Great motorcycle repair shop on the Cabot Trail

Let's hope it never happens to you. You are on your maiden voyage around the Cabot Trail on a bike, and you need a new tire. Yikes. Shops, not just motorcycle shops, are few and far between. However in Middle River, before Baddeck, there is a great motorcycle shop, MacKenzies Motorsports (exactly 11 KM in off the highway), and they have 2 mechanics on duty and aim to get you back on the road ASAP!

I know this from personal experience. 4 of us went riding through coastal NS and into Cape Breton on the July 1st long week-end. One of the riders (who was immediately behind me), noticed that my back tire (which was just replaced last September), had a bald spot in the center. I was a bit freaked out, we were basically in the middle of nowhere. Country Harbor residents might not like me saying that, as we were in their small town, but we were not close to any type of repair shop that could replace my tire. We decided to complete our ride for the day, to our cottage in Troy (on Cape Breton Island), and see what we could find in or near Port Hawkesbury in the morning.

We used our fabulous NS Motorcycle Tour Guide to find a couple of shops, one in Port Hawkesbury and MacKenzie's in Middle River. Friday morning, we called both. MacKenzies told me they had a tire and could replace it as soon as we could get there. Great. The only problem was, they were about an hour away. The shop in Port Hawkesbury couldn't even get my call through to the Parts Dept they were so busy. The lady on the phone told me, "oh they won't be able to replace your tire today". So we were off to Middle River. We had no problem finding MacKenzie Motorsports and were impressed with this shop in the middle (if your rode across instead of around) the Cabot Trail. They were friendly and replaced my tire right away.

We were really happy we found them and we able to continue on our wonderful ride of the spectacular Cabot Trail.

It's always good to have some type of guide with you when you ride, for accommodations, places to eat, interesting destinations, and should the need arise, a quick repair!

Happy Riding!
Jul 13, '10
~Coleen