[geoffbaker]

Hi All,

I'm starting to work on my trip plans for this July (yes, I'm hoping to head out in three weeks and I still don't have an operational diesel engine yet... but that will be finished by Tue or Wed this week...)

I'm planning 2200 miles, eight or nine days.

Tucson > Holbrook AZ Rte 88/60
Holbrook AZ > Moab UT  Rtes 77/191, (348 miles) (Monument Valley)
Moab UT > Price UT Rte 191
Price UT > Jackon WY (Teton Park) Rte 191 (366 miles)
Jackson WY to West Yellowstone WY Rtes 191/297 (Yellowstone Park)
West Yellowstone to Stevensville MT Rtes 287/41/278/43/93
Stevensville MT > Paradise MT > Republic WA Rtes 93/200/2/20
Republic WA > Friday Harbor WA Rte 20

Suggestions, tips, ideas welcome!

If I'm passing by any Bullet owners... please join in!

[calman28556]

Good fortune on your trip and pack only what's necessary.

I did a similar trip (2,227 miles) in May on my Virago only it was from Coastal NC to the Smokies then down through AL to MS over to FL and up through Coastal GA and SC to home.  Did it in 7 days and averaged 37 MPG.when gas was a CHEAP $3.69.   Used the hell out of the Fed Rec Lands Pass for Seniors - saved minimum of $40.00 and camped where there was security every night and hot , running, shower water. 

Found that some of the stuff I packed was not necessary.  Needed only one change of clothes (not two).  (Poly drip-dry is good! - should have listened to my kayaking roots!)  Should have left the 7 lbs of canned goods on the shelf at home and bought what I needed at the store when I stopped to get main course for evening meal.

Second best thing I packed was a zip-lock bag full of tea bags, coffee bags, instant grits and oatmeal, S&P, and small handiwipe packets.  Best thing I packed was my Jet-Boil cooking system - compact and fast (hot, boiling water under one minute).  And don't forget to carry plenty of liquids - I use a 70 ounce Camelback water pack for long rides.

Take your camera and use it.  I learned the hard way that if  I missed a "photo op" I'd regret not turning around and going back to get it.

One of the better ideas I had for the trip was to scour the Sunday newspaper for coupons.  I was able to get lots of 2 for 1 burger or meal deals from places like McD, BK, Sonic, etc.  I'd use them for lunch and would go on down the road and find a nice, shady place to enjoy.

And last but not least ALWAYS PACK YOUR RAIN GEAR ON TOP! You can drown getting your rain gear out of a bag - I know!!!

Good luck and have fun on your adventure.



 

[birdmove]

    Your destination is Friday Harbor on San Juan Island? Beautiful spot. Next week is out 30th wedding anniversury and my wife and I are going to spend 3-4 days on Orcas Island.

    jon

[geoffbaker]

    Your destination is Friday Harbor on San Juan Island? Beautiful spot. Next week is out 30th wedding anniversury and my wife and I are going to spend 3-4 days on Orcas Island.

    jon

Congrats! Orcas is beautiful.. where are you staying?

My parents live on San Juan Island. The whole purpose of the ride is to spend three weeks building them a new deck... then it's homeward bound again, perhaps through CA.

Rain gear on top! Now there's an idea that makes sense! Think I'll need more than one change of clothes though... my plan is to camp it the whole trip... don't think they'll want to see a nekkid man drying his clothes on his campfire every night...

[birdmove]

   We're driving our Toyota Tacoma from our place in Puyallup to Anacortes. In the back we'll load my wife's Honda Metro scooter, and my Yamaha XT225 dual sport. We'll park the truck at a parking area at the Anacortes ferry dock, unload the bikes, and cut to the front of the line. Thats a huge benefit for motorcycle/scooter riders.They want you to cut to the front of the line and want to load and unload you first. We're staying at the Orcas Hotel about 50 yards from the ferry dock.For tooling around the island the Metro scooter is fast enough, and gets 115 mpg. The XT, when ridden sedateley, gets like 92-106 mpg. I would have liked to take my Bullet, but theres really not enough room to haul both, and the XT is lighter,smaller,and easy to load/unload. In the load days we would have ridden there two up, but now that my wife has had a taste of riding her own machine, she has no interest on riding on the back anymore. And, for me, its a blast to have someone always available to ride with--her. Since we don't really do two up riding anymore, that means I don't need a really big bike, so I'm rediscovering how much fun smaller motorcycles can be.And fuel efficient.
    So now, I have my 2007 Bullet Classic, my 2007 XT225, and my 2005 KLR650. The KLR can do freeway easily at 60-75 mph if I need to.
    Just last night I replaced the front tire on the KLR. I had done the rear about a month ago. I did it the old fashioned way-on the floor of my garage with tire irons,talcum powder and Windex.No lift,no air compressor. At 54 years old I can still do it.

    Jon

[jest2dogs]

Jon,

Ain't wrenchin' fun. My wife said to me the other day that I looked just as happy wrenchin' as ridin'. I think she's right.

About that sitting on the ground and changing out the tire....

...now do it at 10 PM on a chilly October night in the dark next to HWY 101, 35 miles from home. (Ask me how I know this... :O)  Oh, but I was much younger then, hmmm.

Seems Tacoma's and Bullets go together. Same config in my driveway, sans KLR (scooter, Bullet, Tacoma ...and a Forester). 

-Jesse

[geoffbaker]

...now do it at 10 PM on a chilly October night in the dark next to HWY 101, 35 miles from home. (Ask me how I know this... :O)  Oh, but I was much younger then, hmmm.
-Jesse

My worst was changing a car tire on the Interstate in Maine.
On February 1.
Coldest day of the year.
-20 degrees, with a windchill that took it down to about -70.
Then a big rig would fly past, and double that.

Anyway - sad announcement - I've cancelled the Tucson to Friday Harbor trip this year. The diesel conversion was running way behind schedule, and I just don't have enough time to break her in now, and still get up there...

So.... NEXT YEAR...

[birdmove]

    We had a great time on Orcas Island. We also took a day trip over to Lopez Island.The weather was flat gorgeous. I could have stayed up there for the rest of my days with ni problem.

    Jon

[calman28556]

Sorry you're not going to make your trip this year.  But, look at the bright side of things; just got that much more time for planning and fine tuning your route and stops. And, you'll probably end up with more friends from the RE Forums thus the possibility of more buddies to share portions of your trail.

Good luck with your conversion.

[geoffbaker]

Thanks, calman.

Actually, the conversion is complete... I got the bike started on Tuesday. There's just not enough time to break the engine in over the next five days.... so next year for sure!!