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Published: February 20th 2009
Coast to Coast ‘07
Well it’s taken me long enough to get this trip report out, but I‘ve been busier than a one-legged cat trying to bury a turd…
The photos for this trip are located here.
Photos As some of you know this is my second NJ to CA trip on the Sportster. I’ve also ridden the bike on other long trips to Wyoming (twice), Kansas and N.C. all from NJ. Now I work from home so I don’t get to put on a lot of miles on my bike unless I take trips like this. The first time you take a long trip on a motorcycle you tend to doubt your ability or worry about breaking down and the like. But after that first trip you can’t wait for the next one. Many of you know what I mean.
I was scheduled to leave on Friday morning, 6/8/07, but I was feeling real cruddy the last couple of days. I was not sure if I was starting to develop allergies or just a cold. I rarely get sick; I haven’t had a sick day in about 12 years. Anyway I ended up sleeping in that
morning and did not get on the road until noon.
Now the three day ride from NJ to Wyoming was fairly boring. I’ve taken this route many times on the bike and my truck so I mostly kept to the interstates. I-76 to I-70 to I-74 etc, etc. I stay away from I-80 and Chicago when I can. On this first day at 6pm I was still on the PA turnpike, just east of Pittsburg and I could see a storm heading my way. Not that I hate the rain but there was some serious lightning going on. For maybe the first time ever, I was able to pull off to gas up and get the rain suit on BEFORE I got wet. What a concept….
I talked to a couple of other riders at the station under the overhang as we waited out the worst of the storm as it passed right over us. One guy had an EG trike and was a driver for Yellow Trucking. You know the company with the ORANGE trucks… I never could understand that. Well after it cleared up a little I got back on the road and started to think
about where I would stop for the night. I do the cheap motel thing most of the time.
Around Donegal, PA I found a place, although not as cheap as I would have liked and unloaded the bike and hung things up to dry. I walked a few blocks to the Tall Oaks Tavern for a couple of beers and something to eat. While I was there some idiot decides to throw a plate at a waitress in the dining room and run out on the bill. The other waitresses yelled for help from the locals at the bar and about 4 really big guys met the a-hole in the parking lot. Not a smart move on his part.
Well on day two I was feeling better, must have been that Jersey air I was sick of. The rain had stopped and I was heading west again. Little did I know it would be about a month before I saw another drop of rain. That day I made it as far as Galesburg, IL. I had planned to stop by and visit a friend that now lives in Iowa, former XL lister and still has his Sportster as
well as a Dyna T-Sport (nice touring bike). But when I wasn’t feeling so hot at the start of this trip I decided to see him on the way back and trust me I did.
Leaving Galesburg in the morning I decided to take some secondary roads for a while. I headed west on 34 out of Illinois across Iowa and right into Nebraska. In Ashland I stopped to visit the Strategic Air & Space Museum. By this time it was fairly hot in he mid-west and it was a welcome break out of the heat and sun, plus it was a cool museum.
After seeing the museum I did some boring miles on I-80 and I stopped in North Platte for the night. Found a decent motel next to some restaurants and settled in. It was one of the older buildings that had the front wall of the room was all glass. I thought it was going to be noisy being close to I-80 but it was quiet as could be.
On Monday I took Rt. 30 west until I hit Ogallala, NE and then started heading north-west on Rt. 26. Route 26 continues through a few
states (NE, WY and ID) and happens to go right through Dubois, WY which was my destination for this leg of the trip. This part of my trek had me traveling though vastly different landscapes as well as varying weather. From the green valleys along the Platte River to the barren landscapes of Wyoming. The temperatures were as high as 100 degrees in Torrington WY to about 50 in the mountains near Dubois.
I love taking these secondary roads when I can. I stopped at a little gas station/store called the Broadwater Country Store in Nebraska to gas up and get something to drink. This place had the cleanest and nicest restroom I’ve ever seen. It had plants in it and looked like it was in somebody’s home. While finishing my drink outside I saw a sign for Carhenge (http://www.carhenge.com/) but figured I would skip it this time around. I was getting close to my place in Dubois and wanted to make it there before dark.
And that I did, the last half a day of riding went smooth as silk. Familiar roads and great weather; can’t beat that. Pulled into Dubois at about 7pm with plenty of
light left to turn on the water at my place and settle in for the night. I covered about 2100 miles in 3.5 days.
I spent a couple of days in Dubois resting up and fixing some stuff around the house. On Thursday I would head out to the west coast for a couple of weeks of working at my company’s San Jose office. The Bay area is where my boss is located and I get to combine business with pleasure on my trips out there.
On Thursday morning I headed west on Rt. 26 again and went though Teton Park, and Jackson, WY before crossing into Idaho. There are just are no bad roads around here. Anyway you go it’s like being in a travel magazine. This route follows the Snake River through the mountain passes and into Alpine Junction. I would then split off and follow Rt. 89 south for a while and then pick up Rt. 34 west. This road is called the Pioneer Historic Byway and traverses through Freedom WY and by Grays Lake and Blackfoot Reservoir in Idaho.
This eventually brought me to I-15 north and I-84 west that took me to
Twin Falls so I could pick up 93 and head south into Nevada. Ya know it’s funny, when you take some routes a few times you end up stopping at the same gas stations, motels and restaurants without meaning to. In American Falls I stopped for gas in a station that seemed familiar. As soon as I found out that it did not have a restroom I was positive I stopped there last year. Too bad I did not remember in time and kept riding to the next place. Next year for sure ;-)
Rt. 93 crosses the Snake River Canyon in Twin falls just 2 miles from where Evil Knievil attempted to jump the Snake River. This is a beautiful area that should not be missed. I guess anything in the path of the Snake River is going to be nice.
The rest of the stretch of 93 from Twin Falls to Well, NV (100 mi) is pretty uneventful except for the town of Jackpot, NV. Boy can you guess what they do there? Yes welcome to Nevada where they like to gamble. Not that there is anything wrong with that. To each their own, but damn
you can go anywhere that is not a casino of some sort. John’s car wash and casino, Wells Gas ‘n Go ‘n Casino, well you get the picture. Jackpot is a town that exists only for gambling; it is on the Idaho board and close enough to Wyoming to draw the residents of those states in for the kill.
In Wells, NV I picked up I-80 west to head to Battle Mountain where I could head south on 305. 305 is 88 miles of nothing, no homes, no businesses nothing. It was getting dark by this time and I wanted to stay the night in Austin NV which is a small town on Rt. 50,
The Loneliest Highway, well I guess they never traveled on Rt. 305 then. I was about 40 miles into Rt. 305 when I noticed that except for the stars and planets in the sky I could not see another thing in any direction. I stopped the bike in the middle of the road and shut off the lights and engine. Damn, I could not see a thing; I would have tripped over my bike if I did not purposely stand next to it with
one hand on the bars. As I started on down the road I saw a large bird of prey swoop by my head in the dark as if it thought I might be its late night dinner.
As I checked into the Mountain motel in Austin the owner mentioned that not many folks ride that late in the evening around there. It was not a smart idea on my part. If you hit an animal or something on the road it might be hours before another vehicle came by and found you. So it goes.
The part of Rt. 50 that crosses the center of Nevada and was designated the Loneliest Road in America by Life in July 1986. The name was intended as derogatory, but Nevada officials seized on it as a marketing slogan. Between Austin and Fallon there are not any towns to speak of but there are a couple of gas stations and “places of interest”.
On this stretch you can find gas every 50 miles or so. But it’s best to top off at every stop in case the next one is closed. I stopped at Warm Springs for gas on this leg of
the trip. Warm Springs is a combination gas station (one pump/one grade), bar, restaurant and motel.
A trip down this stretch of Rt. 50 is not complete without a stop at the Shoe Tree and Sand Hill Park. The shoe tree is just that, a tree that has been home to thousands of shoes thrown up in its limbs over the years. The Sand hill is a humongous sand dune in the middle of the mountains that looks quite out of place. The size of it is deceiving until you notice that the specks you see moving up and down the dunes are dune buggies.
This year my first stop was Clear Lake State Park in CA to hook up with the Bay Area Sportster group with their yearly BASh, a weekend of camping and riding. So once I reached the Fallon area I jumped on Rt. 80 again for to trip over the pass and then got on CA20 for a more scenic ride towards Clearlake SP. CA20 takes you through Grass Valley, Yuba City, Colusa and finally around the north shore of Clearlake.
As I pulled into the Clearlake area I was passed by a
Buell and a Sportster. I did not recognize the riders at first since they (and I) were wearing full face helmets but I figured it was safe to follow them into the camp ground. Sure enough it was Gary and Dick from BAS and they led me to the camp site.
The turnout for this year’s BASh was low due to a wedding and some other goings-on the same weekend. This did not stop the small but determined group from having a great time. On Saturday Dick from Napa took us on a great ride through the local roads as we headed towards the coast for some lunch in the Fort Bragg area. Since parts of the ride were on the chilly side sitting down to some excellent clam chowder seemed appropriate.
Back at camp that night we settled around the fire drinking and telling stories while feasting on some tri-tip that Bill and Gloria prepared. It was a superb weekend. On Sunday I headed to Milpitas to check into a hotel for the work part of my trip.
The next two weeks was spent working at my companies San Jose office. Of course part of my reason
for spending some additional time out in the Bay area was to start looking for places that I would like to move to. I had decided that since my first 50 years was spent on the East coast that I should spend the next 50 on the west coast. Of course things never work out like you plan. On Tuesday our division got the news that it was being scrubbed and that everyone was being let go over the next few months. Except for me…. I was being transferred to another division that was based out of Austin Texas. I had worked for this division in the past and my experience made me a good candidate to backfill a slot there. So much for my moving plans.
After two weeks of some pretty boring and depressing time at the San Jose office I headed east towards Wyoming again. I basically took I-80 to the Reno area and picked up Rt. 50 again in Nevada for the trip east to Ely. There I would spend the night at the Nevada Hotel. It’s an old hotel that has a 24 hour casino and restaurant. The rooms are decent and MC riders get a 10%!d(MISSING)iscount. You also get to park your bike in the front of the lobby with 24 hour surveillance. For under $40 it’s a deal! The Casino and bar area even have some old bikes setup in an ad-hoc museum.
The other thing about traveling Rt. 50 is that Fallon has a Naval Air Station and the bombing ranges are in clear view of the highway. As I rode through the area I was watching fighter jets in dog fights and bombing runs. But most of the road is very straight and very desolate although every 40 miles or so you enter some mountains and the twisties at high speeds can perk your interest a tad.
In the morning I left Ely and headed north on Rt. 93 towards Wendover instead of continuing east on 50. This stretch of 93 is about 120 miles long and has no towns on it at all, according to every map I’ve seen. But there is a small gas station at the intersection where 93 and ALT 93 split. Good thing when you’re riding a Sportster with a 3.3 gal tank. After I filled up there I was looking over the bike when I notice that a sparrow had hit my bike and was wedged between the lower fork and the fender strut, poor fella never had a chance. So it goes.
Kurt Vonnegut fans will know the term “So it goes” RIP Kurt Nevada has some very cool roads and scenery but it really bugs me that in order to get something to eat you have to go to a casino. They all have restaurants but they make you walk through the smoke filled casino to get to them. For breakfast it is pretty depressing to see these casino zombies sitting at these machines blindly dumping money into them. OK off the soap box… BTW Austin NV had no casinos that I could tell and had a great mom and pop type restaurant.
After grabbing something to eat at a casino in Wendover I crossed the border into Utah and stopped for some photos in the Bonneville Salt Flat area. Such a cool area in geological terms. I then continued on I-80 East through SLC and into Wyoming. There I would pick up 191 at Rock Springs to head north towards Dubois via 28 and 287. This last leg of the trip was pretty uneventful and I was trying to get as many miles under me as I could go I would be home at a decent hour.
The next couple of weeks in Dubois involved putting a new roof on my home and other chores around the house. We spent the 4th of July up in Cody at the Irma Hotel and had a great time there. You got to love the west and towns like this. There was a raffle for a nice lever action 30/30 rifle and the girl selling the tickets walked around town with the rifle letting you hold it and check it out. Just try that in NJ…
Unfortunately my vacation time was nearing the end and I had to head back east. I decided to take Rt. 20 for most of the way, from Shoshone WY to Chadron NE, there I headed south on NE 385 so I could pick up route 2 in Alliance. Route 2 eventually brings you to I-80 and I took that for a while until I could cut down to Rt. 34 in Iowa.
It is important to mention that once in a while I noticed that I was getting a hesitation while accelerating once in a while. It felt like the clutch was slipping. As I rode further into Iowa I also started to get some noises from the primary area. A few times I stopped to try and check it out but I could no find anything apparent. Clutch was adjusted fine and the primary chain was also OK. By the time I reached Ottumwa the noise was bad but seemed to be only in certain gears. My buddy Tom that I mentioned earlier was only about 100 miles away so I headed off to his place. I figured that what ever it was the damage was already done and the extra miles wasn’t going to hurt it any more.
Tom was waiting for me and we pulled the ‘Maytag’ into his garage. Maytag because by this time it sounded like rocks in a clothes dryer. He has a nice setup in his garage for working on his bikes and the next day I was able to start tearing things apart while he went off to work. When I removed the primary cover a bunch of ball bearings fell out. Not good, it looked like the counter shaft bearing failed in the transmission. Now this is not the stock Sportster 5 speed but a Baker 6 speed that I put in a few years ago. This was the second time that the unit failed on me while on the road. Baker is known for quality products but I think I just got a unit that did not go through the proper prep and quality control.
At this point I knew I could not fix the bike in the short time I had before I needed to return to work. I also had a business trip coming up and I needed to be home quickly. I rented a car for the remainder of the trip and asked Tom if it was OK to leave my bike at his place until I was able to drive back with my truck. I was able to drive just about straight through with some nap breaks at the various rest stops on the way.
So my trip was about 8,000 miles with the bike doing the last 1,000 miles in the bed of my pickup. All in all it was a great trip with lots of great riding. Can’t wait for next year.
After a few weeks I drove back out to Iowa and picked up my bike. Baker made good on their 5 year warranty and replace the transmission with no questions. At the time I had the transmission for about 3 years and 35,000 miles on it. I still think Baker makes a good product and they stand behind them which is the most important thing in my book.
On another note I picked up a windshield storage unit from Kuryakyn and that fell apart during this same trip. Cheap China made crap. Kuryakyn and the dealer I bought it from refused to do anything for me. So that is the last time I will buy any Kuryakyn product.
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SportsterDiana
non-member comment
My truck
I was wondering where my truck had gotten off to. ;) Where did you see it?