My daughter, who's 15, and I have decided to see the country. We started in my Jeep, but we found that being in the "car", even with the roof off, took too much of the visceral experience away, so we started talking options...

I had a RK when my daughter was very little but she was simply too young to ride on it, however, she remembers it fondly and when I brought up the idea of buying a bike to do our trip with she was more than excited.

I explained to my daughter that the riding would be hard at first. I told her that her butt would probably hurt and we would have to deal with the sun, wind, heat, cold, and rain (hopefully no snow). I also told her we would not be on any kind of timeline so if she did start hurting, we would stop and rest until she was good to go. One of the great things is that my daughter is homeschooled so we really aren't on a timeline. The only real timeline we have is the weather timeline. We would like to do all 49 states and Canada, so we need to get started soon. My hope is that we can find a bike this week and start the trip by next weekend.

This brings me to my questions:
1. Where's the best place to buy my new HD? I'm looking for a 2017 leftover or a 2018 Ultra Limited
2. What should I expect to pay for my HD (sticker, 5% under sticker, over sticker, etc...)?
3. What equipment would you consider mandatory for the trip (frog togs, cooling vest, etc...)?
4. Are there any options I should add to my bike day 1 (CB, seat, etc...)?
5. Do we need to have an intercom for our helmets? I never had anything like that with the RK, but I know people that have Goldwings that have intercoms


Thanks everyone

 

Rain gear, heated gear, good boots. I wouldn't change the seat until you try the stock one. My 2017 stock seat is all day comfortable.

Patience, time, and a spirit of Adventure to take the road less traveled.

I did a lot of traveling with my girls when they where young, but never when they where in their teens. That is something I always regretted. I envy you and her. It's going to be a great Dad/daughter journey where the memories will last a life time.

Enjoy.

 

Good Luck on your trip.... quite an endeavor.
however I think I would look for a bike this year, and take some time to get familiar with things, get some local rides in and try different things. to get a bike, try to figure a trip, get all your gear around and get someone totally unprepared to ride in 30 days or less is a lot to ask. and I guarantee you will not have a totally enjoyable trip! I would get your bike this year, and spend the winter looking checking figuring out what you need and do it next spring. and get some nice local road trips in.
And as I said, Good luck!!! you will enjoy!!

 

You got about 6 weeks before you can't count on the Mountain passes in the West, especially in the Rocky Mountains, being open. I suggest you head North ASAP do Canada, and then the Rocky Mountains and be done with them no later than Mid October. Then head to the Pacific Ocean and do the Coast. You should be there no later than October 15. The fog should still not be an issue. Then head south to San Francisco..... you will find a lot of the high Mountain parks closed mid October...... and do the Southern USA.

Just watch the weather. Always have an alternate route in the Mountains and after Oct 1st..... if it is raining at 3,000 ft.... assume it is snowing at 7,000 ft.

And you WILL need heated gear. When I was in Palm Springs last October I came back to Canada on 93/95. I had my heated gear on when I left Vegas, and never turned it off until I got home. Even in the summer it can be cold in the High Deserts.

 

When was the last time you rode? I know you said you had a bike when your daughter was little but taking many years off then buying a large brand new bike and taking off two up is probably not something done everyday. But if you feel comfortable with it, then go for it.

I would pass on Frog Troggs for rain gear unless they make a set specifically for riding motorcycles. On a big trip like you are planning, you guys are going to get caught in the rain somewhere and a good set of rain gear is nice to have. I have used Frog Trogs, Jaffrum, Nelson Rigg, and just bought the Harley set but haven't used it yet. I liked the Nelson Rigg AS-3000 a lot and used it on a trip to the Rockies earlier this year, but I accidentally screwed up the zipper on in it, my fault not the suit's.

If you are buying a new bike, I would try to get that first 1000 miles on it in a hurry so you can get/do the 1000 mile service before you leave on your trip.

Headsets, I have a couple Sena 20s headsets that mount to your helmet. I don't use it as much on my Street Glide, but it went on any long trip I took on my Wide Glide. It will let you two talk to each other. You can also pair each headset to different phones via bluetooth so you daughter can listen to her own music. I know there is a strong likely hood that a 15 year old girl's taste in music might be different than yours.

I bought a brand new Street Glide Special a couple months ago and paid close to sticker.

I'm not sure if the Ultra Limited comes with a rider backrest, but you may want to look into it and get one if not.

 

The ultra limited does not come with a back rest for the rider. I would definitely
Take the advise given on getting use to the bike. Fully loaded and riding two up definitely changes how the bike feels, especially at low speed. Sounds like a Great trip. Enjoy!

 

Yup on the backrest. Makes all the difference on longer days. I don't have a Harley one as I use a duffel bag.

 

Rider backrest holds off fatigue appreciably. Intercom, because you don't want to have to work to talk to each other for all the hours per day that you'll be in the wind. Consider a bag like this one, http://www.jpcycles.com/product/830-890 , to add luggage capacity.

If you want to set this up the best you can, start working on a bike, equipment list, etc., and go next year. A lot of us would spend weeks finding a helmet that fits right, since it's unusual to find a store that has all your contenders to try on. Rain gear has a lot of threads to read for research. The list goes on.

If you're going to go soon, expect to make several planning mistakes that you'll pay for on the trip.

 

That is for all the replies. Just got back from Colorado really early on Monday, and bought my bike today. I got a 2017 Ultra Limited silver and black. I am having Rineheart slip-on's installed as well as tombstone lights and highway pegs. I went ahead and bought a HD rain suit, leather jacket, gloves, and I'm going tomorrow to buy some boots and a helmet.

One large change I am making is that my daughter will not be going with me for this first ride. After some of your comments and a long conversation with my wife and daughter we all decided that it would be best for me to go on this trip solo. The plan will be for my daughter and I to take a country tour starting in about March or April.

I will be starting my trip nlt Monday, and the plan right now is to bolt straight up the east coast to Main, then cross Canada to Alaska, then south. I am going to spend the next couple of days figuring out the exact route. I have also been putting together a list of places and things I'd like to see. I think this trip will be more about seeing the things I want to see rather than marking off states on a map, although I do want to do that as well. In the end I will be fine if I don't hit all the states, as I know I'll hit them later with my daughter then later on with the Son and again with the Wife.

 

Here's a quick down and dirty list of things I want to see (never seen before). It's a list I will be adding to, and will be taking any and all suggestions.

Here we go (in no particular order):
Key West
The White House
Tomb of the Faller Soldier
Mount Rushmore
Niagra Falls
The Mall of America
Yosemite, including old faithful
The Grand Canyon
The Golden Gate Bridge
The worlds largest ball of twine
Texas School Book Depository
Death Valley
Rodeo Drive
Twin Towers Memorial