Myself and three friends did this trip last year! Our group consisted of:
Me on my FZ6
A Suzuki Gladius
A HD V-Rod
A late 70's HD touring bike of some kind.
We left Milwaukee in the late morning on a Thursday and rode south, through Chicago and up around the southern tip of the lake. We headed north and camped along the lake in the National forest just south of Manistee.
The next day we woke up to HUGE storms. So we rode into Manistee had breakfast and sat for about 2.5 hours and drank coffee and talked to locals while we waited for the storm to pass. After this we headed north again towards a second night campground, Wildness State Park, just west of Mackinaw City. Between the storms in the morning and the rain all day (which slowed us down), we didn't reach the campground until almost 9pm. This day's ride included the tunnel of tress, which is a MUST ride. Had we not been so late and had it not still been raining, we would have turned around and ridden the stretch of road again, it was that good.
The next day, we got up, had breakfast in Mackinaw City and then crossed the bridge into the UP. From here we headed west, making good time, because for the first time on the trip, it wasn't raining. We camped Saturday night in a state campground near Manistique, which was very nice. We made good time and set up camp early, so we were able to go to the gas station and grab a 6 pack of beer and relax around a camp fire for the first time on the trip.
Sunday we got up early, and rode to Marinette for breakfast. Less than 10 miles later, the older Harley died. We had to leave the rider and bike to be towed home and we continued on. We buzzed south, through Greenbay and Sheboygan and back to Milwaukee, getting back mid-afternoon on Sunday.
All said and done, we did about 1200 miles in about 4 days. If you need up schedule, this pace wasn't bad at all. Get up, ride 30 or 40 miles, stop for breakfast, ride for a tank of gas, stop for lunch, ride for a tank of gas, set up camp, get dinner.
However, some of our riders were not well prepared or had mechanical problems and the weather really set us back a lot of time, so I felt VERY rushed the whole trip, which really took some of the fun out of it for me. I would have rather had time to set up camp, relax and have a beer, maybe even cook at the camp site, but we just didn't have time.
If you are calling this a "vacation" I'd say I'd keep your planned riding days to 300 miles and less. I guess some guys like to just put down the miles like crazy and stay on the slab the whole time. I'd much rather take my time, stick to the country roads and see some sights.
Just by the math, lets say you plan on 400 miles a day. *IF* (big if) you can *AVERAGE* 60 miles per hour, that is more than 6.5 hours of riding time, just to get where you are going. I'd say, keeping a 60 miles an hour average for the day is asking a lot. You get stuck behind cars and trucks, you stop for gas, food, water, and to stretch. Weather can slow you down. The list goes on and on.
As for gas, I wouldn't worry too much. I think the worst gap I saw when were going across the UP was like 30 or 40 miles between stations. As long as you fill up every 100-120 miles, you have nothing to worry about.
For weather, we did our trip in early June (first week I think). During the day when it didn't rain, the temperature was nice; somewhere in the 50 to 60 range. It did get cool at night in, but that might have been because of all the storms. I took some under-armor (thermals) and I was comfortable at night in a 30 degree sleeping bag. If you are going in early may, there is a chance you might even see a little snow up in the UP yet.
I'm taking what I learned on this trip last year and planning a 5 day trip to the Apostle Islands this year.
Think we are going to ride from Milwaukee to Iron Mountain, to the Apostle Islands, then down along the Mississippi until we are even with Madison and then back east to Milwaukee. I'm really looking forward to that one.
Here is a link to my Photo album from last year's trip. Not much to see really, there was so much rain I didn't bother taking the camera out much.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2394392&id=26708325&l=11d29c1344
