New owner & member, about to do a 3 month US trip!

[AaronM]

Thanks. What do you mean by calling audibles? 

[maximo]

2 hours ago, AaronM said:

Thanks. What do you mean by calling audibles? 

In American football, the offense lines up with a play already pre-decided. But when the quarterback lines up and sees there's a better play than the one that had been determined, he will change it on the spot by yelling something to his team that means "never mind what we decided, let's do this instead!"  This is what is known as calling an audible. 

[AaronM]

Haha thanks... spot the English guy that knows nothing about (American) football! 🤣

[craz1]

Sounds like a great trip. Im assuming you will be able to access the forms here. If you travel through Northern Idaho you can give us a shout. I am in Coeur D Alene Idaho about 5 hours East Of Seattle, about 5 hours from Glacier, about 6 hours from Yellowstone.I also just bought a 2020  Tracer, but have a FJR1300 along with some 70's bike's that have been restored.

[AaronM]

Thanks, I'll let you know if/when I'm in your  neighborhood! 👍 70s bikes sound interesting...! 

[daboo]

I recommend heading through Utah's five National Parks on the route going west.  June can be a transition month and you can hit some bad weather in the high areas, and also some very hot weather.  July will be just incredibly hot.  Bring a cooling vest.  One with a collar would be helpful.

When I did my post-retirement ride in June 2017, we headed south from Seattle to Utah.  A major storm followed us.  When we passed through Nevada, we were just ahead of a snow storm that would've kept us from traveling.  But once in Utah, the weather was great.

I'll add some pics to add to your anticipation of the trip. 

Come up through Northern California and Central Oregon.  Lassen Volcanic National Park is well worth the stop.  Then Crater Lake.  Some of the best motorcycle riding roads in the USA are in that area.

If you get into Canada, head up to Banff and Jasper National Parks.  

An upper route would be to spend a few days up in the Puget Sound region.  Artist Point on Mt. Baker comes to mind.  Head over the North Cascades Highway going east.  Go down to Lolo Pass.  It's over 100 miles of twisty road along a river.  Stop in at Glacier National Park, drop down to the Tetons and Yellowstone National Park.  Head east through the park and go out of the park at Red Lodge.  Ride through the Chief Joseph Highway and Beartooth Pass.  Jaw-dropping scenery.  Then head over to the Badlands.

When you get to the Puget Sound area, let us know.  A number of us live here and we'd be happy to show you around.

A Garmin GPS would be helpful.  A smartphone will probably overheat in the temps you may encounter.  The Garmin GPS's have a weather app that'll show your route with the weather you'll encounter.  It's nice when you're hoping to dodge thunderstorms.

Chris

[AaronM]

Wow, thanks Chris! Really appreciate the offer, and the tips. And your pics are spectacular! 

I marked up a map with general direction of travel (clockwise route starting from  NY). Then I overlaid a to-scale map of the UK and only then did I realise quite how big the US is (you can see it inside of Montana!) 🤪

[betoney]

On 3/29/2021 at 6:27 AM, AaronM said:

Thanks! That's the plan, going to head west out of NYC to hit up CO, UT, CA, all the national parks, up through OR, WA then maybe a bit around BC and Alberta, drop down to MO and WY then home again. But we'll see, anything could happen! Leaving on 1 June. Cant wait! 

 

I have ridden in each state you have listed, so many good roads and so much to see.  You could easily spend a week in each of those states.

We are spoiled living out West, once you have ridden in any part of the Rocky Mountain range, you will never look at riding the same way again.

[craz1]

Daboo definitely hit most of the parks. You may want to keep in mind once you go through Zion head over to Vegas and cut through Death Valley (in the very early morning) and once in California check out Sequoia National park (a must see), go through the south end of the park first and then into the north, or drop down into Joshua Tree national park then up to Sequia. Then you can head up to the redwoods and then into Oregon. Once you get to Crater Lake(well 10-12 hours) your getting close to me. Give me a shout.

Man I could keep going about all the places to see. Could get confusing for you. Just sit down with the map and check things out.

[wordsmith]

Great plan to do this trip - but if the OP takes all suggestions he'll end up having a three YEAR ride on his hands!!  😉

[Wintersdark]

On 4/5/2021 at 10:12 PM, craz1 said:

Daboo definitely hit most of the parks. You may want to keep in mind once you go through Zion head over to Vegas and cut through Death Valley (in the very early morning) and once in California check out Sequoia National park (a must see), go through the south end of the park first and then into the north, or drop down into Joshua Tree national park then up to Sequia. Then you can head up to the redwoods and then into Oregon. Once you get to Crater Lake(well 10-12 hours) your getting close to me. Give me a shout.

Man I could keep going about all the places to see. Could get confusing for you. Just sit down with the map and check things out.

You're in Couer D'Alene? Lots of wonderful riding through there; that's a fixed part of my annual group bike trip down south of the border.  I absolutely love the 97 south out of CDA to Harrison.  Oh!  And breakfast at Jimmies Down The Street.  Mmmmm.

Stupid borders being closed.

[craz1]

Now you do know that Coeur D Alene is not the best place to live. I have been trying to get the word out that it really is a hell hole. The place to move is Spokane about 30 miles from here or Calgary once the borders open or anywhere other than Coeur D Alene as far as that goes. Not really much to do here.

[BuzzB]

On 3/30/2021 at 12:10 PM, rlambke19 said:

And I highly recommend you get the EvoTech Performance rad guard. 

Rob

Thanks for that. I just got a 2020 GT today. Just ordered one of these. Cheers.