2023 MABDR Electric is on YouTube – Part 5

Part 5, the final video in Ben’s series on our MABDR adventure:

Riding the MABDR on electric motorcycles Part 5

I’ve really enjoyed watching these videos of our trip. Ben is an excellent film maker.

The blog entries with photos from our 2023 Electric MABDR adventure are here.

2023 MABDR Electric is on YouTube – Part 4

Part 4 of Ben’s video series of our MABDR adventure:

Riding the MABDR on electric motorcycles Part 4

I lol’d.

The blog entries with photos from our 2023 Electric MABDR adventure are here.

2023 MABDR Electric is on YouTube – Part 3

Part 3 of Ben’s video series of our MABDR adventure is live:

Riding the MABDR on electric motorcycles Part 3

This video flew by for me, I wanted to keep watching.

The blog entries with photos from our 2023 Electric MABDR adventure are here.

2023 MABDR Electric is on YouTube – Part 2

Part 2 of Ben’s video series of our MABDR adventure is live:

Riding the MABDR on electric motorcycles | part 2

I am really enjoying the experience of seeing the same trip I took through someone else’s eyes.

The blog entries with photos from our 2023 Electric MABDR adventure are here.

2023 MABDR Electric is on YouTube – Part 1

Part 1 of our MABDR adventure earlier this year is here!

Conquering the MABDR on electric motorcycles | Part 1

Ben did an excellent job with this edit. I am really looking forward to seeing what he produces for the rest of the trip. Producing video is a whole new world for me. Filming the trip was definitely a different experience, in addition to traveling with another person beyond just me and Kevin. It was more fun than I expected, but I don’t think I would like the obligation and work involved in recording and producing video content if it were my job.

The blog entries with photos from our 2023 Electric MABDR adventure start here.

2023 PA Wilds BDR-X

We parted ways with Ben in Lawrenceville, PA, at the border of PA and NY, and the end of the main MABDR route. He and his custom modified electric Harley Livewire One/X had a schedule to keep, and a strong desire to ride south as fast as possible to try and escape the wildfire smoke suffocating the entire region. Now that he was no longer following the BDR route, street riding and access to DC fast chargers would make quick work of traveling home to VA. That last day of riding in increasingly worse air quality while finishing the MABDR had all of us suffering from headaches, sore throats, burning eyes, and a touch of nausea. (Merci, Quebec).

Now that it was just the two of us again, Kevin and I mulled our options inside a diner in Lawrenceville over lunch. Our plan had been to ride the PABDR-X on our way back south to NC. The BDR-X routes are shorter BDR routes that form a loop; half of the roughly 500 mi PA Wilds BDR-X mostly overlaps with the north end of the MABDR. We could either continue with our plan and ride south on the remaining sections of the BDR-X, or pick a faster route with the hope of escaping the smoke sooner.

2023 PA Wilds BDR-X – Main MABDR route in Green, BDRX route in brown.

2023 MABDR Electric – WV, MD, and PA

It was easier than expected to ride around carrying a pool noodle on my bike. I thought it would be floppier, but it hung in there, sticking up like one of those orange vehicle safety flags. Road speeds gave it a more permanent bend backward, but it didn’t break. (Kevin swears his helium balloon mysteriously disappeared overnight.)

Section 3 of the MABDR through VA and WV might be the best part of the whole route.

The northern part does find more paved roads than not, but they are twisty and scenic through the Smoke Hole Canyon in the Monongahela National Forest. What a fantastic place to ride a motorcycle.

We accidentally missed the Horn Camp Schoolhouse when we rode the route in 2018, and I was really looking forward to stopping this time. It is an absolute gem of a time capsule of life in this rural West Virginia valley. I loved this place, and wanted to stay and talk to the incredibly lovely woman acting as tour guide, whose parents names were on the school books on display from 1929. It was hot at this point, and the guys were expiring from standing around in the moto gear, but I wanted to bring her a cold lemonade and a snack and just listen to her tell me what she knows about this place all afternoon.

Some highlights included learning about the bulb style fire extinguishers that were used in the mills containing carbon tetrachloride, and hearing about how this little schoolhouse came to be. Our guide’s bemusement at all of these dusty motorcycle riders coming to visit the place since the route was published in 2018 was palpable, and practically made me laugh out loud. (Truly, adventure riding is a ridiculous hobby).

2023 MABDR Electric – VA and WV

We met up with Ben at the Creeper Trail campground near Damascus, VA, and near the start of the MABDR.

TN/VA/NC Tri Point – not on the MABDR, but close to the start of the route

The Zero DSR at the TN/VA/NC tri point near the start of the MABDR

Creeper Trail Campground is A+, we’re 2 for 2 for positive experiences (click on any photos to see them full size)

After an only partially successful helmet comm pairing party in the morning, slightly misty but mostly dry conditions started our first day on the MABDR, at the official start point at a waterfall outside of Damascus.

2023 MABDR – Two Electric Motos

The first BDR we ever rode was the MABDR in 2018. That ride apparently finished the job of converting this couple of street riders into riders that always have at least one bike with knobby tires on it. There’s been a bit of adventure riding since then.

For the second run of the BDR closest to home, it was time to try something different: Kevin wanted to have a go at it on his electric Zero DSR, and we also decided to bring a friend, and one of the only other nutters we’ve met who thinks electric moto adventure riding is a good idea.

2023 MABDR Route shown in green – 1000+ miles through VA, WV, MD, and PA

This is Ben.

Ben was not a motorcycle rider. Then, Ben watched the third season of the “Long Way” series, the “Long Way Up,” wherein the famous actors and adventure motorcycle travelers Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman rode heavily modified electric Harley-Davidson Livewire motorcycles from the southern tip of South America back to California. Ben wasn’t even aware that the first two “Long Way” trips (on gas bikes) existed before then, or that the original “Long Way Round” series is credited with practically jump starting the adventure motorcycle craze. After watching “Long Way Up,” Ben said: “this is for me.”

Cornerspin ADV

I’ll say it again: you WILL learn something about how to ride a motorcycle from former pro racer Aaron Stevenson. Whether you are an average (at best) every day enthusiast like me who just wants to be a better motorcycle rider (for fun and safety), or a talented developing racer, Aaron’s coaching will definitely take your riding to the next level.

The third time is the charm for his Cornerspin ADV class; I’d previously taken the original Cornerpsin course in 2012, and the on track Cornerspeed in 2015. I tried to take this newest Cornerspin ADV class twice in 2022, but both times were postponed due to severe weather. I’m possibly a glutton for punishment for signing up for a third Cornerspin/Cornserpeed/Aaron Stevenson event, but when I saw that Cornerspin had teamed up with a BMW GS Trophy rider to co-instruct an adventure bike training course, I knew I had to sign up.

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The 2ERide Moto Travel Packing List

Motorcycle travelers run the gamut from ultra minimalist packers, to those that have nearly everything but the kitchen sink packed on their bikes. We’ve always fallen somewhere in the middle, varying back and forth toward one end of the spectrum or the other over the years. The list below is how we currently roll. It has evolved and become more organized over many years of experience (and forgetting things if we ever deign to assume we don’t need to print the list out and use it), and will probably change again at some point in the future. We rarely carry everything on the list; the point is to make a conscious choice not to bring something.

There are many published packing guides that show the wide variation in styles and preferences, but for those new to motorcycle travel, or those curious about what other experienced moto travelers pack (we’re always keen to learn new tricks from others), here is what we use in 2023 for travel in North America: (Note: none of this is sponsored. There are no affiliate links. We paid full retail price, sale price, or were gifted items by family members. We have no relationship with any companies to sell or profit from their items; this is all stuff we acquired as regular consumers with a moto travel addiction).

The 2ERide Motorcycle Travel Packing List

2023-2eride-moto-travel-packing-listDownload

I am, as they say, a self professed gear junkie. I like my gear to be high quality, and optimized to its task (and ideally serve more than one purpose). I have no patience for poor quality, or superfluous items. While not a minimalist, I don’t like to carry any more than I have to stay comfortable riding and camping in a somewhat wide range of conditions. I only carry 3 t-shirts and 3 pairs of socks, even for a multi-month trips. (Wool or synthetic materials only, cotton is forbidden). On a motorcycle, weight and space are at a premium, and the more you pack, the worse the bike handles.

Shelter/Camp

2023 Moto NC Mountains

Base camp: Bryson City, NC, a wonderfully walk-able mountain town with good food, bars, and shops, that is somehow not an overcrowded, tourist mess. Its surrounded by excellent outdoor activities and some premium street bike riding, which is extra fun to introduce to a few Florida flat-landers: Cherohala Skyway, Tail of the Dragon, 28 and 64 to Highlands NC, 215, Blue Ridge Parkway.

Finally got to eat at Tapoco Lodge!

spotted near Highlands

Blue Ridge Parkway May 2023

A birthday, an anniversary, good food, good friends, good riding, and one excellent long weekend.

Two up down the Dragon to pick up a moto left at the bottom

Horizons Unlimited VA 2023

HU Travellers Meeting Virginia 2023

I continue to love these events :)

(*Note – not all of these photos were taken by me. Some were posted to the HU VA Facebook Group by others attendees, and Professional Photographer Chris Smith of MotoPhotoAdventures)

The ADV/Dual Sport Rider’s Unpaved Road Rating System

As of spring 2023, the link has expired for the Texas Adventure website’s dual sport dirt road rating system. That link has been our standard for years; we’ve found it very useful to be able to clearly and concisely communicate the technical difficulty of a given adventure/dual sport motorcycle ride by describing any given road* as class 1, 2, or 3.

The rating system is especially useful before riding with others, or making recommendations. It allows each individual to make better decisions about what risks to take with their specific machine, skill level, and preference for that day.

The web archive version can be found here: https://web.archive.org/web/20221127060854/http://www.texasadventure.net/articles/the-dual-sport-riders-dirt-road-rating-system/

However, since the original is down, I am just going to blatantly plagiarize their work and re-create it here so that I don’t lose it. Thus I give you:

The ADV/Dual Sport Rider’s Unpaved Road Rating System

ChatGPT on our TAT trip

In case you haven’t been paying attention, the open AI (Artificial Intelligence) engine ChatGPT is in the news. Naturally, Kevin has developed a new hobby of playing with it. The results are often hilariously entertaining and fascinating. I laughed out loud at the example below. He used some of my blog text about our Trans America Trail trip in 2021 as the input, gave the prompt, and this is what it wrote:

Prompt: Re-Write as a Homeric Saga [inputs blog text]

Sing, O muse, of the daring adventure of Kevin and his trusty steed, the 2021 Zero DSR, as they set out to conquer the Trans America Trail, a fabled journey of six thousand miles across the land of the brave.

Many a hero had traveled this road before them, on machines of gas and steel, but never before had an electric motorcycle dared to take on this great challenge. For the skeptics had declared it impossible, citing the limited range of electric bikes and the lack of charging infrastructure in the wild and rugged terrain that lay ahead.

But Kevin was not deterred, for he had always been a maverick, one who defied convention and pushed the boundaries of what was possible. And so he set forth, with his loyal companion, the Yamaha WR250R, as his trusty support vehicle.

Through the rolling hills of North Carolina, they rode, with the wind at their back and the sun on their face. They crossed rivers and streams, scaled steep mountains and navigated treacherous terrain, always pushing forward with a fierce determination.

At every turn, they faced new challenges and obstacles, but they persevered, for they knew that greatness lay ahead. And as they journeyed westward, they encountered many fellow adventurers, who marveled at their audacity and cheered them on.

They rode on, through the heartland of America, past quaint towns and bustling cities, through fields of wheat and corn, and over the mighty Rockies. And with each passing mile, they came closer to their goal, the great Pacific Ocean, that lay beyond the horizon.

Many doubted that they would succeed, for the road ahead was long and perilous. But Kevin and his steed were undaunted, for they had the courage and determination of true heroes. And when they finally reached the shores of the great ocean, they knew that they had achieved something truly remarkable, a feat that would go down in history as a testament to the human spirit.

For they had ridden the Trans America Trail on an electric motorcycle, a machine that had been mocked and ridiculed, but had proved itself to be a true champion, a symbol of a new era, of a world that was changing and evolving, of a future that was brighter and more hopeful than ever before. And their epic journey would inspire generations to come, to take on new challenges and to never give up on their dreams, no matter how impossible they may seem.

ChatGPT might need to write more of my blog posts.

WR290R – Athena Big Bore Kit

My WR250R (with the stock motor) would not start. It would crank and crank and crank and crank, but would not fire.

It had seemingly run fine when I parked it at the end of summer after our latest 8600 mile adventure on the NEBDR and across Newfoundland and Labrador. It cranked and ran after a late September oil and filter change, with just over 30,000 miles on the odometer. Then the WR sat for a few months while I was busy and only rode my TR650 a few times. When I tried to start the WR at the end of December, it would not start.

Foreboding grew as Kevin progressed through the troubleshooting basics: air, fuel, spark, compression (please don’t be compre$$ion).

Checking that air is making it to the cylinder is easy. Fuel took a bit more work; empty the tank and drain the fuel system completely. Fill with new non-ethanol gas. We even went so far as to send the fuel injector out for cleaning and testing. After sitting for a few months, a clogged fuel injector is plausible. Nope, still no luck; just sad, battery draining cranking (Please don’t be compre$$ion).

Spark looked good, but my WR got a new spark plug anyway. The coil had not gone bad either. Still no luck. (Please don’t be compre$$ion – why would the bike bike suddenly lose compression while sitting in the garage?)

In a last ditch effort to check things that are easier to check and potentially fix easily and cheaply, Kevin checked every sensor involved in the fuel injection system in case any had stopped working. (please don’t be compression).

The Problem – Compression testing revealed that the problem was compression. Or more specifically, lack thereof. The cylinder could not build the appropriate pressure, or really much pressure at all. (*sighs dramatically, prepares to empty wallet*)

Root cause – Premature engine failure was not actually entirely unexpected. During our cross country TAT trip in 2021, I had a shop clean the air filter on my WR during an oil change. I did not check behind them, and only realized thousands of dusty miles later that my air filter had not been properly re-installed, and my engine had been breathing dusty, unfiltered air. Despite that horrific treatment, my bike seemed to run ok for the next 10,000 miles or so. In reality, I was extremely lucky the engine waited to fail until I got home from my trip in 2022. Those chickens had finally come home to roost.

Time to phone a friend; ain’t nobody got time for engine work. Who knows how much damage is really in there. Besides, Travis Jones at GoRace knows the WR250R inside and out (he also did the suspension on my bike, which is highly recommended, and a bunch of service on it last year). If anyone was going to sort out the engine on my WR, he’s the guy. I dumped the bike off the trailer at his shop with a little bit of background info (he knew all about the air filter incident), and little more than “It won’t start, please fix it.” And he did, in short order.

WR250R leakdown test

Unsurprisingly, Travis found multiple problems:

2023 Iceland in January

Initially, I was a bit skeptical about spending a week in Iceland in January. It seemed likely to be too cold for my my tastes, and I also don’t typically travel in organized group tours. I gave both a chance for an opportunity to travel somewhere spectacular and new to me, and with a small tour group that included a few friends and their acquaintances.

Our first day in Reykjavik won me over immediately.

Icelandic Yule Cat. Icelandic folklore is a bit different.

The landscape and geology of Iceland are unique. Iceland straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the divide between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, which are diverging at a rate of about 2cm per year in Iceland. New ground is up-welling in between, thus creating the island that is Iceland. The entire country is very geologically active, with over 30 volcanic systems, and many hot springs and geysers.

The Lava Tunnel is open for tourists to walk inside a cave formed by lava. As the molten lava river flows downhill from the eruption through a small valley, its possible for the edges to cool faster than the center in a way that can create a tunnel as the molten lava solidifies into rock. The ceiling of this cave had collapsed in a few thin places at one end, allowing the air inside to closely match the outside ambient temperature, rather than ground temperature. The resulting ice formations inside the cave were unusual and really fun to see, and added to my list of advantages of being in Iceland in the winter.

Interviews with RideApart and CBC CrossTalk

Kevin was interviewed for this fun article in RideApart about our trip across Labrador this summer: (I may be biased, but I think this a great interview).

Interview With Kevin Edwards, Who Rode The Trans Lab Highway On A Zero DSR

Back on August 31st, 2022, Kevin was also invited to do a short interview on CBC CrossTalk, a live radio podcast. (“CrossTalk’s daily phone-in connects listeners from across Newfoundland and Labrador – and beyond.“) This interview happened while we were still on the road.

CrossTalk with Adam Walsh – Aug. 31, 2022: Electric Bike through Labrador and Panel on Climate Change (Kevin’ interview is right at the beginning).

We don’t really promote our trips, so being in the media at all is a bit weird. We’re just two people who like to meander around on motorcycles. The vast majority of what we do probably isn’t that interesting to anyone but us, or maybe people in our social circle. I debated even putting up a ride report on advrider.com for this trip; most of our motorcycle adventures don’t get posted there. My blog is mostly for me, and I don’t particularly have the ambition to develop my writing, story telling, photography or video to make compelling travel logs for a wider audience. Its definitely fun to spill over into more professional media on occasion.

I’m copying the full text of the RideApart interview below the jump for my own archival purposes (I don’t want to lose it if RideApart ever dumps the link), but definitely click the link above to read the interview on their site, and see the pictures.

Bicycling the New River Trail

It has two wheels but no motor? You mean I’m going to have to pedal this thing to go anywhere? *eyes suspiciously*

The New River Trail (State Park) (NRT) is a 57 mile mixed use rail trail that follows the former railroad right-of-way between Galax and Pulaski, VA. Like most rail trails, the gentle slope and well graded gravel surface make it great for visitors of all ages to hike, bike, and on this trail, ride horseback.

2022 New River Trail State Park Map

I’ve walked sections of the NRT before. Of course its right up my alley; it’s scenic and peaceful, paralleling the New River for nearly 40 miles. There is interesting infrastructure, including two tunnels, various bridges and trestles, and this historic shot tower. I can drive there and back in one day.

Obviously I want to see the entire thing. Thus the bicycles.

2022 NEBDR and NL – Quebec to Home

Quebec has the most amazing road signs. Just look at this “No engine braking sign.” In the US, we get a boring yellow diamond with the words “No Engine Braking.” Quebec has full color artwork, and a hilarious onomatopoeia. It’s way better. (Literally translated, it’s “reduce the noise.”) We didn’t find a good opportunity to get a picture of one of these signs the first time through Quebec, but we’d giggle at every one when we went by, and tell each other over the comms to “reduisez the brrrruit!!!”, emphasizing the “brrrrrr” engine braking sound as obnoxiously as possible.

There was one more surprise ferry on route 138 heading towards Quebec City. Diverting to the bridge would take hours, and ferries are always fun (unless you are in a hurry, which we were not). Quebec has more stunningly beautiful coastline, and is in general more beautiful than we were expecting.

2022 NEBDR and NL – The Trans Labrador Highway with a Zero DSR

Welcome to Labrador.

They aren’t kidding when they call it the big land. If Labrador were a separate country, it’s land area of 113,640 mi² would be in 74th place, just behind Italy. With just 27,000 people, Labrador has 0.045% the population of Italy. Most of that tiny population is in Happy Valley-Goose bay, where there is a military base.

The ferry from Newfoundland arrives at the port in Blanc-Sablon, Quebec, just west of the border with Labrador. The ocean crossing takes about an hour and a half, and was lovely on a warm, sunny, August day. We’d spent most of that time chatting with friends from HU, but now we were all going our separate ways.

2022 NEBDR and NL – Newfoundland Part 2

While charging the Zero at Signal Hill in St. John’s, a guy from Quebec came up to talk about the bike. His wife recommended that we go to Elliston to see the puffins. So, we did.

(Of course he was from Quebec. He actually saw us from the top of the hill, and hurried down just to see the electric motorcycle, which was charging next to his Mustang Mach E. Most of the interest we got in the electric motorcycle on this trip was from middle aged guys from Quebec. There are so many more electric cars on the road in Quebec than anywhere else we’ve ever been. (Hydroelectricity is cheap! Gas is not.))

Elliston, Newfoundland, on the Bona Vista peninsula, is a great recommendation. There is a small island close to a walk-able lookout point where hundreds (thousands?) of puffins like to roost. Puffins are of course a crowd favorite, with their adorable looks, and their ability to both fly, and swim underwater. They were entertaining to watch; we observed that they are much better swimmers than flyers, often very visibly psyching themselves up to jump off the high cliff to get a good start for flying. The seagulls were often hilarious antagonists, sometimes intentionally swooping into a group of puffins lined up along the cliff edge and knocking them all off. Occasionally some puffins landed on our side of the cliff, only a few yards away.

Nearby, some foxes have developed quite the tourist business where they beg passing cars for handouts.

2022 NEBDR and NL – Newfoundland Part 1

Our welcome to Newfoundland was sunny and warm and wonderfully scenic. We couldn’t have asked for a better day for riding the indirect way from the ferry port in Argentia to the city of St. John’s.

Cape Spear, Newfoundland, is as far east as you can go on wheels in North America, and given the geographic extremity, was obviously on our list to visit. (We rode to the western most point at Anchor Point, AK, in 2014).

Then, the Zero broke down and totally upended our plans.

2022 NEBDR and NL – NB, PEI, Nova Scotia

New Brunswick might be a weird place. It seems to have its own flavor. We stopped at a campground to charge the bike, and it was absolutely packed; apparently Christmas in July is a big deal here. Maybe it was just this particular resort style campground, but we’ve never been anywhere quite like it.

This floating Yurt might not actually be that strange if it’s related to traditional fishing practice. We thought it was interesting enough to stop for the picture.

These are the kinds of photos we took in New Brunswick…

A quick stop at Clay’s Offroad in Moncton, NB for a new front tire, oil change, and a clean air filter meant my bike was ready for the next several thousand miles. Two thumbs up for #claysoffroad (they aren’t paying me, I just had a good experience at their shop). Notably, the electric motorcycle did not need any service in order to continue our journey.

2022 NEBDR and NL – Gaspe Peninsula

Our introduction to French Canada started with an unexpected free breakfast from our campground neighbors, whom we had hardly spoken to the night before. Two cups of hot coffee, warm toasted English muffins, butter, peanut butter, and fresh strawberries. We could get used to this. (The included business card revealed our friendly but non-English speaking RV neighbors to be Jehovah’s Witnesses. No regrets. Merci beacoup).

The “slow for children” signs in the neighborhoods in Quebec are hilariously morbid.

Keep in mind the speed signs are in kph, not mph. In fact, let’s review what happens to measurements when you cross the border.

How to measure like a Canadian:

Clear as mud, right? Ok. Now do it in French. (In fairness, I happen to be on team metric, and think the US system of measuring most things is very dumb).

Our arrival on the north coast of the Gaspe Peninsula started with a bit of luck with a fantastic tent site right on the water. The wind and occasional rain were entirely worth the view.