Retirement Ride

In September I should have 20 days free for a motorcycle trip as I retire from the Army. I will be using a 2006 K1200GT.

I live in Northern Virginia and was generally planning a route from here through Michigian, across Wisc., Minn., etc., to the Wash., then down to San Diego, CA and back through Nev., Colo, Kansas, etc. to home.

Any ideas or suggestions? I am mostly planning to turn left when I feel like turning left and turning right when that suits so I am open to ideas.

Thanks for your time.

Steve

JWILLIS125911 said:

Any ideas or suggestions?

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Fresh tires and fresh oil at the start wouldn't hurt.

Boy that's a broad question. What kind of riding do you like? What kind of things do you like to do on the road?

If I were riding from WA to San Diego, I'd avoid I-5. I'd check out the Olympic Peninsula, ride the Oregon coast, and either 1 or 101 in California. Also a nice north-south road in CA is Highway 25 if you don't want to see Big Sur and Hearst Castle.

Nevada, US 50 can't be beat if you want to see how fast your bike can go, but 6 is nice too. Utah is gorgeous. Highway 12, Arches NP, loads more. Colorado, geez, where to start? My current favorite Colorado road is 141 between Naturita and Grand Junction. Breathtaking. Here's a picture.

Thanks to both of you.

For the trip as a hole, I am thinking of combining some long rides in with some purely scenic rides as the mood fits. Thank you Jerry for the routes - they were what I was seeking.

Steve

I don't know what's better: The 20 day trip or that new 1200GT. Got to finally sit on one this week. That bike is awesome !!

Anyhow here are a few favorite roads and spots from the last two summers not in any order and you may need to ride in reverse direction depending where you're coming from.

Hwy 95 from Blanding to Hanksville, UT and have gas on board.

Lassen National Forrest north of Truckee and west of Susanville in California. It's like another planet in there.

Route 3 from Enterprise, OR to Lewiston. Ride the "Rattle Snake". A warm up to riding Lolo Pass.

Lewiston, ID to Missoula on Route 12 "The Lolo Pass" It just doesn't get much better anywhere.

Glacier for sure. Everyone should get to be there at least once in a lifetime.

I had to skip Beartooth south of Red Lodge, WY last summer because it got wiped out last spring due to landslides, but it's now repaired. Top ten road for sure.

Hwy 550 from Durango to Ridgeway. The "Million Dollar Highway" and worth every penny.

287 from West Yellowstone north to I-90. Beautiful road and no traffic.

There's tons more west of the rockies.

Good luck and bring us back some photos.

A friend of mine did a State Capitol Tour. He hit the 49 continental states in 20 days. it was a little quick and not a whole lot of sight seeing, but he did have some fun. Plus as he said, it gave him a destination in every state and it was interesting to see the differences in the Capitol buildings and cities.