Touring Canada

[PhilDHY]

Morning all, We'd like to tour parts of Canada on the bike. Do any of you know if its possible to buy a bike in Canada, get insurance and ride on an international license please?
This is for a future trip atm, so welcome suggestions or experiences from all quarters. Thanks,
Phil

[uralrob]

 I believe you can drive on your British/American/NZ license as a visitor for a limited period of time.
There shouldn't be any problem buying a bike but you might need a Canadian mail address for insurance.

 Motor Vehicle Licensing and Registration comes under provincial jurisdiction so the details may vary from province to province. Here's the Nova Scotia authority:

 https://novascotia.ca/sns/rmv/registration/

 Primmum Insurance do a lot of m/c/ insurance although they are now under the umbrella of TD Insurance

 .https://411.ca/business/profile/6505768

 Rob.



 

[CrazzyCanuck]

Depending on the length of time of your visit, you may want to look at shipping your bike...I spoke to an Air Canada rep at a motorcycle show (in 2020 pre COVID) and I was surprised at the pricing...wasn’t dirt cheap but if you were going for 4 weeks, was cheaper than renting a bike or worry about purchasing, registration, paying tax, etc. 

You also have your bike and you can pack your panniers and top box...if you have them.

[TowerMan]

Originally Posted by CrazzyCanuck

Depending on the length of time of your visit, you may want to look at shipping your bike...I spoke to an Air Canada rep at a motorcycle show (in 2020 pre COVID) and I was surprised at the pricing...wasn’t dirt cheap but if you were going for 4 weeks, was cheaper than renting a bike or worry about purchasing, registration, paying tax, etc. 

You also have your bike and you can pack your panniers and top box...if you have them.

That what I have found out when I was considering taking my V650 over to Canada / USA just before Covid struck.
For more info on what is required see this link to Orange & Black Tours (H-C Travel) for both Sea and Air freight charges - https://www.orange-and-black.co.uk/fly-insure-more/

If you are looking to tour extensively in North America, or love your motorcycle dearly, then our airfreight service to Canada is a relatively inexpensive and straightforward option.

As a general rule for holidays of less than 3-4 weeks, shipping should be considered a clear second option to motorcycle hire – see our Orange & Black website for our rentals and tour programmes in Canada and the USA.

For seafreight to Canada and the USA, please see our Seafreight section above. And yes, you can mix these services, so for example, you could ship your motorbike by seafreight to Baltimore, and airfreight it back from Vancouver.

[CrazzyCanuck]

Although somewhat bias, would definitely recommend flying into and starting your tour from Halifax.

Not only is it a much easier and shorter flight; between Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI and the Gaspe region of Quebec, you would easily fill 4+ weeks with fantastic riding, great food, wonderful people and unique culture. 

I would  suggest September...unfortunately, September 2022!

[uralrob]

 Agreed.

 Unfortunately getting to Halifax or anywhere else in the Maritimes at the moment by air is not easy. When the Max 8s went down we lost our non stop Halifax - Heathrow route and with Covid we've lost any number of other routes within the region as well as with the rest of the country.
 I doubt we'll get them all back any time soon, if ever.

 Rob.

[CrazzyCanuck]

I’m hoping by Sept 2022 we’ll be back in business...along with the Max 8’s

[bradr]

Many years ago a friend and his buddy rode across Canada (West Coast to East Coast and Back.)  His friend suffered a major engine failure out East and bought a new bike to continue the trip.  At the time, they said that they needed to make an insurance stop in each Province on their way back so I would keep that in mind in terms of cost of shipping a bike vs the hassle of dealing with Insurance.  This was about 18 years ago though, so things may have changed.  I would recommend looking this up in the Province that you will be landing in to see what their rules are for it.

Where were you thinking of riding from and what were you thinking of for a bike?  Some bikes can be harder to find in some parts of Canada (such as the Versys).  You'll also want to check if an International license is required for Canada.  It's normally not a big deal and just really has full translations of your license.

Also, if you're thinking of going across the Rockies you should be aware that you can still find snow there in late June.

[uralrob]

  ..... and September 

 Neither usually lasts long 'tho.

 Rob.

[PhilDHY]

Thanks all for your contributions. We're hoping for 2024 and possibly still on my 2013 Gen 1, which is fully kitted for touring. The H2 is probably not a good plan .
We're open to suggestions as to start point. I've seen a little of Toronto area and up into Algonquin national park. I've also seen a very little of Vancouver.
My partner would love to see Niagara falls and then wildlife, but she also likes good food and wine.
Thankfully I've got a bit of time to work it out