Trip Planned

[Bent]

My comment is "I envy you". Wish I had the time.

I'm not a marathon runner. Longest two days for me was about 1500 miles to and from the Gap area then riding the curves ALL day. I only live 2 and a half hours from there the short way. When I go there alone, I roll up some long high mileage twistie miles per day. :D

[elizilla]

I hadn't planned to go to Alaska when I left my house. I was only going to California. But I got laid off just before I left. I'd been planning the trip all winter, so I decided to go anyway, and find a new job when I got home. So the schedule became open ended; the only constraints were financial. In California, I was at my friend's house and he told me he too was laid off. Ten minutes later we had decided to go to Alaska.

You almost make me wish to get laid off. Almost, but not quite. :thumbsup:

The writing was on the wall at that job, long before the layoffs came. I didn't have a huge amount of money in the bank, but at least I wasn't mortgaged to the hilt, and I don't have kids, so I was able to scale back on just about everything, and find the margin to do that trip. I was sure squeezing pennies in a lotta ways, though. I spent about $1700 during my month on the road, including gas, food, lodging, a set of tires, and a $500 Alaska ferry ticket. I was riding a 17 year old motorcycle that hit 100,000 miles while I was out.

The easiest place to squeeze money out of the travel budget, is lodging. Lodging is a big ticket if you aren't careful. Here are some tricks:

If you have an Aerostich (or other textile suit), you can sleep on the ground next to the bike, and not even pay for camping. Never sleep where your foot can hit your sidestand.

If you have a large bike cover, a centerstand, and three Givi cases, you can centerstand the bike, climb back on, and put the cover over yourself and the bike. Lay your head down on the tankbag and go to sleep. The big cases will hide the fact you are under there. This even works when it is raining, and you can do it in parking lots all over the country.

One way to sleep with a roof over your head, though, is to get heavily involved on forums (such as this one), and then stay with people you meet there. If you are a regular poster and people feel they know you, then you can post up and ask, and people will invite you. You're not taking advantage - the people who issue these invitations get pleasure from your visit, are living the trip vicariously through you when you come to their house. If they didn't want you to stay with them they wouldn't invite you. The problem is usually that these invitations mostly come from the coasts and the major cities. It's hard to find someone online who will invite you to stay with them in Nebraska or Oklahoma. And you always end up disappointing someone when you get three invitations from riders in Atlanta or Boston, and you have to pick just one.

Fortunately, in the parts of the country where friendly motorcycling netizens are sparse, decent cheap motels don't cost much more than paid campsites. This site has a listing of mom-n-pop motels. The low-end brands are just franchises that shabby old motels can buy into. Similar rooms will be cheaper at the no-brand motel across the street that isn't kicking back to a franchise company.

Alaska, though, is really expensive, for just about everything. There's enough empty land that you could probably find free campsites, but it's hard to be a motorcyclist and have food at your campsite, because of the bears. You're very limited in what food you can carry, and the restaurant food, the gas, and the motels all cost about twice what they do in the lower 48. In Fairbanks Jason and I had a stroke of luck; he met a retired couple on the CB radio who invited us to stay with them. We spent two nights there, before and after our assault on the arctic circle. They were super nice.

The other place to squeeze money out of the budget, is by riding an older bike and learning to fix it yourself. If I'd been going into that layoff with a new motorcycle that I had to make payments on, I'd never have been able to do it. If your bike is paid for, then a layoff is an opportunity to go somewhere; you're not handcuffed to a bike payment that keeps you home panicking and looking for work. The bike I took to Alaska, I paid $1500 for. I took that bike cross country twice, put 60,000 miles on it while I had it. Hondas rock.

[SEBSPEED]

If you have a large bike cover, a centerstand, and three Givi cases, you can centerstand the bike, climb back on, and put the cover over yourself and the bike. Lay your head down on the tankbag and go to sleep. The big cases will hide the fact you are under there. This even works when it is raining, and you can do it in parking lots all over the country.

Wow, my back is screaming just reading that. That's hardcore! Reminds me of a story an older friend of mine told me about falling asleep on a wooden fence... :warranty:

[BonusVFR]

Are there any thoughts of putting together best motorcycle roads of the United Sates on a National Map? Everyone could update their favorite roads so that people know where to ride and which roads to hit. I had just thought it would be nice to put something together for people traveling through non-familiar areas to know where the best roads are.

I know there are various websites that are give good advice, but sometimes can be hard to research if you unfamiliar with the area. Thoughts?

All I can say, is you'll have a much better time by requesting to meet with members of the board, and having them guide you through their turf. Some folks would rather not make their playgrounds public, and one has to respect that. Yes, they're public roads, but look at Deal's Gap and Shady Valley...

Here's another thought to seriously consider: most of the better or halfway decent campgrounds will run you almost as much a cheap motel room. With the amount of highway time you have planned, you'll have many opportunities to stop into the different states' welcome/visitor centers, where you will find coupons for cheap lodging. I paid $19 for a spot at a state campground in Virginia, and $30 for a really decent motel room in Albuquerque. Having heat, locks, and comfy bed and a couple hot showers was well worth the extra $10, IMO.

Lots of the state campgrounds have websites, or at least a listing on the states' official website, where you can find prices.

IT PAYS TO DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

Agree on the cheap hotel and hot water :offtopic:

With camping it really pays off if you do not have to pack up in the morning which takes some time even with the best gear. Just do a loop ride.