Ride Report - First Expedition South to NY and Pa.

[ZOMGdonuts]

Hey all, over the long weekend, the wife and I took an extra day off and headed south for our second motorcycle trip together (we'd done Haliburton over the May long weekend). It was my first time riding in the States, and what an amazing experience it was! I never realized how beautiful Pennsylvania is.

I wish I had the time or pictures to share a more detailed ride report, but I still want to share what I have. I left the pictures to the wife (she likes landscape photography), so I only took a few of the bike. Here is what I have though:

Day 1 (Thursday after work):
Worked from home, packed up and headed out. Got to Fort Erie from Richmond Hill. Enjoyed some decent roads in Southern Ontario I hadn't been on (Ridge road and the Short Hills park) I think this was around a 260ish km day.


The steed and unassuming passenger:





Heading out, both unaware of the butt torture yet to come!

Day 2 was when the journey really started. Took a while to get through the border, but once we did, I hopped on the highway to get through Buffalo as fast as possible. It wasn't long after that things started getting really pretty. I didn't realize how hilly this part of NY was. We stopped for lunch at a small and characterful Mexican place and soon crossed into Pennsylvania. Wow! What a day. Amazing riding south of Emporium. Breeze Ave and the road to Renovo were special highlights this day. We stopped by the Elk Viewing Area and saw some distant beasts and then called it a night in Clearfield. Around 460km this day, and it was hot! A good 33 degrees C, which was a temperature we got used to.

Adjusting to MPH was strange. Stranger still was just seeing the people of rural Pennsylvania. Pro Trump signs everywhere, Confederate flags, decrepit coal towns, and enormous trucks. I feel like the culture changed pretty significantly as we went from NY into rural Pa. Nonetheless everyone we talked to was so friendly and welcoming. Most people are I think.




I will continue to update when I have a bit more time. Thanks for following along!

 

[bigpoppa]

I hear the price of hotels is skyrocketing

Ride safe.

 

[mimico_polak]

That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing!

 

[robertv19]

Happy to see that you are exploring these awesome riding areas. Also happy to see another Tracer 9 GT on the road. Looks like you’ve added a few bits: windshield, engine guards, top case and bash plate. Which brand of belly pan is that?

As for rural PA, yes it is Trump land for sure. Very depressed area - towns like Renovo are examples of that. And yes, the people are very friendly. There is an unassuming pizza and sub shop beside the gas station in Renovo that makes the best Italian sub I’ve ever had. We went back twice on our last trip there.
44 and 144 are hi-light roads in that area for me.

Also - look into the comfort seat options from Yamaha. They are very reasonably priced and they do help with the numb butt for sure. I have both the rider and passenger seats and together they were less than $400 CAD.

 

[Wingboy]

Well done.

 

[MacDoc]

Pretty bike and SigO channelling Kinga. Enjoy tho 33 is dire. I see you found 144. √

 

[sburns]

I llike the enthuasim, and sense of adventure. I'd say have fun, safe travels, enjoy!

 

[fzrcraig]

Making a similar trip on the FJR in two weeks - Kane, PA > Lock Haven, PA > Hammondsport, NY.

 

[ZOMGdonuts]

Day 3: ~360km

Aimed to do a shorter day on day 3, but I think it might have ended up being our favourite. Another hot day with some rain towards the end. We began the journey in Clearfield and continued south, getting out of the mountains into gorgeous hilly fields. The one thing I haven't seen until now, was twisty roads in farm country. Let me tell you guys, it is awesome. Imagine corner after corner on great tarmac...But you actually have sight lines and vision. Glorious! We took a break in the Burnt House Picnic area, where stumbled on this cool moss covered shed. Bike served as a good clothes rack here.

A couple of major highlights from this day: 453 (Betsena Rd.), 869 (Burnt House Rd), 26 (Clear Ridge Rd), Millers Corner Road.

Our initial route got a bit way-laid towards the end. The plan after reaching Chaneysville had been to take the 326 north and then come back south on Evitts Creek Road. As we started down 326, we stumbled on a van stuck in the middle of the forest completely on fire. Like huge flames reaching halfway up the trees. The occupants had thankfully safely left the vehicle and were being helped by some locals. I pondered passing on the left of the van, the wife yelled at me not to. Good thing too because as we spoke, some parts exploded off the van and flew off into the forest. It started to rain pretty hard at that same moment, so we donned our waterproofs and headed a different way.

We ended up on a somewhat unmarked and empty road...Murleys Branch Rd to Twiggtown and then Williams Rd SE. These roads were quite bumpy and narrow, but paved and twisty and they actually ended up being super awesome. There was a great view after a very steep and sketchy climb (see below pic with wet windshield)

Cumberland was a very cool city. It was actually pretty big, and there were some great views coming into it. We stayed in nearby La Vale and ate some nice "Maryland Fried Chicken" for dinner. yum.

As a side note, I used Rever with Butler maps to plan this trip, and I have to say...The best roads on Rever have consistently been my favourite on the route. I highly recommend for US trip planning!



^I think this pic is actually from NY on Day 2

 

[ZOMGdonuts]

Happy to see that you are exploring these awesome riding areas. Also happy to see another Tracer 9 GT on the road. Looks like you’ve added a few bits: windshield, engine guards, top case and bash plate. Which brand of belly pan is that?

As for rural PA, yes it is Trump land for sure. Very depressed area - towns like Renovo are examples of that. And yes, the people are very friendly. There is an unassuming pizza and sub shop beside the gas station in Renovo that makes the best Italian sub I’ve ever had. We went back twice on our last trip there.
44 and 144 are hi-light roads in that area for me.

Also - look into the comfort seat options from Yamaha. They are very reasonably priced and they do help with the numb butt for sure. I have both the rider and passenger seats and together they were less than $400 CAD.

Yes sir! I went for the Madstad, though your MRA recommendation was top of mind! The Madstad is almost perfect wind protection. It went around 85% of the way. Surprisingly, I got another 10% by using a handlebar bag. Blocking the air coming through the fork areas was super helpful in reducing buffeting.
The bash plate is from Pyramid Plastics. It's pretty lightweight, which is perfect. Just wanted something to protect the super exposed headers and sump on this bike

Will keep the pizza place in mind for next time!

I really wanted the comfort seat but dealer said its on backorder until September

 

[voyageur]

Great images, looks like a blast... I want to go down south but not having a Canadian passport kind of deters me. Not sure what kind of docs/info will be asked at the border. Maybe later this year I might take the plunge...

Safe trip!

 

[ZOMGdonuts]

Day 4: ~460km

Began the journey northwards, taking some amazing roads from Cumberland up to Port Allegheny. I think this day might not have been quite as scenic as Day 3, but I found some super fun and twisty roads.

A few of the highlights on this day:

Bear Hill Rd near Oldtown, MD: It's a small road, no street view on googlemaps, but it was probably one of my favourite roads on the trip. Empty, tight, twisty, good tarmac, amazing fun.

National Pike: Awesome climbing road with a great little viewpoint at the top. Chatted with some local riders while up there and commented on my jealousy of their great riding roads.

HWY 30 (Lincoln Way): Okay, it's a highway. But the specific part that we rode (Mcconnellsburg to Fort Loudon) was stunning. Enormous mountains, vast beautiful scenery. Wish I'd had a chance to stop for some pics

Richmond Road from Richmond Furnace Northwards: Beautiful tarmac, nice scenery and wonderful curves

994 (Old Plank Rd.) Near Kimmel. Twisty and fun!

Wykoff Run Rd of Quehanna Hwy: Missed it on the way down, but such a twisty and cool road through the forest. Loved this one.

At the end of this day, we were close to out of the mountains. It's crazy how noticeably shorter they become as you go north.








Day 5: ~390km

Rode back home. I decided to ride through the Allegheny State Park on the way, but was surprised to find a $7 entrance fee. I guess it's not a big deal, just a bit of a waste that we only passed through. It's a small road on Google Maps, but the English Stoddart Road through the park was great quality tarmac and a pretty fun ride. Not hilly like the ones we'd just ridden on, but it felt like a better tarmac quality version of a twisty road you would find in Ontario.

Once again, highway'd through Buffalo and then suffered in great heat and sun at the border. Short lineup but still took forever somehow. Got back to the GTA just in time for rush hour traffic - great! Oh well, that's what the 407 is for.



That's the trip! It wasn't much but we had a blast. I'm very sorry I don't have more pictures to share. My wife was taking so many landscape pics that I forgot to take more pics of the bike. Nonetheless, I'm hoping this little write up helps anyone planning a trip south. This was just an extended weekend trip, which goes to show how accessible these beautiful places are to us. Our total mileage was 1928.8km. Some of you guys ride that much in 2 days!

Thanks so much for following! I'll try to do a better ride report next time around!

 

[Wingboy]

Great ride report. Thanks for sharing to both of you.

 

[robertv19]

Yes sir! I went for the Madstad, though your MRA recommendation was top of mind! The Madstad is almost perfect wind protection. It went around 85% of the way. Surprisingly, I got another 10% by using a handlebar bag. Blocking the air coming through the fork areas was super helpful in reducing buffeting.
The bash plate is from Pyramid Plastics. It's pretty lightweight, which is perfect. Just wanted something to protect the super exposed headers and sump on this bike

Will keep the pizza place in mind for next time!

I really wanted the comfort seat but dealer said its on backorder until September

Bummer about the seat.
I like the Pyramid bash plate...I am ordering the Puig belly pan once it’s back in stock from Pyramid. It won’t be as functional as the metal Pyramid plate though...

Glad you found a windshield that worked for you!

Make sure you join my North American Tracer 9GT FB page if you haven’t already. And for sure check out the FJ900 forum.
Tracer900.net