Thanks for that route I've spent quite a bit of time in Florida but have never been through that part of the state. I've mainly stayed along the coast and stuck to the interstates but I like the idea of staying off the interstates as much a possible.

 

Yup bBrown18 and cHarley basically summed it up in their posts.

There's hasn't been a whole lot of construction lately on 95, but from West Palm Beach south to Homestead is usually a madhouse with traffic. That's why I avoid it. There's just way too many different types of people trying to share the same road. I think the turnpike or cHarley's route would be a better choice.

On another note, I know on a map it looks like it's just a regular 120-ish miles from Homestead to Key West, but outside of a fluke of a day, it's easily a 3 or more hour trip time-wise.



Ps/ Fantasy Fest starts on the Oct 18th. Figure I'd mention that....in case your a hedonistic party animal.

PPs/ Conch fritters, yes. Conch sandwich, hell no. Might as well have an inner-tube sandwich.

 

Just to give you another alternative, you may want to consider US 27. You can pick it up easily from I75 after crossing the alley. That's the route I usually take south to pick up Krome and through Homestead. It's a backroad through Homestead and then gas up at the Racetrack. From there you can take Card Sound Road, a short toll but nice bypass. And it will shorten your time by a little. Or just continue south. But your real challenge is trying to keep it at 35 mph in those little endless speed zones (watch your speed - lots of cops). You'll spend a lot of time shifting between 2nd & 3rd. Leave early and enjoy.

 

My best mod was switching to Harley takeoff Airshocks (05 1200). I followed instructions I found here or online. It is not that hard, I did it in a California hotel parking lot.

Second best mod, K&N hi-perf reusable element for stock air cleaner. Stock exhaust(new take offs) +15mph top speed, prob not required 2up.

Get more oil company gas cards, someone from southeast will have to tell you which. If you use a Visa,MC, AMex they put a hold for every pump transaction for $125 and it can last up to a week. That adds up fast on a 3 gallon sporty tank on a 1000 mile day.

Ok, use cash- two trips in/out - make sure you tell the clerk fill-up with premium. Some companies require clerk to select grade on cash sale.

Check your motor mounts, I lost the top right front one on the head, replaced with grade 8 bolt from Lowes, found bolt size on Ronnie's. Buy stuff from Ronnie. Downside- reading troll posts from douche bags to buy the service manual. It's 7:05am, I'm 2000 miles from home and I need one torque setting.....

Get an IPad with Verizon 3G ( or whatever). I've been from LA to cape Breton and have AT&T and Verizon. The only place where AT&T has better service is at my aunt's farm in central IL , not on your route - unless you are using AT&T GPS.

Get ready to charge your phone/iPad from the bike. Put a trickle charger pigtail on the battery, buy the gadget that plugs into the pigtail to give you a lighter socket. I don't use it while riding but I have used it to get more phone time roadside in the desert. Taken to the extreme buy a Lenovo laptop that works with their car charger adapter- Harley rest stop office, yes officer I need to have the bike within 6 feet of the picnic table.

Put weight up front and low, I have a tool bag mounted where a chin spoiler would go. Keep the headlight tool bag off the front fender- make it sprung weight. In addition to tools, I now pack a couple spare tail light bulbs. I now take a tool that can tighten everything I can see/reach. Yes, even that spline nut by the spark plugs.

I keep the Karma score high. I stop for everyone, old doper in the desert and LA patched 1%.

If when riding along you hear swearing coming from a helmet behind you you might be overdue for a potty break or a nice meal with refreshing adult beverages.

Have fun

 

pain meds, wind shield/screen, sour candy, credit cards, rain gear, music, !!!!!!!earplugs!!!!!!!....

made a monster ride from MD to dayton and back in march of this year... wished for rain gear and ear plugs... did the oil and primary fluid swap before and after. there's hd dealer's all along 95. i got ear plugs at one and did some emergency minor annoyance maintenance at another (battery cover clap broke... kept falling down...)

good luck, take pics to share.

 

2,800 miles is more that I would ever consider going 2-up on a Sportster, but I'm sure there are people that do it and enjoy it.

I don't know where you'll fit everything, but be sure to bring proper clothes for the elements, especially rain. Fall will be here soon too, which means cooler mornings.

 

Don't forget to keep hydrated. It'll still be quite hot and humid there.

Take your time. The traffic in S Florida, no matter which route you take can be a nightmare. All times of the day. When you're in traffic you'll want to plan your rests by time and not necessarily by distance. With two-up ever couple of hours to stretch a little will help a lot.

Do you have an intercom system? All that time in the saddle might make to time go easier if the two of you can talk to each other.

 

Thanks to everyone who has replied. Lots of good ideas and good things to consider. I especially appreciate the info on the the S Florida traffic and alternate routes. I really wasn't looking forward to going through Miami on the interstate.

 

The wife and I went from Fort Worth to Florida last year. We had the windshield and seat covered. We also did it in 3 days. We were sore for a little while each day but little walking and we were good to go again.

Having said that, the first week of October we are going to Vegas on the sportster and are going to be trying a couple new things to try and make it more comfortable.

We got AirHawk cushions to go over the Mustang seats. Even though the Mustang seat is nice about 5 hours and it starts burning for us. While its not near bad enough to make us stop its not the most pleasant. Hopefully this will add a couple more comfortable hours.

I bought the wife some (ugly as hell) swing wing pegs. This will give her some highway pegs and should help alot. At least my highway pegs help alot.

I also mounted a couple MSR fuel bottles for this trip. Going to Vegas there are some pretty long stretches that if I missed a gas station or 2 there wont be another one within range.

 

I like a throttle rocker for long trips, take some pressure off the rist. Highwaay pegs allow for change in foot position. I put mini floorbords on in place of pegs for my wife.