An Eastbound KLR trip of Scott and Marc

Bonus Panorama Image

2009-10-31T19:03:00.003-06:00

Click image for huge 5.6Mb .jpg

In conclusion, I would like to conclude

2009-08-10T17:00:00.009-06:00

The short story of our trip:

On June 26th, 2009, Scott and I each hopped on our own Kawasaki KLR650 motorcycles and left Edmonton. We rode through the Canadian prairies, northern Ontario, and up through Montreal. We came into northern New Brunswick, and spent a couple weeks exploring the Maritimes, including PEI and 8 days in Newfoundland. Then we drove through Maine, New Hampshire and other states to Brooklyn, New York City. Crazy on a motorcycle, I'll gotta say. We came back to Ontario for a day through Niagara Falls and re-entered the states at the Sarnia/Port Huron Blue Water Bridge. Several days (and states) later, we got to Mount Rushmore. Then we visited Yellowstone National Park, rode the "Going to the Sun" road in Montana, and came into Canada (the border guard said "What is this, the Wrong Way Around*?" Up through Banff and back home to Edmonton.

All our posts are now reverse chronological, so you'll have to start from somewhere around here and work your way to newer posts to read the whole thing from the start.

*A pun on Ewan McGregor's "Long Way Around" motorcycle journey.

Stats

Provinces/States (26):

Alberta

Saskatchewan

Manitoba

Ontario

Quebec

New Brunswick

Nova Scotia

Prince Edward Island

Newfoundland

Maine

New Hampshire

Massachusetts

Connecticut

New York

New Jersey

Pennsylvania

Michigan

Indiana

Illinois

Iowa

Nebraska

Minnesota

South Dakota

Wyoming

Montana

Idaho

Quarts of Oil Consumed:

Scott - 6

Marc - 22

Distance Travelled:

16,686 Km

10,368 Miles

Accommodation nights:

Camp - 22

Motel - 9

Other - 5

Souvenirs bought:

Average Km/day:

451

Moose spotted:

A dozen or so

Whales:

Half Dozen

Bald Eagles:

Antelope/Elk/Deer/Buffalo:

A whole bunch

Acquisition and consumption of home-baked goods:

(special thanks to Erin, Nancy Cook and Scott's Aunt)

Dropped Bike:

Scott - 3

Marc - 3.5

Hats acquired:

Brought 2, Acquired 4, Lost 2.

Approximate trip cost:

$67 (Canadian) per day.

Legal costs:

$300

Mileage:

35mpg (US gallon)

The last day of fun

2009-08-01T23:27:00.004-06:00

So once again (yay!) we doubled up. This time from Banff all the way home to Edmonton. A very long ride. Scott left his bike and every bit of all our gear at the side of the highway. This day of riding started at 6:30am because we were "questionably-legal-camping" the night before and had to abondon camp post-haste.

This is fun!

So this is the tire that we were doubled up on. For about 5 hours we both feared it'd shred to pieces beneath us. But it made it home.
This one didn't make it home. This is the inside of the tire. The tube was a melted goop-mess.
So we packed up in Edmonton at midnight and headed back to Banff to retrieve Scott's bike.
We were tired. Riding all day (8am to 10pm) and driving all night (11pm to 9am) takes it's toll.
We're crazy. Please don't lick the broken KLR.
What?
Why?

Upon returning to our home Country

2009-08-01T23:21:00.003-06:00

Getting back into Canada looked like this. Wet.
Scott is rain-soaked happy!
This is the only picture I took along the Spray Lakes route. This was likely the best 60km section of the whole trip. it ends right at Canmore. The riding was simply too good to stop for. The views were like no others. And we saw three moose.
In Banff, shoulder riding with a flat tire. Remember that old saying "a motorbike trip starts with a bag full of luck and and empty bag of experience... you hope the experience bag fills up before the luck bag empties." Well, I think we broke even. Scott's tire lit on fire and melted because of the tire sealant.

Going to the Sun

2009-08-01T23:11:00.005-06:00

"Going to the Sun" road in Glacier Park, Montana. This is a fairly famous, fairly crowded road. If you ride a motorcycle within 10 hours of this road (as in, Edmonton) you must roadtrip here. The road was completed in 1932.

This is called "the weeping wall." Basically a waterfall that goes directly onto the road. If you get close enough you get wet!
Steep but wide part of the road with a very good view.
Spectacular.

You can see how the road follows the edge of the cliff.
Bicycle flavoured!

Cheese flavoured!

Skalkaho Pass

2009-08-01T23:02:00.004-06:00

Tucked away somewhere in the Montana is a twisty gravel closed-in-winter mountain pass called "Skalkaho." We rode it.
There are no directional (arrows) signs nor speed limit signs.
Looking down. If you swerved off the side of this road, you'd never ever get your bike back. And you'd be dead. Simply riding this road can give you vertigo.
Switchback. Don't take these too fast!
We found a waterfall halfway through the pass. Scott was waterfall happy!

The pass ended with banked S turns perched on the edge of a very steep slope. Don't worry, I had both hands on my handlebars.

Cops!

2009-08-01T22:56:00.004-06:00

So in Wyoming we got arrested.

When the pigs try to git at you, drop it like it's hot!
Scott practicing. Shootin' skinny beer cans.
A big smile for a big cinnamon bun.
Huge switchbacks. Loves it!
I went there!

Yellowstone National Park

2009-08-01T22:47:00.004-06:00

Coming into Yellowstone we got a little wet, but this day we were just passing through. The next day was for exploring, and it turned out to be mint conditions.
Rocks!
I hate to use the word epic yet again, but that this sunset was.
This is the "Grand Prismatic Spring." It's a big colourful hole. I really really liked it. One of the highlights of Yellowstone.
Another hole.
Scott fell into this, and I haven't seen him since.

The four corners of the earth. Wait... what?

14 alt

2009-08-01T22:39:00.004-06:00

We rode Highway 14 Alt (Wyoming) to get into Yellowstone. It is a breathtaking mountain pass with open cattle ranges throughout, and it is closed in the winter.

The bikes literally chug for oxygen at the top. You could see FOREVER from the top. Have you ever seen forever?
This is Scott standing at the edge of the world.

What happened today

2009-07-26T23:41:00.003-06:00

So a live update now that we have wifi and have updated ya'll of the last few days.

First we rode in over 35 degree celsius heat through South Dakota Prairies. These massive grasshoppers were everywhere by the hundreds. My boots wet with guts and shins kinda bruised (through motorbike pants!) Getting one just below the adam's apple at 120km/hr was both hilarious and painful.

Went to Mount Rushmore. Took a picture. Had fried pickles in Custer, South Dakota. The highway from Custer to the Wyoming border was one the the twistiest and funnest roads, yet.

Barely dodged (okay, we got a bit wet) that cool looking storm back there. The helmetless Harley riders in tank tops (there are hundreds of 'em) like to comment on our gear: "Packin' lots of gear, are ya?".... yes. We are packing lots of gear. And we are comfortable and dry and laughing while we pass you in the storm.

The plan for tomorrow is to specifically ride roads that are closed during the winter, the arrive in Yellowstone National Park with enough time to explore.

A trucker I met said: "I'd tell you to keep the shiny side up, but your bike's not too shiny. Keep the scratchy plastic side up!"

Bikes and stuff

2009-07-26T23:14:00.007-06:00

After 700km in a day, you start look for new positions on the bike to stretch out. This is comfortable enough to ride like for a while.
Sunset.
Tired and worn out. Although waking up and going motorcycling is still way better than a job.
Highway rain, passing a big old truck.

Somewhere along the way we found a tiny Kawasaki dealer, where the guy let us pull off the clutch cable from a brand new bike on the floor. Turned out to be perfect timing because two days later Scott's jerry-rig fix broke for good. I guess it lasted a few thousand kilometers, so can't complain. We've gone over 13,000km which is about 3 average Edmonton season's worth of riding. Also being fully loaded is hard on the bikes. We've done one oil change each, Scott has broke a choke cable and a clutch cable. He seemingly had a plugged main jet on his carb, too. I broke a chain and almost lost my license plate. There are a few minor things here and there, too, like a bent pannier rack. Also, I've got a little bit of an oil consumption problem. Today I put in my 16th litre of oil since the beginning of the trip. My motor only holds 2.5 litres of oil, which means I've burned over 6 times capacity. Tires are getting worn, too.

So far we've been in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunwick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachussets, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsyvania, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming. We've got a few more to go!

Not so eastbound anymore

2009-07-26T22:38:00.003-06:00

New York City was a blast. The challenge of traffic was like a real life video game of swerves and near-misses. From there we rode up to New Jersey, and back into New York state to stay near Buffalo. We motelled it to dry off our gear. The next day we got up and rode to Niagara falls, found a good parking spot and strolled down to check out the falls. Took a picture:

Because you can't go to Niagara and not take a picture.

We then booted straight for my birthplace: Sarnia, Ontario. A best friend of mine that I grew up with was kind enough to be our Sarnia guide. She took us for fries under the bridge, a famous Sarnia thing to do. It's great now because it's probably the only place in the world where people have "fries under the bridge" while under two bridges. We stayed in a stellar beach bungalow right on the beach. We decided that a nice quiet bar would be a good place to get a few friends together to catch up and chat. The quiet bar turned into a very loud, very late karaoke bar where I flaunted my karaoke skills:

Tara, Alex, Krysten and Me. I hung out with all them until I was 8.

We went pitch-black swimming, but it was too cold to stay out for long. The next day we got up and went out for breakfast downtown at a timely 2pm. By the time we'd said our goodbyes, packed, crossed the bridge and gassed up in the states, it was 5pm. Almost 600km later we pulled into "The Warren Dunes" in Michigan. Home of the Cicada Killer Giant Wasps, which are awesome:

Click for a huge scary picture!

Next day was a scorcher, and we rode in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa (possibly in that order.) Apparently, we scraped shoulders with a tornado in Iowa.

The last 60km of our longest day yet was the most beautiful non-coast non-mountain ride. Rolling prairies where you could see for miles. Riding fast west means a sunset that lasts for hours. Breath-takingly epic.

New York New York

2009-07-25T23:37:00.000-06:00

A map of New York City to the street. The first map that ever intimidated me.
The shadiest motel in New Hampshire. We didn't even untuck the covers, and we slept on top. The joys of riding into the night until you're desparate to stop at the first motel you find. There wasn't one for another 100km, we found out the next morning anyways.
Note the low ceiling and the scratch marks on the door. From a dog or a small child?
Classy. You gotta stay here at least once. Never twice.
The best thing about New Hampshire is the license plates. The second best this is pronouncing the "shire" like the place where hobbits live.
My cousin Craig graciously let us stay with him. He's in the middle there. That's a cityscape in the background. I crack me up.
The pugs loved Scott's receding hairline.
This picture is for my Dad, who calls both of these dogs "Frank." He also called both his sons "Frank."
The Holland tunnel, the only place to break 100km/hr within New York City.
Tough traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge. Scott gets props for a sweet photo on the go.

ferry-fort-fog-fundy

2009-07-24T23:09:00.000-06:00

Waiting for the 14 hour ferry. This time we were there on time (which turned out to be 3.5 hours early.) Waited in a line of motorcycles just hanging out for the afternoon. Goodbye Newfoundland! I'll be back again when I can.
Another KLR rider, taking a KLR nap.
Our top-bunk sleepers. I didn't make much use of mine over the night as I met a newfie riding an old kawasaki 750; we chatted all night.
Went to Fort Louisburg in Nova Scotia. Took this sweet picture. The people there are weird looking.
The reason to go to Fort Lousiburg: 4 pound loaf of bread, cooked old-style. Scott recalled a story of visiting the Fort as a child, and the highlight was the bread. That's why we went.
Mmmmm..... bread. Delicious.
That little red light is Scott. This is pretty much exactly how I saw it. This is at 11pm, 80km/hr, almost at the Bay of Fundy. Right after this picture, we switched so I was leading. A baby moose jumped out in front of me. He almost wiped out, clumsily slipping on the pavement. I was to fascinated to be surprised, really. But still, I was mere feet away from hitting a moose that stood as high as I do.
This will be my profile shot when my book comes out.
Lobster time in the Bay of Fundy. We had to wait about 20 minutes while they pulled the lobsters out of the traps. Can't get much fresher.
The aftermath. Take that lobster!

Sea Kayaking with Stan Cook

2009-07-24T22:48:00.005-06:00

Scott and I had the priviledge to go sea kayaking with Stan Cook's group. Our guide was both knowledgable and passionate about everything we explored. We paddled about 8km around Cape Broyle.

Lots of wildlife. The "Dog 1" was actually all over the news the day before; the rescued a poor stuck dog while out on the kayaks.
Stan Cook manning the boat that towed us back. This man is a legend. Stan and his lovely wife Nancy invited us back to their place where we snacked and chatted all night. A huge highlight of our stay on the rock.
Beautiful geology.
Scott and a waterfall. Awesome description.
These two ladies were from Saskatchewan. One of them moved to St. John's for no particular reason... just "because."
The teeth of a sea urchin. Looks like predator's baby or something.
A sea urchin. Our awesome guide, Connor, sliced a live one right open in front of us, and we ate it. The stuff sells for 40$ per ounce for sushi. But the newfies call these abundant, annoying bottom dwellers "whore's eggs."

Random Passage

2009-07-23T05:07:00.001-06:00

Soft sand + highway tires + fully loaded bike = a whole lot of work to keep the shiny side up!
Big steep rocks to ride up. A good change from the highway.
Not a soul to be found on this beach.
This was an epic day of playing (and falling) in the sand, and riding along with the waves. The wet sand was the easiest to ride in, just don't ride in the waves! "Random Passage" is/was a TV show or something that took place here, I've never heard of it.

Dildo and Blow Me Down

2009-07-22T04:59:00.003-06:00

We went to "Blow Me Down Provincial Park" and it messed up our hair!

Scott has a bit less hair to get messed with. Don't mess with him!

Captain Dildo and Marc, just hanging out. The town of Dildo is on the way to "Conception Bay" right beside "Butter Pot" provicial park. That's also the world's biggest lighthouse.

We were there on a weird monday holiday, so the whole town was shutdown. Sorry, no souvenirs or postcards from here. Sad.
The coastal road out to Blow Me Down was fantastic. We rode into the sunset to get there. Epic.
Roar, I'm racing! This is the world's biggest corner.

Deadman's Bay

2009-07-21T18:47:00.002-06:00

This is so far our best night ever. Took a hardy little trail out to check out some ice bergs. Decided to stay there (not a real camping site) for the night. Crashed the bikes a few times getting in there. Driftwood bonfire on the rocks with the tide coming in. Woke up to a nice warm sun listening to waves, tried a (very cold) swim, got up to my ankles. This was surreal.

I (klr) NY

2009-07-21T05:15:00.004-06:00

A realtime update! We got to New York yesterday just after lunch. 6 hours later we arrived in Brooklyn. I've been studying the history and layout of New York for quite some time now, and it really paid off. GTA 4 and one of my favorite movies "Taxi Driver" were my main (only) references. I think the best way to see New York City for the very first time is to drive through the entire city on a motorcycle (full leathers in the heat) in rush hour. Bronx, Harlem, Manhattan, Brooklyn. Crossed the Brooklyn Bridge.

Riding across the Brooklyn Bridge, snapping pictures in NY traffic. Safety first!

We're still backtrack updating (understood?) the previous days of our trip, but soon the updates will catch up to where we actually are. If that makes sense. We're long out of Newfoundland but had a wicked tiem there. Saw Fort Louisburg (where the hanging scene in "Pirates" was filmed"). Each ate a big lobster and almost hit a baby moose in the Bay of Fundy. Spent the night in the creepiest town in Canada, drove through Maine, stayed in the world's scariest motel in New Hampshire, blinked a few times in Connecticut then found ourselves in New York State. Massachusetts was somewhere in there, too. I've realized that my USA geography skills are quite lacking.

Snapped Chain and Doubling up!

2009-07-20T18:45:00.000-06:00

I snapped my chain the first morning on the rock. Hid my bike and all our gear off the highway, doubled up on the green KLR to find parts. We since discovered that no kawasaki dealer stocks anything in Newfoundland.

"You'll need your hat, your wallet and a good sense of adventure!" Scott's advice when two heterosexual grown men double up to overload a KLR for a 200km trip to get a new motorcycle chain.

nfld ferry to Port Aux Basques

2009-07-19T18:43:00.001-06:00

Ferry pose.
This is the wicked sunset. Red sky at night, sailor's delight!
Photoshopped.
Studio background.
They almost didn't let us on the ferry. Due to breakdowns and a vicious car accident we were late. We were the very last people and vehicles on the boat, they snuck us right at the bottom behind the big trucks. 6 hour ferry from Sydney.
First thing upon arriving past midnight in Newfoundland with no plans as to where we are staying.

Cabot Trail and More Breakdowns

2009-07-18T18:39:00.000-06:00

Sunsetting shadow.
This is the very last time Scott's bike ran nicely for about another week or so. Turned out to be a crack in a choke cable fitting which bled vacuum pressure from the carb. It took a long time to find the problem, about 6 full carb-pulls. Fixed with zip-ties eventually.
Best spark plug mod ever, for performance.
The windy Cabot trail. If you've ever ridden a motorbike, you should be jealous right about NOW.
We rule.

I want to build my house to look like this. Only bigger.

PEI and Ferries

2009-07-17T18:36:00.001-06:00

Driving on the wrong side of the Confederation Bridge (12.9km, world's longest over ice covered water!) while snapping pictures. We had most of the brdige to ourselves as on coming traffic was closed down.
Some rainbows on PEI marked the first sun of our trip since Saskatoon.
LIGHTHOUSE!
The eastern most point of PEI. It doesn't get any more east than this (not including other provinces.)
Excellent hammock setup, listening to the waves all night.
This is our hammock hut.
It's a trap!
Red mud PEI highways.

Spinnakers Landing.

My Birthday (Back on July 5)

2009-07-16T18:35:00.001-06:00

Exploring the Murray Beach ocean in NB with PEI in sight on my birthday.
I can see my house!
Scott is doing a pose for Maxim.
Wicked trees, wicked hammock setup. Everywhere we camp, people are always interested in our hammock camping.

Lots of Rain, First Breakdown

2009-07-15T18:32:00.001-06:00

Hooray for 120km/hr
Awesome Cambelton trout/salmon!
Still wet, still foggy. A self portrait on the highway. Deep.
Wires! So it poured all night and when Scott started his bike, the horn just stayed honking. And smoking. He punched it a bunch.
Look how happy he is!

Perfect weather for some quick roadside maintenance. I would have been dryer at the bottom of a lake. We were stopped for over an hour or more or less.
Here's a good pic of the New Brunwick mist rolling in.

Jeff's Place, Ontario and Montreal

2009-07-14T18:29:00.005-06:00

This is Jeff's place in Mattawa, Ontario. Scott works with him at the gold mine. He was kind enough to let us stay overnight and drink all his beer. It was like a vacation within a vacation. Staying in a clubhouse, swimming, BBQing and bonfiring.

The view from swimming.

Ian with a "whopper!" He pulled in a fish every single cast.

It was still pretty stormy and soaking wet.
This is our motel in Thunder Bay! We finally got to hang out our gear and dry it off after a week of constant wetness.

This is "Chez Jean" in Montreal. We stayed up that yellow spiral staircase with a bunch of hippy travellers. This is the first hostel that came up on google.

We are on the rock!

2009-07-13T17:25:00.004-06:00

For everyone asking "whatta yer at?" We've made it to the rock with only minor issues and major fun. Went through Ottawa to Montreal to Northern New Brunswick. Down the coast to the Confederation bridge (which we had all the lanes to ourselves, so we rode in the wrong lane!) to PEI. A day or so there and we ferried to Nova Scotia. Rode the incredible and famous Cabot Trail with Scott's bike mostly broken. Barely made it on the ferry to Newfoundland (1.5 hours late!) so we parked at the bottom of the ship behind all the big semi trucks. First real day on the rock I broke my chain on the highway. Fantastic! Been bootin' round Newfoundland for maybe 4 or 5 days now. Rode the Viking trail up north, camped right beside the ocean with whales and icebergs in sight, zipped along beaches with waves hitting our tires in the sand, saw 5 moose, and bent my pannier racks in a neat crash. Had a pint on George Street in St. Johns. We done lots, seen lots and our luck has been 50/50: it's a blast!

We're in St. Johns now with some time to kill. We're planning on posting a bunch of pictures and mini stories very soon (likely tomorrow) but now it's getting dark and we haven't figured out where we are staying nor what we are eating.

Point of Interest

2009-07-01T20:37:00.001-06:00

We were kinda unsure what this natural phenomenon was...

Taking advantage of Wifi when we can...

2009-06-30T20:43:00.002-06:00

The misty great lakes weather was GREAT.

It is fully possible to take images at 120km/hr. And safe.

Our much needed Sault St. Marie motel to thaw out and dry. Lovin' it.

Cruisin'.

Glamour shot.

Marc pushed this rocked out of the way so he could use the stairs. He's tougher than he looks. Not tough, though.

"Look at this big ol' f*ing fish"... named Waldo.

Glow bug you could see from quite the distance.

Stove under the table where it belongs.

Wawa and Pancake Bay

2009-06-30T20:35:00.003-06:00

The rock was shivering.

Duck Duck Goose. I ate half a Viking pizza in Wawa.

Kenora

2009-06-30T20:31:00.002-06:00

It was rainy and chilly. We had chip truck fries on a dock at on Lake Superior.

End of Day Two

2009-06-27T22:20:00.003-06:00

Day one: Leaving...

First night camping:

Scott is tired:

So we're over 1300km in at the end of the second day. Stuck in Winnipeg due do severe weather. Did you see the funnel clouds in Brandon, Manitoba on the news today? We were on the highway at that exact time and place!

Hammock-camped in Wynyard, Saskatchewan yesterday night. The whole park was empty except for the camp attendant: an elderly self-acclaimed prairie farm boy who worked the rigs back in the 60's. Needless to say we heard some good stories.

The next few days look awesome: severe weather warnings all across our route.

We leave in two days!

2009-06-24T14:47:00.004-06:00

Tonight is a bit of a kick off party at the B-street; it's gonna be awesome.

I'm mostly packed but I've stumbled upon a dilemma: have too much room (TONS of extra space) or exactly the right amount of luggage. Exactly the right amount sounds perfect, except it's not like staying in a hotel where you unpack over a couple days then you pack-up once. We'll be packing/unpacking every night. But having excess luggage is bad, too. First, it simply takes up too much room. Second, it makes it too easy to get lazy with packing and too easy to acquire stuff along the way.

I had a heck of a time deciding which camera stuff to pack:

I ended up packing both the D40 and XS with respectively an 18-135 and a 50 f/1.8 (my baby.) Chargers, filters/cables and a macro-tube (in case I meet sweet bugs) didn't take up much more space. In my pocket I'll keep my water/bombproof D10 point-and-shoot and a mini tripod for self/group shots.

Here's the initial setup:

All the best elements of summer

2009-06-18T10:57:00.001-06:00

in one neat little package:

And so starts the packing...

2009-06-16T13:26:00.003-06:00

About 9 days before we leave, the packing has begun. Let's see what we've learned over the years...

Nope:

Maybe:

Yes:

One Month Before Launch

2009-05-26T11:55:00.002-06:00

Go West First! Then East!

2009-05-19T17:41:00.003-06:00

OK, so this is a guest writer ... I have a few days off in June and have been trying to persuade Scott and Marc to travel west to Vancouver first, then head east. This way they'll go coast-to-coast, and I get to join them in a ride from Edm to Vanc to Calgary. I peel off to head home after 2 or 3 days of riding, and Marc and Scott keep going east. Those all in favour, send a message to Marc and Scott. Those not in favour, go fix your moped.

Love,
Marc's Dad

Re: When Will We Stop Seeing Snow?

2009-05-19T08:58:00.003-06:00

When will we stop seeing snow? Well, just this last May long weekend (May 16-18) most certainly didn't turn out to the most mint weather.

It snowed yesterday. It was cold. Visibility on the way back was the scariest part (especially with lots of deer on the icy roads.) Due to the freezing temperatures and high rpms on the highway, I hit reserve (18.5L) at 290km. Right before I left, I put it 17.5L with 390km on the trip meter. So gas mileage suffered, must've had something to do with 150km/hr... I was too cold to stop on the way home (from Rocky Mountain House to Edmonton) that I rode all 230km without putting my foot down. Wet snow periodically would build up on my front fender and windshield, then it'd fly off and hit me in the foot/leg/face. Crazy times, I say. Crazy.

That's one frozen sucker right there.

When will we stop seeing snow in the weather forecast?

2009-05-16T22:34:00.007-06:00

If the weather doesn't sort it's shit out our summer trip might look like this

Deep and Delicious

2009-05-14T13:31:00.003-06:00

"I am learning, as I make my way through my first continent, that it is remarkably easy to do things, and much more frightening to contemplate them."
-Paul Simon in Jupiter's Travels

I have been reading the infamous "Jupiter's Travels." Despite being a little too "spiritual-find-myself" kind of journey, it's an excellent book. It even comes with the warning on the back:

Because of this book men and women have been known to leave their jobs and take to the road. In fifteen years it has changed many lives. It could change yours.

I highly recommend this book to anybody with either a travel or motorcycle bug. Is there an opposite to homesick?

Flin Flon?

2009-05-12T11:56:00.003-06:00

View Larger Map
1058km first day. Wanna detour up to Flin Flon? Or go most of the way and breakfast in Flin Flon? It'd also make for some cool north-Manitoba riding.

Standing at the entrance to the tourist park, the 24 foot statue of Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin, designed by cartoonist Al Capp, welcomes visitors to Flin Flon. Flinty was the hero of a science fiction novel found in the wilderness by gold prospectors in the early years of the century. When they found gold in 1914, they remembered the story and called their claim Flin Flon. The name stuck, and that's how the town got its name.

I've been rustling around this series of tubes seeing if there's any weird/unique/fun stops along the way that we otherwise might just pass by.

Also: Jet Boating in Montreal. It's awesome and totally worth it.

Average speed: 2km/h

2009-05-07T18:20:00.004-06:00

Gojo no-go?

2009-05-05T11:04:00.005-06:00

This big old bottle of Gojo hand soap is about the only good thing to come out of my last relationship (she bought it for me).

Imagine my surprise when I find an expiry date on the bottle when I pulled it out from under the sink today.

What the fuck kind of hand soap has an expiry date? I'm not planning on eating it so I think it'll be good for years to come

Another scenic pic

2009-05-03T21:12:00.003-06:00

In other news some asshole tried to pick a fight with Marc. The dude's girlfriend wanted a ride on the bike, the dude thought that Marc was drunk, he was sober. Nothing happened, another boring night in Edmonton made exciting by the joy of motorcycling.

Girls love the red ones*

2009-04-27T01:00:00.000-06:00

*mostly off topic, but I had to share.

No title

2009-04-26T21:18:00.001-06:00

Scenic pic of the day

2009-04-25T21:42:00.003-06:00

Grande Cache 2005

Time for a not so boring post

2009-04-24T18:49:00.012-06:00

Let's take a break from the oh so exciting bike maintenance things and look back at some of our previous KLR related shinanigins, with pictures of course.

More Wrenching

2009-04-23T21:05:00.004-06:00

After getting the engines back together it was time to tune the carbs, boring stuff but needed to be done. Installed new spark plugs, worth the $3.19. Getting back to the exhaust, the stock black paint was looking not so good, dull and rusted through in spots. We decided to wire wheel the paint off and cover with high temp clear coat. Neither of us lost any fingers grinding off the old paint but we did discover that my angle grinder could shake the fillings out of your teeth, numb hands for hours after using that thing. Final result is decent, better than black.

We also painted the exhaust guards a metalic grey, they look good. Can't wait to get going, stuck at work for the next week but the view ain't so bad.

Boring

2009-04-23T12:05:00.003-06:00

Headlight: check.

Seat: aw crap.

Just over two months...

2009-04-21T13:02:00.006-06:00

I got the bike running yesterday. First time since about September. I was skeptical about precise tolerances at -30 Celsius remaining the same at 15 (and much hotter while running, of course.) She runs smoother than ever and sounds perfect. Now I just have to throw the wheels, seat and front end on*.

Excerpts from "Modern Drunkard" magazine:

-“Things are a lot more like they used to be than they are now.”
-“Hey, my ride’s here!”
Robin R., 45, upon spotting a police cruiser pulling up in front of the Wigwam Bar and Grill.
-“Yeah, I just threw up too. Wanna get another pitcher?”
-“Is that a fifth in your bloodstream, or are you really happy to see me?”
-“I thought I was dancing ‘til somebody stepped on my hand.”
-“You better stop drinking because you’re getting blurry.”
-“Don’t worry, I speak the lingo.”
Wendy B., shortly before repeatedly shouting “F**k off!” at a panhandler...

*and panniers, brakes, dashboard, tools, horn, etc.

Still Ugly Part 2

2009-04-19T21:30:00.006-06:00

Both bikes needed some work done to them before taking off on a 15,000km journey of sex, drugs, and rock n roll. Neither bike had ever had a valve adjustment. The recommended valve adjustment schedule is something like 500km, 1000km, and every 10,000km from then on. My bike was overdue with 20,000km on it, Marc's was seriously overdue at 30,000+. To adjust the valves we needed to pull the Gas tank, seat, upper engine mount and various other do-dads. The KLR uses shims to get the valve clearances to proper spec.

We pulled the bikes apart in my garage in minus 30 celcius weather. We tried using space heaters as well as 2500W of lighting to heat things up, didn't help much. There's something strangely comforting in drinking a ice cold bottle of beer to warm you up. Off come the head covers to expose the valve shims. Mine were out of spec, not too bad though. Marc's were out a little further, one exhaust valve had only .05mm of clearance, dangerously close to bad stuff. We made a sweet little tool to rotate the shim buckets to get the old shims out. Smoked some cigars and slapped the head covers back on. More to come later including badass exhaust.

Still ugly, hopefully reliable

2009-04-16T20:40:00.003-06:00

So I figured a good introduction to the trip would be to show off all the sweet mods and maintenance Marc and I did to the KLRs. I'll start off with a little intro for the KLRs as well as a little history. The Kawasaki KLR 650 is a bike that could best be summed up as having a look only a mother can love, luckily Marc and I are proud mothers. The KLR is classifed as a dualsport motorcycle, it's designed for on and offroad use. It's built with function in mind, probably why it's so ugly. It's got a big old gas tank which gives it around 400km of range. The 65occ engine falls somewhere in the middle of typical motorcycle size, small for hiway riding and big for offroad use. My bike is the green one, it's a 2003 model purchased used with only 500km on the ticker. Marc's is the red one, a 2004 purchased used with 5000km under it's belt. Both bikes have been to many places they had no rights to be. These include sketchy quad paths deep in the rockie mountains, water crossings up to the seat, and urban stairwells and walking paths. My bike is the less used/abused of the two. I think my bike has just over 20,000km on the odometer, Marc's is somewhere over 30,000km. Marc spent some time commuting to work on the oil rigs with his little red beast loaded to the nuts, lots of hiway miles and certantly lots of abuse. The longest trip I've pushed my green monster on was from home base(Edmonton) to Vancouver Island and back, about 2500kms. Marc and I have taken a number of weekend camping trips to the mountains where we bounce, push, and drop our bikes along the rough rocky trails. Marc's Red bike was brutally raped and beaten one night outside his condo, she was scarred but made a decent recovery. It's late here at work in a dirty old gold mine so I'll call it a night and make a new post in the next couple of days showing the mods. I promise more pictures and less words, thank god.

Later,

Scott

What is this?

2009-04-14T15:13:00.003-06:00

Me and Scott are making a site. We can update it on the road (but who knows, that's a ways away. We'll probably forget about this before we end up going.)

What about the trip? It can be summed up in a (not word for word) quote. I've no idea where this quote came from:

A motorcycle trip is something that you start with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience. You hope to fill up that bag of experience before your bag of luck is empty.

Ya, I dunno what it means either. All I know is that I usually up with an empty box of Lucky.

New tea kettles

2009-04-13T23:13:00.002-06:00

Can't wait, bikes darn near ready, I hate my job but love working.

The End

test post

2009-04-08T10:35:00.003-06:00

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kawasaki KLR650