900 Mile weekend on a Honda Grom

[Bagels]

Marquette Michigan is a beautiful place to visit. The small town culture & outdoor oriented culture is a great place to throw your boots up for the weekend. That paired with my younger sister living there for school and leaving in 3 weeks to study abroad in Germany prompted me to visit there this month. Looking at the map and dreading an 8 hour drive in my 75 pickup a thought crossed my mind. Why not do it on my motorcycle. A quick check on accuweather showed 20° Friday and upper 30° temps for Sunday. Instead of driving my antique truck that get's 12mpg with the wind I decided to take my 2014 Honda Grom and make an adventure out of it. The route I selected picked it's way around major highways and ended up being around 430 miles one way.

The trip ended up being everything I anticipated and more. I left Friday morning @ 6am and arrived in Marquette @ 3:15 MN time 4:15 MI time. The trip there was DAMN cold. I stopped twice to take my boots off in Mcdonalds and warm up with a terrible sandwich. In Turtle Lake WI, the local PD decided to harass me for "aftermarket blinkers". He tried to tell me that aftermarket blinkers are illegal in Wisconsin, that my exhaust is too loud, & that he should really give me a ticket for riding in unsafe conditions. After drilling me about being an associate of the flash Vince he eventually ran my insurance and license, proceeded to lecture me again on how my license plate is too dirty from the road salt and he could ticket me for that too and then sent me on my merry way. I've been pulled over hundreds of times, and even received my fair share of tickets and never have I encountered such a dick of a police officer. The return trip was uninterrupted and much warmer so I made it in 8 hours 5 minutes with only stopping when my gas tank was on E, & once to pee.

After that stop it was smooth sailing, by smooth i mean frigid cold sailing. It didn't snow, the roads were good, & it warmed up to 17°. I got a lot of thumbs up, funny stares, pictures, and probably snap chat stories, & one angry Wisconsin lady telling me that I'm retarded and trying to lecture me on the risks of winter motorcycle riding. I was in such a great mood that I just agreed with her until she left. The scenery was nice even if it was plain. Rolling over the hills and through a few nat'l forests was a good change after riding through buildings and pollution for the last 3-4 months. It was nice to breath some fresh air and enjoy the trees. Traffic was a non issue & I avoided all major highways and freeways. I only had a dozen or so cars pass me there and back & I only had to pass one church goer on Sunday's return trip.

The bike had quite the auspicious start. Breaking my foot peg and shifter was less than ideal the weekend before. A pair of vice grips fixed that problem and away it went. The bike did GREAT. The Maxxis tires had superb grip, the bike got 85-90mpg WOT the whole way. After getting there we went out to eat and bowling and I wasn't sore at all. I even managed a 10 mile hike on Saturday to see the ice caves and felt great! On the way back I only lost traction once on some unexpected ice but the bike recovered well and stayed up. The Honda grom will always be my favorite adventure bike, especially on a budget.

While in Michigan, the culture was great. We ate fresh fish caught that morning from Lake Superior, went on a 10 mile hike to the ice caves, & experienced their tiny version of downtown. It was in the high 30's Saturday and I had a great time visiting my sister before she moves to Germany for a year. The local pub had blueberry beer and a citrus double IPA which was the second best beer I've ever tasted. I didn't see much for wildlife except for a lonely pair of deer on the way back which was okay with me.

893.1 miles overall & I wouldn't hesitate to do it again on the GROM. Great experience, great memories, and all for less than $20 in lodging/gas. I attached a few pics. It was too cold on the way there to do too many stops & on the way back I was trying to see how fast I could do it. The grom was so comfortable after getting back and unpacking I rode it to my girlfriend's place to end the weekend with 921.4 miles. I debated riding it for another 80 miles just to hit 1000 but that seemed trivial.

[Stinger]

I went on a ride over the weekend.... never mind.

Crazy mofo, glad you had a great trip.

[Busa dave]

Glad you had a good time and proud of the way you handled the 'cop' and little old lady ... 

[Greg]

All I can say is, wow! That's quite a story. You can give me grief about trailering to Nelson anytime. 

I see Groms are 125cc. What kinds of speeds were you doing when conditions were dry? 50's?

[Elk]

A delightfully nutty adventure.  Well done.

[Mike Duluth]

Quite an adventure I must say.

[Bagels]

All I can say is, wow! That's quite a story. You can give me grief about trailering to Nelson anytime. 

I see Groms are 125cc. What kinds of speeds were you doing when conditions were dry? 50's?

With my gearing my top speed is 63mph flat ground no draft if I tuck in a little bit. I kept it around 57-60mph basically the entire time I was riding. The trip itself was 438 miles.

438/9.25= 47.35 mph average with stops there
438/8.1= 54.07 mph average with stops back

[Bagels]

I was initially planning on doing the trip this weekend with the dog sled races being hosted in Marquette, but after riding home last night I'm glad I pushed it forward a week.