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Motorcycle tour in USAWednesday, November 14, 2012 @ 19:44
The Motorcycle ride in the USA is the story of two friends fantastic self-drive motorcycle tour, which they planned themselves. The motorcycle holiday was of course ridden on Harley Davidson.Motorcycle friends on MC USA tourHans (62) and Jens (68) from Denmark both wanted for quite a while to have a motorcycle holiday in the USA, and as they only been in the USA once before, the planning of the holiday and the route needed to be done detailed and from home.
The both wanted to see the west coast of USA and from here take a ride into the country to see all the great sightseeing’s such as Joshua National Park, Las Vega, Grand Canyon and to say hallo to old General Sherman. The area which were their holiday destination is one of the most popular areas for motorcycle holiday in the entire USA, due to the many attractions in the area. This all promised well for Hans and Jens to have a great motorcycle holiday and to get a good impression of USA. When the decision was taken going on motorcycle holiday in the USA, they needed to decide how. Mainly the choice were narrowed down to choose one of the two solutions, to buy an all-inclusive and pre-planned package or to make all planning themselves. The choice for Hans and Jens were pretty easy, as they wanted to drive the routes in their own pace and to have all the gear on their machines hereby to be free – just like the American dream.
The motorcycles are picked up at EagleRiderHans and Jens spend some cozy planning evenings together to search the internet for attractions in the western part of US and to find some of the hotels. As the holiday ride were taken place end of may/start of june the booking of the hotels were no problem. Only a few were booked in advance, and the rest were found as they needed accommodation.
Just after arriving at Los Angeles the friends went directly to EagleRider where they pre-booked some Harley Davidson Road King motorcycles. EagleRider is the worlds largest motorcycle rental company, and Hans and Jens were very satisfied with the service. They got some almost brand new HD´s which drove the entire holiday without any kind of problem. The Harley’s were fantastic motorcycles to cruise on, as they were stable and economical. Their motorcycle holiday gave the friends many experiences, and only a few can be mentioned here, but they are representative for the attractions you will see riding this route. Grand CanyonImpressing and breathtaking – that is the short description. Grand Canyon is fantastic and with a good reason it is one of the most know and visited attractions in the US. Grand Canyon is a valley filled with steep sloves and fantastic rock formations. Grand Canyon is 1 600 meter deep and is 446 km long and on the widest point it is 26 km. Impressive numbers and not least impressive to view the amazing scenery. Along the canyon there are many great view points which also is a good place to stretch the legs and get off the motorcycles.
Bryce Canyon National ParkBryce Canyon National Part has an impressive landscape which is like made for motorcycle cruising on a Harley Davidson. While riding you can enjoy the enjoy the many colors and the fantastic rock formations. Bryce Canyon is located in a height of 2 500 meters and the history goes back to the first white settlers who established themselves here in 1850 and they were Mormons. The area has got its wild appearance through the many years of wind and weather erosion which has formed the rocks to the scenic formations as is today. The remaining rocks are the hard core and the wild appearance is exactly what the approx 800 000 tourists go to Bryce Canyon each year to see. Now that you are here, it is strongly recommended to view the sunset, as the rocks are painted in the most fantastic colors giving a unique experience to view.
General ShermanNope – it is not a WW2 tank. It is a gigantic tree in the Sequoia National Park in California. General Shermann got some impressive dimensions, as it is 83,8 meter high, 7,7 meter in diameter and has a volume of 1 487 m3 and General Sherman is approx 2 300 to 2 700 years old. Jens walked inside the tree to explore it, which tells a bit about the dimensions. On the way to General Sherman it was pretty cold, which the snow next to the road also indicated. The snow was a bit of a surprice, but both Hans and Jens never got cold riding the motorcycles.
Las VegasNever visit Nevada without going to Las Vegas, which is a cornucopia of entertainment, signaling consumption, consumption and consumption. Las Vegas fully fulfills the expectations of casinos, hotels and shows. There is a huge electricity consumption in the city partly to the illumination and partly to the air con running to keep the temperature down. Two nights were booked in advance, but the biker friends did not really needed that. Their interests were higher for the nature than the Las Vegas temptations, but the hotel was paid for – so they decided to stay tuned on Las Vegas and see what is was all about.
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal ParkIn Monument Valley you are overwhelmed by the fantastic colours ranging from yellow, red and orange all neat arranged in the rocks, making it perfect for a Western movie. Well, that is also why Monument Valley has set the frame for many of John Ford’s western movies with the legenary John Wayne in the main role as the good guy. The area is one of the most photographed areas in the USA due to the beautiful and fantastic rock formations and further the Monument Valley is special at being Indian. The Navajo Indians lives here, which is also the reason for its official name - Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park
Joshua Tree Joshua Tree National Park is desert, why it is very hot on the warm days. The motorcycle route went through the desert, but due to the time of the season, the temperature was fairly reasonable. Even it was not high summer, there were no signs on the road and the motorcycles would become wet. All was dry – very dry. In the Joshua Tree park there are many nice cactus, so it is recommended to make a stop and enjoy the sight and wonder how on earth the cactus can survice in this desert.
SolvangSolvang is a piece of Danmark here in the middle of USA. Solvang is close to being a part of Denmark – almost too close, with the rainy weather….The feeling you get walking the streets of Solvang and see the Danish names, flag and not least the Danish pastry is a bit so many thousand kilometers away from Denmark. Solvang was established in 1911 and is known as the ”Danish Capital of America” – which is also the impression you get by walking around the city.
Planning tips for the motorcycle tour It is not difficult to plan an exicting motorcycle tour in USA, all it takes is a bit patience and home work finding the attractions. It can be recommended to have the holiday some weeks later, as the temperature will then be a bit higher. The temperature was around 15-20 deg Centigrade, and a few more degrees would have made the motorcycle holiday a bit better. All attractions are open on the time of year, so it was easy to get in and have a look, however it was a surprice to see snow next to the road.
Motorcyclist in USA
The Americans are very friendly towards motorcyclists, and even Denmark is a small country, everywhere the two friends were met with a warm and friendly welcome. The entire area has a lot of motorcycle tourists in all ages, so everywhere the motorcyclists are welcome.
Status on the Harley Davidson motorcycles
The HD's drove like a dream. It was just like the Road King’s were born to ride the road…. Well, the conclusion is that the match between the name of the experience riding the motorcycle is pretty good. The Road King had cruice control which were great for the long rides and the motorcycles had a great stability, as they did the route worry free. Fuel consumption was great, approx 20 km per liter. The choice of the Harley Davidson’s was the right choice because they are made in the USA and is the symbol of the American dream.
Holiday accomodationGenerally it is pretty easy to find hotel accomodation in the area - even in the high season it is their impression it is easy to find a good place to spend the night. But, do not expect the most popular hotels to have a free room just waiting for you. So better be safe than sorry, so book in advance from home. Do you want to spend the night in one of the national parks, then you better book in advance. Price - qualityh ratio is pretty good. Total MC USA tourThe tour was pefect and all expectations were fulfilled. Well, the only thing is that Hans and Jens will go a bit later in order to get higher temperatures. The daily motorcycle route were approx 300-350 km, which gave a good driving rythm and it was totally unstressed - just the way a holiday shall be. A part of the holiday experience in USA is the food. The typical food which are served on diners are burgers and steaks - not exactly the recommendation of a diatist - but is was tasty... The holiday in USA gave Hans and Jens many good experiences and varied experiences. The entire tour ranging from the planning, which were a great prelude, and the 4 500 km they drove until the HD´s were parked back as EagleRider was fantastic. The experience and work planning the tour themselves was a good experience, and at the same time they made a saving of 25% compared to a pre-planned motorcycle tour with all-inclusive purchased from a tour provider. Download USA MC route to your GPSYou are velcome to download the route direct to your Garmin,TomTom or Navigon GPS, so also you can go to the USA and get some good experiences on a motorcycle.
Have a nice MC USA tour on your motorcycle, Pictures
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