During the Christmas holidays of 2008 my brother-in-law Dave was visiting from Nova Scotia and while I was showing him our Honda PC800 Pacific Coast he dared my wife and I to ride it to Nova Scotia the next summer.
Dave is a retired metric bike dealer who exposed my wife and I to motorcycles when we were young and now once again he was stirring up our emotions regarding riding motorcycles.
In the spring 0f 2009 my wife and I were talking and joking about her brothers dare and finally one of us said yeah let’s do it. Now the longest trip we made was maybe 200 miles so a great deal of planning and some new equipment would be required for this trip to be successful.
How would we pack , what would we pack and where would we sleep. Motel, camping, friends placing so many options but most my wife TJ didn’t want to consider. We had tried camping using a tent when we trailered the bike down east and that was a gong show. We nearly froze to death and got very little sleep so camping was out. Staying with friends is tricky as I snore way to loud and we hate to impose unless they force us to. So motels were the best options.
Now the PC 800 has a trunk under the seat that can hold a flat of soda pop on both sides, so it holds quite a bit but it won’t hold enough clothes for a week to ten days of travel, plus rain gear etc.
I search the internet on possible racks for the back and found very little suitable for this model of motorcycle but I did see where one fellow attached a roll bag to the back behind the backrest and another added a tank bag. All heavy items like notebook, toolkit, etc would go into the trunk and all soft items on top.
I found a real nice tank bag that would hold a lot and had a raincover. It’s expandable, has side pouches and detaches very easy with three clips.
Now we are going to the east coast where there is a fair amount of rain and it’s going to take us at least a week to ten days so I’m sure we will encounter thunderstorms and rain so a waterproof bag is a must.
I was able to find a waterproof duffle bag that white water rafters use that was reasonably priced, it hold lots and could be attached to the motorcycle without doing damage.
Next project was how to attach it properly and how to lock it. We ended up finding really good straps at an outdoor store that hikers use for their backpacks. They came in various lengths and would not slacken off when bumped or pulled. We bought four long ones to attach the big duffle and two long ones for attaching the stuff sacks that contained our Frogg Toggs rain gear to the top of the duffle.
The Frogg Toggs rain gear we bought are the best we found. You never get to hot and you never get wet. They are light and easy to pack and block the wind perfectly. Last summer we experienced really heavy rain and learned our lesson about rain gear. Our Tourmaster three piece jackets are great but when we got caught in the heavy rain on Prince Edward Island we got soaked.
Our gloves also were soaked. Okay everything was soaked. We invested in a pair of all rubber work gloves for heavy rain. As well we bought anti fog sprays, waxes for the visors and windscreen.
We also needed waterproof boots and after scouring over numerous reviews we decided on Cruiserworks motorcycle boots but we didn’t want to buy them over the internet and risk wrong size problems. Dennis Kirk warehouse in Rush City Minnesota sells them and we could try them on to make sure we had a proper fit and size so we decided we would stop there on the way down.
1. Cruiserworks boots.
2. Cable Lock
3. Booster Cables.
4. 12 volt power from the Battery Tender outlet For charging.
Here’s TJ’s rendition of the events of our trip to Nova Scotia in 2009 with Ev adding his memories now and then.
Road Trip 2009 Calgary To Nova Scotia on a PC800
Day 1
July 10/09
We left Calgary on Friday morning heading south through southern Alberta. Our journey would take us through Glacier Park in Montana and to travel the famed Road to the sun. Our route takes us down highway 2 south of Calgary to hwy 3 to Pincher Creek and along Waterton Park and up the mountain via highway 6 and cross the border at Chief Mountain and travel down highways 17 & 89 to the village of St Mary and the Glacier Park entrance.
We head down highway 2 and then Hwy 3 to the Montana border crossing at Chief Mountain near Waterton National Park.
We had spent the night before testing our new Scala intercom system insuring we had them programmed correctly and that they worked. Well as it turned out they worked for about a mile when they died at the first traffic light we came to. Oh well TJ will have to sing on her own. We realized that my husband left them on. Oh well a nice quiet ride is still very peaceful.
The US custom officers were so bored at Chief Mountain, they struck up a conversation with us asking us where we were going and we said Sault St Marie. All of a sudden a homesick customs girl from Michigan a long way from her home state came bolting up to us asking who we knew there. We laughed and told them that we were cutting across the border to go visit a friend near North Bay Ontario. Here is a map for today:
CHIEF MOUNTAIN
Not sure who these guy’s are.
St Mary’s Lake
Riding by one day I noticed this Cafe’s sign of Homemade Pie, Sold
The Park entrance at St Mary’s
We toured through Glacier Park on our way to Kalispell, MT.
No matter how many times we have driven the Road to the Sun in Glacier Park, We are amazed at the beauty God has made!
The weather started warming up and we were able to peel off some layers. As we drove down the south side of the Flathead Lake, it was really getting warm.
We stopped for gas at Poulson Montana and a young guy there told my husband that there was a good burger place in Rolan, Montana so we believed him and stopped there for lunch. Actually the burger wasn’t bad but the look of the outside of the building left something to be desired.
From there we went to Missoula where we stayed overnight at the Traveler’s Inn where we got a king size room for under $75.00. The owner was a super friendly man who went the extra mile for his guests who even dropped off a bucket with soap, rags and a towel to wash the Motorcycle.
We did 475 miles today
Day 2
July 11/09
First stop was for a coffee at the Starbucks beside I 90 and I 93. As we don’t really enjoy any of Starbucks food and know how bad it is for you, we did not have anything to eat. Breakfast was in the parking lot of Wall-Mart as we went in and bought a banana for each of us. We also purchased a US cell phone by Tracphone in case we ever needed to make a phone call or send a text while traveling across the country.
As you know using your Canadian cell phone while abroad can cost you a fortune if you are not careful. We used the Tracphone for three years until they stared taking away all the features that we used.
As the day wore on, the motorcycle started this hiccuping and sputtering as we drove down the interstate. It seemed that on long uphill grades made it worse. We discussed maybe the dirt was causing a restriction when a higher fuel demand was needed.
Senor Honda would not accelerate beyond 60 mph. Every time it would buck and lose power I would laugh and Everette would shout at the bike telling it to stop. At first, we thought it was dirt or water in the gas because that is what it acted like. We kept on driving and the temperature just kept rising as we headed south.
We stopped for dinner in Billings, Montana at the Outback and the sign said 95 degrees. It was so good to sit in some air conditioning for a while! After another splash of gasline antifreeze into senor Honda’s gas tank we are back on the bike and heading towards Wyoming.
The bike keeps loosing power on the hills and we can’t even do the speed limit. When we reached Sheridan it was getting late in the afternoon and the next town would be far enough that we would not get there before dark so we decided to stop for the night at a Budget Inn.
I’m not sure what’s in the trailer
Our poor butts were starting to feel the trauma of the second day on the motorcycle but it was still bearable. As we were parking the bike, this SUV drives up with two older people in it and the lady hops out and starts talking to us. She was hilarious, she stated that they used to ride a motorcycle quite a bit but at the end of the last trip they had taken when they got home she couldn’t get off. She said she needed the aid of other people on their farm to help her off, so she decided that was enough of that!
As we were waiting in line to book our rooms, she kept telling me stories of motorcycle riding. She was telling me about a group of them going on a ride and after the second day, their butts were so sore, they were parked by the side of the road lying in the grass with their butts in the air!!
We started to notice that people were not afraid to walk up to us and start asking questions about the motorcycle and riding and quite often they would tell us stories of their own motorcycle adventures.
473 miles today, Senor Honda acting up.
Day 3
July12/09
Sheridan, WY is definitely cowboy country. They had a rodeo going on in town and that was the big event.
We decided we needed to go get some gasline anti freeze to see if it would help the bucking and farting. We had to circumnavigate the rodeo events to get to the Walmart and to someplace to eat.
We did not hang around for any part of the rodeo as we were on a mission heading eastbound! We hoped on I 90 and headed south and then east. It just kept getting hotter and hotter!
Senior Honda continued his bucking despite our recent attempt of drying up any water with gas line anti freeze.
We were up on a ridge and could see the mountains off to the south with the plains in between. I could just visualize the early settlers traveling across these plains in chuck wagons with the dust billowing up from the horses and the wagons. As I was quite hot on the motorcycle, I was saying to my husband how hearty these people were. Some women would be pregnant bouncing along on those wagons and there certainly was not any kind of comfort. I decided they were a far heartier people than we were!
We crossed in to South Dakota and when we spotted the tourist information, we stopped so we could get maps and whatever else my husband fancied for information. He went into the building and here I am lying on the grass by the parking lot with my butt sticking up in the air as it was sooo sore!!
I was reminded of my lady friend from the night before and her story. Well, I was experiencing it! I am lying there and these people drive up in their truck from California. They rode a motorcycle so they knew exactly what I was doing. We had a laugh about it as apparently it happens quite often!
We went through Deadwood and stopped to take some pictures and look around. Definitely the old west and quite unique.
We drove through Sturgis just to see it. As this was July, it was like a ghost town! You could see where things would be set up for the bikers that all gather there in August and we could not imagine what it would look like with so many bikers around.
We were heading to Keystone/Mt. Rushmore as that was our destination for the night. By the time we got to Rapid City the sky kept getting blacker and blacker so we hid under an overhang at a service station waiting for the rain to blow through.
Keep in mind, we did not have proper rain gear on at the time and had no desire to experience hail. We hid under the overhang for about twenty minutes before it started to clear. The rain did not amount too much so we kept on to Keystone to try find a place to stay for the night.
We saw a highway sign for a room at Mt. Rushmore’s Presidents View Resort for $49.95. Well as it turned out that was for a single room, single person closet that wasn’t available.
Now, as this is a tourist attraction, you pay dearly in peak season for a hotel room. The room we found was overpriced and certainly not anywhere near what it should be for the price they were charging. By this time, our butts were quite sore, so my husband decided he would like to sit in the bathtub and soak his for a while. When he turned on the tap for some hot water, the knob came off in his hand! The plug did not work so a washcloth stuffed in the drain had to do. Lights in the room and the TV remote did not work and on and on. I made up of list of all the items and my husband was going to the front desk in the morning.
We did only 258 miles today due to Senor Honda
When my husband went to the front desk in the morning the older couple there stated that it was their first day but the manager would be there soon and they would give him the list of complaints. The manager came to the door and my husband discussed the list of problems and he asked if he could go in and check them. Everette told him that I probably wouldn’t appreciate that since I was in the shower and they laughed.
While waiting my husband noticed that the man had a hand that was withered and when he asked the manager about it he said that it just seemed to happen and it got worse over time to the point that it was almost useless and that he was in pain most of the time. Well after ministering to him for a while about Gods will for him to be healed he asked if he could pray for the young man and he said “oh yes please” After praying he stated the pain had left and it looked like he could move it a little. He was told to continue to speak healing to his body and to find a good bible based church to go to like he did when he was young.
He decided that he didn’t need to see anything and that he would adjust the bill by 25%. I wonder why God wanted us to stay there.
MT RUSHMORE is a must see for anyone and it is something you never get tired of seeing. We had been there before with our kids many years before, yet we were still in awe at the handiwork and the Black Hills. We went up the walkway and saw the presidents all lit up at night which we had not seen the first time around. It is amazing!
When we were there before, our kids and I took in the movie that showed how it was made from start to finish and all the obstacles they overcame to make the faces in the rocks. It is one of my favorite places to visit in America but I have a few.
Day 4
July 13/09
As we had just come to view Mt. Rushmore, we moved on the next morning out off Keystone. We started east again on a route that took us through the Black Hills which was beautiful. Unfortunately, once you are out of the Black Hills, you are back in prairie land.
If you ever drive across South Dakota, on I 90, once you enter the state you keep seeing these signs for Wall Drug and there are a lot of them. Apparently there is over 500 miles of them as it seems like every mile you see one with a different message.
Many years ago, when we traveled through South Dakota in our motorhome with our kids, we spotted all these signs and of course it roused our curiosity. We had to stop and investigate Wall Drug. We were not disappointed so of course we were going to visit there again on our motorcycle.
It was so hot driving across the plains that Wall Drug was a great reprieve. No wonder it became so popular many years ago when there was no such thing as air conditioning!
The small town drugstore made its first step towards fame when it was purchased by Ted Hustead in 1931. Hustead was a Nebraska native and pharmacist who was looking for a small town with a Catholic church in which to establish his business. He bought Wall Drug, located in a 231-person town in what he referred to as “the middle of nowhere,” and strove to make a living. Business was very slow until his wife, Dorothy, got the idea to advertise free ice water to parched travelers heading to the newly opened Mount Rushmore monument 60 miles (97 km) to the west. From that time on business was brisk.
Wall Drug earns much of its fame from its self-promotion. Billboards advertising the establishment can be seen for hundreds of miles throughout South Dakota and the neighboring states. In addition, many visitors of Wall Drug have erected signs throughout the world announcing the miles to Wall Drug from famous locations, treating it as a geodesic datum.
By 1981 Wall Drug was claiming it was giving away 20,000 cups of water per day during the peak tourist season, lasting from Memorial Day until Labor Day, and during the hottest days of the summer. Most of Wall Drug’s advertisement billboards can be found on an approximately 650-mile-long (1,050 km) stretch of Interstate 90 from Minnesota to Billings, Montana. Wall Drug spends an estimated $400,000 on billboards every year. http://www.walldrug.com/t-history.aspx We walked around and enjoyed everything that is there to see, ate a little, hid in some air conditioning as it was very humid and hot. We could see there were thunderstorms building, so we moved on.
We wanted to tour the Badlands which we did. It was hot driving through there but they are very unique and interesting to see.
The further east we went, we could see huge black thunderstorms everywhere. Actually, we had to find a place to hide until they rolled through as it was so windy we were riding at a 30 degree angle into the wind and stupid Senor Honda continued to buck, fart, lose power and backfire. We could hardly keep the motorcycle on the road let alone in the proper lane and then of course came the rain adding to the problems!
You are out in the wide open driving across that state so finding somewhere to get out off the nasty weather is a challenge. We drove on until we saw a western theme town along I 90 called 1880 Town. As we approached we noticed a picnic area with covered shelters over the tables. Ah a perfect place to hide the bike under. We moved the table and rode the bike underneath and then went in to check out 1880 Town. Well guess what, yep closed. Only open till 3pm including the diner.
Shoot! no food no old western town to visit, just back under the picnic table shelter which we were very thankful for but how much better it would have been to get a warm meal in a warm building. http://www.1880town.com/location/
Once the thunderstorms passed through, we drove on eastbound until we could see the next thunderstorm building as we approached Murdo, South Dakota
We decided to stop in Murdo where we found the Sioux Motel which was really nice and of course a much better price than Keystone.
While we were doing our daily strip down of the bags on the motorbike a couple rode in on a Harley with a New Hampshire Plate. Well it wasn’t long before they passed our room after they checked in and we struck up a conversation about the weather and being forced to stop riding due to the nasty weather. They were heading west near our home and we were going past theirs in New Hampshire.
When the fellow asked about the PC800. Everette stated he was mad at it and the fellow made the mistake of asking why. He told him how it kept bucking, farting and loosing power until he rolled off the throttle and then it would backfire and then it would produce power again but it would not let us go over 60 mph.
He started to laugh which kinda ticked Everette off but then he said our bike was doing the same thing. Now Everette started to chuckle as he told him that he went to three Harley dealers and none of them could fix it. He too suspected bad fuel and was using gasline antifreeze in an attempt to dissolve the water. He also suspected that maybe the ethonal in the fuel was part of the problem. He then said that all of a sudden it stopped acting up and his Harley is now running fine.
We weren’t off the road a half hour when a wicked thunderstorm rolled through! It lit up the sky in the dark making it look like daylight! It was wild! Clamps of thunder were so loud. We were getting hungry and needed something to eat. When I asked the folks at the front desk about somewhere to eat they stated that the only place in town open was the bar across the street. As it turned out we had a good meal that was a little pricey but we were tired and hungry and didn’t care.
It was a challenging day that we only covered 156 miles due to sightseeing , weather and Senior Honda’s bad attitude. Someone once asked what traveling I 90 in South Dakota was like, well from east of the Badlands to Minnesota it’s like this; Ba Bump Ba Bump Ba Bump Ba Bump Ba Bump Ba Bump Ba Bump Ba Bump For Hours and Hours
We did 325 miles today, bad bike. bad weather delays
Day 5
July 14/09
Looks like we may get some bad weather again today as we press on eastbound. We rode all day and kept dodging thunderstorms all through Minnesota. Fortunately, my husband being a pilot knows the weather patterns so we have some kind of warning of what is coming next.
As we drove along Hwy 23 we could see this nasty group of clouds forming and getting really dark. Everette said to me, “It is going to downpour and those clouds look really nasty so we need a place to hide until this blows through.” Well, we are in the middle of nowhere in the wide open prairie so God we need a miracle. We did not go a mile down the road, when I spotted an old truck depot with an overhang on the loading dock. We wheeled in there, watched and waited for the nasty storm to blow through!
Of course we had a downpour of rain which we would have been soaked and probably not been able to see to drive had we been out in it. Once it was all done, we get on the bike and start driving again. We did not go very far down the highway, when we came upon a town called Spicer and I was looking at this strip mall where there were branches of trees all over the parking lot. Vehicles had windows blown out.
Being Canadian, we are not used to seeing tornado destruction. We could not believe our eyes and we were also so thankful we had stopped when we did, or we would have been right in the middle of this. We did not even know what had happened until we stopped that night and saw the news.
The weather was still unsettled and as we were coming up to St. Cloud, we could see more rain coming. We drove into a Starbucks and parked the bike under the overhang at the back door. The kids in Starbucks were more than friendly so we got a drink and waited for some more rain to pass through.
Once it stopped, we were on the bike again and finally made it to Princeton Minnesota where we stayed for the night at the AmericInn. It was a very nice hotel that even had laundry room for guests.
We did 507 Miles today.
Day 6
July 15/09
We had a good complimentary breakfast at the hotel and started off again. My husband wanted to stop at a motorcycle supply store in Rush City, Minnesota so we headed in that direction.
We were looking for some riding boots that he had seen on line at a decent price. He found the ones he had seen for himself but when it came to me, the ones on sale did not fit me properly. I kept trying on different ones and of course the price kept going up but I finally did find a pair that fit and I really liked. So, my dear husband bought them for me.
From there, we headed east again on Hwy 70 towards Wisconsin. The weather is cold and the motorcycle is still doing it’s nonsense of hiccuping and sputtering which it has been doing since Montana but it never quits. By now, my husband is tearing his hair out trying to figure out what is wrong with this thing. We tried filling the tank 3/4 of the way with ethanol free gas to see if that did anything which it didn’t.
When we get to Woodruff, Wisconsin and we decide we are going to drain the gas tank to see if there is any dirt or water in the gas. We stop at Jerry’s Auto and he gave us a jerry can to drain our fuel in and he didn’t really care what we did as he is trying to finish up and go home.
There happened to be a gas station across the street which turned out to be quite handy. We had a suction pump in our toolkit so we suck all the gas out of the tank and removed the fuel level sending unit so I could look in with a flashlight to be sure that it was all clean. Yep, not one spot of dirt.
My husband walks across the street to the gas station to get a new can of gas and fill up this tank to see if we have solved the problem.
As we had taken all our bags off the bike, I am sitting on one of them just waiting for him, not too concerned about anything, when this nice lady drives up and asks me if I needed a ride anywhere. I thanked her and told her what was going on and she gave me her business card and told me to phone her if we needed anything.
My husband comes back and by this time Jerry is going home so we asked him where we could leave his gas can and he told us and drove off.
We filled up the bike, put everything back on it and started off again. It appeared that the problem was gone. After all this work it was time to get something to eat so we stopped not very far east of Woodruff.
After our late lunch we thought we would drive a little farther before dark since we hadn’t covered many miles today .
We went as far as Eagle River and saw this cute little motel that looked like a cabin and decided to call it a night.
While we were unloading we met a couple from Milwaukee who were asking where we were from and where we were going. When told them we were heading to the east coast they stated “we would never go anywhere you have to wear a helmet” Yikes I think they may have hit their heads without their helmets. How closed-minded can you be.
OMG you should see this room, ha ha it’s got a stick holding up the corner of the sink. Oh by the way, the goofy motorcycle did not run any better after all that performance!
We did only 255 miles due to mainteance and Buying boots.
Day 7
July 16/09
My husband is up and trying to figure out what is wrong with this motorcycle. He heads Over to a motorcycle dealer to see if anyone has any ideas on what is going on with it. They had a few suggestions, almost everything he’s tried but nothing concrete as to what the problem was so we keep driving on.
We stay on Hwy 70 to 55/73 north to Hwy 28 along Lake Superior through Michigan. What a nice ride along the lakes.
We had discovered these awesome “pasties” on our drive through there the year before, we were on a mission. We stopped in Munising, at Muldoons for a pasty.
Again, when we were traveling in our motorhome with our kids through Michigan, we kept seeing these signs for pasties. We had no idea what they were so many years later, we determined to find out.
They are certainly not good for the waistline, but they are very tasty and a whole meal in itself. Usually they consist of vegetables and chicken or meat in a pastry. Of course they have fruit in them as well for a desert.
It is a must when you travel the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I took my son there a few years later for an apple one and although he is watching what he eats, he thoroughly enjoyed his pasty!
It was cold all across the Upper Peninsula between 54-68º and then we ran into rain! By the time we got to Sault St. Marie, MI we decided that was enough for that day. We needed to find a room and someplace to eat and normally we like to find them close together so we don’t have to get back on the bike to go eat. Especially tonight with all the heavy rain.
We were driving down to see the locks when we come to a red light. Just as we stopped the motorcycle starts to tip over! It was funny as it was just in slow motion as it laid down on its side. I am still sitting on the back! Fortunately, there is no traffic so Ev picks it up and we decide there and then we had been on the bike way too long and it was time to find a motel room.
We stayed at the Plaza Motor Inn and had a beautiful room. It had all been redone and it was the best one we had so far. Then, it began to really pour down rain!
We only did 289.0 miles today
Day 8
July 17/09
We wake up to low overcast cloud cover and light rain and we leave Sault Ste. Marie, MI and cross the bridge into Canada into the province of Ontario and a city named Sault St. Marie. We were heading to the tourist information after going through customs and Ev drops his sunglasses in the middle of the street! Fortunately, again there was no traffic and therefore no damage to them. Quick dismount and remount and we are off.
We stopped at McDonalds for breakfast and ended up talking with some older people who were very interested in where we had come from and where we were going. They had an older Honda but he stated he felt he was getting to old to hold it up so I tried to convince him to get a trike kit. We chatted with them for quite some time and found out they knew someone Ev’s family knew. People seem to find it easy to talk to anyone riding a motorcycle.
Then, came the adventure across Northern Ontario. The road is horrible from all the heavy trucks that travel back and forth across Canada and it is narrow with no paved shoulder. An embarrassing so-called Trans Canada! The worst highway in the US would be better than this one!
Keep in the mind, the motorcycle is still acting up, so you really cannot pull out to pass anyone as just as you roll up on throttle, it could give a hiccup and your speed dies right off. There are a lot of logging trucks along this route and as the shoulder is not paved, there is nowhere to pull over when the motorcycle decides to die off on its speed.
My poor husband is so frustrated by this time with this bike that he could leave it on the side of the highway and walk away from it! It is not only frustrating, but very dangerous! We get as far as Sudbury Ontario and stopped at an information centre to check on a friend that we were going to visit to see if she was home. If we couldn’t get in contact with her, we were going to change our route.
We didn’t get her so we kept on this wonderful highway to Mattawa. Northern Ontario is very beautiful if you are not trying to keep a motorcycle going and away from logging trucks.
We have traveled Northern Ontario a few times and we figure all the extra money in Ontario goes to Toronto area as in upper New York State because the roads desperately need upgrading. This is a corridor from east to west across Canada so it is very busy!
We reach Mattawa @18:30 and are glad to stay there for the night in the Valois Motel which has a restaurant attached to it. It is right on the beautiful Ottawa River and it is a very nice little tourist attraction with of course very steep prices for motels and food!
We rode 310 miles today
Day 9
July 18/09
Overcast and rain again this morning. The drive from Mattawa to Ottawa on this beautiful Hwy 17 runs along the Ottawa River a lot of the way so it is a beautiful drive when your mode of transportation works properly We could not wait to get out off northern Ontario and off this highway.
As we drove through Ottawa, we could see the clouds forming again for some rain. Ottawa is a beautiful city to drive through. We get to the east end to head south and we have rain drops. We are going to cross at Cornwall into NY state and head east again across the top of New York State.
Fortunately, as we headed south, the rain did not amount to very much so we crossed the border and picked up Hwy 37 to 11 and drove across NY state into Vermont at Rouse’s Point across Lake Champlain. It is beautiful around Lake Champlain. We got to Hwy 2 and headed across Vermont. It is not a very wide state but it is certainly beautiful!
There was not much to pick from on this route in the way of motels or food so I was getting to the point where I just wanted off the bike. I had had enough for the day, but there was nowhere to stop!
We kept driving on until we got to St. Johnsbury and we found The Holiday Motel. The rooms were quite pricey ($117.00 + tax) as it is their peak season as well but we did not have a choice. Matter of fact, we got the last room they had!
When you are on a motorcycle, you really cannot afford to be picky! It is a fair size motel, so I had taken our helmets and was walking across the parking lot as my husband was coming on the bike. When I get close to the room we were going to have, there is a middle-aged couple sitting outside, drinking their glasses of wine. They had hauled their table and chairs out from the room.
As I am coming up on them, they start chatting with me about where we were from, where we were going and everything in between.
By the time my husband got to the room, I had made myself a couple of friends. They were Canadians from the Toronto area and they were heading the exact same direction we were except they were towing their motorcycle as they wanted to tour the Cabot Trail. Matter of fact where they planned to stay was about 10 miles from our destination.
They invited us to sit with them and then Barb was asking us if we had had anything to eat. They had done the tour of the town and decided there was not much to pick from so they settled on Chinese food. It was ours for the taking if we wanted it. Barb was really hyped up. Super nice but very hyper.
Before Ev got his helmet off and got off the bike Barb had asked him about ten questions and Joe asked “is that a Honda Pacific Coast? ” My husband said “yes and I’m mad at it” We explained the problems we were having with the motorcycle and Joe blurts out “bring me the gas cap” So Everette handed him the gas cap and suddenly Joe starts sucking on the gas cap. OK here’s this guy drinking wine, sucking on a gas cap and trying to tell us what he thought the problem was.
We started to think this guy has had way to much wine, but then Joe started to explain that he thought it was the diaphragm in the cap that was not expanding like it should so he starts to blow on the cap again! He was sure that if we got some cleaner and high pressure air to blow it out it may work again.
The wine and the gas taste must have been gross but he didn’t seem to care. He then told us that he races vintage motorcycles and that he worked on them all the time so this was nothing new to him. One true bike guy, wine and gas who else would do this! We spent the whole evening with them and they promised to get in contact with us when they got to Cape Breton. We never did hear from them again.
We rode 430 miles today
Day 10
July 19/09
We leave St. Johnsbury and my dear husband has the Water Wheel restaurant in Jefferson, New Hampshire on his mind as we had been there before and he had real maple syrup on his pancakes. He loves maple syrup and this is the land of it! We stopped at the restaurant and there was a line up to get and people kept cutting in front of us as they entered so we left.
We then stopped at a gas station a little further down the road and the lady there told us about this restaurant in Gorham named Welch’s that had a breakfast buffet so we headed in that direction. As we were cruising the speed limit we noticed a Harley coming up on us fast, then it stayed riding behind us for quite a while then all of a sudden it pass us, waving as they go by.
While riding through Vermont and New Hampshire its a real good idea to stay close to the speed limit as they have very little means of collecting revenue so traffic tickets really help and as well they don’t want you speeding through the little towns .
When we got to Gorham we made a loop around town to check out the sights and there we see the couple on the Harley parking down the street east of the restaurant. We pass by them and find a spot right in front of the restaurant.
While we are standing in the line at the restaurant this guy comes up to us and starts apologizing for passing us a ways back with his Harley. We said “Oh no problem” We just figured he was in a hurry and never thought anything about it. We started chatting with him (Troy) and (Trish) his girl to find out they were from Kitchener, Ontario on their way to Nova Scotia. He was so funny as he was so geared up for his holiday that he was bouncing off the walls. She had a sore butt and I felt so sorry for her as I had just been there a few days back. Poor Trish hadn’t even finished her omelette when Troy states ” well I’m ready” He tore off.
We finished eating and we never saw them again. My hubby was satisfied with his $7.95buffet so we started off again.
We are traveling on Highway 2 through Vermont and NH which doesn’t take very long. Gorham is not very far from the Maine state line so before we knew it, we were in Maine. As we are driving along near this little place called Palmyra, we spot a man with two beautiful Belgian horses mowing hay with an old cutter blade that I hadn’t seen in years as that is exactly the way my grandfather used to do when I was a kid. By the time we got stopped and turned around to take a picture of him they were already heading for the barn.
Darn, how often do you see this anymore. My husband tried to take a picture but they were moving fast and we were quite a ways from their road by then. When I looked up at his house his wife was waving at us to come up to the house. We drove up and she started chatting away. The lady stated that he was just harnessing the cutter and he would be right back with the horses.
As the man came near he stopped to allow us to take a few pictures smiling from ear to ear. These gorgeous horses were his hobby and his babies so he began brushing them, feeding them and giving them water. He invited us into his barn and while taking care of the horses he started telling us their names and why he had them.
The couple introduced themselves as Stan and Sue. Stan was a builder who had the horses for pleasure and he used them in the winter to haul logs to be cut for fire wood and of course in the summer to make hay. We spent most of the afternoon with these wonderful people.
During our time with them the matter of the motorcycle problems came up and Stan offered to start his compressor and sprayed the gas cap with a can of cleaner that he had. He tried to blow out the cap of the gas tank on the motorcycle thinking maybe that would open this diaphragm! When we were leaving, they asked us to stop in to visit with them on our way back west. We fully intended to, but we ended up flying back and leaving the motorcycle in my brother’s garage for a year and a friend of his barn for another winter.
Their son was fattening this one up for some pork chops.
A short time later we learned that Stan passed away suddenly. Our heart goes out to Sue as they were people we could have been friends with for many years. We have not been back through Maine since or we would look her up. I have tried to find her on the internet but to no avail, yet.
From there we drove through Bangor and hooked onto Hwy 1 thinking we were going to be traveling by the ocean for a long run to the border of New Brunswick. NOT! We only had a few short view of the ocean the rest of the time we looked at trees.
On our way through Maine we rode through Skowhegan Maine a unigue old town that we needed to take photos of.
We did stop at a restaurant right on the water so my wonderful husband could have his seafood. He loves seafood! It is a good thing we did, as we never saw the water again for miles.
It was getting to the point that we did not know where we would spend the night since there was nothing but trees and more trees. After a few hours of this, we finally came upon a little place called the Blueberry Patch motel in a place called Jonesboro. It was all there was so we took a room. It was old but clean so it served it’s purpose.
There was a restaurant/bar close by so we walked there and had something to eat. By this time it was dark and we were so glad to be off the road. We certainly will not travel that scenic/not scenic route again!
We rode 285 miles today.
Day 11
July 20/09
Time to move on! We stopped in Machias at Dunkin’ Donuts for some coffee and breakfast. We crossed into New Brunswick after going through customs and drove on to an information centre outside St. John. They had wi-fi so I could let my brother know the progress we were making.
The motorcycle was not acting so good, doing the missing and sputtering that it started in Montana and the speedometer cable broke. We were now going to use our GPS in the tank bag to track speed. Amazing, it never quit but it just frustrated my poor husband and gave me a lot of laughs.
We got as far as Moncton and not knowing that there is not a gas station to be found on the highway in New Brunswick, we ran out of gas on the east side of Moncton. The bike had been acting so poorly that Ev suspected that maybe that the problem was that the tank was pressurizing causing the loss of power and quitting.
We had been running with different levels of fuel to see if that would help and the fact that the speedometer cable broke a few hundred miles ago so we lost the ability to track the mileage contributed to the cause of fuel exhaustion.
We were at the bottom of a hill that had an exit about half the way up. Now we did not want to push this thing up the hill. Ev prayed “God please just get us started so we can get to somewhere for fuel. Ev managed to get the bike going pulling the choke, so I hopped on and off we went up the hill off on the exit and just as we got to the top, the bike quit.
Fortunately, we were now on the crest of the hill and could coast to the stop sign at a “T” intersection and on the other side of the road sat a house.
After taking off the tank bag and confirming that there was absolutely no gas in the tank I started to walk down the driveway and met the owner coming out to help us. This angel of mercy went by the name of Charlie Gould. Charlie started to tell us that this happens all the time and that the closest gas stations are 15 km’s in either direction.
Ev asked if he had any gas we could buy from him. Charlie said ”Well my buddy borrowed my gas can the other day and I’m not sure if he brought it back I’ll go check”. Next thing we see is Charlie walking back with a gas can in hand. Oh Thank you God.
We put a few liters in and when we went to start it the battery was to weak to turn it over from all the attempts to start at the bottom of the hill. We asked Charlie if he could give us a boost. “Yeah sure let me go get my truck and cables. Well it started right up and my husband asked Charlie how much we owed him. “Oh give me ten bucks for the gas and that would be good”. We could not thank Charlie enough for his kindness.
Charlie suggested we head down the road to a gas station near the prison which was about the closest. We chugged on through the rest of New Brunswick and stopped at the border of Nova Scotia at their tourist information centre. They suggested where we should have something to eat there as the next place would be quite a while. We ate a Service station Restaurant which wasn’t that bad, and then drove on to New Glasgow for the night.
When we arrived in New Glasgow we stopped at the first hotel we saw. The lady at the front desk informed us that the Highland games festival was on and that she was completely full and that most of the hotels in town were also full.
Again my husband prayed ”Lord we need a room, we were tired and didn’t want to have to ride in the dark. The wonderful lady at the front desk phoned around until she got us a room at the County Inn with a bikers rate to top it off. The Country Inn and Suites is a beautiful place to stay for a decent price. It was the best for the money we had on our whole trip! By this time, we are about 4 1/2 hours from our destination.
We rode 357 miles today
Day 12
July 21/09
Packed up and leaving New Glasgow. Within an hour and half we cross the causeway onto Cape Breton Island. From there, we know exactly where we want to go and what is good to eat. We had done the tour of the Island the summer before exploring places that I had never heard of although I had grown up there. From the Canso causeway you can go clockwise or counterclockwise around the Cabot trail, we elected to go counterclockwise.
I would suggest that if you are going to all the effort to motorcycle the Cabot Trail that you do it in both directions. It’s only 185 miles long and I can’t explain it but it does look different in both directions.
We stopped at the Farmer’s Daughter Country Market in Whycocomagh right on the Trans Canada Highway. There is lots of home baking and my husband was looking for a piece of pie. He was successful so we sat on the front patio and consumed our goodies.
From there we drove to Cheticamp and stopped at another bakery to get some fresh buns that my brother loves to eat. An hour later, we arrived at our destination in Cape North right on the northern tip of the Cabot Trail. We rode 317 Kms.
The motorcycle never quit except when it ran out off gas, and it sputtered and chugged all the way across the country! Amazing! We still had to figure out the problem with the Pacific Coast but maybe my brother can help us out as he used to sell motorcycles and snowmobiles for many years?
We order a new gas cap, speedometer cable that came in about a week later. After installing the new parts we noticed that Senor Honda would only do the sputtering , backfiring thing when we went up Kelly’s mountain heading to Sydney. Kelly’s mountain has a very long grade and it would die about 2/3 the way up and a s soon as we rolled off the throttle it would backfire and go again.
Dave knew a fellow who worked on Honda’s for years and suggested that I ask him. Well like everyone else I had spoken to he asked if I had done all the things everyone suggested and I said I did and then he said “strangest thing I have ever heard of, it’s a Honda, this never happens”.
As it turned out we had only one other sputter the rest of the summer and we ended up leaving the bike in Nova Scotia so I had all winter to search for an answer. you’ll find a more on this problem and solution in the blog Cape Breton NS to Calgary On A Honda PC800 Pacific Coast and on the page How To.
EV & TJ's 3rd Wheel Travels 
