Try not rush thru this, enjoy the places you visit and plan on seeing the other places next time. Ther are always varibles that you can never pre plan, weather and various others. You will really enjoy this

 

heres the first draft of the trip, definitely subject to change. mileage should be right around my target 6500...cant tell for sure because google maps was giving me a hard time. only letting me put in 15 destinations. decided route 66 wasnt for me this time around but maybe on another trip. red letters are just side notes and explanations

Bloomsburg, PA
cover as much ground as safely possible ,while watching for ohio cops, because this is probably the most boring part of the trip
St. Louis, MO
40W to Kansas City, MO
50W to...
Dodge City, KS
56W to 160W
Mesa Verde National Park, CO
160W to 41 NW (turns to162)
162 turns to 163

Mexican Hat, UT
Monument Valley, UT

Grand Canyon, AZ (South Rim)

Hoover Dam, NV
(possibly Lake Mead)
Las Vegas, NV

Santa Barbara, CA
*Start on Highway 1, California
Morro Rock Natural Preserve, CA
Big Sur, CA
Bixby Bridge, Monterey, CA
Santa Cruz, CA
-Boardwalk
San Francisco
-Golden Gate, Alcatraz
*Exit Highway 1, California

Lake Tahoe, NV
Reno, NV

Salt Lake City, UT
-Mormon Temple no religious affiliation...it just looked cool from pictures ive seen

Yellowstone (West or North Entrance), Gardiner? WY
Teton National Forest, WY
Antler Motel, Greybull, WY
(Rt. 335 thru Bighorn National Forest)
Devils Tower National Monument, WY-this is a little north of the route. anyone been there can tell me if its worth seeing?


Deadwood, SD
Iron Mountain Road, Keystone, SD
Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Keystone, SD
Badlands National Park, SD

Chicago, IL
another quick stretch
Bloomsburg, PA

 

Route 50 in Nevada is nicknamed "the loneliest road in the US". Anywhere out West if you have an opportunity to get gas and need it stop for it. It can be a long ways between fill ups.

the north rim of the Grand Canyon is way better than the south but it is a bit out of the way.

Also, I was getting ready to post some picts of a Tall Boy seat that I'm selling. It should fit your '11. It sits you back about 1 1/2 inches and has a nice comfortable passenger pad. Check it out on-line and PM me if you're interested.

Enjoy the ride.

 

See Devil's Tower. It is an awesome creation and the ride to/from is nice, too.

 

Sounds great, but that is simply too far with another person on the back.

You'll have to stay sharp the entire time. Hope you don't find yourself tempted to use that gun and end up in jail.

I'd bring spare toilet paper and plenty of water.

 

if you think there is a scenario that using a gun would land you in jail could be "tempting" then i can only hope you dont have one. and yea its a lot of miles for two people and more time would definitely be ideal but i cant get it. even if the whole plan goes out the window on the first day we are still gonna ride and have a great time

 

Congrats on the dream bike. I just traded my Silverado in for a 2012 Ultra 103. I'm glad you got yours while your young. I had to wait on mine. Raisin' kids and all. Good luck and ride safe.

 

congrats right back at ya on the new bike. looks awesome in the pictures

 

Hey 11streetglide103, how many days are you planning to spend in Las Vegas? If only for a day I may be able to help you out with a room at one of our casinos. PM me and let me know if interested. Always looking to help out a fellow Pennsylvanian.

 

Mortgage and kids seems to cramp more riding time than anything else ... besides a girlfriend or wife who don't understand. Anyway, good luck to you and hopefully you'll enjoy the rides much I have mine over the years.

Done 'em both ... multiple times. They each have their respective good and bad points. For me, if you've never done Rt66 then you need to do it just to say you have. I run it pretty much every year when I ride from southern Utah to Oklahoma City to see my pop.

Actually, a good meal can make a ride that much better. A couple other things to consider as you make plans is what types of photo opportunities and sites will you see. Here's my favorite "theme" rides for making long trips:

1) Major League Baseball Parks -- I've done this twice, once through the southern half and once through the northern half. I pick cities according to their respective teams, schedule, and how much I want to see them. At last count I've hit about 23 of the parks over the years. When going across country I often plan parts of my trips based on baseball schedules; it's just part of the fun. Some of the best games I've seen were on solo cross country motorcycle trips when I went to the ballpark and waited on the scalpers to reduce the price on tickets after the game started. Go to MLB.com for more information on dates/games along the route.

2) Diners, Drive-ins and Dives USA Tour -- If you don't care about where you eat then this one probably won't be a good one. But for some of us, part of seeing a new city is eating at a unique or out of the way spot. One rule I have, no matter why I'm travelling, is to NEVER eat at any place that I can get at home. Visit the show's website for more information about places along your route.

3) Mailbox and Road Side Oddities -- Whether you want to see a double-decker outhouse (Dove, Ark.), the world's largest ball of twine (Cawker City, KS) or a huge roadside cross (Groom, TX, off Rt 66, by the way), planning a cross-country trip (no pun intended, of course) is always more fun when you find the road side oddities.

4) Music or Odd Festivals -- Summer time is prime time for all kinds of festivals, and two of my favorites are music and what I call the "odd" festival. As an example, in Sweetwater, TX, (among other places) they hold a Rattlesnake festival each year. The Redneck Summer Games is held in East Dublin, Georgia, is another fun one. Music festivals that rank among my favorite when planning a motorcycle trip are: (1) Blues Week in St Louis (May 2012) and (2) The Bukka White Blue Bluff Festival (October).

Point is, with all this, that planning a motorcycle trip should be about something besides just riding as many miles as you can. I'm sure the Iron Butt guys will disagree, somewhat, but for me if I can't eat or enjoy the trip then I'm denying myself half of the reason to go. I want to get home and have more to tell than just how many days it rained on me.

Now you're talking!

The first issue, especially if you're never ridden in the west before, is to realize how far things are apart. So planning any type of trip like this will require some careful mileage calculations along with time issues. Remember, too, that some of the places you're talking about are notorious tourist spots, so expect traffic issues when you go. Take for example the Grand Canyon, not only are the speed limits greatly reduced in the park, the ride into and out of the park will take a bit of time. Any of the national parks or major tourist spots will have built in time constraints, so plan accordingly if you want to get the most out of the experience.

As noted, ridden them both several times and I still couldn't pick one as necessarily better than the other. I don't think you'll go wrong either way, so long as you plan the trip to maximize the experience.

Big issue here ... with 50 you can drop down through Utah to see at least 3 (if not 5) of the BEST national parks in the world while en route to the Grand Canyon. You'll find lots of links and pictures for the routes on this forum.

The first problem you'll have is just how much time do you want to spend in the parks. Ideally, you should see Arches, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Zion National Park, but it would also be great to see some of the National Monuments along the way as well. As an example, if you don't mind heading north a bit you can hit the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area and Dinosaur National Monument. As you head south you can come into my part of the world and see Cedar Breaks National Monument on your way to Zion NP.

In the Texas Panhandle or across Kansas ... 1 mile will seem like 100. It is so flat that you'll seem like you can ride for miles without even turning the handlebars. Reality is that there are spots where you'll ride 10 miles with barely a swerve or even a hill. So mileage is all relative to what you've got to do.

For me, a good day is 600 miles, but I'm in my mid-50s with arthritis. When I was 25 I could do 1k in a day without a problem. I'd never try it now unless there was an emergency.

In some spots, such as when going in and out of national parks, you'll do good to cover 250 miles in the day. The Grand Canyon, as an example, is not something that you just hop the highway, take a peek, and get back on real quick. Whether you're going to the south or north rim, you'll need to account for time to traverse 30+ miles of entry/exit roads just to get there.

A couple years ago I road from San Francisco to Philadelphia and used Highway 50 for most of the route. I had one son in the SF area for the military and the other lives in Philly, so there was a reason to select this route. I had planned several loops off 50 along the way, though, so my East-West miles never were as much as my total travel. As an example, I knew I also wanted to see a friend in Chicago, so I had to plan my route accordingly. In that case, I couldn't really count my mileage toward the overall trip (east-west, at least), but I did have to account for it my daily travel plans. My advise, figure out all the major places you want to see then plot smaller routes between each point. That way you can more accurately plan a day's riding time within the limits of the sites or events you want to experience.

If she is not happy at the 50-100 mile point ... then don't plan on having her as a girlfriend when you get back. The WORST thing you can do it ask her to go on a 6500 mile trip when she has trouble just getting 100 miles.

[/QUOTE]I don't have much highway riding but I'm trying to compare this to 7 or 8 hours of riding on secondary roads [/QUOTE]

Not really the same. The reason is that a single day trip will end at the end of that day. A 2.5 week trip only gets worse each day.

Seasoned cross-country riders know that the middle and end of a trip is always very different from the beginning. Best thing you can do is start her out as soon as possible on some overnight trips. Don't just go 7 or 8 hours and then assume it's the same for 14 days. The overall wear and tear of a day after day ride will get to the best of riders, at times.

Also consider the weather and riding conditions. After 5 hour on the back of a bike riding across central Kansas in July will get to anyone. And if you're planning on Oklahoma, Texas, NM, and Arizona for that time of year, expect some really hot days in the saddle.

Do this experiment. Turn the heat up to 85, turn on a fan, and then sit in front of it for 6+ hours. Now throw in some dust, pollen, and nowhere to pee but a public restroom for 14+ days in a row.

She'll need to be a trooper is she's going to find joy in that.

Has your girlfriend ever showered at a truck stop? How does she feel about public bathrooms in rest areas?

Take toilet paper, a credit card, and rain gear. You'll probably need at least 2 out of 3 while on a trip that long.

Depends on where you plan to sleep. That Glock won't do much good against a Utah Mountain Lion or a bear. I've had them both come into the camp when in some wilderness areas along the Wasatch range or along Utah 12 between Bryce and Capitol Reef National Parks. Frankly, I'd be more worried about a trunk monkey at a truck stop outside of St Louis than I would any wild animals. The hookers along I-40 outside of Albuquerque are pretty mean as well.