Cross Country Trip 2012: Need advice and suggestions

[DesmoTillDeath]

Further update of the Google MyMap.

Added: Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah
            Camp sites
            More east coast stuff

Got my two pelican cases and going to use the Fab shop at my work to make the rack soon. Gotta CAD it up on solidworks first.
Installed a cheapo integrated taillight to eliminate the Giraffe-ear rear turn signals. This always me to put the panniers farther back.
Made a template for a windshield which will soon be made out of Lexan (poly-carbonate). 3/16" thick should do it.
Also got a hold of the Go Cruise cruise control device. Works pretty good.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was added to the order as well. 3 chapters in and its pretty good. 
Haynes manual came too. It seems that it will get the job done. I would like to get the book from desmotimes as well but gotta wait for the next paycheck.

Need a cooler jacket!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was in the 80's today  and I was so uncomfortable in my alpine star Verona jacket. Even with the front totally unzipped.
Any help is appreciated. I'm thinking perforated leather or something.

[DanTheMan]

Change your Utah route to include some of this stuff



Zion NP, Camping and some cool sites, Narrows, angels landing
Monument valley
If you want to do some dirt riding, the 16 mile loop of Valley of the gods (Red Section) is a cool detour, flat gravel road very doable on streetbike with some comfort in dirt.
Mesa Verde NP.

Here is a link to my tour last summer, lots of pics



Zion


Monument Valley


Valley of he Gods


Mesa Verde

[ggemelos]

There are some great suggestions in the thread so far.  I have done a bunch of 4K+ mile motorcycle road trips, a couple on my M1100.  The only thing I would add is to set off with a rough idea of where you want to go and play a lot of it by ear.  There is nothing that can kill a trip faster than over planning.  Get a good road atlas, I recommend Rand McNally delux midsize atlas, and after every day of riding just meet up with your group and decide the next day's route.  You would be surprised how often you end up going a completely different route than you initially thought you would take and it generally ends up being a lot more fun.  Besides, isn't the freedom and uncertainty the whole appeal of a road trip?  In terms of places to stay, you can often just roll into a town and find a place to crash.  Have a great time. 

[EvilSteve]

Good advice from ggemelos and DanTheMan is right, Zion and Utah in general is beautiful.

There's so much to see in the US, it's a shame so many don't make time for it. 

[DesmoTillDeath]

Solid pictures of that super red sand!
What camera were you using?

I would be less concerned with planning if I didn't have multiple different schedules to keep in mind and my own deadlines.
The trip is first a commute and second an adventure unfortunately. I hate that that is how it ended up but I gotta get to NY by a certain day to start the new job.
That's not to say I'm going to squander the opportunity! That's why I took 14 days to go one way 

I'm going to ask the other two members of the crew if they are cool with the dirt trackin through Valley of the Gods. Me and one other are down.

Today the chargers (4x) showed up.


Battery terminals


USB car charger


Should work fine.

[WarrenJ]

As far as Frank Lloyd Wright is concerned, his studio and school is in Spring Green, WI - pretty much right in the middle of the best twisties our relatively flat state has to offer.  I'm in East Central Wisconsin, between Green Bay and Milwaukee and am at your disposal when you are in the area.

[Bun-bun]

Check out ADVrider.com for a good bit of moto-specific, though not Monster-specific info.

www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=149585  This is a thread full of folks who offer yard space/spare rooms, etc. across the country and the world. It's up to 104 pages now, so there''s probably some help there for you.

www.advrider/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=57 Trip planning. An entire subforum dedicated to planning long motorcycle trips.

www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163146  Road food. 82 pages of good places to eat.
Good luck and take plenty of pics, I'll probably be doing something like this next year (Norfolk VA to San Diego CA) so I'll follow along. 

[DesmoTillDeath]

So it has been awhile since I've posted anything on DMF. I should be ashamed of myself!

But I finally got around to getting 900 ready for the trip. A few questions arose during the breakdown though.

-I bought the shim kit (EMS) before checking all the valves because I thought she would need it. Upon inspection however the clearances on all valves were .0035" for both opening and closing. (give or take .0005").
          Is this good enough to leave for another 4000 miles?

- What size bolt is used for the cam shaft belt pulley locking hole? I'm changing my timing belts.

- LT couldn't get an OEM clutch hub to replace the one I broke (pictures and explanation to come in another post) so I asked for the billet hub he offers. It does not use the clutch Cush drive.
          Has anyone had good or bad luck with this hub/ no initial Cush drive?

[DesmoTillDeath]

So I made it!!!

But my beautiful, trusty, dark 900 did not. 

It took all 14 days to make it across the country and Ohio was the pot hole in the road to glory. I had mentioned that I was going to travel with others and it ended up including another bike and my subaru (driven by a friend from NY). Due to a miscommunication at an intersection when faced with a yellow light I found out the hard way that a car stops more than twice as fast as a bike. After clipping the left rear of the subaru with my bike I continued to fly off and roll into the intersection. All the while the Duc took a stroll and independently found his way to the front window of an auto-body shop near the intersection.

Lets get one thing across right now. To all peoples of Ohio.....WEAR A HELMET!!!!   
It may not be the law but If I were to repeat my accident in this raw fashion then I would either no longer have the mental capacity to type or speak or I would be dead. A concussion and some road rash is all I endored thanks to proper (armored) riding gear.

I will post pix from the trip or a link soon. I will also post the fate of my love, the bike.

Thanks for reading.

[MikeZ]

Sorry to hear about the bike but at least you are OK

[Howie]

Glad to hear you are relatively OK.  The bike can be replaced.

[bevel]

So what I'm noticing is that Ohio eats Ducs...

Didn't He-Man run into troubles in Ohio as well?