Dream ride?

[Fred W]

I dunno if this is the appropriate category. I looked and this doesn't seem to fit into any of the the other categories. Apologies in advance if I messed up. Here are my feeble thoughts:

Prompted by the demise of some other extremely notables on this forum over the past year , and especially the final Alaska ride made by our good friend TWN, and somewhat prompted via my own advancing age, I have toyed with the idea of finding the primo, once in my life-time road trip.

You know... the one that must be accomplished before you cash in your chips.

Peeps have to have goals, right? I feel like I need to set some new marks to the future.

I am somewhat conflicted, as I know a cross country trip across't the good ole' US of A would be a kick *** ordeal. Assuming of course, that I had the requisite amount of time to spend on doing it right. I really don't think that I could rush through suc an ordeal and feel like I was fully satisfied.

OTOH, I also have great admiration for the young studs that recently blasted across (and back) on their FJRs, eating every gawd awful DDD (Diner Drive-in and Dive) fare they could conjure up ( and getting all the young girly smooches to boot!!) but I don't think that is quite the epic adventure that I seek.

Alaska surely beckons. I do not rule this out.

Some folks have claimed the ultimate extravaganza is in Yurope. I've been there, without a murder cycle, and I liked it plenty. Maybe they are right?

Whatever it is, it must be attainable on a motorcycle.

Please weigh in on what your ultimate, once in a lifetime, dream motorcycle ride would be.

 

[FJRPierre]

Lets see...I'd like to

a. ride round Australia;

b. ride up to Nord Cape

c. do a loop around Eastern Europe

d. do Scotland/Ireland

e. and worse case do the 09 CFR

(I really need to get my *** in gear for a-d before I get too old! )

 

[Murph]

Tough to pin down one so I'll name a couple aside from Alaska:

-South to Tiera del Fuego

-Africa

-Europe eastward and into Asia

The problem is not the dreaming ...it's finding the $$$ and the time.

 

[Dudewado]

I think, for me, it's not a question of destination as much as time.

I like good rides, and enjoy National parks, but I just like to go and see.

My pace would kill some of the Iron Butt guys. When I took my first extended trip on the FJR, I rode and camped my way up the Oregon coast.

One morning I got up, broke camp, and started looking around the area. I took pictures, checked out some local roads, the beach, local attractions and people. When I camped that night, I had made it a grand total of about 60 miles up the coast. I spent 5 days just to get to Washington.

At one time I planned on an Eidelweiss tour in the Alps, then decided

there was a lot of the US and Canada I hadn't seen.

I have a lot more to see, just need time to do it.

I guess if I only had one more trip, I would ride the sights here in the West; Yosemite, Sequoia, Yellowstone, Olympic, Glacier, and up into Banff in Canada.

Overseas, I would love to do Australia, New Zealand, and the aforementioned Alps.

The possibilities are endless.

 

[v65]

I've always had it in mind to do South America. Rider magazine had a nice writeup of a ride from Canada to Argentina in March 2006 that I flip through frequently. Someday.

 

[user 213]

New Zealand. Not a huge country, but some incredible vistas and roads. Some day I'd like to do a tour, or even a Ron Ayers Adventures tour there. Takes some time to get there from here though.

I've BTDT for the parks that Dudewado lists and they are beautiful, but for awe inspiring parks, Zion and Capital Reef are better. Take the time to hike some of the trails.

In Banff, (in early April), they simply greet you with a hearty Bonjour at the park entrance. Only the Quebec'ers are crazy enough to ride to Banff in April, (said the ranger). Glacier was fun too, (nice bear, pretty bear), just watch out for the big red buses! And the bears.

A fun option if time is an issue, take the ferry from Seattle or Port Hardy at the end of Vancouver Island up to Prince Rupert. It's a 14 hour trip, but can be done at night during the summer if you want. Saves you a couple of days of riding and you can see the fun roads in Canada on the way back down if you choose. Cashe Creek to Whistler is FUN!

 

[rickcorwn]

Easy, New Zealand.

On this continent the Canadian Rockies are tops. Ooo, that would be CFR.

 

[MotorToad]

Sprint ST or '98 VFR800, credit card, leathers. Tour the country riding from track to track, doing days at every track in the U.S.

Sell bike, fly to Europe, buy bike, repeat.

 

[kenporider]

My goals aren't quite as lofty as some others, I'm more of a home body I guess. I've always wanted to head up to northern Maine and take route 1 all the way down to the Florida Keys.

 

[user 213]

My goals aren't quite as lofty as some others, I'm more of a home body I guess. I've always wanted to head up to northern Maine and take route 1 all the way down to the Florida Keys.

Nothing wrong with that ride. Take a week, or two if you can, and do it in '09. I suspect the ends will go slower than the middle of that ride. Key West is slow with low speed limits. And watch out for the Key Deer. Little guys, but big fines for hurting them.

 

[SPORT]

I wish to travel the world on a bike. But that really won't happen while I have a family and a job.

I do think it's possible to do numerous Saddle Sores, Butt Burners and the like. The IBR, 4-Corners of the US, Canada and perhaps Alaska (Probably need a Wee Strom for that) are on the list of Dream rides, which will happend over time.

 

[SPORT]

Sorry...Double post

 

[Geezer]

This year, while planning my ride to NAFO, I intended to go to the left coast and the national parks of California. Time constraints changed my plans. So, for 2009 I plan to do WFO, wherever that is, and add in a few days to see the parks.

For 2010 I'm thinking about riding across Canada and into Alaska.

After that, I don't know....

For me, it is really all about having an adventure. not so much the destination or any particular roads. I keep my plans to a minimum and change plans on a whim.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Why one? I've been fortunate to travel a lot and make renting bikes or diving part of trips, rather than the other way around. Simply call a dealer and in most of the world you can rent and the ride may not be something you expect. I got to ride a 1000 VStrom in the German Alps before they were available in the US. There are a couple of places in Africa that would be awesome for an adventurous vacation (esp Kenya & S.Africa), but the continent in general is sure not where I'd think of for a dream ride. Remember that the majority of the trip is when you're off the bike and shanty towns can get pretty monotonous.

I've always thought about doing the North America-South America ride from Alaska to Del Fuego, but it sure would be a lot of work and I already had bad-guy troubles in Columbia. All-day saunas in jungles on 2-rut tracks in Africa and Latin America would get old pretty quick, too. With a little maturity (ahem, not getting older of course), I come to realize that I don't need to do the entire route. Maybe Alaska to somewhere around the Panama Canal.

There's a totally under-appreciated "little" gem called the Canadian Rockies that you could spend a summer wandering in and most people would never think of it. People are super-friendly, it's not as pretentious and populated as so much of North America, and the couple of summer rides/drives I've had in BC were fantastic. I'd like to spend time there just wandering with the FJR.

I definitely want to time another trip to ride the Alps and the spine of the Italian boot during another World Cup Championship. I did part of the Italian spine in a car and every little store front had a TV in front with people sitting on any old box and cheering up a storm. Fantastic motorcycling, plenty of things to see off the bike at stops, great wine, and always somebody to talk to. Couldn't speak a word of Italian and had an absolutely grand time! Saw part of this year's games in Germany and while fun, it just didn't have the gusto! Reading Stef's report from last summer made me think that the next time I want to include the Pyranees because the Spaniards are a blast during World Cups, too.

I haven't been to New Zealand yet and a friend spent 2 weeks on a rented bike there last year. After his stories and photos, that's now a target for me.

Bob

 

[Old Michael]

One morning I got up, broke camp, and started looking around the area. I took pictures, checked out some local roads, the beach, local attractions and people. When I camped that night, I had made it a grand total of about 60 miles up the coast.

I like the sound of that. Just stopping for anything that looks interesting or fun.

Riding slowly, singing "If I Were the King of the Forest" to yourself, stopping early and exploring near your campsite.

Asking people if they'd seen RenoJohn come through here.

Smiling as you go to sleep -drunk. Yeah, that'd be nice.

 

[rushes]

I guess my dream ride would be to go from the arctic circle to the tip of South America. But the older I get and the more shrinkage of my man glands... I doubt if it'll ever happen. But it's a dream!

I guess I just hope that before I'm gone I will have gotten to the point in my life that I can just get up in the morning and go for a good days ride. Not having to worry about anything. I guess that's a dream too....

 

[jwhite518]

Perfect winter thread. And I live in California, no such thing as PMS!

When I bought my BMW in 1997 I had two dreams: to ride that motorcycle 100,000 miles, and to ride it to Alaska. I did roll the odometer, but have since retired the bike, so Alaska remains on the list. I'd like to ride the entire length of the Alcan, wander around the whole state plus the YT and NWT. I'd also like to ride a motorcycle to Prudhoe Bay. I imagine about 30 days to really do it right. Not an Iron Butt trip.

Then I added a new dream: to ride in the Iron Butt Rally. Now that the opportunity is here I've refined that a bit. I want to finish the Iron Butt Rally in a respectable position. Hmmmm....that's actually a goal, not a dream. My dream would be to win the IBR. :lol:

On the "fun to do" list would be riding coast to coast, visiting each of the lower 48, riding in New Zealand and Australia, and taking one of those European tours where they rent you the bikes and provide all the hotels.

 

[RockiesRider]

FJR= $12,000

All gear needed for trip= $6,000

90 days to do it in= $22,500

Ride from top of North America rim to tip of South America and back home= PRICELESS

 

[mike25]

FJR= $12,000
All gear needed for trip= $6,000

90 days to do it in= $22,500

Ride from top of North America rim to tip of South America and back home= PRICELESS

Used low mile KLR650=$3000

All gear needed for the trip=$3000

90 days to do it in= $9000

Ride from top of North America rim to tip of South America and back home= ALOT CHEAPER, BUT STILL PRICELESS