Expedition: Labrador

By

Expedition-Labrador

104,000 square miles, 26,000 people, one gravel road. That should be enough, but being accessible from the East Coast — just 1,000 miles from Brooklyn — makes Labrador’s call almost impossible to refuse. At least it was for Wes and I. Equipped with a BMW R1200GS, F800GS and some loose idea which way north was, we went there. Here’s the story of that journey.

Expedition: Labrador

  • MichaelMM

    I am going to enjoy reading this one. Thanks for the post, Grant.

  • Glenngineer

    Best feature yet. I am so pissed I didn’t say hello when I saw you in Needham, MA.

  • markbvt

    Great stuff. Our F800GS lost its clocks too. Here’s my version:
    http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=620129

  • 2ndderivative

    Hipsters!

    Haha, big props guys. Any chance of a big photo gallery? Any video of 389?

    • http://hellforleathermagazine.com Wes Siler

      We’ve got a bunch more content coming over the next week to accompany this. No video though. Our GoPro cameras are junk, we’ve been shopping for a new system, but haven’t gotten around to buying anything. Need to get on that.

      • GeddyT

        This is one area where perhaps I can be of assistance. I’ve done HOURS of research into onboard video solutions, and things are still pretty discouraging at the moment. I’ve owned or tried cameras from both GoPro and Vholdr (now “Contour”), and they both have their pluses and minuses. Contour’s new GPS camera looks pretty slick feature-wise, but there were definitely quality control issues with the Contour 1080p that recently crapped out on me for no reason (really shitty lens, blurry areas in the image, and loose tolerances that lead to mounting wobble–never mind the whole “crapping out for no reason” part…).

        The primary problem that ALL current personal camcorders have when it comes to action sports video is that they all use rolling shutter CMOS sensors. You can get away with this on perfectly smooth roads, but the second it gets even remotely bumpy your crisp 1080p scenery suddenly looks like an Atari game, and every tree in the background suddenly develops very disconcerting bends and waves in the trunk! Any fast panning or jostling of the camera is problematic, and fast moving objects in the scene are as well.

        Things get further complicated within the Non-Linear Editor (NLE) if you want to do any serious editing. The combination of Contour’s .MOV h.264 files and Premiere Pro was AWFUL for me until I read the “Profiles” and “Levels” sections of this Wikipedia h.264 primer and finally understood what several of Premiere’s render output settings actually meant (good to know what B Frames are as well).

        In the end it wasn’t that big of a deal that my camera went tits up. I wasn’t using it that much anyway, as I’ve never been satisfied with the quality of the video it takes, and trail riding is a particularly bad environment for a rolling shutter. For such a small and cheap camera it took admirably detailed video when off the bike and stationary (if I ignore the blurry areas from the shitty lens), but it’s just worthless for its intended purpose.

        I don’t think there will be a really viable action camcorder solution until somebody releases one with a global shutter CMOS sensor or CCD sensor (which are almost all global shutter).

      • http://www.smartcycleshopper.com/motorcycle-reviews/2011-harley-davidson-forty-eight-review/ DougD

        I just picked up some supplies for my ContourHD (formerly VHoldR):

        http://pointofviewcameras.com/universal-mount-adapter-for-contourhd.html

        http://www.delkin.com/products/accessories/fat-gecko-mini-mount.html

        I’ll let you know how it all works. I tested the Fat Gecko today and figured the Mini will be good to mount a camera to my fuel tank.

    • http://hellforleathermagazine.com Grant Ray

      I’ll throw up a mega-gallery of the b-roll once all the features are done.

  • jake

    This is the best article i have read in ages magazine or otherwise.

    Maybe you guys could come and ride around Australia with me for your next one.

    • http://hellforleathermagazine.com Wes Siler

      Sure, maybe we can borrow bikes from Deus.

      • jake

        sounds like an awesome idea.

        would be an epic trip on a big single.

  • http://www.davidfolch.com david folch

    Nice job. I understand now why they say Labradors are man’s best friend !
    :-)

  • DoctorNine

    Outstanding. The reason to go on two wheels, is to go to The Edge. I’ve never been more convinced that you two really have what it takes to do motojournalism. Your article made me feel like a ten year old that just discovered National Geographic. Those photos! Man!

  • robotribe

    Dear Mr. Siler and Mr. Grant.

    In the future, please provide more content like this.

    Kindest regards,
    R.

    P.S. the design format is bitchin’. PRINT IS DEAD. LONG LIVE PRINT!

  • rider33

    ‘wonderful.

  • Patrick from Astoria

    Fucking awesome.

    Note to self: Bigger screen on next computer.

    And some time off next summer.

  • Ray

    Ouch. Yep. See above. Great layout, love the handwritten comebacks too. As I remember, the blackflies are a moving front-they were up in northern Nova Scotia on Memorial Day, and we have them in Maine. I don’t think they are permanent residents, more nomads bent on making warm-blooded creatures miserable. (That’s why mooses wallow in lakes apparently.) You got to time the travel to avoid blackfly season. I want to circle Manic Reservoir in a canoe soon, maybe fit it as the tub to my sidecar… Labrador by Ural anyone?

  • http://www.postpixel.com.au mugget

    Awesome feature! Mad props to you guys!

    That was a fantastic look & read. Makes me wanna pack up some stuff and just head out on the road for a couple weeks. Those flies sound a bit nasty.

    Will have to look at it again when I get home. Bet it will look fantastic on the 27″ iMac!

  • mchale2020

    \jealous

  • fatmexican13

    Excellent piece, thanks!

  • SugarCream

    OYE Grant, you look awesomeness in your black Rukkas. Rock on dude! And kudos to da feature, too.

  • Andy Keech

    this is about north ontario, but i know you guys’ll fully appreciate it.

    very well done on the entire endeavor, and it’s not wussing out to not put yourselves through the suffering of those bastards for some friggin trout.

    http://www.nfb.ca/film/blackfly/

  • http://www.brammofan.com Brammofan

    Beautiful prose. Beautiful type. Beautiful photos. Beautiful layout. It was worth the wait, of course. Truly, this is award-winning stuff.

  • http://www.urbanrider.co.uk UrbanRider

    Great feature, it gets across the experience to the reader quite brilliantly. HFL keeps raising the bar…

  • pauldo

    Awesome. Fucking awesome, even!

  • mmike

    Awesome.

  • Bronson

    Awesome feature Grant & Wes! ALL of your content is top notch and I look forward to updates each day, but this one in particular is f’n awesome. The story, the photos, the layout… all of it. Unique. Entertaining. Sweet. Keep up the GREAT work!

  • Kevin

    Great feature! Sadly stuff like this is missing from most, if not all, moto magazines out there. That’s good news for HFL. How do you guys maintain the site without advertising is beyond me. I for one, would pay $$ for a subscription for the content on this site.

  • http://www.thisblueheaven.com Mark D

    Great feature guys. Given that its already almost November, and long road trips will have to be put on hold for me until about April…but I’ve got motivation to plan now!

    I forwarded this to a few friends who are photographers, writers, or had traveled extensively (and know/care nothing about motorcycles). They all loved it.

  • ontheroad

    Excellent feature guys, in every regard. I’ve been waiting for this one. Question: did you end up favoring one GS over the other?

    • http://hellforleathermagazine.com Wes Siler

      Either one of us would go for the 1200 all day long. What it gives up in ground clearance and weight it makes up for with low down grunt and much better comfort. They’re surprisingly close though and both are utterly amazing motorcycles, we couldn’t have taken two better bikes.

  • http://www.tripleclamp.net Sasha Pave

    Bravo! Beautifully written and photographed/designed piece. This belongs in a coffee table book purchased at the Guggenheim. Can’t wait to see the rest!

    These are the kinds of rides (like Prudhoe Bay) which are done for the same reasons mountains are climbed. It’s not the most enjoyable ride, but it’s an achievement.

    Wes: I still think you’re nuts for using an off-road helmet/goggles for those kinds of miles.

  • http://www.smartcycleshopper.com/motorcycle-reviews/2011-harley-davidson-forty-eight-review/ DougD

    I figure, if you’re able to comprehend the question to reply “yes,” you’re pretty much OK.

    Great work.

  • http://bigassmessage.com/39b51 vic

    Grant”Thousand-yard stare” Ray

    i am surprised to hear about your troubles and the border.if you read travel books or advrider you’ll see that bikeez are usually given a more easier passage than cagers.and from my limited travels on 2 wheels through europe i hold that to be the truth.

    you should do a review on the stuff(tentsknives,fly repellent)you brought with you.what worked ,what didn’t etc

    • http://hellforleathermagazine.com Grant Ray

      Ever tried going through a US/Canadian border on a press bike with an Arizona Manufacturer plate, (not to be confused with a dealer plate) while you’re carrying a New York license?

      True story while we were being held with our bikes, keys, licenses and passports confiscated:

      These guards were so unbelievably asinine they unloaded and demanded fingerprint checks from an entire busload of elderly tourists with mental and physical handicaps. I am not joking.

      And Wes just put up the gear review, check it out.

  • smoke4ndmears

    Took me a while to get around to reading this. Great read with great pics. I think you guys are creating something legendary here at HFL.

    Keep up the great work.

  • TreMoto_Armsdale

    the link to make this super wide article show up, it doesn’t work. can you fix that?