Hi Fellow Bikers

I’ve been wanting to do this trip for a couple of years and it finally looks like it’s going to happen. I have been building a trailer for my Harley which is nearly completed and am planning a solo trip south to escape the Pacific Northwest weather for a few weeks. My present plan is to trailer to Yuma and Tuscon, visit friends and family and launch the bike from there. I’m hoping to attend Arizona Bike week and to ride in the mountains in eastern Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico or wherever the road takes me and the weather allows. I sure hope the weather cooperates, not too hot, not to cold, but just right! I will be combining tent camping, bunk-a-biker and motels. I’ve taken trips by motorcycle but this is a first for truck, trailer and bike.

Always looking for suggestions, how to make this ride better, places to stop, people to see, etc. Should, I hope, be a relaxing fun trip.

 

I was in Colorado, Utah and northern Arizona the first week of May last year. Mountains were full of snow, rode in flurries twice and was in leather almost every day. It sounds like you are going to be there fairly soon, I would definitely have a plan....

 

Man, I sure hope last year was a fluke and not be repeated this year! Nope, I really don't have a plan but am at this point, very flexible and can point the front wheel any direction I choose. Hopefully warm and dry.

 

I suspect higher elevations will still be cold. I don't don't plan trips out west in May. Even midwest I don't if I can another time. To many bad days sprinkled in.

I can;t speak for AZ an such down there. But then May down south is to hot. Memphis in May is nasty. It is hard to plan the perfect trip.

 

It’s pretty near impossible to predict the weather and it’s different every year. I’m hoping for perfect riding and camping weather. At the very least it will be better than sitting at home.

 

Further south and lower elevations will obviously be warmer. With camping you can modify your trip per the weather, looks like ran that way, go the other way. Good luck.

 

When you say that you're building a trailer for the Harley is that a trailer that you tow behind the bike OR place the bike in or on for towing?

If the trailer is to tow the bike is it a flatbed or is it enclosed?

Does your truck have a camper shell on it?

I've taken some bike, truck and trailer trips but usually with very little to no camping involved as my wife has been with me on most of those trips and "camping or roughing it" to her is a Days Inn or Roadway Inn!
And toting camping gear can be cumbersome and frankly it is a PIA to set-up and breakdown especially if it is done either frequently or worse in bad weather and even though you can "hope and pray" for good weather, the chances are that you WILL have some "not-so-good" weather to contend with, which can be extreme hold/cold, wet/dry. wind or even sleet, hail or snow!

I (we) usually park/store our truck & trailer and ride a huge "loop" tour, returning to it at the end of our tour.
IF..I was going to do such a trip by myself I would consider having either and enclosed trailer (or camper shell) that I could use as a "day base" and doing daily rides, them relocating the camp as needed.
The secondary benefit is doing this is that in the event (hopefully not) if your bike has a serious mechanical problem OR if you (Lord forbid) you have an accident, the means to getting you and the bike home is not too far away.

That said. IF you do decide to camp be sure that your gear is sturdy and adequate enough to keep you warm, dry and safe.

 

I'm not sure when you're going, it sounds like soon. I've lived in New Mexico for 40 years now, and it's pretty safe to say that you won't be too hot once you get to the mountains in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. I've been snowed on numerous times in May riding in the mountains around here. I've also frozen my *** off more than once in May coming across US-60 between Globe, AZ and Socorro NM. A friend of mine was riding down here from Denver one year in May, and got snowed out going over Raton Pass at the Colorado-New Mexico border. He sat on top of the pass for three hours until some guy who owned a motorcycle shop happened to drive by in his shop van. Drove my buddy and his bike down off the pass. (this was the days before cell phones) Years later another buddy of mine was riding down from Denver to here on Memorial Day weekend, and went through a serious snow storm on the pass but was able to make it through. One of the guys he was riding with lost it in the snow; fortunately he wasn't hurt badly, his bike was mostly OK, and no one ran him over. Notice that all this happened in May, as late as Memorial Day weekend.

Don't let this scare you off too much, I've also had plenty of beautiful riding weather around here in both May and April. It's just like Hammerhead Pat said, you have to be prepared for anything, and have plans B, C, and maybe D in the back of your head. Good luck with your trip.

Edit: What is bunk-a-biker?

 

One year ('07 I believe) in September the wife and I trailered out bikes to Clovis, NM and did a northwestern loop that took us through Albuquerque then on to Ruidoso. When we pulled into the motel I asked the woman IF it was gonna snow?
She replied "no, the snow line is 500' ft above us"!
It didn't snow that night but the on the following morning we had a heavy frost on our seats!
We continued on to Blanding, UT and finally gave in and bought two additional heavy shirts
We just underestimated how cool it would be.
My wife has since stopped riding but I now have heated grips, heated seats, heated gloves, heated jacket ln liner, a leather fur-lined neck dickey and a FF modular helmet!

 

Wow, lots of questions!
The trailer is for the bike and will be towed behind my pickup.
Yes, my truck has a shell on it and I have camped out of it many times, usually up in the mountains, often requiring 4-wheel drive to get there.
This is a solo trip, my wife is much like yours and camping just ain't happening.
Present plan is to do the park the truck and trailer and do the big loop like you said you liked and combine camping and motels, whatever suits my whim at the time.
The trailer is semi-enclosed. It is a 6 x 10 flatbed and will have a tarp tent on it. I will post a pic as soon as I finish it.
I'm not too concerned about staying warm and dry, my bigger concern is the security of my pickup and it's related gear when I go for a ride. I may look into a short term storage facility or something?
Randy