Some good tips so far and please ignore all the gun fanboys in here , that's asking for trouble on a bike and common sense will keep you out of trouble .

 

+1 on Atlanta. There's really no good time to go through Atlanta on I-75, 85, or 20. I've been through there after midnight and the traffic still sucked.

 

As far as I am concerned, the only difference between a solo motorcycle trip and a solo cage trip is the mode of transportation. The only thing you have to remember is that you are on a motorcycle and treat the trip as such. Have a great trip and Happy New Year to you all.

 

Many road trips, mostly solo, over many years, numerous encounters with 1%ers, never had any problems or even reason to feel concerned.

 

One more thing about Atlanta; once I got south of the airport on I-75, giant parking lot, got off and thought the back roads couldn't be worse. There are almost no 4 lane roads in the suburbs, some stupid code about commercial development, and mostly stop sign intersections. First stop sign I hit had OVER a half mile line leading up to it. Didn't get any better. An accident on I-75 can stop traffic for hours. I've driven that highway many times. I would never ride a bike through Atlanta, except maybe in the very early am.

 

It was awhile since I've been on it but I also remember it being an old concrete highway. Hours on end of "thump THUMP, thump THUMP. Hitting those expansion joints.

 

Ride the coast of Florida, take A1A as much as u can. I rode it from Daytona to West Palm in a day. Great sights. Get off the damn interstates.

 

All the main roads and freeways were repaved when they had the Olympics in Atlanta. Still has some of the nicest pavement in the country. Really smooth at 12mph... Another tidbit about I-75; it's the main north-south truck route on the east coast, and even 100 miles south of Atlanta the center lane is often solid semi. Actually works out very well, they don't block the entry/exit lanes, stay out of the fast lane, and are very good about letting cars through to either side. A semi can really mess up traffic when it gets in either outside lane, and there's always a few.

 

As for camping out in state parks or other potentially deserted areas, that's a part of your plan that sounds questionable to me. You're a grown man, so you'll make your call on it. But if it was me, I'd find the dough for a cheap motel every night, someplace that had four solid walls, and a door I could lock. I'd park my bike right in front of the room (and cover it so no one knows what you got), or better yet pull my bike inside the room (get a room 'around the corner' from the office, for this).

If you 'run into' any LEOs, they will no doubt have great interest in your gun. Especially if it's concealed on your person, and/or is loaded. I would personally announce to them I was carrying, if I had any type of contact. But I've heard arguments against this. Just remember, if you don't say anything and they start to search you...as soon as they find the weapon, things are going to get very ugly for you very fast. Whether you're licensed for the carry, or not. Whether you continue to carry after the encounter is going to be at their discretion. At a minimum, they might confiscate your weapon and tell you to 'see the judge' if you want it back. Depending upon what's brought you into contact with them, having a concealed weapon--licensed or not--could create issues for you that you won't want to deal with. Especially not in a vacation situation, where you're presumably looking to unwind, and have fun.

If you act like a 'regular guy', 1%'ers should have no interest in you. (I would not frequent the same places they congregate, but that's just me. They'd probably just as soon I wasn't there, anyway). As for a chance encounter with them on the road, that's unlikely. Even if you do run across them, if you mind your own business, the chances are good you won't get any interest from them.

I'm a gun advocate, but for a trip like this, I think I might leave my guns at home, and focus more attention on staying far away from situations that have a high potential to cause me trouble. Such a strategy will eliminate 99.9999999... percent of the potential you'll be in a life-threatening situation where a gun might be needed.

It sounds like a great trip. I hope to do something similar one day. Good luck...

Alan

 

This is excellent advice.

I have not encountered any instance, in over 42 years of running solo, that a gun was a necessity. If anything, it's just one more thing to keep track of day on end.

Have fun, ride safe, enjoy.

Happy New Year.....