SuzukiSavage.com - CC Trip

Byrd0264

YaBB Newbies

Offline

Cruisin' ON my
Boulevard

Posts: 16

CC Trip - Route??
06/09/11 at 18:08:14

Hey all!

So the saddlebags came today, windshield comes tomorrow. I'm taking the bike to the mechanic we've developed a rapport with to have it inspected before I set out to make sure I'm good to go.

I'm now having trouble deciding how we will get there

We're setting out from Northern IL (Dekalb, NIU campus) and are heading West to meet my boyfriend on his way back from Las Vegas.

Our original plan was to take 1-90 west, drop down Route 15 to meet up with the BF and then take 80 back east to IL. However, I'm reading that interstate riding is NOT the way to go, especially when we don't have a real destination to get to, so much as a goal of seeing cool things and finding our buddy

Can anyone suggest a route or string of highways we should take out that way? Any cool stops along the way? I'm totally up for options as I would much rather ride on the highway than fight with the interstate but I have no idea where to really start...

I checked out the thread already started by GoBlueMichigan about CC trips and got some good tips from there about what to pack...

I'm a little lost on all the mechanical talk. Is this stuff I need to know in order for my pride and joy to make the trip or just things that will make it easier along the way?

I know how Blue feels though on the Mom front... still working up the courage to tell her. Thinking I'll bite the bullet and do it by asking my Dad if we can get extended coverage on our AAA membership for motorcycles.

Back to top

IP Logged

Paladin.

Serious Thumper

Offline

Hamster

Posts: 4929
Sunny Southern California
Gender: male

Re: CC Trip - Route??
Reply #1 - 06/09/11 at 20:14:02

Byrd0264 wrote on 06/09/11 at 18:08:14:

...Can anyone suggest a route or string of highways we should take out that way? Any cool stops along the way?....

You wear a helmet anyhow, or do you perfer the wind in the hair? Avoid Nebraska, no choice in Nevada.

I like http://maps.google.com -- show options, avoid tolls, avoid highways. Also use http://ww1.aaa.com/scripts/WebObjects.dll/AAAOnline?association=AAA&club=004&... -- the AAA with it's On-Line TripTik. Use the route using Google, use the AAA to find gasoline on the route, about 100-140 miles between stops. Google will find campgrounds or motels along the way.

Back to top

IP Logged

Sunchasers

Full Member

Offline

SuzukiSavage.com
Rocks the Rockies!

Posts: 232
Northern Colorado
Gender: male

Re: CC Trip - Route??
Reply #2 - 06/09/11 at 21:58:43

Hi Byrd! Sounds like a fun trip!

Depending on where you meet your BF on I-15, one option would be to connect with Hwy 40 East across Utah into Colorado. This route will take you by Dinosaur National monument through Steamboat Springs, Kremmling, Granby, Grand Lake, over the Continental Divide on Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park to Estes Park (where the historical Stanley Hotel is - Steven Kings inspiration for "The Shining") down through Big Thompson Canyon to Loveland. This is a gorgeous ride/drive through the mountains and high valleys!

At this point you have a couple of options to connect to I-80, or my suggestion would be to take Hwy 34 East through Nebraska, plenty of smaller towns with friendly people and necessary services along the way, and it's a nice "country drive" type of highway along farms and river valleys. (I was born and raised in this area)

No need to avoid Nebraska, if you don't want to travel to far out of your way. IMHO

Back to top

« Last Edit: 06/09/11 at 23:26:05 by Sunchasers »

1987 LS650P, Blue/Purple, stock w/ white spacer mod, 2-1/4 turns, Raptor petcock, seat ht. mod, Verslavy, Routys F.C., 8300 mi

IP Logged

Byrd0264

YaBB Newbies

Offline

Cruisin' ON my
Boulevard

Posts: 16

Re: CC Trip - Route??
Reply #3 - 06/10/11 at 05:58:17

Thanks! That TripTik seems super helpful

I do wear a helmet at all times, so helmet states aren't really an issue for me.

I have a feeling I'm going to end up buying a map and sprawling out on the floor for this one. Maybe I'm weird but plotting things out on Googlemaps or Mapquest has seemed so cumbersome. I want to see all my options at once, not what can fit in one tiny little section of a map on a computer screen.

I guess my real plan of attack is to plot out about 500 miles a day, with 100 mile breaks in each day for gas/stretching, and look for the nearest campsite for those intervals. We have 7-8 days altogether to get there and back. I'd like to think we'd get all the way out to CO, but I also don't want to push too hard either. I guess we could cut some time out of our trip by avoiding going too far North (i-90 throuhg SD) or too far south (I-80), so long as the middle route isn't too plain jane.

SOOOO many options... this planning is going to consume my weekend Cheesy

Back to top

IP Logged

sjaskow - FSO

Senior Member

Offline

Posts: 365
Frozen Tundra of MN
Gender: male

Re: CC Trip - Route??
Reply #4 - 06/10/11 at 10:14:20

Byrd0264 wrote on 06/09/11 at 18:08:14:

Thinking I'll bite the bullet and do it by asking my Dad if we can get extended coverage on our AAA membership for motorcycles.

I've been a AAA member since the early 90's and when I got the S40, I looked into adding the bike to the AAA membership. It was cheaper to join the AMA ( http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/) at the Defender level which included motorcycle towing. It does require auto-renewal but, for $49 per year, it's hard to beat.

Also, the AMA magazine is good to read so I can bug my congresscritters about stealing my biker's rights.

Back to top

2012 Victory Vision - http://www.jaskowiak.cc/vision
2006 Suzuki S40 - http://www.jaskowiak.cc/S40

IP Logged

Boofer

Serious Thumper

Offline

Nearly too old.

Posts: 1760
N Ms
Gender: male

Re: CC Trip - Route??
Reply #5 - 06/10/11 at 14:11:05

Personally, I think 500 miles a day is too much. If you want to enjoy the country, give it a little time. The question is: "Am I making an Iron Butt Ride or am I sightseeing?" Again, just my opinion, but the question is still valid, whichever you choose. We have a beautiful country with some great people. Stay safe and have a great ride.

Back to top

2001 Black, Spitfire windshield, Headlight upgrade, Sissy rack, Tool bag, Fork bag, Harley muffler, Memory foam seat, Crash bars. Hwy pegs, Raptor.

IP Logged

Boofer

Serious Thumper

Offline

Nearly too old.

Posts: 1760
N Ms
Gender: male

Re: CC Trip - Route??
Reply #6 - 06/10/11 at 14:18:47

The best vacation my wife ever had, according to her. Our first year of marriage in 1977 we took $500 and drove the same route I once went on a motorcycle toward the Smokies. We took tomatoes from the garden and a loaf of bread and some mayo. Sandwiches for lunch at any park we came across at lunch time. Restaurants at night. We agreed to see every two headed snake, underground tours, ball of twine...When we used up half our money we came back home. No plans--just an idea of the route. One of my favorite memories sharing the sights with my new wife, 34 years ago. Boofer

Back to top

2001 Black, Spitfire windshield, Headlight upgrade, Sissy rack, Tool bag, Fork bag, Harley muffler, Memory foam seat, Crash bars. Hwy pegs, Raptor.

IP Logged

CalisOsin

Senior Member

Offline

Rather die, than
live down on my
knees.

Posts: 297
Orange County, Ca
Gender: male

Re: CC Trip - Route??
Reply #7 - 06/10/11 at 16:03:22

I peruse another forum called ChopCult from time to time and they have a thing called Travel Assistance. People offer up there name, location, and ways they can help another member if they are on a trip. It's a really incredible idea. I'd be willing to help out another member here if they were in my neck of the woods. Maybe we can start something like that here? ... just thinkin out loud...

Back to top

'97, k&n airfilter, bcb pipe, custom leather seat, monoshock, custom bars

IP Logged

Byrd0264

YaBB Newbies

Offline

Cruisin' ON my
Boulevard

Posts: 16

Re: CC Trip - Route??
Reply #8 - 06/11/11 at 05:43:03

Boofer -

I agree, for me it really is just about the ride and seeing what we find along the way. I mean we do want to get a good piece out there so that the BF doesn't have too far to travel alone, but I really don't want to push myself too much.

My buddy, when we started planning, was having delusions of grandeur about us making it to Yellowstone or Mt. Rushmore (which to make would have required some almost 10 hour riding days of 800 miles or more)

I've been trying to talk him down and remind him that we're two nubs on bikes and should just take the ride as it comes. My main concerns are just having enough gas stops and a place to lay our heads at night, oh and not getting lost would be nice Roll Eyes

We made a camping trip on the BF's bike once, just my BF and me on back. Rain caught us on the way home and we didn't leave ourselves much choice but to ride it out. Long story short, we went down. Hydroplaning both downed us but saved us from any road rash. With that in mind, I'm not eager to ride in any conditions that make me too uncomfortable.

I guess I figured 8 hours of riding in the day at 60mph was about 480 miles and rounded up to 500. We're both early risers, my buddy and I, so we'll have pretty much sun-up to sun-down to make that much time with stops in between. No worries though, if we see roses, we'll stop for a while Wink

Back to top

IP Logged

Byrd0264 YaBB Newbies Offline Cruisin' ON my Boulevard Posts: 16	Re: CC Trip - Route?? Reply #9 - 06/11/11 at 13:44:39 Oi, this just keeps getting better... The windshield I got says that it would fit 7/8 and 1" handlebars. It was my understanding that we have the 1" handlebars... guess what... doesn't fit. The clamp is too small. sigh
Back to top	IP Logged

Paladin. Serious Thumper Offline Hamster Posts: 4929 Sunny Southern California Gender:	Re: CC Trip - Route?? Reply #10 - 06/11/11 at 15:02:48 You should have two pairs of U-clamps . . . a pair of 7/8" clamps and a pair of 1" clamps All of the above parts, $16 + ship, www.nationalcycle.com, 877-972-7336
Back to top	IP Logged

Byrd0264

YaBB Newbies

Offline

Cruisin' ON my
Boulevard

Posts: 16

Re: CC Trip - Route??
Reply #11 - 06/11/11 at 15:19:17

Thanks Paladin

I did get it installed. I didn't, however, put on the plastic spacer type wrap on the handlebar before putting the clamp on it because it seemed like a tight fit as it was.

is this okay? the clamps themselves are made of plastic so I don't think they will damage the handlebar?

I hope it's okay to leave them off... otherwise I gotta start over Tongue

Back to top

IP Logged

Paladin. Serious Thumper Offline Hamster Posts: 4929 Sunny Southern California Gender:	Re: CC Trip - Route?? Reply #12 - 06/11/11 at 17:31:25 Ah, not a NationalCycle windshield? The spacer would be for a 7/8" bar, lose the spacer for our 1" bar. Chrome should be harder than any steel you use with it.
Back to top	IP Logged

Byrd0264

YaBB Newbies

Offline

Cruisin' ON my
Boulevard

Posts: 16

Re: CC Trip - Route??
Reply #13 - 06/24/11 at 08:09:16

Hey All!

Just sending an update, back from our first trip!

We didn't make it as far as we wanted....

We set out Friday night and took all highways, skipped the interstates, and were glad for it.

We made it to Sioux Falls, SD Saturday night. Then we got awful news...

My boyfriend, who we were to meet in Colorado, got in a crash on his way through Washington!

He hit a deer going about 45mph in the last two miles to his stop for the day. Somehow he managed to ride away with a bent up bike and a few scrapes and sizeable bruises. I'm a firm believer in AGAT, and so is he thank goodness. The damage could have been much worse if he was not in full gear as evidenced by the damage to his gear.

He had to sell his bike - '94 Suzuki Intruder - for what he could get for it and catch a plane home. My friend and I turned around and headed back home the next morning. As much as we wanted to make it our other destinations, I was pretty shaken and the trip just seemed to have met its end.

There's a happy end to this story however... what I thought was a terrible weekend turned around when I picked him up at the airport Monday morning.

He showed me all the souvenirs he got for me at his stops that reminded him of me.... and then... HE PROPOSED!

Turns out it was his plan to propose all along and that he was going to do so in Colorado when we met up, but we didn't quite make it there.

So all in all, a good trip.

Favorite and scariest parts of my own trip were:

US 52 through Iowa - beautiful, hilly, and curvy!

The big steel grate bridge over the Mississippi - really though I was going to lose it on that one!

Bug clouds! I was in the lead during the last of our trip to Dubuque and the sun went down before we got there. They were coming in my helmet and I was so covered with them whole bug bodies were falling off my clothes when we changed at the hotel!

The turkey vulture that decided to fly right in front of me at the last second. I locked eyes with the bugger and knew he was going to go for it. Literally missed him by a foot at windshield height.

First ride through the rain... I made it!

And of course, my beautiful bike! She did just fine for the over 1k miles we road together on the trip. Not too much vibration and no more saddlesore than I could really handle or expect.

Thanks for all the tips and advice that helped me get through this road trip safely!

Byrd

Back to top

IP Logged

EJID Serious Thumper Offline Work to ride and ride to work. Posts: 1536 Pocatello, ID Gender:	Re: CC Trip - Route?? Reply #14 - 06/24/11 at 08:53:11 Great update for you're share of the trip and CONGRATULATIONS on the engagement. Sorry to hear that your guy's mishap, but it sounds like he still did alright. Keep the shiny side up
Back to top	05 S40 15" Memphis Slim, FXDWG Bars, Moved Rear Signals, Saddlebags, Fork Bag, Mini-Tach, Raptor, Cone Filter, Fishtail Muffler, Mix Screw Out 2.5 Turns, 4" Fwd Controls, 147.5 Main/55 Pilot @ 4500 IP Logged