Atlantic-Pacific-Atlantic Ride on a 5th Gen

Discussion in 'Trips & Events' started by V4toTour, Aug 30, 2015.

  1. V4toTour

    V4toTour New Member

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    Back on May 20th, with a fresh set of tires, spare stator (never needed it) tool kit, camping gear etc.. I head south out of Front Royal on skyline drive. Made it to Blue Ridge parkway and kept going

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    Camped first night on blue ridgeparkway.

    View from the parkway (somewhere in NC I think):
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    Next day, finished the parkway and head over to deal's gap. AKA, the dragon. Highly overrated road, whole ride was "meh". Go for the circus if anything.

    a dragon (the dragon?):

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    From there, kept heading west to Texarkana. Was planning on riding that well known twisted ranch road ride in the middle of Texas, but historic rains forced my hand. Made it across texas in one day dodging storms, stopped at Lake Sumner New Mexico and set up camp.

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    Somewhere in NM:
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    Starting on the east side of Santa Fe, road up and around through the national forests. Outside Los alamos
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    Coming down south, some ruins. (forgot the name) whole area was awesome:
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    From there, headed west towards AZ. Private garage east of sedona:
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    Sedona:
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    Headed north to the grand canyon. Caught a pic of a rain storm way off in the distance:
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    Headed north on 89 towards the lake powell area. Somewhere on 89. you need to ride this stretch of highway at somepoint, bucket list.
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    Made it to Utah, and camped right outside the gate to Zion national park. Next morning, road west through Zion. If I'm out that way again, will def go to bryce canyon.

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    Leaving Zion, headed southwest towards SoCal. View from Angeles Crest highway:
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    From there, headed to my favorite stretch of sport bike road in the entire country. The run up the sierra-nevada on CA-190 between Springville and quaking aspen campground. Having ridden "tail of the dragon" days earlier, couldn't help compare the two. Conclusion, dragon can't hold a candle to this twisty masterpiece.

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    From there, headed up to the bay area and visited some folks for a few days. Then head north. First stopped at skaggs springs, but to my dismay CalTrans had pooped tar snakes all over it. Kept riding north on the 101 to the much loved CA36, that marked my turn back east.

    Camped just west of Lassen national park, then road through the next morning.

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    By this time my rear tire was getting down on tread, so I stopped in a Honda dealer in Reno and got a new tire fitted for the return trip.

    Headed east towards salt lake.

    Then set a course for Moab and visited Arches, next time will be canyonlands.
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    From there headed east across empty back country roads into Colorado. Just over the state line.
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    Stopped in Ouray. Next morning road the san juan skyway loop clockwise. as for scenery, this was probably the highlight of the trip:

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    Once back around towards ouray, headed towards Colorado Springs.

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    Next day started the worst most awful motorcycle ride possible in the contiguous US. Heading east across the empty void of KS. From there it was back through MS, IL, KY.. etc..

    alternating hotels and camping will save you some $$$. Most national park camp sites are around 13 bucks. The airhawk and helibars are worth their weight in gold.
     
  2. Jeff_Barrett

    Jeff_Barrett Member

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    Epic!! Thanks for sharing man ... can't wait to do something like that myself one day.
     
  3. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

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    Awesome trip and pix. I am envious. You did not mention when you returned. How long of a trip was it? How old are you? Any issues that were a concern for a trip of that length?

    I am really hoping I can swing a trip down the west coast to Mexico, across the southern states to Key West, up the Atlantic coast to Canada's Maritimes, then back across Canada to home in BC. Would kinda like and idea if I am having a mental issue or if this is something I could handle.
     
  4. V4toTour

    V4toTour New Member

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    Due to time constraints, I was back in early june. I think the whole thing came in right around 2 weeks. In hindsight, a month would have been preferable. I don't recall the exact mileage, but I recall doing an oil change right when I got back (was new when I left) so was right around 8,000. 30yo at the time, although there's joints that feel much older.

    I carried a subscription based GPS transponder incase I needed to get a message out in the more remote areas. as for potential bike issues, although I carried enough stuff to rip apart any Honda (tool roll, air compressor, tire patch kit etc..), I never needed any of it. The VFR would have kept going all the way to russia if the earth was setup that way. although there was alot of hours in the saddle, there were no 1,000 mile days.

    If you can comfortably do a 500+ mile day trip, I think your plan is feasible. The worst part riding wise, was the wicked cross winds I encountered crossing Texas, and somewhat in KS. There was a few hundred mile stretch where I was just getting manhandled by the winds. You'll fatigue very quickly
     
  5. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

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    Well. I have done a couple 1000 mile days. I did a 5 week 8000 mile ride in 2012 and a 3 week 5000 mile ride in 2014. But that is a far cry from what I have in mind. Don't really know what is in store for me as far as the mechanics go on the bike cause it has over 192,500 km on it now. That's just shy of 120,000 miles. For now, if I do this, I think I will probably be on the road for 3 months or so. I have to take it a little easier that you young bucks. I turned 60 a month ago. I won't have to worry about holding tight to the fuel tank with my knees cause at my age, arthritis will make that happen anyways. Will take in the sights....some of them...while I am on the road.

    Here's hoping!
     
  6. NormK

    NormK New Member

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    Great pics and story, thanks for sharing it with us
     
  7. revguy

    revguy New Member

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    Oh yes I almost forgot............... we all like to ride ! there should be more people putting stuff like this on here !
    Im always on here looking for help with mods or service, but it is sure is nice to see stuff like this.
    Thank you
     
  8. KentuckyThunder

    KentuckyThunder New Member

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    Awesome! THAT'S how it's done. Great pics, thanks for sharing.
     
  9. V4toTour

    V4toTour New Member

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    As for the sport touring. The VFRs still corner just fine loaded down with gear.

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  10. 2wheelrush

    2wheelrush New Member

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    Great pics and story. That must of been fun. Nice side bags. Same ones on my 4th gen.
     
  11. GigemVFR

    GigemVFR New Member

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    So I'm curious how you got this pic. Were you riding alone or with someone who took it? Set up camera on timer and tripod?

    Great pics, by the way. That had to be a blast!
     
  12. V4toTour

    V4toTour New Member

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    I take it you've never ridden out to "the gap". lol, don't worry. you're only missing out on risking a lane crossing wreck from a squid or cruiser face. It's the east coast's moto s*%^ show. attracts flatlanders from all over the eastern seaboard. there's professional photogs on numerous corners. kinda like mulholland drive out in cali but dialed up to 11.

    check out "killboy failure dragon fest" over at advrider. you'll get the idea.
    http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/killboy-failure-dragon-fest.454662/
     
  13. DaHose

    DaHose New Member

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    Here in Napa, we have Lake Berryessa road and the mountain roads all the way around to Lake county. I am PLENTY happy with the roads I have available to ride. Everything I read tends to say that you go to Deal's Gap just to say you did it, because it really doesn't expectations.

    Jose
     
  14. V4toTour

    V4toTour New Member

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    Yeah, in Cali you don't need to name the roads after animals. Over here for some reason there's now a "Back of the Dragon", "The Snake" :rolleyes:
    Like I said in the first post, CA-190 is my favorite stretch of twisty road. All the times I visited there was practically no one up there. the dragon was just, ok.

    Tail of the dragon is all about the atmosphere and circus. The road itself is a twisty road for those 11 miles or whatever. The thing is, that area of appalachia is littered with twisty mountain passes. VA-16, US Route 58, Cherohala skyway etc.. There's nothing special about "the gap". I'm sure at one time many years ago before the crowds, cops, and 35mph speed limit it would have been a very fun ride. But it's not just bikers, there's car clubs that come from all over to meet there. and that's crazy. there's folks driving down from new england just to go to deal's gap. The local tourism board sure worked their magic, at this point it's just grown out of their hands into some sort of mystical highway.

    In a way though, that's good. It keeps the other mountain passes clear for the most part.
     
  15. RVFR

    RVFR Member

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    Just wow, I applaud you, excellent photography. love this sorta stuff, thanks for sharing, this gets the dreamer in me re thinking. ;) I am curious though, how'd the MPGs fair?
     
  16. V4toTour

    V4toTour New Member

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    Notice how all the cool stuff is on your side of the country. No need to ride across Kansas.

    MPG varied. for the most part, Normal cruising was around 40 as usual. The slower roads through the forests around santa fe for example I saw a return of 50. However fighting wind in TX, I saw a drop to the low 30's.
     
  17. GigemVFR

    GigemVFR New Member

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    Ah, did not realize that was taken at the dragon. And no, I have never been there (Dammit!!) but would love to. That is, unless watching many videos on youtube counts. lol. I know of these photographers you mention. Have the same thing at the Three Sisters you missed in Tx due to rain. Just did not realize where that was taken.
     
  18. V4toTour

    V4toTour New Member

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    yeah, whatever river it is that follows part of that route was under a flood advisory : /
    Maybe next time.

    as for wanting to visit the gap... I think this video explains all you need to know about what oncoming riders you might see

    [video=youtube;UEC-AanEl5Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEC-AanEl5Q[/video]
     
  19. RVFR

    RVFR Member

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    ^ yea SMH. crazy.. It's pretty nice out here as far as roads go, lots to pick from, but there's so many. here and there. Couple more questions, did you happen to map your route on google? Be interesting to see where your adventure took you. all though you did do a great job explaining the high lights, which brings me to another question, what is your take on 36? didn't see any photos so you must of had to good a time to had not stopped, I know that sorta thing happens to me, so back to for a photo session. Again, just EPIC!
     
  20. V4toTour

    V4toTour New Member

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    I might try to put together the route on google maps.. but that's gonna take a while though.

    CA-36 is an awesome destination road. I'd ridden it before this trip a few years before. It's not the "throw non stop rapid fire twisties in your face" like CA-190 for example. It's more like interval training, lol. There's nice sections of sweepers and cruising between the mountain passes. There's tons of variety, you start out through some redwood forests on the west end. You'll start winding you're way through some farm land. There's a couple mountiain passes, including one sketchy section where the center line suddenly vanishes and you're riding down 15 mph switchbacks with logging trucks heading the other way. The eastern portion on the desert end near red bluff is something else. The way the road is graded with the rolling landscape, it feels like riding a roller coaster. You'll be grinning ear to ear and giggling like a kid.

    For a complete ride experience, it's pretty hard to beat CA-36. One of my favorite routes, up there with the cascades to high desert run out in OR over to 218.

    No photos this trip, but I still have this from my previous ride. This is facing west right outside red bluff.

    [​IMG]
     
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