Hello Gents,

First chance I've had to get on this in a while since I've been on the road now for a bit. Thought I'd share my experience just for the fun, and small amount of knowledge it may provide. I've wanted to tour the country on a Harley since I was a junior in high school, about a decade later I finally got too lol. My trip exceeded a lot of expectations and was amazing, but I also missed out on some opportunities that, I told myself would make good excuses to get back on the road for in the future.

SO,

After wrecking my sportster in a first ill conceived attempt at this trip, I spent approximately a year recovering, planning, and saving money for my next attempt. Then, January 2016 I bought a brand spankin new FXDB in Velocity Red Sunglo, and boy does she go. The ONLY changes I made to this bike before setting out were; Lucky Daves 14" San Diego MX TBars; a La Pera Cherokee seat, and a set of saddlebags I fashioned for myself using Great Bike Gear's brackets and taillight/license plate relocation kit. I put my crap in a seabag I had leftover from my service in the Marine Corps and set out April 18th, I got back a couple weeks ago, July 6th.





I started in the great state of my residence Washington and went through; Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho. I wanted to push to Florida, but while i was on the road the entirety of the south couldn't get it's act together long enough to stop flooding so I could make it through - this time. Doing the math, you might have guessed I did some back and forth.

While on the road I came across some minor issues with my bike and here they are;


1) My left side mirror became randomly loose at about 5k miles somewhere on a Highway in Cali
2)My clutch cable also became loose around the same time
3) The bolt connecting the rear exhaust bracket to the rear exhaust sheared off at some point, don't know when, I just noticed it was missing and the bracket jangling around on the exhaust pipe.
4)rear right side turn signal/running/brake light went out.
5) around 10k my throttle got a little loose

Being all minor repairs, I took care of this stuff no big deal on the road with the tools I had in my bag. I also changed my oil every 3.5k give or take a few hundred miles, and changed my transmission oil at about 7k. Those will be more frequent now that I have a home base again. Thought that general info was worth mention, oh I also have the stock original tires on still, I will need to replace the rear soon, but probably could get another 6k out of the front.

Overall the trip was a success and the bike performed like a f-cking rock star. It hauled my fat a$$ at any speed I wanted, up any hill, through any squall, and never complained. My immediate observations besides the previously mentioned issues are: SHOCKS. Man I need taller ones, I have just about scrapped a hole in my rear muffler and worn down my pegs to - and through the metal. I also experienced very noticeable and tangible speed wobble through long sweepers. When going about 90 (suggested 55) through these guys, my bike was dealing but definitely doing the jig, after shocks it's true-track for the win.

Also, just a little personal toot of my horn; I camped the whole time, and didn't pay for a single spot the whole 3 months on the road.

There's probably a lot I'm missing, but whatever, more will come back from memory as time goes on.

WARNING: Lots of pictures follow



Ride on

 

Very cool man! Thanks for sharing How'd you like Utah? Did the weather hold out for ya?

 

Fantastic. Congrats on the trip with camping all the way. How did you like the Le Pera Cherokee?

 

Envious. No windshield. You are a hard man.

 

beautiful photos, that's the type of trip many dream of and put off until
they are too old to pull it off..

 

Nice one, well done

 

Envious here.....Looks like a great trip.

 

I don't get jealous too often but I am now. Most people plan trips like this for after retirement and then are too old or have personal baggage and never pull it off. Smart of you to do it while a young man.

Having that much time by yourself on the road must have been personally enlightening. I know my mind wonders when I'm on long runs away from humanity. It's what I love about bike trips.

The pictures are awesome but please share your thoughts on cool things you discovered about the country and yourself.

 

What a great trip! Wow. Sure would like to see more pics.

Just have one question: Was there a girl in that flatbed Ford slowin down to take a look at you standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, while such a fine sight to see??

 

F'ing AWESOME!!!! What an incredible experience this must have been.


How did you get the time to do this?
How/where did you shower?