Okay all, First off, I am NOT a H-D owner yet, but should be by next riding season at latest, and I am in the planning stages of a really big trip for my now 14 year old daughter and I to take.

I am hoping for some suggestions on where to go, what to do, what to avoid, ect ect ect for this trip. so please help if you can.... The trip will take place during the summer of 2011 or 2012, from June to August.

Our plan is to hit all 48 continuous states capitol plus D.C., and to use as little interstate as possable, plus to not double back in to any states if possable. We will be riding a 2009 Ultra Classic, and WILL NOT be towing a trailer! Our nights will be spent at Mom & Pop Motels, no chain stuff (if possable).

We want to hit an amusement park or two while on the road, maybe meet some people we know from the net too, and basically see AMERICA!

Ideas? Suggestions? Comments?

The only thing I ask, is remember, this trip will have a young girl along, so no BUFFALO CHIP stops or the such! lol, thats a later trip! Thanks in advance everyone....

 

Buy the heated vests or jackets and gloves for both of you, it gets pretty cold at 9700' even in Summer. Silverwood theme park in Northern ID is fun, and Hwy 95 has some great river side campsites and decent motels.

 

Cool, will add those to the route and not a bad idea on the heated stuffs either, thanks!

 

WOW what a trip you are going to have. I have sat here and tried to think of what to tell you to see. Yellowstone and Glaicer, Yosemite, the grand Canyon, tomb of the unknown soldier, Mt Rushmore but you already knew that. I guess the diversity if the country will be something she will never forget. How lucky you both are to have this to look forward to. Plan for rain and cold and of course heat. I envy you already.

 

Sounds like a very big trip. Have you or your daughter done a trip of more than 5000 miles before? I think the key to success would be knowing that you can ride that kind of distance together.

A couple friends and I did a 9 state tour in the west two years ago. We rode from southern Utah east to Colorado, south to New Mexico, and then across Arizona into California. We then rode up the PCH to San Francisco and on into Oregon and Washington. Back east to Idaho, Montana, and then Wyoming before coming home again to Utah. We put just over 5000 miles, and that wasn't to all the capitals.

By the time you add in the other states and their respective capital you'll likely be up around 12,000 miles total. In fact, the Iron Butt Association has a ride they call the 48-10 that requires you to hit a town in each of the lower 48 (no just cutting the corner of a state). I think there was a guy on this forum that did it last year, but I don't remember how many miles he did.

How many days are you planning? I do a long cross-country at least once a year (this year will be 3 of them), and I normally like to ride 350 to 500 miles in a day. In May I did a 3000 mile trip where I rode more than 800 miles in the rain. There's a HUGE difference bewteen 500 miles in the warm sunshine and 800 miles in a pouring rain.

Distance, time, and money are the three most important parts of the planning for a trip like this. Know how far you can safely ride, especially with a 14 year old on the back. Better yet, know how far she can ride before she begins to hate you.

Should be fun to do the planning, if nothing else. For what it's worth, though, I'd say you need to get the bike and do a lot of shorter trips so that you can judge just how compatible you will be on a month long trip like that.

 

Here's one possible route. It only took two months and 15,000 miles.

Do a search on the web and you'll find others.

Good luck!

 

We are sticking to a limit of 400-500 miles a day, PERIOD! Plus taking every third day off to relax, do wash, sleep, swim, catch a movie, basically chill out.

We are definitely going to take this trip easy, plus each capitol we hit, we are staying the night there, only one capitol a day, even in the New England areas where states are only 50 miles apart! lol

I can not wait to get my bike... as stated before, it will be a Ultra Classic. I was torn between this and a GL1800 Gold-Wing . . . . . I know either bike will give me a great bike/ride, but Honda kind of pissed me off when they said they DO NOT ALLOW test rides... they want me to spend $20,000 - $25,000 and no test ride? Screw that!

 

Not a bad route there PINE TREE, my start point will be our home town of Oklahoma City, and there will be no back tracking from one city to another...

To do the basic routing, I have used a wall map, stuck a pin in each capitol city plus DC, running a string from one to another. This will give me the city to city route, and we will decide the actual drive route the night before, then call wife and tell her the route, so if I do not check in by a certain time, she has a idea where to have PD search for me . . . just incase.

Once we figure out the exact city to city plan, I will post it up, that MIGHT help people give us ideas of what to see . . .


Oh, as to my riding ability, I do own a 1988 Yamaha Venture 1300 right now, and have averaged 30,000 plus miles a year for the last 3 years. I have personally done a few 1200 mile days, but NOT on this trip... this trip is for fun and learning, not covering XXXX amount of miles a day, so if one day only does 50 miles, no big deal! lol

 

I see that you have done long distance riding before, which is a help, but..... A 5000 mile trip is not just ten 500 mile trips hooked together. The dynamics change considerably the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th day. and considerably change with two people.
Each day is different and each week even more so. The distance, the wind, the rain, the sun, the dirty clothes all are additive and compounded the longer you are on the road. Try a few trail runs first.

 

"We want to hit an amusement park or two while on the road,"

there is a nice little amusement park in Pa that you might try, it is Knoebels Amusement Resort they have a web site. Nice family park, not pricey at all. it stays busy in the summer. hope that helps

have fun and ride safe!!