Taking my first road trip soon, any tips?

[DucHead]

If you're going to do this regularly, I recommend Motorcycle Towing Service: http://www.mtstowing.com/

[Mike Qube]

I was just looking at the maps. Is anyone familiar with US-9? It looks like it follows 87 from Port Kent to Kingston. Would that be better than 87?

[Mike Qube]

If you're going to do this regularly, I recommend Motorcycle Towing Service: http://www.mtstowing.com/

Not bad, I qualify for the $30 "COLD COUNTRY PLAN".

[twolanefun]

Okay I know this is your first trip but 600 miles is no big deal, so do not overly stress about it. Your on a Ducati so oad side repairs are limited with the technology we have on these bikes today. You could also drive yourself nuts trying to fugure out what to take, it'll always be something you didn;t think about, spare levers, spare bulbs, spare this that and the other thing and you have no room for clothes, camera, shaving kit .... Bring the basics, wire ties is the new duct tape and does not take up a lot of room, good tool kit, small collection of bolts, nuts, washers in a small ziploc bag, chain lube(small 4oz), Plexus, Have fun - Gene

[Takster]

 

Why on earth are you taking so much slab?!  If you're giving yourself 4 days, it should be plenty of time to find all the great twisties!  AfroS4RS and I just took a similar trip to you... 3 days, day 1 boston to burlington, day 2 burlington to lake george, NY, day 3 back to boston

If you want, I'll send you our routes... PM me.  There were some EPIC roads

...Most notably, Rt 17 in VT, some back roads near Whiteface Mountain in NY state, and the access roads (especially the south-side) for Mt Greylock in MA.

[somegirl]

Why on earth are you taking so much slab?!

I plan on taking mostly back roads. I just did a quick map today on google. I'm going to use my road atlas to map out the actual route that I'm going.

[He Man]

Takster, anyway you can PM me those roads? it would be great to go on a northeast roadtrip.

Unless there's some issue you can't handle, no need to go to a shop.

Just give it a better than normal going over - dot all your i's and cross all the Ts.  Check your various fasteners, inspect the drive line, brakes (perhaps bleed them) etc.  Doing it two weeks out leaves plenty of time to resolve small issues like needing more brake fluid if you good bleeding for example.

dont forget to not have a massive oil leak.

[CETME]

Here are my monster adventures... sort of what CAN go wrong.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=237171

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=345323

[seevtsaab]

I was just looking at the maps. Is anyone familiar with US-9? It looks like it follows 87 from Port Kent to Kingston. Would that be better than 87?

I've been down sections of rt9, Plattsburgh to Lake George pretty nice, it follows the slab so it's light on traffic (87 thru there is light anyway). Nice surface, curves but wide and plenty places to pass iirc.

Perhaps veer into northern NH on your way to Burlington - Kangamangus or 302 are great routes, just stay the hell away from North Conway. I did something like rt107-rt3, 135, 18 into vt (ST Johnsbury), rt2 etc for a western NH route.

Have a safe ride, I had cell coverage most places I checked (ATT).

[Mike Qube]

Here are my monster adventures... sort of what CAN go wrong.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=237171

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=345323

I just started reading the first one, great stuff! Gotta go to work now, hopefully I can finish reading them there. I'm at the part where you're sitting outside the hotel wondering if your friends will ever show up.

[scoprire]

The way the weather has been around here this year... raingear.  If you don't have rain gloves, XL dish gloves work great for an emergency.   Riding cold/wet sucks.   Aerostich sells them for about $3 (at least they are blue)

 And take at least one layer for some warmth under the jacket. It doesn't have to be much, I found even a LS hiking shirt helped alot since it would block wind and trap warm air under my jacket. We had days w/ highs in the 60s in July; our normal would be more like 95.

[Takster]

These were our planned routes.  We ended up veering off in some places... but here are the basics:


http://www.openroadjourney.com/loadroute.asp?rid=2936
http://www.openroadjourney.com/loadroute.asp?rid=2937
http://www.openroadjourney.com/loadroute.asp?rid=2938

[NavyDoc]

Dude,

Let me give you my two cents as I lived in northern Vermont and rode every back road in the state for 4 years. 

Go north from Boston on 93 and get over to Nashua, take 101A west to 101, stay on it until you hit Keene, NH, then pick up the 9, stay on it through Brattleboro and the keep on until you hit VT 100.  Turn north and enoy 200 miles of motorcycle nirvana..  Go to Newport, then take VT 14 South down to VT 15, turn west and enjoy another stertch of beauty for 120 miles.  There is a good small dealership in Essex Junction that knows how to take care of Ducatis if you run into any bigger problems.   
There are so many beautiful backroads throughout Vermont with nearly zero traffic - you will go back over and over if you are based in Boston....

Enjoy - no matter what you end up doing, you're going to love it-
 post some pictures...

[Mike Qube]

Dude,

Let me give you my two cents as I lived in northern Vermont and rode every back road in the state for 4 years. 

Go north from Boston on 93 and get over to Nashua, take 101A west to 101, stay on it until you hit Keene, NH, then pick up the 9, stay on it through Brattleboro and the keep on until you hit VT 100.  Turn north and enoy 200 miles of motorcycle nirvana..  Go to Newport, then take VT 14 South down to VT 15, turn west and enjoy another stertch of beauty for 120 miles.  There is a good small dealership in Essex Junction that knows how to take care of Ducatis if you run into any bigger problems.   
There are so many beautiful backroads throughout Vermont with nearly zero traffic - you will go back over and over if you are based in Boston....

Enjoy - no matter what you end up doing, you're going to love it-
 post some pictures...

I think I might actually do some of this before my planned trip. Thanks for the tips!PIcs are a definite, I wont be bringing my DSLR, just my little point and shot. I'm trying to pack as light as possible with just my tailbag.

[TightLines]

I didn't see any mention of it but your mapped path looks like you'll be close to the Kancamagus highway (112) in New Hampshire.  Its a gorgeous scenic by way filled with bikes (albeit mostly cruisers). 

I rode it this weekend and would recommend it.