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First Long Distance Trip: Ohio to New York!


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Hey all,
 
I just hit 700 miles on the FJ and I have my first service appointment all setup for next week. I am planning on making my first long distance trip the weekend of Sep. 12th departing from Canton, OH and ending up in Greenwood Lake, NY. I'll be covering 435 miles each way and the majority of the trip will be on I-80 through Pennsylvania. I've made this trip by car a million times and usually only stop for gas and a quick bite to eat. This time I am looking to make longer and more substantial stops to stretch my legs and get re-energized. Anybody have any experience riding through the I-80 Pennsylvania/New York Corridor? Any interesting stops along the way, local places to eat, or detours that are worth riding? Sound off Pennsylvanians! 
 
 
 
 
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http://nyx.meccahosting.com/~a0000975/Great_Routes_and_Rides/Best_Motorcycle_Rides.htm
 
This site has alot of routes to choose from. go to the PA section and you'll see alot of choices. The Hyner route is in "North Central Pennsylvania - West". you can first view them in Google maps, then download the ones you want. Cheers!
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http://nyx.meccahosting.com/~a0000975/Great_Routes_and_Rides/Best_Motorcycle_Rides.htm 
This site has alot of routes to choose from. go to the PA section and you'll see alot of choices. The Hyner route is in "North Central Pennsylvania - West". you can first view them in Google maps, then download the ones you want. Cheers!
I create my routes from scratch, usually with as many small twisty roads as possible. It takes me a lot of time, but the results are great. I use googleMaps almost exclusively. Streetview where available, but zooming in on their satellite view also usually shows which small back roads are paved. I *hate* riding interstate style roads, but use them once in a while to get through a busy area when detouring around isn't feasible.
 
But since Moose is planning on using I-80, he probably doesn't have enough time for Back Roads. Period. :)
 
FJ-09, 690 Enduro R.
Back Roads. Period.
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http://nyx.meccahosting.com/~a0000975/Great_Routes_and_Rides/Best_Motorcycle_Rides.htm 
This site has alot of routes to choose from. go to the PA section and you'll see alot of choices. The Hyner route is in "North Central Pennsylvania - West". you can first view them in Google maps, then download the ones you want. Cheers!
I create my routes from scratch, usually with as many small twisty roads as possible. It takes me a lot of time, but the results are great. I use googleMaps almost exclusively.
While I love the drag-and-drop goodness of Google Maps routes I always had trouble getting finished routes out of GMaps into the Garmin GPSes.  There are transcoding tools that would work some of the time, but it was always several steps and more than half the time the result wouldn't load into the GPS correctly.  This is such an obvious use of mapping stuff that it amazes me that Google doesn't at least try to make it easier. 
Harley Ride Planner is like GMaps (the OLD GMaps with the simple, intuitive interface) except it has an export feature that works like a charm.  That's my new go-to for route planning.  It's so good it makes me think maybe I should buy a Harley to support stuff like that.  (There are multiple reasons for not doing that, but still, they deserve some support for it.)
 
I'll get route tips from friends, mostly, and then take the basic route from HRP and drag the route over different roads that people recommended or that look interesting on the map.  Download it into the GPS and then go enjoy the ride without worrying about getting lost on longer trips.
 
I try to do some days without any planning at all, though, just "let's go thataway" and see what we see.  If there are mountains there are bound to be some interesting roads, and not all of them will dead-end. :-)
2015 FJ-09 (Mary Kate)
2007 Daytona 675 (Tabitha, ret.)
1998 Vulcan 800 (Ret.)
2001 SV650S (Veronica, Ret.)
2000 Intruder 800 (Ret.)
 
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Thanks for all the advice all! I'm going to try and get off of the highway here and there for some fun in PA. Anyone that has had the pleasure of traveling I-80 for any long distance will know how monotonous it can get.
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Since your not far from it, you should shoot down and ride through Centrailia PA.  I've always wanted to go through but never quite get east that far.  Its an old abandoned coal mining town that still has coal fires burning underneath.  I've only been on a small stretch of 80 while heading north from Altoona, but the scenery out there is great.  I would have loved to get off the highway, but was not on my bike and heading to a wedding.
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