A Ride up North - James Bay | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

A Ride up North - James Bay

Nice. Was your impression that the construction was the final phase or are they just moving on to new patches after these are finished?
 
jc100 said:
Nice. Was your impression that the construction was the final phase or are they just moving on to new patches after these are finished?
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From what I heard it's a 5 year re-construction of the road, which they might have been 2-3 years already.
 
SBurns, did you notice poorer than average gas mileage on the JBR
 
timtune said:
SBurns, did you notice poorer than average gas mileage on the JBR
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Not really everyplace had premium or super gas. Only stop 381 had regular only so on my return back down to Matagami my mileage wasn't the same as with premium going up (North). The road conditions didn't seem to make a difference on mileage for my bike, which is pretty consistent.
 
Congrats, Burns. As you've probably read this one is on my bucket list as well.

danp said:
Anyone else want to do this trip? I want to go but not alone since it's so remote in case something happens.
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I'd be game perhaps mid to late August. But I like to ride long days which is where most people lose interest. IE, I'd be at Chisasibi end of day 2.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Congrats, Burns. As you've probably read this one is on my bucket list as well.
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Thanks! Yes I have, and seen you had some plans to do the run possibly this year. Also other riders mention it as well, and it's one of those rides every Motorcyclist should consider.

For me I did want to test myself, but I was more curious as to what the hell is up there. Funny enough this is a normal curiosity as I met a few other people along the way who also shared this idea. I have also some interest in the Native communities. Being in the GTA you have very limited exposure to this group, it's a shame since they are such an important people (or should be) but I feel there is little connection to them. Lastly I find it funny that you cannot get all that far north in Ontario, another curiosity of mine. I guess going to Moonbeam I've pretty much gone as far north in Ontario, but I have always wanted to visit Moosonee but there is no way to reach it by land via road, only by rail.

You could probably reach Chisasibi in 2 days going more direct. My mistake was not taking the extra day and chilling up there. I think I missed out exploring and needing to rest after a long gruelling ride. But my time was limited and watching my expenses, as the hotels in the north are expensive.
 
I'm thinking about trying the run the week after next, probably budget 6 days for the return trip from TO. I'm still unsure as to whether the ride will be better on a Vstrom or FJR. The deciding factor is the condition of the JBR. If yravelling speed ou were OK on a full size cruiser, I'm guessing either bike will do.

Sburns -- what do you figure a reasonable JBR travelling speed was? If there are fast and slow sections, what clip were you maintaining on each?
 
Mad Mike said:
I'm thinking about trying the run the week after next, probably budget 6 days for the return trip from TO. I'm still unsure as to whether the ride will be better on a Vstrom or FJR. The deciding factor is the condition of the JBR. If yravelling speed ou were OK on a full size cruiser, I'm guessing either bike will do.

Sburns -- what do you figure a reasonable JBR travelling speed was? If there are fast and slow sections, what clip were you maintaining on each?
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Nice, ya the extra day will be worth it.

My average on the "good" part was around 90. The gravel I was doing 60-70 depending on what I was avoiding. If either of those bikes have more suspension travel then mine, I am sure you could do better. The top half above 381 is much better then the lower part, I could have gone quicker but I was just a bit tired from dealing with the lower part and took it easy. Strangely enough on my way up I saw a sport touer and a sport bike coming down. Hey so anything is possible.
 
Suddenly got a week off - think I'll do this run.

I have wanted to run the JBR for a while, turns out I have a little time off to burn. Bugs ought to be dying off by now, road construction for the year is nearing completion so it's probably a good time to go. I'm probably going as far as Eastmain, dip my toes into the Bay then back.

I'll camp once or twice, book losging at KM381 ($140/night) and at Eastmain.

I have to decide whether an FJR or DL650 is a better choice for the run. Any suggestions?
 
Hey @sburns - how about a summary of tips.
 
Mad Mike said:
Hey @sburns - how about a summary of tips.
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Hey Mike

Not sure what you are looking for.
-extra fuel (just in case, especially if you are unsure how much mileage you can get to a tank)
-top up your tank all the way to cap
-you can do Matagami all the way to Chisasibi in a day (I did)
-stay an extra night in Chisasibi or Radisson to rest recover, and explore.
-rain gear (I got stuck in rain coming south on James Bay Road, no choice but to carry on, wasn't fun)
-take snacks, water etc, rest, stretch, explore when you need to.

It's a pretty simple ride (James Bay Highway), just long, all depends on your bike comfort and endurance and how much time you have.
Dealing with the dips/heaves and gravel from construction was the most difficult part as it kinda tired me out (more then I realized). I wish I stayed the extra night up there to recover more, but I was under a limited time frame and had other hotels booked.

Also getting to Matagmi is no problem, lots of services, good roads on the way.
 
3 of us did this ride in mid June in 5 days from Toronto.We stayed in Radison for an extra day to do the power plant tour which I highly recommend and A side trip to Chisasibi in the morning.The bikes that were used for the trip were my R1250GS,Triumph Tiger 800 XC and a BMW 1200GT and we had no real issues with using these bikes even with about 100kms of dirt in the construction on the James Bay Road north of Matagami.We carried extra fuel to make Relay 381 on the way up and Matagami on the way back.If we had been running slower than cruise speed of 115-140 KPH the extra fuel would not have been needed.North of Matagami we could only get 87 octane fuel which concerned me in the 1250 but in the end it not seem to be an issue.
We left from Toronto and went through North Bay,Ville Marie,Amos to Matagami which was about 950 KMs for the 1st day in good weather.The next day started in rain but by the time we got about 200 kms it had stopped and we had good weather till almost at Radison where we had a short down pour that cleared up for our arrival.That was about 650 kms and we arrived well before Happy Hour at the hotel which was quite busy due to it being payday for Hydro Quebec.
The ride back was all good weather and was 2 days with a stop in Matagami overnight.3300 kms and we really did not see many other bikes or traffic once we were on the JBR.I would do this trip again without hesitation but I would take a couple of extra days to spend more time looking around in the Dam area & Chisasibi.
 
BMW Rider said:
3 of us did this ride in mid June in 5 days from Toronto.We stayed in Radison for an extra day to do the power plant tour which I highly recommend and A side trip to Chisasibi in the morning.The bikes that were used for the trip were my R1250GS,Triumph Tiger 800 XC and a BMW 1200GT and we had no real issues with using these bikes even with about 100kms of dirt in the construction on the James Bay Road north of Matagami.We carried extra fuel to make Relay 381 on the way up and Matagami on the way back.If we had been running slower than cruise speed of 115-140 KPH the extra fuel would not have been needed.North of Matagami we could only get 87 octane fuel which concerned me in the 1250 but in the end it not seem to be an issue.
We left from Toronto and went through North Bay,Ville Marie,Amos to Matagami which was about 950 KMs for the 1st day in good weather.The next day started in rain but by the time we got about 200 kms it had stopped and we had good weather till almost at Radison where we had a short down pour that cleared up for our arrival.That was about 650 kms and we arrived well before Happy Hour at the hotel which was quite busy due to it being payday for Hydro Quebec.
The ride back was all good weather and was 2 days with a stop in Matagami overnight.3300 kms and we really did not see many other bikes or traffic once we were on the JBR.I would do this trip again without hesitation but I would take a couple of extra days to spend more time looking around in the Dam area & Chisasibi.
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Nice, did you make it all the way to the James Bay itself, I am assuming you did.
 
sburns said:
Nice, did you make it all the way to the James Bay itself, I am assuming you did.
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Funny thing is that we did not make it to James Bay as I had missed the turn by the Chissaibi airport and then I had a starting issue with my new 1250 which only happened the one time and we ran out of time to get back to Radison to go on the Powerplant & Dam tour.Fortunately we got the bike going with a boost from the local cop and at least the problem has never reappeared.BMW roadside was prepared to transport the bike back to the closest dealer which was Montreal but that would have taken 5 days.
 
BMW Rider said:
Funny thing is that we did not make it to James Bay as I had missed the turn by the Chissaibi airport and then I had a starting issue with my new 1250 which only happened the one time and we ran out of time to get back to Radison to go on the Powerplant & Dam tour.Fortunately we got the bike going with a boost from the local cop and at least the problem has never reappeared.BMW roadside was prepared to transport the bike back to the closest dealer which was Montreal but that would have taken 5 days.
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Oh no, glad it worked out for you!

I know the spot you are talking about, I also missed the turn, and ended up at the end of the road by the airport. There was construction there and the rest of the road was blocked. My heart sank a little thinking I couldn't make it to James Bay after going so far, but soon realized I missed the turn and found the the way.
 
sburns said:
Oh no, glad it worked out for you!

I know the spot you are talking about, I also missed the turn, and ended up at the end of the road by the airport. There was construction there and the rest of the road was blocked. My heart sank a little thinking I couldn't make it to James Bay after going so far, but soon realized I missed the turn and found the the way.
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Unfinished business so I need to go back!
 
I started out for the JBR last Monday hoping a grim weather forecast might be just good enough to make the trip. After riding 4 hours in pelting rain, I stopped in Mattawa for a late lunch. During the day the 5 day weather forecast went from grim to grimmer so I pulled the plug, it didn't make sense to ride 5 days in the rain. That makes 2 aborted attempts this year -- my may trip was snowed out, and this one rained out.
 
sburns said:
Ok! I am back, I survived the trip and back. Body is totally sore just relaxing now.

Try and summarize everything here:

Day 1

Scarborough/ Washago/ Burk's Falls/ North Bay/ Temiskaming Shores/ Timmins

Basic route up north with stops on the way to see some road side attractions.
I like the kitschy goofy stuff.

HWY 11 past Temiskaming is loaded with Big Rig traffic.


Day 2

Timmins/ Moonbeam/ Cochrane/ Iroquios Falls/ Matheson/ La Sarre/ Matagmi

More sight seeing, I just had to see the UFO in Moonbeam since I was pretty close. The road that way had some scenic bridges which were nice.

HWY 101 into Quebec was a very long lonely stretch with no one around. I was happier once I got into a more civilized area, made a quick pitstop at a camp site around a lake which was nice.


Day 3

Matagami/ Stop 381/ Radisson/ Chisasibi

Here is where is get's interesting/challenging.

Stop 381 is the only gas station on the James Bay HWY. I believe it is 381 k from Matagmi (not the check point). Previously on a full tank I had gotten around 355 k. But I released I hadn't filled it right to the cap. So in theory I should have some extra milage. I also had a 1 gallon of extra fuel with me just in case. But talking with some guys the night before, they gave me some doubts about my situation.. In the morning before leaving I bought a second container for another 1 gallon of fuel. I figured out a method to strap it in front of the tour pack and was good to go.

Left Matagami for the check in station for James Bay HWY. Let me know there is construction on 2 sections before 381, and highlighted some of the rest stops and sights, gave me a list and a booklet.

Time to go.

The James Bay Hwy... is well terrible. At least for my bike. The dips (I guess these are the heaves everyone has mentioned) are bad to brutal. I bottomed out constantly, and they are every 20 - 30 ft. Something like that. Made travel slow. I could only do around 90k - 110 reasonably. Next was the construction. There are huge long stretches of gravel like 100k of it. I could only do about 60-70k on these stretches. Then there are areas where the construction is active and reduced to 1 lane and they need to escort you through. Along with that there are these gravel "patches" where they stripped the asphalt for a repair but it's like you are falling into a pit as it is not level with the road. There are a few short areas were the road is beautiful and you can get some decent speed.

Stop 381

I made it without needing my extra fuel! I actually had a bit more before empty. The stop is a bit of heaven on this long stretch. But they only have regular (ordinarie) fuel. This could be interesting on the way back down. At least Radisson was only about 250 k from this point.

The road north of 381 was much better then the southern part. No gravel sections, less construction lane reductions, and the dips where less extreme. I was able to keep a constant pace.

Made a quick stop in Radisson to fuel up. You pass the hydro plant on the way in. In Radisson they have premium fuel (Super). Left and went to Chisasibi. This road is also decent. About an hour or so later arrived at the Hotel, did a quick check in and took off towards James Bay (heading towards Fort George). Another gravel road, was pretty bad. But finally made it to the Bay! Incredible! My thoughts lingered to how early settlers managed to get here.


Day 4

Chisasibi/ Stop 381/ Matagami/ Amos

There was rain in the forecast but looked like light rain, then clearing up in the middle of the afternoon. I decided to delay my departure a bit to try and avoid some of it. This was going to turn out to be a bad decision. I should have stayed an extra night in Chisasibi. The top part to stop 381 was ok, once I reached there it was starting to light rain. Didn't seem so bad. I waited a bit to see if it would clear up, then headed out. Nope it started to pour like crazy. I was riding through a storm. All I had with me was a poncho. I tried several ways to make it work but it wasn't. So I just went without it for a while. It was nuts, I was completely soaked. I had to turn off to one of the campsites to change clothes, and try and figure out the poncho again. Changed clothes and made the poncho finally work. By this time it was only lightly raining (shakes fist to the havens). Now to deal with all the gravel sections. But I finally made it to the check point, shivering cold and running on fumes as I wasn't getting the same milage on the regular gas as I did with premium. Fuelled up in Matagmi (they have a Shell with premium) and off to Amos to the hotel. Made it totally exhausted crashed hard.


Day 5

Amos/ Rouyn-Noranda/ Notre-Dame-du-Nord/ Temiskaming Shores/ North Bay/ Home!

After that brutal day I wanted a easy ride home, as my shoulders had been punished by the gravel, and some lingering exhaustion I took this basic route back home. I originally planned something along the Ottawa river etc, but this was better. It was a beautiful ride as it was sunny and no humidity. Got back in around 8pm.


Notes

The bike held up great. Was running very smooth no issues. Burned some oil had to top up on the 4th day. But the James Bay road was tough on it. Some of my chrome siding is out of place, the tour pack quick release is bent up from shaking around and bottoming out, needs to be replaced. The horn is not working. But could have been worse. I am surprised I didn't dent a wheel or loose some air pressure. It needs some major maintenance and deep cleaning, and babying.

The James Bay HWY isn't as deserted as some might think. There is a lot of development happening, you constantly see construction, hydro, and telecom crews on the road. Then other people hauling campers. I didn't feel like if I got stranded I couldn't flag someone down.

I didn't camp, I need a bed, hot shower, and a comfortable place to do my business. Though along the HWY you could camp I am not sure if I would since there are large garbage bins (dumpsters) which might attract some wildlife. As for wildlife I didn't see anything. Except for a bear crossing the street in Timmins (ya weird but it must be common since there was a bear crossing sign there) No Moose, no road kill nothing.

Not speaking French wasn't an issue. Everyone I met spoke English, and I didn't get any dirty looks from anyone either. Very positive!

The best part of the trip, besides accomplishing it, were the people. Some of the friendliest people I have met. Happy, welcoming, smiling, hello's, nods, interested in chatting/conversing, offers of food and excited for nature and beauty. It was amazing!
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Just a note to thank you for the detailed post. I will refer back if I can do the trip next summer. Best...cdf
 
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