North America Road Trip

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Caporegime
Joined
13 May 2003
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34,520
Location
Warwickshire
Hi

My brother and I are thinking about a three week tour of the U.S.A. next year, on motorbikes obviously! We're hoping to take in the main sites but also to have an 'adventure'.

I'm starting to think about planning it now.

My main questions are:

- If I have a full UK licence and he has a full Australian licence, are these enough to ride a bike in the USA?

- Does it cost a lot to hire a bike in the USA? I'm thinking we both fly to the east cost and ride to the west coast, then fly home from the west coast. I'm guessing this strategy automatically makes both flights and bikes more expensive?

- Has anyone here done such a thing?

Anything else you think would be helpful is much appreciated.
 
Don't come near Florida, roads suck. North Carolina has the best roads (Dragon's tail). I'm fairly sure you can't ride a bike on an English license, I wasn't able to when I moved here, had to do the 2 day course (Florida specific course, will vary). It will vary state to state, may be best to call up the DMV for that state (Department of motor vehicles) as they provide license.

Never heard of anyone renting a bike though, you can't even test ride a bike in a dealership here.
 
Ridingwithtom (Aussie motorvlogger) has done a couple of trips to the US and hired bikes (a hyperstrada and a multistrada) so I doubt you or your mate would have any issues hiring.
 
What type of bike are you after?

I sort of done this, and yes, as long as you have a full lic, someone will be willing to rent you a bike... Expect to pay $150 per day though and third party only insurance.

My recommendation is SoCal... and just tour California.. It has some amazing scenery, and large enough to keep you busy..... I've ridden all down to the South of France thru the Alps and i reckon SoCal still hits the top as my favorite of all places to ride... Simply put, its not as busy as Europe, so you have the twisties all to yourself, unlike the Alps, where you'll have a coach full of Dutch, hogging the road... I went full hard on on untouched tarmac, didn't see another car for ages..

Go during a weekday, so you eliminate all the weekend warriors...

I personally think coast to coast will be boring.. Soon as you get West of Nevada is when things get interesting. Yes there's some nice rides up in the Appalachians. But the roads are a little wet and there's a lot of wet leaves and so on.. Plus waaaaaaaay too many Harley's... Plus no lane splitting, so things can be frustrating waiting like a car... Whereas CA, hey just slice thru !! get to the canyons and get those smiles in !
 
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Kreeeee said:
Weird, no one's on the alpine passes when I visit on week days.
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I guess it must depend on season or not. Remember France is the most visited country in the world ! Germans, Brits, Dutch and the French themselves, all transcend to the South during the summer months. Whilst the Spaniards and Italians are heading north. Many think its a great opportunity to take the 'scenic' route thru the Alps. And who can blame them? Its stunning.

I just found that it was very very busy.. But then again, i was there in Summer. Every other lic plate was one of the above. Whereas my trip out to SoCal, soon as your out the hustle and bustle of LA, you've got endless amounts of empty canyon roads at your disposal. Never grinned so hard.
 
Don't think I'd want to do coast to coast on a bike in the US (atleast not without plenty of stops in interesting places and more than 2-3 weeks) - just doing east coast to Chicago in a car over ~3 days was like doing groundhog day on a flatter/straighter more boring version of the A303.

EDIT: Though that is one of the more boring bits apparently.

EDIT2: Think I'd second what thedoc46 said - and/or try and do something like fox I think it was and some others have done and start somewhere like southern British Columbia (Calgary or Vancouver or something) and go down through some of Cali (not sure how that would work out with hiring bikes though).
 
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thedoc46 said:
I guess it must depend on season or not. Remember France is the most visited country in the world ! Germans, Brits, Dutch and the French themselves, all transcend to the South during the summer months. Whilst the Spaniards and Italians are heading north. Many think its a great opportunity to take the 'scenic' route thru the Alps. And who can blame them? Its stunning.

I just found that it was very very busy.. But then again, i was there in Summer. Every other lic plate was one of the above. Whereas my trip out to SoCal, soon as your out the hustle and bustle of LA, you've got endless amounts of empty canyon roads at your disposal. Never grinned so hard.
Click to expand...

I live in the heart of the Alps, and as long as you avoid the weekend warrior crap-fest no one's on the roads.
 
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