A lot of recent changes in living situation, work, and life in general have brought out the adventurous side in me. It turns out that I will have 9 days off from work starting Saturday June 6th and going through Sunday June 14th. Having seen fewer than one half of the continental U.S., my tentative plan is to fly (with my friend Steve) to a State East of Colorado and spend up to a week riding motorcycles back to the Los Angeles area.

I have a few good years of street riding experience and quite a bit of track time under my belt (holding a race license with WSMC) and now a good cross-country feels like the next step in my riding career. Ideally we would be able to find at least one person in the Los Angeles area that would like to purchase a bike back East but does not have the time (or want to pay the transportation costs) to bring it back themself. If it comes down to it, we will be buying bikes of some sort and riding them back, selling them once we arrive of course.

As most of your know, the surgery I had on my arm a couple of months ago has cut out all aggressive riding, so highway cruising is what's in the cards for me until next year. For many people this may sound like we've got a couple bolts loose, but I am very excited at the possibility of making a trip of this kind. What I ask of my fellow /26ers is that you post a link to this thread or copy and paste this snippet into other forums that you frequent so that we better our chances of helping/being helped out by someone who needs a bike(s) transported cross-country. If you know of anyone who might be interested in something of this sort, by all means pass it on.

If this goes through (it likely will in some way), we will also be looking for couches/porches/hammocks/floors to sleep on that line up with our trip home to Los Angeles. If you have the means and are willing to help out, shoot me a PM or email and we'll connect somehow on our trip.

This trip is in the near future and although the details are not yet set, we are intent on making it happen. If you think we're stupid for trying something like this, that's cool...just keep the dumb comments to yourself. Thanks in advance to anyone/everyone who helps out. I see this as a chance to see more of the U.S. and meet others who have a passion for riding we do.

Thanks very much,

Billy Meinke
Santa Barbara/Los Angeles, CA

 

I think its a genius idea! Why didn't I think of something like this? Good luck on your trip man!

 

buy some old honda cb's for cheap and ride them back. as for a state east of Colorado, i live in auburn ks. you can rest your neck here.

 

headover to advrider.com, you'll find all the info u need.

 

I dunno B. Five days seems like a lot of time...to just ride across the nation. Don't you want to stop and sight-see a bit? Not trying to put your idea down, but wouldn't a minimum of a week be better?

I mean, it takes at least a day to get to Vegas....and then another week to recover from "activities."

"Hangover," anyone???

 

I really think it is a good idea.Good luck and just go for it.

 

Good looking out, H . I'm flexible about where we go and will definitely want to see some sights along the way. Depending on where we start, we might just roll through and past LV...maybe just stopping for a night to recharge

Will keep this updated as we find bikes to ride back...

 

sounds like a badass plan. if you end up in St. Louis area, I got a couple couches you can crash on.

 

im planning for my longest ride yet on the 600rr. my bro has an old 89 ninja 600r, were both gonna visit our friend that just moved to north carolina. its like a 10 hour ride from south jersey. im gonna visit my aunt in myrtle beach also. i really wanna take skyline drive to the blue ridge parkway to deals gap. im looking at taking 7 days for this.

 

PLEASE! read this whole story!

http://www.superstreetonline.com/fea...ees/index.html

this is kinda old, but just posting in case you havent seen it.

Cliffs:
Korean, who barely speaks english, rides a honda ruckus across the USA.
On the ruckus forums people help him out all along the way.

 

If you find yourself down in Los Angeles, you can stay at my place.

We'll have a welcome-back /26bbq!

 

-denver to vail is 1.25hrs. vail to vegas is 10 hours, there is nothing in between grand junction and green river, UT.

-be mindful of fuel, once in utah there are several awesome places to run out if your not careful. and i say that with traveling strictly on I-70.....fill up in grandjunction and the next place once in utah. the following service after that is XXmiles in green river. i don't know what your riding but, i became worried a couple of times. pace vs. fuel consumption. after green river the towns become a little more frequent. Beaver, UT is a good stop for fast-food and fuel, its on I-15 and probably 3 or 4 hours from vegas.

 

I've been thinking of doing a cross-country trip during the summer since its my last year in college, Miami to Maine to LA and Seattle, over the course of two months, its too bad you are doing this so soon, if not I would have loved to join in on the plan.

O.T. Wesvailco, I just noticed you live in Vail, i gotta say, you are one lucky bastard, blue sky basin is probably my favorite place in the whole world

 

If it's your last year too like me...I've got a better proposition.

Caracas-Ushuaia. I was planning on getting a Tornado or any jap Dualsport and ride south and doing it all alone. But the more, the merrier

 

Caracas-Ushuaia involves dealing with a bunch of guerrilla, robery, 3rd world bs and lack of replacement parts, plus, getting a bike in the USA on one coast and selling in the other is more cost efective than getting a tornado here to do that, the only upside I see, is well ushuaia.

 

Well, I have seen many people doing that route without major problems. Heck, even a lot of americans go to Argentina, buy/rent a loaded GS1200 and go to Ushuaia without many problems.

Replacement parts? Brazil and Argentina aren't like Venezuela...you can find anything for a Tornado, Falcon or any Honda/Yamaha bike without problems.

My route is Venezuela-Brazil-Uruguay-Argentina-Chile and then go back...the great thing about doing it in the months of July-September is that you start in the summer heat here in Venezuela, and the further you go south, the colder it gets...even getting snow in Ushuaia. Great way to ride in all conditions

 

Damn, when is the South American tour? I might have to get in on that, haha. That'd be so cool to do that. How much can one pick up a used Tornado for?

 

i've got a trip planned from central IL to jackson hole, WY this summer. the idea of there not being enough gas stations never crossed my mind... *goes back to google maps to look for gas stations*

 

Hey Billy,

A national park tour would be great! I just came back from Salt Lake and here's my take on a 5-day+ ride:

Yellowstone -> Grand Teton -> Arches -> Capitol Reef -> Bryce Canyon -> Zion -> Grand Canyon

On the way up to SLC, we passed through vegas on I-15. Biggest mistake of the trip! We weren't stuck in traffic long but an alternate route would have been much more fun. On the way back, we bypassed LV by going around Lake Mead - beautiful roads!

Some advice:

Stay off the interstates as much as possible. We took US-89 through the heart of Utah and Nevada Route 169 around Lake Mead and the views were awesome. The interstates just suck and they all really look alike. The same chain restaurants, hotels, office buildings, etc.

Keep the riding to a 4-500 miles a day @ the most. If you really want to see and experience the country, you've got to get off the bike and walk.

Avoid the chain restaurants! I broke this rule a couple of times but made up for it by eating @ local eateries as much as possible. We met some real characters this way. If you don't know where to eat, ask a local!

 

Five days is enough time to still sight see a bit. My friends and I did Buffalo to Vegas in 31 hours last year (in a car ).

 

I can tell you from experience that droning across the country in a car is vastly different than on a bike. I can sit in a car until it runs out of gas but can barely manage 100 miles at a stretch on a bike. The heat, cold, wind, rain, sun, dust, etc, all take a toll.

 

I rode from pittsburgh to key west and back in 6 days on a sv650s. My buddy was on a gsx-r 600. My advice rent/buy a sport touring bike. We were hurting in ways we didn't even think possible on the way back up. On the other hand it was the trip of a lifetime and i'm glad I did it. Have a blast and if you make it to Pittsburgh, PA you can crash on my couch.

 

I know what you mean SV, I managed to pinch a nerve in my right shoulder so my right hand has been numb since the ride up. My brother's hand's been out of wack since riding the KLR and can't wipe his *** right!

 

lulz...

 

i did 300 miles last friday on my 600rr and i was pretty beat, haha

i cant imagine doing a cross-country trip on that thing. i would need a vfr.