u/flhd

Looking at an annual long-haul road trip next summer (June-August) from Spokane Valley to Anchorage. I would actually be starting in California but I have the US portion of the trip handled. I just finished a 10,000 mile road trip coast-to-coast in the U.S. so iron butt road trips are kinda my thing.

Looking for some device and recommendations for this trip. A few of factors to consider when providing responses;

🔹Motorcycle ((HD-Touring)
🔹MPG: 40ish MPG ~220 miles per fill up
🔹Me and my Partner riding 2-up
🔹Hotel dwellers. No camping
🔹55-90 Fahrenheit/ 13-32 Celsius daytime weather
🔹Prefer mountains/foothills over prairies, windy roads over long flat straight roads, green over brown. 😎
🔹Questions are primarily regarding the two routes, Alaska Hwy or Cassair Hwy between Spokane Valley and the junction of the two highways in the north.

My questions;

Which of the two routes on the attached map have the best access to gas stations? (~200 miles)

Which of the two routes on the attached map has best access to motels/hotels? (~300-400 miles)

Which of the two routes on the attached map offers the most scenic ride?

Are there any must see attractions/parks/must see locations on either route?

Any particular warnings to be considered/understood i.e. perennial bad roads, a lot of livestock or wildlife on highways, crazed Ice Road Truckers on this entire leg of my trip? (WA to AK)

Between June 1 and August 31, what windows will likely have the best weather and roads; no rain, no new snow, cleared roads, no old snow, no gravel, no mud on this entire leg of my trip?

Any other advice or recommendation you may want provide are appreciated.

Thank y’all for anything you can help with.

Package from PA to CA not arriving as scheduled. This was a time sensitive package. I have been tracking multiple times per day and there has not been a scan since the shipment scanned “Departed” from regional center. 5 minutes ago I get “Shipment Exception”
Notification claiming “weather.”

I call bullshit! For 5 day, not a single scan? And now blame it on the weather? Truth be told, FedEx has no clue where my shipment is.

Just got home from a coast-to-coast road trip. Some of the trip was just seeing where the roads took us. When heading through The Berkshires I saw how close I was to Ronnie’s and had to make that stop.

If you have been in the HD world for a few minutes and done any restoration work or do a lot of your own bike work you probably know Ronnie’s and their online presence.

At the end of the day, it was a cool stop and a good chat with some really nice guys. Old school dealership in the Massachusetts boonies.

Catching up on the Yellowstone spinoff, Marshals, the ongoing story of Casey Dutton. For those who may not have watched Yellowstone, Casey served as a SEAL in Afghanistan, seeing some heavy engagements.

In tonight’s Marshals episode I watched there as a quick glimpse of his shadowbox he said his late wife put together on the wall. The top row has a Navy Cross, a Silver Star, a BSM , a NMCCCM and what appears to be a Good Conduct.

Interestingly… no Purple Heart,

Just finished my coast-to-coast round trip to Laconia for Bike Week. Other than having a date certain hotel reservation in Laconia, my day to day routing was pretty free-wheeling. As I was planning my route for the last day heading east I found a little detour through The Berkshires would let me visit this dealership… IYKYK!

If you have spend time working on, repairing, rebuilding older Harley Davidsons, you may very well have used these guys’ online microfiche to find the OEM part number for those XLCH kickstarter crankshaft bushings. For a long time (until corporate HD put an end to it) you could also order OEM parts directly from Ronnie’s at “very competitive” pricing.

Anyway… good trip and a nice visit with the guys at Ronnie’s in Pittsfield, MA

Just finished my coast-to-coast round trip to Laconia for Bike Week. Other than having a date certain hotel reservation in Laconia, my day to day routing was pretty free-wheeling. As I was planning my route for the last day heading east I found a little detour through The Berkshires would let me visit this dealership… IYKYK!

If you have spend time working on, repairing, rebuilding older Harley Davidsons, you may very well have used these guys’ online microfiche to find the OEM part number for those XLCH kickstarter crankshaft bushings. For a long time (until corporate HD put an end to it) you could also order OEM parts directly from Ronnie’s at “very competitive” pricing.

Anyway… good trip and a nice visit with the guys at Ronnie’s in Pittsfield, MA

I am confident the experts of this sub can help me out.

Are these cats feral, stray or simply r/catsonholiday in Greece?

(Found this hanging on the bathroom wall of my room at a casino hotel)

I had forgotten about these until I hit Montana on my coast to coast ride. Exxon branded the stores associated with their stations and I always get a chuckle when I see one. Rather derogatory, the term was probably more common to the Boomer generation, but carries over to Gen Jones. Purposeful branding by Exxon? (Libby, MT)

P.S. In Montana it seems every business has a “casino” as a side money maker; gas stations, pizza joints, BBQ, you name it.

Found these in a few dealerships on my road trip. For the folks who want to go full-on Stage 5, bypassing Stages 3 & 4. 😎

1943 Knucklehead Harley Davidson Museum piece. The museum has many great looking (restored) bikes, but this one called out to me.

West Virginia bugs on the backroads of West Virginia.

Father of 8 died eight days after being severely wounded at Gettysburg. Buried in the Gettysburg National Cemetery with fellow Ohioans killed at Gettysburg.

Wounded in battle, he lay wounded and lying in no-man’s land between the opposing armies’ lines, moaning from the pain and crying for help. A fellow Ohioan volunteered to go retrieve him. He did, but Pvt Nixon died 8 days later from his wounds.

Pvt Richard Enderlin, an immigrant from Germany was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions to save Pvt Nixon.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20976/George-Nixon

Another fun find on my coast to coast road trip. Had not seen one in a while.

Some of us are old enough to remember the years AMF owned Harley Davidson. I once owned an AMF Sportster and an oil pan to save the garage floor… package deal.

Here is one on the by-products website f the era. I came across this at a dealership in New York. An AMF Harley Davidson gold cart. 3-wheeler. I used to use one of these at a golf course I worked at when I was in Jr High. Good times. less

Found in Utica on my coast to coast roadtrip.

Over the years I have seen many rat bike and always applaud the owners for their ingenuity in building their visions as well as the care they put into the effort.

Then there is this. This guy (and his girlfriend) rolled into a Harley dealership I was visiting in Virginia riding’/drivin’ this beauty. I did not get a chance to talk with him but got a close-up look. He put some real thought into engineering this ride, and it’s clear he ain’t done yet.

P.S. Those rear tires are flat out racing slicks!

I am currently riding coast-to-coast, visiting HD dealerships along the way. Over the years I have seen many vintage bikes collected by dealership owners. Here is a first for me; a mid-60’s Harley Davidson M50S. These were built by Italian manufacturer Aermacchi, a company Harley Davidson had an ownership stake in.

A great thing about traveling across America is all the dealerships that can be seen, each with their own personality. Found this sign in the men’s room yesterday at one dealership. Bless the Harley guys!