We did NY to Sturgis last year.

Left Sat. and arrived in Sturgis Tuesday.

We are all in our mid to late 40's. Rides were Heritage Springer, Road King, Electra Glide Standard and me on an FXDI.

I started the trip without a windshield and bought one by the third morning.

The worst part of the trip out was the traffic and the heat going thru Chicago on Sunday.

We went home the long way via SD, Ia, Mo, AR, Tn, Va, W Va, Md, Pa, NY.

You shouldn't have any problem. Just make sure to drink plenty of water if it gets hot (temps were in the upper 90's and above on our ride out in places).

Enjoy the trip.

 

My advice: Make a daily destination goal that you can all agree upon and then a Plan B if something jams up. I did Milwaukee for the 100th and without really knowing what I was capable of, found out that I could do 300 a day easy and that was on an FXR. Coming home and riding by myself I could do 400+. My point is, the group dynamic is harder to predict if you just set off down the road. Set a realistic goal and a back up. Safe trip to all!!

 

i agree with the statments above but with that many riders you may want a chase truck with extra gas and tools and watch yourselfs at night alot of deer just remember anything can happen its better to be ready than not and if everything goes as planned you end up with a awsome trip.

 

instead of a schedual of 7-3-4 days, consider that:

1700 miles divided by 5 days is 340 miles per day, which is an easy days ride. 50 miles before breakfast (one hour!), 150 to lunch, and 150 after lunch. This is an easy schedule that you will probably exceed.

if my math is right, this allows 5 days out, 5 days back, your original 3 days in the black hills, and an extra day for good luck, while still being pretty conservative with your daily mileage expectations.

Personally, I like to do 100 miles before breakfast. I find getting the first hunerd miles under the belt sets up a rythmn for the day. especially with multiple people, that first hundred miles has a lot of quick stops, where eveything is getting adjusted, forgotten things get pulled from the luggage, pee breaks, air, gas oil (all of which should be done the night before, but i digress). after the first hundred miles, its usually all dialed in and the miles just go by, allowing you to tack on an "extra" fifty or hundred (or more) miles without much effort. add a couple of enthusiastic 400 or 500 mile days, which are pretty easy to do out west, and you gain more time for recreational rides or unforseen delays. When the miles are flowin' - keep goin.

Your bikes are reliable, right?

The bikes have to be in top condition. Any f'ups with the bikes will cost valuable time, and suddenly the days arent so easy. really fresh tires, patch kits (for the folks with the tubess tires), tune-ups, and everything sorted out.

Skip the truck unless you are riding some seriously old iron (pre-evo? your call...), or have some well founded suspicions about the mechanical integrity of your bikes. The truck is a waste of time and gas, and once you get going, no one will want to drive it.

-Max

 

The nice thing about this forum is that the advice comes from people who have "been there- done that", and who are always willing to help a fellow biker.

The only thing that I would add would be that the difference in bikes will probably become a factor, particular if some of your riders are not used to long distance riding. The guys on the smaller bikes (Deuce, Dyna) will probably not be able to go as far as the touring bike riders, and this is coming from someone with a 56 year old butt.

I rode a Sportster to Sturgis from Chicago, but that was when I was 21 years old- I wouldn't even attempt such a feat now.

My advice would be to practice longer rides prior to your trip- preferably about 300-350 per day, which will get them used to the rigors of long distance travel (feet and butt positioning, moving around while at highway speeds, keeping their minds occupied, etc.)

Personally, when I'm by myself, I try to do between 500-600 on an "average" day. When I'm with my wife, I never do more than 350.

Have a great trip, and to paraphrase one of the other excellent posts "It's not the destination, it's the journey"

 

Oh yeah, almost forgot the most important thing:
A windsheild is a must have. even a very small one, like the plexiglass kind that attaches to the handlebars with clamps.

Whats the packing formula? after you have packed what you need, remove half the stuff and double your budget!

 

Your plan sounds pretty good and 4 days is plenty to get back,it's 1200 miles for me and it's about 2 1/2 days without pushing it too hard.
We take the back roads,if we went superslab we could be there on the second day well before dinner time.
Wife and I did 8000 miles in 14 days on the EG summer of 2000,hit Sturgis and kept going.
500 miles a day is easy if you get up early and get moving.

 

Do an overnighter in the summer before you go to Sturgis. Pick a point 350 away head out, stay the night, and come back the next day. This will get everyone mentally prepared. Once they have gone that far the whole group will have a much better feeling of what can be accomplished. It will take a lot of the stress out of the trip, especially the first day. Plus what a great excuse for a long ride.

 

The herd will only move at the speed of the slowest animal.

Definitely do a couple of practice runs going about 400 miles in a day. Do the runs with loaded bikes so you can get an idea of fuel consumption.

Also have a clear understanding about departure times and stopping for eats.

A good guesstimate of average speed is 50 mph. It don't matter if you run at 85 or 65 or 55, when you figure fuel stops etc at the end of the day that will be pretty close to your total time vs distance for the day.

Can it be done? Yes

I usually figure an average of 500 per day so that is a 10 hour day. Some days are a little longer and some a little shorter. The key is to hit the road before 8:00 am. 6:30 to 7:00 is good then you will be looking to stop somewhere around 6 in the evening.