1900 Miles in 5 Days

[YamaGeezer]

The wife and I had a few days off this past week and decided to actually do a "tour" on our '07 touring bike. Funny how you buy a touring bike expecting to do all these trips, and then something happens and you find your "tours" are actually day trips to the mountains or to the next town over to do some shopping. I've been aggravating the wife, saying "if we aren't going to tour, I'm getting a cruiser in the garage." Rather than have two bikes, she decided this time off would be a good chance to actually do some "touring."

 

We live in Inman, a little town right outside Spartanburg, South Carolina. Good place to live as you're going to see something different no matter which way you turn the handlebars. I wanted to ride to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to see the Civil War stuff. She wanted to ride to the Outer Banks of NC just because we've never been there and there's a lighthouse she'd like to see. Lighthouses don't do it for me (being a normal human male) and she couldn't possibly care less about some battle that took place in Pennsylvania, of all places. So we compromised. We decided to ride to Key West, Florida!

 

Due to circumstances totally beyond my control (wife couldn't get off the telephone), we didn't get to leave Inman until 2 PM on Tuesday. All my figurin' and calculatin' said that we'd need two full days of riding to get to Key West. On Tuesday at 1:30 she said, "how far can it be."

 

With the bike packed up and ready to roll, and the temperature outside around 95 degrees, we took off. I wanted to at least get to Daytona before we stopped for the night. The bike did wonderfully as we averaged 80 on the ol' speedo (which I presume means we're really doing 72mph, right?). With stops for gas and a few breaks here and there, we managed to get past Jacksonville before the heavy rains came around 9 PM and cancelled our riding for Tuesday. We stayed right off I-95 in St. Augustine at a Motel 8. First lesson of the trip: never, ever stay at a Motel 8. Whatever extra money you'll need to spend to stay somewhere else, it will be worth it. Trust me on this one.

 

Next morning, we're off again at 8 AM. Stopped for breakfast in Daytona, then after breakfast, just because I was curious, we went to the huge Harley-Davidson dealership there (right off the Interstate). As my wife went and looked at the HD apparel, I looked at the touring bikes. Now, let me tell you, I've never owned a Harley, in fact, I've never even ridden one - but man, they're absolutely gorgeous motorcycles on the showroom floor. I looked primarily at the Ultra Classics. Really, really nice bikes. I really liked the size of it. The main concern I have with my Venture is the weight of it and the top-heaviness. The salesman told me about Harley's new feature whereby if you twist the throttle forward, the back cyclinders will stop, allowing them to cool. I assume he meant while sitting at a stoplight or something. I commented that adding a radiator would be much simpler and do a better job. He agreed and said by 2010, all Harleys will be water cooled. Anyway, the cheapest Ultra I saw there was $22,000, and it was an '08 will some bling added. Nice bike, but I just can't get past the air cooled part of it. Wish I could because it looks like it would be easier to handle in town and, frankly, it's much nicer looking and better equipped than my RSMV. Just my opinion there, okay?

 

We finally made it to Key West around 9 PM on Wednesday night. We were delayed by some of the most horrendous rain I've ever ridden through. One thing I noticed about storms in Florida - they don't move! We tried to wait a couple of them out, but they never moved away! It was like they were just sitting there, drenching everything in sight, daring us to get back on the bike. We had no choice. Wife pretty much insisted I wear the River Road rain gear we bought three seasons ago, which I absolutely hate. You have to be double jointed and not have more than 2 or 3 rigid bones to get into these things. My sleeves blow up like weather balloons going down the Interstate too. Now I ask you - how does one expect a suit to keep water off your arms if the elastic around the wrists isn't strong enough to keep the air from opening them up?

 

Key West was a blast. We parked the Venture and rented a scooter for traveling around the island. Only way to go. If you ever go (assuming you've never been there), rent a scooter because there's thousands of them on the roads and, quite frankly, you'll be hard pressed to find a parking space for anything bigger. Food and lodging in Key West, along with gasoline, are expensive. Adult beverages were kinda high, too, now that I think of it. Take all your extra change. And don't park your rented scooter next to a bicycle rack - you'll get a parking ticket that's gonna cost someone $35. (Don't ask me how I know this.) Didn't see a lot of bikes there, but I did see another Midnight Venture on the island and a Black Cherry Venture going towards the island as we were leaving. There were probably a thousand Gold Wings coming and going - most with trailers. Key West actually has a Yamaha dealership, but no Ventures or TDs on their smallish showroom floor. Guy we rented the scooter from said the HD dealership on the island went out of business several years ago.

 

We left Key West on Friday morning around 10:30. Rode 12 hours and stopped for the night in Brunswick, Georgia. No rain on the way back. The bike averaged around 42 miles per gallon, which I thought was good. I was able to go 170+ miles on almost every tank before stopping to fill up, and it always had more than a gallon left when the indicator on the dash said I was bone dry. The cruise control and the emergency flashers came in handy (used the flashers during the heavy rain so I was sure I could be seen). After I drained the MP3 player (I forgot to pack the recharger), the radio worked just okay. I'm really not happy with the speakers on our Venture. I already had a sneaking suspicion about this, but this trip confirmed that the pillow top seats will have to go. It looks nice and even sits nice for 200 miles. After that it's like some smart arse dumped a bucket of fire ants in my tighty whities. Last time I squirmed this much, I was in the Navy waiting for the doc to tell me if I'd somehow contracted a social disease two nights before. (For those of you curious, I hadn't.)

 

In total, we traveled a little over 1900 miles from Tuesday to Saturday, and didn't even start her up on Thursday. As I sit here now, we probably bit off a little more than we could chew on this trip. This is really not a trip you want to take in 5 days. But this touring bike lives up to the title. It hummed along at 75-85 mph the entire time and never missed a beat. I did notice I had some oil drippage from the overflow tube beneath the bike on Friday morning, but I believe that has more to do with my switch to full synthetic oil just prior to the trip.

 

We'd never been to Miami before. Holey moley - it's huge! It seemed we'd never get out of it. If you ever go to the Keys, you want to avoid South Miami if possible. Stop and go traffic starts where I-95 ends and Highway 1 begins. Horrible riding if you're two up and heavily loaded. Honestly, the Venture is a beast under those conditions.

 

I'm hoping our next trip is to Gettysburg!

[Tom]

May have been more than you could chew but the memories will last a lifetime! As far as the oil out the tube,you need to keep the level just under halfway or it will come out that tube. Be Safe,Tom

[Brake Pad]

It would have been nice to know you passed my front door. we live in Miramar florida, just 1 hour out of Key Largo. the wife & I would have loved to jump on the bike and head south with you.

well, we'll be up in your neck of the woods, in two weeks, as we're riding up to NC, for a few days, wayneville/maggie vally area's

[Missionary Rider]

I know it takes time after a long ride to post such a detailed report but I, for one, appreciate it. I had just as soon read what you wrote as buy another motorcycle magazine hoping for a similar story. I read every word and enjoyed it! Thanks!

 

Brenda and I were in Key West one July. I thought she was gong to pass out form the heat - and that's when we lived in Florida and thought we were accustomed to the weather.

 

Interesting comment on the pillow top seat. I mean, it just LOOKS so comfy. We've done a coupleof 12 hour rides and I wondered if a pillow top would have been an improvement. Perhaps not.

 

As for Gettyburg, this area (we're within a few miles right now) is beutiful in the summertime but you sure want to avoid I-95 and DC coming this way.

Ride safely

Lynn

 

(Leaving tomorrow on Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway for a few days in AL before heading back home to AR)

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Great ride report!

 

I've actually written a few of those myself...it takes a while to get it done, especially at my slow typing speeds!

 

A couple of comments. One...the Harley Ultra DOES get warm, since it has those fairing lowers. After I ride the Venture, and get back on the Harley, I'm wondering, does it always do this?

 

But air cooling is actually not bad, at least for the bike! I take the lower fairings off my Ultra in the heat of the summer, and my right inside thigh THANKS me!

 

A question: Motel 8? Is that a Super 8? I've had some decent luck with Super 8...in the past anyway.

 

And BTW...I've started seeing more and more of those little scooters on the roads today. Hey, if it takes $4 gas to get people to ride on 2 wheels, I'm all for that!

 

 

 

[1BigDog]

It would have been nice to know you passed my front door. we live in Miramar florida, just 1 hour out of Key Largo. the wife & I would have loved to jump on the bike and head south with you.

well, we'll be up in your neck of the woods, in two weeks, as we're riding up to NC, for a few days, wayneville/maggie vally area's

 

Dont feel bad, Mike...he passed by our front door too.....

 

Seriously though it looks like you had a good trip despite the rain. Thanks for the detailed post.