What Road King Q said - great advice about a shake-down ride!

You're wife will love you if you buy her an Air Hawk pillion pad for her before the ride. TRUST ME on this one!! We ride a Limited, which probably has a better touring (long rides) suspension than your SGS and my wife really likes the additional comfort of the Air Hawk. I think with the different SGS suspension yours would appreciate you thinking about her. Happy wife....Happy....you know the rest.

https://airhawk.net/product-category...rley-davidson/

 

Thanks everyone for the input we really appreciated!!!

After reviewing the map we think leave the bay to klamath falls and start heading east from there on day 2 is a great idea!!!.... we have no rush on this trip and if gets painful we'll stop and get a hotel and continue next day (we are in no rush)...

I also going to buy touring seat (thanks for the advice on the airhawk, keeping the wife happy !!!!) was thinking in getting the HD hammock seat for the ride it should help alot... me and my wife are used to riding a Ninja zx636 so we never had confort before(never long rides 30 miles or less, when 2up), the Harley is allowing us to ride together more often... no regrets on the purchase at all......

Anyone have experience with this seat? or other touring seat under $700?

We also got Sena 20s and should make the ride more fun as well...

Need to come up with a set of tools to bring (i have tools just need to figure out what is most useful on the harley)

Need to buy Paper Maps as well....

Going to look for a tank bag so I can access items while riding...

The list just keeps going....

 

If you're going to stop in Klamath Falls for the night, I would recommend staying at the Cimmarron Inn. It's a decent,clean, inexpensive motel with pretty good free WiFi. The wife and I stay there every time we venture up to Washington state.

 

For paper maps, Butler Motorcycle maps are GOOD. Keep your eyes open for these http://www.comeridewithus.net/ they will be in business's that advertise and they are free and are awesome for the areas you will be in. The Hells Canyon Motorcycle Rally is July 6th thru 10th Lots of good riding going on then in the area. Of course from Halfway you will need to do Hells Canyon to the damn and back, also a back road to Meridian that's fun. Ride out to Sumpter if you can..... it just goes on and on, some of the best riding, no traffic, back roads in the country.
As for gas, yes its in every town, But it may only be a choice between Diesel or Reg. gas (small towns) and they do close up early out there.
Basic tools should do it, don't bring to much extra weight you probably won't need. On the Come ride with us maps, will be most all the towing and motorcycle repair info for the area.
I made a plate I would bolt on my sissy luggage rack, that gave a little more support, and area to stack things.....
You are going to have some good rides..... Look for county road 20 just off Austin Jct. sweet..... Happy Trails

 

Thank you everyone for the info we really appreciated.

So we decided we are leaving the bay area and spend the night a klamath falls, and go east from there to halfway, OR.

I made a few upgrades on the bike to make it more comfortable...

-Hammock touring seat
-Passenger floorboards
-Highway pegs
-Klockwerks 8.5 flare windshield
-Luggage rack

The bike is going in for the first 1k maintenance on july 5th and on the 8th 4am we hit the road... really looking forward to this trip.

Thanks for the great advice regarding the route and comfort seat for the wife!!!

On the to do list are the following

-Pack the bag and weight it
-Go for a test ride fully loaded
-Buy paper maps

Cheers

 

I think you have most of the items ready by the looks of it. On our long trips we generally do a fill up around 150 miles and a break around 75 or 80 miles. Keeps things more refreshed. If you see something that you like, STOP and take it in. That is part of the trip.

Do you have a communication system? We have a Sena bluetooth system that allows us to talk back and forth that we enjoy. Now my wife rides her own bike until we get to our main stopping point and then ride 2 up around the area. She can be more watchful of the surroundings and catch nice little sights as we ride along and tell me about them as I may miss them depending upon the roads.

Don't push it. Enjoy it and make it enjoyable for her as well. A grumpy wife can make for a miserable trip. Another side note, take along some snacks and a drink bottle. When we stop we open a bag and munch while looking.

 

What is your primary goal? To get there as fast a route you can, or see some sights on the way? If you go up 101. To the hwy (199) that goes toward cave junction. That is an awesome ride. Nice break from riding is to tour the caves. The road out to the caves is also pretty cool. That hwy takes you back to I-5 near Medford iirc. If you go out of burns Oregon, headed east, there is no fuel for a long long ways so make sure you get fuel before you attempt. That portion. The coastal route would far prettier and cooler as well. I would have to be riding hard to get 450 miles a day. I found 300 or there abouts, just enough for a day. It is supposed to be relaxing. But that's just me. Stop and smell the roses. If you just need to get there then I-5 would be the fastest, I'd think. You can hold over the limit for a good section up until past redding. Enjoy and give us some trip reports.

 

Thanks for the advice.
Yes we do have Sena 20s and I also got a small portable battery to charge the phones and bluetooth.

 

Our goal is to have FUN and relax, another part is to not have fixed plans and go with the flow if we are enjoying the scenery we can take an extra day.

At the moment our plan is to get out of CA fast, probably take I-5 towards Klamath Falls, then from there take a more scenic route.

I'm also considering getting a rider back rest the HD one is too expensive might check around at amazon,,, if anyone have a suggestion regarding the rider backrest please let me know.... not really particular on a fancy one as I dont see me using all the time only in long long rides.

Cheers

 

Check the classifieds on here. They come up pretty frequently, and you can usually get a pretty reasonable deal. I bought mine from a member on here, and love it.