crashcourse
XS650 Addict
For a long time I've thought a cross country road trip on a motorcycle would be really neat. I realized a few months ago that if there was ever a time for it, it will be this July. I'll be out of school on break for two months, with hopefully some money in the bank. Here's what I have in mind:
I live in Utah near Salt Lake City. I want to go north to Spokane, WA to visit my family for a week or so. I can meet my Mom and brother in south Idaho, so I have a cage with me for a few hundred miles. Then from Spokane to Seattle to Arizona (through CA) I might be with my brother on his motorcycle. We'll stop for a few days in Arizona to visit my grandma. Then he'll head home, but I want to head east to Florida (all the way to Miami), then north along the coast to Quebec, making a stop in DC for the Smithsonian and maybe Fort Knox, and any other historical sites/cool museums I find along the way. From Quebec it's east and south back to Utah. A rough estimate from Google Earth put it at about a nine thousand miles round trip.
My bike is an '81 Special II with maybe 15000 miles. Seems to always run, gets about fifty or fifty five miles to the gallon. I've only been riding about a year, but I consider myself fairly competent.
The plan so far is to camp along the way, and eat stuff that I can carry with me. I know a few people scattered around the east coast, but not very many. I'm not much of a mechanic, so if anything serious breaks down, I'll have to hawk the bike and buy a bus ticket home.
Now here is where I need your help: This sounds to me like the greatest and stupidest thing I have ever tried. Either talk me out of it, or give me enough advice that I could live through it. Has anyone done this? Keep in mind I'll be solo for about eighty percent of the time, unless I find groups along the highways that let me ride with 'em. What places should I see along the way? What gear can I pack that you wouldn't be caught dead without? (Or, what would you leave behind that would cause you to be found dead without it?)
Any and all input is greatly appreciated.
I live in Utah near Salt Lake City. I want to go north to Spokane, WA to visit my family for a week or so. I can meet my Mom and brother in south Idaho, so I have a cage with me for a few hundred miles. Then from Spokane to Seattle to Arizona (through CA) I might be with my brother on his motorcycle. We'll stop for a few days in Arizona to visit my grandma. Then he'll head home, but I want to head east to Florida (all the way to Miami), then north along the coast to Quebec, making a stop in DC for the Smithsonian and maybe Fort Knox, and any other historical sites/cool museums I find along the way. From Quebec it's east and south back to Utah. A rough estimate from Google Earth put it at about a nine thousand miles round trip.
My bike is an '81 Special II with maybe 15000 miles. Seems to always run, gets about fifty or fifty five miles to the gallon. I've only been riding about a year, but I consider myself fairly competent.
The plan so far is to camp along the way, and eat stuff that I can carry with me. I know a few people scattered around the east coast, but not very many. I'm not much of a mechanic, so if anything serious breaks down, I'll have to hawk the bike and buy a bus ticket home.
Now here is where I need your help: This sounds to me like the greatest and stupidest thing I have ever tried. Either talk me out of it, or give me enough advice that I could live through it. Has anyone done this? Keep in mind I'll be solo for about eighty percent of the time, unless I find groups along the highways that let me ride with 'em. What places should I see along the way? What gear can I pack that you wouldn't be caught dead without? (Or, what would you leave behind that would cause you to be found dead without it?)
Any and all input is greatly appreciated.