Canada coast to coast

[Rich H]

Hi everyone. I'm beginnig to plan a trip with my girlfriend across Canada in July - September this yesr. I'm sure I'll have many questions over the next few months, but here are a few for starters - answers / comments / recommendations welcome please.

Our plans is to ride from Quebec to Vancouver, route details yet to be confirmed.

There don't appear to be any one way rentals available. Is this correct, or does anyone have experience of one-way rentals in Canada?

Another plan is to buy bikes in Quebec and sell them again in Vancouver. We are both British nationals, resident in the UK - are there any problems with doing this?

Finally, are there problems with tank range riding across central Canada, or can we rely on gas stations every 100 - 150 miles. Is it just a case of planning the route carefully?

Many thanks - looking forward to hearing from you all soon

Rich

[Riq]

Rich your posting leaves me asking one question of my own.

Why start in Quebec. This will leave you missing our eastern coast and some beautifull scenery ?

As to the bike issue. If you want to insure and register a bike in Canada (mandatory) you must have a canadian address in the province of registration. At least this applies for all of the provinces I am aware of. It may be different in Quebec as they have a slightly different rule book than the rest of the country. You could try to contact the HU community where you intend to land and see if you can borrow an address for this purpose.

Once you own the bike the government doesn't care where or if you sell the bike so selling in Vancouver should not be a problem as long as you keep in mind that you will be selling at the end of the riding season.

Used bikes in Canada are usually a good deal as our riding season is short resulting in many low kilometer used models. Also our prices are lower than in the UK.

As for fuel it is readily available in Canada. In the rare circumstance where you will be more than 100 kilometers from a fuel station there is usually a road sign warning of the distance to the next stop.

If you decide to visit Edmonton give us a call and if we are around we usualy have a spare bed and the occasional .

Rick

[tor1150r]

Rich,
I am a Toronto resident and have been planning a trip from Toronto to the east coast (Newfoundland/Labrador) and back. Time and $$ permitting, we may keep going west to BC. My plan is to travel as much off the TransCanada Hwy as possible (can get a little boring).

I can help with some routing through eastern Canada if you wish. We can also plan to meet, should our routes cross paths, geographically and time-wise.

Cheers,

[tor1150r]

And Rich.....
If we are in Toronto while you pass though, give me a call, or a post here, and we can provide accommodations for you both for an evening.

[Grant Johnson]

And of course contact the Toronto HU Community - always the easiest way to contact travellers at home!

[lost1]

Rich,

I live in Quebec, and would be happy to give you a hand with sorting your bike stuff out and a place to stay. I am about 4 hours east of Quebec city. I have crossed Canada a few times in the last 3 years.
www.lespac.com is probably the best place to look on the net for a bike in Quebec.

good luck,

lost1

[Rich H]

Thanks for the replies. I'll be doing some more planning over the next week and will be back in touch, I'm sure. Speak to you all soon.

Thanks again

Rich

[ChicagoMike]

The best thing about Canada is the people - the sweetest on the planet.

I rode from Inuvik to Dawson City to Whitehorse to Winnipeg. The Whitehorse to Winnipeg trip is like riding through Nebraska - except Nebraska eventually ends while the journey to Winnipeg continues day after day.

Consider trading the Nebraska-like farm provinces for the spectacular south-to-north trip from Vancouver to Dawson Creek to Whitehorse to Dawson to Inuvik. Dawson to Inuvik is on the Dempster Highway, a 750 km gravel/shale track which is desolate, beautiful, and sometimes a little difficult on my Gold Wing.

Vancouver to Inuvik is breathtakingly beautiful with wonderful people! It begins with the gorgeous mountain valleys of the Canadian Rockies and ends with the Arctic tundra, another form of beauty.

[This message has been edited by ChicagoMike (edited 02 February 2006).]

[This message has been edited by ChicagoMike (edited 03 February 2006).]

[loxsmith]

Rich we are also planning a 9 week trip Trans Canada and US trip starting July '06 in Vancouver and finishing Vancouver in September. I can forward you the route we have chosen if you like.

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Never enough time to fit it all in?

[tor1150r]

Rich, et al,
Getting back to Rich's original post, I have planned our cross Canada route. I expect to pass a number of other riders crossing Canada this summer. Hope to see some riders on the road.

We're leaving Toronto end of May (21st) and heading east through Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces. We expect to be in Labrador around mid-June. From there it's back to Toronto via Quebec.

We'll spend a few days at home in Toronto, preparing for our western route. Plan is to leave Toronto on July 3 and make our way on a northern route to BC and Yukon. After Yukon we'll ride south to BC and along the US border (Hwy 3 mostly) towards Toronto. We expect to be back in Toronto late August.

Hope all of your plans are coming along.

[Rich H]

Back again!

Ok - the route's coming on but I need more details on how to insure bikes in Canada. Some of you have mentioned the need to have an address in Canada that the insurance company can use. I'd like to understand a bit more about this please.

It would probably be easiest if I understood the process for buying, registering and insuring a bike step by step. In particular, I don't understand what legal status the address that I give needs to have. For example, I have a family friend in Peterborough, Ontario, who I'm sure would be happy to let me use her address. However, I don't live there - how can I register a bike at an address that I don't live at? Does she need to be the "registered keeper" (UK term - not sure what the Canadian equivalent is?) What information do I then give the insurance company, given that she doesn't have a bike license? If I end up buying a bike in Montreal, can I register it in Peterborough, for example?

I'm sorry if i'm missing something really obvious here, or if I'm making it out to be far more complicated than it is.

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks

Rich

[Grant Johnson]

Originally posted by Rich H:
Back again!

Ok - the route's coming on but I need more details on how to insure bikes in Canada. Some of you have mentioned the need to have an address in Canada that the insurance company can use. I'd like to understand a bit more about this please.

It would probably be easiest if I understood the process for buying, registering and insuring a bike step by step. In particular, I don't understand what legal status the address that I give needs to have. For example, I have a family friend in Peterborough, Ontario, who I'm sure would be happy to let me use her address. However, I don't live there - how can I register a bike at an address that I don't live at? Does she need to be the "registered keeper" (UK term - not sure what the Canadian equivalent is?) What information do I then give the insurance company, given that she doesn't have a bike license? If I end up buying a bike in Montreal, can I register it in Peterborough, for example?

I'm sorry if i'm missing something really obvious here, or if I'm making it out to be far more complicated than it is.

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks

Rich

First - don't get paranoid - just use her address, you're the owner, that's your address for all they know, and you're good.

Easiest is to register it in the same province as you bought it - in other words, where they already have a record of it, then you're just the new owner. SHOULD be no biggie...

Oh yeah, and one little detail when talking to officials - keep your mouth shut! Don't volunteer anything, say as little as possible, and only answer the questions as needed. Yes and no are great answers. Try to cultivate a Canadian accent...

MANY people get themselves in all sorts of trouble by putting their foot firmly in mouth...

Grant

[Riq]

I have talked to the registration people here in Alberta and they are not concerned about the address as long as they have one to post information to. The requirement here is:
1- you must have a valid operators license, it can be from any country.

2- You must have proof of insurance for the vehicle. Depending on the province that you are fegistering the bike in it may come with your registration.

3- A Canadian address as mentioned above so they know where to send your photo radar tickets I guess.

Vehicle registration is a provincial issue so you should confirm any information with the province you plan to purchase and register the bike in. Also note that the registration agencies may want to confirm the Vehicle Identification Number to make sure that it is not a stolen bike. You can usualy take the number to an agency and hae this check made before you pay for the bike just in case you have any concerns about the big tattooed fellow selling it out the back of his van telling you he had to break the ignition because he lost his key.

Rick

[loxsmith]

Rich how is the route planning going? I am also interested to hear how you are going finding a bike. We have been promised the earth by one dealer on the west coast and now the whole deal looks like being double the original price. If nothing turns up soon we will have to ship our own bikes from OZ.
Glen

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Never enough time to fit it all in?
Can't beat local knowledge!

[tor1150r]

Rich,
Hope you've been able to get your bike/insurance issues in reasonable order.

I finally have our trip planned out (though we suspect things will change over the course of the trip!). But our route plan gives us something to go by. We will probably be crossing the country at the same time. I'm willing to help you (or others) with your route (if you need any), or at least some companionship on your trip, as I am also riding 2-up with my SO.

Cheers,

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www.motorcycle-overland.com

[This message has been edited by tor1150r (edited 09 April 2006).]