[Tukemeister]

I am researching my combined retirement and birthday. For when I am 66 to do the full Route 66.
There is a company called Orange and Black who do self guided tours.
I was expecting that Harleys would be the only weapon of choice, however pleasantly surprised that the Interceptor or Continental is included in there list of available of bikes.
https://www.orange-and-black.co.uk/destinations/usa-motorcycle-tours-and-rentals/usa-motorcycle-rentals/

[Bilgemaster]

It may not be writ in stone, but from their website it looks like those Enfields are available from their West Coast centers only for some reason. So, are you planning on riding 66 from Los Angeles (Santa Monica Pier) to Chicago, moving West to East? You're coming from the UK, right?

If you're considering "The Mother Road", Route 66, which at its eastern end will leave you in Chicago--in about the middle of the country--you might also find its even older granddaddy "The Lincoln Highway" (the actual first  transcontinental road) of interest too. For a nice little rundown, including a comparison of it to 66, see: http://lincolnhighway.jameslin.name/.

The north-south Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway are also renowned as a sort of "Bucket List" road for motorcycle touring, especially the latter, and not much of a jump to reach from the eastern stretches of the old Lincoln Highway (basically designated as U.S. Route 30 thereabouts nowadays). More info on them starts here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Ridge_Parkway.

And while you pore over those maps, here's the original version of that song: https://youtu.be/dCYApJtsyd0

[ideola]

I 100% second The Lincoln Highway, it is fantastic, under-rated for sure.

No matter which route you choose, if you end up or start out in Chicago, I am a short drive from either route and you would be welcomed to visit / overnight.

[Dutch Rider]

I am researching my combined retirement and birthday. For when I am 66 to do the full Route 66.
There is a company called Orange and Black who do self guided tours.
I was expecting that Harleys would be the only weapon of choice, however pleasantly surprised that the Interceptor or Continental is included in there list of available of bikes.
https://www.orange-and-black.co.uk/destinations/usa-motorcycle-tours-and-rentals/usa-motorcycle-rentals/

Drove Route 66 once complete, and several other occasions parts of it.
Next year planning to drive it with my son.
I always prefer a rental car.

1- Much less expensive compared to a bike.
2- Long stretches of Route 66 are just plain boring, so better in a car with companion and radio...
3- In summer, most parts of Southern Route 66 are very, very hot, it's dessert, remember, so an A/C equiped car is great!
4- We always buy lot's of clothing at several USA outlets, so a trunk is handy..
5- Almost the only bikers along Route 66 are tourists, wonder why...??

And last but not least, do your homework, research every aspect of Route 66, otherwise you may be dissapointed in what you will (not) see...

Happy Traveling, RoadWarrior!!

[Bilgemaster]

Another aspect to consider is the cost of motorcycle rental over time. Looking at those published tariffs of about an average of £150 per day, depending on the bike, you'd be looking at just shy of £5,000 (about $6,900) for a full month's hire, even before those inevitable "extras". For nearly a thousand bucks less one could fly into Dulles International near Washington, take a taxi to Motorcycles of Dulles nearby, and ride away today on a new Int650 or GT650. See: https://www.motorcyclesofdulles.com/search/inventory/availability/In%20Stock/sort/discount/brand/Royal%20Enfield. Then you could meander just as long as you like without feeling like you're constantly "on the meter" and just sell the ride when you leave. Or hell, even if you just left it at the airport departures gate idling with the keys in the ignition and a note on the seat reading "Free Bike" when you flew home, you might still be ahead of the game. It all depends on how long you might wanna ramble.

The folks at Motorcycles of Dulles are very VERY nice, so I'm sure they could work out something timely and suitable and all prepped and ready to roll for an international visitor with time for roaming on their hands. As it happens, that Skyline Drive I'd mentioned, with its 35 mph speed limit, leading into the Blue Ridge Parkway at 45 mph throughout, would be perfect for breaking in a new bike, and its entrance at Front Royal is less than an hour's easy dawdle from Motorcycles of Dulles.

[NVDucati]

Another aspect to consider is the cost of motorcycle rental over time. Looking at those published tariffs of about an average of £150 per day, depending on the bike, you'd be looking at just shy of £5,000 (about $6,900) for a full month's hire, even before those inevitable "extras". For nearly a thousand bucks less one could fly into Dulles International near Washington, take a taxi to Motorcycles of Dulles nearby, and ride away today on a new Int650 or GT650. See: https://www.motorcyclesofdulles.com/search/inventory/availability/In%20Stock/sort/discount/brand/Royal%20Enfield. Then you could travel about as long as you like without feeling like you're constantly "on the meter" and just sell the ride when you leave. Or hell, even if you just left it at the airport departures gate idling and with the keys in the ignition and a note on the seat reading "Free Bike" when you headed home, you might still be ahead of the game. It all depends on how long you might wanna ramble.

The folks at Motorcycles of Dulles are very VERY nice, so I'm sure they could work out something timely and suitable for an international visitor with time for roaming on their hands.

You make a strong point. There are a few details to be dealt with, of course, and a US pen-pal could be handy to streamline your plan but worth considering, for sure.
When I was a kid there was a bike shop in London that sold old beater motorcycles for low prices and if you returned it they would give you half the price back. The name of the shop escapes me but it was just the guy's first name. I came across a young American couple in Denmark who gave me theirs. It was a single cylinder Triumph likely a 250. It looked like a once up on a time military bike. I kept it (mostly) running for another couple of weeks and then gave it to someone else. That was in 1966. Does that ring a bell with anyone?

[Dutch Rider]

Another aspect to consider is the cost of motorcycle rental over time. Looking at those published tariffs of about an average of £150 per day, depending on the bike, you'd be looking at just shy of £5,000 (about $6,900) for a full month's hire, even before those inevitable "extras". For nearly a thousand bucks less one could fly into Dulles International near Washington, take a taxi to Motorcycles of Dulles nearby, and ride away today on a new Int650 or GT650. See: https://www.motorcyclesofdulles.com/search/inventory/availability/In%20Stock/sort/discount/brand/Royal%20Enfield. Then you could meander just as long as you like without feeling like you're constantly "on the meter" and just sell the ride when you leave. Or hell, even if you just left it at the airport departures gate idling with the keys in the ignition and a note on the seat reading "Free Bike" when you flew home, you might still be ahead of the game. It all depends on how long you might wanna ramble.

The folks at Motorcycles of Dulles are very VERY nice, so I'm sure they could work out something timely and suitable and all prepped and ready to roll for an international visitor with time for roaming on their hands. As it happens, that Skyline Drive I'd mentioned, with its 35 mph speed limit, leading into the Blue Ridge Parkway at 45 mph throughout, would be perfect for breaking in a new bike, and its entrance at Front Royal is less than an hour's easy dawdle from Motorcycles of Dulles.

See my point #1.

[Jack Straw]

Turkmeister,

While I'm not a tour guide I live fairly close to one of the most scenic and original stretches of Route 66 in Arizona. This section is about 100 miles between the towns of Ash Fork and Kingman. The road is simply stunning, the pavement is excellent, and there is rarely any traffic. 

Should you make the trip I'd be happy to talk to you about this section of the road and perhaps even join you for this part of your ride if you'd like.

If you're interested PM me or use my email.

[mwmosser]

Another aspect to consider is the cost of motorcycle rental over time. Looking at those published tariffs of about an average of £150 per day, depending on the bike, you'd be looking at just shy of £5,000 (about $6,900) for a full month's hire, even before those inevitable "extras". For nearly a thousand bucks less one could fly into Dulles International near Washington, take a taxi to Motorcycles of Dulles nearby, and ride away today on a new Int650 or GT650. See: https://www.motorcyclesofdulles.com/search/inventory/availability/In%20Stock/sort/discount/brand/Royal%20Enfield. Then you could meander just as long as you like without feeling like you're constantly "on the meter" and just sell the ride when you leave. Or hell, even if you just left it at the airport departures gate idling with the keys in the ignition and a note on the seat reading "Free Bike" when you flew home, you might still be ahead of the game. It all depends on how long you might wanna ramble.

The folks at Motorcycles of Dulles are very VERY nice, so I'm sure they could work out something timely and suitable and all prepped and ready to roll for an international visitor with time for roaming on their hands. As it happens, that Skyline Drive I'd mentioned, with its 35 mph speed limit, leading into the Blue Ridge Parkway at 45 mph throughout, would be perfect for breaking in a new bike, and its entrance at Front Royal is less than an hour's easy dawdle from Motorcycles of Dulles.

Great points about the cost of renting for anything more than a day trip. I was looking into renting the next time I visit my daughter in Dublin, and the cost for a 14-day tour of the western stretches of Irish roads is no joke the price of a new Interceptor. I don't have those kinds of funds and so I'm rethinking touring the country on two wheels...alas.

[NVDucati]

Great points about the cost of renting for anything more than a day trip. I was looking into renting the next time I visit my daughter in Dublin, and the cost for a 14-day tour of the western stretches of Irish roads is no joke the price of a new Interceptor. I don't have those kinds of funds and so I'm rethinking touring the country on two wheels...alas.

Maybe you just need a pen-pal in Ireland.
https://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes?sort=price%20asc&price_from=2000&price_to=3000

[mwmosser]

Maybe you just need a pen-pal in Ireland.
https://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes?sort=price%20asc&price_from=2000&price_to=3000

That's the stuff! I should get one and have my kid store it at her uni.

She's actually talking about getting trained up, at least on a scooter, but city traffic is a bit terrifying for her at this stage so she's sticking to bicycling on campus at this point.

[Bilgemaster]

Maybe you just need a pen-pal in Ireland.
https://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes?sort=price%20asc&price_from=2000&price_to=3000

At first I couldn't quite understand from that link why EVERY motorcycle in Ireland seems to be for sale for precisely €2,000, but now I see the filter and sort. Here's an alternative link for everything asking €400 and up sorted low-to-high just to leave those timewasting €0 or €1 listers mostly hawking anything but bikes well behind: https://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes?sort=price%20asc&price_from=400

Just buying a nice beater over there isn't the worst idea ever, if you're handy. For example, here's a nice Iron Belly Bullet with that sidecar I seem to recall we talked about a while back: https://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes-for-sale/royal-enfield-bullet-with-sidecar/29197801. Or this fine-looking wee 200cc '63 Triumph Tiger Cub that you might actually want to fly home with: https://www.donedeal.ie/motorbikes-for-sale/triumph-tiger-cub-t20-1963-pound2850-ono/29250284 up in Portadown in the North. Seriously, [insert pennywhistle music here] I once had a girlfriend from Portadown. Not even once did she ever let me down...

Also, British Universities usually have various "Societies" or clubs of every description, including a motorcycle one. I imagine Irish schools might offer similar. For a minimal membership fee the motorcycle society at St Andrews in Scotland offered a nice big shed to work in with lots of tools. Perhaps your daughter might be able to reach out to those folks in the lecture hall with dirty fingernails and see if they might be enlisted to find her a nice little learner-beater--a serviceable old 250 or thereabouts. That'd be more than enough to bumble around on over there. There's likely a directory of societies at the Student Union.

[Dutch Rider]

To buy a (used) motorcycle in Europe isn't difficult at all.
But European law demands insurance, and that might be a problem for a non EU citizen...

[Bilgemaster]

To buy a (used) motorcycle in Europe isn't difficult at all.
But European law demands insurance, and that might be a problem for a non EU citizen...

It wasn't at all difficult for me in the UK with Norwich Union through a local agent nor even any more costly than the locals paid, but that was aeons ago. Of course some years later, in order to be able to work in Germany, I picked up Irish Citizenship and what was still then a European Community (an Comhphobal Eorpach) passport, one of the very first "Bordeaux Red" ones and still with handwritten entries, along with one of the craziest and most ornate wax-sealed "Foreign Births Entry Register" birth certificates one's ever seen, a fold-out affair bigger and prettier than Miss June, with embassy-stamped translations into all then-applicable European Community languages on the strength of my Grandma's birth on an island off the coast of Galway in the Gaeltacht in a cottage you can even now rent from one of my woefully inbred cousins if you've ever found seals, with their long and beckoning eyelashes, somehow "appealing" and just need some privacy to explore that:  https://www.shamrockcottages.co.uk/cottages/galway/mason-island-carna-217/. Pro Tip: Bring plenty of canned smoked kippers--the type with the windy opener key if at all possible, which they find somehow compelling. Yet be forewarned that the selkies amongst them can be inconstant tricksters. More general info here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selkie#Irish_folklore. Or, you can just watch this: https://youtu.be/iLHL-X8R8Ds. And yes, my surname checks out...But let's not go there, OK? My postings are already WAY too prolix. Sorry I'm a scientifically-proven mutant at the Laboratory of Human Chronophysiology in the Bronx, but there you have it. Enough said. Present location and cumulative oil leaks (markings) attached for ready reference. It ain't easy being green.

[Breezin]

Weird.

[AzCal Retred]

Not every forum gets their own home-grown Dave Barry! 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Barry

[NVDucati]

Not every forum gets their own home-grown Dave Barry! 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Barry

Or a Herb Caen.

[Tukemeister]

Another aspect to consider is the cost of motorcycle rental over time. Looking at those published tariffs of about an average of £150 per day, depending on the bike, you'd be looking at just shy of £5,000 (about $6,900) for a full month's hire, even before those inevitable "extras". For nearly a thousand bucks less one could fly into Dulles International near Washington, take a taxi to Motorcycles of Dulles nearby, and ride away today on a new Int650 or GT650. See: https://www.motorcyclesofdulles.com/search/inventory/availability/In%20Stock/sort/discount/brand/Royal%20Enfield. Then you could meander just as long as you like without feeling like you're constantly "on the meter" and just sell the ride when you leave. Or hell, even if you just left it at the airport departures gate idling with the keys in the ignition and a note on the seat reading "Free Bike" when you flew home, you might still be ahead of the game. It all depends on how long you might wanna ramble.
OMG - what a brilliant idea- my sister lives in Lancaster PA - so I could leave the bike at hers 'for sale' and made some of my money back. WOW thank you for a brilliant idea.


The folks at Motorcycles of Dulles are very VERY nice, so I'm sure they could work out something timely and suitable and all prepped and ready to roll for an international visitor with time for roaming on their hands. As it happens, that Skyline Drive I'd mentioned, with its 35 mph speed limit, leading into the Blue Ridge Parkway at 45 mph throughout, would be perfect for breaking in a new bike, and its entrance at Front Royal is less than an hour's easy dawdle from Motorcycles of Dulles.

[Bilgemaster]

I think you'll also find that area of Pennsylvania up around Lancaster, known as "Amish Country," some of the finest and prettiest motorcycle touring country on Earth. At least be sure to send those postcards home with that "Intercourse" postmark (see: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercourse,_Pennsylvania). Just stay off that damned Turnpike of theirs! There's nothing but rotten road with far too narrow lanes eternally under construction and then they have the nerve to charge hefty tolls for the general stress and overall unpleasantness to be found on that stretch of woe from end to end. Stick to those side roads. If for nothing else, linger for the rib-sticking meals at '80s prices. If you're thereabouts in the latter part of June, nearby Oley is the site of our annual National Triumph Rally (see: http://triumphnationalrally.com), which is actually more of a big general British Bike Fest. As an actual British person, they might even waive the entry fee and carry you around in a sedan chair like a moving exhibit, all waving "spanners" and "gudgeon pins" and generally "larking about" as they process in an "anticlockwise" manner through the fairgrounds. As it happens, the Royal Enfield Owners Club of North America (REOCNA), mostly Canadians Ay?, pour down over the border every other year or so to share those fairgrounds with the Triumph folks for their own big get together, with alternating years' gatherings held up in Ontario. If the Enfielders are down there in Olney, you may well also find me there, just coming up from Virginia. In case I'm not, try the hot roast turkey sandwich at The Firehouse. You're welcome.

[ideola]

I think you'll also find that area of Pennsylvania up around Lancaster, known as "Amish Country," some of the finest and prettiest motorcycle touring country on Earth. At least be sure to send those postcards home with that "Intercourse" postmark (see: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercourse,_Pennsylvania). Just stay off that damned Turnpike of theirs! There's nothing but rotten road with far too narrow lanes eternally under construction and then they have the nerve to charge hefty yolls for the general stress and overall unpleasantness to be found on that stretch of woe from end to end. Stick to those side roads. If for nothing else, linger for the rib-sticking meals at '80s prices. If you're thereabouts in the latter part of June, nearby Oley is the site of our annual National Triumph Rally (see: http://triumphnationalrally.com), which is actually more of a big general British Bike Fest. As an actual British person, they might even waive the entry fee and carry you around in a sedan chair like a moving exhibit, all waving "spanners" and "gudgeon pins" and generally "larking about" as they process in an "anticlockwise" manner through the fairgrounds. As it happens, the Royal Enfield Owners Club of North America (REOCNA), mostly Canadians Ay?, pour down over the border every other year or so to share those fairgrounds with the Triumph folks for their own big get together, with alternating years' gatherings held up in Ontario. If the Enfielders are down there in Olney, you may well also find me there, just coming up from Virginia. In case I'm not, try the hot roast turkey sandwich at The Firehouse. You're welcome.

Can confirm...the Lincoln Highway in that part of PA is beautiful countryside. I lived in Shrewsbury for a short stint before the turn of the century...

[Tukemeister]

I have decided that I am going to fly into LA then ride across to Chicago, then carry onto Lancaster PA to my sisters. Researching the pluses and minuses of buying a bike over there, then selling afterwards.
Anyway got a 3 years to plan.

[Bilgemaster]

Sounds like a plan already. First time I flew into LA it was a bit disorienting. I left a snowed-in Boston, where I was basically a slum tenant in the frozen urban tundra of Dorchester, and suddenly arrived like a hunched Morlock wearing too many rags in sunny LA with the goddamned palm trees everywhere and huge blonde Elohim lumbering about like in that H.G. Wells novel getting surfboards out of baggage claim. I had a job as a "rigger's apprentice" aboard the Balclutha  in San Francisco, but flew into LA instead to help a gal from school, an LA native, drive her car up that Coast Highway to her own gig in Berkeley. So, she picks me up at LAX, and we wind way up into those hills up to Bel-Air, where she lived next door to '70s icon Farrah Fawcett. It was January 1st, just shy of 80⁰, and the next thing I knew we were in a pool that overlooked "The Valley" with something called a piña colada in hand. I was fairly doubled-over with culture shock.

[Starpeve]

It wasn't at all difficult for me in the UK with Norwich Union through a local agent nor even any more costly than the locals paid, but that was aeons ago. Of course some years later, in order to be able to work in Germany, I picked up Irish Citizenship and what was still then a European Community (an Comhphobal Eorpach) passport, one of the very first "Bordeaux Red" ones and still with handwritten entries, along with one of the craziest and most ornate wax-sealed "Foreign Births Entry Register" birth certificates one's ever seen, a fold-out affair bigger and prettier than Miss June, with embassy-stamped translations into all then-applicable European Community languages on the strength of my Grandma's birth on an island off the coast of Galway in the Gaeltacht in a cottage you can even now rent from one of my woefully inbred cousins if you've ever found seals, with their long and beckoning eyelashes, somehow "appealing" and just need some privacy to explore that:  https://www.shamrockcottages.co.uk/cottages/galway/mason-island-carna-217/. Pro Tip: Bring plenty of canned smoked kippers--the type with the windy opener key if at all possible, which they find somehow compelling. Yet be forewarned that the selkies amongst them can be inconstant tricksters. More general info here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selkie#Irish_folklore. Or, you can just watch this: https://youtu.be/iLHL-X8R8Ds. And yes, my surname checks out...But let's not go there, OK? My postings are already WAY too prolix. Sorry I'm a scientifically-proven mutant at the Laboratory of Human Chronophysiology in the Bronx, but there you have it. Enough said. Present location and cumulative oil leaks (markings) attached for ready reference. It ain't easy being green.

Who amongst us hasn’t blown a seal at one time or another….?

[Bilgemaster]

Who amongst us hasn’t blown a seal at one time or another….?

I dunno...Maybe Heidi Klum? Something didn't work there.