The 10 day forecast for here, 200 miles south of Chicago, is not too bad right now. Temps between 29 and 64 with rain expected 3 out of the 10 days.


PM me is you want my personal contact info. I assume you will be coming eastward on I-70 by the time you are getting in my area, then probably headed north on I-57. If so, I am an easy drive from the I-57 I-70 intersection in IL.

Dennis

 

OP, I know you started this journey. Let us know how it goes.


Good luck.

Dennis

 

Today in Chicago 33degrees. ,mist rain. Icy on the roads
tonight: winds to 60 mph, dropping temps, hail. Continues tomorrow
Yesterday, rainy, cold snow. What were people who advised him to go really thinking?

Really, I can't believe people were telling him to go for it. One thing to be prepared, another to be just outright dangerous and wrong.

 

Ya I figured this winter was going to last longer. 4-6 inches of snow here. You can never be so sure. If he would wait a few days it will be back in the 50s

 

OP made it to his destination safely on his own. Rough trip, but the return trip should be better.

Dennis

 

Hey all. I made the trip. I'm sorry I haven't posted any updates in a while, I haven't had Internet access. I had a move to Phoenix to complete right after I got done, I've just gotten settled in here.

Dennis, I want to give you a big thanks again for your help and for checking up on me to make sure I made it safely. I really appreciate that.

I didn't take many pictures, unfortunately. I wish I had. A brief summary will have to suffice, I suppose.

I left Orange County, CA Sunday, March 30. My first stop was in Henderson, Nevada to visit a friend. I spent more time there than I intended, my rear tire was more worn than I had thought. My friend's friend's mom's boyfriend just happened to ride a Road King and have a really sweet shop set up in his garage. He showed me how to change the tire. We finished doing that about 5 p.m. on the 31st. From Henderson, I took Route 93 down to Kingman, AZ where I spent the night.

The next morning, April 1, I got on I-40. That was a fairly uneventful ride through northern Arizona and New Mexico, though the wind was blowing harder than I've experienced from the south. At one point I saw an overturned semi that I think must've been due to a gust, because it was a straight road. I could be wrong, of course. I had lunch in Williams, AZ and rode from there to Albuquerque.

I continued the following morning, April 2, through the rest of New Mexico and the Texas panhandle. The wind had died down but the heat in Texas caught me by surprise. I was used to the elevation in New Mexico. Still, once I stripped some layers off, it was a welcome change. I kept going until 40 took me to I-44, and eventually reached Tulsa.

The next day, April 3, proved to be the most difficult part of the trip. I stayed on 44. The sky had been overcast when I left in the morning, and didn't improve as the day wore on. I don't remember exactly where I was when I put on the rain gear, it was either just before I reached Joplin, MO or St. Louis, MO. Either way, about a half hour after I did, the rain really started coming down, with some isolated lightning strikes. I'd been through far worse storms when I lived near Houston (Tropical Storm Allison and Hurricane Rita in particular), but never on the road on a motorcycle. It was a different experience. At one point I hit a patch of water about a foot deep at the bottom of a hill that hadn't had time to drain yet. By the time I saw it, I was almost in it. I have no idea how I didn't slide out, but I got through it pretty quick and just kept going until I hit St. Louis, where I exited 44 and got on 55.

That night, I stopped in McLean, IL about 120 miles south of my destination. I had a heated jacket liner and glove liners with me, but I had to disconnect the glove liners because my riding gloves had gotten soaked through and the liners were shocking me. It was kinda cool, honestly, but not for an extended period of time. Anyways, my digits were frozen so I pulled off and spent the night in a motel.

When I woke up on April 4, I loaded the bike back up and rode the last hour and a half or so to my parents' house in Naperville, IL. Long story short, I spent about a week there. On April 12, my dad and I left to return to my old apartment in California. He was in his car so we could carry my things to Phoenix, and me on my bike. We took the same route I had taken to get there, only in reverse.

The return trip was milder and relatively fast. We averaged about 650 miles a day. We spent Sunday night just outside Tulsa. The next day, the 13th, we made it to Moriarty, New Mexico. As it turned out, that was about the worst possible place for us to stay due to the elevation. It snowed during the night, something I had expected to encounter much farther north, near Chicago, but certainly not near Albuquerque this time of year. I've attached a picture of how we found my bike that morning.

We left Moriarty at about 6 a.m. on the 14th. The temperature was 21 degrees Fahrenheit, and the first overpass we crossed was iced over. That was probably my sketchiest moment on my bike. It was another one of those times when I'm not sure how I didn't slide out. But, I got across, and the temperature started rising as we descended.

By the time we reached Albuquerque, it had climbed a good 15 degrees. At least it was above freezing now. No more ice. Once we reached Holbrook, AZ we took state highways southwest to Phoenix, through the mountains. That was a gorgeous ride, and the temperature was pleasant the entire way. I'll be spending a lot of my free time up in those mountains once I'm fully settled in here.

Anyways, we stayed in Phoenix that night. The morning of the 15th, we headed to my old residence in Cali. That was a very uneventful ride. The most notable change was, predictably, the traffic once we got near Los Angeles. We loaded up the car that day, left at about 5 on the 16th and stayed in Phoenix again that night. The day after, yesterday, we moved me into my new apartment for school (MMI), and that brings me to today, when I now have Internet access and enough time that I can post this update.

Thanks again to everyone who contributed. There were some moments I really wished I'd thought better of the trip, but bad decisions make great stories. In retrospect, I don't know that I'd do it again in a heartbeat, but I'm very glad I did and wouldn't trade any of those experiences for anything.

And yes, it turns out you can tour on a Sportster.

 

That's a long ways on a Sportster. Glad you made it safe

 

Thanks for the update. Sounds like you have a good dad.
Ride safe.

 

There was a guy on here earlier asking if 300 miles a day was too much on an Ultra. Maybe he should upgrade to a Sporty so he can double his daily mileage.

 

That was fun to read, Dean. Good luck at MMI...I suspect you'll kick some azz there.