How to get from Oregon to TN?

How's everyone doing this morning?

I'm leaving Monday morning headed up to Portland for several months. I wish I could say that I will be riding my FZ6 there but alas this is not the case..... my baby is being loaded on a ship and taking the long way there haha...

well, I hope she makes it :-|

Anyway... to the meat of the post. Before I knew I was headed up to Portland I had planned on riding from San Diego up to LA, catching Route 66 and riding cross county the entire route of Route 66 to Chicago, then heading from Chicago to TN.

Now that I'll be starting in Portland I'm not sure what I'll do now..... should I ride down the coast to LA and go with my first plan? Should I go through the northwest mountains and then catch route 66 later?

should I go down and see the redwoods of northern california... hit yellow stone.... then maybe the grand canyon....

anyway my point is that I don't know what I should do now. this will be my first touring trip. I was planning on about a 10 day trip but I think I may stretch that out to 14 days. the possibilities are really endless.

What would you guys do if you were me? 2 weeks to get from Portland to Knoxville, TN.

well, i have driven most of the portland to florida route a few times. If your leaving any time soon, stay south on 66, although you will drive through the butt-ugly top of texas for what seems like forever. If you are going later in the year cut north through kansas up to idaho then out 84 to portland.

You say you're going to be up here in PDX for several months. I'm assuming that means you'll be riding back to TN in the early summer.
I say stay off of all freeways first and foremost. They are generally straight and boring. Well I guess when you get east of the rockies it's all pretty much like that so you can make the call there.
Have you seen the major National Parks in the West? Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion, Grand Canyon, etc? If not I would suggest a route in which you can hit at least some if not all of them.
Ok, I made up a purposed route. It includes Route 66 from Flagstaff to Chicago, which is all freeway BTW :spank:

This route takes you through Lolo pass on the Idaho - Montana border which I hear nothing but great things about. Then you will go through/passed the following National Parks; Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest. Total drive time is 86hrs or just over 6 hrs/day over 14 days. I figured you would want to actually sight see a little bit along the way :rockon:

Hope that gives ya a little bit of an idea to go on.

this is the route i will be taking east in june:

http://picasaweb.google.com/DocSimple1969/ScreenCaptures?feat=directlink


Not sure which route on the way back. I have 6 days to make it east and then I will take at least a couple of weeks coming back. I was thinking of heading into canada for a while. But if you have the time on the way back my proposed route skims over the north side of the great lakes and then you could run straight south down the Appalachians.

There's something called the Trans American Trail that goes from TN to Oregon, but I wouldn't take it on the FZ6. It's more for dual sports.

I like H2O boys route. I have never taken near that long a trip yet on my FZ6 or any street bike for that matter. I would like to join you but couldn't get the time off of work. I'm a photographer part time and would love to visit all those places. You seem to see more on a motorcycle. Enjoy your trip what ever rout you take. :thumbup:

When are you doing this? Not sure I would want to ride the southern route in the heat of summer.

h2o_boy said:

You say you're going to be up here in PDX for several months. I'm assuming that means you'll be riding back to TN in the early summer.
I say stay off of all freeways first and foremost. They are generally straight and boring. Well I guess when you get east of the rockies it's all pretty much like that so you can make the call there.
Have you seen the major National Parks in the West? Yellowstone, Yosemite, Zion, Grand Canyon, etc? If not I would suggest a route in which you can hit at least some if not all of them.
Ok, I made up a purposed route. It includes Route 66 from Flagstaff to Chicago, which is all freeway BTW :spank:

This route takes you through Lolo pass on the Idaho - Montana border which I hear nothing but great things about. Then you will go through/passed the following National Parks; Glacier, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest. Total drive time is 86hrs or just over 6 hrs/day over 14 days. I figured you would want to actually sight see a little bit along the way :rockon:

Hope that gives ya a little bit of an idea to go on.

Click to expand...

That's a great idea. The national parks were certainly on my list of things to do as I've not been to any of them. :thumbup: Thanks for the route. That's great!

Red Wazp said:

When are you doing this? Not sure I would want to ride the southern route in the heat of summer.

Click to expand...

The time I get off for vacation is somewhat up in the air right now. It'll either be mid to late April or early May.

Thanks again for the route ideas h2o_boy! I'm about to leave either this afternoon or tomorrow morning based upon how much stuff I can get done today in preperation. The big thing on the todo list is outfit the Zumo 660. Shouldn't take TOO long... but you know how those things go.

I had to change the ride a bit because I'm going to be shorter on time than I had though but I'm so excited! This should be epic

this is how it turned out http://www.600riders.com/forum/touring/16395-how-i-got-tn.html