Route 66

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snake
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Route 66

Inlägg av snake »

These are some pictures from my Route 66 trip between October 17 and November 8 2007. 4300 miles in 21 days.

The Route 66 team. Here at Bagdad Café, California. I am the guy in leathers.

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The bikes:

- Honda Rune CBC, 2005
- Victory Hammer S, 2007
- Kawasaki VN 1600 Nomad, 2007

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I started the trip in Portland, riding Highway 1 down to LA. Took me three days. The Rune handled the coast line curves beautifully.

Here at Pigeon Point, Californa (along Highway 1). Wherever I went, the Rune was the major attraction!

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Why can't they keep their hands off the tank!!!

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We rode Route 66 backwards and hence started at Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles.

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Took Santa Monica Boulevard out of LA, but made a quick stop at Rodeo Drive to pick up some designer glasses. :lol:

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Our plan was to ride to Las Vegas the first day, but the Santa Ana winds forced us to stop already in Pasadena. The wind was so strong we could barely keep the bikes upright at the red lights. Day 2 we just escaped the fires and continued to Las Vegas. It was a great experience to drive into Las Vegas late at night on a Rune.

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The quality of old (historic) Route 66 is varying between states. California was bad, Texas and Illinois really good, the rest OK.

The Rune was NOT a very good choice for riding Route 66. It has a way too stiff suspension for the rough roads and I recommend using the softest setting on the rear and let some air out of the tires as well...

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Sometimes the roads are really good as here

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Other sections are dirt roads...

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One of many small tunnels used to cross the I-40. In many sections, route 66 follows the frontage roads of I-40.

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Look! No hands... for the next 20 miles...

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To be able to find all the small roads (old alignment) we used a Garmin GPS mounted on the Rune. I you ever need GPS routes and waypoints for an east bound Route 66 trip, you know who to ask! Took me a week to enter the entire route, but that probably saved us hundreds of map reading stops along the way. Route 66 is hard to find! You need a GPS, trust me, unless you plan to take I-40.

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Even with a GPS, we ran into problems. Some sections of the old route 66 is now privately owned and has been closed for traffic. However, the GPS did not always know that. We ran into a couple of dead ends and closed sections which we had to go around.

Closed!

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Dead end after going several miles! Why no try putting the dead end sign at the beginning of the road? :?

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To be able to get 4 weeks off from work, I needed to be able to at least make job related phone calls even during riding sessions. An integrated bluetooth N-Com system with connection to the GPS and phone allowed me to talk on the phone even at 100 mph. I even sent a few SMS while riding... (not recommended!)

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The T-bag I bought before my trip did not fit the Corbin seat and backrest. It was impossible to get a good fit. I had to send that bag back to Sweden and find another one. The one shown below was found in a Harley Davidsson store in LA. God forgive me, but I had no choice. :x
I used a suction cup pad on the rear fender to prevent the bag from touching the fender.

The Corbin fleetliner bags looks soooo nice, but they are useless for storing stuff. The odd shape makes it hard to fit anything bigger than a pair of shoes and few socks. Used it for my toolbox, laptop, a six pack of Corona and a years supply of beef jerky. I love that stuff. :lol:

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All bikes where completely stock, no new exhaust, no high flow air. I thought I would have a chance against the Victory, but the Rune took a beat every time we raced. Of course, the Kawasaki was no match.

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Once in Las Vegas, A stop at Arlen Ness was a must.

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Very friendly guys. They even let us use their wash boot so we could clean off the dust from the desert ride.

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Lots of Corona took care of the dust in our throats :lol:

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There are so many nice pubs and bars along Route 66. You can stop every half hour if you want to. There is always some interesting place just around the corner...

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Plenty of old gas stations. Most of them just for display. Wish I still could fill up the bike for 15 cents a gallon!

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Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. Who came up with this idea?

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We did not book lodging in advance. It was late in the season and we had no problem to find good lodging at affordable prices. A recommendation is to buy the book "Route 66 Dining and Lodging", which pointed us to some real good motels along the route.

Wigwam Motel

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In most places it was perfectly OK to park the bikes just outside the entrance. We did not want the bikes to be parked among the cages at the parking lot.

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At Brunswick Hotel in Kingsman you could even park in the lobby! However, there were still parking space left just outside the lobby, so we parked there instead.

A true classic! The Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, New Mexico. Unfortunately, this motel had closed for the season, so we stayed at the Pow Wow Inn (also a very good classic Route 66 motel).

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Some of the less expensive motels did not meet our standards... This is from the 40 Winks Motel in Illford, California. I do not recommend this motel!

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There are many nice must-see stops along route 66. Here are a few.

Darryl Starbird's
National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame Museum in Oklahoma. Famous for his classic bubble-tops. Many nice cars on display!

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Dont forget all the closed-down Drive-In theaters!

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Old Chain of Rock Bridge

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Largest cross on the northern hemisphere

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The Big Texan Steak Ranch, Amarillo, Tx. Get a free 72 Oz steak! (If you can finish it including a baked potato in 1 hour...) Believe me, very few have succeded.

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The Jack Rabbit Trading Post

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The Round Barn

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Day 19 we reached Illinois!

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The famous "Muffler man" (now turned into a Gemini Giant) just next to Launching Pad Drive-In.

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The END of Route 66 (or actually the start...) We made it!

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Thank you for watching!

/hkv

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Honda VTX 1800C -02
Excelsior Henderson Super-X -00
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Raffe Gbg
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Re: Route 66

Inlägg av Raffe Gbg »

Jäkligt många bra och intressanta bilder med perfekta engelska texter. Två frågor bara, Snake: Var har du gjort av hojen du åkte på, och är du säker på att det var 2008 du var där? Du ser vääääldigt ung ut på första bilden.. :-)
Svart VTX 1300 R -08 med extra allt - nästan...
"Det är mycket bättre att vara glad"
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snake
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Inlägg: 773
Blev medlem: 28 aug 2005, 13:36
VTX-modell: VTX 1800, 2002
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Re: Route 66

Inlägg av snake »

Tack. Nej, det var 2007 såklart. Har ändrat inlägget!

Köpte två likadana hojar. En sålde jag och en har jag kvar.
Honda VTX 1800C -02
Excelsior Henderson Super-X -00
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