Road Trip on my motorcycle. Help me plan!

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m 23, bored, and have about a week’s worth of vacation lined up. So I got a crazy idea that I’ve never done before: I want to take my motorcycle out on a week long road trip – by myself. I’m generally pretty reserved, quiet, and follow a daily routine; I want to break all that during my Road Trip week, and I need your help!

I currently reside in South San Francisco. If you live anywhere near the SF area, then you know we’ve had some heavy rains recently, which sucks. As such, I want to leave during a time and visit places where I’m guaranteed nice weather (or anything but rain).

Now I’ve visited very little of my own state (I’ve only lived here for about a year and a half), but would like to explore as much of the south/southeast that I can reasonably fit within a week. I’m almost to checking out almost anything – whether it be natural landmarks, note-worthy businesses, or just fun roads to ride through on my bike – anything goes!

Now, I don’t want to form a rock-solid plan; I sort of want to go where my bike takes me, but I also don’t want to miss anything along the way. So where should I go? What should I pack? (I’m planning on only bring one large backpack; my bike doesn’t have any saddle bags, so it’ll have to do). Oh, and what should I do about lodging – will I have any trouble finding places with vacancy without booking ahead of time?

So I want to hear your ideas, tips, anecdotes, stories, suggestions, or whatever else you can think of!

2

Can’t help with local knowledge, I’m afraid - though my roommates tell me that it doesn’t rain much in San Diego.

Still, I’d say this: don’t use a backpack on a bike. Get one of those small things that hooks on to the pillion. Reason? If something bad should happen and you come off the bike at 60mph, you do not want to be wearing a backpack - it will turn a slide into a roll.

Accommodation has never been a problem for me in the northeastern USA. There’s always been somewhere cheap with vacancies. But it could, I suspect, be different in the parts of the southwest where there are about three people per square mile and no towns. Also worth considering gas availability in these areas - never been, but I understand that signs of human habitation can be few and far between.

3

I think I should be able to help out some since I’ve been all over the US a number of times, and once through Europe. I’m on the other side of the US so I can’t really help you with what’s out there, though I do remember taking US 395 from the start in the LA area all the way through Reno and it was nice.

I’m going to give you tips on what to wear, how to travel things like that.

As said before backpacks are not the best thing in the world. I don’t remember what kind of bike you have, but you can get saddle bags that basically get thrown over the second seat, make sure you check to see if you’ll need braces or not. You could also get permanent bags as well. If you have a sissybar you can get a bag that attaches to that, I had one of those for my old Shadow, worked nice. Or the old stand by of bungee cords or nets will work.

You do not need as much as you think, I tend to take a pair of undies and socks for each day plus one, a couple of t-shirts, and an extra pair of pants. So for a week I would pack seven pairs of socks and underwear, plus the ones I’m wearing. Maybe three shirts and if you’re not wearing a riding suit an extra pair of jeans. I would also carry at least one other pair of gloves for when it rains.

I’d also think about wearing earplugs. It sounds odd, but you will hear more because the wind noise is cut down, and it reduces fatigue after a few hours in the saddle. I almost always ride with ear plugs, even for the 20-30 minute ride to work.

Get some sort of cammelback or other way to drink water. You need to keep drinking water all day long, having it right there makes it easy to drink.

Along with the cammelback get a tankbag if you don’t already have one. A map case would be a nice addition on the bag as well. This way you can keep snacks and extra gloves right there.

As for finding a place to stay, unless you want to pay big bucks, stay away from big national parks during the summer, nice to see, but not nice to pay. This doesn’t apply to all parks, the Bad Lands and places like that I’ve stayed at over the 4th of July for $40 a night. But in California you might have problems at least in cost. I can’t remember a time that I was unable to find a place to stay even if it was expensive.

The big thing now is distances. I don’t know how far you’ve traveled on your bike so it makes it hard to say. However, unless you’re only planning on going a couple of hundred miles one way to make sure you have an idea of how far you can go. You probably don’t want to do the Bad Lands if you haven’t traveled 500 miles a day before because Google says it’s 1400 miles one way so over 7 days you’re talking almost 500 miles a day. That’s not going to be easy unless you’re used to it. Typically the furthest you can go would be on day one and the distance grows shorter from there. I tend to find one place that I want to see as my furthest out point. If I make it there early then good and I can change how I want to come back. This is where you need to know how much you can do in how long.

You could also do a motorcycle tour like I’m putting on. Basically you have a flag and a list of places to go, and you take a picture of your bike and flag at a city limit sign. This makes you look for places you’ve never even heard of before and can be an adventure.

If you have any other specific questions let me know and I’ll try to answer them. As I said before I did a lot of traveling when I was in my late 20s and early 30s by bike. I’d like to get back to it, but with one little one and another on the way it’s very hard.

4

As soon as I saw this thread I opened it hoping you would respond since you have lots of experience in this area! :slight_smile:

I still remember the cool pictures you sent to my class from one of your trips.

5

I’ve thought of doing the same thing. Earplugs definitely. It sucks, but I really get fatigued even on a 30 minute trip at highway speed without earplugs.

Good luck and have fun. Always assume you’re invisible.

6

I don’t have any knowledge of your locale, but since you asked for anecdotes and stories, here ya go. Back in '92, I moved from NJ to TX, driving a '77 Yamaha XS750 (similar to this). I was accompanying a friend, who was starting grad school; he drove his car, I was on my bike. (Oh, the time in my life when I could carry almost all my worldly possessions!) It had a full front fairing, hard bags, a custom king/queen seat, and a bag that sat on the back bumper. (Yeah, it was pretty heavy when loaded.) In '94, I drove it alone back to NJ, prior to moving to Hawaii.

In addition to the tiered seat, it had a extra-high backrest. I put my backpack on the passenger seat, strapped to the backrest, giving me something to lean back on. As sore as my back and ass were, I can’t imagine what it would have been like without it.

On the way to TX, we stayed nights at RV parks/campgrounds; cheap, with showers, and we could fit both car and bike in one space. On the way back to NJ, I either stayed in hotels or at a friend’s place in NC (went out of the way to see him).

All in all, the only really bad part was that the trip was made in mid-August. The sweat-salt made me feel constantly crusty, and I have to say that I ended up with a helluva farmer’s tan.

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I have only done one bike tour, which was from Ann Arbor over to Lake Michigan, up the coast, over the bridge, up to the Pictured Rocks and then back down along Lake Huron through Bay City back to A[sup]2[/sup], in about a week. (I made a round trip once from DC to Ann Arbor, but not as a tour, just for transportation, so that’s not like your trip. Five hundred turnpike miles in one day, each way. Tolerable but not recommended for fun.)

First lesson learned: The trip is not about riding your motorcycle, it’s about visiting places. My itinerary was too ambitious and I spent too much time on the road. Three to four hours on the road is enough if you want to actually explore each destination.

Second lesson: Your backpack might be OK if you strap it to the pillion (do not wear it, it will mess up your balance, and cause fatigue). Soft saddle bags might be a worthwhile investment. A tank bag would also be a worthwhile investment, and will allow you to have a map in front of you. I used to have an expandable tank back that held as much as a good-sized day pack, with vinyl case for a map on top, it was great.

Otherwise you won’t need to pack a lot for a week. You can set an itinerary so that you won’t need to get dressed up for anything.

I can’t help with suggestions for a route, but most civilized places you will be able to find a vacancy with no reservations, unless you go to a popular tourist spot like Tusayan near the Grand Canyon. You don’t have to make detailed plans but you might want to check out accommodations in a few candidate locations just to get an idea of what you might find; check sites like Expedia or Travelocity.

I never used earplugs on a bike, that might be a good suggestion.

Decide how much cash you need to take. It’s getting easier every day to get cash at an ATM but in more remote areas you may not have as much choice

Don’t forget the SPF 15.

8

A motorcycle road trip is possibly my favorite thing! All the advice hear is good, especially the earplugs. My fatigue levels were noticeably lower when I remembered to bring comfortable ear plugs. Try several brands and sizes for the best fit. I don’t have the link handy, but there are several online safety equipment stores that sell sampler pack of the plugs that they stock. Once you’ve found a model you like, buy in bulk. I was buying them from the motorcycle store for something like a dollar per set. Then I found out that you can buy a 200 pair dispenser pack for less than 20 buck. That way there’s no need to reuse nasty ones.

It sounds like you’re unlikely to stay in the No. Cal. area, but I can recommend this book if you do:

http://norcal.destinationhighways.com/

I have the Washington edition and love it. No affiliation.

9

My husband and I took a motorcycle trip from Lancaster to San Francisco over New Year’s Eve, 2005. I can’t say I recommend that time of year (I still don’t think I’ve quite dried out), but the trip up Pacific Highway was some of the most amazing and breathtaking scenery I have ever beheld. Nice stretches of easy twisties if you’re into that. Depending on how far south you wanted to go, it could be done easily in two days - one if you’re in a hurry.

I will also add to Edward The Head’s shoutout to the 395 - it’s really fantastic. If you head up to the White Mountains to see the bristlecone pines, there is a lookout where you can see Death Valley on one side and various peaks of the Sierra (including Mt. Whitney) on the other side. This is also a jumping off point to Death Valley and Reno. The geology up there is strange and feels rather primordial which is only emphasized by the bristlecones’ twisted trunks. Highly recommended. The way up though is very crazy - not quite Lombardo Street crazy, but no place for committed flatlanders. Coming from San Francisco though you would probably have to take Tioga Pass, which I don’t think opens until May. You could come up through the south though, if it suits you.

Anyways, if you decide to go either way I and many others could point you to various points of interest along both routes. I could explore our state the rest of my life and not see it all, I think.

And don’t forget to eat at regular intervals! You’re using up quite a few more calories than you would in a car, and it’s easy to forget to eat when you’re out there having a great time.

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Like others have said, I’d recommend PCH down to Los Angeles, then back up 395. I’d like to second the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest side trip. Tioga pass is stunning, but it only opens when the snow has melted sufficiently to make it practical. Check this page for all opening dates since 1933. You can still come back over 108, 50 or 80 if 120 is closed. I’d go before Memorial Day to beat the crowds. If you plan to over Tioga Pass, try to reserve a campground in Yosemite Valley right now as reservations usually fill up a year in advance.

11

I don’t have advice about the tour but I do have ideas about packing and comfortable riding.

If you wear fairly regular size clothes you can get clean replacements at a Goodwill store.

Extra footwear, rubber boot covers and spare gloves for rainy weather, also finger squeegees for your shield. (make sure you have a way to keep your rain pants over the top of your boots or you’ll be wearing buckets of water) Pack like it’s going to rain every day because nothing’s worse than being wet.

If you don’t have one already I suggest a full face helmet, a little bit of wind on your face can get tiring after a day of riding. Buy an extra shield for it.

I bought some used GIVI travel cases on ebay. They’re not very expensive and they unlatch from their mounting hardware so they can be brought inside like luggage. They also all fit on all GIVI hardware so if you get a new motorcycle you still have cases. Some types have been discontinued but can be found on ebay. I have large travel cases for trips and smaller more stylish ones for every day.

Have free day planned in case the weather is too bad to ride one day.

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Yeah the point about being wet is very important. Wet = cold. Rode to work on a foggy morning one time and have never been so cold in my life.