Big ride coming up, need some suggestions

paulcb

paulcb

- - - Tetelestai - - - R.I.P. - 2022/05/26
Rest In Peace
Joined
Jun 4, 2013
Messages
3,838
Location
Celina, TX
Bike
'97/'01 ST1100 ABSII
In June, we (family) are driving from TX to NJ to visit my wife's family. I plan on strapping my ST11 down in the back of our truck on the way up and then ride back to TX while the wife and kids stay in NJ for another week or two. I plan to leave NJ (Flemington area) on Monday morning June 14 and take 3-4 days to get back to TX. Would like to ride the dragon on the way back but that's about the only thing I've sort of planned... everything else is up in the air. I've driven that trip many times (I78W to I81S to I40W to I30W into Dallas) but would rather not slab it all the way back, thus the extra time built in.

Outside of a quick run down I95 on my '84 Ninja from NJ to FL about 25 years ago, this will be my longest motorcycle trip to date. Would appreciate any ride/route suggestions and would really like to meet up with anyone between NJ and TX for a meal or two... can adjust my route as necessary. Feel free to PM me if you like.

Any and all input much appreciated. TIA!

Paul
 
Sounds like fun. I think planning the cycle trip is the easy part. The riskiest part might be making sure you get the part right about strapping your bike on the back of a truck. Good luck. P.S. I haven't ridden in NJ since 1980 so I'll let guys with more recent experience offer advice.
 
I would suggest taking I-78 to I-81 south as far as Winchester Va. At that point any you can pick any road west of I-81 that heads south through WV, VA, Tn. I would say go into google maps and select a start point of Winchester and an end point of Gatlinburg, Tn. Select avoid highways in the mapping options. If you have never been to Seneca Rocks WV I would add that as a waypoint. That should provide you with a great route on some very nice roads. And the Dragon is not far from Gatlinburg.
 
The Dragon is, well...nice, (maybe it's just that I live close, and can go any old time), but I'd much rather ride the Cherohala Skyway than the Dragon. The Cherohala is notable because of the lack of cars, great sweepers, and nice road surface.

Riding through Nantahala forest is great too, you ride along the river for much of it, you see kayakers and canoeists floating down almost every day. The road is not challenging, but has some nice curves. It's hard NOT to find a good road to ride in this area!
 
Thank you for the input. I only listed the Dragon because... it's the Dragon... won't be too upset if I miss it to do something else. TBH, I'm more interested in a nice ride (good curvy road, little traffic, nice scenery, quaint cafe) than I am about scraping pegs with 20 other riders. klaproth, the Cherohala Skyway looks great, especially if it has less cars and better surface. Thanks for the tip. Phil, I'm giving myself an extra day or two to hit the side roads and have some meetups, so send that NC/TN route and I'll see if I can squeeze it in. Feel free to join me if you can. ;)

Hit me up if anyone's available for dinner on M, T or W night of that week. Thanks again and keep 'em coming.

Paul
 
DAS said:
Sounds like fun. I think planning the cycle trip is the easy part. The riskiest part might be making sure you get the part right about strapping your bike on the back of a truck. Good luck. P.S. I haven't ridden in NJ since 1980 so I'll let guys with more recent experience offer advice.
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Planning the trip is almost as good as the trip itself, at least for me. ;)

I'm not too concerned about getting it in and strapping it down as I have some really good straps the we use on dirt bikes. For those that read my thread, I don't plan on losing this like I did my new sleeping bag a few weeks ago! ;)

The fun part is getting it out. I've got some aluminum ramps I've used with it before but I never really felt comfortable so need to work on that.
 
paulcb said:
Thank you for the input. I only listed the Dragon because... it's the Dragon... won't be too upset if I miss it to do something else. TBH, I'm more interested in a nice ride (good curvy road, little traffic, nice scenery, quaint cafe) than I am about scraping pegs with 20 other riders. klaproth, the Cherohala Skyway looks great, especially if it has less cars and better surface. Thanks for the tip. Phil, I'm giving myself an extra day or two to hit the side roads and have some meetups, so send that NC/TN route and I'll see if I can squeeze it in. Feel free to join me if you can. ;)

Hit me up if anyone's available for dinner on M, T or W night of that week. Thanks again and keep 'em coming.

Paul
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The Cherohala and Dragon are both heavily patrolled by the THP, especially Fri - Sun. The Cherolala is worth it just for the scenery, but there are some very fast sweepers. There are lots of other excellent roads in western NC & east TN.
 
Paul - Can you handle MS Streets & Trips or what do you use? I've got a route figured from Hominy NC to Raywood TX ... ;-) It includes the Dragon, the Skyway, 28 into Franklin, part of the BRP, some great TN roads (including a run through Lynchburg), and part of the Natchez Trace.
 
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Though you've likely ridden there, Arkansas offers routes aplenty. There's hardly a straight shot on 16 west from Clinton. Choose about any road through the Ozarks, and you'll almost be eager for the slab home. :)



Styles
 
Uncle Phil said:
Paul - Can you handle MS Streets & Trips or what do you use? I've got a route figured from Hominy NC to Raywood TX ... ;-) It includes the Dragon, the Skyway, 28 into Franklin, part of the BRP, some great TN roads (including a run through Lynchburg), and part of the Natchez Trace.
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That's a good question Phil. I've struggled with motorcycle GPS routing. I don't have MS Streets & Trips. I usually use Google Maps on my computer to lay out a route (it's easy to drag the route around) but then I can't get that route into anything else. I've used our Nuvi 255W but can't import anything into that. If it's just a few waypoints, I'll manually enter them into the Nuvi. I also have my iPhone connected to my Sena and have tried a few different apps there... Google Maps, InRoute, navmii, Waze and Navigon but I'm not really happy with any of those. Since we only have one GPS and my wife will want it coming back, I'm in the market for a GPS that I can import routes into. I prefer a Nuvi but would entertain others. Would really like a 5" screen. I know you like the Rage units... am considering one of those... how big is the screen and what's the all up cost to get one of those running? Would appreciate any suggestions. TIA.
 
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Paul - I just got some of the Chinavasion 5" units and am currently testing them. So far, I like them way more than even the Rage. The backlighting appears to be a lot stronger, the extra screen size is nice, and they seem to find the satellites quick - issues that I have had with the Rages. I'm also using the IGO Primo 2.4 with the motorcycle updates which is proving to be also be a great enhancement. These GPS units are also waterproof (IPX5 - Water projected by a nozzle (6.3 mm) against enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effects) and work very well with gloves - including Gerbing Heated Gloves! And the IGO8 or the IGO PRIMO uses Google maps (.kml) files as their 'route files', so you should be able to build your routes using Google Maps like you do now and then save them down to the GPS. The GPS plugs in with a USB cord, then you just copy the .kml files to the proper folder and you are good to go. And the map updates are really 'difficult' - delete the old ones in the MAP folder and copy the new ones over. ;-) Garmin makes some fine units, but then they think an awful lot of them! BTW, I order mine on a Sunday evening and had them in hand on the following Wednesday (got them on sale for $109 each + shipping). The last one I bought was $142, including shipping. You would still have to buy the software (around $50), but I use the same software on all of my personal units, so the 'incremental' cost is pretty reasonable. :D It's a great option if you plan on having more than one unit - I have one for each ST1100 and one in each of my three vehicles!
 
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Thanks Phil. So, this device plus the IGO8 software is all that's needed? The GPS comes with WIN CE installed and IGO runs off WIN CE?

How do you purchase the IGO8 software (didn't seem easy from a Google search)? I found it on eBay but not sure of it's 'legality'.

I guess you use the IGO Primo on your smartphone? You can import a route from Google Maps into that app?

Edit: Looks like IGO8 and IGO Primo are just two different nav programs from the same company, i.e. both can run on the 5" Chinavision?

Appreciate the help!
 
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paulcb said:
Planning the trip is almost as good as the trip itself, at least for me. ;)
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I agree. And I've not yet mastered the route planning on Garmin's Basecamp. What I seriously considered was one of those scrolling (you turn a small knob to wind the adding machine tape up, revealing more directions) lists for off road mc's - sort of an old fashioned rally list of miles and turns. But I never ordered one from ebay. More recently I've just taped route instructions to my tank - but not for as long a trip as you are taking. On a long trip or to rallies I use a tank bag w/ a map pocket and I hand write route instructions for the pocket. I change that as necessary at gas stops.
 
To add to this thread, I think I'm going to motocamp on the trip, at least for a night or two. I've not really done that before but have wanted to get into it. Suggestions from that line of thinking appreciated as well. I've found a few "campground finder" websites that I'll use when figure out the area I'll be in for the night. I'm thinking about running down Skyline Dr. so I expect my first night will be somewhere in VA on the west side of I81. After that, who knows?
 
Paul, I use 'Campwhere' app on my iPad and iPhone. I really like it. I have camped at Corp parks for as little as $6 using my Ole Farts card from National parks.
 
gmast1100 said:
Paul, I use 'Campwhere' app on my iPad and iPhone. I really like it. I have camped at Corp parks for as little as $6 using my Ole Farts card from National parks.
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Thanks Gary but it seems that app is not available any more. :(

Another one I found highly recommended was Woodall's RV & Camping Copilot. Seems it's not available any more either. Anyone have any other suggestions on good campground finding apps?
 
paulcb said:
Thanks Phil. So, this device plus the IGO8 software is all that's needed? The GPS comes with WIN CE installed and IGO runs off WIN CE?

How do you purchase the IGO8 software (didn't seem easy from a Google search)? I found it on eBay but not sure of it's 'legality'.

I guess you use the IGO Primo on your smartphone? You can import a route from Google Maps into that app?

Edit: Looks like IGO8 and IGO Primo are just two different nav programs from the same company, i.e. both can run on the 5" Chinavision?

Appreciate the help!
Click to expand...

Paul - IGO8 and IGO Primo are two different GPS packages by the same developer and both will run on the 5" GPS. This is what Gizmo posted -

I emailed the guy using the ask seller a question or something like that and he sent me an address to paypal him the funds .
This was his reply :
"Hi, Sorry for the confusion. I am having technical difficulties with the eCrater checkout system right now.
Meanwhile you can send the payment directly via PayPal to adderlan1@gmail.com
Thanks."
So you might email him at the above address .

So you should be able to email him and see if he still sells IGO8. As far as routes go, you can create them on Google maps, save them as .kml files and then copy them to a the proper folder on the GPS. Or you can use GPSBABEL (or other free programs like it) to convert from one GPS format to kml. Hope that helps.
 
Uncle Phil said:
Paul - IGO8 and IGO Primo are two different GPS packages by the same developer and both will run on the 5" GPS. This is what Gizmo posted -

I emailed the guy using the ask seller a question or something like that and he sent me an address to paypal him the funds .
This was his reply :
"Hi, Sorry for the confusion. I am having technical difficulties with the eCrater checkout system right now.
Meanwhile you can send the payment directly via PayPal to adderlan1@gmail.com
Thanks."
So you might email him at the above address .

So you should be able to email him and see if he still sells IGO8. As far as routes go, you can create them on Google maps, save them as .kml files and then copy them to a the proper folder on the GPS. Or you can use GPSBABEL (or other free programs like it) to convert from one GPS format to kml. Hope that helps.
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Thank you Phil. I've contacted him.
 
If you go with this device, just let me know and I'll be glad to help! Be sure you use the security screw in the cradle as the clip is a little weak. I have reason to believe that a good strong crosswind could blow a unit out of the cradle when you are doing 70+ mph and send it crashing to the ground ... :doh1:
 
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