous. Thanks for sharing.

Don't be jealous, join in. I did this (and many of my trips) solo but am always looking for riding partners to take part in my craziness. 
Next year is Trans Labrador, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia. 
2024 is Tuktoyaktuk, Dust to Dawson, Top of the World Hwy, and Deadhorse, AK. 

I may actually leave my bike stored in the PNW for a year and fly back out in 2025 for Vancouver Island, BC, and the Pacific Northwest. 

38 minutes ago, Chucktshoes said:

I really love the look of those touring bikes. 

Get yourself one. They are soooooo comfortable. If you have the inseam to handle it or get a lowered version they make trips much more enjoyable. 

I actually bought this one because I had lost some of my interest in touring due to the comfort level of my other street bike. I have a sport touring bike, Honda VFR800, and I loved it for 200± miles but doing multiple 300 mile days was just not enjoyable anymore. I am actually going to take all the luggage and touring accessories off of the VFR and just return it to fun weekend corner carving duties.
This bike makes even 500+ mile days easy. I would often find myself with the fuel light on (220 to 240 miles) before I was ready to stop. I could outride the tank if you will. Previous bikes I was looking for a stop and stretch break at 100~150 miles. 
It has renewed my passion for motorcycle touring. I had not even cleaned up my unpacked gear before I had the mapping software open planning my next multi day ride. 

[KahrMan]

What an awesome trip.

[Erik88]

1 hour ago, OldIronFan said:

Next year is Trans Labrador, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia. 
2024 is Tuktoyaktuk, Dust to Dawson, Top of the World Hwy, and Deadhorse, AK. 

Are you able to travel with a firearm into Canada? Unloaded?

[OldIronFan]

9 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

Are you able to travel with a firearm into Canada? Unloaded?

Yes and no. 
From my limited research on the topic you have to get paperwork approved first but you can in some cases bring a firearm in with you. 
A traditional hunting rifle is fairly easy. Bolt action, lever action, single shot and Shotguns are not a major issue. 
You can pretty much forget about any type of semi auto long gun, especially anything that resembles an AR platform weapon. 
Handguns are extremely limited. Anything with a barrel length less than 4" is strictly forbidden which knocks out a bulk of what we in the US consider a carry gun. 
You could take in say a 6" barreled revolver fairly easily as long as you file the paperwork for approval first. 

Also take note that Canada has an issue with many knives as well. I did not take my normal EDC folding knife. Fixed blades are ok but anything that is spring assisted, has a pin/post/thumb knob to assist in opening, or can be opened one handed via gravity or flipping/inertia is forbidden. I took in two fixed blade "camp" knives with my gear. Valid since I was in fact camping and had camp cook gear with me. 

They are used to and good with hunting so firearms and knives that would traditionally used by hunters are not a problem. Stray much beyond that and you will not have a good day at the border. 

[Darrell]

I've always been a fan of the big GS bikes, but I've never pulled the trigger on one. A lot of guys ride those on genuinely off-road rides, but if I had one I'd stick to nothing tougher than a fire road, I think.  Glad you had a good trip!

[gregintenn]

So the guys on the Harley forum don’t think this bag setup is safe. They say too much weight too high and behind the rear axle. What say you guys?

[Hozzie]

I guess it depends a lot in what weight is in it, but seems pretty high to me as well.   I would probably opt for a more traditional side bag, especially with a second rider. 

[aknifemaker]

I have a touring bike, and had like 50lbs in the tour pack. Load it up and try it around the neighborhood see how it feels.

If the front feels light put all the guns and ammo in the front bag!!

[Garufa]

I’m too in awe of the size of that front bag to consider how you’re going to ride around with all that stuff piled up in the back.

Edited July 28, 2022 by Garufa

[FUJIMO]

12 minutes ago, Garufa said:

I’m too in awe of the size of that front bag to consider how you’re going to ride around with all that stuff piled up in the back.

I think (hope) its not as big as it appears because its turned toward the camera. No bigger than a fairing I would guess. 

 

[FUJIMO]

42 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

So the guys on the Harley forum don’t think this bag setup is safe. They say too much weight too high and behind the rear axle. What say you guys?

As Hozzie said ,if a 2nd rider is involved the balance may be awkward at low speeds for me personally. Can't comment on the weight behind the rear axle unless I know the #. My .02

[Erich]

55 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

So the guys on the Harley forum don’t think this bag setup is safe. They say too much weight too high and behind the rear axle. What say you guys?

 

It may be time for you to consider this may be where you're at

 

 

 

[gregintenn]

28 minutes ago, Erich said:

 

It may be time for you to consider this may be where you're at

 

 

 

I don’t want to admit it, but yeah! You aren’t far off.

[gregintenn]

2 hours ago, Garufa said:

I’m too in awe of the size of that front bag to consider how you’re going to ride around with all that stuff piled up in the back.

That is the normal rear bag. My “trunk”. It is very handy. I actually made it myself.

 

Would you buy it if I called it a counter weight?

Edited July 29, 2022 by gregintenn

[Erik88]

Dang Greg. I follow a woman on YouTube that just rode from South America to the US and she's got less luggage than that! 

 

https://youtu.be/NvPU5_h8pts

[gregintenn]

3 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

Dang Greg. I follow a woman on YouTube that just rode from South America to the US and she's got less luggage than that! 

 

https://youtu.be/NvPU5_h8pts

My wife did not accompany her!

[FUJIMO]

2 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

My wife did not accompany her!

Does that mean you only have 1 outfit for the trip?

[gregintenn]

26 minutes ago, FUJIMO said:

Does that mean you only have 1 outfit for the trip?

Pretty much.