Greetings from Southern BC, Canada.

Ah, where to start?
Retired old guy with multiple other Honda’s in the garage. Past owner of a Blue and Silver 5th Gen, current owner/ rider of a Yellow 5th Gen with another Silver as a parts bike. Started riding in my teen years (thank you mum and dad!) over 50 years ago.
Very pleased to say I’ve seen a lot of North America via motorcycle, even finished an IBR once.
I’m looking forward to gleaning and hopefully contributing something useful to thus august group. michael

 

Welcome!!

I'm here in the North Seattle area. Did a week long solo trip a few years back on one of my 86 VFR750F up thru Castlegar, Revelstoke, Kamloops, Kelowna, hitting pretty much every great road. Then dipped back into Eastern WA and back home over the North Cascades Hwy 20 again. Fucking epic area and road trip. Really want to do another version with my Wife on the ST1100 and do day trips out of Kelowna. Loved that town.

We like pics!

 

Great trip! And in my playground too. Although I’d wager there may be a few gems still available for your tire scrubbing pleasure. when you plan your two up trip I’d be happy to compare notes with you - where you have and haven’t been - to share the latest updates. Such as Hwy 5a between Princeton and Merritt (recently paved) and Hwy 8 between Merritt and Spence’s Bridge (destroyed by flooding recently yet being paved this summer). There are more of course…
Hwy 20 has been a favourite of mine for years - every spring we look forward to The Opening.

The east/west roads between WA 395 and Lake Roosevelt bring back fond memories too.

Aaaaaah. Springtime.

 

Did the southern section of 5a. Then 3 on the way back to Osoyoos.

I was supposed to do a big loop Kelowna - Kamloops - Kelowna one day. Got turned around right before Kamloops by an UGLY approaching storm I didn't want to deal with. So I went out and back on the road to the Fauquier Ferry. A little rough, but killer. Chatted up a dude who owned a VF750F at one of the little gravel / wooded parking areas along the way.

Open!

Been a while.

Yay!!

 

Cool. Where in BC and which IBR did ride in?
I'm on Vancouver Island.

 

WELCOME

one of our most distinguished members lives in chilliwack, randy, ex-RCMP and adventure rider.

{doesnt like true dough}

 

Just means REALLY wet around here this year?

 

Greetings from Shittywack, capital city of cow-shit county. Yup. BC has some really nice roads but in my humble opinion, they have a long way to go to beat eastern Washington, Oregon and most of Idaho.

A couple of us BC VFRW members formed a small group of good friends and have been doing an annual ride second weekend in September, most often in Washington and Oregon. During the pandemic of course, we rode BC. I have been trying to steer the group into doing a VanIsle ride but thus far have not been successful. The fear of one of the guys is that VanIsl is prone to unfavorable weather in September. I don't have a clue where he gets that from. I was posted to Nanaimo 2 years and 9 beautiful years in Campbell River and found the weather to be as good as anywhere in BC at that time of the year. There is definitely some great highways and roads to ride on the Island.

I am a fellow Iron Butt Association rider. Have done the Ironbutt Insanity ride a couple times, once official. That is 1000 miles in 24 hours. I accomplished that while attempting the Canada to Mexico in 24 hours. I might have been successful the last time I tried that had I been riding alone but a couple guys insisted on riding with me. The more people who ride in a group, the slower the progress. Alas, I am too old for such attempts now.

Stick around. VFRW used to be a lot more active than it is now. Chat used to be non stop but has reduced to a few regulars. But there are several very talented contributors in the Mechanic's Garage portion of the threads. If you are passing through Shittywack, reach out to me. I am always willing to meet peeps at t he local Timmies for a honey crueller or jam buster (prairie talk for jelly filled doughnuts).

 

I spent time in Victoria and Duncan through the years. I enjoyed the “low snow event,” winters compared to the Interior.

Retired from the lower mainland to the great southern metropolis of Keremeos. Have lived and worked in a few towns in the southern part of the province.

Started the ‘01 IBR (DNF), started and finished the ‘05 event.Preceded by the usual Ss100’s and BBG’s.
Took me months to stop waking up with a start, looking around and wondering when and how I was going to get to the next Bonii or checkpoint.

 

We certainly think alike regarding WA, OR and ID! I enjoy an annual ride with a group of fellows - have so for decades - most of them across the line, occasionally deep into Utah, Arizona and NV as well. Cheaper fuel, food and accommodations (well, used to be pre c-vid) and in the very unlikely event of a performance award the financial consequences are less dire.
Agreed also, riding a timed event with one or more other riders can be difficult. I’ve ridden with only two gentleman whose sleep, food, fuel and bladder regimen is close to mine…so there’s that.
I will most definitely reach out.
You may have been posted with a member with whom I was acquainted with in the ‘90’s in Kelowna, whom was later posted to CR. Had a few interesting ride alongs back then.

 

Ahhh. Keremeos. A nice town. We have camped there a couple times at one place out west of town. Forget the name. But I remember last time watching a log up that mountain rubble, slowly slide down the rubble for about 1/2 hour. Looks like it travelled about 100 meters before it finally stopped. Thought that was kind of neat.

I will send you a private message and get the name of that wayward rabble who arrived in my favorite town, CR.

 

Finishing an IBR is a big challenge. After a DNF you went back and finished your second attempt. Congrats, that is a great accomplishment.
I got the rally bug after I bought a ST1100. I did a number of rallys (1 to 5 days) and had a blast. I completed the last one in 2015 and determined that both my brain and body were no longer up to the task. Maybe see you on the road one of the days.

 

Keep me in the loop if peeps are coming thru.

Last year the wife and I did a week long WA, OR, ID, WA loop on the ST1100 for our anniversary, recreating some stuff we did on our 1st anniversary. Down the coast from Seattle, 1st night was in McMinnville and the Psychedelic Furs outdoors at Mcmenemins. Set the tone for a killer week.

 

Thanks. My first 24 hour Rally was ‘98, while I was never in a “winner,” category I enjoyed them immensely and saw a lot of the country that way. As I aged I found even a 24 hour couldn’t safely be undertaken without a mid-rally sleep. Still love riding big miles yet my body and mental acuity are trimming the length of riding time.