In this concluding installment I eat a burger, a DJ plays a song, a Hell’s Angel biker gets offered a snack, and a Bentley/Lincoln hybrid is spotted.
The half way point and lunch stop was at Wicked Cup in Jasper. Jasper does not allow chain restaurants of any kind which quite refreshing and allows for these more funky places to flourish.
They had even arranged for our group to have a DJ during lunch. The weather continued to be absolutely perfect so we sat out on the patio.
Although we spend little time inside the restaurant seemed to have a bicycle theme including these bike wheel seats which looked cool but not super comfortable.
Somehow food always tastes better when on a road trip. Doubly so when you arrive on the later side.
After filling our stomachs we filled our scooters with fuel and started to head back. As the day was getting on we did not explore the town Jasper which was a little disappointing because I have been there only twice this century but never made it beyond the first section of main road. But we certainly did not want the little Tomos bikes beating us back to the campground.
The rivers are fast and full this time of year with snow melt in full swing.
As on the way to Jasper we had to stop to refill from our jerrycans on the way back as well.
After 300+ kms (185+ miles) the auxiliary fuel supply was empty and with the lighter weight could be moved to the rear rack which meant I could finally put my feet in the normal scooter riding position.
The red scooter seemed to lose a bit more power over the blue one at high elevations for some reason. Due to this I now had a little less top end than Peter. Thankfully as we descended to lower elevations it recovered.
A road side stop where one of our larger group may have offered home cooked granola bars to a pair of Hell’s Angels. They declined with few words for the record.
A stylish Yamaha Vino.
These spectacular waterfalls that have not been given justice by a cell phone camera photo. One of these times I will bring our big camera along for the trip.
Highway 93 or the Icefield Parkway.
Nearing the end of the day we left Highway 93 and turned onto the 11. The massive number of of dead trees along this stretch of road had us speculating on the cause. It appeared to be a pest like the Pine Beetle rather than fire or logging.
Photo by Amy Wiebe
As we finished up there was a group of folks to greet and cheer us on.
Out of the forty two entries amazingly only one did not make it back under its own power. One of the Tomos bikes had broken but I later heard it had over 60,xxx kms (37,xxx miles) on it! I would image it consumed a large number of those skinny tires over that impressive distance. A few other folks had to be refueled keeping the sweep truck busy.
A few awards were given out. The gentleman in the black t-shirt, Mike, is the organizer and he plus the other volunteers did a fantastic job for what was the fourth running of the event.
Everyone who finished got a patch and plaque.
A much appreciated by all BBQ dinner followed.
Naturally a few celebrations and toasts followed (that is champagne) as well as swapping of tales from the road.
At the end of the day we had to marvel at our trusty steads. These machines had been built three and half decades ago while being originally designed for a duty that did not at all resemble what we had just put them through. The designers likely envisioned the occasional ride to the corner store not a highway mountain run over several hundred kilometers with substantial elevation changes. Despite this both Honda scooters were anvil-like reliable with only the fuel gauge on the red on going AWOL. Even more amazing is that 1983 scooter did this event last year (not the same route but similar concept) and is now a two time veteran.
The next morning we packed to leave and discovered the Volkswagen folks were heading out at the same time. Surprisingly I was not sore from the ride the previous day but a little stiff from two nights in a tent without a proper mattress.
Props to this Volkswagen sand rail owner who took it camping. All his gear was packed in the passenger seat.
We stuck around for the start of a second run on the Sunday which is called the Grom Bomb. This was to Lake Louise and back for the bigger displacement machines. Most of the Groms did both the Fiddy Run and the Grom Bomb.
In the parking lot we borrowed a jack to investigate the Previa for any obvious electrical issues surrounding the transmission before heading out. We did not find any but Peter adjusted the throttle as it was slightly out of specification hoping that would cure the transmission oddities.
The drive back was long but uneventful. The Previa’s transmission hiccuped randomly but held together. If anyone has an thoughts or has experienced this issue I am sure Peter would love to hear about it.
On our way home we spotted this odd Lincoln/Bentley hybrid limousine after scouting out possible starting locations for this summer’s Great Beater Challenge.
Photo by Amy Wiebe
That puts this fun adventure in the books. The wild life count for the trip was five or six bears, a pack of deer, two squirrels (one dead, one not), and a bighorn sheep. We figured that our fuel consumption was roughly 3L/100 kms or 80 mpg which not bad since we had been using the throttle in an almost entirely binary manner, either off or fully on. Peter is planning to bring three scooters next year. I would like to join again either on a scooter of my own or another borrowed one. A great big thanks to Peter for inviting me along as well as Mike and the other organizers/volunteers.
The whole series:
Thats a long way on a scooter well done, I see a lot of these things about some struggle with the in town speed limit some go like stink I also see the odd one on the expressway travelling slowly in the breakdown lane we get a lot of scooters imported from China and licences to ride them are easy to get and for just bombing around town I guess they are ok but I wouldnt like to go as far as you guys did but hey an interesting trip with some awesome scenery.
There are quite a few groups dedicated to small bikes here in NZ Bryce. A bunch of guys I know did East Cape last year, and are doing a similar run through the Uruweras soon.
Yeah I know theres a following for scooters here a wheel alignment guy here in Napier is a Vespa fanatic his workshop is quite interesting in the variety of stuff he has in there, Ive ridden a few low capacity motor cycles but that was a long time ago I was more bullet proof back then.
I was sad to see the tale end. The pictures make me want to travel that way, perhaps between snow season and fire season (May?) and camp using my compact hatchback. YOLO and I’d like to see that part of the world.
A great tale and what looks from this seat to have been a really great time. I love these views of places I may never see.
+1 reminded me of your great TU250 trip last year. Well done once again.
Maybe JPC and I should put a team together for the scooter run next year 😛
Definitely – it is a fun time. Next year they are planning David Thompson (this year’s starting point) to Radium, BC (roughly last year’s Beater Challenge halfway point).
Radium is the pearl of the Rockies. I lived in the area for a couple of years. It is gorgeous.
Those tiny-displacement Honda engines are some of the most brilliantly (and over-) designed engines of all times. Scooter engines run at high loads most of the time, and these were designed to take it. There’s a very good reason that almost all Chinese scooters run a virtual clone of Honda engines.
Something similar, held yearly in the Great Lakes region is the Lake Erie Loop.
FYI
http://www.lakeerieloop.org/race-results/2018-rr.html
Congratulations. Great trip and scenery. I’m a bit surprised to not see any classic Vespas or Lambrettas. Maybe their being pampered nowadays.
Not too many vintage scooters but there were some small vintage bikes. I think there was a couple modern Vespas.
An ‘83 Aero qualifies as plenty vintage on my book. A Vespa or Lambretta would be an antique, practically brass era! And dare I say the Aero may be rarer, certainly not as cherished or taken care of when new.
I love these travelogues of yours, David.
Seeing the Canadian Rockies is on my bucket list, and you may’ve just pinned it down for me as to a route I’d like to take. Beautiful scenery!
The line about the throttle being binary was priceless.
Are you doing the Great Beater Challenge this year? That’s always a fun read.
I am planning to do the Great Beater Challenge. Plan A is a the 1984 Innocenti I acquired – https://www.curbsideclassic.com/stories/affordable-classic-1984-innocenti-minitre-se-reboot-with-a-smaller-size/. Unfortunately it is a bit of a pile of poo with a reluctance to run, nothing electrical working except the starter and ignition and some impossible to replace TRX tires. Plan B is the Toyota Tercel I picked up cheap.
I really hope you get the Innocenti there. So much more interesting than a Tercel, even if it in poor condition…
Greatly enjoy these road trip posts, David!
Cellphone cam or not, those photos are fantastic.
If that limo had received the LincVolt treatment, would it be a Lincoln/Bentley hybrid hybrid? 😉
Jasper is heaven on earth and a million times better than Banff-Lake Louise, which are now over-run with tour buses and chain stores. Jasper is just far enough away that you don’t get crowds.
Highway 93 is one of the most spectacular pieces of road I have ever been on. Like I said, I skip Banff and head straight through Kootenay Park to Radium Hot Springs. From there, it is back to Vancouver.
This is like a regular circuit for me and I try to do it every year. At the end of this month,I am going again, in my new Golf. I am REALLY looking forward to that!
Looks like a lot of fun. I definitely want to tour the Canadian Rockies sometime soon. These different type of “challenge runs” keep touring interesting. Doing the same route in a big new SUV wouldn’t be the same. The challenge puts a fresh spin on it, reminds a lot of us older folks what it was like to travel on a shoe string. Using the bike or car that we have at the time, even if it’s not the ideal machine, it’s what we’ve got. It’s the experience that counts.
These Japanese MPV’s are notorious here in the far east for ‘cooking’ their gearboxes due to their location and lack of ventilation. My mechanic has had a few of them himself and is in the habit of jerry rigging a gearbox oil cooler to keep them sweet.
Have you tried simply changing the gearbox oil and filter? Worked wonders in my last car when the automatic gearbox would lose transmission.
The Previa actually came standard with a transmission oil cooler, which is nice.
I actually did just change out the oil and filter, and after that is when the problems began. I have a hunch however. On these transmissions, the wiring for the solenoids runs through the pan, and is held in place with clips on the filter. When I first opened the transmission up, the wire was not clipped in place, rather dangling. so I put it back where it was supposed to be when I changed the filter and thought nothing of it. But perhaps there was a break in the wire, and being clipped in place is causing an intermittent short to occur and kicking the solenoid.