3,658 mile road trip (Miami, Fl to Lime Rock, Ct)

Hey guys and gals. I've been a non-contributing member for a while now and I've finally done something worth posting. My buddy and I did a two week long road trip. AMAZING RIDE! I was just wondering if there's enough interest out there to hear about the trip. We started in Miami, Fl and rode up to Lime Rock, Ct. On the way back home we did the Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway and of course the Tail of the Dragon. Well, if you guys want to read all about it just let me know. I have tons of pics. If not, that's ok too.

Post the pics and give us some details!

Luiz said:

Post the pics and give us some details!

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Couldn't agree more!

:needpics:


Sorry, had to do it. Post it up man.

:welcome: and YES! Absolutely! We love to live vicariously through fellow forum members!

Well... I'm about to head out to dinner. So here's a quick link to my pics on facebook. Details of the trip, gear and what I've learned are soon to follow.
Ruben Vega's Photos - 3,658 miles.. | Facebook

Great pictures... I love the one of the wheelie in-front of the Capital. I can't wait for my first long distance trip.

Great pictures....looks like you had a great time!

Thanks for sharing the photos Ruben. We cannot wait to hear about the trials and successes of this trip! Looks like a really great run up the coast!

rnocera said:

Great pictures... I love the one of the wheelie in-front of the Capital. I can't wait for my first long distance trip.

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+1 Classic! Couldn't help laughing seeing those tropical storm pics. The fog really sucked.

Why was that picture in D.C. titled a weird moment? I did notice two of each bike though.

Glad to see you guys made it to the Dragon, one of these day, I wiill get there with my Fizzer. It's has become one of my lifetime goals. Kind of tough when you live out west.

VEGASRIDER said:

Why was that picture in D.C. titled a weird moment? I did notice two of each bike though.

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I'm going to guess that it was because they met up with their twins in DC. What are the chances, eh? Two vastly different bikes traveling together and meeting up with another set just like it? :thumbup:

This looks like a ride I wish I could have had a part in. Sweet! :rockon:

Nice trip and pics!

FZ1inNH said:

I'm going to guess that it was because they met up with their twins in DC. What are the chances, eh? Two vastly different bikes traveling together and meeting up with another set just like it? :thumbup:

This looks like a ride I wish I could have had a part in. Sweet! :rockon:

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That's EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED! We were meeting up with a friend in DC, turned a corner and had to do a double take! I literally looked down to make sure I was still on my bike. Def. a weird moment. On an informative note, the trip started in Miami with me on my '05 FZ6 and my buddy Justin on his brother's F4i. Once we reached Raleigh, NC, Justin got on his Triumph Speed Triple and his brother, Dex, got on the F4i. The wheelie in front of the capital was Justin on the Triumph. Thanks for the comments guys. I promise to update regularly with a play by play of the trip. For now it's off to bed. I wake up for work in 5 hours...

As promised: Some Details... Lets start with the gear.
GEAR:
Helmet: AGV Miglia (Flip up helmet) ($170)
Gloves: Icon 29-ers ($29)
Jacket:Yamaha mesh jacket ($70 - made them an offer on ebay)
Pants: Broken in jeans
Boots: Craftsman work boots
(Small note on the boots: I really wanted water proof boots. The only boots I found that were moderately priced ($80) that were GUARANTEED to be water proof were these. Yes, they are a little bit clunky, however, since they're designed for long work days they're very comfortable. As far as dealing with the clunkiness, I broke them in for a week and a half, I wore them everyday and tried to ride with them as much as possible. In the end they were a great choice considering that it rained on us just about everyday we rode.)
Rain Wear: Eddie Bauer 2 pc. rain suit. (Also a very good choice)
-I guess the word of advice here is to be prepared. I was the only one with a rain suit and by the end of the trip my boots were still usable. Unlike the stank excuses for shoes my buddies had.

Any questions are welcomed. I'm off to dinner. Tons more to come. Promise..

The good stuff...
The Bike:
My bike is stock with the exception of the fender eliminator and the after market turn signals. I did install the Nautilus air horn as per Boneman's instructions. Truly a great site!

Luggage: I purchased my saddle bags off of Amazon. Just typed in "motorcycle saddle bags". They are Motogear. The saddle bags were about $60 and the matching tail bag was like $25. Def. the most affordable bags out there. The saddle bags include a neon yellow rain cover. They were big enough to pack 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair jean shorts, basketball shorts, about 10 pairs of socks and briefs, 7 shirts and just as many tank tops. I had toiletries, camera and phone chargers, a can of fix-a-flat and an extra headlight bulb. In the tail bag I had the rain gear for easy access, chain lube, and the extra visor for the helmet. It was a perfect fit. The really long nylon straps allow you to strap the bags on in a number of ways. I also had a Nelson Rigg small tank bag for my wallet, cell phone, keys, etc.. A pic of the bike fully loaded is below

Tires: I went with the Pirelli Diablo Strada. I researched tires for a good 2 months before making up my mind. What truly drove me to choose those tires was the fact that my bike is a daily rider. I live 27 miles away from work, all highway, so a softer compound will develop a flat patch in no time at all. Not to mention doing a looong trip on softies is asking for a flat. I got both tires from kneedraggers. They were by far the cheapest. (~$280 for both tires including shipping) This tires truly are as versatile as the FZ! Riding through about an inch to two of standing water on the highway was NO PROBLEM. (Not recommended, we had a schedule to keep) There was no wobbling or scary moments. In fact, I was actually cut off and was forced to grab the brakes pretty hard. I was expecting to skid or slide but the tires held. On The Dragon I was dragging my boots and foot pegs on the ground and the tires still held strong. Granted, I didn't start out that aggressive but after turn 83 you start to build your confidence and get the hang of it. Below are some pics of the tires afterwards. The ONLY complaint of the tires is a little bit of road noise. You could only hear it if you're really looking for it. I only had the tires on the bike a couple days before the trip so they have about 4,000 highway miles on them and really no sign of a flat spot.

Accessories: I bought the Vista Cruise cruise control (about $30). Super fast and easy install. A pic is below. It is a little testy to get it JUST RIGHT. You have to mess around with it by tightening the rubber ring that goes on the throttle and the tension spring on the locking lever. I also took my radar detector with me. Although outlawed in most north eastern states, Florida highway patrol have NOTHING ELSE to do but sit on the side of the road shooting radar. The wiring for the radar detector was very fast and simple. It was really a last second decision so the install was not the most professional (and I'm an electrical engineer) but it was safe and got the job done. If you need a quick and dirty way to install a radar detector just let me know.

The one thing I was really happy about doing to the bike is putting in a piece of memory foam in my seat. I looked into the diymotorcycleseat website. Unfortunately time was not a luxury I had. I already had the piece of foam. It was only as big and wide as the front part of the seat. I didn't cushion up the back seat. I bought an electric staple gun from home depot and staples, nothing else. My plan was to remove as few original staples as possible. I started removing staples from the corner of the seat that wraps around the tank and went only as far back as the beginning part of the back seat. I did that to both sides. Did not touch the front OR the back staples simply because they looked like a PAIN to try and get them back in correctly. I smoothed out the edges of the foam with a scissor and stuffed the foam in the "vinyl tunnel" I created. I pulled the foam flat and pulled the vinyl tight and started stapling. I went with the second cheapest staple gun at home depot because I knew I needed to pack a little punch to get the staples in the thick plastic. I stapled in an alternating pattern from side to side to ensure that there were no wrinkles in the vinyl. I don't have a really good pic of the final product. I'll shoot one sometime this week and upload it. But it really looks good if I do say so myself...

I think that's all the technical stuff as far as my setup is concerned. We have some good stories from the trip so if you guys really want to hear about it I'll continue posting. But it's good night for now.

rubenblades89 said:

Well... I'm about to head out to dinner. So here's a quick link to my pics on facebook. Details of the trip, gear and what I've learned are soon to follow.
Ruben Vega's Photos - 3,658 miles.. | Facebook

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It looks like you made it to Lakeville Lake. :thumbup: