Backroads across country
Thread Starter
|
Road Master
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,005
Likes: 98
From: NC
Backroads across country
Just a few questions for those that have rode across the country. I'm trying to plan for a trip this spring taking mostly back roads.
I'm leaving from NC and I need to end up in Los Angeles because I have family there and can leave the bike there to have shipped back home. I don't really have any plans as to what to see or where to stop on the way, I just know I want to stay on the back roads as much as possible. What do you use for maps? I plan on taking a GPS but I want it do show a planned route, I'm not sure how to do that. I'm assuming I can mark my route online then download it? What is a good GPS and websiteto do that with?
Also, how much time should I take to do it? Doubt i'll have a street glide by then so i'm going to do it on a Busa. I can NOT take 3 weeks to do this. I was thinking 10 days max. Is that enough time?
I'm leaving from NC and I need to end up in Los Angeles because I have family there and can leave the bike there to have shipped back home. I don't really have any plans as to what to see or where to stop on the way, I just know I want to stay on the back roads as much as possible. What do you use for maps? I plan on taking a GPS but I want it do show a planned route, I'm not sure how to do that. I'm assuming I can mark my route online then download it? What is a good GPS and websiteto do that with?
Also, how much time should I take to do it? Doubt i'll have a street glide by then so i'm going to do it on a Busa. I can NOT take 3 weeks to do this. I was thinking 10 days max. Is that enough time?
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,644
Likes: 224
From: Coeur d'Alene
For sure the Garmin Zumo motorcycle specific GPS's would be nice (550, 660 and 665. I've had a Zumo 550 for several years and it's worked well. Garmin's Basecamp application makes it easy to create routes and then download them to the GPS. Only drawback on these is that they are expensive so it depends on your budget. I've liked running Basecamp on my MacBook in the motel room and creating a route for the next day.
Since you're going in the spring you may want to stay on a southern route. I'm always up for recommending the Texas Hill Country and Big Bend. Fine riding with minimal big truck traffic especially Uvalde-Marathon-Terlingua-Presidio-Fort Davis. Be sure and check your gas at Sanderson.
Since you're going in the spring you may want to stay on a southern route. I'm always up for recommending the Texas Hill Country and Big Bend. Fine riding with minimal big truck traffic especially Uvalde-Marathon-Terlingua-Presidio-Fort Davis. Be sure and check your gas at Sanderson.
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,644
Likes: 224
From: Coeur d'Alene
Surprised to see your Busa has a 5.5 gal. tank...so if you get 35-40 cruising you've got decent range. 10 days is fine, I think. Riding the backroads from, say, Raleigh to LA wouldn't be more than about 3200 miles. 320 per day is a good average which would allow you to at least stop for awhile if you saw something interesting...especially if you slabbed it to about the Mississippi River and then took more time west of the river. You're in for a great ride.
Last edited by mtgriz; Dec 9, 2013 at 03:15 PM. Reason: Grammar
Road Master
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 784
Likes: 12
From: Texas
If you did 400 mile days this would take you 8~ days. Gives you a couple days leeway to hit anything else along the way and help make up for bad weather encountered etc. IMO it's not much fun doing over 400 a day continuous. Do more or less some days but just making it a cross country race takes the fun out of it for me. I just use my phone for gps now. I still believe in buying a good paper map for the state i'm in.
Last edited by acman308; Dec 9, 2013 at 03:13 PM.
Road Captain
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 562
Likes: 21
From: Arlington, TX
I've planned many trips using several different software applications and Garmin GPS units. I always plan my trips and upload daily routes to my GPS. You can always change your mind, but it's nice to have pre-planned routes during a multi-day trip. All of the trips on my website were pre-planned and the routes loaded before I left home.
Right now, the easiest way to draw you map is using MapQuest. I start by entering my starting address (either home or a motel) and then entering my destination address (another motel). Then I either drag the calculated route that MapQuest creates to different roads or enter additional stops in the directions section in MapQuest. Play around with it and you'll easily get the hang of creating a route exactly like you want it. MapQuest has a feature to directly send the route to a Garmin GPS unit. All you do is click 'Send' and then select the Garmin unit to send it. I generally name them something like "Day 01 Home to Somewhere" With the day number included they are always in the correct order rather than being alphabetical.
If you have questions, email me. There's an email function on my website.
Right now, the easiest way to draw you map is using MapQuest. I start by entering my starting address (either home or a motel) and then entering my destination address (another motel). Then I either drag the calculated route that MapQuest creates to different roads or enter additional stops in the directions section in MapQuest. Play around with it and you'll easily get the hang of creating a route exactly like you want it. MapQuest has a feature to directly send the route to a Garmin GPS unit. All you do is click 'Send' and then select the Garmin unit to send it. I generally name them something like "Day 01 Home to Somewhere" With the day number included they are always in the correct order rather than being alphabetical.
If you have questions, email me. There's an email function on my website.
Road Master
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 916
Likes: 12
From: NoVA
Are you camping or hitting motels, or both? Cut some of the mileage if camping. Do you want a road trip or an adventure? A road trip is a planned route on the GPS or highlighted on a map. It's all plotted out except for detours. Boring.
An adventure is heading west for ten days. Bad weather coming in from the north? Head south. Meet an old geezer at a camping spot that tells you about an awesome road on the other side of the valley? Take it.
Get a good atlas. Highlight every interesting thing you see between here and there. No, you can't see them all but as weather or whimsy takes you somewhere, you can hit the ones that are on the way.
The Natchez Trace would be a good way of heading south. But I would consider that suggestion of interstates until I crossed the Mississippi. You can make real mileage on back roads out west. But then I could spend a week just in Arches.
There are a lot of times I would find a beautiful campsite at 3 in the afternoon. Well if it's a great place, why not enjoy it? Plan each day around the campfire the night before. Maybe you make it and maybe not. That's what will make the trip an adventure.
An adventure is heading west for ten days. Bad weather coming in from the north? Head south. Meet an old geezer at a camping spot that tells you about an awesome road on the other side of the valley? Take it.
Get a good atlas. Highlight every interesting thing you see between here and there. No, you can't see them all but as weather or whimsy takes you somewhere, you can hit the ones that are on the way.
The Natchez Trace would be a good way of heading south. But I would consider that suggestion of interstates until I crossed the Mississippi. You can make real mileage on back roads out west. But then I could spend a week just in Arches.
There are a lot of times I would find a beautiful campsite at 3 in the afternoon. Well if it's a great place, why not enjoy it? Plan each day around the campfire the night before. Maybe you make it and maybe not. That's what will make the trip an adventure.
Trending Topics
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2,945
Likes: 85
From: Florida
As an alternative, work your way a bit north and run through north Arkansas or southern Missouri (crazy curves and 2 lane state highways), going west across southern Kansas (Flint Hills), then jumping into Colorado and Utah.
It will be a lot more scenic than the southern route above. It will also throw some serious curves at you.
If you are leaving anytime later than late spring (mid-May) I advise going north to escape the heat.
It will be a lot more scenic than the southern route above. It will also throw some serious curves at you.
If you are leaving anytime later than late spring (mid-May) I advise going north to escape the heat.
Last edited by Jonesee; Dec 9, 2013 at 07:28 PM.
HD Forum Stories
The Best of Harley-Davidson for Lifelong Riders
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Verdad Gallardo
8 Best Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Worst Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Ever
Pouria Savadkouei
Killer Custom's Jail Break Is The Breakout That Refused to Blend In
Verdad Gallardo
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Verdad Gallardo
Harley-Davidson Reveals Super Cool Cafe Racer Concept
Verdad Gallardo
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Verdad Gallardo
10 Motorcycles You Should Never Buy
Joe Kucinski
10 Things Harley-Davidson Needs to Fix in 2026
Verdad Gallardo
Thread Starter
|
Road Master
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,005
Likes: 98
From: NC
For sure the Garmin Zumo motorcycle specific GPS's would be nice (550, 660 and 665. I've had a Zumo 550 for several years and it's worked well. Garmin's Basecamp application makes it easy to create routes and then download them to the GPS. Only drawback on these is that they are expensive so it depends on your budget. I've liked running Basecamp on my MacBook in the motel room and creating a route for the next day.
Since you're going in the spring you may want to stay on a southern route. I'm always up for recommending the Texas Hill Country and Big Bend. Fine riding with minimal big truck traffic especially Uvalde-Marathon-Terlingua-Presidio-Fort Davis. Be sure and check your gas at Sanderson.
Since you're going in the spring you may want to stay on a southern route. I'm always up for recommending the Texas Hill Country and Big Bend. Fine riding with minimal big truck traffic especially Uvalde-Marathon-Terlingua-Presidio-Fort Davis. Be sure and check your gas at Sanderson.
Thanks, I'll look into the 550. Looks like it's waterproof so that's good.
Surprised to see your Busa has a 5.5 gal. tank...so if you get 35-40 cruising you've got decent range. 10 days is fine, I think. Riding the backroads from, say, Raleigh to LA wouldn't be more than about 3200 miles. 320 per day is a good average which would allow you to at least stop for awhile if you saw something interesting...especially if you slabbed it to about the Mississippi River and then took more time west of the river. You're in for a great ride.
If you did 400 mile days this would take you 8~ days. Gives you a couple days leeway to hit anything else along the way and help make up for bad weather encountered etc. IMO it's not much fun doing over 400 a day continuous. Do more or less some days but just making it a cross country race takes the fun out of it for me. I just use my phone for gps now. I still believe in buying a good paper map for the state i'm in.
North Carolina to Los Angeles, CA - Google Maps
North Carolina to Los Angeles, CA - Google Maps
I've planned many trips using several different software applications and Garmin GPS units. I always plan my trips and upload daily routes to my GPS. You can always change your mind, but it's nice to have pre-planned routes during a multi-day trip. All of the trips on my website were pre-planned and the routes loaded before I left home.
Right now, the easiest way to draw you map is using MapQuest. I start by entering my starting address (either home or a motel) and then entering my destination address (another motel). Then I either drag the calculated route that MapQuest creates to different roads or enter additional stops in the directions section in MapQuest. Play around with it and you'll easily get the hang of creating a route exactly like you want it. MapQuest has a feature to directly send the route to a Garmin GPS unit. All you do is click 'Send' and then select the Garmin unit to send it. I generally name them something like "Day 01 Home to Somewhere" With the day number included they are always in the correct order rather than being alphabetical.
If you have questions, email me. There's an email function on my website.
Right now, the easiest way to draw you map is using MapQuest. I start by entering my starting address (either home or a motel) and then entering my destination address (another motel). Then I either drag the calculated route that MapQuest creates to different roads or enter additional stops in the directions section in MapQuest. Play around with it and you'll easily get the hang of creating a route exactly like you want it. MapQuest has a feature to directly send the route to a Garmin GPS unit. All you do is click 'Send' and then select the Garmin unit to send it. I generally name them something like "Day 01 Home to Somewhere" With the day number included they are always in the correct order rather than being alphabetical.
If you have questions, email me. There's an email function on my website.
Are you camping or hitting motels, or both? Cut some of the mileage if camping. Do you want a road trip or an adventure? A road trip is a planned route on the GPS or highlighted on a map. It's all plotted out except for detours. Boring.
An adventure is heading west for ten days. Bad weather coming in from the north? Head south. Meet an old geezer at a camping spot that tells you about an awesome road on the other side of the valley? Take it.
Get a good atlas. Highlight every interesting thing you see between here and there. No, you can't see them all but as weather or whimsy takes you somewhere, you can hit the ones that are on the way.
The Natchez Trace would be a good way of heading south. But I would consider that suggestion of interstates until I crossed the Mississippi. You can make real mileage on back roads out west. But then I could spend a week just in Arches.
There are a lot of times I would find a beautiful campsite at 3 in the afternoon. Well if it's a great place, why not enjoy it? Plan each day around the campfire the night before. Maybe you make it and maybe not. That's what will make the trip an adventure.
An adventure is heading west for ten days. Bad weather coming in from the north? Head south. Meet an old geezer at a camping spot that tells you about an awesome road on the other side of the valley? Take it.
Get a good atlas. Highlight every interesting thing you see between here and there. No, you can't see them all but as weather or whimsy takes you somewhere, you can hit the ones that are on the way.
The Natchez Trace would be a good way of heading south. But I would consider that suggestion of interstates until I crossed the Mississippi. You can make real mileage on back roads out west. But then I could spend a week just in Arches.
There are a lot of times I would find a beautiful campsite at 3 in the afternoon. Well if it's a great place, why not enjoy it? Plan each day around the campfire the night before. Maybe you make it and maybe not. That's what will make the trip an adventure.
As an alternative, work your way a bit north and run through north Arkansas or southern Missouri (crazy curves and 2 lane state highways), going west across southern Kansas (Flint Hills), then jumping into Colorado and Utah.
It will be a lot more scenic than the southern route above. It will also throw some serious curves at you.
If you are leaving anytime later than late spring (mid-May) I advise going north to escape the heat.
It will be a lot more scenic than the southern route above. It will also throw some serious curves at you.
If you are leaving anytime later than late spring (mid-May) I advise going north to escape the heat.
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,644
Likes: 224
From: Coeur d'Alene
Black, you remind me of an interesting guy I met at a Starbucks in Idaho last summer. A young guy about your age from Canada riding a Busa that was packed to the max as he was on a 2-week camping ride. He'd already covered a lot of ground and was having a fine time. Kidded me about having a land barge Ultra as our 2 bikes parked together were night and day different....that different strokes thing was at work and sure made for a few laughs.