Trip report: North American Loop (24 days, 12,000km)

[lukaledoux]

Just got back from an epic trip going from eastern Canada to the west coast of Washington and back down through the States, circling the great lakes. It took 24 days and I put 12,000 km on the bike. Here are a couple pictures!

This post I will keep short:

The bike performed really well. Had to change the oil twice over the course of trip but no major problems. Biggest issue was when bike fell over and steering was no longer aligned with the wheel. This was fixed pretty quickly with a good smack of the front tire against a tree. Otherwise issues were minor such as cracked fairings, increasing engine noise, sticky clutch lever, etc. Stock seat was decent but by the 20th day my butt was getting really sore. My Revit three season gear dealt with all the elements but not flawlessly. I camped every night in a hammock except for two. Sleeps very comfortably and bike can be used as an anchor point if there aren't two trees.

If you have any questions, shoot! I will make a very detailed breakdown reviewing the bike, my gear and my experience, especially if people want to hear it. For a spring trip I ended getting anywhere from 35F and rain to 90F and rain, so I got the extremes!

Cheers.

 

[Cloggy]

Just got back from an epic trip going from eastern Canada to the west coast of Washington and back down through the States, circling the great lakes. It took 24 days and I put 12,000 km on the bike. Here are a couple pictures!

This post I will keep short:
.................

If you have any questions, shoot! I will make a very detailed breakdown reviewing the bike, my gear and my experience, especially if people want to hear it. ........Cheers.

Great pics, thanks for sharing that looks like an epic trip, looking forward to the write up (of your experience), yes I would love to hear it :thumbup:

 

[Verharen]

I want to hear more! What were the things you expected and for which you were well prepared? What were the things that were most unexpected? Where were your favorite spots? What do you wish you could have avoided and why?

Most of all, what inspired you to make this trip?

 

[tejkowskit]

This is awesome! More pictures and details!! Lol

 

[siebsey]

Just got back from an epic trip going from eastern Canada to the west coast of Washington and back down through the States, circling the great lakes. It took 24 days and I put 12,000 km on the bike. Here are a couple pictures!

This post I will keep short:

The bike performed really well. Had to change the oil twice over the course of trip but no major problems. Biggest issue was when bike fell over and steering was no longer aligned with the wheel. This was fixed pretty quickly with a good smack of the front tire against a tree. Otherwise issues were minor such as cracked fairings, increasing engine noise, sticky clutch lever, etc. Stock seat was decent but by the 20th day my butt was getting really sore. My Revit three season gear dealt with all the elements but not flawlessly. I camped every night in a hammock except for two. Sleeps very comfortably and bike can be used as an anchor point if there aren't two trees.

If you have any questions, shoot! I will make a very detailed breakdown reviewing the bike, my gear and my experience, especially if people want to hear it. For a spring trip I ended getting anywhere from 35F and rain to 90F and rain, so I got the extremes!

Cheers.

What was causing the increased engine noise? This looks like an awesome trip!

 

[Brackson]

I always enjoy reading ride reports, especially big touring trips.

I do have one specific question for you though.

What do you wish you knew before you started your trip?

 

[lukaledoux]

What was causing the increased engine noise? This looks like an awesome trip!

My guess is the valves were slowly tightening and need to be re-adjusted soon. The throttle body is likely out of sync as well and I wonder whether this would make any noise. It certainly causes vibrations!

 

[lukaledoux]

I always enjoy reading ride reports, especially big touring trips.

I do have one specific question for you though.

What do you wish you knew before you started your trip?

I guess I wish I knew how easily things can just not go according to plan. I had planned out my first 6 campgrounds before leaving and ended up only staying at one of those six. Weather, distance and closed campgrounds (too early in the year) caused me to change all the others on the fly. Would have saved me a bunch of work to know this. I did learn a lot of other things on the trip, especially since I rode alone, but I didn't necessarily wish I knew them before leaving. I will cover these on my detailed breakdown which I'm working on now.

 

[Brackson]

I guess I wish I knew how easily things can just not go according to plan. I had planned out my first 6 campgrounds before leaving and ended up only staying at one of those six. Weather, distance and closed campgrounds (too early in the year) caused me to change all the others on the fly. Would have saved me a bunch of work to know this. I did learn a lot of other things on the trip, especially since I rode alone, but I didn't necessarily wish I knew them before leaving. I will cover these on my detailed breakdown which I'm working on now.

Interesting perspective. I am doing my trip partly alone, partly with my best friend. We are trying to plan out more or less a list of good ideas, and pick up maps for all the areas we think we might go, and areas near those areas.

There are only a few things we have planned, that are pretty certain. My Dad lives about half way through the route we expect to go, so we intend to spend 1 day at his house (laundry and a day off the bikes walking around the cute little city he lives in will be a nice change of pace) I also contacted my favorite shop in the area (who also happens to be where I bought my current FZ6) and asked about same day service if we have the need during our trip, and they said they would make it happen, so we have one planned rest day for us and the bikes. Otherwise it is all just according to our whim.

I am really looking forward to seeing what else you have to say. I leave for my trip Thursday and I am beyond excited right now!

 

[lukaledoux]

Okay so here is the detailed breakdown. I’ve attempted to categorize things to make it easy to navigate.

The bike:
Mechanical issues and maintenance:
The bike performed without major issue during the trip. I was doing a lot of miles per day though so maintenance does and will creep up on you. The only thing I had to do regularly was grease the chain, did it once a day. The oil I changed twice. I did this in a Canadian Tire parking lot where I ended up having to buy an oil filter wrench and a drain pan (they wouldn’t lend me one). The service center disposed of the oil for me which was very convenient. I brought spare oil filters with me which also saved time.
The cruise control (throttlemeister) had to be adjusted about 9000km into the trip. Since I was constantly adjusting the speed with the throttlemeister locked, the friction tube wore slightly and it became less effective at holding the throttle down at high speed (ie. Higher vibrations). This was also around the same time that the clutch lever needed serious cleaning and lubing. It would get stuck and make it extremely difficult to slip it into first. My front fairing cracked around the headlight as well around this time. I suspect it was from the constant buzzing at 6-7 thousand rpm from doing so many highway miles. I did certainly notice gradually increasing engine noise (valves im guessing) and vibrations over the course of the trip. A valve check and throttle body sync are probably needed now that it’s over.
The only major issue was when the bike fell over one night and the next day I noticed the handlebars were way off axis with the front tire. I was freaking out thinking I had bent something but a mechanic at the nearest shop told me that the forks and triple tree sometimes get locked up in a certain way and a good impact to the front wheel pops things back into place. I did this by slamming the side of the front tire into a tree using the handlebars. It worked and I was on my way!

Mods:
• Throttlemeister: This one is a lifesaver. For comfort reasons, you need to be regularly switching your posture. This means I was almost always driving with one hand, resting the other. It also allows you to relax your wrist, which would normally be holding back the throttle. Constantly fighting the throttle spring gets quite painful after several thousand km and without this mod I don’t think I could have done this much riding.
• Handguards: Pro: Protects from windchill and rain keeping hands dry. Con: in hot weather your hands get no air, it’s a mild annoyance (hot and/or sweaty hands) but worth it for those cold rainy days.
• Stiebel horn: Scares away wildlife and warns motorists effectively. Recommended!
• MRA sport windshield deflector. Did help with buffeting reduction, but it is never as satisfying as you hope. But still better than just the stock windscreen and bonus advantage is the ability to change its configuration on the fly.
• Frame sliders: This turned out to be a gift in disguise. I often ended up using these as highway pegs from time to time. When your butt gets REALLY sore and you have to keep going you can throw your feet on these just to give yourself a new position to sit in (relief!). Probably looks real dumb and ultimately isn’t that comfortable for long but did help.
• Trax ALU-Boxes: These were awesome. The bike fell on them twice, absolutely no damage. They are rugged and totally waterproof, have a solid amount of storage. Only issue is the supposed max load with these is something like 27lbs including the box. You can easily reach this limit if you’re not careful while packing. I ran both my boxes at like 28lbs without issue but did have to move things around to balance. Black coating will rub off on the inside if hard objects jostle around during the trip. The outside is also vulnerable to paint scratching from even just a sponge. Still, these were key!
• Tires: Pilot Road 3s worked great, very solid in the rain! After 12,000 km the front is slightly cupped but the rear appears to be more severe. It is also squaring off a little but not bad. Very happy with these.
• USB charger: This is a critical asset if you want to camp and keep your devices (gopro, cellphone, and GPS) charged. Mine actually broke within the first day and I only replaced it towards the end of the trip. I had to be very conservative with my GPS and cellphone because finding the time or an outlet to charge them was often difficult. (reminder: I was camping the whole time.)

Comfort:
I mentioned above that wrist pain was an issue, even with the throttle lock I had, mostly because I was doing so much riding. It was not because of my weight on my wrists but rather the force required to turn and hold back the throttle. Seems like nothing when you’re fresh, but ride 6000km in 7 days and you’ll see what I mean.
Elbows would sometimes bother me, and knees, but these would pass. Maybe for an hour each day an elbow or a knee would be complaining. Somehow it went away. My back never gave me any issues. (Reminder: im 22). The biggest complainer was my BUTT. Every day on the bike it would complain more. First week: No problem. Second week, the last 300km of each day was getting painful. Third week: the last 400km of the day would be a struggle and as soon as you got on the bike it would be complaining.
My analysis of the butt struggle: it wasn’t the comfort of the seat itself that was an issue. In fact, what makes it bearable is being able to switch your position in the saddle every 10-20 minutes or so. For a while you sit right up front, then to the middle, then the back. Then you stand up for a bit, or put your feet on the frame sliders. This is only achievable on the stock seat as it has no particular shape. The issue is the higher frequency vibrations from the fz6 caused by its notoriously high rev rate which vibrate your ass all day. Makes your butt feel like hamburger meat by the end of the day. The other issue is if your bottom gets sweaty, the cheeks do not move around as well as you move in the saddle, so your butt pinches when you sit and gets irritated, making the next day worse. Conclusion: reduce vibrations on your bike and keep dry!

Gear and Equipment:

Riding gear:
Helmet (Arai RX-Q): Worked perfectly and almost without issue. If it rains a lot it is critical to keep the inside of your helmet dry. Otherwise fog will constantly develop on the inside and you will be forced to ride with the visor open (it sucks). Also, if it is very hot (which it was in Nebraska). Your head will begin to cook in your helmet even with all the vents in the world. Best way to deal with this is to dunk your head in water, put the helmet on and ride with the visor open and sunglasses. Now your head will actually cool down while you ride. Re-dunk as necessary or when the helmet dries out (happens fast).
Jacket and pants (Revit Tornado for both). Black was a bad choice. This was cooking me in Nebraska and does little to warm you when it’s cold out. The ventilation on these is unreal however, and the only reason I was too hot was because it was absorbing so much heat from the sun. In the cold and rain (All of Ontario basically) they do work well with their insulated and waterproof liners. However at 35F and raining expect to need SEVERAL more layers to keep warm. I wish I had a heated vest. In the really heavy rain water will get through the zippers in the pants and make it look like you peed yourself really badly. They dry out quickly though when it stops raining. In brief, very happy with this gear but would choose a different color and bring a heated vest if I had a do-over.
Gloves (Revit) I had a warm weather pair with air holes and a cold weather pair that were also more waterproof. Having these two sets was key for the range of temperatures I experienced. Important pro tip: in cold and heavy rain, be sure to fit your enormous cold weather gloves UNDER your jacket. This can be achieved (albeit very difficultly) by putting on your gloves first then your jacket. This will prevent the water from running down the outside of your jacket sleeves and into your gloves, which will soak them after a day of riding.
Boots: (BMW touring boots – goretex). I loved these boots. Feet were always totally dry and comfortable. I had brought a pair of comfortable shoes but I just ended up wearing the boots for 90% of the trip. A little hot in them in Nebraska and a little cold in Ontario but darn near perfect otherwise.
Spidi back and chest protector: Other than help keep me warm when it was cold, this had no particular positive or negative effect on me. Now that I wear one though I can’t ride without it, makes me feel naked. It will definitely help in a crash and this translates into mental comfort while riding.

Clothes
It is important to note that I rode in both cold weather with heavy rain, to hot hot summer weather. That is why I brought such a range of clothes.
Clothes: Thick zip-up hoodie, a synthetic long sleeve shirt, a cotton longsleeve shirt, two cotton t-shirts, a synthetic t-shirt, two pairs of pants (1 jeans for being in public and 1 thin material fast dry pant for riding). Long underwear. Couple pairs of socks and 1 riding socks. Normal underwear and 1 pair of under-armour stay dry underwear. 1 Pair of shorts and 1 tank top. Rain jacket.
All my clothes fit into a normal sized backpack which I could then fit into my big drybag. I probably could have had a little less clothing but it was pretty good this way. I’d recommend more than just 1 pair of the under-armour underwear… I wore these often just because you stay dry. Critical for combination riding and camping. Throw your cotton underwear out. Cotton gets damp, stays damp and smells. Not the underarmour. I also had a pair of comfy shoes. This was nice sometimes and especially so while wearing shorts in public. (Looks dumb with touring boots)

Camping:
Hennessy hammock: worked great, sleeps much more comfortably than a tent, and stays clean as it is not on the ground. I would get in this thing and just pass out till morning, no stiffness or pain whatsoever. Only downside is the need for anchor points but I always managed to make it worked. My motorcycle served as an anchor point several times. It is possible but must be setup carefully. Can also use picnic tables, hitching posts, the roofrack on a car, telephone poles.  The hex rain fly worked well, glad I upgraded from standard rainfly.

Sleeping bag: wish I had a goretex one that was rated for colder temperatures. Went below 32F the first few nights and I was too cold in my -7 celcius bag. The hammock allows cold air to pass under your back and tends to make things colder. The exposure to damp air at night also made the sleeping bag a little damp which is why I would have wanted goretex.

The rest of my packing list is here. If you have any questions about specific items let me know. Almost everything I packed was useful to me during the trip and I was glad I brought it.

• Hatchet (a good one) serves as hammer and to chop fine wood for starter fires.
• Stove (alcohol burner) german made, worked well although fuel is harder to find.
• Camera with 8gb SD card
• Gopro with 32 Gb SD card and different mounts
• Pillow (thank god for this!)
• Insulating sleeping pad for the hammock (very important if cold overnight)
• Small first aid kit, sunglasses, spare visor, tire plugger kit with compressor
• Small waterproof pelican case for passport and other important stuff (spare keys)
• Toiletries bag
• Small microfiber cloths to clean visor
• Large microfiber towel to dry myself (packs small and dries FAST)
• Small can of WD-40, chain lube, spare oil filters, spark plugs, spare nuts and bolts from bike modifications and luggage racks (proved to be very useful!)
• Several charging cables, cellphone, GPS + mount, disk lock, ROPE! DUCT TAPE! ELECTRICAL TAPE! WIRE!
• Underseat toolkit was stocked with extra allen keys. Packed additional sockets and ratchets and screwdrivers in my alu-boxes (very useful)
• Grunge brush for chain
• Camera gorilla pod
• Pots, cup, pan, and food for a couple days.
• Water bottle, snacks. Hat, small scarf.

My packing arrangement was fairly simple. I put the sleeping bag, hammock, rainfly, pillow and all my clothes in a large 55Liter dry bag which was strapped across the passenger’s seat with two big bungee cords. In my 35L Trax alu-cases I put everything else. In my tankbag I carried things I wanted quick access to: water, snacks, hat, sunglasses, spare gloves, spare visor, rope, chargers, gps, cell, gopro.
I also used a cargo net to hold down a Guardian bike cover and my sleeping pad which I couldn’t fit anywhere else. If I had a topbox this wouldn’t have been necessary, but these two items proved very useful so im glad I made the effort to bring them.

My experience:
Things that went wrong:
• Campgrounds were closed. Before leaving I looked up campgrounds that would be open that early in the spring. I had several lined up but because the winter was so long, many still had snow on the ground and the province decided without updating their website that they wouldn’t open after all. This forced me to stealth camp and improvise my route until Calgary.
• RAIN: The first few days were very cold and raining. I had expected to deal with rain but the combination of rain and cold for three days I had not been mentally ready for. It was very tough and I think I got through it just because it was right off the bat and I had all this positive energy and motivation to do the trip. I could have spent more money and gone to a motel those nights but I decided to stick it out in the bush. I’m really glad I did because I came out of Ontario with a real sense of accomplishment knowing that I had prepared well enough to deal with the terrible weather.
• Melted equipment: I stowed the bike cover and sleeping pad under the cargo net, but they essentially just sat on the back of the boxes next to the exhaust. This worked fine for the first 2000km or so but then in the prairies the side winds were so strong that they blew the items into the hot air leaving the pipes, causing them to melt. Happened twice and after that I just used rope everytime to make sure nothing moved.
• SIDE WINDS. In the prairies (Canada or US) these can get very strong. The issue is that they are constant and force you to ride at an angle for hours on end. This really starts to hurt in the neck after a while. It is also scary when nature is trying to push you into oncoming traffic.
• Missing tank bolts: when doing maintenance in Calgary (4000km from home) I noticed there were no bolts holding the tank down to the triple tree this whole time (my fault from before leaving). Luckily two bolts I kept from the Alu side cases assembly fit perfectly! (Lesson learned: bring your spare hardware).


What I loved about the trip:
As you probably well know, riding on a bike is the best way to experience the world. You are constantly in the moment and get to experience the shifting landscapes minute by minute. The smells and the forces of nature from which you would have been protected in your car are a big part of the overall experience. The other great thing is the people. From East to West, Canada to the US, I met the nicest people at every stop. Always people would approach asking about my trip, swapping stories with me about their riding experiences, even offering me a place to stay for the night. Riding alone really made this a very important part of my trip as it was nice to have some human interaction and people seemed more likely to come talk to me since I was on my own. Even the border guard in Idaho couldn’t resist telling me about his KLR 650 and chatting me up for a bit. The scenery was of course, outstanding. The most magnificent for me was BC, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah. Really glad I took my nice Canon DSLR camera for the trip. It was bulky but the pics were worth it.

Lessons from the road:
I chose to ride alone because I wanted to prove to myself that I had the mental strength to power through, that my own skills were enough to deal with whatever happened. I did accomplish this and so I’m glad for that decision. Riding alone also allows you to dictate the pace. I didn’t have to consult anyone on whether we should ride more or less, I just went till I didn’t want to anymore. I loved this freedom. Loneliness does eventually get to you though, especially at night when you set camp. You have time to kill but no one to talk to or share a couple beers with. Even while riding, I soon found myself singing in my own helmet or talking to myself. It’s just impossible to be completely quiet for 24 hours a day! I did meet friends for a significant portion of the trip once I got out West. This broke up the trip nicely and gave me social interaction to look forward to while riding out there. If I had a do-over I would try to find a close friend to ride with, but I do not regret choosing to do this trip solo. It was a good experience and kind of a spiritual one as well.
I took a lot of pictures on the trip, and a lot of video clips on my gopro. Im really happy I did this because it allows me to re-experience the trip and allows me to share with family and friends. I also did a bit of a video journal every day. Felt weird at the time but now im glad I did so because I can really go back and relive how I was feeling on that particular day. The middle portion of my trip involved a lot more camping and friends as I mentioned above. This was a nice way to break the trip up into two, give my body some rest and allow me to recharge.
When doing heavy riding, I was covering 600-900km per day. This is quite a bit and it takes up most of your day. I’d wake up at 6am, be on the road by 7 and I’d ride till 6pm on long days. Stopping for gas, stretching and eating consumes quite a bit of time. I usually stuck to highways since my goal was just to get to my friends out west or to get home on the way back, but from time to time I’d find a nice simple road to take. Sometimes you can find good ones that don’t require too many additional kms or time. These little roads were always the highlights of the rides. The highways are often built in easy to navigate landscapes. The little roads explore so much more exciting scenery. I was astounded by the beauty of southern Saskatchewan when I took a little country road that diverted south of the highway. I’d recommend to find at least one such road every day if you can.

ANYWAY I think this was a little too detailed but I couldn’t help it. I’ll finish with this: the best part of everyday was waking up in the morning and getting on the bike, ready for another epic day of riding.

 

[lukaledoux]

Detailed breakdown in previous post. Here are some more pictures as requested!

 

[iviyth0s]

Great ride, writeup and pictures!

This honestly has greatly peaked my interest for a long distance riding trip in my future, it looks so exciting and educational

 

[nthdegreeburns]

Terrific ride report and the detail about the gear / setup is amazing. TYVM for sharing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

[Brackson]

Thank you very much for the detailed ride report. It definitely helped put my mind at ease a bit for my trip.

I am curious about your DSLR though. I have a Canon DSLR also and I had been milling over bringing it, but I had not found a way to pack it that I thought would protect it. I would love to see how you packed it and hear more of your thoughts about it.

 

[FinalImpact]

WOW! Thanks for taking to time to ride the country and report about it! Amazing and hats off to you!

Bad Vibes = read this:

I don't went to derail from this awesome thread but read this and post in that thread... This Helped cure my aching @ss from high frequency vibes and its quick, cheap, and easy to to do. --> Vibration! A cure for bad vibrations, Spark Plug Caps!! http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-...tion-cure-bad-vibrations-spark-plug-caps.html​

 

[lukaledoux]

Thank you very much for the detailed ride report. It definitely helped put my mind at ease a bit for my trip.

I am curious about your DSLR though. I have a Canon DSLR also and I had been milling over bringing it, but I had not found a way to pack it that I thought would protect it. I would love to see how you packed it and hear more of your thoughts about it.

I'm no professional photographer whatsoever but DSLRs take hands down the best quality pictures. That's why I brought it despite the size. I figured since there's going to be amazing scenery that I should bring a camera that can capture that. These pics can actually be blown up and framed without any quality loss (depending on the size of course), but I've blown some up to 24 x 18 or so and they look great.

I packed the camera in my big camera bag. Normally this stores the camera and two other lenses but instead I used the remaining space to store other things such as my gopro mounts and charging cables. This ensured the camera was well protected and didn't sacrifice an enormous amount of room, although it is still quite bulky.

 

[MakersTeleMark]

Thanks for the report. You need to get an Airhawk. I can ride all day long and not feel a thing. It is an awesome solution.

 

[Water Bear]

Excellent ride report.

MORE PICTURES! Blah

 

[LERecords]

You have already gotten me looking at maps and planing!! more details, more pictures!!

and thanks for the share!!! :thumbup:

 

[lukaledoux]

More pictures as requested! In the last picture, it's tough to see but the thin white line along the shore is not froth, it's slush/ice. Those last two are of lake superior in Ontario.