900 miles in four days to the Georgia coast

[Chris]

Just got back from a motorcycle camping trip. 900 miles in four days. Went to the Georgia coast where it is still warm. Went swimming in the ocean. Jeykll Island has a great campground and is a beautiful place.
Around town here (mostly backroads) my GZ250 gets 75mpg. But on the interstates I am so near full throttle that this cuts the mileage way down to 62mpg. With my 76mph top speed I can run 65-70mph on the interstates, but I really don't like to. Sometimes you just have to take interstates to get anywhere faster.
The motorcycle camping trip, honestly, would have been better served if I had biked down there and stayed in a motel. On the bike I could carry so little stuff. A car camping trip would have been better )my car gets 40mpg) or a motorcycle/motel trip would have been good.

Chris
Retired guy near Atlanta

[alanmcorcoran]

Appreciate the info. I've been considering a similar outing. I thought maybe he challenge of figuring out to do it efficiently might outweigh the hassle of hauling all the stuff, but at my age, camping gets old pretty quick.

My daughter worked at a place that rented rustic'y furnished places near the Central Coast beach - might be a good compromise between "Deliverance" and Motel 6.

[Chris]

Hi, Alan,
Where do you live and where are you thinking about going?
I'm glad I made my motorcycle/camping trip, but I must say it was pretty tough. Probably better to do a motorcycle/motel trip or a car/camping trip. I'm a big camper so I know what I am doing.
The riding was fine, but long for me (900 miles in four days). But you can carry so little on the bike that it makes camping difficult.

Chris near Atlanta

[Moedad]

You went 900 miles with your gear in a plastic crate bungeed to your rear seat?? Dude, you are my new hero!

Originally Posted by Chris

Just got back from a motorcycle camping trip. 900 miles in four days. Went to the Georgia coast where it is still warm. Went swimming in the ocean. Jeykll Island has a great campground and is a beautiful place.
Around town here (mostly backroads) my GZ250 gets 75mpg. But on the interstates I am so near full throttle that this cuts the mileage way down to 62mpg. With my 76mph top speed I can run 65-70mph on the interstates, but I really don't like to. Sometimes you just have to take interstates to get anywhere faster.
The motorcycle camping trip, honestly, would have been better served if I had biked down there and stayed in a motel. On the bike I could carry so little stuff. A car camping trip would have been better )my car gets 40mpg) or a motorcycle/motel trip would have been good.

Chris
Retired guy near Atlanta

[alanmcorcoran]

Chris,

Moe and I live in Southern California, where the girls all get so tan. It can still get a bit chilly at night (40ish) in the winter, but for the most part, we can ride comfortably year round. I have been on month long RV trips all over the Western states, from here to Washington and as far east as Rushmore. For my first trips I will probably head up to the Santa Barbara Area. I imagine, Tahoe, Yosemite, Napa, etc. might come after that.

I could also see a trip to the Grand Canyon area. Haven't really though too much past the Santa Barabara one.

[Chris]

Hi, Alan,
What kind of RVing do you do? I'm a big RV guy. Last year we went 25 times, this year only about 10.

Chris, retired near Atlanta

[alanmcorcoran]

Chris.

I'm not hardcore, but I do enjoy the comfort of having your house on wheels. Lots of cool gadgetry in the things as well.

In the early nineties I did two month-long trips around the West. The first went from here to Mt St. Helens to Mt Rushmore and back with lots of stops along the way. The second was more focused on Yellowstone. Both of these were in smallish pickup based RV's (Toyota body) I foret the class, but I think it was "A."

Since then I did some smaller trips in bigger (Class C?) RV's to local National forests, Malibu, Ventura and the like. After the kids went to college, haven't been out since. The big ones are better in may respects, except the gas mileage. If you mainly drive them to a nice place and park them, it's not too bad on the pocketbook.

I always rented - I don't have place to park one and I didn't want to feel obligated to use them to justify a payment or whatever.

I got into the motorcycle with the idea of trying to see if I could simplify the RV experience, go solo, more cheaply, and still enjoy it without driving a bed, bath and kitchen around. Camping is an option, but I think I'd be more of a hotel guy, or at least wsitich it up. I'm a little disappointed in the climbing power of the GZ - I'd be very reluctant to take it into the Sierras or across the Rockies, so I will probably upgrade before I try any lengthy tours. 40-50 uphill doesn't cut it. But other than that, it's ideal. I've done one day with 5 plus hours in the saddle and it wasn't that bad.