Jul 25, 2011

Looping Superior



Last week, my brother and I made the loop around Lake Superior.We hadn't done a motorcycle trip together since I lived in Colorado in the 90's and he hadn't been on a bike since he mashed his foot into a deer.We started slow, down two lanes and dirt roads, and took a really convoluted path to south Duluth where we turned east into Wisconsin. We toured the south side of Lake Superior through Michigan's UP and crossed the boarder at Sault Ste. Marie into Ontario. From there, to Thunder Bay in two days and two days back to the Cities.

Our big day was about 375 miles and our short day was a little under 250. That's kind of an ass-pounding on the WR250X, I'm sorry to admit. The only disappointment on the trip was that the V-Strom got exactly the same mileage as the 250. That's good for the V-Strom, since it knocked down 55mpg consistently. That sucks for the WR since it has a 3 gallon tank and a 150 mile range, when I'd hoped it would get better efficiency and at least 200 miles out of a tank.

4 comments:

Nico'Thom said...

Too bad you didn't arrange some better weather. Was it fun at least? Nice photos.

T.W. Day said...

Great time. The weather was a little of everything except frozen stuff. We had a great time.

Anonymous said...

I'm impressed the V-Strom gets 55 mpg. My Ninja 500 gets about 52 mpg most of the time, though it will creep up to around 55 mpg on long trips with steady speeds. When I wear out the Ninja the V-Strom is on my short list to look at for the next bike.

T.W. Day said...

You can't knock the V-Strom's performance at all. It's a great bike: comfortable, efficient, powerful, smooth, and packs a lot of gear when all the luggage is clipped on the frame.