Hello all,
I just got home from my first big summer trip! I went from St. Paul MN, to Seattle, and back. I will have to check for exact distance that I traveled but it was approximately 4K miles in 11 days. I will post more details of the general route tomorrow so look for the edit post. Super tired from the trip home so goodnight to all. Post any questions in advance and I will answer them tomorrow.
Edit: Alright, time to put in some specifics from the trip..
The first afternoon/night I left work strapped my bag to the bike and went 165 miles to St. Leo MN. Around 5 a.m. I woke up and took off for Mitchell SD (175 miles) where I was meeting my buddy who had left a day or two earlier. From there headed to Bad Lands National Park. Cruised through there ate at Wall Drug and then headed west towards Sundance. Ran into a storm late that afternoon and Stayed in Spearfish SD instead (320 miles). The next day we pushed west towards Yellowstone. My buddy's bike was having some issues so the travel was a little slower and we ended up staying in Billings MT (325 miles). The next day we cut south through Red Lodge and did the Beartooth Pass. This day was probably my favorite part of the entire trip. Beautiful scenery on this pass, if you haven't done it.. you should! Went into Cooke City MT and ate at a little restaurant called Beds'n'Buns, which was delicious. From there went into Yellowstone, another beautiful park I recommend checking out. For the record buffalo are terrifying when you are on a motorcycle. They seemed to either charge toward the road or away every time we passed them. Saw some grizzly bears from a distance as well. After we made it 30 miles into the park there was road work which included 10 miles of gravel. Decided to head back and ended up staying in Cooke City. Rented a cabin from the restaurant we ate at for about 65 bucks. Loved staying in this town, was nestled in the mountains and was really fun drinking at the saloons in town. The next day we had to back track and took Chief Joseph Hwy, another scenic bypass. Ended up hitting more construction and went all the way back through Red Lodge towards Billings.. Finally made it to the freeway and stayed in Bozeman MT (approx 275 miles after detours). The next day went to Coeur d'Alene ID and camped out there (375 miles). The next day went to Seattle and stayed with friends for a few days to recharge (320 miles). Had plans to go south down the coast but decided to head back early instead. Now the most miles I had done in a day at this point was just under 500. The trip back we just sat on I-90 the whole way since it was the fastest way back. Made it home in 2.5 days of riding. Seattle to Bozeman MT 680 miles. Bozeman to Mitchell SD 788 miles. Mitchell SD to St. Paul MN 340 miles. Trip total was just under 3900 miles!! I can't account for some of the side traveling we did in some of the towns and didn't account for the Badlands and what not. According to my trip it was around 4200 miles.
I did this trip as cheaply as I could from a touring set up stand point. It could have been less expensive had I eatin out less and camped more. If you have specific questions of what I brought or how I set up the bike let me know and I can try to describe and/or get pictures for you. Definitely have an idea of what I want to do to the bike to make it somewhat more comfortable for the next big trip.
One thing I would like to say is that if you are looking to be comfortable on a bike it is probably not going to happen. Once you get over 4-5 hundred miles in a day you just start hurting. If you want to be semi-comfortable either stop often or take a car. If you take a car you lose out on a lot of the fun that comes with riding the bike. You can do things to make it more tolerable i.e. gear or a different bike. Maybe after I get a different set up on the 6r this opinion will change. I think it is just give and take with the style of traveling. Just a random thought..
- Tom
I just got home from my first big summer trip! I went from St. Paul MN, to Seattle, and back. I will have to check for exact distance that I traveled but it was approximately 4K miles in 11 days. I will post more details of the general route tomorrow so look for the edit post. Super tired from the trip home so goodnight to all. Post any questions in advance and I will answer them tomorrow.
Edit: Alright, time to put in some specifics from the trip..
The first afternoon/night I left work strapped my bag to the bike and went 165 miles to St. Leo MN. Around 5 a.m. I woke up and took off for Mitchell SD (175 miles) where I was meeting my buddy who had left a day or two earlier. From there headed to Bad Lands National Park. Cruised through there ate at Wall Drug and then headed west towards Sundance. Ran into a storm late that afternoon and Stayed in Spearfish SD instead (320 miles). The next day we pushed west towards Yellowstone. My buddy's bike was having some issues so the travel was a little slower and we ended up staying in Billings MT (325 miles). The next day we cut south through Red Lodge and did the Beartooth Pass. This day was probably my favorite part of the entire trip. Beautiful scenery on this pass, if you haven't done it.. you should! Went into Cooke City MT and ate at a little restaurant called Beds'n'Buns, which was delicious. From there went into Yellowstone, another beautiful park I recommend checking out. For the record buffalo are terrifying when you are on a motorcycle. They seemed to either charge toward the road or away every time we passed them. Saw some grizzly bears from a distance as well. After we made it 30 miles into the park there was road work which included 10 miles of gravel. Decided to head back and ended up staying in Cooke City. Rented a cabin from the restaurant we ate at for about 65 bucks. Loved staying in this town, was nestled in the mountains and was really fun drinking at the saloons in town. The next day we had to back track and took Chief Joseph Hwy, another scenic bypass. Ended up hitting more construction and went all the way back through Red Lodge towards Billings.. Finally made it to the freeway and stayed in Bozeman MT (approx 275 miles after detours). The next day went to Coeur d'Alene ID and camped out there (375 miles). The next day went to Seattle and stayed with friends for a few days to recharge (320 miles). Had plans to go south down the coast but decided to head back early instead. Now the most miles I had done in a day at this point was just under 500. The trip back we just sat on I-90 the whole way since it was the fastest way back. Made it home in 2.5 days of riding. Seattle to Bozeman MT 680 miles. Bozeman to Mitchell SD 788 miles. Mitchell SD to St. Paul MN 340 miles. Trip total was just under 3900 miles!! I can't account for some of the side traveling we did in some of the towns and didn't account for the Badlands and what not. According to my trip it was around 4200 miles.
I did this trip as cheaply as I could from a touring set up stand point. It could have been less expensive had I eatin out less and camped more. If you have specific questions of what I brought or how I set up the bike let me know and I can try to describe and/or get pictures for you. Definitely have an idea of what I want to do to the bike to make it somewhat more comfortable for the next big trip.
One thing I would like to say is that if you are looking to be comfortable on a bike it is probably not going to happen. Once you get over 4-5 hundred miles in a day you just start hurting. If you want to be semi-comfortable either stop often or take a car. If you take a car you lose out on a lot of the fun that comes with riding the bike. You can do things to make it more tolerable i.e. gear or a different bike. Maybe after I get a different set up on the 6r this opinion will change. I think it is just give and take with the style of traveling. Just a random thought..
- Tom
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