Route 66 - advice wanted

[CandyMan_ZA]

Hi, I am wanting to do a old Route 66 East to West, and back again ride on a GS, preferably a R1200GS. I am in South Africa. I own a R1200GS, do I ship my bike to the States or hire locally? Is there a GPS route of old Route 66? I am looking for any advice and tips anyone can give me.

thank you
Kevin
R1200GS-WP

 

[BAKERMAN]

if you ever plan to motor west

 

[Deleted account 220427002]

Travel my way, take the highway that's the best.

 

[BAKERMAN]

Get your kicks on Route 66

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Hi, I am wanting to do a old Route 66 East to West, and back again ride on a GS, preferably a R1200GS. I am in South Africa. I own a R1200GS, do I ship my bike to the States or hire locally? Is there a GPS route of old Route 66? I am looking for any advice and tips anyone can give me.

thank you
Kevin
R1200GS-WP

Kevin

I wouldn`t bother following the route too closely because most of Route 66 doesn`t exist anymore. The only bit left is in Arizona just south of the Grand Canyon I think.

I`ve been across the US a number of times and I can let you have some good idea`s on good roads. Give me an idea when you want to go and for how long and I`m happy to give you loads of alternate routes.

Hiring locally will be very expensive as a GS can be up to $250 a day with insurance so you are a lot better shipping your own bike. Air is the fastest route but a little more expensive than by sea.

Happy to help in anyway I can

 

[ThorH]

The best advice I can give you is to forget Route 66. Most of what's left is now a horrible interstate that will take you through some pretty boring, flat terrain. Meanwhile, just a little further north you have the absolutely fantastic Utah and Colorado.

 

[davegs]

Ride through Arizona, this is still there (route 66, not Ariziona!) and not much traffic, make sure you go through Oatman but what out for donkeys! and stop here and se the gun fight!. Not in very good repair as it's been patched up so much but goes acroaa the Hoover dam and this is worth a look but as others say a lot of it has been wiped out by interstates-not much fun.
have a good trip and don't worry about taking your bike over done it several times as have many others no hassell at all. May be a good idea to avoid shipping it to California as the customs here are crazy about any dirt on the bike !. Dept of ag are the culprits here but new Jersy no one worrys and never had any probs. This is a serious warning so do take advice from others.
dave GS.

 

[ThorH]

If you come from LA via Las Vegas, you can go past the Hoover Dam down to Kingman. From there you can mostly ride R66 through Seligman to Williams. This will give you all the R66 kitch you can muster. Straight north of Williams is the south rim of the Grand Canyon. From there yo take 64, 160 to Kayenta and the start of the Monument Valley. That's a neat ride, but I will still claim that the northern route through Utah is better.

And whatever you do, remember that everything "I" (as in I40, etc) is to be avoided, unless you really need to haul ass from A to B.

 

[mrsroynie]

Unclear as to whether you ever got the answers you wanted to your thread. However, Roynie and I have travelled Route 66 four times since 2001. You can do it, but you need to know what you are looking for as - as others have said - Route 66 has been decommissioned and does not appear on standard road maps. We travel with a small "all brands invited" group called the Mother Road Rally Ride and have made great friends over the years. The Rally only takes a week from Chicago to LA and starts second Saturday in June each year from a Chicago suburb. For that, you wouldn't need to ship a bike, but if you intend to spend more than, say, three weeks in the US, I would recommend shipping over renting.

We were over there for 7 weeks this year. The whole (cautionary) tale is told on our blog: http://rynne.co.uk/category/us-trip-2009/.