[kentforrest]

 

[kentforrest]

I'm planning to wet my boot soles in the Pacific, wet 'em in the Atlantic, then again in the Pacific, on one meandering ~8,000 mile solo motorcycle trip across the USA and back.

I'd hoped to do this 2022, but life got in the way. Now shooting for 2023 and using the extra time to test and dial in the setup.

Plan is to camp 4 nights out of every 5 on the road, at least. Using the occasional hotel to get refreshed.

As modern adventuring goes, criss-crossing America on two wheels will be no giant feat. We live in the age of RTWs, after all. But for me, it's been a dream held since I got my first street bike nearly 40 years ago. Kids and career held me off. The kids are growing up, and remote work is a thing. It's time to go.

Well, almost. 😉

 

[kentforrest]

@JerryG my ears are open for any advice or critiques in my setup.

Especially if you camped.

🙏

 

[LMarr [DK]]

I'm planning to wet my boot soles in the Pacific, wet 'em in the Atlantic, then again in the Pacific, on one meandering ~8,000 mile solo motorcycle trip across the USA and back.

Looking forward to following your preparations, and most certainly your trip in 2023

 

[Cinco]

Sounds like a great adventure.
I am in north Texas if you ever need some assistance.
Cinco

 

[ARBOLMANO]

Awesome. I think that it’s actually more challenging than it used to in some ways. I’ve been back and forth on two wheels in the 80s. One just went. I think there’s way to much info to sort through. And a collosal number of people about. Camping on the road is nothing like it used to be. One pretty much has to plan ahead (Reservations) Fees have gotten out of hand for both campsites and motels. Stealth (free) camping tricky and unpredictable. Id highly advise the tent space section of ADV. I host folks here great thing to be involved in.
If still planning route, watch Easy Rider. My experiences in the South were parallel 20 years later. Go places not often heard of.
Try not to carry too much stuff.

 

[JerryG]

@JerryG my ears are open for any advice or critiques in my setup. Especially if you camped. 🙏

OK, you asked, so here it goes.

I did not camp on my latest trip to Nova Scotia, but I have and do camp. I maintain a ready-to-go camp bag that I carry if camping is planned or might be the result of the type of riding I'll be doing, i.e., if I might be going off-road and be far from immediate help, I always bring the camping gear. On my S1000XR, I use an SW-Motech Daypack Pro Tank Bag, BMW hard bags and, if camping, my 30L Mosko Moto Duffle/Pack pre-packed with all my camping gear. On my S1000RR, I use just my tank bag and BMW's RR Tail Bag; while I have done thousand mile trips on my RR, I do not camp when riding my RR. On my G310GS, I use Mosko Moto's Reckless 80 Revolver; it has three main dry bags plus to Aux Pox pouches/bags; I use two Aux Pox pouches without their dry bags to carry water and/or fuel bottles; if I'm camping, I replace the 22L Stinger Tail Bag with my 30L Mosko Moto Duffle/Pack pre-packed with all my camping gear.

I use the attached "Packing List Master" as my starting point for every trip. I copy and rename the list for the trip I'm planning and then I start adding, deleting, or changing the list until it fits the trip I'm going on. The list is pretty detailed because I use it to tell people exactly what gear I use; don't feel you need to match what I use, but instead, use each entry to consider what, if anything, you need to have in your own list so you are prepared. After each trip, I make changes to my master list based on lessons learned from that trip if merited.

Planning Links I've collected and/or used over the years:

17109 Motorcycle Rides and Motorcycle Roads

The Best Motorcycling Roads logged by 48846 motorcycle travellers for bike riding

www.bestbikingroads.com

http://www.motorcycleroads.com/

Curvature

Find twisty roads.

roadcurvature.com

Gravel Road Maps and Biking Routes - Gravelmap

Gravelmap is a tool for finding and sharing local gravel roads for biking, gravel grinding, exploration and more.

gravelmap.com

Tent Space Map v2

Friends and inmates, the Tent Space is back! I'm pleased to announce the return of the Tent Space Map. <--click here If you use the Tent Space List...

advrider.com

Tent Space Sign-Up Thread

Welcome to the Tent Space Sign-Up thread. This thread is only for offering place for travelers to stay. Nothing else. Period. The Tent Space is your...

advrider.com

Free Camping Near You | Go Camping for Free!

Finding free camping locations is easy! Use our interactive map to find camping near you or plan an epic free camping road trip with our trip planner.

freecampsites.net

Find yourself outside | Discover the best camping near you

From public parks to private land, we're the most comprehensive guide to camping across the US. Camp on ranches, farms, vineyards and land preserves.

www.hipcamp.com

Boondocking and camping resources | FreeRoam

Find the best free camping with helpful tools and a community for boondockers, campers, RVers and vanlifers

freeroam.app

More to follow as I think of it or people's questions remind me of things to share.

 

[GM26J]

Sounds wonderful. Hopefully you'll collect some videos along the way to share.

 

[kentforrest]

@JerryG thanks a lot, and I am sure I will ask more.

I'm an experienced hiker and backpacker. And of course many years of family camping in the State Parks. And, got my first street bike as soon as I turned 16 (near 40 years ago).

But .... I've never put all of this together to create a motocamping set up. Plus never been 3000 miles from base on a motorcycle, nor out for 30+ days.

So, despite lots of similar experience, I know that what I don't know is important to figure out before I leave.

I'm a sailor also, used to doing short "shake out cruises" to dial in the plan before taking the long trip. So I'll be hitting tons of 2-4 day'ers this year on the G310.

 

[JerryG]

Given your background, I look forward following your progress and learning some stuff from you.

 

[SKX009K1]

What is your general approach to long-distance riding on the 310? I just returned from a weekend trip to the Ozarks, in the course of which I rode 800 miles in two days. It had a little bit of everything: short stretches on the interstate, many state highways, lots of rural backroads, and even a decent amount of gravel, most of it not too hard to navigate. (Though I almost did drop my bike in the water while trying to cross a flooded patch of gravel road.)

What I'm most curious is about is how you deal with roads that are straight, flat, boring, and windy. Sometimes it's hard to avoid those, especially if you're trying to cover some distance. My 310 GS runs very smoothly at 60mph, but vibrations and wind increase exponentially after that. Seeing how much stuff you carry around, what is your ideal cruising speed? And do you have cruise control on your bike? My right wrist was getting really tired and strained after six or seven hours of riding, and being able to lock the throttle on long stretches of road would be a major increase in comfort.

I'm honestly very impressed how much gear you're making that little bike carry.

 

[JerryG]

What is your general approach to long-distance riding on the 310? I just returned from a weekend trip to the Ozarks, in the course of which I rode 800 miles in two days. It had a little bit of everything: short stretches on the interstate, many state highways, lots of rural backroads, and even a decent amount of gravel, most of it not too hard to navigate. (Though I almost did drop my bike in the water while trying to cross a flooded patch of gravel road.) What I'm most curious is about is how you deal with roads that are straight, flat, boring, and windy. Sometimes it's hard to avoid those, especially if you're trying to cover some distance. My 310 GS runs very smoothly at 60mph, but vibrations and wind increase exponentially after that. Seeing how much stuff you carry around, what is your ideal cruising speed? And do you have cruise control on your bike? My right wrist was getting really tired and strained after six or seven hours of riding, and being able to lock the throttle on long stretches of road would be a major increase in comfort. I'm honestly very impressed how much gear you're making that little bike carry.

My shot at your query...

General approach: I generally pre-plan my rides so I have the route active on my phone and both the route and the track on my Garmin Nav VI. I use 50 miles per hour as a planning factor. This includes bathroom, food, and fuel stops, but does not apply when my route includes technically twisty roads and/or off-road sections. In general, I ride until noon or early afternoon; stop where I can get Wi-Fi; and reserve a hotel room or camping spot at a location I'm sure I can get to before dark.

Dropping your bike: Almost doesn't count . Full disclosure, I crashed my bike the very first day I took it out; it was on some messy rocky unpaved roads and I laughed as it happened. I particularly laughed as I easily picked the bike up. The Rally Raid engine guard and the Wunderlich tank guards worked perfectly - no plastic damage on the bike, though both guards and my right bark buster hand guard were scratched up. I've since sanded and painted the engine and tank guard scratches, but I left the hand guard scratches as earned battle scars.

Straight, flat, and boring roads: I hate them. I mostly handle them by creating routes that avoid them, even if it means doubling the number of travel days to get somewhere. That said, sometimes you can't avoid them. I've been across the great plains and Texas more times than I like to think about. When I do those roads, I use audio books to relieve the boredom; I find that an audio book with a good plot will make boring miles go quickly. During this Nova Scotia trip, I stuck to fun back roads and off-road except when I did two full days of interstate roads to get across the boring parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. During that run, I maxed the GS out at 90 mph, but mostly I was riding a steady 70-80 mph the whole way.

Enduring comfortably: Four things helped greatly. The first is that I found the GS' OEM seat to the first BMW seat I did not feel any need to improve; it was very comfortable for me. The second is a simple $8.95 palm rest shaped like the palm of my hand (not the flat straight kind); it makes holding the throttle steady very easy. Third is Kaoko's KBBAD throttle lock which works with the bark busters mounted on my Renthal Fat Bar handlebars; it allows you to infinitely adjust the friction holding the throttle from 0-100%; I set it so it just holds my speed such that I can then make minor speed adjustments using the palm rest. See NEBDR pic below showing both the palm rest and the Kaoko. Fourth is Ilium's 32-100BL highway pegs; mounted on my Wunderlich tank bars, I can put either or both legs up in a relaxed knee bent position or a stretched out leg straight position. See Nova Scotia pic below showing left Ilium foot peg. Both the Kaoko and Ilium items are expensive, but both are very high quality and very good at what they do; the Kaoko was $140 and the Ilium pegs were $337.

Wind and vibrations: I was never particularly bothered by wind or vibrations. There were a few times I leaned over in a full tuck, mostly when I wanted to accelerate despite already going 60-70 mph. I do have Rally Raid's G310GS Adventure Screen-RRP 849; it extends 10 inches above the upper most pair of windscreen mounting bolts and lifts the air-flow a bit further than that. It's real claim of uniqueness is that it is shaped to not interfere if you also have bark busters, so they're actually quite narrow (see pics below). I originally bought an MRA VT Vario Touring Screen and loved it, but it interfered with the bark busters so I switched to the Rally Raid wind screen. I still have the MRA since it had been mounted and used; I may custom trim it so it doesn't interfere with the bark busters. Off-road, I felt I could maintain the 4-5,000 rpm that the bike seemed to like for forever. On-road, the bike loved 7-8,000 rpm with fifth gear doing most of the cruising on back roads and sixth gear doing most of the cruising on interstate highways. I've found that the bike really doesn't like to be in sixth gear below 65 mph or so.

How much gear I carried on the GS: Remember, the list I posted earlier is my generic starting list when planning any ride, be it on my G310GS, my S1000RR, or my S1000XR. I actually first developed the list when I had a K1300GT. Attached is the actual packing list of everything I carried on my 7,101 mile Nova Scotia trip on the GS. When loaded with all of this, my SW-Motech Daypack tank bag was full (but I didn't use the expansion zipper); my Mosko Moto left and right 25L dry bags were only ~2/3 full; and my Mosko Moto 22L Stinger tail bag was only ~1/2 full. My left and right Mosko Moto Aux Pox pouches, which can each carry either a 4L dry bag or two 1L bottles, were full with each side having one fuel bottle and one water bottle.

Hope this helps. JerryG

 

[ARBOLMANO]

Jerry G! I’d ad that the cruise control touchy. I think that’s why electronic not offered. There’s just much going on at freeway speeds requiring constant adjustment. The $15 plastic clip thing that worked okay on my F700 required constant fiddling, though it was relief. Avoid those long stretches! Unless you could just peg it and leave it there. Something I used to do on my TW 200 on long runs.

 

[JerryG]

Jerry G! I’d ad that the cruise control touchy. I think that’s why electronic not offered. There’s just much going on at freeway speeds requiring constant adjustment. The $15 plastic clip thing that worked okay on my F700 required constant fiddling, though it was relief. Avoid those long stretches! Unless you could just peg it and leave it there. Something I used to do on my TW 200 on long runs.

Totally agree avoidance is the best strategy, but I'm not sure what you mean by touchy/not offered. I like cruise control in whatever form I can get, from the thumb screw on my first BMW (R100/7) thru to and including the adaptive version I look forward to getting when offered on a bike I like. The best way I like to use cruise control is to set it at or just below the speed limit and relax as everyone else goes around you because they want to go faster. As far as not offered, electronic cruise control on a bike that does not even have self-cancelling turn signals is a bit much to expect, especially given the bike's price point in India and similar markets.

 

[kentforrest]

What is your general approach to long-distance riding on the 310? I just returned from a weekend trip to the Ozarks, in the course of which I rode 800 miles in two days. It had a little bit of everything: short stretches on the interstate, many state highways, lots of rural backroads, and even a decent amount of gravel, most of it not too hard to navigate. (Though I almost did drop my bike in the water while trying to cross a flooded patch of gravel road.)

What I'm most curious is about is how you deal with roads that are straight, flat, boring, and windy. Sometimes it's hard to avoid those, especially if you're trying to cover some distance. My 310 GS runs very smoothly at 60mph, but vibrations and wind increase exponentially after that. Seeing how much stuff you carry around, what is your ideal cruising speed? And do you have cruise control on your bike? My right wrist was getting really tired and strained after six or seven hours of riding, and being able to lock the throttle on long stretches of road would be a major increase in comfort.

I'm honestly very impressed how much gear you're making that little bike carry.

@JerryG is way ahead of me on miles, with better accessories. Look to his reply as that of the more experienced distance rider.

As for me, I built up familiarity with all of the G310s sounds, feels, and tendencies by making it my primary daily commuter year round, rain or shine, here in the Seattle Metro area. You pretty much have no choice but run 75-85mph to keep the cage drivers from running you over on the urban freeways here. It didn't take me long to learn the little 310 is a lot like the outboard engine on my boat; happy as hell to run 85% WOT and do it all day long.

It was ME that had to get broke in to how different it sounds and feels compared to large displacement bikes.

That outboard engine experience really did help me get my mind right. Compare an 6hp outboard crossing a big piece of water, versus the big diesel trawler doing the same trip. The big diesel thumps along making an almost peaceful racket. The outboard screams and shakes the whole way across. It's not wrong, it's not bad, it's not hurting anything ..... it's just different. That is engrained in me now to where I won't think twice about running this bike 8500rpm for as long as I need. That said, I see a big shift in fuel economy above 7000rpm, for one hour commutes, I don't care. I buy the gas. For long trips, I will cruise the right lane at 70mph and let everyone blow by. I remind myself "Google Maps ETA" is just fine with me, and I don't need to compete with traffic.

So, 85mph is fine for the bike, 70mph will help your wallet.

Wrist .... a small thing I learned moons ago that I'm surprised sometimes to find others haven't been shown .... For highway speeds I will over rotate my grip to the front before giving throttle. Such that when I am in the throttle position I want to hold my wrist is flat, or maybe even hand slightly lower than wrist/arm. If you start from a neutral grip, throttle position will have your hand bent back, wrist/arm lower, and this position is very tiring. Maybe you already do this, mentioning because I have been surprised how many riders don't know that one.

Then I use multiple different grips. One finger around and three stretched out over brake lever, resting. Then three around grip and one stretched to rest. Then hand cupped with the heel of my hand holding throttle position, all fingers stretched and resting. Just changing up so I'm not holding any one position more than 10-15 minutes. Same thing with butt/saddle. Rest a cheek at a time kind of thing.

I'm comfortable for two hour stretches, then will hit 10-30 minute stop, and another couple hours. I recently did ~8 hours overall trip time with likely 7ish moving. And I could have done more that day. But I wouldn't want to string those days back to back to back.

 

[ARBOLMANO]

Much is about butt time in saddle. Comutting helps more than you think, as does going to class all day. At least in my experience. Conditioning helps too. For awhile I’d cross train, hauling my MTB to ride, even when camping it’s important to get real cardio. Wether it’s a hike, ride or swim.
id wax on some about using “tent space” , Jerry G mentioned too. I just had a couple stay over night. Such a great interface, these folks well one from Ukraine one from Russia! Awesome to hear their view. More so to be able to help them have fun here. using tent space takes a little more planning but I think gives the best experience if passing through. Money saver too!! I know I’m not the only host who will feed you etc. If can I highly advise signing up, and being host.
The other thing is with tent space, you’ve a fair idea what’s going down, no surprises. Like finding out there’s a tweaker convention going on way out in the boonies when you finally pulled in to sleep late at night after fighting unlit dirt roads. BTDT I’ve found there’s many tweakers that like to 4 wheel, get away from it all.
This photo from 4 day trip.

 

[kentforrest]

This photo from 4 day trip.
View attachment 17466

That's one heck of a rear crash guard you've assembled yourself there.

 

[ARBOLMANO]

Not traveling light. Played heck with lane filtering but gave thought to those on my tail. I’m not man enough to even try this on the 310. But next trip is with trailer support! Will have Van Van and bicycles when roll into camp. And my best friend with dinner.