New Mexico

Just added White Sands National Monument, Roswell, and Carlsbad Caverns to the adventure.

Still Working

We have been dealing with some DMV and insurance issues lately but I'm happy to say that all is well at the moment and we will maintain our departure date as planned! Kevin still needs to take the motorcycle safety foundation course and we still need to make panniers for our gear (panniers are side luggage).

Driving in the city has been a pain. Still more fun than a car but I can't wait to be out cruising America's highways and byways!

Mediocrity

My rebuttal to the doubt.

Lights, camera...

Got our GoPro cameras today! 

Final Route

Here is an amalgamation of the different routes of our trip. 

Our original plan was to head into California but we won't have time this trip. We are basing next years trip entirely around the Pacific coast though!

Fundraiser

Hi, everyone! Kevin here. I have some great news! I've been in touch with the American Cancer Society to see about getting this set up to be something more than a simple motorcycle trip. Kraig and I have been hesitant to post about this side of things because we didn't want to get in trouble for using the society's name without their permission, but after working with them a little I feel confident enough to make it public. The American Cancer Society is currently working to get us the necessary logos and signage that we'll be using throughout the process. I'm very much looking forward to working with them. We'll be taking donations beginning now through our GoFundMe page (the link is in the top right corner of the page) from now until the end of August. At the end of August, we will donate the funds that we've earned to our local Relay For Life. While we will be on the other side of the country during the relay itself, The American Cancer Society representative that I spoke to assured me that wouldn't be a problem. If you'd like to participate in a relay yourself (there are tons all around the country) or if you'd like to learn more about it, you can go to this page: http://www.relayforlife.org/learn/index

EDIT: After working with the American Cancer Society a little more, it looks like we'll need to set up a separate website for donations to them. While we work on that, please refrain from donating to the cancer fund through the GoFundMe link. We'll be leaving that link up for anyone that wants to help out with operating costs, but that fund won't be going towards cancer. Thanks!

EDIT 2: I've got our donation page set up through the American Cancer Society. As you can see on the right side of the page, there are two donation links. If you use the top link to donate, all proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. If you donate to the bottom one, we'll be using those funds to help us cover operating costs (e.g. gas, food, etc.). If we earn more money for operating costs than we use, we'll be putting the excess towards the American Cancer Society.

2 Day Prep Ride

Here's a map of the two day 670 mile ride through southern Utah we're doing to break us in.

Our new GoPro cameras have been ordered! I'm getting antsy, we are missing out on filming so much of the planning process!

Best Food in the Nation

We're going to hit some of the most famous eateries in each of the cities we visit. Here is a list:

Chicago, IL - Gino's East Pizza
Amarillo, TX - Big Texan Steak Ranch
New Haven, CT - Louis Lunch
Albuquerque, NM - Frontier Restaurant
Nashville, TN - Rooster's Texas Style BBQ and Steakhouse
Philadelphia, PA - Jim's Steaks
Washington, DC - Horace & Dickie's
Portland, ME - The Lobster Shack
Cleveland, OH - Melt Bar & Grilled
Oklahoma City, OK - Steak & Catfish Barn
Minneapolis, MN - Matt's Bar
NYC, NY - Brick Lane Curry House
NYC, NY - Di Fara's Pizza
Cape Cod, MA - Captain Parker's Pub
Boston, MA - Barking Crab

NEW BIKE!

Thanks to Dave, we now have a Kawasaki Vulcan 750 for the trip! I felt that the 425 was a little to small and old to be safe. So Kevin is going to inherit the Maxim and I'll be riding the Vulcan.

It still needs new tires but other than that it's good to go!

Why, you ask?

A lot of people have asked me why I would want to go on a trip like this. The answer is simple: I don't want to waste a second of this life. I hear a lot of people say things like, "I'll travel when I retire" or "maybe next year." When I hear those excuses, I can't help but think, "Well, what if you don't make it that far?" I know it's a terrible thing to think, but the sad truth is that none of us can really be sure that we'll wake up tomorrow. Which brings me to the matter of making this adventure more than a bunch of memories. There are people, right now, who don't know how much longer they'll have on this earth. There are people who didn't have the opportunity to live a full life. I want to give those people a second chance. That's why I'm doing this fundraiser.

Plans Through Oklahoma City, OK

Here is a day to day breakdown of the trip:

• Day 1 Alpine, UT - Alpine, WY
• Day 2 Alpine, WY - Red Lodge, MT
• Day 3 Red Lodge, MT - Spearfish, SD
• Day 4 Spearfish, SD - Chamberlain, SD
• Day 5 Chamberlain, SD - Minneapolis, MN
• Day 6-7 Minneapolis, MN - Chicago, IL
• Day 8 Chicago, IL - Columbus, OH
• Day 9 Columbus, OH - Cleveland, OH
• Day 10 Cleveland, OH - Warren, PA
• Day 11 Warren, PA - Rochester, NY
• Day 12 Rochester, NY - Saranac Lake, NY
• Day 13-15 Saranac Lake, NY - Boston, MA
• Day 16-17 Boston, MA - New York, NY
• Day 18 - 19 New York, NY - Washington DC
• Day 20 - 22 Washington DC - Myrtle Beach, SC
• Day 23 - 24 Myrtle Beach, SC - Tail of the Dragon
• Day 25 - Tail of the Dragon - Nashville, TN
• Day 26 - 27 Nashville, TN - Oklahoma City, OK

7,700 miles so far!

A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With a Single Step

Our main goal is to ride to NYC and back taking the most scenic back roads in the country. To save money we are going to be camping most of it. We have family in Minneapolis and a friend in Columbus. Other than that we are completely on our own!

I've spent a lot of time on planning out this trek that I should have spent doing research for school projects, this is way more fun! Here is our first day. We start out in beautiful Alpine, UT and hopefully make it to Alpine, WY in about 5 1/2 hours.

1979 Suzuki 425 LN - Decommissioned

1979 Suzuki 425 LN

I found this bike in a friend's aunt's backyard all covered in spider webs and weeds. I traded a Pina Colada SoBe for it. When we first cranked the engine over water shot out of the cylinders through the spark plug holes! I have no idea how it runs but it does. The only problem is if you let it idle too low it will shut off (this includes while driving it).

There was a lot of work to be done. I rebuilt the carburetors, checked the valves, cleaned out the fuel filter, added oil, replaced the spark plugs and the battery, adjusted the clutch lever, replaced most of the bolts on the engine, and re-seated the tires.

Before we leave we still need to coat the inside of the gas tank, reupholster the seat, new handlebars, weld foot pegs, drill out the broken oil drain plug and replace it, add new oil, replace the rear brakes, replace the broken speedometer cable, and last but not least it needs a new coat of paint.

UPDATE!

I decided the bike was too high risk for such a long distance trip so I'm going to finish getting it road worthy and sell it to fund our trip.

1983 Yamaha Maxim - Kevin's whip

1983 Yamaha Maxim

Remarkably good condition. I did spend a little more than a drink for this one but there are no problems. There is a worn out bearing in the clutch box but that shouldn't be a problem.

It Begins!

It hit me that summer was fast approaching and I needed a bike. My old '89 Suzuki needed a lot of work done and I was itching for something so I bought a '83 Yamaha Maxim, which was in surprisingly good condition. Needless to say, my Suzuki came back from the shop in working order. I now have two bikes. My brother mentioned that we should take them on a road trip. I thought he was joking... After a few days of nagging we both sat down to see how possible our options were.

They say we would have to be crazy to do this... I think we can do it anyway.

Kev

Kraig