I just completed my first road trip. I was out of motorcycling for 10 years due to life and no money. I recently got a good job and was able to afford some extras. My wife told me I should buy a motorcycle. She suggested I drive to Orlando and meet her and the kids at Disney World. So this year I bought a 2014 SGS with 8000 miles on it. Never owned a Harley before so I was super happy to get one. I work everyday(yes everyday, maybe a day off every couple months), so long trips are out of the question. I took two weeks of vacation and planned my trip. I was gonna take two days to go from Southwest Michigan to Orlando Florida solo. The longest trip I have ever taken is about two hours...and that was on my old Honda VTX. To prepare for the trip I bought a new seat from C&C seats and some luggage from leatherup.com (never will I buy from them again they mixed up my order twice and acted like it was my fault.) I tried to buy a cheap action camera, but both that I bought said they came with a remote but did not. So I wasn't able to take any video. Anyway here is how the trip went.
I took off from Michigan at 5:00 A.M. on Monday morning with the intentions of going to North Atlanta suburbs to spend night at my in-laws. This was going to be 11 hours and 725 miles in the saddle down I-65 & I-24. I wanted to do it in 12 hours. The plan was for just gas stops..nothing else. The trip started out great and my wife was up to see me off. I was making great time got about 2 hours from my house and it hit me...I am driving across the country by myself on a motorcycle that I have been reading has a bad pump. I thought to myself what are you thinking? Then I settled in and thought what ever happens, happens and I sat back and enjoyed. While I got a new seat my tailbone soon got very very sore, as did my neck. I could not wait to see 30 miles to empty on my gas gauge. At my first gas stop, I could barely move but was so jacked up being on a trip I pounded some advil and powerade and was back on road. I felt better in my tailbone but my neck was killing me. After 50 miles or so my tailbone started hurting again. That is where the shifting started (more on that later). For the rest of the way to Atlanta I wiggled non stop. I made it to Louisville where I decided to stop and take a small break. I pulled into the Harley dealership and decided to buy a shirt. There is something about riding on that bridge that makes me love Louisville. I talked with those guys for a minute and decided to get back on the road. Going through Nashville was another highlight. There is something about going through there I love. It just kinda pops up on you. The view of the stadium is awesome, traffic isn't bad and I just like it. I would like to just visit it sometime. Back to the trip. Time was on my side and I was pulled into Chattanooga. It was going to be my last gas stop before Atlanta. I pulled off the beaten path to try to find a gas station. I figured one would be right off the highway. Well it wasn't it was quite a bit down the road. I ended up in a rougher section of town. No big deal, gas and go. Pulling up to the pump it had a sign that said can contain up to 10% ethanol. I have never seen this before. Thought it might be like what we call E-85 in Michigan. No problem go to different pump.Thats where things went south. I tried to start my bike and nothing. It didn't even try to turn over. No click, no nothing.I pushed my bike up to parking and started sweating. Called my wife told her to call her sister in law and let her know I was gonna be late. At this point, I am sweating. I didn't know really what to do. I knew enough that I had to get out of there soon. I called Harley and they said they didn't tow (HOG insurance I signed up for had not kicked in yet either as it had to be 72 hours after signing up) but they recommended a company. The cashier at the counter acted like I was a criminal for asking for a pen and scrap paper to write down some numbers. I got a towing number and they were on their way to tow my bike to the dealership. While waiting I seen they had a parts store across the street. My seat takes a 7/16 wrench to get nut off. I borrowed one and came back to check connections. I took off the neon lights connections from the battery and put the seat back on. I tried to start my bike up again and it started cranking. I started it up, called the tow truck and cancelled. They were very nice about it. Turning the bike back off to gas up and return the wrench was nerve racking. Everything worked out and I had a full tank.I was on my way to Atlanta. That Incident cost me an hour. Upon arriving in Atlanta, I filled up once more for the morning. The bike struggled to start but I was close to family in a good part of town. At 7ish I pulled into my in-law's house. My sister in law had a great plate of food and a cold one for me. I went to the parts store and bought a tender and left it plugged in overnight even though the battery is only 2 months old. I took a shower, popped some aspirin and went to bed. Plan was to be on road at 4AM. Bike was still dead. Took a battery charger, put it on the battery and gave it a 45 minute charge. It fired right up. I shut it off I knew the problem. I looked up the Atlanta Harley in Lithia Springs. They opened at 9 AM. Around 7 I took an hour nap. I was at dealership at 8:45. I seen guys coming out of service and I asked them if they were open. They were very arrogant and said not till 9. I explained my situation and they said they had like 80 bikes to get out then they would look at it. I was kinda shocked. Anyway I walked up front to sales and a middle aged gentlemen asked how i was doing. I explained to him the situation. He told me to go to service and ask for certain person {forgot name) I went in and asked. I told him i was 700 miles from home and was supposed to meet my wife in kids in Orlando in 2 hours. He would look at as soon as he could. The Service manager came out and told me he overheard conversation. He had me go outside to look over bike and they pulled it in. He came back in a few minutes said battery was great. It was the stator and regulator. That is what I figured. I was frustrated. Called mywife again I told her 11 wasn't happening. $975 and 4 hours later I was back on the road. I made very very good time until I hit Florida.Thats when a full fledge thunderstorm hit, not rain but a thunderstorm. It was very scary being in a foreign land, on the highway, trying to get to a major city, with a dying phone/gps, before night hit. The worst part was being away from my family. This trip was about them. We were supposed to do Disney as a family. Yeah love for them kept me going. In retrospect it was dumb to be in that storm, but I pulled into Disney at 9ish(not 11am). I was wet, tired, lost in the resort, and worried that something else would happen to my bike, I made it though. My family was so happy to see me. It was all worth it.

Did the Disney thing for 5 days. On Sunday morning the plan was to leave t at 6AM. Bike stated right up I was on my way back to Atlanta. This time the plan was Orlando to Atlanta stay the night. Atlanta to Northwest Kentucky spend the night. Kentucky to Michigan. On my way to Atlanta I was informed that Kentucky was not an option as a family emergency happened. So it was Atlanta to Michigan.I made phenomenal time from Orlando to Atlanta. I only stopped for gas. Stayed the night and was back on the road to Michigan at 5am. This where it gets cool. At about 5:40 I noticed another motorcycle. It was an ultra classic. I had not seen many bikes so that was cool. I passed them, waved and was trying to eat up asphalt. I noticed that they were staying right with me. An hour and half later or so he pulled up next to me pointed at gas tank. We both stopped to get gas. He told me that he was traveling to Fort Wayne, IN. That is about two hours from my house. We decided that we would ride together. A couple of guys who met driving down the highway with a hand signal pointing to gas tank, was about to take off together across the country. We rode hard and dodged most of rain besides enough to get my lower pants wet in Cincinnati. We stopped at a couple dealerships and for gas. We swapped numbers and parted ways 30 miles outside of Fort Wayne. He went his way and I went mine. He was only up here visiting family. Georgia is where he will end up at. The next day he called me up and said that he was gonna go to dealership in my town so we met up and BSed for an hour. Meeting a fellow rider for such a long haul was awesome. It made the trip much cooler. It makes you feel better knowing you going 700 miles knowing you got someone with you. It was a weird thing to meet up like that but it was super cool.
Things I learned. Going long distance and going hard with only gas stops will do your tailbone in. The seat was good with backrest but shifting helps. I don't know if any seat would prevent sore tailbones for 200 miles straight. Also I overpacked. Oh well. I upgraded my sounds before the trip and am so glad that I did. I also realize that I need ape hangers if I ever go that far again. Im 6"3 and I'm pretty sure the position of my neck and shoulders is why my neck was so sore. My buddy I met was same size, he had 14" and said it was the best thing he done for comfort. Also I am glad I packed a full face helmet. I would not want to ride in rain without it. Last of all, I would sit back and enjoy the ride more instead of worrying about what might happen if the bike breaks down. Sorry for the long post. It was a great trip and I got a cool story to tell. I met an awesome dude and had a blast with my family. I wouldn't change a thing. Not even the $1000 breakdown. It adds to the experience. Round trip was a total of 2648 awesome miles. I would do it all again. Honestly, I can't wait to do it again.

 

Cool trip I'm glad it all worked out good

 

Glad it worked out for you. Make your gas stops at 150 or whenever you get uncomfortable.

 

Fantastic road trip.

 

Great trip and story. Thanks for posting!

 

Sounds fun, even with the issues. I always tell my wife, you don't get good fish stories unless things go sideways now and then.

 

another tall guy... higher bars do help.

I like breaks about every hour, long enough to get some stretches in and blood moving, a minute or two even helps. Gas stop the next hour.

Distances are a lot different. Glad things worked out. Happy trails!!

 

Sounds like a cool trip double Herb. Could you include a more descriptive narrative next time?

 

Lol. I told my girl that I felt like I wrote a novel. It was long winded

 

Good stuff. I always plan for the worse and learnt to not worry about it. Life is nothing more than a series of calculated risks, It's all a part of the adventure.