Hello Everyone!

This being my first post, im looking for a little advice from the good folks on this forum.

The planets have aligned, and a friend and I are finally getting round to a much talked about motorcycle trip around the states which we have been planning since we were 'wee bairns'.

With me being made redundant from my job, having permission from the missus and a good amount of savings and my friend having just completed a building of a house the timing is right and it feels like a now or never situation!

After having done a few 'practice' trips over the years around Europe on my Triumph Explorer, now its time for the 'Bigger Adventure' and we have booked out flights from UK to LA in June, we plan to travel for 3 - 4 months. We are going to apply for a B2 travel visa and we are currently arranging trip to London to visit embassy.



This being my first time in the states we are looking to see and be part of as much as we can for the time we are there. We are looking to pack the tent and camp the majority of the time whenever possible so any advice on wild camping laws in the states would be greatly appreciated or any recommended routes covering the whole country in 3 months would also be appreciated.

Points of interest for me would be yellowstone national park, highway 1 (California), parts of route 66, rockies, Chicago, Joshua tree, deep south. (To be honest I want to see everything).

We have a contact in LA and a contact in Houston who is willing to provide garage space and tools to prepare the bikes.

The plan is to purchase second hand Harleys when we arrive (then sell again before we leave). Harleys are bikes im not too familiar with so if anyone has any advice on what would be suitable for a tour that would be great. (Im 6ft 5). This is all new territory for me as I am more used to adventure bikes, riding the Scottish and European twisties (quite often in the pishin rain).

Not completely sure on the differences between a sportster, dyna, fat boy etc...... I figured the best way would be to go to a HD dealer and find out, however being in north Scotland, the closest dealer is in Edinburgh.

Any advice on routes, precautions, bikes, things to see would be absolutely brilliant.




Cheers,

Lewis

Hi, your trip sounds great.
Are you locked onto L.A. as a starting point ? Bikes are cheaper in the middle of the country than on either coast. Bikes are cheaper again in the off season.
So.Cal has a year round riding season even though most in So. Cal don't ride if the temps are below 70f.
Since you are already on a heavy bike , I'd recommend going for a Road King . It comes with saddlebags and a rear rack can be added.
So, if you're not already committed to a L.A. flight , land in Chicago , seek out a couple of bikes, head west along the upper tier of states . Hit the Black Hills in S.Dakota , Yellowstone , the Grand Tetons turn north to Glacier Park in Montana west to Seattle through the Cascades . Turn left and you have the coast all the way to Baja , Mexico.

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ride,smile,repeat as nessasary

Thanks for the advice, spot on!

Yes we are committed to fly into LA, however we have considered getting the greyhound bus to Houston where we have a contact with garage space! So if bikes are likely to be cheaper in Houston thats probably the best plan.

I will definitely look into a road king and start getting a better idea of whats available on craigslist/ebay.

Thanks again, much appreciated and very useful.

I'm doing something similar this year but a little later than you - flying in to NY in late Aug and back to the UK around mid Oct (haven't worked out the return date yet). We're also going to buy secondhand and then sell at the end but as my wife refused to get the tats needed to look good on a Harley we're going GoldWing instead (not just for the luxo barge + codgers look - there are a couple of other reasons)

If you're going to buy/sell privately from eBay / Craigs list it could take quite a bit of time - especially the selling part, with no certainty you'll get what you want. To try and sort that out and get round the paperwork side of things I have a friend in New Jersey who's been looking for suitable bikes for a month or two now, and we've found ... one! Ok, it's winter and when spring arrives and the bike world wakes up there will probably be more but it could still be a time consuming issue if you just roll up and start looking. Our plan is to get our friend to buy, own, insure and check out the bike but using our money. Any repairs, servicing etc that he picks up on I'll do when I get there a couple of days ahead of my wife. He'll then be able to sell it at leisure when we come back.

We looked at hiring but for the amount of time we'd need it the cost came to a good percentage of the cost of buying. In fact if we did two trips and just chucked it away afterwards it would be about the same as a rental. We also thought about dealer sale / buyback but we couldn't find any dealer in the NY area that would do that on a Wing.

We're still in the midst of route planning but it's roughly southern route heading west and northern route heading back east. We're trying to keep the big name tourist sights to a minimum but I suppose you have to do some (my wife says Gracelands is non negotiable !).

I'd be interested to see what you come up with as a route - we're nothing if not flexible with this kind of stuff and I suspect (know) that we'll end up changing it all both before we leave and while we're riding.

So you mean to do a USA trip, not North America, because you are skipping by Canada. and BC is one of the most beautiful places in the world with some of the best roads

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When you go to Yellowstone, make sure you ride out the northeast of the park and take the Beartooth Highway. You will not regret.

A little side trip from Joshua Tree. Go to Pioneer Town and have dinner at Pappy and Harriet's on a Friday or Saturday night.

The best part of Highway 1 is from Morro Bay north.

As long as you're in California, Yosemite National Park is amazing. If you're able, go after Labor Day (first weekend in September). Also, there are 3 wonderful passes that cross the Sierra, I'm just not remembering names tonight! : )
Send me a pm if you're interested. I live in California.

I'd say come for a visit, but I'm heading to the UK this summer!

It would be good to do some homework regarding hds the electraglide was not sold in cal but $3-4000 cheaper besides alot of the bikes there are ready for another topend as many are idling most of their lives going from one shopnto another in lS vegas their riding season is short arizonia is a place where the electra glide was sold have a great time n enjoy the comfort of floorboards

Thank you everyone for the advice and taking the time to reply. What a fantastic forum with great suggestions!

Less than a week now until we leave and trying to get final preparations underway!

Will keep you all posted on this thread with how we get on!!

Hey guys! My wife and I somewhat recently completed a 16,000 mile, 3 month trip around the US. We could certainly offer lots of advice, feel free to contact us personally for as much as you need We could probably also help with some accommodation, mechanical help, etc, through family/friends/connections throughout the US. We've also been planning to go back and re-do the trip based on our earlier experience, so many things we could do so much better, in hindsight! Would love to pass on that knowledge and see how/if it helps you!

You can see some of our trip and contact us via our old FB page, "www.facebook.com/3monthsand2wheels", or just send me a PM here. Excited to see how your trip works out, honestly, if I were still in the US, I'd beg to join up! Alas, we are already over in Ireland, about to start our own Scotland/UK/Europe adventure

Best of luck, hope to chat!
gw

Ok, so what happened?

Did they managed to buy bikes in the USA? I just started looking into this and reading DMV's websites in several States (East coast) about requirements to register motorbikes... and it seems there is a requirement to prove residency... asking for documents only residents could provide.


Seems a big stumbling block...


Or do people buy bikes from private sellers and don't bother registering the bikes? Not keen on shoddy stuff! We would like to buy 2 XT250s and bring them back to the UK at the end.


Otherwise we will be shipping our old endure bikes.

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Maria

www.franglais-riders.com