Favorite Mode of Bike Travel

[paul]

I was having a conversation with someone here and it occured to me that this is a subject that everyone can join in. Tell us about your favorite way to ride when you travel. For instance, I know that some folks here like to trailer their bike to a given destination and then ride while they're there. Some like to ride to their destination. Some like to have their own bike and some like to ride two-up. Some take a trailer behind the bike and some like to go minimalist, finding what they need on the road. I for one, love to hear these stories, and usually ask about it when talking with another biker. I have learned a lot, too by just talking with other people about their riding adventures, likes and dislikes.
And hey, this is not a mine is better than yours or anyone making any kind of judgement calls about how someone else likes or dislikes to ride. Like I said, the stories can be both exciting and informative. Some of the things I've heard over the years have even affected my own decisions about how I ride now. I've been able to refine my ride and add a few things and take away a few things.
My thread so I'll start. My favorite method of riding now is to pack the bike, Mama and all, and travel as far as a day will allow on as many back roads as possible stopping to see whatever and wherever catches our interrest. I Have a toy hauler, and at first, really loved to take it loaded with our gear, bike and all else. But, what we learned, was that we paid a price for the comfort and convience. We were stuck at a base camp and had to return each evening. It limits what we get to do and see. So, basicly, I don't use it anymore. We find that we'd rather travel in the direction of our noses and stop when needs be. The next day, a new direction and more ground covered. Some folks like to camp. We have and we like it, but I just haven't figured out how to do it without another vehicle or a trailer behind the bike. I don't care for either.
But I''ve got a bud that we've done a lot of travel with and he loves to pull his trailer with his Harley. I does carry a lot of stuff, I'll give him that. Just not my cup of tea (yet, anyway.)
We love to go alone, and we love to go with others. Traveling with others, sometimes we can rent a house and it winds up being cheaper. But, it helps to stay for at least two days. I love to hit nice state parks, especially if they have cabins on the lake or some such thing as that. First thing I learned was to find a Good Will and a Post Office. You can find every thing from cleaning rags to winter garb, and you may need to mail some stuff home to shed pounds and bulk. (especially if mama loves to shop).
Anyway, that's a little sample. There will be more as I remember it and the conversation continues. Oh, and for the newbees, Tell us about your fantasy rides and how you imagine your best way to travel might be...Bet you'll change your minds once you start to travel on you bikes. OK, I've done my part, let's hear it, the sky's the limit.

[george james]

About to retire and got several camping trips planned. Sometimes (if traveling alone ) i pack the bike and tent camp, other times i pack my trailer and hook it to the bike and tent camp. All my camping so far has been in campgrounds but i'm ordering a cot tent that is small and sets up in about a minute. When the cot tent comes i plan to do a lot of stealth camping. This will make my $ last longer and can stay on the road longer each time out. I want to think i'll be out for weeks at a time. I live in north Carolina and plan on going to new england and to the keys this year.

[usranger74]

My favorite way - Knees to the breeze and ass off the pavement on roads less traveled and always solo.

[Jared]

"When I travel, I go with the philosophy that less is more. Rain gear, tools, light camping gear, clothes, and some snacks pretty much sums up what I brought" last summer. http://accelerate.presspublisher.us/...-way-from-home

6907 miles over 21 days with this set up. The right bag had 5 days worth of cloths, bathroom supplies, and some food. The left back had tools, rain gear, net-book, and camera equipment. The sleeping bag had a small one man tent and a towel rolled inside it. When I wasn't wearing my leathers they were strapped on top my sleeping bag.


Without a doubt I prefer to travel with my wife, but for that last two years I have been traveling solo.

When I'm on the road for weeks at a time, I usually can't afford to make the trip and stay in a hotel every night, so I will split it up between camping, hotels, and staying with friends. Without doing this I doubt I'd be able to go on the trips. It's definitely not the Ritz, but it makes it all possible.

(Day 14 of a 23 day trip)

[haygrrr]

For my First multi fay distance ride many years ago, got maps and planned every road and every hotel. Then got AAA trip tickets to follow on the road. No hard bags then so waterproof Nelson-Rigg Jumbo Weekender held all my gear plus a net on back rack to air out what i wasnt wearing. Some of those days only had 240 miles and we still barely made the next hotel. We were awful with our gas stops to put it mildly. Still remember arriving at Fairmont Queen Elizabeth hotel in Montreal after an entire day of riding in hard rain. We walked through the lobby while they had this function going on with everyone wearing a blue blazer or a jacket (all with their name tags of course) and us looking like drowned rats! With every step I took, water would squish out onto marble floor! Priceless memory!

Now it's much different. Better gear purchased long ago. No more reservations and may have general idea on where we'll be but change based on weather and generally how we feel. Last year me and my brother went 700 plus miles one day just cause it was going so well and felt good. Garmin zumo finds us everything we need. Wife never goes (fear of kids alone at the house as well as fear of them living with their father If something awful happened). Never trailer, never pulled a trailer, never camp, but will modify trips to hit friends and relatives to keep costs down. Main thing is to be out there riding whenever you can...

[davidhollinger]

Since upgrading to the Nomad I have learned just how to pack and how much it will hold. My first real trip on it was to the Paint Rock Valley near the Alabama Tennessee line. I packed my tent, sleeping bag a couple days worth of clothes along with emergency tools and cash and headed out. I always keep rain gear in the saddlebags and once in the mountains I really needed it. I hit campgrounds around mid day and set up my site for the night, asked the manager to keep an eye on it and toured the mountains and back roads for the next couple of days.
We (my riding buddy and me) also go to numerous bike rallies around the state throughout spring summer and fall. I pack the bike and usually head out of Friday and Hannah will meet us later with anything I have forgotten. My friend pulls a trailer on his Harley and it carries tents, chairs, air mattresses, LOTS of beer, a full size canopy and anything we need. Each rally is about $30 for primitive camping for the full weekend and there are usually 500-700 bikers there on every bike you can imagine. We have been doing it for years and have never had a single issue.
This year my dream trip is 4 days at the dragon and surrounding areas and my buddy has a condo ready for us in May.
Like others have said, the main thing is to be out there, how you spend each night depends on your finances and comfort level and your packing skills! So far the tent and sleeping bag isnt killing my back or spirit so on we ride!

[waterman]

Definately my favorite mode is riding. Now that the wife rides her own (Suzuki Burgman) it does make travel a little easier (she can carry her own clothes) but it is also a little more demanding. I'm always checking for traffic and her as well. When I have traveled by myself, I can pack clothes for 5 to 6 days, tools, rain gear, some food/snacks, camping equipment. The beer box on the back makes for excellent storage.

As for trailering, I've never done it except to take it to the mechanic and have the tires replaced. Never had someone who could pick me up after dropping it off for a day or two. The only thought of trailering would be to either get somewhere fast where there is not much to see in between or sometime during the winter/cold months to load up and head south to where it is warmer.

[paul]

I really like what I'm reading so far. You guys are showing me that there's a lot of riding to do and a lot of territory to cover. Looks like if we spent the next 15 years we still couldn't get to all of it. Got something to always look forward to.....THAT'S GREAT.

As we evolve, I'm hoping to get Kelli on her own bike. Maybe just so we can pack more and make it easier. Maybe it won't. We'll see. For now, I'll be working on the bike through this weekend and finishing the install of the trunk and lowers. Judging from the size of this trunk, we should be able to pack a little different than we have been. I wouldn't mind including a small tent along with a few very basic camping goodies. I do like saving money while traveling, but I kinda am starting to lean toward the comfortable side of life.

Jared, reviewing your travel adventures makes me salivate. Awsome stuff. We are about half and half now. We tend to plan out about half of our riding, and take the other half on faith. Electronics have sure changed things. Without Kelli and her I-pad/smartphone doing our finding and navigation, I guess we might have to sleep on the side of the road more often. That's one reason I always check ahead for the states with resiprosity laws.

One thing that riding and traveling especially has taught both of us is the value of that "We'll see" attitude. You learn to get into a groove where it's all gonna be fine, and when things come up, just deal with it and move on. I notice that our "fight quotient" goes down the more we travel together. When we first started out together we could have about one fight every 100 miles. Now it might take 3 days or more. AND-the making up part seems to get better. If you have a good marriage, riding together will make it better.....if not, then you'll learn quickly how to get along out of sheer self preservation. I need a patch "Loud Pipes Save Marriages".

[cactusjack]

I enjoy touring alone. I wouldn't mind if my wife would come along, but she wants nothing to do with the bike. I enjoy creature comforts so I bought a bike that is very comfortable, with a good sound system, safety features like ABS and plenty of lighting for visibility. It also has a large amount of cargo space, heated grips and cruise control.

I plan my routes carefully, because I am not a "seat of the pants" kind of guy. I don't camp, I like a good bed, a hot shower, and high speed internet access. I know where I am going to stay every night. I stay at motels where I can use my HOG and AMA discounts. I create my itinerary in an Excel spreadsheet and leave a copy with my wife so she knows where to send the authorities to find me if I go missing.

I get up when I want, stop when I want, eat when and where I want and go to bed when I want. I like touring and have only seen a small portion of our great country and I have a lot more to see.

[schoeney]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

I enjoy touring alone. I wouldn't mind if my wife would come along, but she wants nothing to do with the bike. I enjoy creature comforts so I bought a bike that is very comfortable, with a good sound system, safety features like ABS and plenty of lighting for visibility. It also has a large amount of cargo space, heated grips and cruise control.

I plan my routes carefully, because I am not a "seat of the pants" kind of guy. I don't camp, I like a good bed, a hot shower, and high speed internet access. I know where I am going to stay every night. I stay at motels where I can use my HOG and AMA discounts. I create my itinerary in an Excel spreadsheet and leave a copy with my wife so she knows where to send the authorities to find me if I go missing.

I get up when I want, stop when I want, eat when and where I want and go to bed when I want. I like touring and have only seen a small portion of our great country and I have a lot more to see.

Very similar to my "style". I am a planner (like Netnorske too).

I don't like big group rides but do like 2-4 bikes for long distance rides (1500-2000 miles or more). It makes everything easier (gas stops, restaurants, motels, staying together, etc). Our little VBA rallies are perfect. Ride with 2-4 bikes on the journey then meet up with 25-100 other riders when you get to the "base" hotel. I used to partake in the planned larger group rides but I don't anymore. I do love sliding up a few lawn chairs at the hotel and enjoying the cocktail hour with the big group at the end of the day after we get off the bikes.

I will force myself to take a long ride soon without planning every detail but it will be hard to break old habits.

I have never tried tenting on a bike trip. I have a hard enough time limiting what I take already.

[ringadingh]

I like to either travel alone or with just one or two guys that ride like I do, thats few stops, short breaks, and get some miles under our belts. Many days we don't plan where or how far, we just ride and get a room when we feel like it. I can go all day on a couple coffees and have a big dinner at the end of the day.

[blowndodge]

I travel hotel to hotel living on room service. I hate roughing it. Hot tubs, cigars, fine bourbon lacquer Masseuse, manicure, pedicure, silk shirts fine eating.. the beautiful life!

[cnc]

I'm not really interested in camping when I travel by bike. Last thing I feel like after a day of riding is setting up a tent, cooking, dishes etc, just to do the reverse the next day. IMO you can put more miles under your belt in a day and feel more rested the next day doing the hotel and restaurant style tour.

[usranger74]

Originally Posted by usranger74

My favorite way - Knees to the breeze and ass off the pavement on roads less traveled and always solo.

I will add to my original post. I have given up camping but when planning my trips I look at mom and pop campgrounds to see if they offer cabins. Many do and the price is about half of a cheap hotel. As such, I do carry a sleeping bag as most cabins do not come with bedding. I am lucky enough to legally carry a concealed weapon and I do.


I like to plan my trip and I look for places like this:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...ew_Mexico.html

$50 to include breakfast is a very good deal. Often when I find a place like this, I will use it as a base and take day trips from there. I enjoy riding with a partner or in a small group, but I seldom can find anyone that enjoys riding in the same manner I do. The first time in 52 yrs of ridding that I rode with more than 3 other riders was at the Cortez Rally three summers ago. Before hitting the road I leave my wife a Google map on my intended ride and a spread sheet of where I hope to sleep. If I deviate from that, I will call and let her know.

Most often the ride is more important to me than the destination. I like back county roads where I can still find the "real" American - like the worlds largest ball of string!!

[paul]

Bill, I hear ya. I will go out of the way to find those "one-off" resaurants or lodgings. Like to help out the guy that isn't part of some chain, and you never know what you might find or learn when talking with these people. Especially if they take special pride in their own brand of being different or having something different to offer.