Back from my road Trip

See this thread for my pre-road trip discussion and details:
http://vfrworld.com/forums/first-second-generation-1983-1989/24411-taking-vf500-long-road-trip.html


I'm back....I'm alive...and I'm exhausted and sore as all hell.

Entire trip was 6 days, 5 Provinces, 4 States. 4,800kms+

My friend lent me his Spot GPS tracker so everyone at home could track our progress....it only does 50 spots at once so I had some friends take screenshots for me.

Bike started off nice and clean:


Packed decently well:


I cleaned it thoroughly and did a fresh oil change and chain adjustment. Put in 5w40 Rotella T for the first time. No issues whatsoever.

My friend who came with me doesn't have as cool a bike as us but you can't fault him for that. :tongue:


Our first stop in the states....somewhere in the Adirondacks in NY state.


The Ferry ride from NY to Vermont:


The beginning of the second day....little did I know that my Battery was dead at that moment. All of day two was my friend pushing my bike so I could bump start it.


End of day 2 we ended up back in Canada and I found the 1st Canadian Tire I could to buy a new battery and swap it in. (In Woodstock, New Brunswick)


Day 3 took us through Moncton, New Brunswick where I got a new rear tire installed. (and thank god I did...some of our trip was mountain passes in the rain )
OLD TIRE:


NEW TIRE (Metzeler Lasertec):

I was told that I could only get the Bridgestone battlexxx for my bike but the Motorcycle shop pulled this awesome tire from their inventory!

Our trip through Cape Breton and the "Cabot Trail" was full of rain and Moose:


We couldn't leave the East Coast without trying the McLobster:


We took an hour+ long ferry to Prince Edward Island and then after riding through it we too the famous CraZy Long "Confederation Bridge" back to New Brunswick.


This is some of the screenshots from the Spot GPS tracker. It drops a marker every 10 minutes (unless I shut it off or tell it otherwise) and it keeps a limit of 50 markers on the website at a time.

Up and around the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton:


Back down through PEI and into New Brunswick:


Our final leg home was almost 1,500kms, and 3 Provinces in 15hours. Would have been shorter if it wasn't for Montreal Traffic

 

Awesome!!!!

 

Rock on. Been itching to do a super long trip myself. No surprises along the way?

 

Bridge length is: 12.9 km (8.01 mi) The winds were calm so I had no trouble sitting up straight and enjoying the view.


A tally of damage for the bikes:

I dropped my bike on a mountain pass while trying to pull over on a way-to steep and sloapy and soft shoulder (my friend wanted to ask me about my gas situation)

It fell hard...bending the Front brake lever and pushing the exhaust far enough inwards that everytime I hit a decent sized bump the Swingarm would come up and the axle bolt would rub it. Luckily I have spares.





I could use new Grips too.....anyone know the sizes for the VF500?




Got a cool "Throttle Rocker" from the bike shop in Moncton....pretty useful on those long rides.



My friends bike suffered a hole in his headlight...which we "repaired" with Duck Tape.


During our stop in Moncton to put on my new tire we checked his oil and he was low. After adding a Liter he realized he was putting in gear oil instead of Motor Oil....so an Oil changed was needed, and the bike shop was able to accommodate us.
He also blew a fork seal on our trip back...and his rear tire is square and worn out.

Overall an eventful trip! :biggrin:

 

A moose surprised me.....luckily it was far enough ahead not to cause too big a scare.

The Battery dying on day 2 was a surprise.

Otherwise all was okay.

 

So, how do you like the Lasertec compared to the Battlax? I put a set of the Battlax on my Ninja 250 earlier in the year, and I was pleasantly surprised when the VF500F I bought had a BRAND NEW set of them on it. I bet they don't have 100 miles on them! Now, the bad news: I had to repair the front tire. It had a really small nail in it. I'm not so sure I want to keep running it with a plug in it, and I have heard all the opinions on it, both ways, so I may be looking to replace at least the front soon.

 

Oh, and it looks like a really fun trip! I would love to do something like that, I just don't know that my seat could take that much seat time!

 

It's hard to compare the 2 tires since one is new and I never owned the bike with the new battlax on them.

Also....and I didn't realize this until late that I have a 130 on the rear instead of the stock 110.

 

Thanks for the info.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but I was actually thinking about going with a 130 on the rear. The ninja 250 has a 130 stock on the rear, which is a bit wide for the 2.5 inch wide rim, and these are 2.75, which I would think would be a better fit. I'll look around here for information on this.

 

I read that the bike handles best with the stock size tire on the stock rims.

I can't confirm or deny that since I have always had a 130 rear and a stock sized front.