Simplicity, yet quality keeps bike affordable
It’s the beginning of autumn in central Ontario. the late- afternoon sun casts long shadows from the trees lining the lonely two- lane Highway 127 as I head north, the 942- cc V- twin below me thumping happily in the cool, rushing wind. My riding partner, travelling with me from Toronto on a meandering route through Markham, Peterborough and up Highway 28 to Bancroft, had turned back, but I’m continuing on, headed to one of the greatest gems of the province, if not the whole of Canada: Algonquin Park.
It’s a bit of late-season adventure, camping for a night by one of the giant park’s many lakes. Forget one of those tall, faux off- roader motorcycles with hi g h ground clearance and big windshields; I’m taking this tour on a cruiser, a Yamaha Bolt R- Spec. Think l ess Dakar Rally endurance and more Easy Rider campfires. I carry just a large backpack of essentials and a Coleman Hooligan two- man tent tied precariously on the tiny passenger seat.
The Bolt is Yamaha’s entry- level cruiser, simple in both form and function. There is no traction control, electronic throttle, fuel gauge, tachometer or even ABS. It’s got that bigger Vtwin driving the rear wheel with a thin belt, a single disc for the front brake and a single gauge for speed, turn signals and some idiot lights. The R-Spec version includes remote reservoir gas shocks with preload in the rear and a slightly different seat and paint schemes over the base Bolt. That simplicity is part of the beauty of this Bolt — enabling Yamaha to keep the price at just $9,299 all in.
It’s on the road, especially, where the Bolt feels like a better, bigger bike than its price point suggests. That V- twin, with just over 59 pound- feet of torque at 3,000 rpm, pulls strongly at low speed, and a sharp twist of the throttle makes passing slow cars on these twolane roads a quick affair. It’s not overly powerful, like larger 1,200- cc bikes, but just powerful enough. There’s a bit of expected vibration at idle but it smooths out when riding — until you start to tempt fate with the police, at which point a slight buzz emanates from the foot pegs. And the exhaust note is proper thump-thump, not as loud as Harley straight pipes but just enough to draw some attention.
The ride is more on the stiff side, but overall the shocks do a good job of soaking up the kilometres. And, keeping in mind this is no sport bike, the handling is on the fun side — lithe and nimble in the corners.
What amazed me most is how comfortable this bike is for long stints in the saddle; the seat and leg position are perfectly proportioned, even for someone six feet tall. It wasn’t until more than four hours into this ride north that I started to feel a little numbness in my backside. I’ve been on other so- called adventure bikes that were less comfortable for the long haul than this Bolt.
At every fuel stop along the way ( many, considering the minuscule 12-litre tank), I marvel at the Bolt’s proportions; it’s small, slim and low, a good- looking, old- school motorcycle. Yamaha offers a wide range of accessories for it ( including some baggage, which would be useful for these long trips), but the only changes I would deem essential would be to offer ABS ( purely a safety issue) and a revised instrument gauge. While the Bolt’s gauge looks stylish with its chrome bezel, the information itself is displayed on a tiny square of digital screen that is decidedly not stylish. Regardless, I have unexpectedly developed a real fondness for this Bolt R-Spec, not just from this trip but also from tooling around town. It feels raw and basic, yet still shares a quality and comportment of more expensive bikes.
Finally onto the dirt road leading to the campsite, I allow the front end to wobble as it searches for grip on the loose gravel. The rear steps out occasionally but finds its purchase with some correction in the corners.
I quickly pitch the tent as dusk turns to night, the stars appearing in the sky one by one. A giant campfire masks the fact that the temperature is dropping quickly, and by the time I’m ready for bed, it’s just above the freezing point. No matter the four layers of clothes and two stones warmed by the fire in my sleeping bag, I can’t escape the fact that it feels like I’m sleeping in a refrigerator.
Sleep comes in fits, but I keep reminding myself that the whole point of adventure is to bring you out of your normal life, which, unfortunately, is cold comfort — literally.
The next morning, I will leave the park on winding Highway 60, which cuts a swath through it from east to west. Then I discover a hidden gem for motorcyclists; Road 9 is a narrow, twisty and hilly route along the western shore of the Lake of Bays and I can take it on my journey home. But first I go to a park visitors centre down the road, wrap my numb, pink hands around a steaming cup of coffee, and tuck in to a warm plate of eggs and bacon.
Like the Yamaha Bolt R-Spec, sometimes it’s the simple things in life that bring you the most happiness.