Planning a trip, Advice? Route? Suggestions?

I would definitely get the camelbak..makes a huge difference in hot weather. I rode long distances without hydrating properly 20 some odd years ago, now I mix some gatoraid and water you'll see a huge difference at the end of the day..especially when you're stringing a few days in a row. Earplugs will give you a more relaxed ride..tire you out less so you can ride longer. I'm not sure if you have a windshield or not but once you get out west it gets a lot windier than it is back east..if you guys aren't using windshields you may be better off staying off the interstate

here's a link to some of your highways to check out and plan your trip, enjoy

East-West Routes - US 2 to US 98 (& US 400) - Even numbered US highways

Heres a view of Kansas state route 400 heading out of Pittsburg,KS and heading to and thru Wichita/Dodge City/Garden City to Lamar,CO. Great road as long as you aren't concerned about many services,amenities or traffic for that matter,lol. As we rode over rt 400 it was easy to imagine the indians roaming the prairries at one time or even the gangsters of the '20's running these "back roads" to eascape the law, gangsters like Baby Face Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde to name a few:

Once you get to the Midwest in August, you will be looking forward to higher elevations so you don't die of heat stroke. If you're already in Denver, just go straight west on I-70 and you will thank us later. If you care anything at all about raw natural beauty, Southwestern Utah should not be missed either.

Everything you've ridden coming from the East Coast will be flat, hot, and boring until you get West of Denver. Day-time temps in the mid 70's at higher elevations, and the most awesome scenery you will see on your whole trip. Keep your camera in your pack until 10 miles West of Denver, then hope it has plenty of memory.

Don't waste time making motel reservations. The West has plenty of hotels/motels, and doesn't have a fraction of the population you're fighting with everywhere else. Also, lots of campgrounds with pools or showers for $10. 2 pairs of jeans and several t-shirts, a light weight jacket and a medium one, and a pair of tennis shoes for walking around at night.

It's dry here, so you won't get rained-on in August. But you should bring the camel-back so you don't get dehydrated and have leg cramps. You will also get drunk a lot quicker at higher elevations.

Lastly, leave the Boston attitude there. Be humble, show some interest in the locals, and folks will love you for it and even help you if you need it. I could go on, but.......

We took this pic at Wolf Creek Pass just east of Durango at a pull off parking lot. Other 3 pictures are of SW Utah, definatley different then anything I'd ever seen.

i've heard that you should avoid I-10. truth or concequences is a city full of mexican gangs that will chase you down and take from you ( just like obama). better to go straight across vegas to LA

We headed back to NH from San Diego on October 2nd. Looking at the map we chose to ride back up to Barstow and catch I-40 East rather than I-10 or I-20. Why...simple... even in October it was experiencing a heat wave on both I-10 and I-20 to upwards of 105-110 degrees..fock that. Plus I-40 parallels rt66 from Barstow to OKC,OK and you could jump on and off randomly.

Hey Badinfluence, I know that exact scenic overlook you saw down from Wolf Creek Pass. Check it out. Also some pics of camping in the Utah desert. Ironically, one of the BMW's overheated and puked-out it's guts.

Here's some more Utah trip in November.

Very cool Alex the dog. Utah is some barren, bizarre and intriguing land scape. My thoughts were of what hell might be like,lol. Were there any signs of life other then scorpions and snakes?

What happened to the beemer? Did you have a happy ending?

It was one of my most memorable trips. We rode off-road most of the time going through Arches, Bryce, Escalante, Valley of the Gods, and around Lake Powell. Scenery was awesome. Everything is so red, it looks like Mars. I had a small tent just to keep the scorpions out at night.

The BMW guys laughed when I told them a Harley was a better off-road bike because of it's low center-of-weight, but laughing stopped when I just kept riding after they both fell over about 10 times. The GS 1200 (off-road Adventure model) boiled out it's oil from the breather and had to be hauled out with a tow truck. The other BMW blew it's rear shock from riding two-up. Both bikes went to the BMW shop in St. George while mine got a wash job. The guys were real quiet on the ride back home.

Not to mention that low end never say die torgue on a Harley, she'll chug you right out of most back road jams. I'm a little suspecious about the secondary belt but so far so good for me. I have had one unfortunate HD riding freind chug his ultra thru a large swath of big pieces of gravel and it chewed his belt in 1/2. He was done. At least with a chain you do have options, especially at that low speed if it breaks.

I haven't had any problems with the belt--still looks good with 89,000 miles on it. But then I never do burn-outs either. One other thing I observed while riding through soft desert sand: my big, fat tires really helped keep the bike stable and didn't sink in so bad.

When I had to tow (with a rope) the BMW that lost it's oil out of the desert to a paved road, the guy riding it behind me said he thought my Harley could've pulled both BMW's out at the same time if it had to.

Can I ask you(since you've got 89k on your belt), Have you had any problems with your cam chain tension shoes? I heard Older TWs seem to need replacement after some milage.

Great story, and thanks for the pics, too, from you both. I have ridden thru the desert on my ironhead years ago and have fond memories of the landscape and adventures. I never camped on the desert floor, however - hated the thought of scorpions, snakes and tarantulas in the vicinity while I slept!

In the very early 80's I used to explore with a buddy many dirt and sand roads around Long Island. I was riding a Goldwing and buddy a 1980 ElectraGLide 80. It was a full dress with the sprung saddle. He dropped the bike as soon as we would hit the dirt. I'm talking slow, slow speed. I thought maybe he was the problem. He rode a lot and had many miles under his belt. He asked me to ride it out of the road we were on once and I couldn't (not that I was a master HD rider). Man that bike was a lot to handle. I couldn't do it. I think because of the old "square" tires they used to have. Not sure but other Harley guys in the club said they wouldn't ride them roads either due to that handling of the machines.

Older??? Mine is an '08. But have not even had to open any of the cases for anything to repair. Everything sounds quiet and runs smooth. Although I'm about to need to adjust (tighten) the primary chain.

Sorry I thought yours was older. Anyway, mines an 09 streetglide,almost 52k on it, am looking for someone who would know about the cam tensioners. They did use a newer style chain in there(dont know what year for the change) so that the temsioners would last longer. Bye the way you have an automatic tensioner on the primary never needs adjustment. If your hearing it 'snatch' it's probably that s--t compensator. The S.E. compensator fixes that. S.E. compensator now stock on the 103's

Charlie you should have the newer hydraulic tensioners that aren't a problem. My 05 has the spring loaded ones that do wear. Some as soon as 18,000 some much later. Yours should be fine but it should be easy to determine if yours are the hydraulic ones or not.

Charlie, the new style tensioner came out in '06 on Dynas first, then all the other models got them in '07. This version is still being used on all T/C's, and it will last 5 times longer than the older style (pre 2006). Like I said, mine is still in good shape.

The primary chain adjuster can only take up so much slack before it has to be manually moved. But I hadn't thought about the compensator making the clunking noise. I've avoided opening the primary just because I wanted to say I'd made it to 100,000 miles without having to do any service other than lubricants and tires.

When my tranny blew, due to a misstake my indy made, I got a S.E.compesator from Zanotti's and had it put on while it was appart. No more sound like a loose pri.chain. Also used to Kick back and make a horrible sound while starting with the engine hot a lot of the time. That's also cured. Hte standard compensator is junk compared to the SE one. I know the new cam tensioners are way better than the old ones but still wondering how long they last.