| Author | Message | ||
     Noisycricket |
I am moving to San Diego next week (Friday the 15th to be exact) and am planning to ride there. This will be my first major ride. I have done many 100 - 300 mile trips but never one this far. I have started to map out my route as well as my stops along the way. If anyone has any suggestions for either feel free to edit my map here: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ptab=2&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&z=6&msid=106593890784879173965.00045396c9deb3024850e If anyone is interesting I would also love some company for any particular part of this ride. Also, does anyone have a tank bag for sale? Or know of a good relatively inexpensive one. (Message edited by NoisyCricket on August 07, 2008) | ||
| Dbird29 |
Don't fall asleep! Too much Interstate. | ||
| Lighting |
Sorry dude, but 400 miles in a day is all I do in a Buell, after that you'll start feeling it from your butt to your hair.... | ||
| Voofighters |
Good luck with your trip...and welcome to San Diego! | ||
| Ferocity02 |
Damn... that's a long trip. I did 130 miles on my XB12S last weekend and it was on the verge of painful near the end. | ||
| Chippy |
if you go south on 247 from barstow, there are some gnarly twisties in between big bear and san bernie. plus big bear is a cool spot to stop for bit and check out. then you can just get the 10 west for a bit and resume the last couple hours. | ||
| Xl1200r |
You could do that in one day. Stay off the interstate and make it a 2-day affair. You'll feel less stressed and enjoy it more. I rode from Albany, NY to Suches, GA on my 'Bolt in two days (about 10 hours each day), about 1000 miles. The worst parts were the interstates. | ||
| Akbuell |
Kinda late now, but I do stretching exercises, starting a month before. Ah, well. I tend to ride 75ish miles, and stop to walk around,drink some water,ect. Then go 75ish more, and refuel. Have done 500+ miles in one day on the slab that way. And I can't wear a backpack while traveling. Gets REAL old after 25 mins. Enjoy the trip. Sounds like it will be fun! | ||
| Froglosopher |
I really dislike the Interstates and try to avoid them when possible. This is the route I've taken to Vegas and back a few times on my XB12Ss. Off the beaten path a bit but not so far as to be stranded if something were to happen. This travels through several decent sized towns, plenty of food and fuel places, and only adds about 2 hours all the way to Vegas VS. I-15 So St.George would be an excellent place to end day 1. I'm Going down to visit some friends, If you were able to wait a couple more weeks I'd ride as far as Kanab with you. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?f=q&hl=en&geocode=& ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=102191932475072889651.000453e0a f87869a8140e&ll=40.626722,-111.887341&spn=0.049118 ,0.071754&z=13 | ||
| Noisycricket |
I will definitely be splitting this up into a 2 day trip. I have done about 300 mile in one day and was pretty over it by the end of the day. I plan on stopping for an hour or 2 every time I need to fill up. Would be great if I could meet up with people at various places to chat or whatever but we'll see what happens. Would be even better if I can get some friends, or anyone really, to do parts of the trip with me. Would make the ride much much better. Chippy - I will check out that route. Twisties would be great! Especially after all that flat. Froglosopher - I will check out that route as well. Unfortunately I can't wait, I have to be in San Diego on the 16th. Thanks for the comments everyone. Keep em coming! Maybe I'll see some of you on the road! | ||
| Xl1200r |
I plan on stopping for an hour or 2 every time I need to fill up. Would be great if I could meet up with people at various places to chat or whatever but we'll see what happens. Would be even better if I can get some friends, or anyone really, to do parts of the trip with me. Would make the ride much much better. You shouldn't need that long for each stop. I would stop and chill for maybe 15 minutes each time I gassed up - about every 130 miles or so. Then a big stop to have a sit-down lunch for maybe 30-45 minutes. That was plenty of off the seat time. As far as friends - personally, I don't like riding in groups. In fact, I don't like riding with even one other person. I do it because I have friends and girlfriends that ride, and I like to spend time with them, but other people rarely want to move at the same pace as you - on or off the bike. My one buddy is so stressful to ride with because he takes SO LONG to get suited up and on his bike, and then once we're on the bikes, he moves a good pace, but overreacts to people stopping in front of him, cutting him off, and ends up using way more brake than most would expect. But that's just me. | ||
| Noisycricket |
Ha ha I can understand buddies being stressful on rides, I have a few friends like that as well. I just plan on taking my own pace. If I'm feeling good I'll take short fuel stops. If I want to rest for a bit I'll find a coffee shop or something and hang out there until I'm ready. I'm in no real rush so I plan on trying to enjoy the ride as much as possible. | ||
| Xl1200r |
I'm in no real rush so I plan on trying to enjoy the ride as much as possible. That's the way to do it. | ||
| Ripdog28 |
Welcome to SD. gotta work on Friday but should get some guys here to meet up some weekend. Voofighters: I think you bought the bike i was first looking at getting back in Jan-Feb. I had to wait for them to get one in for me in May because they just sold the one i first looked at. (Message edited by Ripdog28 on August 08, 2008) | ||
| Noisycricket |
Voofighters & Ripdog28: Thanks for the welcome! Can't wait to get there. I will actually be coming into town on Saturday the 16th. I'm splitting the ride up into 2 days and staying with a friend in St. George the first night. Would love to meet up for a ride any weekend. | ||
| Azxb9r |
Definitely try to avoid the Interstate by looking for secondary highways. Also, don't forget a pair of ear plugs. The sound of exhaust and wind can be fatiguing. Have fun.  | ||
| Ripdog28 |
Forget ear plugs. get your Ipod in one ear and then you have something to think about other then WoW is this a long trip. I will see what my schedule is on sat and may be meet you in Temecula about a time you may be there. last 60 miles or so. we can work out a schedule closer to your departure time. when you get to Barstow or Victorville give me a call and i can take off to meet you. | ||
| Noisycricket |
I was actually planning on stopping at the Starbucks near the Promenade in Temecula. he he I am not sure what time I will be rolling in though. I may not be leaving St. George until around noon which would put me in San Diego later on that evening. A lot of it depends on how quickly I make it to St. George on the first day. | ||
| Gschuette |
Watch for deer in between Cedar City and St. George going down the hill. I swear there must a deer fertility clinic around that stupid hill. I have seen so many there lately and had a few close calls. | ||
| Mesozoic |
I did 500 miles on my XB12Ss last weekend on one day, riding for 10 hours straight. I was fine afterwards and had a great freakin time. | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
If you decide to run the interstate for any length of time a couple of pointers. Lower your suspensions rebound/compression settings. At the same time add a couple of PSI to your tires. This way you will get a nice cushy ride, while preventing any unnecessary squaring, or wear to your tires. When you stop for a break, drink gatorade. You need to watch for leg cramps. There is nothing worse then getting one at speed. | ||
| Noisycricket |
Great tips Corporatemonkey, thank you! Any recommendations for the suspension settings? I am currently running the aggressive setting recommended by Buell. | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
Set your preload to its proper level, make sure to include an extra weight you are carrying. I usually grab all my gear, luggage, and tank bag and head to the bathroom scale. As for compression/rebound. Look in the book for the factory settings for your total weight, take those setting and back them off at least 1/4 turn. Test it out, if it is still firm, back off another 1/4 turn. It won't be a goldwing, but it really eases the stress on your rear end. | ||
| Noisycricket |
Perfect thank you. I will try those settings out this week before I leave. | ||
| Imstellar28 |
If I was you I would split it up into a three day road trip and do it like this: Friday: 269 miles, ride to Bryce canyon, camp/stay at a hotel nearby. Saturday: 319 miles ride through Zion national park, head to the hoover dam, stay the night in vegas Sunday: 323 miles from vegas to san diego. Total trip: just over 900 miles, but more importantly--only 300 miles a day. I rode from Idaho to the pacific coast, and up through the redwood national forest in a three-day weekend-- ~1400 miles. Its not too bad if you split it up 300 mile days. Also: get a tank bag/lower foot pegs, and ear-plugs--these will make it muuuch more comfortable. | ||
| Akbuell |
+1 on the earplugs. Hours of wind noise around the helmet can be very tiring, not to mention the possible hearing damage. | ||
| Jakezor |
I did ~1700 miles round trip (St Paul, MN to Dayton, OH) two weeks ago on my CityX. It was split up over two days there and two days travel back. An Airhawk seat pad helped keep my ass and legs from falling asleep, but I still got kinks in my knees that I needed to stretch out. Earplugs are great if you are doing any highway miles. | ||
| Noisycricket |
I won't have any earplugs but I will definitely have headphones to help with boredom and hopefully a bit of wind noise. 1700 miles wow that's a lot of riding! The closer my departure gets (2 days now) the more I am looking forward to it. | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
I won't have any earplugs  I hope you are proficient in sign language | ||
| Caféelite |
I rode from Kansas City to sioux city iowa and back in one day a couple months ago.. ended up being like 9+ hours on the bike (cityx) and being all hwy. If I could have had one thing it would have been some form of cruise control. If you have decent head phones they should do a good job of protecting your ears from wind noise. Since I did all hwy on my trip I listened to a audio book... made the trip fly by and still allowed me to focus on the road. Did you research your route for road construction? People have mention avoiding a back pack which I agree w/ but you might want to think about a camel pack for liquids. Good luck and be ready to replace your tires  (Message edited by caféelite on August 14, 2008) |
