"Motorcycle" trip from FL to OR (and more)- *NEED* trip help plz!
 

Hello everyone- new to the site! I just spent a couple of hours reading everything I could find regarding traveling the Oregon coast down into the San Fran area. I'm in charge of planning a group trip for 2014 and have a baseline to start with, but I desperately need your help please as I have never been to OR before. I'll try to break up my questions to make for easier answering. The basics: we are shipping our motorcycles to the Portland airport for pick up after flying in, then driving over to stay our first night in Tillamook (we think) to rest up for the big trip.

Questions: (1) Weather-wise, what are the best months to enjoy the OR coast by avoiding excessive fog/rain and staying in reasonable temps? We prefer temps in the 70's by day. (2) I have planned our entire trip along the coast from Tillamook all the way to San Fran except for when we must go inland to pass waterways, etc. We are never coming off the coast otherwise. With stops along the way, what do you think is a reasonable amount of time to do this? (3) We definitely want to see the Redwoods, but I've read that areas like the Jediah State Park do not have paved roads- not a good thing on a motorcycle! Where can we safely visit that will allow us to drive "thru" the Redwoods for pictures? I've seen somewhere before that some Redwoods have been carved out for the road to go through it, or is that the Sequoia Forest? (4) I have a general idea of where we'll end up each day, but it cannot be set in stone since we don't know how far we'll get each day after stops, etc. Therefore, we are planning to stay at whatever hotel is available each night. Is this reasonable, or is it going to be problematic by not having reservations? Are there certain months & specific areas that we should avoid NOT having reservations? (5) I was thinking that we could make it to San Fran in 5 or 6 days....is this realistic?

"Thank you" so very much for any assistance/opinions/highlights, etc. you all are able to provide. I am an in-depth planner when it comes to trips, and this is the biggest one ever that I've had to manage. For those wondering, at the end of this trip, we will be driving our bikes all the way back home to FL! Therefore, this has become what we're calling the "Trip of a Lifetime," so I want to do all that I can to keep it that way! :-) -Tony

I meant to add that we'll be driving up and around to Astoria, then down into Tillamook to stay the first night. We want to be able to tell friends that we drove the ENTIRE coastline of OR!

I'm trying desperately to find a way to share my Google Earth planned route with you. hoping this works:

http://productforums.google.com/foru...ns/uK5thajsQkk

A lot depends on how long you can ride per day. My husband does these kinds of motorcycle trips and you can do this part easily in 5-6 days. He can do 400 a day, but that isn't with a lot of stops other than food, gas etc.

Avenue of the Giants is the area where you can drive through the trees.
http://humboldtredwoods.org/

I would aim for late August, early September for the best weather in both OR and SF. It is a very busy time, so not sure about hotel availability. After Labor Day may be

How many are in your group and what do you ride? Have the members of the group done this kind of extended trip before?

Sorry ,that didn't post right. After Labor Day might be the best time. The best weather in SF is Sept/ Oct. bit maybe you need to consider the rest of the trip home ,weather wise, and work backwards.

I am by no means an expert buy you need to consider how far you can get in a day with rain - you are likely to get at least one. Also getting multiple rooms with no advance reservations can be a problem. I would definitely have checked out places in advance and be sure they have availability.

How large is the group?

September has the best average weather on the Oregon/No Calif coast. September is when the locals head to the coast (at least the ones w/o children) so if you have more than say 5 or 6 people - you may have a problem of you don't pre book in some places. But that time of year is on average less crowded than July/August (even though the weather is better later on), so in many towns there are enough accommodations you'll be fine.

But if it is a <u>larger</u> group, then pre-planning is a must.

Great responses so far- thank you! Our group is a confirmed 6 so far (3 bikes/couples), but there is a real possibility that it will shrink back to just 2 bikes/couples by the time it rolls around. But for now, I'm just approaching everything as though there will be 3 bikes/3 couples.

Yes, we are all very experienced riders (Iron Butt Association members) and ride together often. Even on our normal vacations to the NC/TN mountains, we are used to packing in 200-300 miles per day; sometimes less if hitting a lot of the twisty stuff. We will take a 3-day weekend and ride down/back to the FL Keys or up to the NC/SC areas without hesitation.......base camp for us is Jacksonville, FL.

As we talk about the trip, we all tend to agree to go for the best weather during the OR/CA portion, because that is what we're really doing this for. We probably fly our wives back home to FL & just the guys drive back to spare them from those hot, high mileage days coming back.

We know it's going to be brutal returning home with the higher temps of some states, which is why we'll most likely avoid going completely straight back east versus a little bit of an arch pattern to stay in the cooler temps in the mid states.

DebitNM- "thank you" for the Avenue of the Giants info!!

So, it's starting to sound like we "can" make this part of the trip in 5-6 days, but we probably should have 6-7 days available in case rain slows traffic to a crawl. Is that a better assessment? You guys are awesome, thx again!

I agree September or early October is the best time for the Oregon coast. If you get out of PDX early enough in the day, take a ride east on I-84 a few miles to see Multnomah Falls. The parking area is in the median (left exit). Head back west on I-84 and stick with US 30 to get to Astoria where you get on US 101 to Tillamook. As you come into Tillamook, make a stop at the Tillamook Cheese factory. They have great chees and ice cream. You can also go upstairs to have a view of the production and packaging line.
From Tillamook take your time going south on 101 with plenty of stops. Turn off 101 in North Bend and head for Charleston.
When in this area, I head for Sunset Bay or Cape Arago.
I usually stay in a yurt at Sunset Bay State Park (reservable).
From the Charleston/Coos Bay area it is an easy day drive to Crescent City California. You might want to make a stop at "The Trees of Mystery" in addition to driving through parts of Redwood National Park. You should be able to make it to Rockport or Westport along California Route 1 before sunset.
From Rockport to San Francisco is very close to 200 miles.
Take a little detour over through Muir Woods before going over the GG bridge into San Francisco.
Since you are headed back to Florida you should go by way of Yosemite (Tioga Pass) and Death Valley on the way back.

You didn't say what your ride??

Just an FYI - riding in SF is quite a challenge. DH rode there a few years back and I flew in. I did spend our time there behind him, riding 2 up. He is an excellent rider and I trust him implicitly. But let me tell you - stopping at lights on some of SF's infamous hills was more than scary for me. I was never sure if the cars were going to roll back into us as we stopped facing up hill or if we were going to roll into the cars in front of us as we stopped facing downhill!

Also, just in case you don't know - lane splitting is legal in CA and it was not my favorite thing - especially on interstate. I was never sure if people in cars knew about lane splitting, thinking many are tourist and not used to it. I was always afraid of a car changing lanes not realizing we were there, between lanes.

death valley - on a bike - in <i>SEPTEMBER</i>? Maybe you haven't done much bike riding in the desert Tom. That would be GAWD awful.

Avenue of the Giants is one of the most awesome places I've been; and I've travelled quite a lot. Truly awe inspiring! Hope you get to include it in your trip. Muir Woods is so relaxing and peaceful (but not nearly as awe inspiring) but I'd still try to include it if possible. I love love love the giant trees. I'm from the midwest where we have oak and elm trees that get pretty good sized, but NOTHING LIKE those redwoods!!

Thx Tom- I see you replying regularly to posts here, so thank you for that dedication. Janisj is absolutely right though, we will be avoiding Death Valley like the plague coming back, lol! ;-) Besides, I think I would be a little concerned about fuel and the inability to carry enough water with me in case I had a breakdown along the way. Going to be loaded down already as it is.

DebitNM- we currently ride a '10 HD Ultra. Had several metric bikes before that (everything from the crotch rockets on up to the metric versions of touring bikes), but ever since moving up to the big boy, well, there simply is no going backwards now. :-) We did eyeball one of those fancy Wings, but we just aren't "quite ready" to make that leap yet. I still have the need to hear the life of the bike roaring beneath me, but not in an absurd kind of way. ;-)

Honestly the last time I was on a Quad riding behind my friend on his dirt bike was on December 31, 2010. We went to the top of Lead Mountain north east of Barstow to find a geocache.
We all had a blast riding in the Mojave.
As for Death Valley, I did see a motorcycle wreck there along the Artist Loop. I drove back to the park Headquarters to report it since cellphones don't work there.
I did enjoy the gondola ride to the top at "The Trees of Mystery"

I've already tagged the Trees of Mystery and the Tillamook Cheese Factory as stopping points for us. During a recent plane ride back home from another state, the young lady beside me was from N. OR and her very first recommendation was the cheese factory. So, that's 2 people pushing it which makes it a "to do" for me!

Tom: I'm not saying bikes are great in DV (My ex had a motorcycle and we rode all over the Sierras up and down 395 every year) . . . My point was NOT in the heat of September.

Remember to pull off 101 and go through Cannon Beach to see Haystack Rock on the way to Tillamook.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=413 Don't know where you got the information about the roads in the park not being paved...the main road is US-199.

Just one example: http://www.redwoodhikes.com/JedSmith/JedSmith.html

The picture speaks a thousand words alone......like riding on slime for motorcyclists. I've come across a few blogs about this park, and they all reference the dirt road through the park. No personal knowledge of it.

You can see all the huge Coast Redwoods you want to see by staying on US 199 and any paved side roads off the highway.
Giant Sequoias grow in Yosemite and Kings Canyon/Sequoia NP.
The Coast Redwood is a different species that grows nearer to the Pacific coast.
Any chance you could detour over to see the Oregon Caves and Crater Lake National Park?