Mad Mike
Well-known member
Is that a CBR250/300?I'm camping at the edge of James Bay. It's a long haul, but I think it's worth it. The bugs are insane though
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Anyone interested in a James Bay Road trip?
- Thread starter PrivatePilot
- Start date
Mad Mike
Well-known member
That's awesome. You don't meet too many riders in Canada and the USA who tour on small displacement bikes. While I'm a bit spoiled with big bikes today, I've done lots of long distance on 250's myself and never found it to be a problem. A few questions:
Any special prep for the bike? Tires, spares etc?
What was you kit and how much weight did it add?
How many hours a day were you in the saddle?
What kind of mileage did you get?
I didn't do much to the bike. I made some straps for tying bags down and I put on a new back tire. My choice of tires was influenced by the upcoming trip; I chose Kenda Cruisers which have a relatively deep aggressive tread, but not a dual sport/off-road by any means. I also strapped a 10 L gas can to the passenger footpeg.
I packed mostly everything I'd take on a backpacking trip except I shopped for food along the way as well as a few restaurant meals. Tools consisted of a plug kit, air compressor, wrenches adequate to remove a wheel, pliers, tape and a CAA card.
I spent 10 to 12 hours traveling, but took frequent breaks. I literally did dozens of U turns to check out side trails, lakes, go swimming, etc. The trip odometer accidentally got reset on the second day, so I didn't track mileage closely. In all it was a little over 4000 km in 7 days. Fuel mileage was similar to my commute to work 4L/100
The main things I wished I'd done was bolt some sort of rack on the back, bring a thermacell for bugs, and bring a tent I could sit upright in.
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I packed mostly everything I'd take on a backpacking trip except I shopped for food along the way as well as a few restaurant meals. Tools consisted of a plug kit, air compressor, wrenches adequate to remove a wheel, pliers, tape and a CAA card.
I spent 10 to 12 hours traveling, but took frequent breaks. I literally did dozens of U turns to check out side trails, lakes, go swimming, etc. The trip odometer accidentally got reset on the second day, so I didn't track mileage closely. In all it was a little over 4000 km in 7 days. Fuel mileage was similar to my commute to work 4L/100
The main things I wished I'd done was bolt some sort of rack on the back, bring a thermacell for bugs, and bring a tent I could sit upright in.
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I'm camping at the edge of James Bay. It's a long haul, but I think it's worth it. The bugs are insane though
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Fantastic! Well done, Jeff. :thumbup:
Mad Mike
Well-known member
I love stories like that, it reminds me of my youth when I'd head out on an adventure not worried about anything, I'd just figure it out along the way. My first trip at 18 was 12000 km from Toronto to Vancouver to Tijuana then back home on Route 66.
This is what motorcycles are made for.
Jeff, hats off to you -- when you're old and grey like me, you will remember that ride as one of your epic adventures.
I haven't gotten around to writing a trip report, but I did upload some pictures.
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmm5TM9U
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmm5TM9U
sburns
Well-known member
Nice pix! Hmm curious about the big arch bridge, mouse - truck. You camped for the trip.
Did you post the route, how many days. Well if you plan to do a write up I am interested in those items!
killerkeith
Well-known member
Respect.
killerkeith
Well-known member
Did you witness the moose crash? What's the story on that?
Sure shows you don't need an adventure bike to have one in the wilderness.
good pics
https://www.flickr.com/photos/154483580@N05/43395218194/in/album-72157697151954192/
good pics
https://www.flickr.com/photos/154483580@N05/43395218194/in/album-72157697151954192/
What you see is about all I know about the crash. It was on the James Bay highway north of Route Relaid 381
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So, this trip is officially on the books for this summer. A few of my hard core riding buddies are in (and possibly a fourth, but he's a little less hard core, but wants to go for the adventure) so it's happening.
I won't know exactly when until I bid for my vacation at work in a few weeks, but my only requirement is sometime between June and August for weather considerations, with July being ideal.
Also doing Sturgis this year so I'd like to avoid August just so 2 big trips aren't in the same month.
But ultimately it really depends on how my vacation works.
Here's the route plan. Coming back a slightly different way through Ottawa just to keep it fresh, as well as dropping off the 2 aforementioned friends at home east of Kingston.
3362KM total, no insane days really, longest day is 875KM from here to the bottom of the James Bay road to stage for the next day. Day 2 James bay to Chisasibi to get photos, get down to the ocean, etc etc. Then scoot east to Radisson for the night. Day 3 hydroelectric dam tour in the AM (hopefully), then ride back to the midway checkpoint on the JBR and spend the night there. Day 4 most (possibly all) of the way home, but depends on how we are clipping along - may decide to make it a 2 day trip as it's ~1450KM back home, more than at least one fellow may want to do. If he doesn't end up coming then I see us coming straight home honestly on day 4.
I won't know exactly when until I bid for my vacation at work in a few weeks, but my only requirement is sometime between June and August for weather considerations, with July being ideal.
Also doing Sturgis this year so I'd like to avoid August just so 2 big trips aren't in the same month.
But ultimately it really depends on how my vacation works.
Here's the route plan. Coming back a slightly different way through Ottawa just to keep it fresh, as well as dropping off the 2 aforementioned friends at home east of Kingston.
3362KM total, no insane days really, longest day is 875KM from here to the bottom of the James Bay road to stage for the next day. Day 2 James bay to Chisasibi to get photos, get down to the ocean, etc etc. Then scoot east to Radisson for the night. Day 3 hydroelectric dam tour in the AM (hopefully), then ride back to the midway checkpoint on the JBR and spend the night there. Day 4 most (possibly all) of the way home, but depends on how we are clipping along - may decide to make it a 2 day trip as it's ~1450KM back home, more than at least one fellow may want to do. If he doesn't end up coming then I see us coming straight home honestly on day 4.
What are you doing for fuel ??
I think it's 345 km on the longest dry stretch.
I think the CB500x would be fine without serious headwinds but not a region to get stranded.
I assume you will post up more details as it gets closer....might want to take along. Are you motelling?
I wanted to do the power dam last time and did not
I think it's 345 km on the longest dry stretch.
I think the CB500x would be fine without serious headwinds but not a region to get stranded.
I assume you will post up more details as it gets closer....might want to take along. Are you motelling?
I wanted to do the power dam last time and did not
15L Jerry can - I have one that will strap to my cargo rack, and I'll use my pillion seat for my luggage, etc. My VTX will usually go about 240-270KM before I have to hit reserve under normal conditions, barring an extreme headwind. Riding at the, uh, elevated speeds on the JBR I'm figuring probably 200KM per tank, so that 15L jerry can will give me another 200KM which gets me comfortably into the midway fuel station. If consumption on the first tank gets out of hand at the faster speeds (worst scenario would be extreme headwind plus the high speeds), just slowing down dramatically after the roadside fill-up from the jerry can is the plan - again, that will get me comfortably to the midway station.
I assume you will post up more details as it gets closer....might want to take along. Are you motelling?
I wanted to do the power dam last time and did not
Probably motelling I think, yes - can't say I'm too excited about the prospect of camping in bear country, even though I know all the precautions (and I carry bear spray when camping in any questionable area), but regardless, leaning towards motels at this point barring problems getting accommodations reserved.
Possible snafu now with the 2 of the 3 friends who wanted to come now (possible scheduling issues, and the third was far from 100% confirmed), so I'll let you know what happens in the end. I bid for my vacation at work in a few weeks and will have a solid timeline at that point.
Keep us posted ...if for some reason I can't do the western trip planned for June then will have this as a fall back. We did it in June 2011 and had a very good ride.
4 days round trip from gta - the long daylight hours were delightful
Boogie slab to North Bay - then cut across to Quebec and up 101 I think ...stay at Rouyn Noranda - excellent AL Van Houte there,
Then early ride north. Made mid point on fumes due to over eager speed on my part and an empty fuel container ....
Filled the spare 10L and made Chibassi before sunset ( which is very late in the day ). Was going to stay there but the police constable said we would need to lock the bikes in the school gym.
We decided to leave and had a wild high speed ride with the sun behind us back to Radisson as did not like the idea of that road in the dark.
The back to back 900+ Km rides home. Was VERY glad I had a RDL seat. Seeing a caribou running in the bush beside me was very cool.
I swore I'd only do it once since the frost heaves were brutal but sounds like there has been maintenance and I did regret not seeing the hydro dam/works so goes back on the bucket list.
I'm not going back to Australia in 2019 after this 100 days so finally will have a good stretch of riding between late July ( we get back from Hawaii ) and end of season.
Give some thought to June ....it's still light at 3 am and bugs were not bad at all for humans but were epic on the windscreen.
Buddy was trying to make a cup of coffee in an emergency phone booth ( to shelter from the wind ).
I was killing my self laughing.
It's very much taiga forest ...trees are short and it's desolate,
feels remote.
4 days round trip from gta - the long daylight hours were delightful
Boogie slab to North Bay - then cut across to Quebec and up 101 I think ...stay at Rouyn Noranda - excellent AL Van Houte there,
Then early ride north. Made mid point on fumes due to over eager speed on my part and an empty fuel container ....
Filled the spare 10L and made Chibassi before sunset ( which is very late in the day ). Was going to stay there but the police constable said we would need to lock the bikes in the school gym.
We decided to leave and had a wild high speed ride with the sun behind us back to Radisson as did not like the idea of that road in the dark.
The back to back 900+ Km rides home. Was VERY glad I had a RDL seat. Seeing a caribou running in the bush beside me was very cool.
I swore I'd only do it once since the frost heaves were brutal but sounds like there has been maintenance and I did regret not seeing the hydro dam/works so goes back on the bucket list.
I'm not going back to Australia in 2019 after this 100 days so finally will have a good stretch of riding between late July ( we get back from Hawaii ) and end of season.
Give some thought to June ....it's still light at 3 am and bugs were not bad at all for humans but were epic on the windscreen.
Buddy was trying to make a cup of coffee in an emergency phone booth ( to shelter from the wind ).
I was killing my self laughing.
It's very much taiga forest ...trees are short and it's desolate,
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