First Major Long Distance Tour Plan | GTAMotorcycle.com

First Major Long Distance Tour Plan

MattJ1983

MattJ1983

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I'll start off with the route that I'm planning.

http://goo.gl/maps/HGujj

This will be my first tour, major or otherwise. I'm shooting to go late May, early June.

I have a 2000 Kawasaki ZX6E that I'm going to use for it. I'm planning on doing a few bigger maintenance things in the months before I set out. I'm going to replace my chain and sprockets, change my spark plugs, and get a valve adjustment done.
1. should there be more I should do? '
2. My tires are 6000ish km old, Michelin Pilot Road 3's, which I will be continuing to use for most of winter. Should they be changed before the trip?

What else should I be aware of?
Any thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks
 
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Regarding maintenance, you should provide the current odo reading + when and what you've done last.

For the tires, all depends on how many kms you will be putting on prior to June, but to give you an idea; I have PR3s as well, and went touring for 12.5k on a 6k-old set. I'm back with the same set and have put about 5k on top since I got back. This is what it looked like when I took the photo a few days ago:

2013+-+1


2013+-+1


So, no worries on the tires, and even if you run into trouble, US is not a bad place at all for $$ savings =)
 
If you initially head directly south, you'd be able to hit #2 and 7 from this list of best roads in the US.

15. Washington Route 129 and Oregon Route 3, Clarkston, Wash., to Enterprise, Ore.
14. Ohio Route 170, Calcutta to Poland.
13. California Route 58, McKittrick to Santa Margarita.
12. U.S. Route 33, Harrisonburg, Va., to Seneca Rocks, W.Va.
11. Natchez Trace, from Natchez, Miss., to Nashville, Tenn.
10. Angeles Crest Highway, California Route 2.
9. U.S. Route 12, Lolo Pass, Idaho and Montana.
8. California Route 36.
7. Cherohala Skyway, North Carolina and Tennessee.
6. Going to the Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana.
5. California Route 1, Pacific Coast Highway.
4. U.S. Route 550, from Ouray to Durango, Colo.
3. U.S. Route 129 -- The Tail of the Dragon -- on the North Carolina-Tennessee border.
2. Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina.
1. Beartooth Highway, Montana and Wyoming

if you have never crossed the west through Canada, then by all means experience it, but I think there is more interesting travel through the US coming back from the west.
 
MattJ1983 said:
I'll start off with the route that I'm planning.

http://goo.gl/maps/HGujj

This will be my first tour, major or otherwise. I'm shooting to go late May, early June.

I have a 2000 Kawasaki ZX6E that I'm going to use for it. I'm planning on doing a few bigger maintenance things in the months before I set out. I'm going to replace my chain and sprockets, change my spark plugs, and get a valve adjustment done.
1. should there be more I should do? '
2. My tires are 6000ish km old, Michelin Pilot Road 3's, which I will be continuing to use for most of winter. Should they be changed before the trip?

What else should I be aware of?
Any thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Unless your PR3s were underinflated, they will be good. Won't hurt to keep an eye on them, though, and have a contingency plan for replacing them. If you have a manual, you might want to go over the pre-ride checklist that everyone ignores, look at stuff that you just assume works. E.g. Fork seals, wheel bearings, steering head bearing, brakes, rear shock, etc. Not saying replace everything, just make sure it's all in good shape. First (shorter) tour I took, speedo cable broke along the way due to the speedo drive being installed wrong, was very lucky in that I found another one along the way.

If it were me, I would also change the oil beforehand, and plan one oil change somewhere on the way - 8K would be too far for me to stretch it, personally.
 
Schneller said:
If you initially head directly south, you'd be able to hit #2 and 7 from this list of best roads in the US.

15. Washington Route 129 and Oregon Route 3, Clarkston, Wash., to Enterprise, Ore.
14. Ohio Route 170, Calcutta to Poland.
13. California Route 58, McKittrick to Santa Margarita.
12. U.S. Route 33, Harrisonburg, Va., to Seneca Rocks, W.Va.
11. Natchez Trace, from Natchez, Miss., to Nashville, Tenn.
10. Angeles Crest Highway, California Route 2.
9. U.S. Route 12, Lolo Pass, Idaho and Montana.
8. California Route 36.
7. Cherohala Skyway, North Carolina and Tennessee.
6. Going to the Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana.
5. California Route 1, Pacific Coast Highway.
4. U.S. Route 550, from Ouray to Durango, Colo.
3. U.S. Route 129 -- The Tail of the Dragon -- on the North Carolina-Tennessee border.
2. Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina.
1. Beartooth Highway, Montana and Wyoming

if you have never crossed the west through Canada, then by all means experience it, but I think there is more interesting travel through the US coming back from the west.
Click to expand...

us_population_2005_lrg.jpg


That is the population density map over North America, and as it is clear, people are populated in the East. That's why I think the list above is focused so much on the east instead of the mid-west, because everyone knows The Dragon, but not the Independence Pass. Hence, polls regarding top riding roads will be mostly ignored by me.

Lists can only be created by pros, IMO. And although I've been in 25 states on the bike, I wouldn't dare to make a list, but if I did, the Dragon or the BRP wouldn't make it to top 5 or top 10 for sure :)
 
I understand, thanks Ugur. I went with the list because my personal experience of motorcycle roads in the US is zero.
 
OP want some company?? doing just about the same trip just around the same time - I was thinking June 6th to take advantage of the long daylight and it wll be warmer in the mountains. 24 days

http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforu...e-west-coast-next-June-ideas-route-discussion

Screen%2520Shot%25202013-11-03%2520at%2520Nov%252C%25203%2520%2520%2520%25202013%2520%2520%2520%25203.21.50%2520PM.jpg


https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=...pe&mrsp=6&sz=8&via=1,2,6,7,10,11,12,13,15&z=8

I've done a fair bit of 2-4 day touring and some 1,000 days but nothing this long and will be motelling not camping. Happy to hook up for a while. Especially the first couple of shake down days have some looking at your bike while you are on the road can help pick up potential issues.

Present thinking is I'm going to go through the Dakota's on the way west to Yellowstone and then head north and wander my way to Banff where I hook up with GF for a week and then meander home as the wind blows me.
The map there shows a more southerly start but think that is going to change

Since you are in Oakville I'd take the bike over to Adrian at
Ace MotoTech -
651 Holly Ave
Milton, ON
L9T 0G3
416-471-0602
and have him go over it for you.
I am going to a fresh rear at least since the Burgman eats rear tires and he will do general go over.
Great guy and low rates and knows his stuff.
 
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This will be my first tour, major or otherwise. I'm shooting to go late May, early June.
Take some heated or good thermal clothes. Temperatures in the mountains can be as low as 7c with a morning start temp of below zero.

2. My tires are 6000ish km old, Michelin Pilot Road 3's, which I will be continuing to use for most of winter. Should they be changed before the trip?
Your Google trip is almost 9,000K and covers a lot of highway. When you start adding more side trips into your tour the distance will add up. You will have to keep an eye on the condition of your tires on your return trip and may have to change them.

What else should I be aware of?
How much time have you allocated for this trip? Worst thing you can do is have too tight a schedule and all you do is 'ride'. You need time to stop and see the things that interest you.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

+1 on the tour being limited to the USA there is too much to see. Consider crossing over at Sarnia going up to Michigan's UP and turn left to cross the Northern section of the US.

To help you with your Route (or bombard your with ideas) look at my Blogs for the Central and West USA although the maps only shows Start and End points of the day via the most direct route, the Blogs give you a more detailed look at the route I took.
http://blog.travelpod.com/members/muggeragem 'Riding in Colorado', 'Viva Las Vegas', 'Utah - Canyon Land' and 'My Dream Trip California Here I come'.

Sorry for the red ink. PM me if you want more info.

Moggs!
 
A little more info please.
Are you tenting or hotel action?
All bought meals or will you be doing your own cooking?
Just looking to super slab on the miles or two lane it on all the backroads?
Again just out for mileage or are there special sites you want to see?
How far you plan to travel each day?
Most important - how long do you have? You could do it in less but a quick glance at the route would suggest a minimum of 3 weeks to enjoy it?
 
Have a list (on paper) of bike shops and dealerships along the way incase you need to get parts and or tires.
 
Any particular reason you want to do that route? There's not much to see between here and the Dakota's. I'd skip the Ontario bit (you can do Thunder Bay and back in a long weekend) and just bomb dead west and enjoy the scenery from there, same thing for getting back.

Other than that, don't worry about it. There isn't much that CAA and a credit card can't get you out of.
 
regder said:
Any particular reason you want to do that route? There's not much to see between here and the Dakota's. I'd skip the Ontario bit (you can do Thunder Bay and back in a long weekend) and just bomb dead west and enjoy the scenery from there, same thing for getting back.

Other than that, don't worry about it. There isn't much that CAA and a credit card can't get you out of.
Click to expand...

Honestly, most of the reason was because of MacDoc's thread and route :p. The Grand Canyon is going to be the major destination for me and I wanted to take a different route home, and his looked like a good path. I have traveled VERY little outside of the GTA in my 30 years, and I have alot of Canada etcetera I want to see. I realize the Praries are a relatively uneventful place to start :p.

At this point in the planning stage, I hadn't thought too much of where I'd be staying yet, camping would be a good, less expensive plan. After reading the posts, i may not have enough time to go the full circle around. I have just over 2 weeks available at the moment, 16 days.

An oil change will be done the day or weekend before.

@ MacDoc That would be cool :). God knows I can do a mix of camping and motelling, beds are potentially alot more comfortable than the ground :p.
 
I do motels period but I think our routes are too different and I have 24 days. With only 16 you really have to boogie in both directions as that then only leaves 11 or twelve to explore the western area.

With 16 days I' tend to stay east and do the PA, Skyline, BRP, Smokies NASA maybe- you are in lovely riding in the PA area in a half day.

Without some distance riding you may find 1,000km days very wearying. You need to do some test rides.
 
MacDoc said:
I do motels period but I think our routes are too different and I have 24 days. With only 16 you really have to boogie in both directions as that then only leaves 11 or twelve to explore the western area.

With 16 days I' tend to stay east and do the PA, Skyline, BRP, Smokies NASA maybe- you are in lovely riding in the PA area in a half day.

Without some distance riding you may find 1,000km days very wearying. You need to do some test rides.
Click to expand...
Makes sense on doing a few test days in the months before, I hope I'll be able to walk after the first one.

I was sort of expecting only to do part of it with you, like you said, you have a lot longer time and alot more planned stops.
 
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MattJ1983 said:
After reading the posts, i may not have enough time to go the full circle around. I have just over 2 weeks available at the moment, 16 days.
Click to expand...

Our trip to San Francisco was 18 days and we had 2 rest days in between. Your route is a lot shorter, I think you'll be able to do it in 16 days. Here's a map of all the places we stopped for the night to give you an idea of what's doable. This isn't the route, just the overnight stops:

192633685-L.jpg


There were long riding days (a couple of 1000km slab runs to get through the prairies and back), but we did manage to get off the bikes and do a fair bit of sightseeing in the National Parks.
 
That's the problem he doesn't know how well he will do for distance and you are experienced tourers....

Many casual tourers find they do about 500 -650 a day - surprising I know.
Even in Aus many of the casual tourers who are used to long distances between places end up with a low average.
Very hard to plan until he knows what he is comfortable with.
Starting early, taking breaks and in June riding late can make long runs not too tiring.

Get into the mountains and the average distance plunges.
 
When you start out you'll be eager so "slam-the-slab" right away. I myself would find South Dakota as is a nice break after 3 days riding. Then from there start the tour. Coming back a southerly route through Denver, sticking to more scenic secondary roads if you have time is a nice loop. I found Yellowstone quite a letdown in comparison with the vistas I had just come from (Cody) so would not have that on my "list". Speaking of Cody, A+ loop through bear-tooth pass is a must!
 
You probably want to do a bit of a shakedown ride ahead of time to get a sense of what works for you riding-wise. A bike can feel quite different after a couple of 800 km days in the saddle. Maybe a long-weekend ride to see what is realistic for you would be a good idea. Everyone's ability to cover mileage is different and pushing yourself beyond what is realiistic for you isn't fun.

If you head to the south side of the Grand Canyon you realy should take a detour down 89a through Sedona down past Jerome then double back through Hoover Dam and the outskirts of Las Vegas. You can hit Death Valley or Zion and/or Bryce parks (these two are amazing and you really shoud go check them out.)

..Tom
 
Yup..

BTW OP I will be back in Canada in May after my 3 month Aus winter break and happy to do a shake down ride to PA or some such.
 
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