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Road Trippin' USA 2012

After all the excitement and planning I did some more calculations, based on the info I gathered and I came to the conclusion that it may be a bit optimistic to do this in 2012. I'm still doing this trip, because it is something I really want to do (bucket list type of thing) but it may not be very wise (financially) to attempt it next year. It's a bit too soon. So, unless I find me a sponsor, it's 2013. That's as certain as I can be (unless the world really ends October 21, 2011)

I have a year extra to save money and maybe some extra off-days for the big trip. The fact that I want to go for 3 months, which means 2 months off without pay while the mortgage goes on...
 
Mike_Philippens said:
After all the excitement and planning I did some more calculations, based on the info I gathered and I came to the conclusion that it may be a bit optimistic to do this in 2012. ...
Click to expand...

Means you should fly ovver in July, 2011 and ride with me to Utah. A mini version of your trip. Only one week on the road.

You'll have the free use of a Honda ST1100 - just buy a set of tires to use ($250) and the fuel it uses. Food and a few hotel rooms to split. I can get a lot of free hotel rooms through work and frequent stay programs You won't find a cheaper way to go.

Plus, a short week long trip would give you a feel for what a longer trip might be like in the States. Help you plan it better and you'd be more familiar with it.

Just an idea........
 
Earache said:
Means you should fly ovver in July, 2011 and ride with me to Utah. A mini version of your trip. Only one week on the road.

You'll have the free use of a Honda ST1100 - just buy a set of tires to use ($250) and the fuel it uses. Food and a few hotel rooms to split. I can get a lot of free hotel rooms through work and frequent stay programs You won't find a cheaper way to go.

Plus, a short week long trip would give you a feel for what a longer trip might be like in the States. Help you plan it better and you'd be more familiar with it.

Just an idea........
Click to expand...
Hahaha...great idea! Thanks for the (more than) generous offer. But...(there's always a but) I'm afraid that won't be possible. I used up all my vacation for the year. I'm going to Dakar in October on a charity run for Riders for Health on a Yamaha Tenere. That's going to take 3 weeks, driving all the way to the south of Spain, through Morocco and the Sahara desert.

In 2000, I did ride around in the US&A on a Harley (I know, I'm sorry) for three days. So I know a bit of what to expect. That's why I want to do this roadtrip so badly.

It still is a very tantalizing offer and I find myself thinking very hard about how I could pull it off...
 
Just keep it in mind then.
I'll most likely be heading west from here around mid-July and will return a week later.
 
Place to Stay in Denver

I only read the first few posts, so sorry if I missed something in the middle, but...

Mike, you are welcome to stay with me in Denver if you want.

Ian (303) 563-9903
 
I'm sorry to read that mike can't do this in 2012. But it might be usefull to continue this thread instead of mine in the welcome board

As i wrote before, my wife and me came over from may to july in 2012.
What's happend in the last weeks/months...

10 weeks of vacation was officially confirmed by our bosses. YES!

I decided to ship the bike with "In Time" because they have a lot of experience in shipping motorcycles around the world. Specially Olaf J. Kleinknecht was very very helpfull and gave me a lot of informations. A really good address for further projects (New Zealand?).

The route looks like this (Google Earth-File) at the moment. After the shipping-problem is solved, i will now have the time to take a detailed look on the route. I'm sure there will be some changes in the next weeks/months.

At the beginning i thought that we will start in New York on the east coast. Then, with Stefan Knopf, it should be Orlando. But after some E-Mails with Olaf J. Kleinknecht i found out that the shipping-prices aren't really different between east or westcoast. So the trip will now start and end in Los Angeles. Because it was already a wish of mine to relax the last days on the beach after thousands of miles thru the USA.

The flighttickets was booked yesterday. Nothing will stop us now! :D

Yesterday i also bought a new GS Adventure. Because of thinking about some extras for my GS i had the idea of buying a new Adventure instead (with all the extras onboard). It was a really good deal i couldn't resist.

A few weeks ago i met Holly at the FIM Rallye in Tulln (Austria). It was a great pleasure meeting and talk with her! I'm really looking forward to meet her again next year. @Holly: the austrian flag is already on the shopping list :)

At the moment i'm looking for a GPS tracking device. But most of them transfer the data on GSM. I don't know very much about the GSM phone coverage in the USA. Of course i'm sure it will be no problem in cities and villages. But what about the areas around? Does anyone of you uses a GPS live tracking device and could tell me more about that?

Ok, i think thats enough to read ... :)
 
Luckies said:
10 weeks of vacation was officially confirmed by our bosses. YES!

The flighttickets was booked yesterday. Nothing will stop us now! :D
Click to expand...

Woohoo, fabulous news! :clap:clap

Luckies said:
Yesterday i also bought a new GS Adventure. Because of thinking about some extras for my GS i had the idea of buying a new Adventure instead (with all the extras onboard). It was a really good deal i couldn't resist.
Click to expand...

Even better! :clap:clap:clap:clap

I'm looking forward to seeing you again, and my friends in Montreal are looking forward to hosting you there. I use a SPOT for tracking and I have the insurance to pay for the rescue if needed. (Helicopter rescues in the US cost a lot of $$$$, also make sure you have good medical insurance.) Sample pic--Vienna back to Stefan's:
final-SPOT-M.gif


I use a Garmin ZUMO 550 for navigation. It is also handy as a speedometer in the US since my bike only shows kilometers. Great for finding gas and hotels too. The only problem is that it doesn't have enough memory to download the entire US. So you either want to buy a more modern version, or a much larger memory card. (The lifetime update is worth it!)
 
Luckies said:
I'm sorry to read that mike can't do this in 2012. But it might be usefull to continue this thread instead of mine in the welcome board

As i wrote before, my wife and me came over from may to july in 2012.
Click to expand...
That's great! I'm sure you'll have the trip of a lifetime. Your route looks very similar to mine. I'll follow your adventures to see how you cope with the schedule. My schedule is just 2 weeks longer. Since I don't think I'll return to the US any time soon (on my own bike that is), I just want to take the time and have some built-on flexibility in the schedule. So there's no rush when I want to stay somewhere for a couple of days.

In a way it's a pitty that I can't make it next year, but that was very optimistic of me. As long as I keep the target in sight and take the time next year to save up, prepare for the trip of a lifetime, then the year will fly by!
 
hintzir09 said:
I only read the first few posts, so sorry if I missed something in the middle, but...
Mike, you are welcome to stay with me in Denver if you want.
Ian (303) 563-9903
Click to expand...
That's awfully kind of you! Just two things: I postponed the trip to 2013, and I seem to have a relative living in Denver who also likes to see me and invited me to stay. This is kind of exiting, because he is a relative in a straight line up the family tree but we didn't know that we had family in the Americas. It seems that somewhere in the late 1800's, one Philippens moved to Argentina with his family. When I looked on Facebook, there was a whole bunch of them in Argentina, and one in Denver. His parents are from Argentina. So he's like a long lost relative we didn't know we had.

But I might pop by for a coffee if you don't mind ;)
 
Your map shows one section between Ottawa and Buffalo going along what appears to be Hwy 401, more or less along the north shore of Lake Ontario. If you wanted to avoid the major highways, you might consider taking Hwy 416 north from 401 and then taking Hwy 60 through Algonquin park and then south towards Toronto but travelling west before you get there. This can avoid a lot of very heavy and surprisingly(or not) very often slow to stop and go traffic. My wife and I chose more or less that route returning from the US after the 2011 MOA rally, even though it probably took 2 or 3 hours longer. If you do end up passing through the Toronto area, you should be able to stay with us if it fits your timetable. We are about an hour northwest of Toronto and quite rural. Lots of fun planning a trip like this, and even more when you get to reap the rewards of your planning. Ride safe.
 
rmcclure said:
Your map shows one section between Ottawa and Buffalo going along what appears to be Hwy 401, more or less along the north shore of Lake Ontario. If you wanted to avoid the major highways, you might consider taking Hwy 416 north from 401 and then taking Hwy 60 through Algonquin park and then south towards Toronto but travelling west before you get there.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that tip! The reason behind showing the map was to get these kind of tips. I just kind of connected the dots on the map between places that I wanted to visit. And slowly but surely a very nice route emerges with all the help I've been getting. I'm not sure if I want to plan the whole route in advance to that level, because I might decide to take a detour somewhere. I don't know how it will turnout. But I'll collect all the hints and tips (also from other topics) so that I can make up a detailed route as I go.
If you do end up passing through the Toronto area, you should be able to stay with us if it fits your timetable. We are about an hour northwest of Toronto and quite rural. Lots of fun planning a trip like this, and even more when you get to reap the rewards of your planning. Ride safe.
Click to expand...
That's very kind of you. It is loads of fun working on the route like this. I discover more and more of America. Obviously the 3 months are not enough to see everything, but I'm sure the trip will be epic!
 
I use a Garmin ZUMO 550 for navigation. ..... The only problem is that it doesn't have enough memory to download the entire US. So you either want to buy a more modern version said:
Had this issue with my 550. I deleted all but a couple of the languages and items such as pics and I did get all of the US on it. I believe I was also able to install Canada. A quick search of the threads should give more info. I got this tip from the forums. Try the Zumo forums also. www.zumoforums.com
Click to expand...
 
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There's a stupid question i have after talking with friends about our trip.
What should i do on the motorcycle if i get stopped by the cops (speeding or whatever)?
Normally i turn off the engine, open the helmet and take my wallet.

Is there any special behavior i should know?
 
Hahaha..

I just dont want to do something wrong if there's something i should know. ;)
As i've wrote, it's a stupid question.
 
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In the last days i worked out the route on "Microsoft Streets & Trips". You can find it here: http://www.baujahr76.at/gallery/index.php/USA-2012/Route
I'm sure there will be some changes after i get the printed maps for the US (because of scenic roads).

In the gallery you will find 41 days of riding. But there will be more, because these tracks are not included:
Miami - Key West (southest point) - Miami
one day in the area of the Smoky Mountains
the way from Washington DC to Newburgh (because I've absolute no idea how to do this)
one day in the Colorado mountains
one day in San Francisco

So I think there will be 45 days of riding (minimum).
From 70 days we're in the US i count 10 days for the first and last days.
60 days for the trip .. 15 days left for relaxing .. sounds hard
 
That looks like a really great trip, Dave. One thing to keep in mind is the weather. I basically navigate by weather channel. I check the weather reports the night before, then plan a route for the next day that will miss the worst of it. Makes for some interesting routes.

Unless you are meeting someone in Detroit, I would strongly recommend using the Sarnia/Port Huron crossing instead. We'll discuss it when you get here. I think it is funny that you are going to Chicago after crossing Lake Michigan! I always take that ferry specifically to avoid Chicago.
Holly
 
Luckies said:
In the last days i worked out the route on "Microsoft Streets & Trips". You can find it here: http://www.baujahr76.at/gallery/index.php/USA-2012/Route
I'm sure there will be some changes after i get the printed maps for the US (because of scenic roads).

So I think there will be 45 days of riding (minimum).
From 70 days we're in the US i count 10 days for the first and last days.
60 days for the trip .. 15 days left for relaxing .. sounds hard
Click to expand...

Hi Luckies,

I looked at your itinerary and I'm afraid you've picked the most boring possible route through Ontario. Mile after mile of the busiest highway in Canada, 50% of the traffic is heavy trucks. I've done up a couple of quick Streets and Trips maps that would only be a few hours more riding time, but would be a much nicer ride.

In any event, you'll be passing within a few miles of my house, so if you'd like to meet up for a visit, you're very welcome.

PM me if you like and I can send the maps, and can provide ideas for your trip.
 
Holly, you're right. I haven't thought about the weather. But i'm not sure if i should because we don't have a choice. There must be really bad weather conditions to wait one day. Otherwise we will use the interstate (if possible or drive fast *g) to get through and leave it behind. Very sad that time is "everything" on this trip.

In fact that i don't know whats in Detroid and Chicago (just have to read the traveller guide for USA) I thought it would be neccessary to visit them. Because they are big cities and i may would miss something if wouldn't get there. Hmm...

It's quite crazy because everything looks so "near" on the map .. I would like to visit Harley Davidson in Milwaukee. Don't know if I'm right, but i thought a motorcyclist has to get there if he's "near" to it.

Isn't Indianapolis the city of racing?? That's why i thougt that we have to get there. I really have to read the traveller guide...

As you can see .. this part of the trip isn't quite easy to plan (for me). The way around Lake Michigan (my first thought) would take too long.


@Dave
I'm very happy for any advise I can get!! I'm still waiting for an answer of "Rand McNally" about which of their maps has scenic roads included.
 
Thank you very much Dave! I've updated the route and will drive as you told me. ;)

There some other changes I've done.
Holly, how much time do we need for the Niagara Falls? At the moment I've planned from Toronto -> Niagara Falls -> Flint. From there i'll use the land route to get to Milwaukee because the ferry is too expensive (around $ 250 for 1 bike & 2 people). There should be time for a short stop at Hard Rock Cafe in Chicago.

Toronto -> Flint, Flint -> Milwaukee

But I'm not sure if it would be wiser to stay in Chicago and made a trip to Milwaukee at the next day. Hmm...

However ... I've canceled Indianapolis for the old Route 66. I hope this is a better deal then visiting another big city. And I've won one day. Milwaukee -> St.Louis

I've also added Leesburg to Newbourgh (Washington DC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City). At the moment I'm thinking of arriving Washington DC in the morning and stay there for walking and sightseeing. Leaving on the next day to get to the Hard Rock Cafe in Philadelphia and Baltimore before we arrive in New York City. There we would stay another night. A friend of mine said that he would take a picture of the bike infront of the Rockefeller Building if he would be there with his bike. Sounds like a nice idea.
Leesburg -> Newbourgh
 
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