I'm looking advice. I am planning a coast to coast ride before the snow arrives. Bucket list item includes riding Route 66 and the blue ridge from NY to CA. Going to take my time and enjoying the ride. With money very tight, should I get a trade in for and old Trike, get a trailer for camping stuff or keep road king and use hotels and motels along the way. How many more riding hours and how much extra comfort and trailering ability is there between a older Trike vs a newer road king and a trailer for my road king?

 

I've never ridden a trike, or had a trailer on a bike. To me seems cumbersome, and would lose out on some of the experience. I will say, seems like when poor weather is out, I see more trikes than two wheelers. Those guys are more diehard, or just coincidence, I don't know. Every triker I've come across has no regrets about his ride.

The longest I spent on the road has been for 40 day stretches. Would have done longer, 30 days is longest USPS will hold mail. I was happy doing hotels. For me, riding is freedom, and seems "being chained to a trailer" is almost a metaphor of what I'm trying to get away from. Whatever way you go, shipping will be cheaper. As you stated, you loose on some great riding if you did that.

Me, I'd rather put the 4,000 to 10,000 miles on my current bike, instead of a new bike. Although, this is probably the best time of year to sell. Check craigslist, KBB and NADA for what bikes like yours go for in current area vs destination. I would imagine will be at least 6 months to a year, before the dealers do much discounting on the Rushmores.

AZ has lots of great riding, even just to go watch the prettiest sunsets in the states. Are you moving to the Sun City area? If so, making a run out to Wickenburg, Yarnell or Carefree highway is a nice way to spend a few hours. Prescott is a fun way to ride a half day, or even stretch it out for the day.

 

John,have you thought about converting your King to a trike.Kit's are not that expensive to convert,over the price of a factory trike.

 

Fellow 66 year old here! Glad to hear you survived the experience and came out fighting to carry on riding. I can't comment on trikes, other than to say I will avoid them for as long as I can. An alternative is a sidecar outfit, which I suspect is an even more difficult riding habit to acquire!

There are other possibilities you can consider, such as outrigger wheels, some of which are retractable while moving, but hold the bike up while stationary. Much cheaper and easier to deal with than a trike. Try calling on websites aimed at injured vets, as there are some very imaginative solutions out there, which include those outriggers. They may be intended for disabled riders, but that doesn't prevent us aging able-bodied riders from benefitting as well!

Of your suggestions, a trailer will be simplest to use IMHO. Just need to get it painted to match the bike.....

 

I will be 66 in Oct. I have an '09 ultra and I pull a trailer that I have customized to carry mo dog but have loaded it with camping gear and a lot of other stuff. If the issue is that you are having a hard time holding up your bike then maybe a trike is the way to go(check out the trike and trailer sections of this forum) but that doesn't seem to be the issue. My trailer pulls very easy as long as I load it with a little more weight in the front ( you need a little tongue weight just like any trailer), it does take a little more to get it started and stopped but with a little practice you can do it.
If you get down to the Phoenix Az area shoot me a PM and I will give you some ideas of good roads and be proud to ride with you.

 

I mainly wanted to voice my support. Kudos for doing this. My opinions are . Never pulled a trailer... but want one in the future. never rode a trike.

Have camped a lot. Research prices. many of the campgrounds will charge you 20, 30, more?? for your bike and trailer. Were 7 to close to 30 when I used to camp a lot in the 90s. The $7 sites were state parks or bare minimum.

We recently paid over 30 with tax to sleep in our suv. Pools, laundry rooms, showers are all there, but to me this is a big factor toward room or not. Depends on your pref of hotel. Friend of mine gets the cheapest hotels he can find, he says usually below 40, and uses his sleeping bag on top of the bed.

Lot of hotels out there for 80ish range often with some breakfast... maybe closer to 100 in high tourist areas.

happy trails!!

 

I've had and hauled a trailer belong my bike. Recently sold it.

I found it fatiguing and somewhat unpleasant hauling the trailer. It reflects noise back at you. If you've loud pipes, it's noisy. The weight and wind load make the bike work harder, increasing the noise. Trailers make plent of noise on their own. Maneuvering is not fun, especially if you need to back up. You tend to over pack with a trailer because you can.

 

Gonna do a NC to CA trip with a couple buddies end of summer myself. We've decided to use cheap hotels for clean rooms and free breakfasts.

I haven't ridden a trike, but a trailer might be inconvenient at times.

 

I have a small trailer I pull when the wife travels with me. It gives me a lot more room for luggage. Here's a link for the trailer I have.
http://piggybacker.com/Piggybacker/P...o_Trailer.html

 

I just can't imagine pulling a trailer or riding a trike. I suppose if I was physically unable to ride then a trike could be a final option.

Cheap hotels/Some camping. Get familiar with looking for deals via internet, select mom/pop sort of places and concentrate one the ones a ways out from the main tourist areas. I'd think you should be able to get your total average daily expenses less than $100 including all gas/food/lodging.
Keep the camping gear to a bare minimum and pick and choose campsites in cooler climates.

Advrider.com is the best source around for riding long trips. Tremendous amount of info and ride reports. The have sections for each area of the USoA and every country in the world.

Lastly post up a route and do a trip report, both here and the aforementioned site, and you might be surprised and how many brothers offer you a place for the night.