The Making of a Cross Canada Route

you can order up plenty of coverage through geosalliance.net which is connected to SPOT, I carry that and a specific high risk sports rider through another company when I'm off rallying etc. Nice to know you have extrication and repatriation insurance when you're in remote far away places

I don't want to say bad things about Spot, but the SOS button did not work on mine when I had my accident!
Spot was working, but not the sos
Fortunatly a guy had a sat phone with him.
At least 2 spot (you and a friend) is a good idea

sorry to hear that, good to know it doesn't work everywhere and I have heard Newfoundland has really spotty coverage, again that's part of why I have insurance with more than one company. If you're somewhere remote there are not many options for anyone getting to you in any kind of short time period

The coverage was good...but my friend tried to press the button and it did not work (I was not able to do anything and I don't remember anything).
Maybe a training for the friend and a button test twice a year is a good precaution

Was it a rental unit?

That would not be fun if it happened on a solo trip. :eek1

Call the "monitoring" company before testing... or have the camera's ready for the rescue

This isn't the first case I have heard of where someone activates the SPOT Tracker in an emergency and nothing happens. I am of two minds, one that says they are great and could save your life. The other part of me thinks they add a false sense of security. Even if it works, you may be looking at hours before anyone comes, hours that you may not have if your seriously hurt. Common sense and proper planning are still the best measure you can have when traveling into remote areas. I think a satellite phone is a nice alternative to a spot tracker, and prices are comparable between the two. The Sat phone has several advantages and a few disadvantages, but if I had to pick one I'd pick a sat phone.

Mental note to self, stop being a stubborn cheapy and get a sat phone

Twenty bucks a month for unlimited voice calling

http://ca.globalstar.com/en/index.php?cid=1250

Could always rent, depending on the length of trip.

No price listed on the site but the store is in Durham:

http://www.durhamradio.com/satellite-phone-rentals-life-saving-cellular-coverage-remote-area-globalstar.html

Satellite phone won't do anything for you if you "disappear" off an embankment or something. Nobody will know where to look. At least with SPOT tracking, your home crew should have a decent 10 minute "last known position".

I really don't think the insurance is necessary in Canada, for Canadians. I've never heard of a case where anybody has ever been charged anything for rescue. And you're covered in all provinces for medical services automatically. They just don't do that.

I do have the GEOS insurance thing from SPOT, "just because" it's only $5/year or something.

Now, Americans visiting... that's another story. I guess it depends on your health insurance coverage.

The tracking was working, the "OK" and "custom message" were working the day and the morning before.
My friend (who has never used a Spot before) told me he removed the cap, pressed short time, long time, many time... no reaction.

Sat phone is a good alternative (if you don't break it in the accident) but you need to be able to speak.
Do not choose a Globalsat the constellation is not good enough and you could stay hours without being able to call anybody.
There's a sat at least every 20 minutes but not alway enough for a voice call (Enough for Spot tracking/data).

Iridium are expensive to buy
another alternative looks to be immarsat
http://www.isatphonelive.com/
Not usable while moving fast (car, plane...) and "pre baugh"t minutes not usable in usa

The Spot lets friends and family follow along with the mapping, the PLB is the best for being found and the phone for real emergency contact.

Ideally have all three along, maybe split up up between a couple of guys in a group

The Medjet will get you from a small hospital in Bum F*ck Sasktchewan to a hospital in your home town free of any charges. I think that's nice for the $175 trip coverage fee/

The prices are good for those services offered.

A friend of ours from Newfoundland did a cross Canada trip recently and had our numbers associated with her account, no idea exactly how, but as she was getting near home on her return, she somehow managed to hit the "Help" button.

Next thing you know my cell phone rings while I'm on a ride, and Globalstar is asking me what they can do to help her. I was impressed that they were putting effort into finding and helping her. I always assumed that pushing Help only alerted whoever was assigned in your "Help" profile.

I think she had not completed her "Help" profile properly so Spot called anyone they could find, in the numbers in her profile. In fact they didn't even seem to have her cell phone number, and got it from us.

I was using Big Dog's metaphor for some guys he met on his Alaska trip that had loud pipes. I apologize if you didn't like it. BUT, you hit a sore spot with me; I don't give a damn what your intentions are. You are diminishing your cause by making more fucking noise than you have to........I'm sick of Harley boneheads with 30 in ape hangars and straight exhaust. They are a bunch of obnoxious assholes that don't know jack about motorcycles. They have successfully forced mandated motorcycle inspections in California, mandated new noise pollution regulations in Maine and NH, and when I hear of a d/s guy ripping the guts out of an Akropovic...........FOR WHAT? Add .25 hp to your motor? Akropovic's sound pretty good left alone. We're smarter than Harley guys aren't we? All it takes is one asshole or politician (same thing) with a lot of money and a whole off-road riding area that we love can get shut down because of motorcycle noise. By default you are aligning yourself with the aforementioned. We're even, no need to respond. I don't want to diminish your fine ride report, please go on.

P.S. I'll take the high road and not tell you what you told me.

That is news to me.
I've never been mandated to have my motorcycles inspected here in California.
Never even been asked to voluntarily have my motorcycles inspected.

Just pay the registration fees, and have proof of insurance - all that's required.

AMA magazine, thanks to your former govenor Arnold, coming to your state in 2013.

Look we vented, all is well. Let's chill out, let Deadly99 finish his fine RR. Please continue, love the pics. The riding looks challenging.

That would be a SMOG Inspection which applies to 2013 and newer motorcycles. SB-435 I think. 2012 and older were to be grandfathered.
It has been temporarily shelved for now. But you never know what the future will bring here in the Republic of Kalifornia.

Dude lay off or go find another place to rant about this. There has to be a thread or start one .
Do you even know Deadly or his bike and how loud it is??
the only thing you said that made any sense was "YOUR FINE RIDE REPORT"
enough said, lets all be friends

Good to hear that worked out, and when I say I carry a couple of insurance options those were for out of country adventures one of which was in the middle of nowhere on the other side of the globe. The way I started out riding it's good I had it.

Just to put this to rest,I have politely asked Spanker to not post in this thread. I'll add that uncorked doesn't mean ripping the guts out, but rather to pull the db killer out. I do insert the db killer when we ride trails near urban areas (I was convinced earlier this year when approached by some fellows who were fighting the good fight to keep some local trails open) When i ride street I remove it, because I love the rumble feel. It still isn't crazy loud just adds a deeper tone, which to me adds a cool feeling. I grew up riding two strokes and have fond memories of being in a cloud of blue dust with a racket of noise adding to the excitement of the ride, old habits die hard. I didn't anticipate having to justify myself as I have never signed up to be an ambassador for the sport. I drink, cuss, smoke and sometimes act like an ass...I confess. I'm often referred to as someone you wouldn't want to bring home to meet the parents Also keep in mind that Canada is larger than the US and has less people than they have in one state, so noise pollution and trail access is not such a big deal (outside of the more populated areas). We don't have the conflicts up here that exist south of the border (again outside of our more populated areas). Believe it or not meeting an atv up here is cause for a stop and a friendly hello more often than not, the animosity between user groups just isn't an issue from my experience. Why? Because overcrowding isn't an issue and we all rely on other forms of recreation to keep trails from overgrowing and disappearing.

If anyone wants to discuss or debate the issue, please shot me an email or send me a link to a different thread




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I read that one and loved it