Upper Laird to Prince Rupert
 

Hi I was looking on my map at the road from Upper Laird to Prince Rupert (route 37) and noticed that there are 2 sections of gravel road, is this still the case? and if so is it in good enough condition to ride with a couple of heavily loaded sports tourers? Looking at hiting that strech in about 2 - 3 weeks so any local knowlage would be much apreciated.
Adam

It's a bit outside my area but this site might help you :
Drive BC

Hwy 37 (Cassiar Hwy) is one of Canada's most scenic routes. We travelled this Hwy in July 2006. There are scetions that are gravel/dirt. Some of these are construction zones, and some are just not paved. It is doable on any bike. It may take a little longer if the road is wet. Of the entire Hwy, as of last July, there were 3-4 sections that were not paved, but again, not a problem on any bike. We did this riding 2-up on a roadster. If you do the route, consider taking a short side trip via Hwy 37a to Stewart BC/Hyder AK. Well worth the trip!!

The Milepost magazine is fairly accurate, and worth the $$.

Cheers,

Thanks I assumed it would be ok as its a fairly main route but its nice to get some confirmation before I start booking freries from Prince Rupert.
Cheers
Adam

The Cassiar is definitely more scenic than the Alcan (and a bit shorter) but you will miss my favorite spot on the Alcan, Liard Hot Springs, at ~KM770.

Charlie

You may be interested in the experience I and two friends had on the gravel/dirt sections of the Cassiar a couple of summers ago. Three types of bikes, three results. Note that it rained much of the time and the road surface was somewhat slimey.

I rode a Kawasaki ZR-7S which, by virtue of geometry, tire size etc, would be roughly equivalent to a sport tourer. This bike was not at all happy. Above 40 kph it felt squirrely and insecure. I'd attribute this largely to the fattish, sportsbike like, 17 inch tires. I could have, should have lowered the pressure in the tires but could not be bothered. However, as long as I kept the speed down it was ultimately O.K.

One friend rode a BWM 650GS which ordinarily could blast along gravel roads with no issues. However, the bike had only a high dirt bike style front fender which was hopeless at deflecting the silty spray. This rider was down to a miserable crawl with many stops to clean off his face shield. A complaint to BMW after the trip resulted in a free additional low fender.

The third bike was an early eighties Honda CX650e which did surprisingly well. My assumption is that this was due its larger (18 inch) and narrower (old style) tires and the fact that it is a V twin which, I understand, provides a more gravel friendly power pulse than the spinny four cylinder on my Kawasaki.

I'd second the recommendation of a side trip into Stewart and Hyder. These twin towns on either side of the border have become something of a destination for motorcyclists and you're bound to meet some fellow travellers.

Norm

Road conditions
 

Check the road closures. Last I heard they were closing some of the roads due to flooding. But if it isn't under water It is a nice ride. Do get Hyderized if you are the drinking sort.

Thanks
 

Nice to hear more positive info about the route, especialy good side trips which involve drinking! I checked the bc roads site and all seems open with at least one lane in each direction where they have had wash outs, so fingers crossed should be there in a couple of weeks.
Thanks
Adam

By all means check the road conditions. Terrace B.C. (just south of the Cassiar) is currently completely cut off by flooding and mudslides...air access only at the moment.

Norm

Road conditions
 

In case any other travelers are watching this link check out this site Drive BC it should have the latest BC road conditions.