Major motorcycle road trip (out west)

[Steve St.Laurent]

Thought some of you other 2 wheel freaks might enjoy this read. I wrote this up for a bike site I'm on. I just got back last night at 1:30 am from a 9 day 4,900 mile road trip on my bike:

<center><font size="+1">Photo gallery (114 pictures including a map of the trip)</font></center>

Here's the story of my (our) big trip - by FAR the biggest trip I've ever taken on a bike! Jon and I started planning this a couple weeks ago. I had memorial weekend already setup to go trail riding and we had talked about doing a trip the week after - little did we know how big that trip would become! We were going to depart Michigan on Sunday the 24th and return home on the following Sunday the 31st. I spent quite a bit of time the week leading up to the trip looking around on Google earth looking for interesting terrain and researching the parks. We decided to hit Mt. Rushmore on the way to the Yellowstone area and then spend a few days there and head home. Jon had to work late Friday so he was going to meet me on Sunday. I was able to procure a ride for my dirt bike and gear for the weekend trail ride in the upper peninsula so that I could ride my street bike up. Thursday the day before the trip I took all my dirt bike gear an hour away for the pickup and then went home and finished packing for the trip.

Day 1-3 (Friday-Sunday) - trail ride:

Friday morning I rode the ZRX over to my friend Randy's house meeting him at 8:00am to load up the dirt bike and then hit the road. Rode up to the Garnet spur trail and rode about 16 miles of single track that afternoon and then loaded back up and rode over to Sand Town to camp for the night. We then rode 34 miles of single track at sand town and then rode over to the east side of the UP and camped at Birch Hill. Sunday morning was a very technical rocky trail ride for 9 miles and then I loaded up to go meet Jon in St. Ignace at 1:00pm.

Trip mileage: ~500 miles

Day 3 (Sunday) pt 2:

On the way out of our camp I had to go down a dirt road for about 10 miles. I remembered it as being firm but rocky and rough - I was wrong, there were sandy spots. At one point I was doing 40 mph or so and hit the sand and got into a serious wobble. Thought I was going to crash before we'd even started but I was able to recover - no way to gas it out on a street bike with sport tires! I met Jon just after 1 and we hit the road going west. The plan was to stay in a county campground at Saxon Harbor, WI right on Lake Superior that night - a ride of ~340 miles. We rode US-2 and then headed north and took US-28 across the upper UP until we met back up with US-2 and took it into Saxon Harbor. We arrived a couple hours before sunset, a neighbor gave us some wood so we could warm up, went up the road and got something to eat and then hit the sack pretty early because we wanted to hit the road at 7:00. I also was able to get a shower at the Marina which is why I picked this spot - none of the places we camp while trail riding have shower facilities - and I NEEDED one!

Trip mileage: ~840 miles

Day 4 (Monday):

Woke up at 6:30 and started packing up and hit the road at 7:15 am on a clear 50 degree morning. The GPS routed us down an 8 mile dirt road - I didn't want Jon to feel left out of the trail rides I'd been on the days before! We headed across Wisconsin and into Duluth, MN. Duluth was smelly, cold (45), and windy - who would want to live here? We headed southwest on I-35 just trying to get away from the lake shore and warm up! We stopped for fuel and a guy in the bathroom told Jon that when we passed him it sounded like thunder and his kids were going nuts! Also said we must have been freezing - we were. I routed us down back roads as much as possible and we shot across MN on 12. We were fighting a 60-70 mph cross/head wind for about 6 hours. Was wearing both of us out! I was wondering why there weren't tons of windmills in this area when we came upon them in southern MN. Came close to running out of gas this day on a detour and we had to turn around and head opposite of our route in order to get it. Having the GPS and being able to look up fuel locations would come in VERY handy on this trip! Going through one of the towns here I noticed a popping through my bike. We pulled over a couple times and eventually figured out that it was the chain coming off of the sprocket that was hanging up under trailing throttle. The sprocket was getting worn out and had rough edges that the chain was hanging on. As long as I kept it lubed it was ok. The chain and sprockets had about 10,000 miles on it when I left. Eventually we worked our way down to 90. At one fuel stop on 90 we were talking about how we'd hit just about every kind of weather except rain that day - it was 45 in Duluth, and 80 later in the day, windy, etc. When we pulled out of the gas stop and turned onto 90 there in front of us was dark black clouds - that hadn't been there when we pulled in for fuel (15 minutes or so earlier). A few miles down the road we pulled over to get our rain gear on and it's a good thing we did because right after we got rolling we ran right into a thunderstorm. I've always thought that rain storms got bikes dirty - I found out on this trip if your bike is filthy enough they can actually clean your bike! We rode through the rain for about 100 miles and then we stopped at a rest area to take off our gear. When we pulled out of the rest area we rode down into a valley that was just gorgeous! One of our first breath taking sights on this trip. Jon and I were both pumping our fists in the air with excitement.

We were hoping to make it all the way to Mt. Rushmore and camp in the forest but when I planned the trip it came up as an 840 mile leg on mapsource - it was actually 960. We were about 170 miles shy of Mt. Rushmore when we saw a KOA that had cabins and we stopped there for the night and stayed in one of the cabins so we could hit the road fast in the morning. We got there just before sunset.

Trip mileage: ~1600 miles

Day 5 (Tuesday):

Hit the road at 7:30 with 45 degrees & drizzle - froze our butts off for 3 hours. We stopped for breakfast in Wall, SD after 2 hours and I couldn't stop shaking. Then it warmed up nicely and we had great weather the rest of the day. We got to Mt Rushmore around 10 - it was awesome. Well worth the trip! I picked up some souvenirs for the family here and had them shipped back home so I wouldn't have to pack them on the bike. On the way out we rode on 87 and 89 on the way down from the mountain that rivaled deals gap/tail of the dragon! It was marked 35 and we were going more like 70-90 down most of it - glad we didn't run into a park ranger! This was the first of MANY roads we would have the time of our lives on! I was giggling like a schoolgirl in my helmet! After that we took 16 into Custer (we passed into Wyoming at this point) and were going to head south when I saw a sign that said 81 miles to the next services. We turned around and fueled up. Met a guy there that we chatted with and he gave us a different route to take that he said would be better. Well, we rode across the desolation of Wyoming - in places threes literally NOTHING (excepts tumbleweeds) for a couple hours. If you want to disappear and never be found this is the place to do it! You have to plan your fuel stops carefully because there's sometimes long distances between fuel - don't pass a fuel stop on back roads in WY (remember that for later). We spent 20+ minutes at 120+ at times! After one of these long stretches we stopped in a town called Wright. I have a friend that moved to Wyoming a few month ago and wanted to have a quick visit but it didn't look like it would work out. I thought he said he was in Gillette which was off of our route. Just in case I called him and asked how close he was to Wright - turns out he lives in Wright! 5 minutes later he was standing next to me. Way cool - several things had to happen for that to take place - coincidence? I think not. He told us the next section we were riding didn't have fuel for 120 miles so I knew we'd be pushing it so we rode at a steady 75 for this entire stretch. At our last gas stop towards the end of the day it didn't look like we were going to make it all the way to Jenny Lake campground in the Tetons so we were looking for a campground a bit closer. A guy at the station suggested we try Dubois and suggested an alternate route to get there. We met a lot of very nice people on this trip! When we started getting close to Dubois we really started climbing into the mountains and got our first real views of them. Many of the peaks were snow covered. It was getting close to sunset when we pulled into Dubois and found a KOA and setup our tents. I got my second shower of the trip here - sure felt good! We were at 6,400 feet and about 70 miles short of the Teton National Park. We ate at an Italian restaurant in town and loaded up on carbs for the upcoming riding. Was a very cold night and was the first night I wore my fleece long johns inside of my zero rated sleeping bag (I think they rate those as you won't die at the temp but you may think your going to!).

Trip mileage: ~2200 miles

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Day 6 (Wednesday):

I slept in a little this morning - 7:30. We had a big breakfast in Dubois. Then we finished the ride into Jenny Lake which is the campground we're at in the Grand Teton national park. We rode over the continental divide at 9,600 feet! There was snow everywhere except on the road. On the way in to the campground we passed Jackson lake with 4 giant snow covered peaks right behind it that were reflected in the water, it took my breath away - I took a few incredible pictures of it.

We got our campsite which has peaks (Mt. Moran) right behind us - there's snow on the ground in spots here too. Pitched our tents and then took off for another ride. Yellowstone is to the north of us and we wanted to ride around it and also ride over Beartooth pass which is at 11,700 feet. It was ~150 miles from where we were camped to the northeast side of the park. All along the way there were incredible views - many of them that you can't take a picture of on a bike because there's no where to pull over. We made one wrong turn and went about 10 miles out of our way and had to back track. The northeast entrance road is a BLAST! The terrain there is very different than the other parts of the park we'd been in and Bison were everywhere. We were about 45 miles short of Beartooth pass when we realized we had a fuel (and time) issue. It looked like we'd already passed by the northeast entrance (although we didn't see it) and the two towns that are just past it. We thought we were going to have to ride up Beartooth pass after all just to get fuel and it was going to be close at that. We started riding very conservatively trying to conserve every drop of fuel we had. 10 miles later we passed into Montana and then hit the northeast entrance. Asked a ranger where the nearest gas was and she said about 5 miles. That side of the park is pretty sparse - it's also 150 miles away from our campsite! We ran out of time . . . All told we rode 450 miles today with not one 1/4 mile straightaway in all that time! We rode by tons of snow - like 5 foot tall walls right against the road. Lewis Lake was still completely frozen! Yellowstone lake still had ice floating at the downwind edges. Yellowstone is incredible. We've seen antelope, elk, bison, mule deer, and a wolf. The speed limit is 45 everywhere in the park so we stuck right at 55 - just didn't slow down for the corners . We were able to make good time but the size of the park is mind boggling. It would be an entire day trip in a car just to go from one end of the park to the other.

Trip mileage: ~2700 miles

Day 7 (Thursday):

We'd seen and done so much on this trip that I didn't want to dive right into the freeway drone for the ride home and not have a chance to process everything. So I wanted to make this a short day of riding so I could take the time back at the camp to digest everything and take some notes on what we'd seen. Jon and I regularly would ask things like - were we really at Mt. Rushmore yesterday? on Lake superior two days ago? There was SOOOOOOOOOOOO much packed into each day that it was mind boggling! It seemed like we'd been traveling for 3 weeks. Both of us wanted to see Old faithful and it was only 75 miles away so that sounded like a great plan. The road up towards the park is under major construction and there's about a 45 minute delay getting through there each time. Getting anywhere in the park takes a long time - 400 miles in the park is like 1,000 miles on the highway. We got up to old faithful, shopped for some more souvenirs and had them shipped home again. This part of the park is the most commercialized area that we'd seen (we never did get to the west/northwest side of the park though) around 1:15 and were told that the next time it should go off was around 2:25 +- 10 minutes. We walked around the path and checked out some of the other geysers and terrain features and made it back with about 15 minutes to spare before it went off. While sitting there a guy came up with a riding jacket and I asked where he'd ridden from. Turns out he's from England and flew into Boston and rented a Harley and was riding across the country for 3 weeks doing about 300-400 miles a day. Nice guy and we chatted a while about racing, riding, etc. Once old faithful went off and we took our pictures we got out of there while it was still spewing to beat the traffic back onto the road - there were LOTS of people there for the show!

We headed back to camp and Jon wanted to ride into Jackson to pick up an air mattress. I went to the Signal Mountain lodge and had dinner on the lake and then stopped by a small chapel right near there for a few minutes contemplation. Then I went back to camp and sat on a small beach on Jenny Lake and watched the sun set over the mountains, thought about/relived the trip to that point, and made my notes. When I got back to camp I checked out my tires and saw that the rear tire was down to the wear bars. D208's don't have much life left when at that point so I was pretty sure I wouldn't make it home. I borrowed an Atlas from a neighbor and found a large town not too far away on our route - Cheyenne, WY. Posted on the ZRX site for help and left my cell #. Hit the sack pretty early so that we could get an early start the next day.

Trip mileage: ~3200 miles

Day 8 (Friday):

When I woke up I had a message from Dallas saying he could call around for tires for me if I wanted. I told him if I hadn't heard from anyone else by the first gas stop that I'd take him up on it. We hit the road at 7:00 am headed for home. As we went over the pass at 9,600 feet it was about 30 degrees. Stopped in Dubois for the first gas stop and checked my messages and hadn't heard from anyone else so I called Dallas and gave him the particulars. Jon ran across the street to have breakfast (the man can't pass up a breakfast and I didn't want him grumpy). As we were about to leave I got another phone call - from Alan (Blown32) that he was in Cheyenne and would be glad to help. I gave him the particulars. He called back and had a shop that had the tire I was looking for and offered to meet us at a McDonald's and lead us in. I punched it into my GPS and said we'd be there at 2:30 (this was at about 8:00 am). Called Dallas back to let him know I was hooked up and he said he'd gotten ah old of a couple shops too and had emailed me the particulars. Thanked him and we hit the road.

We were now back on the desolate roads of Wyoming - we rode out 287 towards US-80. We passed through one town with only about 50 miles on the tank of fuel and I figured no problem finding fuel within 80 miles or so - I was wrong. We passed by Sweetwater station with about 90 miles on the tank - which is just that, a station - a CLOSED station btw. We dialed the speed way back at this point to conserve fuel. Next up was Jeffrey city - which we hit about 15 miles after I was on reserve. There WERE two gas stations in this town - both abandoned. It looked like a town that originally had a population around 100 and now had maybe 10. Modern ghost town! We went up to a building that had a door open and there was a guy there (with 2 or 3 teeth) and we asked if there was fuel in this town - he said they hadn't had any for about 2 1/2 years and that he'd been down for about a year and a half (he was talking about his truck that was torn apart) and that the closest fuel was 23 miles down the road and that he rode his four wheeler down there every few months and would ask others to fill up his fuel can at other times. Jon and I both thought we were in serious trouble now! I tucked in to be as aerodynamic as possible and rode at 50 mph with the throttle barely cracked and counted down the miles. Every uphill when I had to give it more throttle I cringed. With a mile and a half to go my bike started puttering and I was just praying that there wasn't an uphill between me and the station because I knew I was about to run out. The bike was still running (barely) when we pulled into the station! The station was called Muddy Gap and they had a van outside that said "Where the !@#%& is Muddy Gap?" on it - lol. They sold t-shirts inside with the same thing and there was peoples signatures all over the walls of people that had been there. There's picture of the station and of the desolation around it in the photo album.

Getting close to Cheyenne there were intermittent rain showers around. With me having no tread on the back tire I was praying we wouldn't run through one and we just skirted the edges getting a slight sprinkle here and there and ran over some wet pavement but no standing water! Whew! We pulled into the McDonald's at 2:32 (2 minutes late) and met up with Alan and he led us to the shop. As soon as I got there they took a quad off their lift and put my bike on it and got to work. I also tried to get a rear sprocket for the chain issue but they didn't have one. Alan offered up one but I figured it would make it home ok. I asked if there was someplace close by that we could eat and Alan said - take my bike, I'll just wait here for you!! What a guy! Hopped on his ZX14 and Jon and I went and ate lunch. When we got back they were just finishing up with the tire. My throttle had also been hanging up on return and I borrowed some cable lube and got that taken care of and then went and paid. When I got back they were adjusting the chain and said that it had been very loose (didn't think much of it). They got me serviced and on the road and we only lost about an hour and part of that we were eating! Dallas, Alan (Blown32) and Cheyenne Sports Center - YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Owe you big time!

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

They told us Ogallala, NE was about 200 miles away and get on our way about 4pm. We figured we'd get a hotel room there with a hot tub to soak our sore muscles! Pulled in (600 miles today) and found a Super 8 that had a hot tub and made sure it was working before we checked in. I checked my GPS and saw that we were 1,001 miles from home - hmmmmmmmmm. Our original plan was to ride another 600 miles Saturday and then finish up with a short 400 mile day on Sunday. I was beginning to really miss my girls (had a picture of them on my tank bag the entire trip). It had been 12 hours since we'd left the campground that morning and the GPS said it was 13. 5 hours to home. 300 miles of today's trip had been on back roads and all of the remaining 1,000 were freeway - which sucks but we needed to get home. I'd wanted to do an Iron Butt ride for some time, the 1,001 miles to home sounded like a calling to me, and I thought the adrenaline rush of having a goal to meet and a reward at the end might make the freeway drone more exciting. So I mentioned it to Jon and he was up for it. We settled into the room and I got onto the net on my cell phone to get the Iron butt info. Tried to print off their form at the hotel but they didn't have a printer so I got a couple blank pieces of paper and we hand wrote out the forms. Then we went and soaked in the hot tub for a while - FELT GREAT! Then off to bed early because we wanted to be on the road at 6:30.

Trip mileage: ~3800 miles

Day 9 (Saturday):

Up at 6:00am and then off to the counter to get a witness for the Iron butt ride (Saddlesore 1000), then off to the gas station to get our start receipt and a backup witness. Off to the freeway drone at 6:45am! A little outside of Chicago I noticed that on light throttle my bike was lurching a bit. At the next gas stop I checked my chain and it was LOOOOOOOSE! Like 5 inches of play! Uh oh. I pulled all of the luggage off the bike to get to my toolkit and adjusted the chain - but I didn't think to check for the tightest spot. Put the tools away, loaded everything back on the bike and hit the road. Now I had a popping all the time. Hit the next exit with a parking lot and found the chain tight as a bow string at one point. Off comes the luggage again - I should have left the two tools I needed to adjust it out of there, grrrrrr. Adjusting the chain at the tightest spot there was about 2 1/2 hash marks different from there to the loose side. With the chain adjusted to the tight point there was about 3 1/2 inches of play on the loose side. Oh well - got to nurse it home the last 300 miles. I just took it REAL easy on acceleration.

Pulling into Chicago all of a sudden we're getting passed left and right and we're riding at 15 over the limit. I realized that we hadn't been passed by ANYONE for 9 days until now - welcome back to the mid west! Got into Indiana and the sun set and it started getting cold. Jon stopped and put more clothes on. Up the coast of Michigan along the lake shore and it started getting REAL cold. We stopped at a gas station and both pulled on more clothes, I grabbed a cup of coffee and Jon grabbed a hot cocoa. The gas station attendant gave them to us - nice guy. We chatted for a while and warmed up, then we hit the road again. Jon split off to head north for home just above Grand Rapids and I headed east for my home. Stopped at a station at the end to get my end receipt (saved receipts for the entire 1,000 miles too) and a witness for the end of the ride. The last hour or so was brutally cold - I tucked in to hide from the wind as best as possible and just get it behind me. About 30 miles out I nailed a raccoon dead center. I was watching for deer like a hawk and just wasn't watching for something that small and low and by the time I saw him it was too late. Reflexes slowed by close to 5,000 miles in the last week, 1,000 that day, and freezing cold didn't help any I'm sure. I was focusing hard and saying to myself - stay in the game, your not safe till your parked at home, praying for safe passage, etc. I know the last part of a long trip is the most dangerous. Pulled into home at 1:30 am for 1050. 8 miles in 16 hours and 45 minutes after being in 3 different time zones. The chain stuff slowed us down about an hour and a half.

WHAT A TRIP!! Great guy to share it with too! Jon and I were riding like one mind by the end - coordinated lane changes, speed changes, etc. We had an AWESOME time! Hope you enjoyed the read. Mostly I did it so that I could remember the trip down the road. There's tons more that took place I'm sure, but faded into the background because of the sheer mass of stuff we did. I'm sore as all get out today but give me a few more days and some time to get the bike back into shape (blew a fork seal on the trip, have to replace the chain and sprocket, change the oil, CLEAN IT, plus I'd need to do another valve adjust before a big trek like this - did it just before I left) and I'd be ready for another one! With a family, my enduro racing, work, etc that's just not possible but it would be nice. Probably be at least a year before the next one but I can taste it already - I'm thinking a ride up to the Arctic would be fun!

Total trip mileage: 4,894 miles (plus ~50 miles of single track on the CR)

<center><font size="+1">Photo gallery (114 pictures including a map of the trip)</font></center>

 

[macdaddy]

Cool Pics

Steve... .



I loved the photo's. I see you stayed in some of the KOA's. How did that work out for you?



I plan on picking up something to ride on the street later this year, probably after i get back from vacation this summer.



Looked cold in some of those photos though. I plan on doing alot of riding out here on the west coast, mostly Wa st.



How did the Kawi's hold up.



Mac

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

We stayed in two KOA's just because they happened to be there when we were ready to stop riding - when the sun was about to set. We really only had a small fire to warm up and then slept for ~8 hours before getting up, packing up, and hitting the road again. Given that they worked out fine for us. It was bitterly cold at times - we rode in temps from the low 30's and up into the 90's. Kawi's held up pretty well, I lost a fork seal (34,000 miles on the bike) during the trip and my chain and sprockets were toast about 300 miles from the end - 15,000 miles on them now. They go 14-24k on these bikes typically depending on the kind of riding you do so that wasn't out of the ordinary.

 

[MMeier]

Cool, sounds like fun... . for the most part!!

 

[HBarlow]

Interesting travel story, Steve. Please describe a Kawasaki ZRX for me, the uninformed.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

If you look at the photo gallery you'll see pictures of them. It's sometimes called a standard bike, sometimes a muscle bike, sometimes a naked bike. It's a modern version of the Kawasaki Eddie Lawson replica (KZ1000) that was made in the early 80's. Mine is an 1100 that has the ZX11 engine in it which a double downtube frame, big disc brakes, wide modern wheels. There is a small cowl fairing that provides a little wind protection but not much. Riding position is pretty much upright with your feet right below you and a slight forward lean to the bars. Weighs around 500 lbs and had around 110 hp stock - mine is around 120hp at the rear wheel. Best street bike I've ever owned.

 

[macdaddy]

I have pretty much decided on a BMW R1200GS Adventurer. Now I know they are about twice the price of most metric bikes, however they are an unbelievable bike to ride.



113 HP/90Lbft. Also I like the shaft drive. They are also a good bike to go back and forth on from off road to street as I will be doing.



I am saving right now and plan on buying it in Dec to take advantage of our Prez offer to allow a write off for sales tax.



Go Green, Just Kidding.

Remember Gas,Jet, and Diesel ARE the energy of the future!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Gaylord]

Great write up Steve. As you can see from my signature, I have two bikes. I find myself riding the Yamaha FJR the most. I'm headed to the BMW MOA National in Johnson City, Tenn in July.



I'll do the Beartooth, riding the Beartooth & Chief Joseph Hwys out of Red Lodge Montana in August. I'll do the Three Flags Classic over Labor Day Weekend. We go from Mexicalli to Lethbridge from Friday to Monday. This will be my fifteenth Three Flags.



Great to see we have some motorcyclist on the TDR.

 

[BPINE]

Great read Steve sounds like a great adventure. Makes me want to buy another street bike and go for a ride.



Blair

 

[Jeff Knight]

We stayed in the Twin Pine lodge one night about this time last year... . Jeff

 

[HBarlow]

If you look at the photo gallery you'll see pictures of them. [snip]... ... ... ...

Thanks for the description. I did look at all the photos in the gallery you provided but am not sufficiently knowledgeable about motorcyles anymore. All I could tell from the photos was your machine is a Kawasaki "crotch rocket. " 120hp on 500 pounds plus rider and gear must make it a pretty wild ride when you twist the right grip.

I get the bug every spring when the motorcycles come out to own another one. My female German Shepherd constant companion has probably kept me alive because every time I get a little too serious about owning another bike I am reminded that I couldn't take her along and couldn't explain to her why I dumped her in the back yard after six years of being my sidekick.

I'm stuck with fantasizing about the adventure by reading travel stories like yours.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

It's far from a crotch rocket - it's got the motor from one (ZX11) but the riding position is FAR more comfortable. Your legs aren't twisted up like pretzels and you don't have weight on your wrists all the time.

 

[KIKER]

Interesting trip! I, too, have and ride a Kawasaki, but haven't got to take any trips like this one. I have an '08 C1400, also know as a Concours. It's got the Ninja 14 engine, shaft drive, saddle bags, electric windshield, tire pressure monitor with display... ... ... ... ..... , you get the picture. It doesn't have an automotive style cruise control, or self-canceling turn signals. But, it could make do on a trip such as yours. I worked some construction some years ago up in your neck of the woods and enjoyed the people and scenery. I did some work in a refinery in Alma, staying in Claire, and then one job in Traverse City. I had my Harley with me at both those jobs and rode around a lot and enjoyed it. Made one trip to Niagra Falls from Claire, up, over Mackinac Bridge to Sault Ste. Marie, down to Toronto, around and over to Niagra. Came back a little bit more direct. I was able to see all five of the Great Lakes on that trip and made 1200 miles in 49 hrs. Camped out one night and stayed in a motel one.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

I'm very familiar with the C14 - a friend has one. VERY nice bike! I took his for a test ride and told him that I almost took a right turn and headed to California rather than a left to return to where I'd left him . Would love to have one!

 

[Flying_gage]

I have pretty much decided on a BMW R1200GS Adventurer. Now I know they are about twice the price of most metric bikes, however they are an unbelievable bike to ride.



113 HP/90Lbft. Also I like the shaft drive. They are also a good bike to go back and forth on from off road to street as I will be doing.



I am saving right now and plan on buying it in Dec to take advantage of our Prez offer to allow a write off for sales tax.



Go Green, Just Kidding.

Remember Gas,Jet, and Diesel ARE the energy of the future!!!!!!!!!!!

Cool thread! I am envious. I have ridden that bike and was impressed. They are fun. I never would have thought of one as a distance tourer though! Good on ya!



Macdaddy,

Not trying to dissuade you but I sold BMW's and put a bunch of miles on a R1150GSA. They are too heavy, especially when touring/camping, for anything but dirt roads! Trust me I know. I tried and it kicked my butt. 600+ pounds (fueled and gear) is not manageable on anything but pavement and the odd gravel road.

 

[macdaddy]

Cool thread! I am envious. I have ridden that bike and was impressed. They are fun. I never would have thought of one as a distance tourer though! Good on ya!



Macdaddy,

Not trying to dissuade you but I sold BMW's and put a bunch of miles on a R1150GSA. They are too heavy, especially when touring/camping, for anything but dirt roads! Trust me I know. I tried and it kicked my butt. 600+ pounds (fueled and gear) is not manageable on anything but pavement and the odd gravel road.

Im all over it... ... .



I believe in the right tool for the job. I have a YZF 450 for all single track and, and any other off roading i plan on.



The Beamer will be for very smooth (NO SAND) dirt roads. I like Death Valley, and the Saline Valley area for this thing. The BMW would be just to unpleasant in any Whoops, or sand washes.



We are going to rent a couple GSer's, when I get back from vacation in Sept. We are going to ride from So Ca to Lee Vining, Yosemite and back home via 99.



Mac