Day 2 - July 22nd Journey to Îles de la Madeleine

Wednesday, July 22nd - Day 2 of our journey to Îles de la Madeleine turned out to be much more of an adventure than we anticipated! We woke early, enjoyed coffee and loaded our bikes in preparation of our 50km trip to Souris, PEI to catch the ferry. We checked the weather forecast and it was rain, rain and more rain!

In yesterday's post, I mentioned that we had to travel 2.5km down a red dirt road (clay) to reach the cottage we were staying in...well, it rained extremely hard during the evening and that red dirt road turned into a cesspool of water and mud! It turned out to be one of the worst driving experiences that I have ever had...trying to get three loaded cruisers through 2.5km of wet clay, mud and water was horrendous! Click on the picture for a full view!



The rain had made the road very soft, muddy and slippery...talk about testing our driving skills, plus it was pouring rain as we were navigating this road! We were quite relieved that we made it through this mess without anyone putting their bike down...it was that bad!

We stopped at a local restaurant for breakfast and were advised by the locals to avoid the highway to Souris as there was major road construction going on. They advised us of an alternate route which we ended up taking. The ride to the ferry terminal was slow as it rained the entire time. We stopped for fuel in Souris and proceeded to the ferry terminal. Fortunately, we did not have a long wait prior to loading on the ferry.



I was amazed at how quickly we were loaded on the ferry! One of the major advantages of of having a motorcycle is that you are the first ones loaded on the ferry and the first ones off.



Once on the boat, we changed into some dry clothes, got some food and relaxed in the ship's lounge.



I ventured out into the rain to get pictures from the ships bow and stern.





Five hours after the ferry left Souris, PEI, we arrived at the ferry terminal in the Village of Cap aux Meules. I did not have any time to get pictures as it was dark, raining and there was no time as the ferry unloaded very quickly! Fortunately, we had a short ride to the cottage we had rented. We unloaded at the cottage, went for food and settled in for the evening.

Here is a teaser for my next post...



Stay tuned for some stunning scenery!

Day 1 - July 21st Journey to Îles de la Madeleine

Tuesday, July 21st - The journey to Îles de la Madeleine started early Tuesday morning...the bike was packed and it was time to meet my traveling partners, Luc, Martin & Susan. With our bikes loaded, we set out for our first destination, Mount Stewart, Prince Edward Island...about a 400km journey.


View Larger Map

The weather was perfect and we stopped several times for fuel and food along the way. There was not much to see as we stuck to the major highways. We stopped to take view of the Confederation Bridge, an engineering marvel that connects New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island. The bridge is 12.9km long and is the longest bridge that covers ice (in the winter) in the world.



Next stop, was Mount Stewart, PEI. A friend had offered his cottage on the Atlantic Ocean and we graciously accepted his offer.





We had to drive about 2.5km through a farmer's potato field on a clay dirt road to reach the cottage. Potato farming is one of the largest industries on Prince Edward Island.





Once at the cottage, we unloaded our gear and checked out the area...nice beach with a great view! Supper was next and we relaxed through the evening in prep for Wednesday's five hour ferry ride. The cottage is about 50km from the ferry from Souris to Îles de la Madeleine, so Wednesday's journey would be an easy run. At least we thought it would be...that will be covered in the next blog post, so stay tuned!

A Small Taste of the Îles de la Madeleine

I'm home from my motorcycle trip to the Îles de la Madeleine! What an experience and so scenic! Here is a small taste of what you can expect as I update my blog over the next several days...make sure you click on the picture for a full view.



More to follow...

Cool Pic...

Yesterday I came across a really cool blog called The Daily Rider. I was instantly impressed with the photography skills of the owner of this blog and the look of his photos...I immediately added it to the list of blogs I read.

I am not that creative when it comes to photography, but wanted to try something different and was inspired by what I saw at The Daily Rider site...so here it is (with a little help from GIMP)! I call in Ninja & the Beast!



Now, I have to go finish some last minute things in preparation for tomorrow's motorcycle trip to the Magdalen Islands!

Til next time, ride safe!

My Top 5...

A couple of days ago I was browsing on Twitter and I came across a tweet from @TheMotorworld stating that he had a new podcast posted at his Motoworld web site called "Dream Rides and Dream Trips". I had some idle time and decided that I would check out the podcast. Part way through the podcast, Paul (aka @TheMotorWorld) interviews Steve McQueen, not Steve McQueen the actor, but Steve McQueen the motorcycle safety course instructor and author of the Motorcycle Nation Podcast website. The topic of their discussion focused on dream motorcycles. Paul posed the question to Steve, "if you could choose any five motorcycles from any era with money not being an obstacle, what would you choose?" Well the conversation that followed was very interesting and you could tell that Paul and Steve were having fun discussing this topic. I won't go into detail as you can go listen to the podcast.

Ever since I listened to the podcast, I have been thinking about the question that Paul asked Steve about selecting five dream rides and thought to myself, if I could choose 5 dream rides, what would they be. This was a much more difficult task to do than I thought it would be, but here is what I came up with...I should mention that I am a fan of stock bikes!

1969 Honda CB 750 - this bike revolutionized the super bike era and was virtually bulletproof!



2009 Harley Davidson Street Glide - simply put, I love the look of this bike!



1999 Kawasaki ZRX-1100 Eddie Lawson Replica - this bike is mean and fast!



1961 BSA A10 - I have to select a British motorcycle! I can remember seeing one of these as a kid and was in awe by the shine of the chrome gas tank! Bike was fast for it's time with a 650cc engine and a top speed of 100 mph.



2009 Honda Gold Wing - the ultimate luxury touring machine!



It was difficult to narrow the selection to five as there are so many nice machines out there! I leave with one question, what would you choose for your top five?

First Ride on the Ninja 500

Late this afternoon, I put the final touches on the 2002 Ninja 500 that would make it roadworthy. This included adding a high performance K&N air filter, installing the gas tank and adding new fuel, topping up the oil and a final inspection of cables, lights, etc.

This past weekend, the bike looked like this...



And after installing the tank today, it looked like this...





The Ninja fired up and sounded good. I let it run for a bit and then rechecked the oil...all was good. Next, the inaugural road test! I took the bike for a short run around town, monitoring all the systems and getting used to the feel of the bike...remember, I drive a cruiser! I did have to make a quick stop to adjust the clutch cable linkage.

I proceeded on about an 80km cruise, a combination of city driving and highway driving. The Ninja worked extremely well and I was very surprised at the power that it had, considering it is a 500cc twin. Cruising at 100km was not a problem and it was quite comfortable. I did notice that the bike likes high rpm's prior to shifting much better than low rpm's.

Overall, I am pleased with the way the "new to me" Ninja 500 turned out! Until next time, ride safe!

Working on the Ninja 500...

I am currently on a weeks vacation and the weather has been rotten, rain, rain and more rain. As a result I have been working on the 2002 Kawasaki Ninja 500 that I recently purchased. I got a real good deal on the bike and mechanically and cosmetically it is in pretty good shape. The bike sat for three years and the only thing that the previous owner did was start the bike every once in awhile. There is some corrosion and rust on the bike, noticeably around the front exhaust and some of the engine bolts...heck, if I sat for three years I would be corroded and rusted in spots.

Earlier in the week, I removed the rear wheel, had a new tire mounted and reassembled the rear wheel assembly...you can see the new rear tire in the pic below. Since the bike sat so long, I decided to remove all of the body panels so I could clean the bike and also get at the coolant, oil and top end engine. First was removal of the rear panels, the gas tank and the lower cowling.



Next, was removal of the upper fairing. I could not believe how easy this was; disconnect the mirrors, two more bolts, unhook the headlight/signal light electrical and off it came...too easy. Removing the fairing on the Ninja 250 Project was a much more daunting task! You can clearly see the rust on the front exhaust on this picture of the naked Ninja! If I decide to keep this bike, I will remove the front pipes over the winter, remove rust and re-paint the pipes.



With the body panels and fairing removed, I changed the oil/filter (dealer talked me into using synthetic oil), flushed the coolant, replaced spark plugs and attempted to clean the air filter. Notice I said attempted! I suspect it was the original air filter...as soon as I started to clean, pieces of the air filter just fell apart. I called the local Kawasaki dealer and they have to order the part in for me, a minor delay. I will replace to fork oil too, but am waiting for a friend to help as I have no experience replacing fork oil. Everything else on the bike looks good!

Late this afternoon, I reinstalled the side body panels, lower cowling and upper fairing. Now I wait for my friend and for the air filter to arrive. Overall, a productive day in the garage!



I don't go back to work until Tuesday, so hopefully I will get some riding in on the V-Star 1100 Classic and get the Ninja 500 on the road.

Ride safe!