This article was originally posted by Richard Ohnstad on the VFR List, and he has graciously allowed me to post it here. Since so many of us enjoy road trips, I thought others might enjoy his story. Richard rode 4,000 miles on this great trip.
As Richard was saying ...The Beginning
I returned last week from a 10 day, 4000 mile trip from Jamestown NY., to Nova Scotia & back. Traveled through upper NY state, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, & Nova Scotia. We were able to take a different route back than we did on the way out. My brother, Bob, on a '88 Goldwing 1500, & myself on a '86 VFR750 made this trip from June 28 - July 7, 1999.
Road Surfaces
Before we left there was some discussion as to whether we should ride these street machines or our KLR650's. Most of the opinions favoring the KLR's were because of the road conditions in Nova Scotia and the ability to get further off the beaten track. As it turned out, we didn't really have enough time to spend a lot of it off the beaten track. As to the road surfaces, they ranged from very good on the Canadian equivalent of freeways to really bad on the Canadian equivalent of state & county roads. However, as bad as some of these roads were, they were not appreciably worse then some of the roads in Maine & New Hampshire. I think the winner for worst road surfaces were the roads on Prince Edward Island.
Interestingly enough, it was more difficult for me to stand up (because of the foot peg, seating relationship) over the rough stuff on the VFR750 than it was for Bob to stand up on the Goldwing. The rough roads really aggravated my lower back.
Just for good measure relative to my lower back discomfort, on our 2nd day in Nova Scotia, Bob managed to have a parking lot tip over with the Wing where it ended up with the seat lower than the wheels. By the time we got it up, I was ready for a chiropractor.
Scenery
The entire route was filled with so much good scenery, lots of green mountains and good overlooks that its hard to describe them all, but a few road highlights.
- NY State rte 417 running from Olean, NY to Corning, NY.
- A little stretch of gravel road that goes from Roxbury to Warren, VT and then the next 100 miles or so south of Warren on VT State rte 100.
- NH State rte 112, "The Kancamagus Highway" from one side of the State to the other.
- The Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia
- Route 245 & 337 from Glasgow to Antigonish in Nova Scotia.
I think there were other scenic roads in Maine & Vermont that we rode through, but these weren't necessarily seen because of fog and ceilings down to 200'.
Equipment
Both the bikes were all but flawless in terms of problems. The only Honda related problem was that my fuel-low light would come on 35 miles after filling the tank. The first time that happened I was afraid I had a leaking hose until I looked in the tank & saw that it was still nearly full.
The VFR averaged 47 mpg and the Wing about 40mpg. I added 8 oz of oil in the 4000 miles. The rear tread on Dunlop K591 Elite SP's was gone in less than 5000 miles and the front tread was 95% gone.
We used a 5-man Eureka Timberline tent that works great for 2 people and all the gear on the bikes. I use a sleeping bag with polar guard fill that indeed is quite effective even when wet (don't ask). This trip did prompt me to purchase (after the fact) a sleeping bag stuff sack that is waterproof as long as its not submerged. Garbage bags just don't hold up for more than a day or so. I also use a "Therm A Rest" air mattress which is a good trade-off of comfort, convenience and weight. It also doesn't matter too much if it gets wet (still don't ask).
The luggage I have for the VFR is RKA saddle & tank bags. These are not claimed to be waterproof by the manufacturer, but very little moisture penetrated those bags (we had lots of wet weather). I don't know the capacities in liters, but the 3 were more than adequate for clothes, rain gear, cooking gear, and all the what-nots you bring along.
One other piece of gear that didn't make the riding part of the trip, but made it possible to trailer the VFR from Tucson to Jamestown, NY, was a tie-down product for bikes called Canyon Dancer Bar-Harness. It is a harness arrangement that runs from one side of the handle bars to the other, won't harm your gas tank, allows the tie downs to clear the fairings, is extremely easy to use, and is very effective.
Eatings
If you like lobster and other kinds of seafood, this is the trip to make. We had very good whole lobster dinners for as low as $12 US.
Lodging
About half the time we stayed in campgrounds, usually public, and the rest of the time we stayed in motels or B & B's. I can't recommend the B & B's too highly. With any luck you'll have fresh conversation, a different point of view and of course what a way to start the day. Once in Canada, it didn't make much economic sense to stay in the campgrounds vs a B & B.
Things to Avoid
- US rte 1 in Maine - the traffic isn't worth the scenery.
- Canada 2 from Sackville to Amherst if the wind is WSW off the Bay of Fundy. There gets to be a venturi effect that will have you practically scraping your pegs just to stay in your own lane.
- If you're short on time, Prince Edward Island can be missed without much loss of great scenery, but with a significant loss of bad road.
Things to Do
Give your self at least 4 days for Nova Scotia. If you're going to go to Prince Edward Island take the ferry over and the Bridge back (its cheaper that way). If the wind is blowing hard from the wrong direction, you might want to take the ferry both ways. I thought Roosevelt's summer home in Campobello was worth a stop.
Weather
- Day 1 & 2 (thru NY & VT), hot, humid, cloudy and no wind.
- Day 3 & 4 (thru NH & ME), hot, less humid, sunny.
- Day 5 (thru New Brunswick), warm, fog, drizzle, low, low ceilings, high winds.
- Day 6 (thru Prince Edward Island), warm, low humidity, no winds, blue skys - perfect.
- Day 7 (thru Nova Scotia) warm, low humidity, partly cloudy.
- Day 8 (thru balance of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, into ME), drizzle, cool, clearing as the day went on.
- Day 9 (thru ME, NH & into VT), warm, rain, low ceilings.
- Day 10 (thru VY & into NY) warm & partly cloudy.
- Day 11 (to western NY), warm & partly cloudy.
Protective Gear
Hein Gericke V-Pilot jacket and X-pilot pants. RF200 Shoei helmet. REI goretex 3/4 length rain jacket & some bright yellow rain pants I bought from a safety supply store on clearance for $5.00. Rain gear worked fine whenever I had them on. The pants were not easy to get on and off and were hot so there was one time when I should have been wearing them and wasn't. Wet leather pants sure turn your underwear a dark shade of grey!
Tires
Dunlop K591 F Elite SP's (S). Rear tire was bald across 60% of the tread width inside of 5,000 miles. Front has probably another 1000 miles to go.
One Last Comment
This was certainly an interesting trip to take in terms of what bike to use, the VFR750 or my KLR650. There were definitely times when I wish I would have had the KLR for back comfort on some very rough asphalt roads, and yet I know had I taken the KLR there would also have been times when I would have wished for the VFR.
Next on the Trip List
A 3 - 5 day outing, riding the forest roads on the KLR650 along the Mogollon rim in central Arizona (need to get tires first).
A 2 - 3 week trip up the west coast, inland to central Washington, back down through the Sierra Nevadas, Yosemite and Death Valley.
Richard in Tucson
'94 KLR650
'86 VFR750
