Newbie looking for some advice on 5 weeks in SW USA please

[FlyGuy]

Not having a GS, I’ve been an occasional lurker on this site over the years but a tosser has told me I really should sign up, so I have.

In 12 days time my wife and I fly to LA where we buy a HD Road King (I’m even less of a HD rider than GS but hope to be educated) and have 5 weeks touring round the usual SW States scenery before leaving the bike in LA for a few months before we come back for the next stage and leave it somewhere North.

Most is planned (well, sketched) out but I’ve a few outstanding things I would welcome any suggestions on.

1) Most interesting route from LA to Flagstaff? We have an idea to see San Diego, so maybe leaving from there. (From Flagstaff we do Grand Canyon etc and back via Las Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite, so we are looking for something South of that route)

2) Any recommendations on Emergency Roadside Assistance organisations? We are 2 up with a single bike and although mechanically handy I know nothing of HDs and doubt I could even fix a puncture at the road-side with their tubed tyres.

3) I’m planning on buying sim cards to put in our HTC android phones; I’ve done this in other countries, any tricks and traps in the USA?

4) Would we be better to we leave our full face helmets here and buy some open face in USA? (Is it even allowed to ride a harley wearing a full face?)

Thanks,

Guy

 

[Jockser]

No takers ?
Unfortunately I can't give you any useful info cos I'm not going for another 31 days
But I'm interested in the answers to 1 & 3 too

 

[Shadwell]

As there are no other takers i can tell you one amazing route, if you are going to the south rim try and make it to Williams on the i40 which is part of Route 66, i stayed at the lodge on mainstreet. beautiful little place. from there head east on the old route 66 towards hackberry. stop of at Hackberry stores , which is a famous little old store. Once you have done the canyon head towards Kayenta, it is not a brilliant place but it has a clean hotel which does good food. Then head into Monument Valley, i got some great photos of me and a hired hemi mustang in Dec last year.
Then i headed bacxk to vegas past the north end on the Canyon.

Word of warning though the Arizona Cops will stop and fine you if you get caught speeding, it cost me an instant fine of about 400quid!!

The sim card thing is a good idea, when i was working in CA thats exactly what i did, just make sure youre phone is unlocked before you go. If i remember it cost about 30 pence a minute to ring home.

As for breakdown you will get that with the bike, just as you will get a helmet with the bike hire.

Hope that helps a bit

And enjoy your trip

 

[Shadwell]

sorry guy, just saw you are buying, so no idea of breakdown. But i know you can use open faced helmets, and they are cheap as chips. Altough if you can afford to buy a harley i am sure you can stretch to a couple of helmets.

Shad

 

[FlyGuy]

No takers ?
Unfortunately I can't give you any useful info cos I'm not going for another 31 days
But I'm interested in the answers to 1 & 3 too

This link is informative about phones.

http://scott-allison.net/2011/02/14/how-to-get-a-sim-card-and-use-3g-data-in-the-us-on-your-mobile/

We wont get 3G as we don’t have US versions of our phones. Given that there is an interesting Pay as you Go deal from T-Mobile that gives unlimited talk, texts and 2G data for $2 a day. No charge on the days you don’t use your phone.


Have fun!

 

[FlyGuy]

As there are no other takers i can tell you one amazing route, if you are going to the south rim try and make it to Williams on the i40 which is part of Route 66, i stayed at the lodge on mainstreet. beautiful little place. from there head east on the old route 66 towards hackberry. stop of at Hackberry stores , which is a famous little old store. Once you have done the canyon head towards Kayenta, it is not a brilliant place but it has a clean hotel which does good food. Then head into Monument Valley, i got some great photos of me and a hired hemi mustang in Dec last year.
Then i headed bacxk to vegas past the north end on the Canyon.

Word of warning though the Arizona Cops will stop and fine you if you get caught speeding, it cost me an instant fine of about 400quid!!

The sim card thing is a good idea, when i was working in CA thats exactly what i did, just make sure youre phone is unlocked before you go. If i remember it cost about 30 pence a minute to ring home.

As for breakdown you will get that with the bike, just as you will get a helmet with the bike hire.

Hope that helps a bit

And enjoy your trip

Thanks, I think we will do San Deigo, Palm Springs then pick up your route.

What speed were you doing for a £400 fine?

BTW we expect what we are doing to work out a lot lower cost than hiring bikes in the long run.

 

[Jon]

There's a couple of threads kinda on this subject, one here, have a search

 

[mrsroynie]

If you are buying from a dealer, breakdown should be no problem. Otherwise, Roynie and I have joined the AMA in order to access their roadside assistance services (used to be called Motow, but that may be out of date).

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Flyguy

5 weeks is a long time in the South West so you will ride a lot of routes. A couple of roads near LA are not to be missed and R2 (Angeles Crest) is an absolute belter which is not to be missed.

The route from the west coast to Palm Springs via Lake Elsinore is really good and that willtake you across to Flagstaff although I'm not sure from Palm Springs eastwards from there although there is a small bit of R66 left between Kingman and Flagstaff.

You will have plenty of time to see all the good stuff like Monument Valley,GC, Canyon de Chelley etc and make sure you head up to Bryce and Zion whilst you there. You will also have time to get into Colorado which will be stunning riding and you will be blown away by the scenery Yosemite is fantastic and make sure you go to Sequioa and Kings Canyon whist you are there.

Central California will give you some great rides as well so don't be blinded by the PCH. R33, 25 and 168 are excellent. Get good maps and follow the windy bits

You will get good deals in phone shops so have an open mind until you get there. I always by a cheap US phone and keep my UK one for emergencies.

As for helmets, I would take your own as you will be comfy. Remember you are going in early spring and although you will be warm at low altitude you will find it can be very cold as get higher and places like the GC are at 8000ft!!! As already mentioned, if you are buying from a dealer, they can advise on breakdown cover like AAA.

My advice to anyone going out there is to remember how big the place is which will shock you. Fuel when you can, eat in small mom and pop type restaurants, have an In and Out Burger and stay in the smaller family run motels where you can. They are clean, comfortable and have a lot more character than the big chains which are gradually taking over.

 

[ThorH]

What, no Utah? You have to! Go up to Moab, visit the Needles NP, Canyonlands. Rent dirt bikes.

Re helmets and gear: When I rode in that area late May, I was happy to have a full face. As soon as I opened the visor, I was scorched by the heat. (There was a heat wave that year.) You can of course buy a $2 beanie lid just to comply with the helmet laws, but it will not do much to protect your face.

Don´t want to be a nanny, but do think twice about throwing all your usual safety thinking overboard. I get the attraction of riding in t-shirts and jeans, shades and a bandana, but cars and pavement are just as painful in the US. And you will be on a heavy and unfamiliar bike, with bad brakes and handling. OK, the roads tend to be forgiving, the traffic is easy and you go slower, but the drivers are uneducated and careless. I was almost killed at standstill by a texting teenager. Hit from behind and dragged under a car for twenty meters. Walked away with minor injuries. Without my back protector and ATGATT I would probably have had a broken back and been skinned. My suit was shredded to bits. But with a beanie lid it would´t have mattered, because it would not have taken the blow to the back of my head like the Schuberth. Makes you think...

Nothing is hotter than sliding on pavement...

 

[yalcrabm]

america

There is a lot of good places listed on this link. http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=292396 Me and the wife did alot of this area last year. This year we are heading from Salt Lake City up to yellowstone then over the beartooth highway on to big horn, crazy horse monument, mount rushmore etc etc

 

[Jockser]

This link is informative about phones.

http://scott-allison.net/2011/02/14/how-to-get-a-sim-card-and-use-3g-data-in-the-us-on-your-mobile/

We wont get 3G as we don’t have US versions of our phones. Given that there is an interesting Pay as you Go deal from T-Mobile that gives unlimited talk, texts and 2G data for $2 a day. No charge on the days you don’t use your phone

Thanks FG Interesting reading.
I think however I'll stick with using my O2 iPhone. I'll switch data roaming off and use WhatsApp for texts & Skype for calls to family. Most hotels seem to have wifi so that'll help

Have fun!

Can't wait, only 17 work days left after today

 

[FlyGuy]

Can't wait, only 17 work days left after today

Well we are in LA now, have got the bike, added navigator and luggage rack and set off for San Deigo tomorrow!

 

[Schtum]

Well we are in LA now, have got the bike, added navigator and luggage rack and set off for San Deigo tomorrow!

ISTR that's quite a short ride. I don't know if you're a car nut at all but if so, there are streetrod shows in both El Cajon and La Mesa, just outside San Diego on consecutive nights of the week.

 

[FlyGuy]

This year we are heading from Salt Lake City up to yellowstone then over the beartooth highway on to big horn, crazy horse monument, mount rushmore etc etc

Thats a trip we are planning for the future. Would you recomment spring or autumn?

 

[FlyGuy]

What, no Utah? You have to! Go up to Moab, visit the Needles NP, Canyonlands. Rent dirt bikes.
...
Re helmets and gear: When I rode in that area late May, I was happy to have a full face. As soon as I opened the visor, I was scorched by the heat. (There was a heat wave that year.) You can of course buy a $2 beanie lid just to comply with the helmet laws, but it will not do much to protect your face.
...

We decide to bring our full face helmets, thanks. After a couple of hundred miles around the PCH I'm happy it was the right decision. Particularly looking at all the snow in the distance!

 

[FlyGuy]

Flyguy

5 weeks is a long time in the South West so you will ride a lot of routes. A couple of roads near LA are not to be missed and R2 (Angeles Crest) is an absolute belter which is not to be missed.
.

Thanks for all your great suggestions, Angeles Crest is planned this afternoon!

 

[sven]

Thanks for all your great suggestions, Angeles Crest is planned this afternoon!

I've already got it plotted into the Tomtom for our first day in LA, before visiting Planes of Fame in Chino and then heading to Yucca Valley for the night

 

[Jockser]

Well we are in LA now

Enjoy. And post lots of pics.

I've already got it plotted for our first day in LA

+1

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Thanks for all your great suggestions, Angeles Crest is planned this afternoon!

There is a great cafe halfway along the crest. LAPD's finest ride all the way out of the city for a coffee or 2.