mkmclm
Member
On 07-24-2015 at approximately 2:00pm my 38 day, 8,571 mile journey around America ended. It all started over three years ago when my good friend, Jody and I were shooting the breeze on a lazy weekend afternoon. We are next door neighbors. I had just recently wrote down my bucket list. # 1 on my list was to ride across America on motorcycles. I mentioned to him what was on my bucket list including my # 1 item. When he heard about me wanting to ride across America on motorcycles he enthusiastically replied "YES." That was the starting point my dream. We started by researching they type of motorcycles we would want for the trip. I have a 1929 Harley Davidson model J with a sidecar that I restored a few years back. Its a lot of fun to ride around town, but needless to say would not be able to make the trip around America. We came across the nc700x and were both immediately hooked. We researched other bikes, but always came back to nc700x. We did not buy the bikes right away, but they were always on our minds. We began talking about the route we would like to take. The trip originally was only going to be 2-3 weeks. We talked about what we wanted to see, do, experience and discover. The 2-3 weeks grew to almost 6 weeks by the time the trip came around. We finally purchased our bikes in February of 2013. From the first ride off the dealership lot we knew these were the right bikes for the trip. Before this point we had never ridden together. Even though Jody grew up motorcycling, he had not ridden in a very long time. By this point it was only a year and 1/2 before our journey began. We began taking Sunday afternoon rides together to get used to each others riding styles. Those Sunday afternoons turned into two overnight camping trips in the Summer or 2014 and a month before our trip began. The day had finally arrived. June 16th, 2015. We left our families and homes behind and set out on a journey across America. We had a pretty good route set and a decent idea of what our daily and total mileage would be for the trip. We thought we would ride through 15-18 states and ride around 6,000 miles. By the end of the trip we were way off!!! We traveled through 24 states and rode 8,571 miles. I will list them in order of travel later on. We rode through some of the most amazing landscapes we have ever seen (Yellowstone, The Painted Desert/Petrified Forest, the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Yosemite etc…). We experienced the vast open plains of the midwest (Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa). We visited some of the great cities of our country (Omaha, Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville, Nashville, New Orleans, Austin, Albuquerque, Las Vegas etc…). We rode through countless great small towns that really epitomized the quintessential "Small town life." We experienced all sorts of weather (Pouring rain, 30 degree riding temps, 95 % humidity, 105 degree riding temps etc…). We also rode on some of the best motorcycle roads in the county in our opinion (Highway 50 through Nevada, Highway 26 through Wyoming, Highway 151 and Highway 20 through Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois, US-129 through North Carolina which is the tail of the dragon, Highway 60 in New Mexico, Highway 190 through Death Valley etc…). All in all it was an incredible journey with my good friend Jody. We learned a lot about ourselves and a lot about this beautiful county we live in. I truly believe it is the greatest county in the world.
States we rode through in order of travel from West to East and back West again:
1. California
2. Nevada
3. Utah
4. Idaho
5. Wyoming
6. Colorado
7. Kansas
8. Nebraska
9. Iowa
10. Illinois
11. Missouri
12. Kentucky
13. Tennessee
14. North Carolina
15. Georgia
16. Florida
17. Alabama
18. Mississippi
19. Louisiana
20. Texas
21. New Mexico
22. Arizona
23. Nevada
24. California
Motorcycle and Motorcycle accessories:
2013 Honda nc700x
Honda OEM saddle bags and top trunk
Michelin Pilot road 4 tires
Honda tall touring windscreen
Palmer Products windshield adjustor
Palmer Products GPS/accessory mounting bar
Montana 600 GPS with Tourtech lockable mount with electrical cradle
Barkbusters hand guards
Kaoko throttle lock
Puig rear fender/chain guard
clamp on style highway pegs
radiator guard
ROX 1 7/8" handlebar risers
Motorcycle riding gear:
Schuberth C3 pro helmet
Sena SMH 5 communication system
Joe Rocket Phoenix ION mesh reflective jacket
Rev'it Tornado mesh pants
Joe Rocket summer gloves
Gaerne "G" adventure boots
Moto skiveez padded under pants
Rev'it summer socks
Camping Equipment/Dry bag:
Wolfman expedition dry duffle bag (Medium)
Sea to Summit cinch bags
Redverz Atacama expedition motorcycle tent
Helinox chair one foldable camping chair
Laramie 20 degree sleeping bag
inflatable air mattress
Fenix CL20 tent light
GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Soloist cooking set
Ultra light backpacking canister stove
Mountain house dehydrated food pouches
States we rode through in order of travel from West to East and back West again:
1. California
2. Nevada
3. Utah
4. Idaho
5. Wyoming
6. Colorado
7. Kansas
8. Nebraska
9. Iowa
10. Illinois
11. Missouri
12. Kentucky
13. Tennessee
14. North Carolina
15. Georgia
16. Florida
17. Alabama
18. Mississippi
19. Louisiana
20. Texas
21. New Mexico
22. Arizona
23. Nevada
24. California
Motorcycle and Motorcycle accessories:
2013 Honda nc700x
Honda OEM saddle bags and top trunk
Michelin Pilot road 4 tires
Honda tall touring windscreen
Palmer Products windshield adjustor
Palmer Products GPS/accessory mounting bar
Montana 600 GPS with Tourtech lockable mount with electrical cradle
Barkbusters hand guards
Kaoko throttle lock
Puig rear fender/chain guard
clamp on style highway pegs
radiator guard
ROX 1 7/8" handlebar risers
Motorcycle riding gear:
Schuberth C3 pro helmet
Sena SMH 5 communication system
Joe Rocket Phoenix ION mesh reflective jacket
Rev'it Tornado mesh pants
Joe Rocket summer gloves
Gaerne "G" adventure boots
Moto skiveez padded under pants
Rev'it summer socks
Camping Equipment/Dry bag:
Wolfman expedition dry duffle bag (Medium)
Sea to Summit cinch bags
Redverz Atacama expedition motorcycle tent
Helinox chair one foldable camping chair
Laramie 20 degree sleeping bag
inflatable air mattress
Fenix CL20 tent light
GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Soloist cooking set
Ultra light backpacking canister stove
Mountain house dehydrated food pouches
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