| Author | Message | ||
     Buelet |
So does anyone have any advice or tips for our upcoming m/c ride to the Grand Canyon?! The wife & I would welcome any input from those that have done any riding there. She's done all of the planning so far & I'm in charge of bike prep! Our itinerary & planning so far accounts for lodging, excursions, & gas stops. I just mounted new tires on the bikes we're taking. ('06 Uly for me & '09 Uly XT for her) I also threw a new belt on my Uly just to be safe, since it has almost 35k miles on it. She has just over 11k miles on her '09. I put a new set of Syncs on mine & she went with the Angels (of course). I also picked the seals out of the rear bearings to make sure the bearings look alright. Her bearings still looked like new & were silky smooth. Mine - No worse than they looked when I found the one side brown, gunky & a little notchey feeling back around 17K miles at which point I cleaned all the old grease out & re-greased. Theyve been fine ever since. (I'll be taking a spare set of bearings that I have JUST in case, as well as the old belt I just removed.) We'll be wearing our Buell mesh riding gear that has vents & liners for when we hit some of the higher elevations where we might find some lower temps. We'll be wearing shorts under the riding pants, so we'll be more comfortable at stops when we can pull off the riding gear & do the tourist thing. I have the entire trip plotted with MapSuck (I mean MapSource) and uploaded into the Zumo 550. Right now the trip is coming in around 3600 miles or so. I'm a little concerned about some of the dirt, gravel, or more specifically the forest access roads that parts of our journey will take us on. Hopefully we don't encounter any rain on those sections or become outmatched for the terrain otherwise. Anyway - Here is a bit of what we have planned. (Copied from her facebook a few days ago.) It has been fleshed out a little more at this point. (August 1st - 10th) Day 1 Cross KS, OK & end in Clayton NM. 11.5 hours Day 2 Scenic drive past Capulin Volcano National Monument, Cimmaron canyon State park, Enchanted Circle, Rio Grande Gorge, Grazos cliffs, the Apache Indian Reservation & Angel Peak.... End in Farmington. 375 miles 8.5+ hours. Day 3 Scenic drive to Shiprock to see the volcanic core that is 20 stories higher than the Empire State building, then into Monument Valley/Valley of the Gods, Hovenweep National Monument, Bluff, Mulie Point, Agatha Peak, Navajo National Monument & finally the Dinosaur Tracks before heading to Sedona. 400 miles 8.5+ hours Day 4 Sedona! Vortex, sightsee, and finally a sunset hummer trip called the Cliff Hanger! Day 5 Sedona Day 6 West Rim of the Grand Canyon SKYWALK Day 7 South Rim of GC then drive to North Rim. (200+ miles & 5 hours.) Dont worry I have scenic points picked out for photo ops & breaks! Day 8 North Rim of GC including a ½ day Mule trip to Supai Tunnel on the N. Kaibab Trail. Day 9 wake up early to start our trek home. Well head North from the North GC rim into Utah up to I-70 & into Colorado towards Denver. Just 1,300 miles left! Day 10 Wind through the Rockies on our last leg home! Here's to hoping that all goes well! Thoughts or suggestions?  | ||
| Strokizator |
Not much in Clayton,NM other than a KOA (hey you gotta stop somewhere). Nice people, lots of bunny rabbits running around. The best road I found in AZ was 191 south from Alpine to the huge copper mine at Clifton. Sedona is beautiful but real touristy. The skywalk was worth the price of admission. Ride Route 66 from Seligman to Kingman. Get off the shuttle buses and walk the rim trail at the south rim. Kaibab Forest leading into the north rim is one of the prettiest places on earth. I hope that your route north through Utah takes you into Monument Valley and Moab, among other places. If you take I-70 all the way east through Colorado, you're doing yourself a disservice. Sounds like a great ride. Good luck! | ||
| Buelet |
Thanks for the input! We're not sure about the Skywalk - we hear it's a long wait for your 15 min & that they don't allow you to take pictures... but instead they have their own professional photographers. Hmm... Monument Valley is on the list. My main concern right now is about some of the connecting roads we're planning on using. With gas stops as few & far between as they seem like they'll be, I'd hate to get too far down a road to have it become impassable. I also hope we don't get a surprise shower while on some long & remote dirt road somewhere either! It should be an adventure and we're excited to get going! | ||
| Gowindward |
The trip across Kansas will be rough this time of year. Gel cooling vest are on sale at MotorcyCloseouts.com Check out Cooldanna's too at http://www.zanheadgear.com/catalog/family.aspx?Par entCategoryID=104 Check out MSR fuel bottles as a way to carry some backup gas. Have a blast! We are headed to Red River, NM at the end of Aug and then up into CO for a couple days. Clayton, NM was our planned stop at the end of our first day too. (Message edited by gowindward on July 27, 2010) | ||
| Strokizator |
We're not sure about the Skywalk - we hear it's a long wait for your 15 min & that they don't allow you to take pictures... but instead they have their own professional photographers. Hmm... Bear in mind that the skywalk represents a huge investment by the local tribe whose only asset is access to the Grand Canyon. The $75 package fee included the skywalk, another access point to the Grand Canyon, lunch and a bus ride over to some cowboy/western town. Their long term goals include a rather large airport, hotel complex, etc. I hope it works out for them and don't begrudge them the $150 I paid for my wife & I. It is an entirely unique experience to stand suspended 3000 ft above the canyon floor. Yeah, they do have their own photographers and having your picture taken will cost you a few bucks more but on the upside, they do use professional grade equipment and know where to take the best shots. I'm not aware they have a 15 minute time limit but we got there early and we were not rushed. Truthfully, 15 minutes was about all my brain could take as it's freaky to be out there. My wife walked along the edges - where there is a solid floor - polishing the rails with her hands as she went along while I was in the glass center walking like a human minesweeper. Funny stuff. It's out of your way but you may never be this close to it again. In June I did over 5000 miles through AZ, NM,TX,CO,UT,NV & CA and avoided the interstates at all costs. The availability of gas was never a problem but if you went over 100 miles since your last fill-up and see a gas station, then stop and top off. Don't worry about that kind of stuff, be flexible and remember you're there to have fun. One thing I do to add to the experience is not eating at chain restaurants while on the road. Experience the local fare, you'll find some good food out there. | ||
| Buelet |
Thanks guys - I'll have to check into the gel cooling vests. We have a MC Closeouts just about 20 min away. And as far as the trip across Kansas goes, I guess we'll just have to deal with that. I grew up in Kansas so that's the one part of the trip I know what to expect on!  (We usually take about 3-4 trips to Arkansas each year to ride the roads around Eureka Springs. We used to ride down & back, but now we just trailer down because we'd rather save the rubber for better roads!) Yeah, I had seen a show on the Skybridge some time back I think, so I had an idea about the back-story on it. I don't have anything against them trying to make some $$. It just struck me as a turn-off that they don't allow personal cameras. If it's really "all that", then maybe we'll have to throw some cash their way. As far as the local fare goes... I'm working on that one! We tend to gravitate towards the chains (not necessarily fast food), but usually don't seek out the greasy spoons, so-to-speak! I am branching out more as I get older and taking in more of the lesser known eateries. I like the menu variety at "nicer" restaurants, plus I think I've always kind of associated the hole-in-the-wall places as "dirty". You can find dirty anywhere, I know - but it just seems more likely at those places. ...But like I said, I'm slowing coming 'round! | ||
| Xl1200r |
The north rim is great, and the roads leading into and out of it are fantastic. If you blink you'll go from desert to pine forests without knowing. Definitely keep on top of the temps - I wasn't wearing mesh gear and I had to close up all of my vents to be comfortable (this was this past June so I imagine it will be a little warmer for you). If you have time, head north on 191 in Utah to Moab (or really even a little past it to Canyonlands and Arches National Parks) if you can. The scenery riding from I-70 in Utah south to the AZ border was my favorite of all time. If you can only go as far north as Valley of the Gods you'll see a good bit of it, but if I recall there's nothing to do at Valley of the Gods but pull over and take a picture. Worth it, though. I-70 east of Grand Junction, CO is actually really nice. But do yourself a favor and get off to head north towards Steamboat Springs along Rt.40 and then take that east to hit Rocky Mountain National Park - just as impressive as the Grand Canyon if you ask me, and I saw both within 2 days of each other. Plus, Rt. 40 heading east out of Steamboat is bliss. |
