The dealer I bought my Grom from actually had a motorcycle for sale in the men’s washroom.
The chores were done, the upgrades, at least what I could do, were done. My motorcycle was promised to show in a couple of days, after my three month wait. I had a little scouting trip planned with my Honda CRV – a swan song for my car that would be sold after the Honda Grom motorcycle showed up. New adventures awaited!
I was back in Calgary for a dental checkup when I finally got confirmation that my Honda Grom was in. I phoned the store for an update, to find out that the bike was in. Makes me wonder how long it would have taken them to phone me to tell me it was there? While I waited the final few days for the prep work to be done, I did a little scouting trip out to north Ghost PULZ – that is the government’s acronym for Public Use Land Zone. Still doesn’t mean anything to you? Think Crown or Public land for free camping and you’ll see why I was checking it out.
Nice flat area, I am at the back, road in the distance in the front, with best flat spot not exactly private
My trip took me out west of Water Valley, the very same place I visited while on my first camping with my RV just under a year ago. I was headed west on the 579, this time to look for free spots to boondock in the PULZ. The first spot I found was just in the PULZ, but still down several kilometers of gravel road. I liked the spot other than not being screened from the road – but we are not talking a super busy road here. I had been hoping for a cell signal here. My hope was to be able to come out here and boondock while still being connected to the world. Then I could be here and still deal with my orders. But it was not to be, I found zero cell signal here. Everything else was just going to be further in, so my idea of going boondocking staying connected was nixed. I would have to stay in Calgary until everything was done.
I’ve never seen a boondocking spot with porta potties before.
But my scouting day would continue at least. Might as well find out what was out in this area that I could camp at sans cell service. The second spot was just a bit further west, off the road, a bit shady. What surprised me where the portable toilets here. It isn’t like this is a killer spot with a lake or river, or a bunch of spots in the area. Perhaps three small units could camp here, and some tents in the trees. Yet we have biffies. The road isn’t even very good – a bit of rain and the mud may keep you down at the campsite for an extended period.
I continued on, finding other spots down the 579, then hitting the 734 or as it is commonly known as, the Forestry Trunk Road. If you are not an Albertan, this road requires some explanation. It was originally built as a forest access/fire road many years ago. The road hugs the foothills, so it really does not have much for civilization along it. So it never has been upgraded much from its narrow gravel road status, barring a bit near Calgary that was developed for Kananaskis recreational area. Outside of that area, the crappy road has one big advantage – it gives access to forested area that boondocking is allowed on in Alberta, for most of its long path from Crowsnest to Hinton, 680km of mostly windy gravel road.
But I was going only a short ways down the road, turning at Hunter Valley road which would take me deeper into the foothills to what looked like some promising boondocking. The one downside is the area is prime OHV country – this is one of the closer areas to Calgary you can ride off road, and it does get heavily used in the summer. So I continued down the road, noting some good spots, until I got to the end of the OHV area. Beyond this, no OHVs were allowed on the road, or any trails off the road. The road was still quite drivable by most anything, so I continued on.
The rancher came by and got him up
A couple of kilometers down, I come to this nice field with a great boondocking spot off the road. It’s only partially screened from the road, but it is level with a lying bull to keep me company. This is the most promising spot I have found so far, even though it means driving a long ways in down gravel roads to get here. At least it is out of the OHV zone and I won’t have to listen to them, at least not more than the distant buzz from them a couple of klicks away.
Turns out the road ends not much further past this point
The site looks even better, after continuing down the road to find the gravel ends and the road becomes much worse. Not too many people are going to be coming down here with their campers at least. I returned back the way I came, resolving to get out to this area as soon as I was done dealing with the civilized world.
I returned to Calgary to pick up my Grom motorcycle. It is my second motorcycle, the first having been a 70cc Honda Scooter with a semi-automatic back in the day. The Grom is a 125cc motorcycle with a clutch. I was going to have to learn to deal with the clutch, as well as something that could go 100kph compared to the 70kph the scooter. The dealer in Calgary was a mixed bag. Sales was not really helpful at all. Parts forgot to order my all terrain tires. At least the clothing department was good, although I ended up forking over another grand in clothing gear. They call this a cheap sport?
Pull out to unload
Fits in and can still walk around, with some gymnastics
The whole unit together fits still in the motorhome garage at my step-moms, but there is no taking the bike off inside the garage. Fortunately, it is pretty easy to pull out, unload the bike, and pull back in. I found that the RV does ride better with the Grom on it. I had heard this was true for people doing this with campers, but I wasn’t sure how a small Class C like mine would work. But I get the same experience – the weight keeps the front end from wandering as much – the motorhome does not get thrown around nearly as much in the wind now compared to previously.
1st ride all geared up, just no motorcycle pants – too hot for that!
I spent the next few days continuing my fix up work on the RV, but everyday had a little ride in the neighborhood, getting used to using the clutch. I was not taking this thing over 50 kph yet, I had enough just dealing with the clutch. But it was fun, even if I was just cruising around the same blocks over and over again. At least the stock tires I had thanks to the forgotten order were ideal for the pavement I was learning on. I certainly appreciate the small size and light weight of the bike – it really isn’t far off my old moped, just quite a bit more power and that clutch to remember!
The one thing I changed my mind on was on carrying the Grom without a cover. My friend had a spare cover from another purpose, so I decided to try it out on the Grom. After seeing the number of bug splats it picked up, I’m glad I have a cover for it. I may not use it in the desert winter if the bug count is low – the cover is a pain to put on. I now have it wrapped in string unlike the photo here, to keep it from flapping around in the wind. But all the bungies and string take a lot of time to put on so if I can get away without the cover, I will! But the cover will stay on for now, for another trip to Lac la Biche, the perfect place to learn to ride a bit in town, and on the quiet backroads there. See you up there next time!
