2 weekends ago i went on a road trip and i finally decided to post up about it. Its not nearly as epic as those US rides but meant a lot to me and was fun none the less. Here goes!!
Some backstory, recently my brother had got into riding motorcycles. I had always been into it along with my father. When i bought the monster my bro decided to purchase a ninja650r which he decided quickly was not enough bike and he upgraded to a 08 cbr600rr. He loved this thing to death and after i rode it a bit i realized that all that extra power was not that scary and well with Ducati's financing and some savings in hand i purchased the 1098. However my brother had left for the army before i bought it and i became very distraught we would not have any epic adventures together on these two beasts
We had gone on many with the ninja and monster. I got to planning and decided what better way to celebrate him graduating boot camp and coming home then planning a weekend trip with him and my father
!
After some planning i decided to go to Connecticut for the trip and had a great route planned with about 300miles each day. I would have gone 500+ but i quickly realized my family is not used to riding with Goldenchild
and that much distance could become an issue. But trouble was afoot! 3 weeks before my brother returns the 1098 electronics go bellyup! I rush her to the dealer and say my prayers. I had a trip to florida with the GF planned a week before my brother came home so i figured by the time i got back it would all be ready togo.
Well i land on a saturday with no phone call from the dealer. I get home to my brother, who returned the previous day, to see his face just as sad as mine
. He was dieing to see the new bike and try her out but when i called the dealer told me end of the week. Luckily the trip was still two weekends off and they said all the parts were there and ready to be put on......Later that week i call again and find out its done and ready for pickup but its waiting for approval from Ducati?! WTF MATE, if ducati doesn't approve it who will pay for it, isnt the work approved already? After calling everyday for a week and explaining why i needed the bike by thursday at the latest I managed to pick it up that thursday. Ducati apparently had not approved the work yet but they gave it to me anyways.
It is now September 11th, a sad day for all but with a little bit of happiness for me, and i take her home and get everything together. But another snag hits all of CT is about to get hit by a storm from friday till sunday
. I'm completely gunhoe and want to go regardless but my brother gives some speech about endangering military property and he can get in trouble if he gets hurt. After cooling off i completely re do the route and take us West and into pennsylvania away from the storms [moto].
The 12th i commuted to work on my bike and when i go to leave it begins to POUR!! I have my nice new perforated leather jacket on and its not the least bit waterproof. I get soaked and when i get home i stuff everything with paper towels and hope for dry leather in the AM. I get my brother's ass in gear and set his bike up for the trip in the meantime prepping the saddlebags, lubing the chain, checking tire pressure etc. A quick phone call to my dad and we have a 6am departure time. The next morning bright and early my dad shows up and all the bikes are packed and ready togo, after dragging my brother out of bed. We go over the route one more time and i tape the Saturday portion to my tank. I show my dad the sunday portion and well i thought he took it but i found out about 6 hours later i left it on the kitchen table
. I squeeze into my still damp leathers and at 6am we finally roll out the Ducati 1098 my twin, the Honda CBR600RR the 4 and my Dad's big Honda Valkyrie the 6
.
We were off finally i was worried we would not make it with all the issues i ran into to but we did! First stop was in Riverhead for some gas and then we flew down the LIE, through the city and a quick stop in Paterson, NJ for gas again. One thing i learned about maps quickly is just because its a big town on the map it does not mean its a very clean or friendly town. We got gas as fast as possible and left i did not want to stick around here long. A little farther down we found a stop for food and had some Panera Bread mmm
The route would take us through the delaware water gap and follow the scenic route all the way to Towanda, PA.
http://tinyurl.com/4zwssr Most of the route was dry by the time we hit the delaware water gap. After some uturns we find what was called Old Mine Rd, on the map it was 12 miles and according to the directions it would take 45minutes
I was curious and when we found it turns out it had a 15mph speed limit since it was through a state park. Along the way my dad managed to decapitate a little chipmunk which i thought he just grazed. My brother confirmed the kill.......it was decapitated......dad never felt the same after this
. We tried to hit aa squirrel but they were all too fast. We finally exited the mine road and found our way to the next set of backroads.
This set was relatively straightforward except we managed to go completely in a circle at one point. We were about an hour from Scranton, PA and my brother was getting tired. We stopped at a nice diner with some cheesesteaks and lost of pics of old cars. When we ordered the waitress asked if those were our bikes outside i politely told her they were. Of course it was just the 3 of us in this diner so this might have to go on the dumbest thing asked about your bike thread
My brother quickly losing steam, at this point we decided to cut the route a bit short and stay in scranton for the night. As soon as i hopped on the highway for scranton i immedietely regretted it. My leathers had finally dried completely from the night before at noon but that would not hold. the sky opened up again and the rain came!! Once again i was soaked to the bone, not to mention the signs said scranton was 2 miles which was a dirty lie. We all learned riding in the rain at highway speeds the hardway
We couldnt find any good hotels in the city so we drove a bit out of it and found a nice hotel on the outskirts. After a nap and hanging up my leathers again..............we got food at a charlie browns and man was it terrible!! I am never eating there again.
My dad planned out the route back for sunday and we decided he would lead the following day since he could strap a whole map to his tank. I need a gps next time
. After some Man vs Wild, Bear Grylls is the shiT!! Sleep finally hit. In the am we stopped real quick at the train museum in Scranton. My mother took my brother and i there when we were little and wanted an updated picture so we got her one, or two. My camera started to screw up at this point so the pics get crappy quick.
After the museum the roads we found were amazing everywhere we went the roads had sweeping turns and were completely empty. It was just the 3 of us cruising down the road. I remember coming over this one hill and seeing for miles with nobody else ahead of us. I tried for some action shots but they came out pretty bad ill throw one up though, camera is in for repair right now
The rest of the ride involved a stop at Arby's for some grub and a cruise down 209 to 78 which took us back to the island and tons of traffic. The roads were a lot of fun on the way back and i had a blast and the trip made memories i will always enjoy with my brother and father. I'm glad it all worked out in the end and we got to go. In total we were just shy of 600miles for the trip, not US status but worthwhile none the less
