Even when I was a little kid and my mom and dad would take us down the Blue Ridge Parkway I always though of someday how I would love to walk or ride a motorcycle across it and back. Skyline Drive and the Parkway equal about 400+ miles in length if I remember right with top speed being 45 mph.
I'm sure someone here has done it probably several times in the past few years.

My question is would a Sportster be a good choice for this adventure ?

 

Isn't a Sportster a good choice for *any* adventure?

 

I don't know about that particular route but I just got back from doing a 400 mile ride through Yosemite with a group of guys I made friends with on You Tube. I had to make some changes on my bike that I usually only use for commuting to work ie; throw over saddle bags, 2 up HD Sun Downer seat, ( for comfort ) and a wind shield. I'm running a 4.5 gal tank from a custom on my 72, ( instead of the 2.1 gal tank ) with a 2" lift. I ranged around 120 miles before the gas light came on. It took four gas stops getting around 2.75 gals each time the last stop was when I got home. If you're interested check out my ride videos on my You Tube channel ( search Robert Robb )
I say go for it just make sure you've got your gas stops planned out

 

Hey I just did a trip yesterday through West Virginia and went about 400 miles. Most of this was at 55mph but there was a good bit also around 30mph. I spent most of the day riding. I have a 2015 Iron and I have a mustang wide solo seat with backrest (I highly recommend this seat btw) and forward controls and I had no problem at all. I did not carry anything extra and I do not have bags or luggage of any kind at the moment. Usually I take a 5-10 minute break at every gas stop to stretch and rehydrate which is usually around every 80-100 miles.


I was actually thinking of doing a Skyline/Blue Ridge Parkway trip next weekend but I'm not really sure how far I'll go as I need to get back before the end of the day. I just bought a windshield off of a forum member so I hope it will help with some fatigue.


In my opinion the Sportster is perfectly fine for this kind of trip especially if you have an aftermarket seat. I used to do 300-400 mile trips on my 2009 ZX6R before I wrecked it. In the end its about how you'll hold up. Maybe ease your way into it by starting with a 200 mile trip and go further every time; its all up to you. I'm going to try a much longer trip myself after I figure out a good way to hold supplies/items.


By the way if you want to go riding some time let me know. I live in Northern Virginia but I go way out into West Virginia frequently.

 

Sounds like a fun ride on the Sporty!

 

Did 8000 miles around the country on my sportster last summer. I did the blue ridge parkway then, and I've done skyline drive a dozen times as well. The sportster will be just fine. If anything it'll be better than any big bike when you get into the twisty areas like skyline drive.

 

What did you use to carry supplies? I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about this...Sissy bar bag? Luggage rack? Saddlebags??? Any recommendations as far as setup? Perhaps this could also help the OP if he wants to do a longer trip. Although I don't think I would be doing 8,000 miles any time soon, I definitely see myself doing 2-3k miles. Thanks!

 

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/sport...al-thread.html

Give that a read through, I'm pretty sure I said what we brought at the beginning and I rated everything we brought on one of the last pages of the thread.

 

Thanks!!! This is exactly what I was looking for!

 

Yeah, 'bigmant's' thread kept me going last spring/summer when I was down with a broken foot. Great ride thread!