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52 Posts
Hey Folks,
I just got back from a 3 day trip on the 400R. I went with a couple of guys from work, Scott was on a Harley Street Glide and Kevin was riding a Honda VTX. We left home on Sunday from Rothesay, New Brunswick on Canada's east coast, rode west for an hour to US/Canada border at St. Stephen. Customs was a breeze, and we continued on to Bangor. Route 9 is an awesome road, smooth pavement with lots of twists and turns, and hardly any traffic. We passed a lot of bikes coming in the opposite direction, everyone was headed home from Laconia Bike Week. We made Bangor in 2 hours from the border, gassed up and headed another hour down the road for Augusta, where we spent the night.
The next morning we woke up to a cool overcast day, and hit the road around 9am for Mt. Washington. It took us about 2hrs and 30mins to get there, stayed off the major highways, and stuck to the back roads. Just after we crossed into New Hampshire the sun came out and the roads became utterly beautiful, smooth, with nice sweeping turns through the White mountains. We were in heaven, it was one of the best rides of my life, good tunes on the ipod, good roads, good weather, all was right with the world.
Mt. Washington is the tallest peak on the east coast, 6228ft, and is home of the highest recorded wind gust, 231mph. The road to the top is just over 8 miles long with an average gradient of 12%. It's paved most of the way, with a small gravel section near the top. The ride up was amazing, really cool being above the clouds.
We then made our way over to Laconia, to check out where the big biker festival took place, again the roads and scenery are just amazing, and eventually ended up out on the coast at Portsmouth, NH, where we spent night two.
Day Three, was another sunny warm day, and we started to make our back east again for home, passing thru Kennebunkport, Portland, Freeport to getbour picture taken in front of the LL Bean boot, Bangor, Calais, and then the final stretch to home.
In total we did 1400kms. The mid-sized Ninja did really well. I added an Airhawk seat cushion, and it was a butt saver, could not have done the trip without it. No trouble hanging with the big boys on their 1600cc bikes. We were doing 120-155kph through Route 9 at times, and the Ninja never got tired. The only issues I had were the lack of wind protection, and the slightly cramped ergos for me at 6ft was tiring after 3 long days. I really started to feel tired and little sore midway through day 3, especially because we were trying to get home fast, so we did a lot of interstate riding. I understand now why folks go with big bikes, with fairings for multiday tours.
I think a Concourse or Honda ST13000 maybe in my near future, the 43 year old bones can't handle it like I used to, and I'm looking for comfort now.
I just got back from a 3 day trip on the 400R. I went with a couple of guys from work, Scott was on a Harley Street Glide and Kevin was riding a Honda VTX. We left home on Sunday from Rothesay, New Brunswick on Canada's east coast, rode west for an hour to US/Canada border at St. Stephen. Customs was a breeze, and we continued on to Bangor. Route 9 is an awesome road, smooth pavement with lots of twists and turns, and hardly any traffic. We passed a lot of bikes coming in the opposite direction, everyone was headed home from Laconia Bike Week. We made Bangor in 2 hours from the border, gassed up and headed another hour down the road for Augusta, where we spent the night.
The next morning we woke up to a cool overcast day, and hit the road around 9am for Mt. Washington. It took us about 2hrs and 30mins to get there, stayed off the major highways, and stuck to the back roads. Just after we crossed into New Hampshire the sun came out and the roads became utterly beautiful, smooth, with nice sweeping turns through the White mountains. We were in heaven, it was one of the best rides of my life, good tunes on the ipod, good roads, good weather, all was right with the world.
Mt. Washington is the tallest peak on the east coast, 6228ft, and is home of the highest recorded wind gust, 231mph. The road to the top is just over 8 miles long with an average gradient of 12%. It's paved most of the way, with a small gravel section near the top. The ride up was amazing, really cool being above the clouds.
We then made our way over to Laconia, to check out where the big biker festival took place, again the roads and scenery are just amazing, and eventually ended up out on the coast at Portsmouth, NH, where we spent night two.
Day Three, was another sunny warm day, and we started to make our back east again for home, passing thru Kennebunkport, Portland, Freeport to getbour picture taken in front of the LL Bean boot, Bangor, Calais, and then the final stretch to home.
In total we did 1400kms. The mid-sized Ninja did really well. I added an Airhawk seat cushion, and it was a butt saver, could not have done the trip without it. No trouble hanging with the big boys on their 1600cc bikes. We were doing 120-155kph through Route 9 at times, and the Ninja never got tired. The only issues I had were the lack of wind protection, and the slightly cramped ergos for me at 6ft was tiring after 3 long days. I really started to feel tired and little sore midway through day 3, especially because we were trying to get home fast, so we did a lot of interstate riding. I understand now why folks go with big bikes, with fairings for multiday tours.
I think a Concourse or Honda ST13000 maybe in my near future, the 43 year old bones can't handle it like I used to, and I'm looking for comfort now.
