Advice for Eastern Boys heading West

1) have camped in both parks, and got my sites before noon the day i wanted to stay. of course, i have also had to camp outside the park due to "all full". if your dates are definite, make reservations.

2)Beartooth is a MUCH better ride going form Red Lodge into YNP than coming out of the park. Best run is to take Beartooth in, and Chief Joseph out.

3) Avoid the Black Hills during Sturgis week, unless you really enjoy watching circus events.

1. Start early, stop early
2. Gas early and often.
3. Carry water, drink water, stay hydrated
4. Don't think your cell phone will work even though it might sometimes.
5. If you do want to camp in the National Parks - pick the days - get reservations.
6. National Forest (US Forest Service) campgrounds are good places - but are often primitive - water and toilets sometimes about it. They are my favorites.
7. Carry at least 2 credit cards, some cash, and some reserve cash.
8. Have roadside assistance coverage.
9. Start the trip with NEW tires, even if the ones you have to take off have some life left. Tires on the road are $$$$. (Note: I gave away a take off tire last week to a guy who was 600 miles from home with cord showing all the way around the tire - and tried to give away the same take off a week earlier to a guy that managed to find a new tire instead - trying to get 650 miles back home.)

i have found good success (both price and availablity) using Cycle Gear stores for puchasing and mounting tires while on teh road- if the road happens to be somewhat near one of their stores. website will list both locations and prices- their internet pricing is identical to storefront pricing, and mounting is usually around $20/wheel; if you hand them a wheel with no bike attached (easy thing to do with basic BMW toolkit and c-stand supplied).
but Paul is right; generally speaing, start with new sneakers before you leave.

Some other thoughts:

1) our tires took us 11,000 miles (loaded and two up) last summer so put on new tread and make natural wear one less thing to worry about.

2) $$$$: Don't put your wallet in a back pocket when walking about and keep your very important papers in a safe, on body place. separate two credit cards. photocopy each just in case of loss/stolen so that you can contact the bank. don't take cards with high limits (ie a $20,000 dollar card but it's good to have access if needed .... hope that doesn't happen for you though). A $5,000 limit is what we take along on each card and use one for daily purchases (American Express gave us lots of Air Miles and it kept a running account of expenses, items and locations. Minimal cash but tuck some away. don't forget enough change for bridges and roadways as needed (some say having one bike do the paying is quite efficient when the booth has a real person taking the coin).

3) how's medical coverage? We keep Blue Cross handy. That and a good credit card are particularly handy if 'it all goes wrong'. Our Blue Cross even covers bike recovery and accommodations (if able to escape the need for a hospital stay).

4) AAA has recreational vehicle coverage. Good to have plus all those maps and books. Good deal. (If you have room for a couple of ratchet straps I would take them because all towing companies are not created equal and you might not like the way some try and tie a bike down. Straps good to have if you are on board any ferries.)

5) cut off middle fingers if they tend to spontaneously salute. (Mary threatened to relieve mine of their careless duties if I ever did it again... so I pass on her wisdom).

6) brake pads in good shape?

7) photocopy driver's license, insurance papers, registration etc and keep in a safe place that won't be tampered with.

-Bob

Another option for camping in NP's is KOA I have a KOA card get a discount and have had good luck close to NP's especially Glacier there is a campground both just East and West of the park during the week I can stay at one of the Kabins quite reasonable.

3. Our trip out west (as of right now) will be from Aug 1 - 16. So, I guess we will be hitting Sturgis traffic. Are they as invasive as I have heard? Any suggestions on how to avoid them?

Click to expand...

The problem is just excessive traffic, Imagine rush hour traffic (mostly but not all bikes) that lasts most of the day. I-90 in Sturgis has Speed limit of 75 but reduced to 55 during rally (actual speed is usually 40-45 in interstate through Sturgis and about 5-10 miles either way. (outside of Sturgis traffic is heavy but usually runs close to speed limit)

The rally is 03-09 of August this year. Plan on camping as you will not find a vacant motel during rally. You should at least experience it once, during rally. (plan on at least one day just to see Main Street bikes, museum and vendors, also much bike related stuff has moved to Spearfish and Rapid City- were talking over 1/2 mil. people in a town of 5500) As to doing any touring in Black Hills you could avoid about 90% of traffic by doing the Hills on return trip, probably get motel then too. (I would suggest waiting for Spearfish Canyon, Bear Butte, Custer State Park, Iron Mtn Hwy, and the Mts Rushmore-Collidge<highest driveable point in SD- Haney PK<hightest point in SD- Crazy Horse)

The best map of the Hills is the BHNF map sold by the Forrest Service

Also during rally Sturgis is very expensive on essential items like food (this includes grocery stores) and gas. (it is a lot cheaper to eat in Rapid- 25mi, Spearfish-16mi or Deadwood/Lead-11mi

Previous advice is spot on. I'd just emphasize the advice on fueling frequently. If you are off the beaten track, the distance between gas stations can be surprisingly long. It looks close on the map, but that little town may be 70 miles away. And the gas station may not be open. I fuel up frequently, especially if I'm not familiar with the terrain ahead.

Have a great trip.

Gas!!

You will have the time of your life. I would also chime in on the scarcity of gas stations in eastern Montana. A buddy and I did Yellowstone, Beartooth Pass and then on to Glacier Park last summer. We were travelling from Red Lodge to Great Falls on the back roads on a Sunday. I was OK as I have an RT with lots of range. He was on a Harley Ultra Glide Classic and he almost ran out of gas twice on that part of the trip.

Two things: 1) As mentioned in an earlier post, just because there is a dot on the map doesn't make it a town with a gas station; it could be a half dozen houses and nothing more. 2) On Sunday, quite a few of the gas stations in those very small towns were closed.

Kurt

This might be something to look into. I've seen entries from members of other forums that have used this service that speak highly of it and I believe MOA members get a discount.

http://www.medjetassist.com/

Camped in Yellowstone and got the last sight at Tower falls at 6pm, real lucky that day. Rode out at 6am and came into a herd of 400 buffalo crossing the road out of Yellowstone. Rode Beartooth pass with no one else on the road and it was the best day of my life. Went onto Glacier NP arrived at KOA west Glacier 1/4 mile from the entrance at 5:30 (had a reso) Great place KOA half moon flat west glacier and they cooked a nice dinner for us at their little kitchen and spent the night. Spent the next day riding the going to the sun highway, not as fun as Beartooth but worth it and then onto Rt 2 for three days travel to the National in Wisconsin. Hope this helps. Both camp grounds had fire wood near by for purchase and stores for food and places to get fuel etc. This was in mid-July the key was early starts for me with no traffic.

Brett Endress
Altoona PA

Don't miss Looking Glass road in Glacier. Don't fall off either; most of it doesn't have guardrails.

Advice and questions

Regarding gas stations, use maps.yahoo.com and enter the town/address you plan to be around and type "gas" in the "Find a business on the map" search box to get a list of all gas stations in that area. Most major gas station chains also have web sites and provide a list of stations (including times and available conveniences) near an address. You can also find restaurants and other businesses this way.

No one mentioned it here, but I strongly recommend you carry a GPS. If you don't have one for your bike, carry one if you have a mobile GPS for your car. Or borrow one for the trip. These are immensely helpful -- great time saving devices when venturing into new territory.

My experience driving/riding in northern CA, Oregon, Idaho, and Washington is that these internet listings and GPS listings of gas stations are fairly accurate. You are also likely to find more gas stations that didn't make it into these databases.

My question.

I'm planning a ride from Seattle to Minneapolis in the last week June (and return the first week of July with a 5 day break between the two trips). This is the July 4th week/weekend. Would it be easy to ride to a motel on a Friday/Saturday in Montana and North Dakota (in small/mid sized towns like Bozeman, Billings, Bismarck, Fargo) and expect to find a vacancy? I hate to have to make a reservation and lose flexibility. I'm assuming weekdays is easier to find a vacancy.

Medjet Assist and a couple of other things

You have to pay the $25.00 extra for motorcycles with MedJet Assist or you won't be covered for a motorcycle accident.
It will be windier in the west than anywhere in the east except Mount Washington. Western people are a little like native Southerners, time moves a little slower. Relax, move at their speed, it's their state. People who live out here in flyover country hate that phrase, I wouldn't recommend it.
Temperature Shifts. In 2002 I was riding across eastern Montana and it was 107, next day the low in Cut Bank Montana, was 37. 70 degree swing in 12 hours. Mileages are big. It is over 800 miles across the top of Montana. That's like going from the East Coast to Illinois.
On your first trip you will know why it is called Big Sky Country.
Also don't freak when you see lower octane at higher elevations. You don't need as high at the higher altitudes.
Mostly just relax and enjoy. I did the first time I rode to New York City.