Getting on the ferry in North Sydney, Cape Breton and going back to Newfoundland via Port-aux-Basques. I had just finished a great day on the Cabot Trail.
Heading there early Sept on my Sport Tour. Road to west coast of Van. Island with my wife in '89 by bike and always wanted to put 2 wheels on the east side of our great country. Doing Port-aux-Basques to St. Johns then back to NS on the long Ferry. Some great tips & narration, really enjoyed it ... thanks!
A couple more things - one obvious, and one not so much.... 1) Leave your bike in 1st gear. 2) Carry a short bungee cord with you and wrap this around the right hand grip and brake lever so that your front brake stays engaged throughout the trip. I pack my own tie down straps for this trip. The cam style are very quick to tighten and store nicely under the seat of my bike. Get them at Cdn Tire. The ones on the ferry can get pretty crappy and rusty. Also a couple of short nylon loops.
I just happen to be in the ferry line up as your question showed up. Truck this crossing. Marine Atlantic supply the tie down straps. They have a metal hook at each end and a ratchet to tighten them. You are responsible for doing the tie down but one of the deck crew can advise you if there are no other bikers on that crossing. They do have a supply of rope "loops" to use around handle bars or other chrome or painted surfaces. You can use those to go around the part on your bike and hook the tie down hook thru that instead of directly to your bike.
Fingers crossed that our borders will be open. I'm plannning on staying on the island checking out all the little roads I have not been down and camp everywhere possible. Feel free to get in touch if youi want any advice on touring Newfoundland.
Thanks for watching. St. Anthony is in my plans for this summer. Haven't been all the way there for years. I'm not confident that borders will be opened up but hoping the island will be okay for in province travel and camping. I've got lots of roads I have not been down and lots of places I would like to go back to.
I made the same pass in 2014 we boarded around 11:45 but over night the sea picked up so the next morning we where circling for ever .. we got off the ferry about 5 pm. and got a room at st christifers I think it is called ? next day we went to port ua port and stayed in stevensville was a very nice ride around the area there. the wind was wild at times and the salt rain burned my eyes and lips haha .. being from ontario I was not ready for burning rain haha.. But was a great trip
They will rarely send a ferry out these days if they think there will be too much wind to allow them to get into port. I have spent as long as 52 hours on the ferry during a winter (non-bike) crossing. Glad you still had a great trip.
Nice. I have been looking on youtube for videos on this ferry as we will be taking our first motorcycle trip to Newfoundland to Port-aux-Basques next month. We will be on large harley cruisers. Your video shows there are four tie-down deck mounts available for each bike. Does the ferry supply four straps for you to use and do you strap in your own bike or do they? Any additional info would be great. Thanks again.
Great video, I planning on traveling across in the summer and was wondering about extra bags did you tie them down to the bike or carried them with you? I worry about leaving anything on the bike that isn't able to be locked.
I have never worried about leaving things on the bike. I do either take my cameras with me or lock them in my hard bags. Usually I just use the chin strap on my helmet to secure it to the bike. On hot summer days, I've seen people just drape their jackets over the seat or windshield. I might carry a cable bicycle lock though to run thru a sleeve if I was to leave my jacket. I always have a small knapsack with toothbrush, chargers, a notebook to take up to the passenger decks. No one is allowed on the car decks during transit so I never worry too much about stuff being disturbed. One always wants to get down to the car decks as soon as they let us as you've got to get the tie down staps off and ready to go. Never a lot of opportunity for thieft.
@@OldGuyonaBike Awesome thanks for the reply, its great that i can now relax more while i plan my trip. I always too take much stuff with me but with the weather being the way it is in NFLD, i rather be prepare then run into trouble.
The ST1300 has a 29 litre tank. Usually I will gas up about every 3 hours or by 400 kms. With the trailer I don't go past 350 kms. This always gives me at least a 50-75 km. cushion.
@@OldGuyonaBike was down there about a month ago , beautiful spot " as you already know " I got a 1998 Suzuki intruder 1500....I'm 61 ..I'm another old guy on a bike lol ...nice video thanks for sharing
Heading there early Sept on my Sport Tour. Road to west coast of Van. Island with my wife in '89 by bike and always wanted to put 2 wheels on the east side of our great country. Doing Port-aux-Basques to St. Johns then back to NS on the long Ferry. Some great tips & narration, really enjoyed it ... thanks!
Have a great trip. I'm 10 days in to 3 months out. Make kots of memories!
A couple more things - one obvious, and one not so much....
1) Leave your bike in 1st gear.
2) Carry a short bungee cord with you and wrap this around the right hand grip and brake lever so that your front brake stays engaged throughout the trip.
I pack my own tie down straps for this trip. The cam style are very quick to tighten and store nicely under the seat of my bike. Get them at Cdn Tire. The ones on the ferry can get pretty crappy and rusty. Also a couple of short nylon loops.
Don't know how many times I've watched this, but it always bring back fond memories of my two trips to your part of the world. A special place.
Hard for me to accept that it's been 2 years since I took the ferry. Next summer!
Nice video and well narrated. We did NS a couple years ago. Hope to make it up to Newfoundland soon.
I just happen to be in the ferry line up as your question showed up. Truck this crossing. Marine Atlantic supply the tie down straps. They have a metal hook at each end and a ratchet to tighten them. You are responsible for doing the tie down but one of the deck crew can advise you if there are no other bikers on that crossing. They do have a supply of rope "loops" to use around handle bars or other chrome or painted surfaces. You can use those to go around the part on your bike and hook the tie down hook thru that instead of directly to your bike.
Thanks for sharing how the fairy system works. Heading up there this summer from Southern Ohio.
Fingers crossed that our borders will be open. I'm plannning on staying on the island checking out all the little roads I have not been down and camp everywhere possible. Feel free to get in touch if youi want any advice on touring Newfoundland.
Very nicely done video, thanks for letting me ride along. Hope to up your way some day. Cheers.
Thank you. There is some great rides in Newfoundland.
Loved the video. Very helpful. I am heading that way in two weeks. On my bike with a camper.
I've got to seriously look at getting a tent trailer to haul behind the bike... I just carry toooo much stuff.
Great video my friend keep them coming bud safe travels
Thanks. I hope to start videoing a lot of new material in Newfoundland in about a month. Stay safe, both on and off the road.
Great Vid! Ill be taking the Concours to St Anthony this summer if they open the borders.
Thanks for watching. St. Anthony is in my plans for this summer. Haven't been all the way there for years. I'm not confident that borders will be opened up but hoping the island will be okay for in province travel and camping. I've got lots of roads I have not been down and lots of places I would like to go back to.
I made the same pass in 2014 we boarded around 11:45 but over night the sea picked up so the next morning we where circling for ever .. we got off the ferry about 5 pm. and got a room at st christifers I think it is called ? next day we went to port ua port and stayed in stevensville was a very nice ride around the area there. the wind was wild at times and the salt rain burned my eyes and lips haha .. being from ontario I was not ready for burning rain haha.. But was a great trip
They will rarely send a ferry out these days if they think there will be too much wind to allow them to get into port. I have spent as long as 52 hours on the ferry during a winter (non-bike) crossing. Glad you still had a great trip.
I have never taken the ferry, and never been to NFLD. THanks for the video.
Hopefully you will visit and ride the Rock someday.
Nice. I have been looking on youtube for videos on this ferry as we will be taking our first motorcycle trip to Newfoundland to Port-aux-Basques next month. We will be on large harley cruisers. Your video shows there are four tie-down deck mounts available for each bike. Does the ferry supply four straps for you to use and do you strap in your own bike or do they? Any additional info would be great. Thanks again.
Great video, I planning on traveling across in the summer and was wondering about extra bags did you tie them down to the bike or carried them with you? I worry about leaving anything on the bike that isn't able to be locked.
I have never worried about leaving things on the bike. I do either take my cameras with me or lock them in my hard bags. Usually I just use the chin strap on my helmet to secure it to the bike. On hot summer days, I've seen people just drape their jackets over the seat or windshield. I might carry a cable bicycle lock though to run thru a sleeve if I was to leave my jacket. I always have a small knapsack with toothbrush, chargers, a notebook to take up to the passenger decks. No one is allowed on the car decks during transit so I never worry too much about stuff being disturbed. One always wants to get down to the car decks as soon as they let us as you've got to get the tie down staps off and ready to go. Never a lot of opportunity for thieft.
@@OldGuyonaBike Awesome thanks for the reply, its great that i can now relax more while i plan my trip. I always too take much stuff with me but with the weather being the way it is in NFLD, i rather be prepare then run into trouble.
How often y’all fuel up?
The ST1300 has a 29 litre tank. Usually I will gas up about every 3 hours or by 400 kms. With the trailer I don't go past 350 kms. This always gives me at least a 50-75 km. cushion.
So your from corner brook? I'm from twillingate but my girlfriend is from the north shore " Hughes brook "
I'm down the other side of the bay... York Harbour.
@@OldGuyonaBike was down there about a month ago , beautiful spot " as you already know " I got a 1998 Suzuki intruder 1500....I'm 61 ..I'm another old guy on a bike lol ...nice video thanks for sharing
@@ken1769 It is a beautiful area indeed. Yay for us old bikers. Thanks for finding the channel.