Summer is hot--sometimes ridiculously hot. In August I try to maintain altitude, which means mountain states, or stay right on the coast. There's little sense in trying to span from one coast to the other unless you like long stretches of straight highways contemplating unchanging horizons. And Texas, being hot with a tendency to thunderstorms and hurricanes, would be far off-course for anything I'd plan during August.

Unless I'm misunderstanding, you're looking for two-lane motorcycling roads (winding, smooth pavement, not insanely crowded), with points of interest at the roadside or within short walks. I'd start in Washington State, Colorado or California for ease of securing a bike as a non-resident. There's plenty of riding, plenty to see, and after 30 days you can trace your route on a map of the country and notice how little ground you've actually covered compared to what's available.

Two other obvious points: first, purchase and sales for a 30 day trip is fairly marginal. Second, a lot of the more popular attractions will be totally swamped, booked out, packed with slow-moving traffic; I'm thinking of Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, Rainier, etc. This summer shows signs of being worse than ever in this respect. For me, that means I try to park and get away from the teeming hordes, usually on foot. That's not what you're describing.

Hope that's helpful. Note that there is much to consider, and therefore most of us will miss the point when trying to answer. You might have more success asking specific questions after you narrow things down for yourself.

Edit to add: I just noticed that you seem to think "everything" west of the Dakotas would fit into a 4-6000 mile trip. Oh my. I just took a 3500 mile road trip through Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Idaho in my van, hardly went anyplace at all considering what's out there, and returned home after 2.5 weeks frustrated by how little I'd seen and done....and I'm an old hand at this and didn't actually try to see many of the usual sights because I've basically seen them all multiple times. Maybe my taste is different from yours, but still.

Starting in Texas, with a goal of riding paved roads for 30 days, and seeing as many of the 'biomes' as possible- did I get that right?

Well, the USA is a pretty big place, so I'd recommend focusing on two or three states (or less) and give yourself time to really do some exploring. I've lived in Colorado most of my life and never get tired of the riding here.

If you were to concentrate on the Rocky Mountain states of New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming, each state, by itself, would easily yield a good 30 day trip. But if you did include the three you would have low desert, high desert, juniper/pinon forests, ponderosa pine forest, high alpine and tundra to traverse.








You could also spend time on the Great Plains ,although that would not be my choice for good riding. I usually ride out there in the winter when the mountains are snowed in.



...........................shu

Thanks a lot for all the responses - some very helpful tips there.
Just a quick add: when I say 4k miles for everything, what I mean is you can draw a 4k mile circle around - so definitely not planning to just do that.

It seems most of suggestions advise to focus on a smaller number of states, which I think makes sense. Will be plotting a "must see" targets and routing around that and come back with specific q's.

Starting and end-point does not have to be Texas (although end-point there would be more convenient just considering I have someone to manage the sale).

One quick question on:

"Two other obvious points: first, purchase and sales for a 30 day trip is fairly marginal."

When you say fairly marginal is that relative to renting or shipping in? I looked at EagleRider and a 30 day rental with insurance would end up at ~$5k (ex. consumables) for their cheapest bikes (e.g. MT07 or RnineT - which i'm comfortable doing long-distance in as I typically travel extremely light) - my assumption is 5-6k miles depreciation + insurance on a purchased bike would come significantly below that, unless I am really missing something on costs involved on purchasing?

Regards

I agree with points made by others. 30 days will allow you see a tiny part of the USA. I think it's a good idea to avoid trying to cover too much ground.

I started thinking about suggesting a variety of routes, and decided to pick one, starting in Texas (assuming that your base will be Dallas or Houston?).

Head west - Big Bend - Marfa - Albuquerque - Taos - Mesa Verde - Moab - Antelope Canyon - Monument Valley - Grand Canyon - Sedona - Phoenix - Alamagordo - Abilene - back to the start. 5000 Km in 30 days. The negative of this is that it's all in somewhat similar climate.

So, other options starting somewhere else - New England, Pacific Coast, Route 66, Great Lakes...