I don't agree with Mats on the different styles of motorbike owners, not in the least because of this:
Posing - the main purpose of the bike is to look cool when parked at the local <eating/drinking place>. Fashion before function.
for an selfrespecting bike owner, the best looking bike should be his/hers own!
be it an old classic Russian Dnjepr with sidecar, a Harley electra glide, a 1100 cc Suzuki speed demon, an offroad Honda CRF drippin with mud or a huge BMW Continental all terrain touring bike.
"posing" doesn't fit in. not if you take riding a bike seriously, regardless of model, brand ore size.
I think this is a jab at us chopper-owners (cause it's lacking in thelist: The Cruiser!) , but a real biker loves the bike for what it is and that gets clear when it's rollin down the road at a slow relaxing speed with your mates on their own hogs and the pistons are pumpin and hammering that lovely bratabrata sound.
choppers, bobbers, fat boys, custom bikes, cruisers and hard tails aren't a pose, but a lifestyle, Mats! ;)
and chrome is there to make it shine and taken care off.
I want to shake the hand of the genius who invented that one; loads of chrome
also those nifty 1 person saddles. genius!
want to ride along: bring your own bike
Back tothe OP; man, Canada.......
if there's one country that's invented to make long trips and motorbike holidays; yóu're in heaven, man! very cool.
bit of advice; don't go for V-twins.
for me any V twin is the epithome of cool biking, but most of em have tiny gastanks......and you have the long distances right in your backyard. having to stop every 100 miles is not that funny.
second: Harley's may be awesome (they are) but unless you are a toolhead or wouldn't mind becoming one, skip em.
go for a Japanese bike if you want to spend more time riding it than fixing it
third, as said;you probably have the best use of a touring bike.
and now I'mgonna disagree with a few others: don't get a light one!
starting at 1100 CC isn't smart, no; but with a 500 or less,you can't do much. too much gear or long distances and it'll be getting toyou.
here in Europe there are many gasstations, so owning an old 500cc isn't any problem; pumps are close.
but if you want to do long distances, you'd like to get there; you want a bigger more stabilized bike with a big tank.....and sit comfortable, not crawl off being a broken man.
what's easily done at 18, might be a gruesome ordeal once you pass 40.
I'd suggest something in the 650-900cc range.
you said it yourself; you're fairly strong, so you can handle it just fine.
as for brands: Honda or Yamaha make the best japanse bikes.
don't go Kawasaki, you might get some nasty surprises if you have an older secondhand Kawa; ditto Suzuki.