Pain.

 

I've covered a lot of ground on the seat of various motorcycles over the decades.  From my '66 Honda S 90, to various two stroke mid displacement mounts, customs, sports bikes, dual sport bikes and even full blown touring bikes.  Yup, this butt has been intimate with a lot of seats.  Good thing motorcycles don't get jealous! 




I even rode a YSR 50 from the Island to Toronto with a couple of pals to attend the 1989 Yamaha dealer show.





In all those miles and all those padded (?!) perches, I have clearly maintained when ever asked, that 'touring... depended on your threshold of pain.'  Consider the bike I am currently touring on... it's a Japanese imported 1985 Suzuki LS 650, then known as the Savage and as of late, the Boulevard
S 40... this number denoting the displacement in cubic inches rather than centimeters, obviously in some attempt to Americanize the engine size. When I say Japanese import, I mean just that.  The bike is a homeland model slightly different than that designed for the CDN market.  It has a switch allowing the rider to select 'no lights, parking/running lights or full on.'  In addition it has a very annoying RED light in the speedo face warning that you have exceeded 80kph.  The engine can be started without drawing in the clutch lever and the side stand when deployed appears as another RED light on the mini dash.  Plus... it has a 5 speed transmission... something we didn't get till years later.



The engine is an upright 652 cc (40 cid) air cooled single four valve four stroke with a single  overhead cam.  The seat is very low, 28" off the deck.  Even for a shortie such as myself this is knee bending height.  In order to get this low seat hgt, the seat is ahem... pretty thin and the rear suspension very limited. 



Of course as a rider may occasionally carry a passenger on the pillion seat (and I use that word loosely) the rear non adjustable shocks are rather firm. 



All this translates to a stiff ride and cramped limited riding position.  The raised flat bar exasperates the whole thing and the message the bike conveys is that of a little factory built chopper.  I'd admit, when I ride these bikes I feel like a 'bad boy', well just a little.  Many people at a glance have no clue what size this bike is.




Okay, so it's a burger bike more suitable for posing down at the Dairy Queen or Burger King than out on the road luggage attached covering thousands of kilometers.  Having said that, remember... touring by bike depends a lot on your threshold of pain.




While visiting with Ronnie, I mostly rode his 650 cc (40 cid) Suzuki Burgman or V Strom 650.  Both are infinitely more comfortable and suited to long distances in the saddle and having had limited time on big scooters, I chose the Burger more times than not.  Like when we did the north shore of the south Thompson followed by a jaunt east on highway 1 to the DreamCycle museum, it was Burger all the way.

This museum is conveniently located on the Trans Canada highway and is certainly worth a visit whether riding by or driving.




Not only is there a good collection of interesting, historic and even rare motorcycles, but they have a very cool little café on site named Sprockets. 



From there we motored these dinky toy ribbons of back country asphalt to view a few old bikes as various friends of Ron's.  They included a pair of immaculately restored mid sixties,305 Yamaha's and farther along, after a 'trail/trial' ride up a mountainside in pouring rain, some more modern Yamaha's in the form of RD 350 LC models.  My friends know I am particular to two stroke rides, some have even said I have pre-diluted injection oil in my veins... but as I have said many times, I really don't care if it's an RD, a CB, a GS or an HD, I LOVE bikes!

Enjoy the pics...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loops from Kamloops

Hitting the road.

RON just bought a V Strom 650, days prior to my arrival.  In addition he has a well kept GS 1000G and his favourite bike, which really isn't a "bike" at all, but a scooter.  A Burgman 650 scooter in fact.

Two distinct Suzuki 650's.

The Burgman line from Suzuki, are likely the most popular scooters in North America, available, well known and with several displacement choices from 200-650cc.

Pretty little ranch/farm on rte 5A

I had never ridden a Burger and was anxious to try it.  I loaded some gear on his DL 650 and he led me across the city and out of the Thompson River Valley south on 5A.  Before the day was done, we would cover 355 km of road varying between 4 lane freeway all the way down to sinuous two lane  unmarked blacktop.






I rode the V Strom for the first half of our trip through desert country and on into high pine forest.  Our ride took us through Quilchena, pretty little Nicola, Merritt for lunch, before continuing to Lower Nicola, Spences Bridge, a short hop on the TC H/W #1 to Ashcroft, then Logan Lake on to Savona and back into Kamloops.

The V Strom performed as it should and having one back home in PEI, I was very familiar with his bike immediately.  When I took over the Burgman in Ashcroft, I was a little surprised.  I had to remind myself on the long climb out of the valley that, even though this machine was capable of doing the 'ton' and quite easily at that, it was really a scooter and as such, the lever on the left bar was the rear brake and not a clutch lever!!!  Ask me how quickly I realized this fact...






Owning two road going scooters myself, I was familiar with the riding technique but of course it took some thought on my part not to yank the left lever at any time except when braking!

I have to admit, I like it.  A lot!  Electric motor smooth, powerful enough to pass uphill and fast enough to swing the digital speedometer up over the 160kph mark, the BIG Burgman would make an ideal motorcycle... ummm scooter for those people that maybe want something simpler and easier to ride than a large touring bike.

Never did I feel a new for more speed than the Burger offered.

Weather protection (as I found out later) was adequate although I could have used a shorter windscreen. Storage capacity under the seat in and the removable trunk is very useful.  I could likely pack all the gear I am carrying on the Savage into the cargo bays of the Burgman!

Turn of the (20th) century church in Nicola

As for the riding, let me repeat something that Ron is always spouting off about... having lived most of my life in the West, B.C. must have the best motorcycling in the country.  Whatever your tastes, four lane droning (Hey some people live for that) sport bike scratching, slow country touring, dual purpose riding and pure off roading, the province has it all.  The only thing missing here was ocean and that's only 200 miles due West!





Our day varied between numerous photo stops, lunch at a pub in Merritt operated by a native of Pugwash N.S. a steep climb to Logan Lake, and some four lane for a short distance leading us back to the city of some 90,000.

Big bucket

A slight detour down a gravel trail was all the off roading I wanted to do with the Strom!

I don't know when I will get out here again, so Ron and I have been making the best of it in the short time frame I have to visit.

Wouldn't want to meet this guy late at night on a dark road!

Arriving back home after 9 hours on the road I commented to Ronnie that there were three very different Suzuki 650's in his carport! The Adventure touring DL, the hooligan scooter Burgman and the little chopperish Savage.

Just goes to show I was right all along, claiming that mid displacement bikes are almost ideal for a variety of riding situations, maybe the Brits had something with their 500's and 650's all those years ago!

Ron's next scooter?

On the Road again...

Majestic Mt Robson,  Highest point in the CDN Rockies

Well... I didn't freeze my posterior off that first day, but came pretty darn close!  It is after all still spring, until the 21st.  I shivered through Drayton Valley, warmed up a bit gassing up in Entwhistle, while having a chat with two guys on a Honda Shadow 750 and a BMW F 650 (with the 800 twin engine).  They were heading for Revelstoke and even though they invited me to join them, I was traveling in a different direction.  


With a 10L fuel capacity I was filling up every 120-150 km.  While the bike delivers about 65mpg, there can be long stretches on western highways with limited fuel supplies.  Miss one gas stop and I'd be thumbing!

Jasper came and went, I didn't bother going into the townsite.  Instead I continued west to the junction of Yellowhead south, route 5.

The Yellowhead Pass

After a long day's total of 530km on the big single, I pulled off the road at 5 pm local Pacific time and quickly settled into the Yellowhead Motel where Francis checked me into a clean and tidy single room.

Terry and Milt Good peoples!

Pretty isn't it!

Within minutes a pair of Harley's rode in.  Milt was on a decker and his long time sweetie Terry, on a trike. I sat and chatted with the couple from Red Deer, on their holidays to the Okanagan, where I too will eventually spend a few days off the road visiting with family.  I have to admit, I always find motorcyclists in every province, every country, who are interesting, intelligent and fun.  I mentioned to Milt and Terry that if we were running the country, it would be more efficient, more honest, less wasteful and more fun to boot:)

The next day I left Valemont in a drizzle that soon cleared up, and I enjoyed sunny skies for the entire day.  

The ride south was nothing like the last time I was through here, when it was raining so hard, it got me on the way down and having bounced off the pavement twice more!

Simple. clean and affordable.

After filling Thumper in Blue River, where the ex and I had problems with the BMW in '76.  The electrics were drowned by the torrential downpour and we had to overnight in a room that had plumbing problems, but being the only show in town, we took it.  This time round, the Suzuki and I breezed right through without a hitch.  By the time I cleared Clearwater... the temperature had climbed substantially and I was shedding clothing.  

Is this the picture of a Bad Boy!?

I had a bit of difficulty finding Ron's trailer park having been given some directions by a resident of a nearby park that sent me in the opposite direction.  I eventually clued in and landed late in the afternoon but a day early.  

I was pleased to be off the road in the 30 plus degree heat, and satisfied that the Suzuki had done so well.  Apart from leaking fork seals which I band aided before leaving the Motel, I'd had no problems.  Even though the bike was never designed by the gang at Hamamatsu for traveling long distance, being essentially a street cruiser, she had got me here without tormenting me too much and I had to admit, with that low slung seat, flat bar and peanut tank... I was feeling a bit of a "Bad Boy".

Roadside fix, to keep fork oil off my knees.

Ron and I made a tour round the local bike shops before stopping at a local Wendy's for my obligatory "road food" a burger and fries with an ice cold Coke to wash it all down.

It was great to be greeted by an old friend once again, he and I have known each other since Fort Mac days and as you that ride will attest, the bond shared by motorcyclists may even be stronger than that shared by many married couples!  The biker family is like none other on earth.

Thumper and I had arrived in Kamloops!

Westward Ho!

Trip report 1.

Boarding the little Ski-Doo jet , after getting my toes wet crossing the ramp at a rainy Charlottetown airport, I hopped across the country in spurts.

From PEI to Ottawa, onto Calgary, and finally at 14,000 ft on an ancient Dash7... Edmonton International.  We bounced around trying to shake a thunderhead complete with lightning bolts and boy was I glad to touch tarmac at Nisku.

Are these things powered by Rotax?

After a weekend visiting and preparing the 1985 Japanese import LS 650, I packed my saddlebags like some old cow poke hitting the Chisholm Trail.  Waking to 2C Monday weather I delayed until 10 am and left the city of Leduc shivering in 7 degree heat(?) on my nostalgia western swing.

I'd ridden these very same roads many times over the decades that I lived in the West and let me tell you, I was plenty excited heading down the Yellowhead to the distant Rockies.  Entwistle, Edson, the huge pulp mill in Hinton, the closed down service station where I met my Father after having driven my Mother to meet him in our Ford Fairlane.  

I was 15.  Didn't have a car operators license and had a plump cushion under my butt!

33,000 feet heading West

Leaving Hinton I got my first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains, with the biggest gosh darn grin on my face you can imagine.  This trip is all about nostalgia and believe you me... I was feeling downright choked up with emotion.

My earliest rides from Edmonton in my youth, were west of the city.  As far as I could ride in a single day and back before nightfall on my 1966 Honda Super 90.

As the displacement increased to 100 cc, then 250, 305, 350... I rode as far as Vancouver.  Talk about feeling Free!  I'd later name my cycle shop just that; Freedom Cycle.

Dash 7

I'm going to cover a lot of ground during the coming days, riding not a BMW R 60/5 with it's 4 speed shaft driven, twin cylinder air cooled engine, as I did across Canada exactly 40 years ago; but something very similar.  I am riding Kazue's imported Japanese spec LS 650 Savage that now belongs to my eldest niece.

The Savage is also air cooled, four speed but with slightly more displacement at 652.8cc driving through a belt drive and with similar horsepower, this was going to be a ummm... leisurely ride, which was fine by me.

As one gets older, one maybe slows down, just a little bit.

Glenmore Reservoir leaving Cow Town

After the obligatory visiting with old friends Merv and Richard, meeting the new baby Madison and carting her around as if I were her grand pa (!) Liz and I had some time together to yak about family matters, hopes and dreams and cats and dogs,  mostly cats.  I had the pleasure of Trouble's company to get my cat fix while missing my own brood back East.

By Sunday night I was packed, the 10 L fuel tank filled to the brim and the anticipation of heading onto the road, sharp in my senses.  To say I was 'raring to go' might be a small understatement in the fashion of saying Little Boy was a firecracker!

Trouble and I getting re-acquainted once again.

With 35,000 kilometres turning on the clock just prior to leaving, Liz bid me adieu as she left for work, doing her best motherly best to make certain I didn't forget anything, that I was warm enough and to be safe.

I have no idea how many miles have passed under this bony butt of mine that was certainly not going to be coddled by the Savage's sparsely padded perch, but I wouldn't be far off if I said maybe a million kilometres.

Fitting 

June 15th, 2015 at age sixty, riding a 30 year old bike... we were on the road again.

The Kid

No... not Billy!

After years of trying to entice the kid into motorized stuff, except for a brief Alberta foray which didn't end well, (threatened by fish and game officer with confiscation*) finally Anna has taken to riding, the Big Bear.  Only around the yard and short stints to the "pit" with supervision, she's caught on quickly.  There is no doubt that given a bit of instruction and some time, she could move to the 5 speed TTR and believe you me, she's eying that daily.

                                                    It's only a matter of time.

Pretty serious no nonsense gaze there girl.

With her adhd and other issues, some things are tough for her, like socializing, but she seems to adapt to electronics, games and motorized stuff rather quickly, often telling 'me' what and how, but that's Anna.

Well, a bit of a smile perhaps here.

*When I first got the little Baja Bugs, I trucked us all out to MacLean creek off highway vehicle riding area.  I chose a flat spot shared only by some distant bovines that really didn't seem to care about much of anything, and in an area about 200' square, with governor set for a walking pace,wearing knee pads, elbow pads, long sleeves and a full face helmet that fit her, I set her and Mom circulating.

The illegal Dirt Bugs

Things went excellent until about 30 minutes in a Ranger shows up.  He parks and walks over to me and asks if we're having a good time.  I answer in the affirmative explaining this is Anna's first time on something she didn't have to pedal to operate.  I'd picked them up Friday and it was now Saturday morning.

He then tells me that 'right now, we are in violation of several regulations and he could confiscate my truck, the trailer and the two tiny "lawnmower" engined mini bikes.'  Now I know the rules as well as he does and legally, in Alberta to ride on crown land or even in an actual OHV zone, one must possess a working headlight and taillight, a spark arrestor, public liability insurance and an OHV plate affixed to the machine and true, I am in violation.

I do however point out to him that we are operating at less than 8kmh, in an area of 200' with no vehicles, houses or people within at least a quarter mile, and if she were to somehow manage to get by me and travel the 100 yards to the nearest half ton cow, and manage to hit it somehow... I'd think the dirt bug would come off worse for wear, but in fact would bounce right off!  I also mentioned that she is as fully protected as possible and the only access road to this area off the MC Trail is easily visible, from whence he came.

His response would have given a late night sidekick credit!  Deadpan, he repeats the regulations to me as Brenda and now Anna are pulled up within feet.  He says, 'it's not his intention to spoil our family fun, but "them's the rules!"

He did add however that if I got the insurance (approximately $100 or so annually) and a plate (approximately $45 annually) and if I installed battery operated bicycle headlight and taillight, even if they "didn't work", we would be legal. Oddly enough just over the border in British Columbia, there are NO regulations off road on crown land!

97 cc four cycle auto clutch governed to 8kph.

I pointed out that surely, he the keeper of the wild must have some discretion at his disposal and his reply, wait for it... "I have to make my rounds to the park boundary and when he returned in 30 minutes, we had better be gone..."

I think that's the date that tripped over in my head and I decided to move once again, to PEI, buy my own property and not have to deal with that kind of blinders, narrow minded thinking.

This almost cost me a couple of grand in fines!