I decided to take the trip log that was posted on the SabMag list in 2009 and bring it to it's own page here for safe keeping.
Pictures of the trip can be seen here:
Here
Trip Log/Report:
8/24/09
Well, somehow between Jason's prodding, the Vstrom and my stupidity
I'm going with Jason to Labrador and Newfoundland. Got my ferry
reservation and everything. Being that I have 3 days to prepare a
brand new bike and pack for a trip I'm kind of out of sorts. I also
spent my wad on getting the bike so I find myself with no real luggage
for a trip of this magnitude.
I've ordered a bunch of stuff for the Wee. Most importantly a seat.
Which isn't going to arrive until late next week. Thanks a bunch. So
somehow I'm going to have to come to terms with the god damned stock
seat.
Worst case I'll have to take a ride down to RI to Twisted Throttle to
buy some luggage for the bike. I really don't want to spend the
dough, but I might not have any choice. currently I'm thinking of
doing a Plastic Storage bin strapped to the back rack. I'm short on
time and money so I'm basically screwed.
TK80 50/50 tires are due in tomorrow. I had to pay list price for them
*yuck* but list price was still less then discount tire places and
overnight shipping. I question if I can do the trip with the stock
tires.
So, against my better judgment I'm going to have to keep up with
Jason. Those who know him, know what I mean. Luckily for him we
won't have any communication between bikes so he won't have to listen
to me most of the time :)
Packing.
8/24/09
Got one of my orders in from Twisted Throttle. Crash bars, powerlet
plug, mastad windshield adjusting thingy. Wait a minute, where is the
GPS mount. 1 ordered... 0 shipped. Ohh come on, that's probably the
most important piece.
Thanks for telling me it wasn't getting shipped. So I have no way to
mount the 2610. I'm going to search all over to find one that can get
here in time, if not, I'll duct tape it to a piece of 1 x 3. :) No
really I will.
So everything is installed, I found a pair of cordura saddle bags. I
think I bought them from harvey hexnut when I bought the baby sabre.
So they have a big Sabmag patch on the side of them. I'm a few straps
short, but I think it will work. I'm beat so I'm done for the day.
Tires are supposed to be in tomorrow. in looking at the TT website
even if I wanted the Givi's I don't they they carry them instock.
What the hell have I gotten myself into.
If anyone got a 2610 mount that they have extra let me know.. I'm
hunting for one..
8/26/09
Went to RTN's last night to put on the tires. As the parts guy said.
"What the hell are these things for" For knobbies they are big tires.
:) All went well except for the balancing part. We got the rear
close, the front was good until I threw a weight.
Got home and thought I would throw on the Handguards on real quick. I
wanted the OEM, or the Acerbis but the other local dealer only had the
Moose Racing ones. I put these on the XR and liked them so what the
hell. Yeah, 2 hours later and a bunch of home grown ingenuity they
were on. My neighbor saw the garage open and lights on and came by
with a beer to commiserate. Crashed out not to long after with my
back feeling crappy and all.
The EEE pc showed up yesterday. I'll have to play with it a bit and
decide if I want to take it on the trip or not.
Unbeknown to me my Besteem top box is out on the UPS truck today for
deliver. So I may actually have a locking top box to take on the trip.
I thought it was coming tomorrow with the PAR-36 bulbs (which won't
take the trip) and a bunch of other stuff that isn't going to get here
in time.
My list is long and time is short.
8/27/09
It's now called how many different places Jason's bike can throw parts at me :)
He lost a reflector in N.H. and some thing I don't know what it was in vermont.
we are just south of quebec city for the night.
steve in quebec
8/28/09
so last time you heard we were at a truck stop south of Quebec. We
wanted to make it to Labrador city tonight but we stopped about 150
miles from there. It got dark and Jason lost his headlight.
Today started out with Jason leaving a gallon of fuel in the hotel
parking lot. then we started out pretty early and just kept on riding.
Very little stopping for much. We took a ferry ride on Rt 138 that
neither of us were expecting.
We then took the left onto 389 and civilization went away. We
eventually made it to the HUGE dam. After that it was all
dirt/gravel. Of course as soon as we hit the road Jason decided to
throw his wooden kick stand at me.
We saw a moose, a porcupine and a rabbit. The rabbit almost got stung
by the Bee Strom. Only had one woops moment so far when on the dirt.
Saw the fairing moving back and forth. It settled down riight in time
for the rabbit to dart.
Jason has his extra fuel bladder filled. I'm expecting him to throw
that at me soon.
I'd tell you where we stopped but I have no idea where it is. it
doesn't have a name. we are 70 something miles north of Manic-5.
Steve in no mans land.
8/29/09
We woke up early, not knowing what time it was in the way station.We
packed up and started out. Not 2 miles from the way station we come
across a Saturn in the road, running with music blaring. It has
obviously rolled over a bunch of times. We dismounted and started
looking for the driver. He wasn't back at the outpost. So we start
looking for him on the sides of the road. I head back to the camp to
find out if someone has called for help. The truckers said, everyone
knew about the car and rumor has it the driver got a ride to Fermont.
So we left. Most people say this road is rough and the max speed is
40 m.p.h. Turns out that it smoothes out at 70 :) Jason and I made
great time to Labrador City. We gassed up, Jason put fuel in his
rubber bladder to be sure. We then headed to Mcdonalds for lunch and
then went for the TLH.
Jason didn't throw anything at me in Labrador, because I stopped him
before his liter bottle of water came off his bike. The TLH is
another road that people claim is miserable. Pete sent me a link to
someone who did it last week and it took her a long time. Wouldn't
you know that we wind up doing 65-70 again. We make the midway point
with plenty of time to get to GoosebaY so we take a break and get gas.
(Jason had to use his bladder).
I started having problems seeing the lines through the gravel so I
would get thrown from gravel mound to gravel mound. So for a while I
slowed down to 60. During this I come around a bend to see a grey
dog in the middle of the road. Wait, thatisn't a dog.. Must be a
coyote. No, it's grey and blaack and too big... but still must be a
coyote. You guess it I came across a Grey wolf.
It didn't dawn on me for a few hours that it was a wolf. Just a big
grey coyote at in my mind. Well the wolf was in my line and started
moving to my right. So I jump a gravel mound and go left. Wouldn't
you know that f'er turned and ran left. At this point I'm thinking
damn, If your going to crash you better kill him or he's going to eat
you. So I pointed the bike at his hind quarters. I was going on the
theory of point at the thing and it won't be there when you get there.
Sure enough, he moved. whew.
Finally, Jason pulled over and told me to go first. I had only been
eating dust for 2 days. I changed my shield to clear and suddenly I
could see the lines through the gravel again. So off I go 70+ with
Jason in tow. I mean come on the sign said "Maximum 70" it didn't
say which measurement that 70 was.
We hit pavement about 20 miles out of Goosebay and I did what Jason
called a Springer pass. I cut it real close and to be honest I didn't
see the damn pickup coming the other way. I'm alive and made it. We
get to the end of 500 in Goosebay to see 2 cop cars with a road block
at the intersection. Ohh shit I thought, someone actually called the
police on us for flying through the TLH.
The cop in the road points to us, "You 2, pull over there". He walked
up and asked us if we had been drinking. Ummmm No sir.
At this point we realize it is not all about us, we just happen to
drive into a sobriety checkpoint.
We find ourselves in Goosebay at the Labrador Inn. (so far, no
camping :)... sorry pete). Jason says he is going to ride the new
road that isn't finished a bit, I'm just going to fart around town
until the ferry.
On a lighter note, people up this north are pretty short. Jason with
his boots is like 6'5" so I've started referring to him as the Jolly
Greeen Giant.
8/30/09
Not much to report today. Rode around the metropolis of Happy
Valley-Goose bay. It's sunday so NOTHING was open.
we are currently in the North Atlantic on the ferry. wifi is slow
but working. I didn't bring my eeePC but Jason did. We land in
Cartwright at 5:00 for the last stretch of dirt road then another
ferry to Newfoundland.
I'm very upset with Labrador... I never saw the wild Labrador retrievers :)
steve on the Sir Robert Bond.
9/1/09
Ok, that sounded bad.... nothing bad happened.
Last you heard we were at the lounge on the ferry and everything was
good. It went downhill from there.
We get the upgrade to a cabin and I head to bed. I sleep for maybe 20
minutes. Jason comes into the room. Ok no big deal. Back to sleep
for about 10 minutes and the ship starts sounding its fog horn. That
goes on for a long time and mean while the body heat that is in the
cabin it becomes a furnace. I wake up to go find some cool place to
lay down and Jason mentions there is a thing that props the door open.
Ok, I'll try that.
Just as soon as I fall asleep again, the seas got a bit rough and the
boat started pitchin.
We get off the boat and of course it's pouring. It's 5:30 local time
and NOTHING is open in Cartwright. We both kind of need gas so WTF we
keep going. It's raining and the mud is pretty slick with the gravel.
Having heard the night before about the guy that died in Newfoundland
and the lack of sleep I just didn't have it in me that day. I told
Jason to go ahead and leave me and I'll figure it out solo and to his
defense he wouldn't.
So I"m travelling about 55 mph on wet, slick gravel roads. Jason is
doing probably 65. Well it happened. Jason is ran out of gas. We
had about 20 miles to go to the next gas stop. No sooner do I unclick
my tank bag so we can start syphoning does a guy pulling a boat show
up. Hears Jason is out of gas and produces a gas tank. Cool.
We stop for gas and coffee as its miserable cold and raining out. I
still don't feel right and tell Jason to go ahead and catch the early
ferry. He won't. The rain breaks about Red Bay Labrador. We
continue on to the Ferry. No sooner do we pull the corner into Salon
Blanc do we see the Ferry leaving the dock. My bad, my fault.
Although it was fun trying to find a way to blame Jason.
So we head into town for chain lube/cleaner and food. Jason ate fried
Cod tongues. We eat, and do some maintainence on the bikes. Then head
to the 6:00 p.m. Newfoundland time ferry.
We land in Newfoundland at 8:30 and it's getting dark. The one thing
they say is don't drive at night here. So when Jason leaves St Barbs
I'm a bit skiddish. He stops for Gas and I spy a motel/restaurant
right behind it. Hey Jason, what about that. He reluctantly says
sure.
We wind up with a 2 room cabin and the food was ok.
This morning happened and it's raining again. Jason wants to go visit
a guy from the RTR board and I want the easternmost point. Looking at
the distances it looks possible and catcht he midnight ferry from near
St. Johns. Well, turns out Sept 1. Ferry schedule changes and only
leaves St. Johns on Tues/Thursdays at 4:00 p.m. No way for me to make
that without pushing too far. I also needed to find a pharmacy and
take care of something. While about to turn to the pharmacy I finally
talked Jason into leaving me. It made no sense for him to waste the
day dealing with my issue. He reluctantly agreed and we split up.
Turns out the pharmacy is no help and I wind up having to go to a Dr.
here. I don't know what they are talking about but it cost me a crap
load of money to see a dr. just to get a prescription.
So I spent the day lolly gagging the 350 miles down the west coast of
Newfoundland. I have alot more pictures from today then the rest of
the trip.
I'm booked on the midnight ferry from Port aux Basques to N. Sydney.
I'll be on the mainland in the morning. Hopefully I can get a cabin
ont he boat so I can sleep. I should be good to go to be rolling into
NOE on thursday. I'm debating the overland route or spending the whole
day in Nova Scotia and trying to get on the Cat to Bar Harbor. I've
always wanted to ride it and hell, I'm a pro at Ferries now.
BTW: Tom, I'm sorry, my bike has no more new bike smell. It's trashed. :)
Steve at the Info Center in Port Aux Basque Newfoundland
9/2/09
So last our intrepid Massholes were on Newfoundland. Too stupid to
realize the ferry schedule changes come Sept 1. I made my reservation
but forgot to put myself on the cabin waiting list. Did that later in
the day. I made Port aux Basque and posted. Went to the ferry and
was tracking Jason with RTN. I was going to run up to the lighthouse
at Rose Blanche to see the light house and pay my respects to the
rider that passed there on Sun. but it was too late and I was scared
of the moose.
He was close. I talked to him and he was taking the 11:00 a.m. ferry
and should be landing any time now.
As for me, damn those f'ing night time ferries. It again was a million
degrees and as luck has it the first 13 people on the wait list got
rooms. I was number 16. So I'm sweating my ass off and take a shower
on the boat. (not for the weak stomached). Get no sleep and land in
N. Sydney. I talked to Jason and he told me he had to slow down last
night because he saw too many Moose.
So even though I've been to Nova Scotia before it was never on a bike
and I never did the cabot trail on Cape Bretton Island. RTN tells me
the road sucks. That couldn't be farther from the truth. Most of it
was new pavement and it was an awesome day of riding. I saw this
lighthouse on the end of a pennisula and decided to try and make it
there. Sure enough there was a dirt road that led to it. Funny part
was it was a farm and there were cows in the road. On the way out I
had to split between a mother and her calves. I figured she would
charge but she didn't. Towards the end of the cabot trail I stopped
and got lunch.
I realized that I was beat but wanted to make it to atleast Moncton
tonight. Well, I was seeing double and nodding off so I wound up only
being able to push myself to New Glasgow N.S. Holed up in the comfort
inn. I was going to pitch a tent at a camp ground just to spite Jason.
But, I need some good sleep.
Will be at NOE tomorrow afternoon... Going to have to hit the Suzuki
dealer up. I think I need a new air filter and oil change.
Left Jason a message to tell him where I was and to call if he wants to crash.
I didn't bring it with me, but I'll give someone(mail it) a Sabmag
Zippo if they detail my bike ;)
Steve .. unpacking everything to go through my crap.
9/6/09
I woke up after a nice sleep and jumped on the bike. Nothing to note
of the roads as it was slab. Around Amherst N.S. the wind picked up.
I'd have to guess 40-50 mph crosswinds that were blowing me into the
break down lane. Eventually I road through it and decided to take the
southern route and enter the US in Calais. Boy was that a mistake. the
border crossing took over an hour and once in Calais I stopped for a
sandwich and on to NOE.
I arrived in the afternoon.
NOE as always is my favorite get together.Good people, Good food and
tons of jokes. Tall Paul helped me rig up my PAR lights on the Strom.
Thanks Zims for agreat weekend.
My bike is still dirty after washing it. Trip damage is as follows.
Nick in the headlight from a rock, nick in the tank from I have no
idea. On both side covers the saddle bags I used wore through the
paint into the plastic. All in all not bad for the roads we were on.
I'll put pictures somewhere soon.
steve ... finaly at home
-------Jason-------------
well its good to have my own ghost writer of sorts. Day
one starts off with some finish preps, pack Nixie, unpack,
remove duplicate stuff and tools, trim down weight where I
can. Steve shows up around Noon to 1 for a 3pm departure.
Stands up and we're gone a little before 3 but still have
to fuel up. A quick fuel and cash stop and we're on the
quick road to Quebec. My time estimates are a little off,
I don't really like running 75 on the pavement. Thumpers
belong more on dirt.
Two things I didn't count on were more frequent fuel stops
and a lower overall average speed compared to either an
ST or the Sabre. Steve never really slowed me up, his
weestrom is a lot faster than Nixie. My thanks to Tall Paul
heated grips are very nifty but somewhere, I loose power to
the key on accessories. My cargo is shifting around a little
here and there, some small adjustments needed here and there.
Someplace up the road a piece, Steve mentions something
wonky with my rear sprocket, I pull over to find something
weird. Nixie had a sort of chain protector on the rear
gearset and that's fractured off its mounts and is rattling
around on the rear spindle. A quick snip with the Gerber tool
and I leave the wayward piece of metal as an offering to the
god of speed.
Steve is so against camping its almost
odd that he owns a tent, okay, we'll push further toward
Quebec city but its pretty clear that my schedule here was
about one hour too ambitious. Somewhere 30 or so miles south
of QC we snag an econo motel and crash for the eve. Steve
denies that a day can start before 6am so have to tred lightly
I can understand the lure of creature comforts, I'm not out on
the road to suffer but there is something about primative
camping, thinking about ancestors who traveled and slept in
even more spartian conditions. Observing the same dark starlit
night sky with wonder and ambition.
We did snag a burger and fries in the restauraunt before catching
some shut eye, and a damned fine burger it was too. I make a
plan to chase my electrical gremlins early in the morning before
coffee and all
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