Touring in the States ?

Thinking about a biking tour in the US in 2007 ......

Probably ride east to west....

Options are to take my bike, or hire out there.. amongst others..

For taking my bike...

Obvious pros include - bike is familiar, no rental charge, replacement bike
(?) if fault develops
and cons - bike may be damaged in transit, shipping
costs, Insurance situation,
possibly no quick fix if something
breaks

and no doubt others....

Anyone here done it, either hiring there, or transporting from here, and
what were the pro's and cons in practice ?
and ? best time of year to do it ?

Thanks,

Nick

CG125 (no- not really !)

 

Nick emerged from their own little world to say

Here's a travelogue from a chap who shipped his R1150GS over there in Feb
2004, returning to UK in Nov 2004.

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16412

 

Do what we did. Offer to host a septic or couple of same, show them the
UK, lend them a bike, tour with them here.

And they reciprocate.

Made some very firm friends that way, and had a whale of a time in the
US into the bargain.

 

Ditto.... June for 3 months

Ditto.... then up and down a bit

Taking XJ900F, and will probably buy a bike in New York area for Jean.

Why not ? They have bike shops in the staes ....

best time ? When you can afford the time and money
Avoid death valley in Sept (apparently)

 

See you ride a "naked" FJR1300 - which is on my short list - was thinking of
buying out there and either bringing it back
but don't know if the paperwork would be impossible or too much aggggggro to
attempt...

Any idea what the freight cost is each way ?

Nick

 

thinking of

No , I ride an XJR 1300, which has the old FJR lump, tuned for torque and
lower BHP

Still investigating this option

I believe it to be 500-600 for a round trip that drops off in NY and picks
up on the West Coast.

 

I'm just back from a 6 month trip that included 3 1/2 months in the US
& Canada.
I shipped my bike from London to Montreal with
http://www.motorcycleservices.com/
£800 one way. Not the cheapest but by far the easiest of the shippings
I did.

One killer cost is getting temporary US insurance. I was £500 for 4
months !! (and I might have misrepresented my driving history

Hiring is expensive and for more than 2 weeks is a waste of money.

If I were going for 3 months again I'd find a bike shop that would sell
me a bike & buy it back. A new blade there is around $8,000. (Or borrow
a bike as TOG said). Or buy a bike in Canada, ride to the US & get the
tax back then ship it home or sell it in the US. I can probably
remember some of the bike shops that offered to buy back a bike if I
dig through the business cards I gathered.

Also - riding East to West ?
There are good roads on the East and good roads on the West.
The bit in the middle is dull, straight and flat.
I squared off my _front_ tyre crossing the middle and I stayed beside
the Missouri river in the hope of finding _some_ corners.

Best time of year ?
June through September was almost always too hot for the leather jacket
so I bought an armoured mesh jacket that was perfect. Above 10,000 ft
in the rockies it got chilly and the Canadian rockies were bloody cold
in August.
The only time the heat was bad was crossing the salt lake desert (42C)
but later that day I was back in the mountains where it was lovely.
Mid summer on the East coast can be very humid but I wouldn't do the
rockies any other time. Even in mid summer it can snow so the weather
can dictate your route.

Details of the trip and maps are under the RTW link on b4time.net
Any questions drop me a line - or if you want a copy of the Garmin US
road & rec


Hope this rambling helps.

 

Why?

I did Death Valley last September, although had to be careful
in parts due to the localised flooding.

 

*ding* !