TAT 2018 on a GS Rallye

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He was on route 1 this morning



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Fantastic. Can you send me a link to their report? Cheers.
 
No idea....the shippers said they guy on the KTM ( embarrassingly, I've forgoton his name, sorry) looked "worn out" when he arrived this morning. Missed him by an hour, so didn't get to catch up.

Russ’s fuel injector went so he had to van the last bit and Mark went to get a tyre this is what he’s put on facebook so im sure he will update with a full report when he has some time


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No idea....the shippers said they guy on the KTM ( embarrassingly, I've forgoton his name, sorry) looked "worn out" when he arrived this morning. Missed him by an hour, so didn't get to catch up.

As long as the guys are ok and all in one piece, that’s all that matters :thumb
 
Well we know at least one of you guys made it. Mark, where are you?

Hi Doris

Arrived in LA tonight and will take the bike to the shipping agent tomorrow. Sorry I missed you and hope you had a good trip!??

TAT ride report coming soon.
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Hi Doris

Arrived in LA tonight and will take the bike to the shipping agent tomorrow. Sorry I missed you and hope you had a good trip!??

TAT ride report coming soon.
dd7628d05510c04a2b4df93ad36be8e9.jpg



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Bloody excellent, mate! Anyway, Schumacher are a delight to deal with. I popped into Long Beach Border protection and they basically said.."yeah, the stamped AWB and EPA letter will do.." Wee bit different from JFK...send me the link to your trip report?
 
Trip Prep Part 1 - The Route

Now that the post-trip blues have gone and I’ve caught up with work, it’s time I started this ride report....

THE ROUTE
For those that don’t know, the Trans America Trail (or TAT for short) is a coast-to-coast route across the US created by a guy called Sam Correro.
Sam’s website is here https://www.transamtrail.com/

Sam offers the route in several formats including paper maps, roll charts and GPX files. I’d read that the paper maps provide some useful additional info and help with fire-side route planning along the way, but we opted to use just the GPX files for our trip.

You can buy the GPX files separately for each State. The entire route cost $92 and was delivered by email from Sam.

Sam’s route is widely regarded as the Official TAT but there is also an unofficial version provided by ‘GPS Kevin’.
Kevin’s web site is here: http://www.gpskevinadventurerides.com.
You can view Kevin’s route in Google maps here.

I’d read of people having problems with Kevin’s route (private property, tracks petering out etc.) so our plan was to use Kevin’s route to get from New York to the start of Sam’s route in Marlinton VA.

GOOGLE MAPS
Once I had all of the GPX files, I converted them to KML format (using https://gpx2kml.com) so that I could uploaded them to Google Maps. I’d intended to zoom into the route on Google and find fuel, hotels and campsites ahead of the trip but soon realised that would require a huge amount of work and so decided to wing-it instead. However, having the route available in Google was really useful during the ride and helped with day to day planning so I’d recommend doing this to anyone else how’s panning a similar ride.

Here’s what our combined route looks like in Google.



MAPS FOR GARMIN
I downloaded the Open Street Maps for the US from http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/, these are free and are excellent. I and was able to load all of the maps and GPX files onto my Montana and some of the files onto the old Zumo unit which I was lending to Russell my riding buddy. I would need to update the Zumo as we went along due to its limited storage.

GPS Prep-Done. I bought a Michelin map of the US, just in case we got lost ;)

 
You will only have to wait another 4 months for part 2😂😂 bit like Amazon Prime you want all of season 1 you got to pay:thumby:
 
Trip Prep - 2

BIKE CHOICE

I’d originally planned to do the trip solo and wanted a small bike that would be easy to pick up and manage on my own. Lots of people in the US were recommending the WR250R and after a long search I found one. I went to Portsmouth to collect it and on the way home had a call from a mate to say he’d been thinking about doing the TAT and would I like a riding partner!

As it turned out, the WRR didn’t really do it for me, you need to wring its neck to keep a decent pace and the thought of doing 7500 miles on it didn’t appeal.
So I sold it and bought an ex-ORS Rallye which was pre-scuffed on every panel and perfect for trip. I was happy to take a larger bike as I wouldn't be riding alone.

Mods:
X-Head cylinder guards
OEM lower engine bars
Sat Nav mount
Power to the tank bag
Touratech Rack
Kriega OS32 Luggage
Rock Straps for dry bag
Michelin Anakee Wilds

The bike went into Williams Manchester for a service and some warranty work (thanks Jim!) and was ready to go.






THEN THERE WERE 3

I’d met Russell doing enduro events and had known him for a couple of years. We usually finish within a few places of each other (last and next to last) so our riding ability is pretty evenly matched. He is also quite easy-going so I was relaxed about him joining the trip.

Here's Russ with his 690 - bought for the trip.




I’d joined the TAT Facebook group and was contacted by a rider from the US who asked to tag along. After some discussion around what we were looking for from the trip and what our time constraints were we agreed that Jay could join us. Both Russell and I had some concerns about an unknown, gun-toting US-veteran joining us for 6-weeks but Jay promised that he wasn't an axe murdered and wouldn't be 'packing heat' on the trip, he seemed like a solid bloke so we though we'd give him a shot. What could possibly go wrong? :nenau

Jay also explained that he had ridden MX as a kid and was happy to put the miles in to meet our time constraints. He lives in Staten Island and is only 45 minutes from JFK so ideally located to join us at the start of the trip.

Jay bought an AT.







Jay looks normal doesn't he??


SHIPPING THE BIKES

A week before we were due to leave we took our bikes to James Cargo’s depot in Manchester. From there they went to London and were crated and ready to fly out the day before us. The bikes would fly from Heathrow to JFK with Delta. James Cargo don't recommend shipping the bikes out in a container as they can't guarantee when they will arrive.

On the way to deliver the bike.







We're all set!
 
Amazing trip!! Have fun and keep posting!!
Good luck

Enviado desde mi Redmi Note 5 mediante Tapatalk
 
Looking forward to post 2 and more pics from what looked a superb trip ...
 
Day 1 – Manchester to JFK

Planning done, it was finally time to leave.



Jay and his wife very kindly offered to meet us at the airport and take us to the AirB&B we’d booked which was a 10 minute drive.







We stayed in the basement of this house in Queens.





James Cargo had advised us not to collect the bikes as soon as we arrived to give Delta time to process them and us time to recover from the flight.

So we had some time to plan the route from the airport to the start of the trail. First stop would be fuel as the bikes were nearly empty and we decided that we would then ride through Manhattan - how often do you get the chance to do that?



This was our planned route across the big apple. We would meet-up with Jay again tomorrow at Liberty State Park.



Then it was an early night, big day tomorrow.
 
Day 2 – Manhattan

The first job today was to go to Customs and have our paperwork stamped before we could collect the bikes.

We started early but found that the Uber App on my phone didn’t work correctly and each time I tried to order a cab the pickup was cancelled. Not sure why – perhaps they didn’t want to collect from Queens for such a short trip to the airport – who knows? So after several phone calls to local cab firms we finally managed to get a lift. A little behind schedule but still on track.

James Cargo had given us specific instructions about getting our paperwork stamped and had warned us that several of their customers had experienced problems getting this done at JFK over the previous few months.

The Customs building was empty, there was no queue and so we were seen straight away but Officer Arrucci.



We were also joined by Doris of this parish, who was just starting a road trip with his wife. They’d also used James Cargo to ship their bike.

Doris in the background in discussion with Customs.



To cut a long story short, US Customs at JFK have no idea what the rules are for importing bikes. We were asked to fill out forms which were unnecessary and then told as much when we took them back to the Window. They were basically making it up as they went along. In the end, we called James Cargo, who called their contact and a supervisor came down to the front desk and provided instructions to the Agents. It then took 20 minutes to get everything sorted – were 3 hours in. Still it’s all part of the fun.

Next stop was Delta Cargo, a decent cab ride around the sprawling JFK complex. Luckily, we shared a cab with Doris who’s Uber App was working.

Delta were very efficient and our bikes were brought around on fork lift trucks within a few minutes of our paperwork being checked. The guys there helped us un-crate the bikes and removed all of the packaging.



Then we were off! First stop fuel – then over the Williamsburg Bridge into Manhattan and onto Times Square.









We stopped a couple of times along the route to take in the atmosphere and to let the 690 cool down. It started stalling and back firing when it got really hot.

Eventually we left Manhattan via the Holland Tunnel into New Jersey and headed to Liberty State Park where Jay was waiting for us.





Looking back across the river from Liberty Park.





The next job was to dip the bikes in the Atlantic. We couldn't find a beach but Jay had found a slipway for us to use.





We then picked up the start of the trail which took us West on i78 until we lost the light and dived into a hotel.

152 miles completed today.

 


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