Degree of planning for a long trip

Have a few things that you want to visit along the way. Don't take the Interstates! Take the secondary highways. You will go through smaller towns (follow the reduced speed limits when you see them) and stop by the diners and small Ma and Pa motels. Folks will approach you and ask about your trip, and you can ask them about where to stay or eat and the roads you should ride. I've gotten the best advice that way. I still use the GPS for reference, but have the map in the tank bag to give me an idea. +1 on getting the local maps from the welcome centers. Keep a couple of water bottles and snacks, just for breaks. I've taken the sleeping bag and tent on the last 4 big trips, and never used them once. On good days you want to ride until you are too tired to look for camping places, and on rainy days, who wants to camp! The biggest trap will be on the way home. You are going to want to do lots of miles and you end up seeing nothing. I did that once, and will never do it again. Coming home is part of the trip. I may sound unpatriotic saying this, but staying south of the border is cheaper for food, gas and lodging. I came home one time from the West and decided to come along the TransCanada, which was boring, so dropped further south to smaller roads, very close to the US border, but everything was way higher in cost.
You will also feel less stressed if you don't have to reach somewhere at a certain day or time, just let the ride dictate the day.

Good luck in the NOT planning.
 
​yes, thank you!​
 
When my wife and I tour in the US (2 up on an 86 wing) we usually have a direction and then at night in the hotel room (which we locate each night by luck/chance) we try to figure out the next days destination. Unfortunately for you more discipline will be required in order to complete the loop in 4 or 5 weeks.

Not having a defined place you have to be each night means being able to change direction when you find or hear of something good.

We travel without GPS, phone, laptop or CAA. So far the sky has not fallen. If we get lost we use an old fashioned method that is mostly shunned today. It's called talking to strangers.

I put a lot of miles on my 750F and you should have no problems assuming you have a new chain (I had one wad up and punch a hole in the cases) and you've been thoroughly through the wiring. I recommend undoing , cleaning and lubing every bullet connector in the whole harness so that you don't out the hard way which one is getting a little crusty after 30+ years.
 
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dirtbag said:
When my wife and I tour in the US (2 up on an 86 wing) we usually have a direction and then at night in the hotel room (which we locate each night by luck/chance) we try to figure out the next days destination. Unfortunately for you more discipline will be required in order to complete the loop in 4 or 5 weeks.

Not having a defined place you have to be each night means being able to change direction when you find or hear of something good.

We travel without GPS, phone, laptop or CAA. So far the sky has not fallen. If we get lost we use an old fashioned method that is mostly shunned today. It's called talking to strangers.

I put a lot of miles on my 750F and you should have no problems assuming you have a new chain (I had one wad up and punch a hole in the cases) and you've been thoroughly through the wiring. I recommend undoing , cleaning and lubing every bullet connector in the whole harness so that you don't out the hard way which one is getting a little crusty after 30+ years.
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On my 6th Wing and the wife and I have been doing 2 week trips down into the States since the early 90's.I usually just have a general direction in mind,but that's as far as the planning goes.I do pretty much the same as you as far as planning for the next day.A Rand MaNally Road Atlas and a few beers and I have the roads picked for the next day.Same thing that night.If we don't plan anything then we don't have to worry about having to get somewhere.We ride until we don't feel like riding anymore.I do use a Garmin Gps though.Mostly for finding hotel rooms.We used to ride all day and then sometimes spend over an hour finding a room.The GPS shortens this up considerably.IMHO the less you plan the better as you always seem rushed trying to do everything you plan.
 
When I tour, I usually research the route but don't pick the hotels. Flexibility is the key. You never know where the Fates may take you. Before I leave the WiFi of the previous hotel, I check the address and availability of hotels where I think that I might end up that night. That way I don't waste time looking for lodgings. But if I don't make it there or pass through too early to stop. No harm, no foul. I will look elsewhere. The only time this has screwed me up is when I didn't check for the evening destination hotels before I rode off in the morning. :)
 
Thank you for your replies. They are helpful and so is reading the excellent tour reports on GTAM. thank you all!
 
What Rich said exactly. The only variant might be the first night as usually you have to slab to get somewhere and having a spot when you get there ( especially in the summer on long weekends in popular places like Lake Placid is worthwhile ).

Then wing it.
That's what we are doing on a 3 week road trip by car in the western US in Nov. Off season so no pressure even in Yellowstone but we are booking a couple of specific points based around meeting friends in San Fran and LAX so we can advise them.

Other than that.....where the wind blows....and in November that could be very variable in the mountains. :D

TripAdvisor is excellent as is AirBNB. Forever Maps and TomTom offer offline nav.
Lots of Nav choices online but I'd want FM anyway if you get out in the boonies.
 
First day will be from GTA to my parents place near Kingston. Second day will be Wolf island ferry then ferry into USA, 12E through Watertown, #3 south to Pulaski, then 11 to end the day in/near Binghamton. That'll get me headed in the right direction. I want to get on the Blueridge parkway, then west to Memphis. I have the forever maps app, and glympse.
 
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