Loop around the USA

[Lotus7]

My sojourn is over. 11,500 miles in 32 days. States I visited include CA, AZ, NM, TX, LA, MS, AL, GA, TN, SC, NC, VA, MD, WV, PA, NJ, NY, CT, RI, MA, ME, NH, VT, (NY, PA, WV again), OH, IN, IL, IA, MO, SD, WY, MT, ID, WA, and OR. Best cycling roads: AL, NC, PA; worst: IL and TX. There is a lot of variety out there, from rolling hills covered in green to covered in brown; beautiful valleys and magnificent mountains; water-logged fields (Iowa, sniff) to water-logged houses (LA). People everywhere are extremely friendly and approachable. Most folks can't imagine riding a bike, but I can't imagine enjoying a trip like this in a car. I visited many friends along the way, including spending 3 days on Cape Cod with my grad school mentor and 2 days with a fellow I met on my alps trip last summer, riding his favorite roads in Penna. I doubt I was on Interstates even 100 miles in all. Sometimes the only road would be an Interstate. Getting from IL into IA was a bit of a challenge. Quite a few bridges across the Mississippi were out, so I had to be creative. The Zumo GPS helps greatly in finding detours, but it doesn't know when bridges are out. By the way, the Zumo seems to be no better than plus or minus 500 feet in getting elevation. I tested it numerous times, including my high spot at 9500 feet.

The Ducati ran flawlessly, although my chain required adjusting 3 times (I'm guessing that means it's near the end of its life) and I had to bleed the back brake twice. The Duc's back brake seems to be an after-thought anyway, but when it's gone, it won't even slow me down or hold it on a slight incline. I think it's because the master cylinder is right above the exhaust pipe, and when I have to sit in traffic at 100+ F, that's when it seems to go. It is easy to bleed, but it is a pain anyway. The only reason I need a back brake is slowing and controlling the bike on slippery surfaces (turning at low speeds on oily surface) or helping control things on severe downhill gravel (Yes, there is a lot of that when you ask for grade-2 backroads!). I averaged 49.4 mpg, with highs of 52 in regions where there are no twisties to blast through. The Zumo GPS also performed perfectly, but Garmin has to find a better source of maps and Point-of-Interest files. I encountered many, many serious errors in both, with many of the errors being over 5 years out of date. The unit twice lost connectivity with my Scala Rider Bluetooth headset, but reconnected within seconds. The "needs a gasoline stop" feature worked well, although again, it's database of nearby gas stations was not even 50% accurate. I loaded around 30,000 POIs from POI-Factory, and they were great. As long as I had suitable icons for the categories, they would appear as I rode by (bike dealers, Dairy Queens, Taco Bells, etc.). I told quite a few Subway managers to get the company to create a POI file for their stores. Did you know there is even a POI file of Adult Gentlemen's clubs?! I'm hoping someone will create a POI file of available hotties. I really got horny on this trip.

I loved the Michelin Pilot Road 2 tires that I mounted just before I left. They are extremely sticky in hard cornering, and when the dealer in Pittsburgh removed them at 7700 miles, they appeared to still have at least 2 k miles left. They weren't noticeably flat in the center. The Metzler Z6 tires that replaced them are a disappointment. I feel the performance is considerably less than the Michelins. The Pittsburgh dealer is mostly a BMW store, so he had the Z6s in stock (I would have had to pre-order the PR2s). He said the Z6s are the recommended tires for BMW sport touring bikes. He really needs to get recalibrated. I am dead serious about this. Cornering on them does not inspire confidence, and in rain I could feel the rear sliding. Tar snakes drive the Z6s crazy, and I find myself all over the road when snakes are present. When new they had a very, very slippery feel, whereas Michelin seems to have found a technique to remove the mold releasing compound. The tech who put on the Metzlers noticed that I had no chicken strips on the Michelins (due in part to following my friend and his sportbike for two days), but I still have not felt comfortable enough with the Z6s to find the limits. Note, too, that the Z6s, with 3700 miles on them, show considerable flattening in the center. To top it all, they cost me more than the PR2s! Lesson learned. It will be back to the Michelins.

As far as planning for a long trip, I used Map Source set on grade-2 backroads while planning. But there is no substitute for referring to AAA maps to be sure. Still, I got into many situations where the road was gravel/dirt. Sometimes I kept going, but often I turned back. Downhill gravel is awfully hard to deal with if you are shod with street tires.

I camped as much as possible. As a result, I had 95 lbs of cargo (camping gear, oil filters, tools). Several times I found a friendly dealer who would allow me to pull into a spare bay, do my own oil change with oil purchased from him, and go on my way. The Pittsburgh Ducati dealer performed the usual service at about 7.5 k miles.

[Bill_Anderson]

Quite a trip. Will photos be following?

[scott]

I can't wait to hear more details and see some photos!!! Nice!

[Desmo_Demon]

Sounds like a really nice trip. I'd like to do something like that, someday.....well, a bike trip longer than two weeks.

So, what part of the country did you like the most?

[Lotus7]

In answer to Desmo Demon's question, the ride over 14 alt amd Chief Joseph hiway in northern WY (Big Horn Mtns, Sheridan to Yellowstone) was spectacular and an excellent road to blast on. The small twisty roads in Pennsylvania were fun to ride fast on and were nearly without traffic.

I notice DD hasn't been to Oregon. We have some wonderful roads. I'd be pleased to plan a tour for you. Northern CA is also great.

[Desmo_Demon]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

I notice DD hasn't been to Oregon. We have some wonderful roads. I'd be pleased to plan a tour for you. Northern CA is also great.

I appreciate the invite. My wife and I keep talking about a long trip. We were going to this year until prices of gas shot up over $4/gallon. I really want to get my last four states.

[jayman4911]

Thats all..... Weak! Just kidding! Your sooo lucky to have the time!

Jason

[jayman4911]

photos????

[bradyh20]

Originally Posted by Lotus7

By the way, the Zumo seems to be no better than plus or minus 500 feet in getting elevation. I tested it numerous times, including my high spot at 9500 feet.

This is a known issue with using the time difference of arrival technique (aka GPS). There are also times where you experience dillution of precision due to the geometry of the constellation of GPS satellites in view. (or the few your receiver decided to select). There's even different accuracies that a receiver can achieve in the Lattitude and Longitude directions. At any time, your receiver is most accurate in a given direction based on the GPS constellation and the software in your receiver.

Want an upgrade? Get a receiver with more channels. (Realistic answer) Or, call the USAF and ask them for a DAGR, get the crypto keys for it from the NSA, and then realize that the Garmin interface is infintely better, and deal with your 500m accuracy lol...

What's interesting is that GPS is even less accurate at providing true velocity data, and a lot of motorcyclists like to use GPS receivers to find their velocities. In the end, a lot of programs simply use the rate of change of your measured position, not the actual measured velocity from the GPS signals, and that measurement ends up being reasonably accurate.

Anyways, if you want to know more about how your GPS receiver, let me know...

[plato]

Some of the best reading I have ever done is of these kinds of trips, with detailed write ups and great photos.

I'd really, really love to hear the full story.