We (my wife and I, 2-up) got back to Toronto on Aug 23, after 90 days and 27800 kms (26km by bike, the rest by boat, bus, ferry and flatbed truck). We decide to stay off the Trans-Canada Highway as much as possible - taking secondary roads through each province, and a different route eastward and westward. We actually crossed the country twice, by 2 differnt routes.
Plenty to write about, but I'll keep this post all about the bike, based on my experience during this trip. We'll post trip details and more pics on our site in the next few weeks (http://www.motorcycle-overland.com, for those that are interested).
I'll try to cover as much as I can (in one sitting) but feel free to post/PM any questions - I'll be happy to answer.
Trip Details:
Left Toronto 5/21 and headed to the east coast. Returned to Toronto on June 23, re-grouped and left for the west coast on June 29.
We rode through all the provinces and Yukon Territory (didn't make it to NWT or Nunavut). Went into Alaska 3 times.
Bike:
Stock 2004 R1150R (did I mention it's black?)
No mods, not even the seats. Bike/gear outline is on our site.
Weight:
My wife and I are light-weights (~275 lbs for the two of us - suited up and ready to ride), and our gear load was about 95 lbs in total (including tank bag and stuff on the stock rear perch). So we were still about 85-90 lbs under the max. payload.
Accommodations:
Camped 25% of the time. The rest was at friends places, hostels, motels, boat cabin (2 nights), hotels, B&B's.
The R:
All around, versatile, comfortable, rugged, smooth and of course - sexy. This bike will do an extended road trip as well as any (see note on road surfaces below) - even 2-up.
The clutch gave out while we were in Labrador. Long storry short - Roadside Assistance people (still under warranty) are my heros. Bike ended up at a dealer in Quebec. They said it was a defective clutch plate (freak failure, but not completely unheard of) and the drive shaft ground the clutch plate spline clean. Replaced under warranty. BMW reimbursed us for all expenses (reasonable ones!) incurred during our 2-day layover in Quebec City while bike was being repaired, plus dealer gave us a loaner R while mine was in the shop.
The fast-idle cable began to seize up. I figured this was due to the emormous amount of rain we rode through in the Atlantic Provinces. I didn't bother using the fast-idle lever after that. Just start and go. I'll have it replaced, but I've learned to start, accelerate, brake, up and down-shift without it while the engine is warming up. No biggie really.
Smooth riding for the remaining 18k kms!!
Would I do another long trip on the R? Um..yeah!
Roads:
Of the 26k kms, I'd say ~400 kms were on roads that were not paved. This includes stones, sand/dirt, gravel (rough and packed), mud, coarse and super-coarse variations of chip-seal and broken asphalt chewed up and 'glued' together. Some other riders refered to some sections as ..."marbles covered in baby s**t..."
Some bad stretches were only a few meters, while others were anywhere from 3 to 30 kms - with the Top of The World Hwy (Dawson City YT to Chicken Alaska) being 65 kms of mud (rained that morning), up to 2-3 inches deep in some areas. Only in a couple of cases I would have liked a little more suspension travel and perhaps different rims to give more tire options (suitable for dirt). In other words, a GS would have been 'nice' in some instances, but definitely not required.
But...we made it through all the roads with no mis-haps (rubber side down all the way). What worked for me was taking 2 off-road courses last year. They took the fear out of the word 'gravel' and taught me how a bike handles on varied surfaces. Like I said, this helped me, as I'm in my 4th year of riding, so what I lack in years of riding experience, I sometimes have to purchase in instruction!
Technical stuff:
Tires - -
Started trip with Michelin Pilot Roads. Started squaring off early, I though, at about 3k. Inflated as follows: F-37, R-42. I like the tread pattern though - gave me a little more confidence in the loose stuff than the next set I installed. Rode on them for a total of 14k km before they were too square for my comfort.
Keep in mind that most of the trip was on pavement, 2-up, 90-110 km/h, for about 7-8 hours/day
Next set was Mez 880 Marathons. Inflated as follows: F-37, R-42
Big difference. Hard tire, still have them on my bike. After 14k km they are in great shape and will last me the rest of this season. They also cost less than Pilot's. I felt good in the corners and was still able to get nicely leaned over on the twisties in B.C.
I'd recommend these to anyone who want a long lasting touring tire and doesn't mind 'feeling' the road a little. These are hard! Once they begin to square (rear mainly) you'd swear you were on knobbies while making slow parking lot manouvers...rata, rata, rata.
The tread pattern doesn't look too functional for riding in the loose stuff, but I had these on while riding on some of the worst roads in Canada, including freshly watered sand in construction areas, and they will get the job done with a little patience, knowledge and common sense.
I checked cold tire pressure every 3-4 days, and every day for 3 days on a new set of tires.
No flats.
Oil - -
Used dino 20w50 the whole trip. Needless to say, the bike has stopped burning oil (for the most part). Over 26k kms I used just under 1 liter of oil - most of that during the last 2k km before a 10k service (dirty oil starts to lose it's 'stuff', thins and burns quicker - so I was told by a dealer). So no problem there as I carried a 500 ml Nalgene bottle of oil the whole trip.
Checked oil level at each fill up and at the end of the day, on the centre stand, about 10 mins after shutting bike off.
Services - -
Had two 10 k services during the trip. Once in Toronto at 34k and the next in Victoria at 46k. While in Victoria, I was given a '99 1150GS as a loaner for the day (our bikes ride nicer).
Dealers in Canada:
They were all great. I was especially impressed with SM Cycle in Victoria B.C. For anyone of you travelling across Canada, contact me directly for my experience with the others.
Repairs on the Road - -
A list of spare tools and parts that I brought are listed on our site.
All I needed to repair while on the road was the headlamp bulb, and the license plate bulb. Amazing. These are the only halogen bulbs on the bike, and the only ones needing replacements. I gather that halogen bulbs do not like extened riding on rough roads.
Nothing else needed replacing on the bike, although I did get a rattle coming from the instrument cluster. All guages/lamps functioned the whole trip, so I'll have the dealer check it out. Could just be a loose nut.
Fuel - -
Used premium 91 the entire trip, except for maybe 3-4 tanks of regular 87 (based on availability). No issues at all. I figured I was getting close to 50 mpg (20 litre tank would carry us 350 km +/- a few, and too lazy to do the math right now). I got the best mileage by keeping the tach at 3500 RPM. Most of the time, we cruised at 90 km/h, in 5th (this is 3500 RPM on my machine). I think our MSR Dragonfly stove got better mileage (I syphoned gas from the tank to fuel the stove - turkey baster works like a charm).
Suspension settings - -
No techine on this, but I knew I had to stiffen the dampening a bit. So I did. About 1/4 turn to the 'H' from where the dealer set it when I bought it. All I knew was if the dampening is too soft, I'd have trouble in bumpy corners, shocks may bottom out a lot, and the constant 'cadillac' ride heats up the oil in the shocks (I heard!). My settings were fine - I guess. Maybe a little bumpy at times, but I never had the pogo-stick effect - the bike stayed planted.
I also turned the rear pre-load to 3-4 clicks up from 'all-the-way-down'. Seemed to work. Never bottomed out the rear, and it sagged about 1.5 inches when we climbed on. Again, not a techie on this (I should be a little more attentive this this stuff maybe), but it all worked fine.
I did hit 2 dingers that bottomed out the front shock, but no damage to shock, tires or rims.
General - -
I did a 'walk-around' inspection once every 7-10 days, depending on the condition of the roads. I'd take all luggage off the bike, put it on the centre stand and use the stock tool kit to make sure all accessible bolts. screws and nuts were snug. I found the valve covers screws had to be snugged up once in a while - less than 1/4 turn, and without reefing on them.
I made sure I cleaned/hosed excessive mud out of the oil coolers and off the cylinder fins and exhaust pipes.
Checked hoses and cables, lights/signals, brake/clutch fluids regularly.
It amazing how little stuff you need to tour. The R carried us and 3 months of gear without looking like a packed camel. Others travelling for 1-2 weeks took loads of stuff, and some with trailers, and they stayed exclusively in motels! Each to his/her own I suppose, but this bikes capabilities are limited only to your resourcefulness and comfort level (we're in our 40's and yes, we like our comfort too and made sure were were always comfortable - meaning, it's cold as hell, we're not camping tonight. Or, 450 km today, all uphill - I'm tired, no camping tonight).
And at the end of every day, I stood back and admired the marvel of engineering that carried us another 350 - 400 kms - worry free and in style.
Next trip is not yet known, but there will be a next trip, and probably on my R.
I've been following you guys online since your 2nd week on the road. Enjoyed your posts and great photos. I know it took a lot of time and effort to take us on the ride so thank you both for that. Looking forward to hearing about your next trip! 
..only 26 klms by bike..about 16 miles..is that right?
