MidniteFlyer

Hello everyone,
You all were such a HUGE help last year when we flew to Reno and rented bikes and rode the Northern California area. Everything was right on and extremely helpful...thanks again.
This year we are planning to take our own bikes, have them shipped out to either the CA or NV area and then ride back East.
We are planning to take the Northern route and a few places of interest we would like to see are Yosemite NP, Glacier NP, the Black Hills area etc.
We have two weeks in which to make it back to the Pennsylvania area.
We are gearing to stay on the scenic byways more so than highways.
Any and all suggestions, advice, insights would be so very welcome
Thank you, thank you, thank you

emalloy

Do you mean Yosemite or Yellowstone on the northern route??? Are your bikes bicycles or motorcycles??? Are you planning on visiting the parks or just a drive through? The thought of 150 miles/day on a bike gives me fanny fatigue, but I'm a geezer.

Gardyloo

Are your bikes bicycles or motorcycles???

From the thread title and last year's posts, motorcycles.

Are you planning to go to Sturgis? If so, better get cracking on the reservations front... http://www.sturgis.com/

Where are you starting? You say Calif. or Nevada, but you might also consider starting in the Pacific NW and go over the Cascades or through the Columbia Gorge. If you started your ride in Portland or Seattle, you could see the Gorge, or take the North Cascades Highway over the mountains, then east on US 2 (or even better, the Transcanada highway through Banff/Jasper) before cutting down to Glacier, Yellowstone, (Sturgis) and the Black Hills.

Pushing it, you can go Seattle > Philly in 5 road days, so if you have 14 then you can zigzag around a bit and still get home in time.

MidniteFlyer

Thank you both for your replies; still in the early stages, yes looking at both Yosemite and Yellowstone. We rode N.CA last year and averaged about 200 miles per day.
We had hoped to get to Yosemite, yet ran out of time. One of the riders had really hoped we could do it this year, yet it really does have us backtracking. As plans finalize we will see.
Your suggestion of the Columbia Gorge et al sounds great and I will present it to the group and also going the NCHwy. We may head near Sturgis but we aren't all about the rally, but the view/ride. We do know people who will have a house there if it is close to that time that we could do a night if desired.

emalloy

The Badlands NP is right off I-90 and is a neat place to visit too. Yellowstone is awesome and if you can, do try for a ride through it. You also will be near Mt. Rushmore which could be included on your trip and doesn't take long to visit.

HotWheels

If it's about the scenic ride in the Black Hills, the route from Deadwood/Keystone/Custer would be much more relaxing than Sturgis (especially Iron Mt. Road/Custer Wildlife Loop). Spots to stop along the way to relax...SD Badlands east of Black Hills (about an hour out on I-90?) could be a daytrip loop thru them.

tomfuller

Ship the bikes to Las Vegas. Go into Death Valley through Pahrump. Take the Red Rock Canyon loop if you want to. Come out of Death Valley by way of Baker, CA. Just south of Barstow, take Hwy 58 over the Tehachipi Pass to Bakersfield. Highway 99 north to Fresno then Highway 41 to the south entrance to Yosemite. Turn right there to see the Mariposa Grove. Leaving the grove, continue through Wawona through the tunnel and your big view of the Valley. Leaving the Yosemite Valley by route 120 is your best bet. Check out Route 108 past Columns of the Giants and tie in to US 395 north.
Take 395 north all the way to Burns, Oregon. In Burns you can decide whether to take US 20 and go to Yellowstone or continue north on 395 all the way to Spokane, WA and US 2 east to Glacier NP. They are both beautiful National Parks, but I would not try to combine them in 1 trip after seeing so much of California. If you do go by way of Sturgis, make sure to see Devils Tower in the NE corner of Wyoming.

oldschool1

good for you midniteflyer...may be one of the most fun things you end up fulfilling on your bucket list. I have ridden in the saddle of my electraglide across every state out west...and do it over and over again at the end of every summer. I map the routes for our group...all scenic highways. I would suggest locking down a shipping destination. If you go a more southern city, then be sure to include Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Moab as you head into Colorado moving east. Personally, I would prefer a more northerly route like i took last year. I would ship the bikes to Portland/Seattle and take off from there, hugging the Columbia River as you head east or crossing thru the middle of Washington State ( Leavenworth a pretty cool town to overnight) a little further north. Head into Idaho and cross the state west to east into Lolo Pass...gorgeous, scenic rides across Idaho...include Sawtooth if you want. At this juncture I would probably zig zag north to Glacier, crossing thru the park from west to east into St. Mary and then head south through Montana into Yellowstone either via Gardner entrance. Spend a couple of days in this area, maybe overnight in Cody and then keep heading east...badlands et al. Once you get past that point, the best riding will be behind you .....enjoy!! With 2 weeks...averaging 200-250 plus miles per day, you will have time to do it all.

MidniteFlyer

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you all.
I will be sharing this information with the group in a week so if you have anything else additional to add please feel free.
It seems everyone in the group is leaning towards the Northern route, big on the list I am hearing are the Tetons.
It is funny you mention (oldschool1) that the best riding will be behind us after badlands et al as I had just mentioned I may jump off in Paducah, KY to visit a dear friend I haven't seen in years and fly from there.
(Btw, I rarely see people use et al any more...very cool)
Many thanks