Cali-Utah-Arizona trip

[polydoc]

Hi everyone,
I don't post much here but I thought I'd share a few things. I've been working on getting my bike back into good touring form after wrecking about 8 months ago. I finally got it back and all I have left to do is install a comfort seat. Well I'm going on a ride from Ventura, CA (hour north of LA) out through vegas to St. George and on a big loop around southern and eastern/central utah and northern AZ. The ride itself is 2058 miles, over 5 days. I ride with my dad who has a 2013 Super Tenere and his patient/friend Tom who will be riding either a moto guzzi breva 1100 or bmw r1100r. So their bikes are completely toured out to the max so I'll have some fun tryin to stay comfortable riding with them.
Anyways, if anyone has read Rider magazine july 2013 issue with the cb1100 on the front there is a feature article called "Fire, Brimstone, and Waterfalls", which was a trip my dad and our 'tourmaster' Tom went on through Oregon. and Tom wrote the article and they published it just a few months later. Hopefully we'll get a good enough scenery that hasn't been written about too much so we can write another article.
Another thing I wanted to mention was that my Dad an I are using Sena SMH10 bluetooth intercom headsets that have worked Great, especially when paired to gps/iphone/etc. I'll post pics when my bike is in full touring mode (luggage,etc).'
Here is the itinerary he put together (can you tell he's retired?)

 

[Verharen]

Looks like a great ride. I hope the weather cooperates as it can get devilishly hot in some of those spots. Do you have a hydration system? Like one of those backpack water dispensers? (My friends Goop & Motogiro seem to always ride with theirs, and I've seen discussion threads on the topic on this forum).

Looking forward to more pics & details. I'll have to check out that article you mentioned too!

 

[Powerman]

I keep threatening my wife that I'm going to do this very same trip. Get going before it gets too hot.

 

[Botch]

I hope the weather cooperates as it can get devilishly hot in some of those spots. Do you have a hydration system? Like one of those backpack water dispensers? (My friends Goop & Motogiro seem to always ride with theirs, and I've seen discussion threads on the topic on this forum).

This. Even in northern Utard I often hit a restroom, soak my t-shirt in the sink, put it and my mesh back on and try to stay cool for the next 50 minutes or so of longer rides. :tard:

 

[Lefty]

That's a great route for a ride. Cali rider and I did a similar ride last June and although it was awesome and we saw some just unbelievable scenery, it was hot! I mean hot, hot. It was well over 100º (up to 115º) every day of our trip until we got back into SoCal. If you go during the summer season be prepared for a ton of rental RV's which drive like snails on a salt flat, crowds at most of the major National Parks, and I belive that there is one corner on the east side of Utah which is marked by state signage miles before it happens. All in all, it was one of the trips of a lifetime but it would have been much more enjoyable in the spring or fall. Here's link to Cali rider's ride thread..

http://www.600riders.com/forum/touring-traveling/45472-2012-arizona-utah-nevada-getaway.html

 

[xDavidx]

I just did part of this ride last week. (I rode from Colorado to San Jose and back, going through Vegas and St George). It was a really pretty ride but hot. I bought a cooling vest in Visalia CA. Well worth the money and better than soaking a T Shirt, which is what I was doing.

 

[polydoc]

Well, i'm back from the trip, It was indeed hot as hell, especially wearing ATGATT. Also, i hadn't ridden all of 100 miles in the past 8 months since going down and wrecking my bike, and just installed a yamaha "comfort" seat 2 days prior. well naturally by the end of the first day ~400 miles I felt like i had gotten ran over by a big rig, sat bare-assed on a bonfire, and had my knees broken with a bat. So i ghetto rigged a better seat set up with a " 'pro' pad" with fast pink lettering on top of a travel blanket folded up to give me about another inch to inch 1/2 of seat height which definitely helped my diseased knees. It was tough considering my dad and his friend were riding fully dressed bikes with custom seats, bars, pegs, etc. Eventually, after about half the trip my dad and i switched up and I road his Super Tenere 1200 for the first time (second bike i've ever ridden actually) and damn was that a relief. even packed with hard bags and hella luggage it was so much more comfortable. He has put about $3k of aftermarket parts on it so its about as trick as can get. Our other friend riding a moto guzzi breva 1100 had a 4 inch bill mayer seat with bar risers, highway pegs, etc, so he wasn't close to getting sore, plus he's put over 200k miles on his bikes. I've ridden a total of 10k miles. SO i think i did pretty good on my little old fz6 keepin up with them as they ride so often and on big bikes meant for cross country riding. No doubt though, my fz6 is faster and smoother than either of those bikes, my dad is even jealous of my bikes because of the smoothness of the i4. I'll try to post a link to pics from the trip as I have too many to try to shrink down. Also, if any newbies or anyone looking into a similar trip have any questions on how our bikes perform, or anything at all feel free to hit me up, i feel I got alot of experience on the bike and really noticed the benefit of the mods i've done.

https://www.facebook.com/Kerrforsure/media_set?set=a.10100908735628375.1073741835.6403568&type=3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG_Lxqpp3uY