My cross country motorcycle trip 2008
05-31-2008, 11:21 AM
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My cross country motorcycle trip 2008
UPDATE #2! See new Post
*UPDATE!!!*
I'm staying at a friend's house in Kansas City tonight, and thus have internet access.
It's day 10 of the trip and so far, I've been through PA, MD, VA, WV, NC, TN, IL, MO, and probably one I forgot. I rode the Blue Ridge Parkway almost in its entirety, and the famous Tail of the Dragon (one of my friends had a minor low side, but both rider and bike were OK). The Bike now has 42,5XX miles on it, and is running good so far. One of my friends' bikes fried its rectifier and a few wires, but with my brother's mechanical skills was fixed in half a day (diagnosing took most of the time, we had a spare rectifier). I'll add some pictures in a new post.
Hello /26!
Tomorrow I embark on a motorcycle ride that will (hopefully) bring me to San Francisco and back by way of the Blue Ridge Parkway. the Rockies, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley, and many other interesting places. The estimated time it will take is 40 days, but we are prepared to spend more.
I will not be doing this alone. There are four other riders: my brother, and 3 friends, all of whom just graduated from Cornell University. The newest bike in the bunch is a 1982 Yamaha Seca 750. The oldest is a 1973 Yamaha TX500. A "test run" of sorts to the Northern Pennsylvania wilderness two weeks ago was a success, all bikes are running well.
I don't know if I'll be able to update this at all, we will be staying in state forests for the most part, as they are free. My friend does have an iPhone, so maybe I'll try to upload a pic or two and a short blurb every now and then.
I'll leave you with a couple of photos of my bike, in it's fully laden state, ready for takeoff:
over 40k miles on the old Yam:
Modified by CivicWagonRUS at 8:12 PM 6/10/2008
Modified by CivicWagonRUS at 1:06 AM 6/28/2008
*UPDATE!!!*
I'm staying at a friend's house in Kansas City tonight, and thus have internet access.
It's day 10 of the trip and so far, I've been through PA, MD, VA, WV, NC, TN, IL, MO, and probably one I forgot. I rode the Blue Ridge Parkway almost in its entirety, and the famous Tail of the Dragon (one of my friends had a minor low side, but both rider and bike were OK). The Bike now has 42,5XX miles on it, and is running good so far. One of my friends' bikes fried its rectifier and a few wires, but with my brother's mechanical skills was fixed in half a day (diagnosing took most of the time, we had a spare rectifier). I'll add some pictures in a new post.
Hello /26!
Tomorrow I embark on a motorcycle ride that will (hopefully) bring me to San Francisco and back by way of the Blue Ridge Parkway. the Rockies, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley, and many other interesting places. The estimated time it will take is 40 days, but we are prepared to spend more.
I will not be doing this alone. There are four other riders: my brother, and 3 friends, all of whom just graduated from Cornell University. The newest bike in the bunch is a 1982 Yamaha Seca 750. The oldest is a 1973 Yamaha TX500. A "test run" of sorts to the Northern Pennsylvania wilderness two weeks ago was a success, all bikes are running well.
I don't know if I'll be able to update this at all, we will be staying in state forests for the most part, as they are free. My friend does have an iPhone, so maybe I'll try to upload a pic or two and a short blurb every now and then.
I'll leave you with a couple of photos of my bike, in it's fully laden state, ready for takeoff:
over 40k miles on the old Yam:
Modified by CivicWagonRUS at 8:12 PM 6/10/2008
Modified by CivicWagonRUS at 1:06 AM 6/28/2008
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05-31-2008, 03:53 PM
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Re: (Pauldo)
your gonna have the time of your life. im from ny and i did this exact same trip in a car this past winter. i wanna do it again and this time on a bike. please take lots of pics 
05-31-2008, 04:18 PM
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Re: My cross country motorcycle trip 2008 (CivicWagonRUS)
Damn, I'm envious. Enjoy your trip man and bring back LOTS of pictures
Good luck and safe journey...when you get back I would like to ask you some specifics about how you do to strap all that luggage on the bike.
Good luck and safe journey...when you get back I would like to ask you some specifics about how you do to strap all that luggage on the bike.
05-31-2008, 04:51 PM
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Re: My cross country motorcycle trip 2008 (Starscream)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Starscream »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would like to ask you some specifics about how you do to strap all that luggage on the bike.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
2 Bungy cords lol. The saddle bags are $90 soft bags. A far cry from aluminum cases you see on ADVrider, but they get the job done. The main bag is a big camping backpack. It's not really waterproof so all of the things inside are inside plastic bags. That contains my clothes. The bag behind that has all of the cookware. The saddlebags have food and raingear, as well as extra gloves, sunglasses, and some misc. stuff.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GraphiteAccord »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ouch, no windscreen of sorts?
</TD></TR></TABLE>
I haven't had any trouble on my other trips. These included riding in driving rain and hail. I'm not about to put on one of those god-awful "Vetter" fairings
I don't ride that fast either. I'd say we usually cruise at about 55-65 mph. Over 70mph sure makes the engine feel strained 
and the wind does become obtrusive.
We're planning on taking a massive amount of photos. I'll try to post some while I'm on the road, but I will definitely post them all once I return!
</TD></TR></TABLE>2 Bungy cords lol. The saddle bags are $90 soft bags. A far cry from aluminum cases you see on ADVrider, but they get the job done. The main bag is a big camping backpack. It's not really waterproof so all of the things inside are inside plastic bags. That contains my clothes. The bag behind that has all of the cookware. The saddlebags have food and raingear, as well as extra gloves, sunglasses, and some misc. stuff.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GraphiteAccord »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ouch, no windscreen of sorts?
</TD></TR></TABLE>
I haven't had any trouble on my other trips. These included riding in driving rain and hail. I'm not about to put on one of those god-awful "Vetter" fairings
I don't ride that fast either. I'd say we usually cruise at about 55-65 mph. Over 70mph sure makes the engine feel strained and the wind does become obtrusive.We're planning on taking a massive amount of photos. I'll try to post some while I'm on the road, but I will definitely post them all once I return!
05-31-2008, 05:03 PM
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Re: My cross country motorcycle trip 2008 (CivicWagonRUS)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CivicWagonRUS »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
2 Bungy cords lol. The saddle bags are $90 soft bags. A far cry from aluminum cases you see on ADVrider, but they get the job done. The main bag is a big camping backpack. It's not really waterproof so all of the things inside are inside plastic bags. That contains my clothes. The bag behind that has all of the cookware. The saddlebags have food and raingear, as well as extra gloves, sunglasses, and some misc. stuff.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
Good stuff, I was wanting to buy some Givi saddlebags but they're so expensive in here. Almost 350$ EACH
I guess I will have to try something more "el cheapo" for my planned trips lol...and I don't want to use leather saddlebags on my bike
2 Bungy cords lol. The saddle bags are $90 soft bags. A far cry from aluminum cases you see on ADVrider, but they get the job done. The main bag is a big camping backpack. It's not really waterproof so all of the things inside are inside plastic bags. That contains my clothes. The bag behind that has all of the cookware. The saddlebags have food and raingear, as well as extra gloves, sunglasses, and some misc. stuff.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
Good stuff, I was wanting to buy some Givi saddlebags but they're so expensive in here. Almost 350$ EACH
I guess I will have to try something more "el cheapo" for my planned trips lol...and I don't want to use leather saddlebags on my bike
05-31-2008, 05:14 PM
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Re: My cross country motorcycle trip 2008 (Starscream)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Starscream »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Good stuff, I was wanting to buy some Givi saddlebags but they're so expensive in here. Almost 350$ EACH </TD></TR></TABLE>
They're spendy here too. I was thinking of getting a Givi pizza box for the FJR, instead I think I'll get a larger luggage rack and get a large soft bag from Nelson Rigg or something.
Good stuff, I was wanting to buy some Givi saddlebags but they're so expensive in here. Almost 350$ EACH
</TD></TR></TABLE>They're spendy here too. I was thinking of getting a Givi pizza box for the FJR, instead I think I'll get a larger luggage rack and get a large soft bag from Nelson Rigg or something.
05-31-2008, 05:14 PM
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Re: My cross country motorcycle trip 2008 (CivicWagonRUS)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CivicWagonRUS. »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> A far cry from aluminum cases you see on ADVrider, but they get the job done. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Those guys on ADVrider are crazy lol
Those guys on ADVrider are crazy lol
05-31-2008, 05:22 PM
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Re: My cross country motorcycle trip 2008 (Pauldo)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Pauldo »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
They're spendy here too. I was thinking of getting a Givi pizza box for the FJR, instead I think I'll get a larger luggage rack and get a large soft bag from Nelson Rigg or something.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I guess I'll just have to ghetto rig my camping backpack on the back of the bike lol
Or have to buy custom/cruiser saddlebagas
I was thinking of adding a trunk and then strapping a camping backpack to it...could be a cheaper solution.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Pauldo »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Those guys on ADVrider are crazy lol </TD></TR></TABLE>
I have to stop watching that site. Everytime I read the ride reports, I feel this strange urge to hop on my bike and ride somewhere far away.
They're spendy here too. I was thinking of getting a Givi pizza box for the FJR, instead I think I'll get a larger luggage rack and get a large soft bag from Nelson Rigg or something.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I guess I'll just have to ghetto rig my camping backpack on the back of the bike lol
Or have to buy custom/cruiser saddlebagas
I was thinking of adding a trunk and then strapping a camping backpack to it...could be a cheaper solution.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Pauldo »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Those guys on ADVrider are crazy lol </TD></TR></TABLE>
I have to stop watching that site. Everytime I read the ride reports, I feel this strange urge to hop on my bike and ride somewhere far away.
05-31-2008, 05:27 PM
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Re: My cross country motorcycle trip 2008 (Pauldo)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Pauldo »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Those guys on ADVrider are crazy lol </TD></TR></TABLE>
Some are crazy. Some deck out their GSs with knobby tires, $1000 hard cases, all the gear, and then ride them on nice roads, stay at hotels, and eat at restaurants. Hell, if I had the money, I'd be tempted to do the same.
The plan is to keep expenses to a minimum. We'll stay at hotels once every week to do laundry, shave, clean up in general. Eating at restaurants and diners is also going to be minimized to save money. We will stop by in Vegas....
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Starscream »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
...and I don't want to use leather saddlebags on my bike </TD></TR></TABLE>
Mine are reinforced fabric (waterproof). They don't look that great, but it sure beats frilly leather with rhinestones LOL
Those guys on ADVrider are crazy lol
</TD></TR></TABLE>Some are crazy. Some deck out their GSs with knobby tires, $1000 hard cases, all the gear, and then ride them on nice roads, stay at hotels, and eat at restaurants. Hell, if I had the money, I'd be tempted to do the same.
The plan is to keep expenses to a minimum. We'll stay at hotels once every week to do laundry, shave, clean up in general. Eating at restaurants and diners is also going to be minimized to save money. We will stop by in Vegas....
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Starscream »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
...and I don't want to use leather saddlebags on my bike </TD></TR></TABLE>
Mine are reinforced fabric (waterproof). They don't look that great, but it sure beats frilly leather with rhinestones LOL
05-31-2008, 05:36 PM
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Re: My cross country motorcycle trip 2008 (CivicWagonRUS)
I plan on doing "minimalist" trips around Venezuela starting this summer...I believe that's the way to do it (specially if you're a poor college student like me lol)
There is a motoclub here in Venezuela that is composed of little 125-150 bikes, many of them are chinese too, also some scooters...and the guys (and gals) travel more miles than guys on fully decked Goldwings and Beemers...
Anyways, try to keep us updated and good luck on your journey.
There is a motoclub here in Venezuela that is composed of little 125-150 bikes, many of them are chinese too, also some scooters...and the guys (and gals) travel more miles than guys on fully decked Goldwings and Beemers...
Anyways, try to keep us updated and good luck on your journey.
06-10-2008, 04:18 PM
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Re: My cross country motorcycle trip 2008 (Starscream)
Here are some photos that hopefully will work:
That's all for now, I'm not sure when I'll have internet access, in California for sure. We're burning miles across Kansas tomorrow, and should hit the Rockies in 2 days.
That's all for now, I'm not sure when I'll have internet access, in California for sure. We're burning miles across Kansas tomorrow, and should hit the Rockies in 2 days.
06-10-2008, 05:12 PM
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Re: My cross country motorcycle trip 2008 (CivicWagonRUS)
congrats. thus far!!
That is a bit of a hike you have done so far, but you are not even 1/2 way there yet. You guys stay safe out there and have as much fun as you can.
That is a bit of a hike you have done so far, but you are not even 1/2 way there yet. You guys stay safe out there and have as much fun as you can.
06-10-2008, 08:56 PM
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Re: My cross country motorcycle trip 2008 (MSchu)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by MSchu »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That's badass... more pictures and more descriptive diary writing for the rest of us to enjoy </TD></TR></TABLE>
X2...hope you're having the time of your live...do a ride report ADVrider style when you have the chance
</TD></TR></TABLE>X2...hope you're having the time of your live...do a ride report ADVrider style when you have the chance
06-11-2008, 04:22 AM
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Re: (ragnaroek)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ragnaroek »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">good luck! you guys all look like 14 y/o </TD></TR></TABLE>
ROFL
</TD></TR></TABLE>ROFL
06-11-2008, 06:56 AM
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Re: (rainmanEK)
man you guys are doing my dream ride. one day ill get to ride the parkway and the dragon. i also really want to ride wv. me and my buddy did like a 500 mile ride in the poconoes on a vfr and he was on a cbr and we had a blast. i went on a cross coountry road trip in a truck before, cant imagine on a bike. god bless on ur travels.
