PerrydaSavage wrote on 06/21/08 at 02:35:46:



My mapping program shows about 660 miles and 12 hours road time between Ottawa and Halifax.  There's also a ferry ride from Bar Harbor Maine to Yarmouth N.S.  It also includes what looks to be a nice (non-slab) ride across Maine.

So...  Fly out, ride back.  Make a long weekend, or even a week of it.  The money you save on the bike should pay for a really nice ride!

Let's see:

Day 1:  Fly in -- early flight so you can spend the day at the dealer's and get some shakedown time on the new bike.  Stay in Ottawa.

Day 2:  See Ottawa.  Be sure the dealer saves some time for you at the end of the day in case anything needs adjusting.  Then head to Montreal for a late French dinner -- it's only a couple of hours ride and the summer days are long!

Day 3:  Enjoy Montreal!  

Day 4:  It's about 360 miles to Bar Harbor Maine.  Six hours riding time, but there's a border crossing and no big hurry, so make a day of it.  There's only one section of super-slab (I-95 into Bangor Maine) and it can be avoided by using Highway 2.  Lots of twisties till then -- enjoy!  Oh yeah, Bar Harbor is beautiful, from what I hear.

Day 5:  Ferry ride to Yarmouth Nova Scotia and you're home!

There, see how easy it is when other folks run your life for you!  

PerrydaSavage wrote on 06/21/08 at 02:35:46:


Sorry for the OT:

They are a nice bike, at least the ZZR250 was that I had as my first ride, except for the stumbling in the cold/damp weather which is due to the cold-blodded nature and carbs; if they ever get around to giving us EFI I'm sure it would be a different story.

They're an upright ride, more of a "standard" than a "sport bike", get nice fuel economy, and can accelerate with traffic just fine (they like to rev   ). I prefer the ZZR style over the newly redesigned Ninja, although the shims for the valve clearance adjustment might be nicer than screw-type adjusters until they require replacement...

a 250 ninja would fit in my life easy enough. Ive almost bought one a couple of times. SOME day, I will..

drharveys - FSO wrote on 06/21/08 at 18:25:13:

Sounds like a nice idea, if the bike was a deal.  

Sounds like it not.....  

It's amazing how quickly you can map out a two week ride using these programs!  That's a great loop either from Ottawa or Montreal, and I have some distant relatives in Montreal I could leave the truck & trailer with.

Only problem is getting away for two weeks in a row!  I can do long weekends easily enough, and the occasional week isn't too hard, but two whole weeks tends to mess things up at the office!

Perry - there's a guy who lives in Oshawa (Toronto) who routinely travels from Toronto to the Maritimes hauling a trailer with his pick up truck. He moves student furniture or anything else he can book along the 401 corridor. I was interested in a savage on your side of Montreal and he quoted me a price of about $125 to pick it up (it was off his beaten path) and deliver it to me in Kingston, Ontario for $125.00.

This really opens up the places you can search for a new bike. If you would like his e-mail address send me a PM.

Holy Cow Perry, that's a lot of money! And your dollar is worth more than the US dollar now.
How much does it cost to import a bike into Canada? You could fly down to Maine, pick up a bike and ride it back to NFL for the savings no?

Thanks for all the input folks ... already have an '05 LS650 lined up ... in Sprindale, NL ... 522km (350mi) from my home in St. John's ... am getting a coach out to pick it up on Friday!