That was an awesome trip report Owl. Please give us some more info on how you did on the bike and how the bike did.( mileage, vibration, wind protection, comfort, seat time, speed, etc...) My wife and I are contemplating some trips and I'm wondering how the 250 would do on such a long ride. She's so comfortable on her's I'd hate for her to change just for a bigger motor
The bike did EXCELLENT. In terms of overall cost it was much cheaper then my old yzf600r especially gas. I ended up only changing out a chain and front tire on the entire 12,000 mile ride (the trip ended up being 11,998 miles i believe)
Gas mileage wise it was still giving me a good solid 70mpg even loaded down with 20lbs of gear (i pack really light and I'm also only 138lbs)
I kept the bike stock for the most part no modifications at all but if I had to do it again I would get a cramp buster or some kind of throttle lock.
Climbing mountains.....well that was kind of an adventure lol. Lets just say the only things I could out climb were the semi trucks and bicyclist haha.
If your wife is small like me; comfort even on a long day shouldn't be too bad but I would deff get a better seat (a corbin perhaps?)
My longest day on the bike was a 670 mile day so you can deff knock out some miles but I would say anything over 300miles and you will start feeling a little tired (fighting wind turbulence mainly)
As far as speed goes I mostly stayed on secondary roads I dont think the little 250 motor likes to go over 65mph for extremely long periods of time.
"i'm a florida boy riding in the rain is what I do 6 months out of the year anyways"
just rode in light rain today.
that trip sucked (just kidding that just internet talk for: that trip was awesome !)
600+ miles in one day ! you must have sleep'd good that night.my personal best is 300+ on a kawi. i was beat.how much was your avg. spending money per day ? basic stuff like food , gas & sleep.
& has any one else driving this bike in the rain because that downshift to first is slippery !
if you are still reading this-what is your personal best in one day ?
300+on the kawi
almost 200 on the cbr250
how much was your avg. spending money per day ? basic stuff like food , gas & sleep.
& has any one else driving this bike in the rain because that downshift to first is slippery !
My average spending per day varied depending on what state/country I was in. In some places food and gas were really cheap and so my daily budget was as low as 40 bucks and as high as 130 dollars per day.
The trip cost me a total of 3800 dollars so my cost per mile was 31 cents. I deff should have budgeted better but I like my creature comforts at the end of a long day (AC, shower, buying a few friends dinner, ect)
if you are still reading this-what is your personal best in one day ?
Alright its my day off so that means I have time to bring out some more pics/thoughts.
Anyways canada was really awesome the speed limit was 100 and gas was only 1.25
The first thing to greet me after an hour or two of riding was lake columbia
and then after a night in Radium I rode through banff/jasper national park.
I ended up getting turned around in prince george and instead of taking the cassier I ended up at mile 0 of the alaska highway so I followed that from dawson creek to fairbanks
*sigh* more construction.....
After a good day of battling dust, construction and gravel I'm finally in the yukon...
My average spending per day varied depending on what state/country I was in. In some places food and gas were really cheap and so my daily budget was as low as 40 bucks and as high as 130 dollars per day.
The trip cost me a total of 3800 dollars so my cost per mile was 31 cents. I deff should have budgeted better but I like my creature comforts at the end of a long day (AC, shower, buying a few friends dinner, ect)
My personal best day is the one where I arrived to my destination safely. Keeping track of mileage is fun but keeping track of sleep is more important
thank you.very useful information.sorry mongoose but there is a new screen saver in town. that picture of the cbr coming up on the arctic circle is sick !
pictures of the bike with nice scenery are
How often did you end up using your auxiliary fuel cans? Lots of bugs on your face shield? The guys at ADVrider will appreciate your accomplishment if you wanted to post a link over there.
I am super impressed. I thoroughly enjoyed the post journey you took us on. I live right by Banff and have rode the Banff/Jasper parkways many, many times. I recognize the mountain in one of the pics you took on highway 93, on way to Jasper. Beautiful ride and many opportunities to see wildlife which is always more thrilling when seen from a bike. Once I was a stones throw from a black bear scrambling across the shoulder into the bush. I "wahoo'd" inside my helmet lol Some nice twisities as well. Thanks for sharing your journey and congrats on the successful ride. You're wee 250 was a reliable ride. Awesome hey?
How often did you end up using your auxiliary fuel cans? Lots of bugs on your face shield? The guys at ADVrider will appreciate your accomplishment if you wanted to post a link over there.
I actually ended up never needing the extra fuel. The little cbr just has an excellent fuel range. I did almost run out of gas on the cassier highway on the way back to the united states but otherwise no problems.
I think if you use a little common sense and fuel up when you know the next fuel stop could be another 150 miles the cbr250 can handle an expedition level tour.
I am planning a more permanent side case hard luggage for use on my next big road trip. I would like to go to the southern tip of south america next and I really think the little cbr is the ideal bike for it.
[Owl, how are those tires looking, last another 12K?/QUOTE]
Before the trip I switched out the stock tires for michelin pilot actives. The only reason i had to replace the front was because a rock lodged its way into the tire. The rear still had rubber even at 12k but it was looking really squared off.
I just had the tires replaced with IRC road winners again but I went with a larger 150 rear and it really smooths out some of the chatter I would get on the 140.
I am planning a more permanent side case hard luggage for use on my next big road trip. I would like to go to the southern tip of south america next and I really think the little cbr is the ideal bike for it.
Tierra Del Fuego on a CBR. Ride the Darien Gap and laugh at those GS riding wannabe's!
Seriously though, a tip of the hat to you and a high five. Epic journey on a small bike. I'm jonesing for a set of hard bags for the CBR. Somebody posted a pic form Thailand of a CBR with a set of Givi V35's on it. It looks awesome! So much so that I'm considering fabbing up a set to my bike. But I'll wait over the winter to see if anybody else comes up with a kit.
I'd shy away of a top case on the CBR. My Givi (V46) is VERY noticeable on the back of a 650lb FJR areodynamically speaking (invokes a low amplitude weave at hwy speeds. Throw on a passenger or a camping gear and it goes away). I can't imagine what it'd feel like on the CBR at nearly half the weight.
For touring, hard bags are the way to go! Secure, waterproof and reliable.. I got spoiled on my FJR with it's bags.
Hum.. I was looking at what's available in CBR sizes and found Michelin PR2's are available in CBR sizes. I've been running these on my big bike for the last 2 years and typically get 25,000 km out of them. Keep in mind the FJR absolutely EATS tires, it's typical on regular street sport bike tires to only get 5000km out of a set! It actually costs more in tires than it does in gas!
Their spendy to be sure, but I think they'd be pretty much a lifetime tire on the CBR. They handle great, stick VERY well (dual compound), are great in the rain, ride well. I pretty much guarantee when the time comes, I'll be swapping the road winners (who named those things!) for the PR2 or PR3's.
The trip took me 43 days but my total riding days were shorter. I spent a week in san diego (after fairbanks I rode the cassier highway to prince george then went south into washington/oregon/california) I've still got a few pics to post of that actually. My daily average works out to be about 500 (edit i was wrong its about 375miles) a day I believe but some days I did 150miles others i did 600+.
I used my intuition and occasionally checking my phone if I was going in the right direction lol. I dont like to plan out routes precisely I just pick a few places and highways then wing it in between.
As far as dirt/gravel goes I ran into a decent bit of construction in the midwest and in canada. I would actually see signs saying "motorcylist should consider alternative route" because of how rough and bad the roads were but i've got 7yrs riding exp and 2 of those were spent on a dualsport zipping down forest trails. I rode on roads i'm honestly surprised didn't shake the cbr to pieces.
The cbr has a nice weight advantage when it comes to tackling dirt/gravel however (i'm looking for off-road tires that will fit its rim lol). I enjoyed riding the dalton highway as difficult as it was. The alaska highway will occasionally have random bits of gravel road that sort of just come out of nowhere so you gotta have your wits about you.
There were also potholes big enough to swallow the front tire and kill me. I caught air and bottomed out the suspension going into and out of a 2ft deep dip I didnt see in time (I hit the thing going about 60mph)
My cbr is all over the place when i ride on those, most likely due to my riding incompetence.
Being a street bike with street tires it is a little slippery off road. I dont normally like giving out riding advice because I dont elaborate well in writing but staying loose on the handle bars ,steering from your legs ,and being progressive on the throttle help a lot.
Lucky Owl, I showed a few of my team at work your journey rundown this morning...thanks alot mate..your pics have inspired them so much so they reckon they are going to quit to do an epic bike journey of their own!
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