Victoria BC to Woodstock Ontario

[trevor]

Hi all, yeah no damage other than my underwear lol
I can’t figure out how to post pics from my phone.
I’ve been in my hometown of Woodstock since Sunday. My wife flys in tonight. Friday is dads memorial and we take off for home Monday morning. Port Huron crossing into Michigan staying in Newberry Mi Monday then Grand Rapids Minnesota Tuesday. Haven’t figured out the rest yet but it looks like number two home through the USA to BC

Boy is it ever hot here…and humid! Not used to that

cheers

 

[Redman]

......
.................................................... we take off for home Monday morning. Port Huron crossing into Michigan staying in Newberry Mi Monday then Grand Rapids Minnesota Tuesday. ..........

THanks for update.

Have a good memorial time with family.

Looks like your itinerary for Monday into/thru Michigan is at least a 455 mile day with international border crossing and crossing Mac Bridge, so probably not looking for an excursion. But if you are, there before Mackinaw, although further west, but not too far off your path, is M119 Tunnel Of Trees. Will be listed in most tourist info and most motorcyclist info.

And, yes, this weekend and first part of next week is suppose to be the hottest most humid of the summer so far.

 

[trevor]

Usk Washington

 

[Rob S.]

I've heard of visors in cars, but what's that on top of the windshield? A standard part, or something you made yourself?

 

[trevor]

I've heard of visors in cars, but what's that on top of the windshield? A standard part, or something you made yourself?

It's a Puig wind deflector....and it works very well!
I always thought these things looked goofy and didn't work. But I was having wind buffering from my optional "Touring" windscreen so a buddy gave me his deflector to try....amazing. I've never had much wind protection on any of my bikes before and always thought it unnecessary....boy was I wrong...I rode 10,504kms with the shield of my helmet up....

 

[storm 64]

I'm the opposite, I like the wind in my face. If I wanted to ride in a air pocket, I'd take the car... haha

I do know what you mean about buffering. The FJR has a big air vent above the instrument cluster. It's supposed to reduce the buffering, It might help a little bit... I just keep my shortened windshield in the low position. I let my helmet cut through the wind. nthego:

 

[trevor]

Yup: I prefer my 1150EF too. With the low windshield I find it's actually quieter and no buffeting at all. I have been thinking about taking the tall windshield off my Bandit and putting the low stock one on again and see if I prefer it. Not meaning to derail your thread Trevor! Welcome back home!

Derail away! Thanks...good to be back...I'll post some more pics soon.

 

[trevor]

If you guys are interested I thought I should post some pics of my trip...I've been bust catching up with my work as 4 weeks away is the longest I've been away from my work, although I did work from the road as my usual practice.
As I said before this was a trip I was taking to my dad's memorial in Woodstock Ontario where I grew up...three friends that I grew up with there and now living in BC...one in Banff Alberta took the journey with me....for me this was something I have always wanted to do...ride back to Ontario through Canada...seeing provinces I had never actually been to before.
After we left Banff the four of us headed to Cold Lake Alberta. Our weather was great...as a matter of fact, out of the 10,504kms I rode we only saw 100kms of rain going through Ontario.
This is the first pic I took....me waiting for the 6am ferry to leave Vancouver Island

From my buddy's front yard in Banff

Our motel in Cold Lake....me with my buddy Gary scratching his head...I have known Gary since I was in my early teens...he is 10 years older than me...his dad owned a welding business next to my dad and uncle's sandblasting and painting business....Gary raced AMA sidecars back in the day on the same weekends as superbike legends Wes, Freddie, Eddie...etc..he was the "monkey"...lol
Dave (Bucky) also 10 years older than me. is retired from CBC where he was an electrical engineer....his brother was a local legend growing up in Woodstock....he was a motorcycle stunt rider...claim to fame being on the tv show "That's Incredible" competing in a quarter mile race against the "best riders in the world"....lol...he took 2nd place with a broken collar bone I believe.

On our second day we headed to just outside Flin Flon Manitoba...traveling through the province of Saskatchewan....That was just over 800kms...again great weather...bug were plentiful for sure...gas stops were far and few between but I had searched those spots out well in advance.

We had the roads to ourselves

One thing I didn't count on was a 38kms ride on a gravel road...my new bike was new no more....lol

Where we stayed 23kms south of Flin Flon MB...this was a special place.

 

[trevor]

Our cabin at Baker's Narrows..this place was amazing!
We were originally only staying one night there but we decided to stay two and take a day off the bikes to go fishing.
In advance I had rented a pontoon boat with a fishing guide for the day,,,,a day before we got there I got a call from the lodge saying that the motor on the pontoon boat had broken down and they were trying to get it fixed...they offered us a smaller boat but I said we would have to cancel if we didn't get the pontoon boat as the last thing we wanted to do was to be 5 guys trying to fish out of a small boat after riding for three days...just wouldn't be very relaxing.
So we arrive and the owner comes to our cabin with a beer and says "ok, we couldn't get the motor fixed but we have came up with another plan....we are going to tow you guys out to the fishing spots on the pontoon boat with the other boat"....lol....very cool.

The guy on the left is my good friend Chuck Taylor....yes that's his name..lol...we were once roommates in our early 20s....that was some crazy times....lol

We all caught pike....

Our guide Greg, had the most adorable puppy on board...

Yes, alcohol was involved...lol

 

[Eli69]

I love hearing about bike trips. Thanks mr. Trevor.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Very cool and gorgeous scenery Trevor

 

[trevor]

So after our fishing diversion at Baker's Narrows we headed to Gimli Manitoba ....no real good pics from there for some reason...Gimli is where Crown Royal is made...
Then onto Thunder bay Ontario and then Thessalon Ont where we stayed in a great motel that had a restaurant attached....what a beautiful evening and sunset over looking Lake Huron.

the restaurant

The next morning we headed out at 6am to make sure we caught the Chi-Cheemaun ferry to Tobermory....and I took this at Blind River 7am
We did a lot of early starts like this and it was awesome to be on the road at that time...

The ferry

 

[trevor]

Now one of the coolest part of this trip.....my cousin Danny (introduced me to motorcycle when I was 6 and he was 16) has a cottage in Stokes Bay on Lake Huron....it was his mom and dad's cabin since the 60s and my family used to go there every summer when we were kids...I had not been there since I was 12 years old! That was special...and it was just as I remembered it

The fire pit out back...the shed was built by my cousin and my dad several years ago over a drunken weekend I was told...lol

 

[trevor]

So the other thing that was going on was our friend Tom (Gork) from Woodstock has an awesome cottage in Tobermory about 30min away from my cousin's place....Gork has a motorcycle party every year the 2nd weekend in July and this was his 24th year in a row....so many of our friends that we grew up with riding in Woodstock ride up there every year and get out of control...lol
What a place,,,he has done so much work....so much stone laid all by him...he charges everyone $20 a night which includes and amazing breakfast each morning and a wonderful dinner each night that he personally cooks.....unbelievable.
It was so special to party and hang out with guys you have not seen in years but went to high school with....

My buddy Dave and his 1985 GSXR750 that he bought brand new in Woodstock.

Burt and his ELR

Gork's "hillbilly hot tub"....104 degrees!

Oh boy I gained some weight on this trip lol

Me and my traveling companions rented the airbnb cabin next door....so we could escape the madness lol

 

[trevor]

Ah traditions....lol

 

[trevor]

This guy in his late 60s going through 5 gears....alcohol...lol

 

[Eli69]

Interesting beer selection. I would have tried the Carling. We haven't had that around here for a long time. Had a couple Molsons just yesterday. Still my favorite Canadian beer. The Busch seems to be an international standard for wild parties though.