It's been a while since my last post, during which time I've been suffering Route 66 withdrawal symptoms. Not uncommon I hear.
But anyway, this post is about the riding gear I took with me and how it stood up to the task. Remember, I did the trip in April-May. Later in the year the weather would tend to be much hotter.
On my trip I rode though all sorts of weather, everything from snow, rain, hail and strong winds through to fine warm sunny days, and blistering dessert heat over 100F. Someone once said to me that there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad riding gear - I tend to agree!
Over the years my gear has been refined and purchased primarily for riding in British weather, so I know it would be OK for the cold and damp, but I wondered how it would fair in the varying types of climate I would encounter on Route 66?
The kit I took consisted of:
Jackets: I took two, both made by Hein Gerecke. The first was a heavy waterproof textile jacket, complete with shoulder elbow and back armour, although I had taken out the winter lining. On the coldest days I wore a base layer, t-shirt and micro-fleece under it, and was perfectly warm, especially behind the Harley's big protective screen and fairing. As it warmed up, I could remove layers to stay comfortable, and unzip vents in the jacket to let some air through.
The other jacket was lighter and has panels that are made of a mesh material. It is designed for those hot days when you need to get some ventilation going and is far from waterproof, for obvious reasons! It still offers plenty of protection though, with armour in all the vulnerable places. At home, this jacket only gets used about twice per year! On this trip it was the jacket of choice once the temperatures started to rise.
Boots: Altberg motorcycle boots, made to measure at their factory in Richmond, North Yorkshire. These are great boots, comfortable to walk in, have proven to be 100% waterproof to date, and should offer good protection in the case of an accident. Altberg will also repair and refurbish as required, so they should last for life. I wore these every day on the bike, with thermal socks underneath on the cold days!
Trousers: I only took one pair of motorcycle trousers, these are by Hein Gerecke and match the heavier jacket. They can be zipped together to keep the drafts down when riding (and hold the trousers up when walking!) The trousers also have vents which can be unzipped for some ventilation when the temperatures start to rise. Additional protection is provided by built in armour around the hips and knees. I wore these everyday, with a base layer underneath on the colder days. I had no problem with the cold; the only time there was an issue was in-town riding in the warmer temperatures, when, combined with the heat from the engine, things became quite uncomfortable. I almost took a pair of Kevlar jeans with me (for example Draggin' Jeans), and if I had been travelling any later in the year, these probably would have been required due to the heat. As it was, it was bearable, and worth the occasional discomfort to know that I had good protection should the worst happen.
Gloves: I took some all-season gloves, again made by Hein Gerecke. They offer extra knuckle protection, and are made from kangaroo leather. These are the gloves that I use all year round in the UK. On this trip however I bought a lighter pair of leather gloves from Biker Shak, opposite the Round Barn, for when the temperature started to rise. From the same place I also bought some fingerless gloves. To be honest, these weren't really required on the grounds of the temperature, but turned out to be really good when riding through the National Parks. In these places you're jumping on and off the bike every few minutes to take pictures - having fingerless gloves meant that you could leave them on and still use the camera, and so save some time, but at the same time ensuring that the backs of my hands didn't get sun burnt!
Crash Helmet: Before the trip I agonised about what to do about the crash helmet. At home I always ride with a full face helmet, but didn't want one of those for the trip. I looked at buying an open face lid (three quarter helmet as the Americans call them), or a flip-front lid before I went, but in the end decided not to take one at all, as I believed that I would get something suitable from EagleRiders.
As it turned out all they had at the shop were half helmets (piss-pot lids, as we call them in the UK!) with no visors. And they were all huge and minging inside! They had nothing suitable for me. Luckily there is a Harley Davidson dealer right next door, so I went there and found a helmet that fitted, had a visor, and was more substantial that those they had in EagleRiders, so I bought that. Luckily I never had to find out how much protection it would provide! I brought the lid home with me as a souvenir - it would not be legal to use in this country though.
That was the main gear I used, and it all worked well, and layers were the key to managing body temperature. Later in the year I would have been too hot in all this gear, but for the spring it was fine.
I also took with me a one piece rain suit. This was never used, took up a lot of precious space in my pannier, and if I were doing this again, I wouldn't bother taking it with me.
In my next post-trip update I'll be looking at the techie gear I took.
Showing posts with label eaglerider. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eaglerider. Show all posts
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Monday, 16 May 2011
Post Trip Review 1: The Benifit of Hindsight.
It's been over a week since I completed my trip along Route 66 and the PCH, and I'm back home now, and back at work. It seems so long since I was riding into Santa Monica, and then on to San Francisco, but it was only a short time ago. It's really hard to believe.
I thought that it would be a good idea, now that the trip is over, the dust has settled, and normality has resumed in my life (kinda), to look back and review what went well, and what I would do differently, if I were ever given the chance to do it all over again.
First of all, I've got so say that there was the potential for the trip to go badly wrong: bike breakdowns, or an accident; meeting the "wrong" kind of people; or meeting no people at all! etc. etc. Thankfully, nothing like that happened. I believe that was down to a mixture of good planning, having my wits about me most of the time, and of course, a bit of good luck too.
So this is the first of a few articles that I'll post to look at various aspects of the trip and how it worked out. Hopefully this might give an insight for others planning a similar trip. I'll cover things like riding gear, accommodation, how the planning worked, and the various bits of gadgetry that I took with me. For this post though, I'll concentrate on:
The Bike:
"Black Beauty", my brand spanking new Harley Davidson ElegctraGlide Classic, was perfect for the job of transporting me and 3 weeks worth of supplies over most of the 3600+ miles that we travelled together.
The panniers and tourpack fitted everything with ease, and the purpose made bags that fit inside really helped there. The seat was so comfy that I was never troubled with numb-bum syndrome nor back ache. If I were doing this trip two-up then I would recommend going for the ElectraGlide Ultra, which has a few extra amenities and home comforts for a pillion passenger, plus additional luggage capacity in the form of a rack on top of the tourpack, which would likely be needed. But as a single rider, the Classic was perfectly suitable.
The bike is big, long and heavy, with a big lazy engine - just right for highway riding, long fast sweeping curves, and OK for puttering about town. The only time that it struggled was when negotiating the more twisty roads, like the Oatman Highway. Then it's size and weight acted against it. Wrestling it around the bends became tiring, and the gear box, which has a decidedly agricultural feel to it, was very heavy to operate. One redeeming feature though is the 96 cubic inch (1584cc) v-twin engine. This cannot be called a responsive motor by any stretch of the imagination, but has so much low-down torque that if you do find yourself mid-bend in too high a gear, it is very forgiving and will haul you round and out of trouble at very low revs.
That big, air-cooled engine also generates a lot of heat between your legs. This is most welcome when the weather is on the cooler side, but when sitting at lights when the temperature has climbed into the 90s or more, it can get very uncomfortable, until you get moving again!
I spent more on fuel than I had anticipated for a number of reasons: Firstly, I did more miles than I had planned. Secondly, due to riding into a strong headwind for much of the way, the Harley's fuel consumption was higher that I had thought it would be. And lastly, fuel prices (whilst still half what we pay here in the UK) had increased. Those three factors together meant that for the whole trip I got through about 91 US gallons (346 litres) of unleaded, costing $366. Remarkably, as the whole trip was 3661 miles, so this works out at exactly 10c per mile on gas!
In conclusion then, there is no such thing as a perfect bike for all occasions and conditions, but the Harley came close for most of the riding I did on this trip, and being classic American iron, I can think of no other bike that I'd rather have riden.
Would I rent one in America again? Yes.
Would I buy myself one? Probably not.
I thought that it would be a good idea, now that the trip is over, the dust has settled, and normality has resumed in my life (kinda), to look back and review what went well, and what I would do differently, if I were ever given the chance to do it all over again.
First of all, I've got so say that there was the potential for the trip to go badly wrong: bike breakdowns, or an accident; meeting the "wrong" kind of people; or meeting no people at all! etc. etc. Thankfully, nothing like that happened. I believe that was down to a mixture of good planning, having my wits about me most of the time, and of course, a bit of good luck too.
So this is the first of a few articles that I'll post to look at various aspects of the trip and how it worked out. Hopefully this might give an insight for others planning a similar trip. I'll cover things like riding gear, accommodation, how the planning worked, and the various bits of gadgetry that I took with me. For this post though, I'll concentrate on:
The Bike:
"Black Beauty", my brand spanking new Harley Davidson ElegctraGlide Classic, was perfect for the job of transporting me and 3 weeks worth of supplies over most of the 3600+ miles that we travelled together.
The panniers and tourpack fitted everything with ease, and the purpose made bags that fit inside really helped there. The seat was so comfy that I was never troubled with numb-bum syndrome nor back ache. If I were doing this trip two-up then I would recommend going for the ElectraGlide Ultra, which has a few extra amenities and home comforts for a pillion passenger, plus additional luggage capacity in the form of a rack on top of the tourpack, which would likely be needed. But as a single rider, the Classic was perfectly suitable.
The bike is big, long and heavy, with a big lazy engine - just right for highway riding, long fast sweeping curves, and OK for puttering about town. The only time that it struggled was when negotiating the more twisty roads, like the Oatman Highway. Then it's size and weight acted against it. Wrestling it around the bends became tiring, and the gear box, which has a decidedly agricultural feel to it, was very heavy to operate. One redeeming feature though is the 96 cubic inch (1584cc) v-twin engine. This cannot be called a responsive motor by any stretch of the imagination, but has so much low-down torque that if you do find yourself mid-bend in too high a gear, it is very forgiving and will haul you round and out of trouble at very low revs.
That big, air-cooled engine also generates a lot of heat between your legs. This is most welcome when the weather is on the cooler side, but when sitting at lights when the temperature has climbed into the 90s or more, it can get very uncomfortable, until you get moving again!
I spent more on fuel than I had anticipated for a number of reasons: Firstly, I did more miles than I had planned. Secondly, due to riding into a strong headwind for much of the way, the Harley's fuel consumption was higher that I had thought it would be. And lastly, fuel prices (whilst still half what we pay here in the UK) had increased. Those three factors together meant that for the whole trip I got through about 91 US gallons (346 litres) of unleaded, costing $366. Remarkably, as the whole trip was 3661 miles, so this works out at exactly 10c per mile on gas!
In conclusion then, there is no such thing as a perfect bike for all occasions and conditions, but the Harley came close for most of the riding I did on this trip, and being classic American iron, I can think of no other bike that I'd rather have riden.
Would I rent one in America again? Yes.
Would I buy myself one? Probably not.
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Day 0: The Windy City
The day got off too a good start this morning when I found that some kind sole had left a breakfast voucher in my room! So having made use of that, I set off for the airport to find out if there would be a seat for me on the flight to Chicago.
I was in luck, and got a good seat towards the front of the plane. Result!
The young lady sitting across the aisle from me had obviously taken part in Sunday's London marathon, and on talking to her I discovered that she was not just any athlete, she was none other than Amanda McGrory, who had won the lady's wheelchair event. Twenty six and a bit miles in 1:48 - that's quick. She seemed very nice and it was interesting talking to her; hopefully the first of many interesting people I'll meet over the next few weeks.
Other than that it was a quiet and uneventful flight, exactly how you want it. I managed to watch a couple of movies that I hadn't seen (The King's Speech and Social Network both good in their own different ways), and managed to fit in a snooze in between.
On arriving in O'Hare airport I had to wonder if the US Authorities would rather that foreigners didn't visit at all. Immigration was so slow and painful. Nearly 2 hours after landing however, I was pleased to see my bag on the carousel, and treated myself to a taxi ride to the hotel, rather than take my chances on public transport.
I've had a few hours looking around the vicinity of my hotel, which is on Michigan Av - the Magnificent Mile, full of high end shops and restaurants. Gillian would love it! From what little I've seen, it seems like a nice city, and one that warrants a further visit some time in the future. It is very cold though, with snow and sleet showers forecast for tomorrow. Less than ideal; I hope it warms up quickly as I head south!
So tomorrow EagleRiders will pick me up from the hotel and take me to their office, where I pick up the bike, and the journey begins in earnest. It's 8pm here, but for me that really means 2am! Time for a quick bite to eat, and then off for an early night. Until tomorrow then, but in the meantime here are a few pictures to prove that I really am here.....
I was in luck, and got a good seat towards the front of the plane. Result!
The young lady sitting across the aisle from me had obviously taken part in Sunday's London marathon, and on talking to her I discovered that she was not just any athlete, she was none other than Amanda McGrory, who had won the lady's wheelchair event. Twenty six and a bit miles in 1:48 - that's quick. She seemed very nice and it was interesting talking to her; hopefully the first of many interesting people I'll meet over the next few weeks.
Other than that it was a quiet and uneventful flight, exactly how you want it. I managed to watch a couple of movies that I hadn't seen (The King's Speech and Social Network both good in their own different ways), and managed to fit in a snooze in between.
On arriving in O'Hare airport I had to wonder if the US Authorities would rather that foreigners didn't visit at all. Immigration was so slow and painful. Nearly 2 hours after landing however, I was pleased to see my bag on the carousel, and treated myself to a taxi ride to the hotel, rather than take my chances on public transport.
I've had a few hours looking around the vicinity of my hotel, which is on Michigan Av - the Magnificent Mile, full of high end shops and restaurants. Gillian would love it! From what little I've seen, it seems like a nice city, and one that warrants a further visit some time in the future. It is very cold though, with snow and sleet showers forecast for tomorrow. Less than ideal; I hope it warms up quickly as I head south!
So tomorrow EagleRiders will pick me up from the hotel and take me to their office, where I pick up the bike, and the journey begins in earnest. It's 8pm here, but for me that really means 2am! Time for a quick bite to eat, and then off for an early night. Until tomorrow then, but in the meantime here are a few pictures to prove that I really am here.....
Old (for the US) buildings seem to mix easily with the newer skyscrapers.
Yes, it's me, and it really is as cold as I look!
More tall buildings make for an impressive skyline. Chicago boasts 3 of the 5 tallest building in the US, including the Wallis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower), which is the tallest of them all.
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
The deed is done!
There, I've gone and done it. I am now committed (and some say, should be). Today I passed a sizable amount of money to EagleRiders for the bike rental for my trip across America.
So now $3000 lighter, a Harley Davidson Electra Glide is booked for collection at Chicago on April 19th, and together we will travel through 9 states to Santa Monica, California. Then we'll travel up the coast, and eventually will part in San Francisco 18 days later.
So, there we are. Having made the non-refundable payment, the trip is on, there's no going back now!
Days to departure: 68
Paydays to departure: 2
Funding: $$$Less than yesterday!$$$
So now $3000 lighter, a Harley Davidson Electra Glide is booked for collection at Chicago on April 19th, and together we will travel through 9 states to Santa Monica, California. Then we'll travel up the coast, and eventually will part in San Francisco 18 days later.
So, there we are. Having made the non-refundable payment, the trip is on, there's no going back now!
Days to departure: 68
Paydays to departure: 2
Funding: $$$Less than yesterday!$$$
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Back to Plan A ...
OK, so following feed back from some of my Facebook friends (and some of them are actually real friends too!) I have decided to bite the bullet and revert back to my original plan. I feel like a weight has lifted!
So, on April 18th 2011 (yes, less than 3 months left to go), I will board a plane bound for Chicago IL, to start my journey across America to Los Angeles, and then up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Fransisco, about 3000 miles in all.
I'll be following Route 66 (roughly) to LA, with a few side trips to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. Also, purely by luck, I will be passing close to Laughlin NV at the time that the Laughlin River Run is on, so I will be calling in to check that out. This is the infamous event that, in April 2002, saw 2 motorcycle gangs clash, culminating in a shoot out in Harrah's casino, with fatal consequences. Hopefully it won't be that dramatic whilst I'm there!
I've been in contact with EagleRider and managed to negotiate a bit of a discount with them, so this is now the best way to do the trip, on a Harley Davidson Electraglide! I'm going to see if I can get any more discount, and then book the bike in the next couple of days.
Anyway, normal service has now been resumed!
Days to departure: 96
Paydays to departure: 3
Funding: $$$Not enough$$$
So, on April 18th 2011 (yes, less than 3 months left to go), I will board a plane bound for Chicago IL, to start my journey across America to Los Angeles, and then up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Fransisco, about 3000 miles in all.
I'll be following Route 66 (roughly) to LA, with a few side trips to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. Also, purely by luck, I will be passing close to Laughlin NV at the time that the Laughlin River Run is on, so I will be calling in to check that out. This is the infamous event that, in April 2002, saw 2 motorcycle gangs clash, culminating in a shoot out in Harrah's casino, with fatal consequences. Hopefully it won't be that dramatic whilst I'm there!
I've been in contact with EagleRider and managed to negotiate a bit of a discount with them, so this is now the best way to do the trip, on a Harley Davidson Electraglide! I'm going to see if I can get any more discount, and then book the bike in the next couple of days.
Anyway, normal service has now been resumed!
Days to departure: 96
Paydays to departure: 3
Funding: $$$Not enough$$$
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