Topic: Solo USA tour - lookin for riders and advice

[kegger117]

I will be setting off in about 3 weeks on my grand adventure.  The old green machine (1975 550) and I are going to get to know each other real well!     I've had her for almost 15 yrs and barely put 2,000 mile on her, but taking a lap around the great USofA will likely cover 8,000.  She currently has about 18,000 and she looks and feels good so far.
In terms of maintenance, equipment, tools and gear, I'm pretty much squared away.    I've also been reading up on blogs, forums etc...,  about other long distance adventures and am feeling both excited and apprehensive of the unknown.   
Recently, I finished laying out my tentative route and have been uploading sections to my gps.  Plenty of the stops include staying with friends, some camping, and occasional motels when necessary.  Once I post the maps, what I'd like to ask from you guys is:

1)   Who wants to ride?   I'd be happy to have some riding comrades for as much or as little of the trip as anyone wants.

2)   What are the “not to be missed” stops and sights I should make along my route?

3)   Advice for friendly/safe campgrounds, bike shops, or hotels?

I’m budgeting about 300 miles a day, and I prefer speeds on my old girl of 55-60max, due to comfort, enjoyment and safety.  I’m mostly going to stay off big highways, unless I really need to make up time.
Not sure if I should post maps all on one thread, or split it up geographically.

Thom

[Mcwilliams570]

Hello Thom the wife and I are in Wilmington Delware if you need a place to crash and a good meal please feel free to hit us up. I have a 1974 550 and wouldnt mind doing a bit of riding with you. I wish you luck in your adventure.

Matt

[NewOldSchool]

Same goes with me if you are near Los Angeles PM me and I'll ride with you and show you the must see spots in the area.

I have a '74 CB750

[aperry]

Document your trip and maybe you'll get published....
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=65576.0

[OldSchool_IsCool]

Subscribing...

[bollingball]

If you pass through the east side of NC and break down or need help I am on the map and will help the best I can have a good shop. You should check out the members map for people along your way. When you are away it is nice to have people that know about your SOHC and have tools and a shop

Ken

[70CB750]

I am in NoVa and we have facilities to offer you bed and breakfast. PM me if you head our  way.

[flybox1]

If you're coming to the PNW, just be sure to do of before the end of September. Weather report can change by the minute. Best time is Aug.  If you're up here, send me a PM.

[Brantley]

Blue Ridge Parkway. If only for a few (relatively, in the grand scheme of a U.S. tour) miles.

[fmctm1sw]

Subscribing...

me too.  I'll probably never get to do this so I have to live vicariously through others...  There's another thread here from a guy who was renting a bike or something for a cross country ride.  Lots of good stuff in that thread.

[Stev-o]

What direction are you headed?  I assume leaving from NY, so basicly west or south. If south, cruise through the Smoky Mts.

[tlbranth]

I'm near Seattle. Need a place to stay, something to eat, garage to work - let me know. Can also point you to great places to ride and maybe even go with you part of the way.

[camelman]

San Francisco, you must come by SF!!  Try to go through Tioga pass, Sequoia and Yosemite.

If you make it to SF, then I'll show you some awesome roads.

[jsleeper]

Would love to see a route - like the rest of us are I'm sure.  I'm in southeastern Virginia.

[george]

Sounds like a life long Dream ! Please give us a shout when you reach Texas, no prob with lodging , friends and shop space !

[bollingball]

Yes you should put up a map sure you may change it as you go. But you will get more help or people to ride with if we know about where and when you are in our area. Hell you could end up with free food and shelter for the whole trip if you keep us updated as you go. I am not to much into inviting a unknown into my house. But I don't have a problem with tools and my shop for a person in need. I allways have my weapon on me that is just the military in me. As a matter of fact one of the things I plan on a trip is to review the respiratory CCW laws in the states I plan on passing through.

Ken

[kegger117]

Hey, awesome, thanks for the show of support so far!!

I'll try to get some maps posted tonight, or all of it by tmro,  friday nights i get to stay up late (hahaha).  Here's the quick and dirty:  East through NewEngland, then South and hooking westward in Georgia and through Huntsville where by brother lives.  Continue West through Phoenix to LA, then up Highway1.  Turn at San Fran, Eastward all the way home through Salt Lake, St. Louis, Chicago.  Of course many stops and cities and zigzagging in there, but those are some key way-points.  I'm already pushing the limit on time and it wasn't easy getting off from work for almost 4weeks straight, so it will be interesting to see what I can fit in along the way.

George- north texas if any.
Jsleeper- prob not too far into SE Virginia
Camelman- yes SF, I've got a connect there.
tlbranth and flybox1- unfortunately not going that high.
brantley- Blue Ridge pkwy in NC?, possible.
70CB750- NoVA cool, possible
bollingball- East NC, prob not going that close to coast
NewOldSchool- LA yes.
Mcwilliams570- Wilmington maybe, also would love to get down to Dogfish Head brew pub, but dont think it fits in.

Heck, my route could totally change!  Maps very soon!

Thom

[Mcwilliams570]

Let me know the pub is about 1hr 30 min away not sure if we want to go down there and drive home I can buy the beer here though. Either way if you need a place to crash is cool or we can ride down with you and crash down there let me know need to get time off of work.

Matt

[B.O.X.N.I.F.E.]

I could write you pages - and to a degree I've already done that. Here's my experience...


http://kerncountykid.blogspot.com

Here's some quick advice -

THIS TRIP WILL SUCK IF YOU BREAK DOWN MORE THAN TWICE!

That's the limit you can handle before it'll make you crazy. Trust me. Not from my own experience really, but my friends that ride with me and don't prepare. I've never had anything other than an ignition crap out and a flat tire, but my friends just wing it and always have problems (that slow us all down).

Inspect everything! Full tune up, very, very thorough. I bring a lot of spares - extra regulator/rectifier, extra fuses, emergency wiring kit in case you need to rewire/bypass anything, install fuel filters if you don't have them, little tubes of JB weld and a square of sandpaper, a tool kit that will do any general maintenance is crucial. Bring a valve lifter cover cap. I've had the threads separate from the cap twice on trips. Keep your tire pressure correct and sync your carbs before you leave, check for and eliminate any exhaust leaks. You'll get better mileage and the motor will run cooler. Don't flake on the oil changes because you're on the road! I usually do them in a plastic bag behind a Walmart. Leave town with a new, well greased chain.

Sounds over the top right? I've toured going on 40k miles on my 550 and never had a problem that kept me off the road more than an hour. Thorough prep is all it takes. I've heard so many horror stories about easily preventable or foreseeable problems with the CB's that I don't really mind the meticulous preparation.

Camping & food:

Buy a dry bag, put your sleeping bag in it. It will take forever to dry if it gets wet and you can't sleep without it. Pack light and efficiently. Pack the same every morning, make it your routine when you get up. I use bungee straps. Don't forget this: state parks are a huge rip off. You can camp in the National Forrest System for free. Zero dollars for dispersed camping. Maybe 8$ at a developed NF site. You'll lose some weight, it's a given. Don't eat at chains, they kill the vibe of the trip. I have a high calorie snack bar for breakfast like a Cliff bar, an orange juice and some fruit and a stick of cheese. That's maybe 5$ at a grocery store. Eat lunch and dinner in whatever local restaurant that has the most people inside. Or.....

TALK TO STRANGERS! It's so much more fun and I've made friends I still keep in contact with. They can direct you to good local food and things to see, and sometimes you end up with someone to drink with/a floor to sleep on. Some girl I talked to took me swimming at the Gorge in Portland and let me sleep at her house for 3 days. If I minded my own business I would have passed through town in an hour.

As far as the route...

The West rules. It's unbelievable. But there are vast expanses of nothingness to avoid. I just realized I'm 10 mintues late for something, I'll post more tonight. Hope this helps so far.

[ncstatecamp]

Hit up the dragons tail, you can thank me later. Also the parkway goes up and down a fair bit of the east coast. 17 mile drive in Cali is a must as well.

[jamesb]

if your in kansas let me know i'll buy you dinner. i have a 74 cb550 if you do make it through kansas hopefully it will be on a wednesday lawrence kansas has a motorcycle meetup there lots of cool old bikes.i'm in berryton kansas it's a little suburb of topeka.

[scottly]

Flybox1 has some good advice about doing the Pacific Northwest leg in August; the Southwest is the hottest then.
Listen to Box's advice, also. (going to watch the video again now  )

[B.O.X.N.I.F.E.]

So... the route.

If you're coming from NY down to GA, you have to hit the Blue Ridge Parkway. When you get to Smokey Mountain National Park buy the 80$ annual pass. Between GA and California, make sure you visit the Barber Motorsports Museum in Birmingham. Texas is two days of nothing if you don't have friends in Austin or Dallas, just blaze through it. At the NM border head up to Carlsbad Caverns National Park, over the Lincoln Mountains to the White Sands missile range and National Monument. On your way to Phoenix hit Saguaro National Park outside Tucson.

LA to San Francisco is fantastic, you'll love the PCH. Don't miss Morro Bay before you hit the PCH though. In Monterey be sure to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium. There's no other facility like it due to the deep waters beyond the shelf.

East from here I would strongly recommend finding a way to visit Yosemite and Sequoia. Actually, from experience, you'd be insane to come that close and not visit both. I strongly advise riding south east from San Fran to Sequoia, then north and East through Yosemite. You have limited options for crossing the Sierra's, and this is the best route for a lot of reasons.

Nevada is a wasteland in a lot of ways. I'd cross to Wendover then visit the Bonneville Salt Flats. WASH YOUR BIKE AFTER HITTING THE SALT!! It's very corrosive. Salt Lake City is bogus, skip it if you want, but there's only one road from Bonneville and it terminates in Salt Lake. An alternate route I would recommend would be cut across southern NV instead, skip Salt Lake, and go to Zion National Park in southern Utah. Hike up the Virgin River a little, it's beautiful. The road from Zion to Capitol Reef, HWY 12, has been my #1 riding experience, it's absolutely breath taking. Capitol Reef is a subtle park, but offers the most unpolluted night sky in the country. There are more stars than space when you look up.

From here Colorado has a lot of offer. My favorite route was from Capitol Reef in eastern UT to Durango in south west CO. From there you cross the Rockies and will hit Great Sand Dunes, which are really worthwhile. If you don't have friends in Denver I'd skip it, the southern route over the rockies is just as scenic.

After that you're on your own, Kansas will suck. Sorry.

I hope this is the kind of advice you wanted, I've criss crossed all of that part of the country on the same bike and these were just the highlights and creme of the crop, for me at least, from those trips.

[jcarthel]

Hi Thom!  I can do north Texas with you!  I can meet up with you in Amarillo, TX and head west down I-40 with you for a while!  I have been to Arizona, my two cents is, you should take I-40 to Flagstaff, AZ.  Flagstaff is beautiful!  It is a diamond in the desert of Arizona!  I swore Flagstaff was in Colorado with those beautiful trees and mountains!  It is a drastic change of scenery from the rest of Arizona and in a very positive way!  From Flagstaff, you could head north for a little over an hour and see the Grand Canyon.  Heading straight south from Flagstaff, I think you can be in Phoenix in about an hour and a half.  I will committ to riding with you.  Can you meet me in Amarillo?  We could eat at the Big Texan.  Are you a big eater?  The Big Texan will give you a 72 ounce steak free if you can eat it in 1 hour!  Palo Duro Canyon, 15 miles south of Amarillo, would be a great ride!  You can ride a great paved road 1000ft down to the canyon bottom!  Palo Duro Canyon is America's second deepest canyon, only the Grand Canyon is deeper!  Palo Duro Canyon, looking down from the top is an awesome view!  One key and positive difference from the Grand Canyon, is Palo Duro Canyon has no smog or haze to detract from the view.  There is also a wonderful play, Texas, performed every night in the Canyon bottom!  It is a great play that tells how the old west was settled with some really great singing and dancing sprinkled in.  The stunts and special effects are awesome!  Real animals are used in the show.  Fireworks conclude the show.  Lightning and thunder are simulated, people jump out of their seat when this happens, it is so real!  There is also a magnificent lone horseback rider that you look up to, that is riding 600 feet over your head on a cliff!  I almost forgot to mention the American Quarter Horse museum in Amarillo and Cadillac Ranch.  Cadillac ranch is west of Amarillo on I-40, it features 40's, 50's, and 60's era Cadillacs buried to their windshields with their tailfins sticking straight up to the sky!  Please, send me a pm, I am, jcarthel.  Regards,

Justin Carthel, Amarillo, TX area

[Duanob]

Sounds like an awesome trip! It's been a while since a member has done this and posted it. I guess that would be BOXKNIFE.

I would in general, rethink your direction and do the country in a counter-clockwise direction. Stay north in the mid summer months and stay south in september /october. Clockwise will put you in unbearable heat in the south and possible rainy crappy fall weather (even snow in the rockies) in the north. Just a thought.