From British Columbia to.. East? And back again!

[MrZig]

Posted in one other forum (SomethingAwful.com)

That's the plan. Quite complicated and well thought out, isn't it? First, the introduction. This is me, Matt.



I'm 19 and live in Enderby, British Columbia. Located in the Okanagan valley, Enderby is a beautifully situated town with a population of about 6,000.


I've only just recently gotten into bikes. I wanted one last year, but didn't have the money. Things have changed this year, and I am the proud owner of this lil trooper, a 1978 Suzuki GS400.




The other person on this trip is my best friend that I've known since Kindergarten. Rob.



20 year old from Kelowna, BC, and currently skating for Disney on Ice. He's the reason I'm into bikes, really. He got his learner license two years ago but never bought a bike. The license expired this spring, before we could leave on our trip. This added complications. He currently rides this:



A 2003 Ninja 250! (Yes, its partly naked here; he had an idle problem thats all fixed now)

Enough with the introduction, and onto the trip at hand. The original plan was to swim in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. This became a problem when we found out that Rob got back from tour at the beginning of May, and left again near the end of June. We couldn't leave right away either, as there were a few issues..

First of all, Rob needed a license. Seeing as how he had passed his written and skills test two years ago, this time around would be much quicker. Only a week before he could ride.

Great, then what? Well, Rob needs a bike. He also needed his passport renewed. I thought I would get mine, too. Cue a trip to Vancouver! The passport application went super smooth and we would have them in a week under the express option. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a bike for him there. I was prepared to ride it back home for him, but oh well. It worked out because last Saturday he bought that Ninja shown above.

Now, since all of this has added extra delays to the start of the adventure, we thought about replanning our trip. Out of the blue I thought, howabout Thunder Bay, Ontario? Why Thunder Bay, you ask? Well it sounds cool, that's why. Haha. Once we reach Thunder Bay, we could head South into the USA and ride back East through Minnesota, the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and back into BC.

This way we get to cross through both Canada and USA, travelling through such areas as the Rockies, the vast praries, Yellowstone park, etc. Looking like it could work, it thus became our plan.

This is a very rough outline of our trip:

Click here because the forum is stupid and only lets me post 4 photos at a time

The deadline that we will absolutely leave by is May 20th. If Rob passes his skills test and we get our passports on Thursday then we should be able to leave sooner!

We're planning on video taping it all and making a video similiar to Long way Round in style, albiet much less cool. In any case, what we'll like to know are the best places to travel through, visit and see. We'll try and update our progress as we can, too.

Oh and if anyone wants to offer free booze/food/place to stay/shower that would be great , as we'll mostly be sleeping in a tent and eating bread and hot dogs.


So to summarize, it's about two inexperienced idiots going on an adventure of a lifetime!

[tomo]

Looks like a great adventure, must admit I`m feeling a bit envious !. Hope all goes to plan and your mate gets his license on time. Keep us posted as you go too, take lots of piccies !.

[Buffalo Bill]

Monkey butt journey!

You got some misery ahead, better do some overnighters for practice.
Just for fun, follow this link about some kids crossing the country on their old bikes.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=366117

A lot of us here read it and found their journey inspiring.
Larger bikes, like the GS850G were designed for long road trips.

[mcloud]

Hi MrZig,
This kind of adventure will stay with you for the rest of your life.
I'm sure members here will lend a helping hand.
Too bad you're not making it to Montreal. Maybe next trip...
I subscribed to the thread, keep it up-dated if you have access to a computer along the way.

Ride safe!!

[Charlie G]

Have fun guys. Too bad your not headed my way. Love that black 400.

cg

[spyug]

Oh to be young again, when everything is new and full of possibilities. More than a few of us envy you.

While I encourage you to do it, it is a big project for new riders and not without some challenges and yes...risks.

Firstly, You will want to insure your bike is up to the task and your pal gets something suitable. Your bike is a little underpowered and you will need to pack light. Distance riding on a small loaded bike can be fatiguing and long days in the saddle will be hard. You might want to build up to it.

Make sure the rubber is good, the brakes are serviced and the engine runs right ( kinda goes without saying). If you've read over the posts you'll know that charging on these bikes is an Achilles heel so make sure you check it and satisfy yourself its working to spec. I might also suggest adding a cheap voltage meter to keep tabs on things ( Princess auto or the like usually around $10or so) as there is no nastier surprise than a dead electrical system.

You will want to pack a tool kit and things like, fuses, electrical tape, electrical connectors and wire, tire repair kit, flashlight etc. In addition get a compact circuit tester and cheap digital multimeter. In the tool kit I like things like vice grips and multi-tools, some sockets with a compact wrench and a few open end wrenches. Try and pack it as light as you can.

I don't know what you will be carrying for luggage but you might benefit from fixing a "sissy bar" or backrest of some kind to your seat. It will help to tie things to and with luggage in front will give you a bit of a backrest as you ride.

You will have camping gear with you so likely will have rope and bungies. Have a prowl around any Dollars stores as they have a lot of ties, straps and stuff that might come in handy.

Get a small supply of band aids, dressings and ointments, aspirin, bug spray, sunscreen and nosekote.

Just a few things that come to mind. There are some hiogh mileage experts here that will give you more info.

Enjoy the trip and take lots of pics. You'll be asked to write a travelogue so take lots of notes too.

Ride safe and enjoy.

cheers,
Spyug

[ironsheik]

This is all great advice. I did a 10k mile trip on a Honda Nighthawk 650 and in the higher elevations where you're traveling, you'll really see the limits of your bikes. It will be great though. Check out Custer State Park in South Dakota and absolutely ride the Bear Tooth pass (12k feet high) from Wyoming to Montana. I'll see if I can dig up what road that is. You'll be blown away. Also, Glacier National Park should be checked out. South Dakota was a better ride than North and Wyoming was my favorite of all the states you're traveling through. Good luck.

Also: you can camp for free in National Forests which are all over your trip. You'll see logging roads and usually there are visible sites where other people have camped. I think you have to be 100 feet from the road, not that anyone actually measures or seemed to care.

Oh to be young again, when everything is new and full of possibilities. More than a few of us envy you.

While I encourage you to do it, it is a big project for new riders and not without some challenges and yes...risks.

Firstly, You will want to insure your bike is up to the task and your pal gets something suitable. Your bike is a little underpowered and you will need to pack light. Distance riding on a small loaded bike can be fatiguing and long days in the saddle will be hard. You might want to build up to it.

Make sure the rubber is good, the brakes are serviced and the engine runs right ( kinda goes without saying). If you've read over the posts you'll know that charging on these bikes is an Achilles heel so make sure you check it and satisfy yourself its working to spec. I might also suggest adding a cheap voltage meter to keep tabs on things ( Princess auto or the like usually around $10or so) as there is no nastier surprise than a dead electrical system.

You will want to pack a tool kit and things like, fuses, electrical tape, electrical connectors and wire, tire repair kit, flashlight etc. In addition get a compact circuit tester and cheap digital multimeter. In the tool kit I like things like vice grips and multi-tools, some sockets with a compact wrench and a few open end wrenches. Try and pack it as light as you can.

I don't know what you will be carrying for luggage but you might benefit from fixing a "sissy bar" or backrest of some kind to your seat. It will help to tie things to and with luggage in front will give you a bit of a backrest as you ride.

You will have camping gear with you so likely will have rope and bungies. Have a prowl around any Dollars stores as they have a lot of ties, straps and stuff that might come in handy.

Get a small supply of band aids, dressings and ointments, aspirin, bug spray, sunscreen and nosekote.

Just a few things that come to mind. There are some hiogh mileage experts here that will give you more info.

Enjoy the trip and take lots of pics. You'll be asked to write a travelogue so take lots of notes too.

Ride safe and enjoy.

cheers,
Spyug

[MrZig]

Turns out we might be leaving this Thursday! And if so, we might even make Toronto!

I also saw that $50 bike thread - that was pretty impressive.

Bike is good, tires are good, brakes are OK. I will be packing a tool kit to change oil, adjust chain, that sort of thing. Plus general pliars and a screw driver or two. You know, the usual. I'm also thinking of picking up a windshield before I leave.

As I'm an avid hunter/backpacker, I have all the stuff that's really needed on the trip as far as that goes. Tent, sleeping bad & bags, ropes, tie downs traps etc. That part should be easy enough. I plan on strapping a duffle bag on the back and wearing a backpack. Rob is going to have the same setup + a tankbag with a map of wherever we are on the top of it

Going to write journal entries as well as video journals, it'll be very well doccumented!

Also thanks for the route advice. Very appreciated as we want to make it as interesting as possible and the least amount of big highways the better

Posting on ADVRider as well so you can watch it there, too

[Skateguy50]

Good luck, have fun, and when **** hits the fan just take it one thing at a time. Its all part of the fun if you dont let it get to you.

If you made it further east I would offer up a place to crash in Boston, but seems that wont fit your schedule.

[rudy]

If you're gonna make it to Toronto, come by my place on the way there or back. I'll put ya up for the night, feed ya beers (while I drink whiskey) and steak, and maybe even let you sit on the 1000S Aussie Cooley replica. If you have any problems, I'm in electrical engineering and can fix you up. I have a bunch of spare parts, and know where to get anything you'll need. If I don't have it, my neighbor does. He even has a bike dyno.

Could do a nice tour with some of the vintage bikes around here as well. There's one road in this area that you MUST travel on. It's between here and Toronto. Lemme know if you're interested.

Rudy

[850 Combat]

I have always liked the style of those bikes, and the size. Not miniature like some small discplacement bikes. Did they sell that style in the US with the 4 valve heads?

[MrZig]

Update: Bike is dead. Dead dead. As in the engine seized coming down a back road today and it barely revs in in Neutral, dead. Early guess is that it didn't have enough oil flow. Will explain more tomorrow.

****.

[tkent02]

Beg borrow buy or steal another one?
Sorry to hear it, good luck.

[mcloud]

Damn , what's your plan now?

[rudy]

You sure the engine is seized? If it's barely revving in neutral, that means it's not seized. Could it be fuel related? What all have you done since buying it?