UPDATE Ride report - East Coast trip

[PrivatePilot]

Some napkin math shows around 5500km for this trip.

Myself, I'd do that in a week easily if I was riding solo in full-potato endurance mode. When I went out to the Cabot a few years ago I did it in 4 days return (just over 4000km), but 2 of those days were only 100km short or Iron Butt's.

How many days you need really depends on what kind of riding you're looking to do, and yeah, the weather can play a factor in it (a 500km day in rain, wind, and cold can feel like a 1500km day in any other weather). You also have the ferry on and off NL to contend with both scheduling and the time the ferry takes from A to B as well, of course.

What some people consider enjoyable vs others varies a lot. Some people enjoy endurance riding. Others are ready to hang up the keys after 300-500km in a day. Myself, I love and crave the endurance thing, but I know a lot of people think that sort of riding is hell.

 

[MacDoc]

Saguenay is lovely and make sure you ride through Parc Mauricie .in the area...terrific fun road.

Visit La Mauricie National Park

Everything to know when planning a visit to La Mauricie National Park: Camping, hiking, cross-country skiing, nature, fees, how to get here and more.

parks.canada.ca

Whale watching....?? if you are doing Cape Breton then Meat Cove also offers.

Oshan Whale Watch | Cape Breton Nova Scotia Whale Watching at it's finest

oshan.ca

One of my early photos ( shoot and hope era ) was their splash screen. Dottor and I have many fond memories.
oh cool ...he's still using it on his contact page

If you have flexible dates keep a real eye on the weather patterns. Good luck.

 

[mimico_polak]

I’ve done that trip in a car before…and it’s very tiring so I’d recommend extending by a few days.

As other have said, try to move it up a month so you still do it before all the summer school tourists come out.

Highly recommend Meat Covet on the Cabot Trail.

 

[ac.dc]

Some napkin math shows around 5500km for this trip.

Myself, I'd do that in a week easily if I was riding solo in full-potato endurance mode. When I went out to the Cabot a few years ago I did it in 4 days return (just over 4000km), but 2 of those days were only 100km short or Iron Butt's.

How many days you need really depends on what kind of riding you're looking to do, and yeah, the weather can play a factor in it (a 500km day in rain, wind, and cold can feel like a 1500km day in any other weather). You also have the ferry on and off NL to contend with both scheduling and the time the ferry takes from A to B as well, of course.

What some people consider enjoyable vs others varies a lot. Some people enjoy endurance riding. Others are ready to hang up the keys after 300-500km in a day. Myself, I love and crave the endurance thing, but I know a lot of people think that sort of riding is hell.

I agree, I am quite happy doing 900+kms in a day even if the weather is bad. I am used to endurance riding.

Saguenay is lovely and make sure you ride through Parc Mauricie .in the area...terrific fun road.

Visit La Mauricie National Park

Everything to know when planning a visit to La Mauricie National Park: Camping, hiking, cross-country skiing, nature, fees, how to get here and more.

parks.canada.ca

View attachment 60016

Whale watching....?? if you are doing Cape Breton then Meat Cove also offers.

Oshan Whale Watch | Cape Breton Nova Scotia Whale Watching at it's finest

oshan.ca

One of my early photos ( shoot and hope era ) was their splash screen. Dottor and I have many fond memories.
oh cool ...he's still using it on his contact page

If you have flexible dates keep a real eye on the weather patterns. Good luck.

Will add these in.. and keep the dates as flexible as possible

I’ve done that trip in a car before…and it’s very tiring so I’d recommend extending by a few days.

As other have said, try to move it up a month so you still do it before all the summer school tourists come out.

Highly recommend Meat Covet on the Cabot Trail.

Reading all the places to go see from suggestions above... I'll have to add at least 5 days for a nice leisurely ride

 

[oioioi]

I did an east cost trip (minus Newfoundland) back in 2006. Mississauga , Montreal, USA, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia (Peggy's Cove, Halifax, Cabot Trail), PEI, New Brunswick, Quebec City, back to Mississauga

11 Days round trip. Motocamping, me on an R6 and a buddy on a Katana. Loved the trip so much that the following year I did it in a car with my GF an ended up getting engaged in Charlottetown PEI.

This was the trip that I realized that sport bikes are only pretty but not very practical for my uses. My eyes were set on a adventure bike and 17 years later I now have a VStrom but don't have time to go for 11 day trips.

If you do end up doing the Cabot Trail my suggestion would be to do it clockwise. You get better views going this way. A lot of the post card (remember those) pictures are from this side. I did the trip both ways. My though that doing it counter clockwise would mean you are closer to the ocean, meaning better views. I was wrong, but still a great experience.

If you have time, spend a day or so at Bay of Fundy and experience the tides at their highest and lowest. Worth the time spent there.

When I did the trip getting onto PEI was free, by bridge or ferry. This might still be the case. You only need to pay to get off the island. The island is

EDIT:
You definitely needs more time for this trip and going later in the season would be much more enjoyable.
Unless you have heated year and are staying in a motel every night.

 

[shanekingsley]

Not sure if this zip file attachment will work, but here's around 20 GPX files i did up to help some others plan for their big east coast trip, including along the north shore (Saguenay & Manic Cinq) and along the south shore (Gaspe & Cape Breton). They came back and told me the route was really incredible.

 

[nhoj]

Not sure if this zip file attachment will work,

Worked for me, thanks

 

[shanekingsley]

Any suggestions on routes towards the south?

I have done many trips riding down the Appalachians and over to the Smoky Mountains if that's the kind of thing you might be interested in.
Here 2 of the ride reports - each one has the best roads mapped out with routes:
Ride Report - 2022 Smoky The Dragon - this one is focused on local backroads
Ride Report - Another rip into the Smoky's - the best of best twisty roads

Safe trip wherever you end up going

 

[tat2]

I did a similar trip in the reverse direction (and added some days all the way across NL to visit family) in July/Aug in 2011. Pretty sure I did it in 18 days. We encountered some chilly (4c) cold wet riding in Labrador. I'd definitely recommend doing it later in summer. The black flies were crazy when we would stop sometimes on the section from Manic 5 dam to Port Hope Simpson, wind dependent. Make sure you have a bug net. Happy to hear you bring extra fuel, I know they paved more of it since my trip but running in what I consider deeper gravel for a road I did use more fuel. Longest distance I measured w/o fuel stops or anything at all was 404km pump to pump (Happy Valley -> Port Hope Simpson). Enjoy.

 

[ac.dc]

Not sure if this zip file attachment will work, but here's around 20 GPX files i did up to help some others plan for their big east coast trip, including along the north shore (Saguenay & Manic Cinq) and along the south shore (Gaspe & Cape Breton). They came back and told me the route was really incredible.

Thanks for this.. its will be of great help

I have done many trips riding down the Appalachians and over to the Smoky Mountains if that's the kind of thing you might be interested in.
Here 2 of the ride reports - each one has the best roads mapped out with routes:
Ride Report - 2022 Smoky The Dragon - this one is focused on local backroads
Ride Report - Another rip into the Smoky's - the best of best twisty roads

Safe trip wherever you end up going

I'm definitely going to use these

I did a similar trip in the reverse direction (and added some days all the way across NL to visit family) in July/Aug in 2011. Pretty sure I did it in 18 days. We encountered some chilly (4c) cold wet riding in Labrador. I'd definitely recommend doing it later in summer. The black flies were crazy when we would stop sometimes on the section from Manic 5 dam to Port Hope Simpson, wind dependent. Make sure you have a bug net. Happy to hear you bring extra fuel, I know they paved more of it since my trip but running in what I consider deeper gravel for a road I did use more fuel. Longest distance I measured w/o fuel stops or anything at all was 404km pump to pump (Happy Valley -> Port Hope Simpson). Enjoy.

did you find fuel between Labrador City & Happy Valley?

 

[tat2]

did you find fuel between Labrador City & Happy Valley?

Churchill Falls has an Ultramar.

 

[shanekingsley]

Instead of starting a new thread... I'm really hoping this is finally the year I can ride Canada's east. Not sure if I will go ride the north shore of St. Lawrence or do Gaspe or both - all depends on timing of when I can get off work and how long the trip can be.

Trying to see if this should be a moto-camping trip or a save the weight and do motels each night.

Also, just how busy is it in July - either along the north shore or around Gaspe?

And for anyone else who might head along the north shore - this particular road came very highly recommended to me as one of the very best in the region:

 

[ac.dc]

Instead of starting a new thread... I'm really hoping this is finally the year I can ride Canada's east. Not sure if I will go ride the north shore of St. Lawrence or do Gaspe or both - all depends on timing of when I can get off work and how long the trip can be.

Trying to see if this should be a moto-camping trip or a save the weight and do motels each night.

Also, just how busy is it in July - either along the north shore or around Gaspe?

And for anyone else who might head along the north shore - this particular road came very highly recommended to me as one of the very best in the region:
View attachment 60872

Thank you for this. I'll add this route in on my way back.

 

[ac.dc]

Hi, all. Happy to share the experience of my first ever ride to the east coast / Atlantic Canada. Mid-May is a bit early in the season, but I was keen to get ahead of the tourist crowd. Many of you warned me about the weather – especially winds and rain. And many more encouraged me to embrace the adventure for the same exact reason. So, I let my urge take over and went on a 9-day round trip to test my endurance and see how far I could push myself (the last long trip I did on my motorcycle was in July 2017). It was so worth it.

DAY 1, 18th May 2023

• Toronto, ON – Montmagny, QC
• 850 km of straight highway blast
• Nothing remarkable; just a warm up day for my body and my motorcycle

DAY 2, 19th May 2023

• Montmagny, QC – Sackville, NB via Grand Falls and Plaster Rock
• 690 km
• The weather was warm but very windy. For the first time, I experienced wind gusts of the marshlands. I was being blown around like a twig and struggled to stay in my lane. The wind speed went up to 73 kmph. The cruisers were having a much easier time than those of us on adv motorcycles.
• The route via Grand Falls & Plaster Rock had some good sections of twisty and good paved roads.
• One wind gust was so strong it knocked off the motorcycle from the stand breaking the clutch lever. Luckily nothing else was damaged.
• Interesting find: Fener’s Place serving Kurdish food. Cheap and good quality food.
• Very interesting stay in Marshlands Inn – with a lot of historical background.

 

[ac.dc]

DAY 3, 20th May 2023

• Sackville, NB – North Sydney, NS to catch the overnight ferry
• 290 km
• Left late in the morning; exhausted from previous day’s windy ride. I could not do the Cape Breton loop. Will do next time. Left unchecked on my to-do list. In a way it was good I missed out on the loop because the ferry’s schedule was advanced by two hours because of weather forecast: 100 kmph winds overnight expected. Got the bike loaded on to the ferry and used the ferry’s ratchet straps to secure the bike. Hint: bring your own ratchet straps as theirs are rusted. Cabin was excellent in comfort.
• Also, met a few different groups of bikers at Havre Boucher Tim Hortons who were coming back halfway from the Cape Breton loop due to crazy winds. Got valuable tips from them to keep a lookout for animal crossings in Newfie and the bug issue in and around Lab city.

DAY 4, 21st May 2023

• Port aux Basques, NL – St. Barbe, NL
• 550 km
• Docked at the port in Newfie at 6.30 AM and rode up to Deer Lake. In the first 30 minutes saw 2 moose crossing the road right in front of me. One was galloping and one was just strolling about.
• Once I reached Deer Lake, debate was whether to stay the night or carry on to St. Barbe because of wind forecast of 50 kmph on highway 430 along with rainfall.
• Was talking to an elderly localite who assured me that I would make it if I rode on slow and steady. Turned out to be one of toughest rides I had ever done. The bike wanted to just slip underneath me every few minutes.
• Made it to St. Barbe by 3.00 PM and as soon as I checked in the rainfall intensified. That day’s ferries to Lab city were cancelled.
• While riding I realized I was on the Viking trail!

DAY 5, 22nd May 2023

• St. Barbe, NL – Port Hope Simpson, NL
• 230 km
• Start of Expedition 51°
• Ferry from St. Barbe to Blanc-Sablon of 1 hour 45 minutes. The water was covered with broken ice. The vessels used ice breakers to get out of the dock. Once the ferry left the dock and we were in the middle of the water I got to see my first ever iceberg. Hint: bring your own ratchet straps as theirs are rusted.
• After leaving Blanc-Sablon there is only one fueling station at Port Hope Simpson which only has regular grade fuel and is pricey.
• This was the ride where I first saw a black bear cross the road just a few meters ahead – less than 100 m. I have now added bears, moose, caribous and foxes to the list of animals to watch out for.

 

[ac.dc]

DAY 6, 23rd May 2023

• Port Hope Simpson, NL – Churchill Falls, NL
• 700 km
• Early in the morning (in PHS), the bike was covered with a layer of frost. When I turned on the ignition and tried to warm up the motorcycle the ‘check engine’ light came on. After visual inspection nothing looked wrong, so I decided to ride on.
• My first stop was in Happy Valley Goose Bay. Where enroute I had to use extra fuel from RotopaX. There are no fuel stations between Port Hope Simpson and Happy Valley Goose Bay. I had 4 gallons (or 15 liters) of fuel extra with me.
• My initial plan was to stay at Happy Valley Goose Bay, but the weather and winds were calm, so I seized the day and pushed on to Churchill Falls.
• When I was in Happy Valley Goose Bay, my bike started giving me ‘low oil’ indication. Found NAPA auto parts, bough oil and surprisingly the bike took 4 liters of oil.
• Rode on to Churchill Falls incident-free except for four animal crossings. There is only one hotel in Churchill Falls, which is also a community center – called Height of Land hotel. I made reservations on the fly and was lucky to have a room.

DAY 7, 24th May 2023

• Churchill Fall, NL – Les Escoumins, QC
• 970 km
• This day was one of the toughest rides. My initial plan was to stay in Lab city. But for some reason I decided to push on till Quebec. Once I started from Churchill Falls, few kms before Labrador City the wind picked up accompanied by rain.
• As I left Lab city I experienced snow fall, freezing rain followed by heavy rain until I reached Fire Lake.
• Did not have to use bug spray. I guess there were no bugs that day as it was bitterly cold.
• Road conditions: 20 km after Labrador border ends and Quebec begins there is 70 km of gravel (right until you reach Fire Lake) with 11 railway crossings. The first 20 km of that stretch was just smaller, finer gravel.
• After this gravel stretch there is a fuel station at Manicougan, QC.
• 2 km after the fuel station, there is approx. another 120 km of gravel roads.
• After that it’s all paved highway until highway 389 ends. Beautiful winding roads best experienced on a motorcycle. Got to see Manic-5 dam and the humungous hydro-electric power station.
• After this long ride, decided to stay at Forestville, QC but none of the hotels or motels had any vacancies. It was after sunset, and I kept riding till I reached Les Escoumins and booked the last room available in the town. Phew!
• Restaurants were all shut as I reached after 9.00 PM. My dinner was beer-battered fries from the day before, a small bag of chips, and beer.

DAY 8, 25th May 2023

• Les Escoumins, QC – Montreal, QC
• 520 km
• Decided to leave late as the previous day’s ride was long and exhausting. It was a normal highway blast with a ten-minute ferry crossing. Since it was a short ferry crossing, I stayed on the bike for its duration.
• Noticed that the bike’s fuel mileage dropped considerably. Usually, on a tank I get 325 – 350 km. It dropped to 175 – 200 km that day. I thought I would reach Toronto the next day and diagnose the bike.
• Once in Montreal, made my pilgrimage to Schwartz deli.

DAY 9, 26th May 2023

• Montreal, QC – Toronto, ON
• 330 km + 220 km
• Started off as a regular day. Left Montreal early to beat the morning office traffic. Was making good progress towards home.
• Noticed that my bike’s gas mileage further dropped to 120 km on a tank.
• Stopped at an ONroute right after Kingston at Napanee and noticed a large pool of engine oil below the motorcycle while fueling up. Parked the bike on the side. The oil continued to drip from the top of the engine casing. Strangely, the oil level indicator continued to show as full. Reached out to a few mechanics in Kingston but they did not have any parts for a Triumph Tiger (assuming it was the engine oil gasket that had likely been blown off).
• Decided not to ride further fearing engine oil getting on to the rear tyre or damaging the engine further. Called CAA and got the bike towed to Toronto. Not how I wanted my trip to end, but it was great while it lasted.
• Took the bike to my local mechanic at Otomoto who took the bike apart and found that the engine oil was overfull. It had soaked the air filter and started leaking from the breather hose (located right above the swing arm near the engine head). As of now it does not look like a blown gasket (fingers crossed).

 

[ac.dc]

Looking forward to getting my bike back ASAP as I have my M test next week!

Hints and tips:

• Carry a good rain jacket that can go over the riding jacket. Really helps in protecting against rain and wind. I used a Mountain Warehouse raincoat. It was phenomenal.
• Use the ‘WindFinder.com’ app to stay on top of wind gust forecast and updates. It is pretty accurate.
• When in NL, use the 511 app to stay up to date on highway conditions.
• Book ferries in advance, they fill up fast.
• If you are riding during peak season, book hotels in advance too.

Don’t be an idiot like me who packed GoPro but did not pack batteries or memory cards. All my photos are from my phone.

 

[gsxr guy]

I gotta ask, how did your bike take 4 L of oil and then 2 days later its over full? Did you put oil in while it was on the side stand? The cape breton trail is so so. There are better roads in the maritimes, but most tourists never find them.

 

[Hardwrkr13]

I gotta ask, how did your bike take 4 L of oil and then 2 days later its over full? Did you put oil in while it was on the side stand? The cape breton trail is so so. There are better roads in the maritimes, but most tourists never find them.

The section through the Highlands is one of if not the best in the Maritimes but you need to do it off-peak times. I’ve done it 25yrs ago in a sports car with a camcorder wedged in the moonroof (pre action-cams).
Been going to the maritimes most years for the past 40yrs. That’s also where I got engaged.

 

[gsxr guy]

I agree it is good, but here the best road is the one that got paved last. I was on the island sunday. And the best part was hitting the mainland after. 200kms of twisties and 4 cars along the way.