Travel advice for new Silverwing traveler

Hello to everyone on the forum,
I have the honor of installing several porducts of DennisB's on my 2011 Swing. Now I need to get down to the serious planning of my trip to see my new grandson next year in Denver. Traveling to Denver on the Swing to see the new grandson is what my wife (who died in June) wanted to do and I want to fofill her wishes. It's a 1268 mile trip that I have done many times in a car, but I've never gone that distance on a bike. I know that to a lot of you this is nothing but for me this is an adventure that I want to go well. So I'm asking for any advice from the pros that may save me from making bad choices.

Thanks for your help,
Chuck (dwizard)

dwizard

Welcome to the site.

Check out this thread: https://www.silverwing600.com/t324-preparing-for-a-long-distance-trip?highlight=long+distance

WOW now thats what i call a trip.
I live in uk so cant comment on your highways etc .
What i would be doing is carefully plan my route and split it into sections for a daily basis.If the going is good go a little further each day if the going gets hard dont push yourself. Just enjoy your bike and the views along with the freedom and watch the world go by.
Thats what i call a memory i think if was state side i would be tagging along for company for you.
Please keep us all informed as to progress and preperations etc .
Oh and welcome to the forum its a really great place to be.
derekj

My first suggestion would be to wait a week or two after doing any work on the S/W just to make every thing is OK.If the tires have more than 5k I would replace them.Ask me how I know.We stop around every 100 miles.First time stretch and walk around the bike,the second time for gas. Keep hydrated. Good luck. Howard

Hello,
First of all this trip you are planning is for pleasure, you don't have to do it, you're doing it because it is something fun to do.
Take your time and don't set yourself ridiculous targets, give yourself plenty of time so that if you want to stop and 'chill' for a while you can do but reach your target for that day. If you don't reach it then who is going to chew you out about it?
Plan your route carefully. Sat Nav (GPS) is a great feature especially when you are on your own. I use the TomTom Itinery feature but creating POIs of the towns / locations you'll be passing through. Creating routes when looking at a big map (either paper or digital) in the comfort of your own home is far better than trying to read a map at the side of the road when it is pissing down.

Don't take too much stuff, sending clothes to Denver by post before you go and getting confirmation the parcel has arrived will save a lot of space. They can also be sent home afterwards or left there for your next trip.

There are lists on the forum of what you should take in the way of spares and tools.
I don't know if you are a backpacker or do camping trips, if you are you know how much you can carry and what things you take and never use. (We all do - I've just done 1000+ miles in Scotland over 4½ days and one of the panniers was never opened!). No hotels were pre-booked so never had to ride longer or in crap conditions. On the four nights there was only one hotel we stopped at that couldn't offer us rooms, turned out well as the one we did finally stay in the night was great.

Enjoy the planning, and enjoy the trip.

Cheers,

Don't worry about your SW.She will make it for sure.A belt for your back would be usefull as well as a GPS as mentioned above.DARE it!!!

This is my second attempt...but maybe I am being edited out by those who really haven't ridden or ride much.

So----get professional quality riding gear, I like rubber overshoes instead of "waterproof boots" . Several pr of gloves for cold or wet.

Tools---enough to remove either front or rear wheel, tire plug/repair kit, pump.

Speaking from 57 years of doing this, your trip really not far, 3-4 easy days, 2 in pinch. Camping? then 300 mile days better.

SilverWing I carry spare drive belt. I use nothing like GPS=waste of time in my book/riding distraction. Ear Plugs---carry many pr---for comfort I go thru 2 pr in day.

See what happens this time.

If you will be camping, check out this site/checklist:

http://micapeak.com/checklists/mclist.html

Even if not camping it could be useful, even if only as a reference point.
Ride safe, and enjoy.
Condolences on your loss.

I have been following this post and want to thank everyone that has posted, I am planning a few trips next year and need all the information I can get from fellow riders ! Thanks !!!!!!!!!!!!

Stop when you feel like it and certainly stop before fatigue sets in. If the weather ahead doesn't look to your liking, then pull off and get a room. I use GPS and put routes in before the trip - usually can hear the speaker on the GPS giving me commands but I also can link it up via Bluetooth w/ the Scala com set on my helmet - I feel that this is very safe since I get audio cues on which direction to take instead of having to divert my gaze from the road to the GPS.
Main thing is enjoy yourself, plan a couple of extra days into your travel plan in case of weather or mechanical delays and take a cell phone to stay in touch w/ relatives.

Good advice there Ed for anyone doing a trip.

Cheers,

If you are using the stock seat, watch time in the saddle. On a recent trip I put 11 hours in the saddle and only covered 325 miles! Butt got sore then each day after that I had problems. Moral to story? Don't worry so much about the miles in a day but more the hours on your saddle...

Just my 2 cents...

Chuck:

As you will be heading east just 25 miles south of me, keep us abreast of your schedule and I will try to "do" a section of the trip with you, either on my Siverwing trike or Goldwing trike. I would suspect that there might be others of us along the way who could accompany you on various sections of the trip. It never hurts to have a traveling buddy.

Rob

I'd only say travel at your own pace and enjoy it. Use the net to search out decent accommodation and interesting places to eat along the way. Take only half of the clothing you'll think you'll need, and I doubt if you'll need to carry any spares or extra tools along.

Maybe there's favourite places along your route where you and your wife always liked to stop and enjoy a coffee and a piece of pie, you could keep that tradition going for her.

Thank you all for the great advice, but particularly TARMACBURNER2 for his sage advice. It's wonderful to know that there are so many people in so many places that care about my trip. I'm truely grateful. I am planning to leave July 15, 2013 from Portland and averageing 325 - 360 miles a day. Porbably staying at Motel 6's. I'm an early morning person, so I'll probably be leaveing about 5:00 am and stopping as may times as necessary (small blatter). I've never liked the road in Salt Lake City so I'll be taking I-84 at Ogden, Utah to avoid the rough roads and traffic. My kids (who live in Denver) insist that traveling across Colorado is better than Wyoming. They have a point in that I didn't find any Honda dealers listed in Wyoming. I've been adding features to my equipment to aid in my trip needs: HTC Thunderbolt Smart Phone with Verison Service, Scala G4 head set for my SHOI, Garmin ZUMO 665 GPS, SAMSUNG Galaxy Player 3.6 (to listen to audio books) and I just ordered a stop & go tire patch kit. For my physical abilities, I've been attending the Oregon Scooter Club's rides. The last three rides have been approximately 200 miles each through the forest mountain roads of Oregon and Washington. Regarding anyone will to ride with me, I'd be delighted. I'd love to have others to ride with. I'm not fast and I try to keep to the speed limit and I'm known to have to take pee breaks. I've chosen the time to leave that I have to avoid snow and ice (I'm a woos). Next week I'm hopeing to do a test run to Pendleton, Oregon and back, which is about equal to one day on the trip. Any additional advice is most welcome.
Once again I am most grateful for your advice.
Chuck (dwizard)

Welcome Chuck!

Sounds like you are well on your way to being prepared, and doing all the right things! Enjoy the ride!

Hello Chuck,

Sounds like you are getting prepared for the trip. Once you have done the one day trip then the next stage is a two day one covering similar mileages each day. A good test of stamina.

An excellent tool for planning you route is 'Tyre'
http://www.tyretotravel.com/

You can see your route, drag it to use different roads, it shows you the mileage and can save in Garmin format (I assume files can be saved directly to the Garmin as well).

As you will be travelling through different States you may want to carry a phrase book to help you understand the locals. Minimum you need to know is how to ask 'Where is the nearest petrol station / toilet?'

Cheers,

Get a AAA travel insurance. For the cost , Help is just a phone call away.

I have AAA+ which includes towing for my bikes as well. A few bucks more but the piece of mind is worth it.

Chuck,

We just returned from a 5300 mile round trip to Tacoma(by car, not bike, my wife does not ride), following some of the route you describe. Since you have traveled this route before, you no doubt know what is available, but there are Motel 6's along I84 at Pendleton, Baker City, and Ontario, Ore., I80 Rock Springs, Laramie, Wy. I followed I84 to I80 in Utah(to avoid Salt lake City) thru southern Wyoming to Cheyenne. I also travel south thru eastern Colorado to Amarillo avoiding Denver(no offense, but the traffic is a bear even in a car!).

If you have any interest in any scenic routes, and drive thru Wyoming, consider the Snowy Range Hwy 130, Walcott to Laramie. Also the Sheep Creek Canyon Loop west side of Flaming Gorge res.(Need Utah state map for this, not shown in Atlas I have.) is an amazing off the beaten path scenic drive, and you may see some of the namesake bighorns.

If you would like to discuss further, shoot me a note.
Good luck with your planning and the trip. Recommend you pay attention to fuel gauge as some of these roads(including interstates) can have significant distances between stations.

One little accessory I find is great for both long stretches of road and also if it is positioned at the inner end of the throttle allows the thumb to control the throttle. Something when tootling through towns and villages at 30mph or less.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Motorcycle-Cruise-Control-Cramp-Buster-CrampBuster-/130642404683?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item1e6ae4e54b#ht_1362wt_1159

This is from ebay UK but I bet they are available on the other side of the pond.

Cheers,