US tour, got any tips?

[Mom]

I see Mack is dragging his arse on keeping this thread up to date

You can talk! How about some descriptions to go with those pics eh? eh?

[T.I.E]

well ill be back in the us flying out of here on the 7th of june.
had enough of this place time to leave new zealand for a bit and try to take up residence somewhere else.
so MTK ill be txting ya soon dude. i hope ya havnt got into too much trouble lol.

[Mom]

well ill be back in the us flying out of here on the 7th of june.
had enough of this place time to leave new zealand for a bit and try to take up residence somewhere else.
so MTK ill be txting ya soon dude. i hope ya havnt got into too much trouble lol.

Best you get your bum down this way before you leave! I have hugs to send and give.

[Macktheknife]

It is always exciting to be riding along at 75mph and suddeny there is a loud bang and a lot of smoke around you. You realise very quickly that the hot oil spraying around your ankles is not normal, and the strange squirming sensation coming from the rear wheel is about to get well out of order.
Apparently the Kawasaki Concours reputation for being a bulletproof engine is not entirely accurate....
Thanks to a little help from my friends it wasn't long before I had a tow truck to pick up the bike and myself and deliver us to a bike shop only 40 miles away, the towie was in a good mood for charging today and made a tidy sum for his services, but at least I am not on the side of the road anymore.
Marty did a fine job of keeping me company and sorting out the options.
Stand by for photo's of course, lots to share and tell of the last 13,500 miles of american roads. Give me a couple of days to sort stuff out and I will post a heap of info and hopefully photos. For a technologically advanced country, this place is really hard to get on a computer, but all should be available soon.
Stay tuned....

[Maha]

I can just see Marty standing there chew gum and laughing with that 'evil' snigger he has...

[Hinny]

Apparently the Kawasaki Concours reputation for being a bulletproof engine is not entirely accurate....

Bad news Mack... I feel for you.

Maybe the Kawasaki's reputation for being 'Bullet proof' is a bit like the similar reputation of GunnyRob's BMW.

Shame I couldn't sell you on the Honda Pan choice before you bought the Kwacka Crappa eh?

Hope you get it sorted without too harsh a financial penalty. Good Luck.

[jafar]

Bad news Mack... I feel for you.

Maybe the Kawasaki's reputation for being 'Bullet proof' is a bit like the similar reputation of GunnyRob's BMW.

Shame I couldn't sell you on the Honda Pan choice before you bought the Kwacka Crappa eh?

Hope you get it sorted without too harsh a financial penalty. Good Luck.

So you tried to get the man on a honda aye, excellent choice imho

[Macktheknife]

I have failed to find another motor for the Connie that I can afford, so now I am sitting by the pool drinking beer, life is tough in Texas! Lol.
Marty is continuing on his merry way to California, and spent yesterday in the Gila National Park, lucky bugger.
I will see you all when I get back to NZ, with LOTS of photo's to show off to anyone interested in them.
See y'all soonish!

[Devil]

Lucky bastard!

[T.I.E]

ouch give me a txt ya bugger if ya still in the states. and california is hot hitting 37 lately.
yeah i know but when left new zealand it was 7.
i had to get myself a pool to sit in and cool off. pictures soon to come....
and if i hear anything about a beached whale ............. lol

[Macktheknife]

A brief summary of stuff for anyone ambitious enough to think about coming over here to ride, which I highly recommend by the way.
The PCH, Pacific Coast Highway, running down from Washington to California is one of the most scenic routes I have traveled, in a 'familiar but not quite' kind of way. Tight twisty winding roads with stunning coastal views, great little towns and the added bonus of incredible giant forests in Oregon and around Big Sur in California.

If you come here, you MUST go through Utah and the Canyons, one of the most impressive places on earth in my humble opinion, from mountains to deserts, and the people are not all Mormons, they even have bars in many towns! Seriously though, an amazing state for visiting, really pretty for most of the year, and apparently great skiing in Winter too.

Arizona, New Mexico and West Texas, very impressive in a hot desert kind of way, lots to see and do but pick your time carefully, high summer is not a human friendly time to be outside here! Big Bend is pretty (Tx). San Antonio is very nice, go to the Riverwalk and visit the Alamo, pretty cool. Texas is pretty bloody amazing actually, and the people here seem friendlier than most. East Texas and into Louisiana, hope you like spicy food! Incredible foods, wonderful people, bloody hot in summer! Some really cool places to visit around the South. New Orleans is a must do, prepare yourself for one of the best party places on earth when you go here! The music is amazing, the food is even better, ignore the beggars, most of them make more than you do.

Alabama, well parts of it are really nice, just take some care in small towns where people tend to look a lot alike, they know you are not from around here if you have all your teeth! Florida, big cities can be fun, but smaller ones are better, apparently there is no one living in Florida who actually comes from Florida, everyone is an import! GO TO THE KEYS!!! It is like riding through a postcard, but try to not go in high summer, seriously hot and kind of expensive, lots of toll roads. Must eat Alligator while in the South, very nice actually.

Then we come to the Carolina's.....

[Macktheknife]

Georgia into South Carolina is a pretty cool area, I found Savannah to be a place not really worth stopping in, even the cops suggested I carry on to the next town! No really, they thought I would be safer in the next town and gave me directions to Beaufort, bloody good of them really, it was a nice place!

After a quick trip through Myrtle Beach, great scenery, head inland for the hills around here, great riding and very affordable in most areas. Base yourself around Asheville for a few days, and go out riding some of the best roads in this country! The snake has 489 corners in 12 miles, the dragon we all know about, the hellbender, and others.Also there are some bloody amazing rides all around this area, just chat to the locals who will give you some good tips, best not to be too quick around the well known ones as they are heavily policed, but they studiously ignore many of the others, maybe they are short of manpower?

Camping is great in most parts of the country just shake out your footwear before putting them on (snakes and scorpions), and best not to leave food anywhere, Tupperware is your friend (Coyote, Wolf, Bear and deer).
I prefer my own bed, shower and bathroom, and of course, air conditioning! Motels can be found from about US$35 and up, quite a long way up too. Prices go up on Friday and Saturday nights, just because they can, and I suggest looking at the rooms before parting with your money, some can be a bit nasty.

Ride the Blue Ridge Parkway, slowly, the speed limit is 45mph! As much as you might like to be doing 75 (most corners can be done this way) finding the road full of deer or bear makes this a bad choice! And there are the cops.
Stay at the Motorcycle Resorts along the Parkway, seriously, don't miss this experience. No cages here, just bikes and bikers of all walks, very cool.
One in particular is worth mentioning, Stations Inn, tell them Mack sent you and check out the KB patch behind the bar (nice one Marty), the staff there are amazing.
http://stationsinn.com/ they couldn't be more helpful and if you get them in the bar in the evening many good things can come of it. Remember to compliment the Tiki bar staff, and sign it if you can.

Skyline drive is at the north end of the Parkway, also bloody stunning riding and even slower (35mph), then head off to the East again and check out the area around Washington DC, very cool. Then go up to New York or back to the west and into West Virginia, almost heaven is a true statement! So many good roads and great things to do! Rock climbing is popular, as is kayaking and rafting too, but the roads..... oh boy! Have a care though, the locals do think they own them.
Start off with US33 and local route 55 around the Seneca Rocks area, you will love this region for so many reasons. Pick any of the smaller roads in this area and go for it, bloody amazing and virtually unknown to others it seems, so many cool little spots to see and enjoy.
More to follow...

[tide]

Wow... looking forward to those pics

[Hitcher]

22 sleeps to go.

[alanzs]

I'm leaving for Lost Angeles on the 8th, then up to Lake Tahoe for some jet skiing...
Gotta get a good pastrami sandwich and some real Mexican food while I'm there.

Have a fun trip. You'll have a blast!