1,600 Miles in 4 Days on a 171cc Scooter

[dangdawg]

I had decided not to post a ride report about this ride, but I changed my mind. I am 54 years old and could care less about being accepted or praised. At the same time I thank you for reading this and am grateful to have a forum like this one to be a part of.

You hear a lot of opinions about minimum engine displacement and bike size and weight. “I wouldn’t go on the freeway with anything less than 800 to 1000cc’s” is the kind of stuff you hear all the time. While it is not my intent to show anybody up or make a differing opinion wrong, I do think it is important to demonstrate that sometimes more can be done with less.

I don’t consider what I did to be a stunt or daredevilish in any way; I planned and prepared this trip for months. The ride came about from the want for an adventure, and the desire to see flat grasslands or in other words, the Great Plains. I lived in Kansas for a couple of years when I was a kid and I liked the grasslands, but I know some people (like my wife) could care less.

I first got this idea when I saw the Kiowa National Grasslands on a map of New Mexico. I did an internet search and one thing led to another. I had initially intended to camp as much as possible along the way. I also initially intended to go as far into Kansas as I could make it. In the end, I didn’t quite make it to Kansas, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

I live in Tucson so some of the considerations for the trip were: vastly varying temperatures, hills and mountains, springtime winds, distances between gas stations, etc. In the end I deemed the camping gear to be too bulky and heavy and opted for motels. I wanted to ride on the most rural paved roads I could find so I had to plan my gas station stops carefully. I relied heavily on my Garmin nuvi 500 GPS and don’t think I could have routed myself down some of the rural roads I went on without it.

Now before we go on, I know some of you are at the point where you want to pass judgment and decide if I am irresponsible or not. In other words, some of you want to know what kind of safety net I had for this trip. The quick and simple answer is not much. A cell phone, some basic tools, small multi meter, tire repair kit (mushroom head plugs w/ CO2 canisters), and total confidence in the ability of the SYM HD200 to pull off the job.


Sunday April 19, 2009

Tucson AZ to Socorro NM via Hwy 77, US60

Pic of odometer before leaving. I have found that my odometer reading is somewhere around 9/10th of a mile.



One of the highlights of the trip happened on day one. I was riding on hwy US60 around Seneca AZ going up a steep hill WOT and my speed had fallen to the low 50’s and I am crouched down for less wind drag. I rise up every 30 to 45 seconds to look in my mirror to see if a car is coming up behind me. All of the sudden and without warning 4 super sport motorcycles fly past me at probably 90 to 100 mph, motors screaming at over 10,000 rpm. It scared the living crap out of me, I had just looked back and there was nobody there. Just when my heart rate had returned to somewhat normal, a guy in a SUV comes over a hill the opposite direction and starts to flash his headlights franticly at me. Knowing that signal usually indicates a cop ahead, I acknowledge his signal. Over the hill and around the turn the 4 zooming motorcyclist were pulled over on the side of the road by a highway patrolman. Ouch, boy you sure hate to see that happen don’t you? LOL





Looking south at the Very Large Array.



Looking north at the Very Large Array.



Day one stats: 392 miles



I reluctantly share this pic. It is of my crappy motel room. Notice the right leg on the table. The condition of the rest of the room is probably worse. As a mater of fact, it is even too disgusting to show a dawg.



To be continued…

[wf1761]

This is a good story, I surly would like to do something like that, because I like adventure also. Post more pics. I wonder if this is possible on my Bali 150. I'll have to check it out. A Bone for you.

[harrywr2]

Apr 25, 2009 16:06:56 GMT -5 wf1761 said:

This is a good story, I surly would like to do something like that, because I like adventure also. Post more pics. I wonder if this is possible on my Bali 150. I'll have to check it out. A Bone for you.

Why not? 400 miles a day might be a bit aggressive on a 150cc air cooled motor...so shorten it to 250 or 300 miles a day...and take routes with limited traffic where pulling over and letting people pass is an option.


dangdawg,

Please continue with your adventure!!!

[kliff]

Sounds like a good "warm up" for the CannonBall next summer, huh Harry?

Whatcha doing sometime between May and June in 2010 WF? Hmmmmmm, wanna shoot for about 3400 miles in 10 days?

PS: have a bone, and keep on keepin' on.

[harrywr2]

Apr 25, 2009 17:42:44 GMT -5 @kliff said:

Sounds like a good "warm up" for the CannonBall next summer, huh Harry?

It does...I've got a 260 mile day trip planned thru Mt Ranier National Park and a 240 Mile Trip thru the Snoqualmie Forest. There is just so much stuff to see if one just gets off the interstate.

[dangdawg]

Monday April 20, 2009

Socorro NM to Clayton NM via Hwy 380, 54, US 60, 252, 209, US54, 402

I’m back on the road in spite of thinking of going home last night. My already aching back is screaming in agony after about 5 or 6 hours, but a little rest and a couple of Excedrin back and body and I feel a lot better.

Also like most of yesterday, the temperature is a little cooler than what I would like it to be. A cold front had moved through a few days earlier. In spite of the coolness, the mornings are providing the best riding.

They sure can make some long straight roads in New Mexico. This is Hwy 380. A few miles ahead I was delayed for about 10 minutes due to road construction. New Mexico would delay me with road construction a few more times.



At a gas stop the first stranger of the trip comes up and starts talking about the scoot. He asks the usual questions, how fast does it go and how many miles per gallon do you get?

I really used the GPS this day. I probably spent as much a 200 miles today riding on roads where few other vehicles are seen. The next two pics are examples of that. Had I broken down on either of those roads it might have been hours if not days before someone would come along.





As I got more into the grasslands I started seeing more and more cattle. They didn’t seem to mind the sound of the cars, but the scooter seemed to get all of their attention. The calves would actually get spooked and run away when I went by. The poor girl in the next pic was beside herself. The heard was off to the left where she is looking, but she would look over at me and then back at the heard. It was funny.



I think it was about 5:30 when I got into Clayton. I went to the motel I had selected from the GPS. After looking at the room before renting it, I rejected it and went to another motel just like the last motel only it cost a little more money. I was tired and took the room anyway. Fortunately for you, I didn’t get a pic of the room. After I get the room a guy also staying at the motel comes over and starts talking to me about the scooter. He says he and his brother both have Harleys and had been talking about getting scooters because of their economy. After our conversation I go off to my room. A minute later the same guy brings my gloves to me. Said I had dropped them. I thanked him very much.

After getting into my room and taking a second dose of Excedrin B&B I decide that my back (which was a problem before I left on this trip) was going prevent me from having too much fun and I decided to head home tomorrow. I had already come 803 miles and had wanted to make it to Kansas if I could, but at the same time I had seen what I mostly wanted to see; the Kiowa National Grassland. I can see another section tomorrow on my way back home. The problem is that if I go that way it will lead me right onto the Interstate.

To be continued…

[jim63]

dangdawg ride reports are not always about tooting your own horn, and you should continue your reports. Stuff like this can inspire others to use there scooters for other things than just putting around the city or the local shops. It proves they can be used as touring machines with proper planning and due diligence. And it showcases the durability of your SYM HD200, a fine scooter for longer rides. Look forward to the next post on your story. Good luck on your journey, hope your back gets better so you can enjoy it more.

[dangdawg]

Thanks for all the nice comments and the bones. I am working on getting the report finished ASAP. Maybe later today or early tomorrow I can get it finished.

Cannonball….LMAO

The young man that won last year was 25 to 30 years younger than me. Also he had a custom auxiliary gas tank. I stopped 20 times for gas and probably stopped 30 times for non gas purposes. Unfortunately, I’m afraid my cannonball days are over with.

Then again maybe if I got one of those gel seat pads…..

[kliff]

Yeah..... but a SYM 200 took first in class (190 Auto) last year.

I'm planning on going, on a 150....., I'll be 57yrs old by then, I've already had 4 bypasses, and back surgery...the back needs doing again, at least it'll keep me from falling asleep....

More gas, doable, TourTank.com

Oh yeah, besides we'retrying to put on a team effort here...
scootdawg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=talk&action=display&thread=22203

;D

[dangdawg]

Tuesday April 21, 2009

Clayton NM to Socorro NM via Hwy 56, 39, 120, I25, 285, I40, 41, US60, I25

As you can see from the highway list above, there are some interstate highways listed. With two exceptions, I have let the GPS navigate home via the quickest route. The exceptions are a waypoint in Mills NM which is in the Kiowa National Grassland west section (so I can see the grasslands) and a waypoint in Moriarty NM to route me around Albuquerque. The I40 shouldn’t be on the list, but I’m getting ahead of myself again.

This is Hwy 56/412 heading west out of Clayton NM and is designated as the Santa Fe Trail. I have a strong fascination for the immigrant wagon trails and the people who traveled them.





Snow capped mountains in the distance.



Kiowa National Grasslands







The crossing of the Canadian river on hwy 120 was beautiful but mainly due to poor sun position, I didn’t get a picture.

The next portion of the journey takes me onto the interstate. Riding on the interstates are not always the most enjoyable riding, but out west it is sometimes almost mandatory. As part of my training for this trip, I had ridden sections on the interstate before and feel comfortable with it. Under almost all circumstances I can maintain 65 mph (GPS indicated) on the interstate.

Interstate 25 south from Wagon Mound NM is not very heavily traveled and is both beautiful and enjoyable to ride on. By the time I got to Las Vegas NM I was getting hungry so I decided to stop at 11 in the morning for a hamburger. Now I haven’t really talked about what I’ve eaten because I really haven’t been eating all that much, but at the same time I wasn’t really going hungry. My doctor had told me I probably could stand to loose a couple of pounds so this trip was intended to be a means to loose a few anyway.

After gassing up in Santa Fe I had to backtrack a few miles to hwy 285 south. Shortly there after is where I missed my turn to get on hwy 41 and remain on hwy 285 which is under construction and is actually without pavement for a couple of miles, plus the 15 minute wait for the pilot car to lead you down the gravel road.

If that weren’t irritating enough, I now have to get on I40 for 20 to 30 miles. That is where an 18 wheeler threw up a small rock into my face shield just to the left of my left eye which left a very small but permanent mark on the shield. At least I had eye protection otherwise I might only have sight in one eye now.

It was intermittently windy the rest of the day and bothersome at times. I stayed at the Motel 6 in Socorro. I had seen it on my way out of town the day before. It was a newer motel and was in good condition unlike my two previous rooms; however they were having a prescribed burn in the mountains west of Socorro and all the smoke was blowing over the town making the air quality very poor.


Wednesday April 22, 2009

I got an early start because I wanted to get home as early as possible. I took hwy 1 instead of I25 and boy was that the right choice. Hwy 1 closely follows I25 in spots but was virtually deserted and was a fantastic ride. It goes about 40 miles or so. It was on that road when I remembered I had forgotten to reset my GPS from yesterdays ride. Without thinking out the situation and checking my notes, I decided to reset the GPS and estimate how far I had ridden that morning. Fifteen to twenty is what I came up with. The point being that I don’t have an exact number of miles ridden coming home.

This pic is from hwy1 with I25 being that bridge in the distance.



The scenery is starting to look more and more like home. This pic is just off hwy 26.



I got gas in Deming NM. As I’m getting ready to leave a guy comes over to talk about the scooter. He said he had just got back from Europe and said there are scooters all over the place over there. He asked the usual questions; how fast does it go and how many miles per gallon. He wished me a safe ride.

The last 200 mile leg of the journey is on interstate 10. It was windy off and on most of the way. Luckily high clouds were blocking the sun because it was starting to get warm. Most of the trip I spent being cool if not cold. I started to shed layers until the last 60 to 80 miles I was down to my shirt sleeves and had to put on the SPF 50 sun block.

I got back to Tucson about 2:30 in the afternoon. The temperatures were in the mid 90’s.

It was a grueling ride at times and I drove on stretches of roads that weren’t too much fun, but all in all I would have to say I had a blast!

Got Bugs?



The scooter performed flawlessly and never missed a beat. I had made 20 gas stops. Three times I only bought about .6 gallons, but wanted to be safe rather than sorry. The longest stretch without buying gas was 125 miles. The scoot averaged 72.2 mpg on the trip and I spent $48.20 on gas. If you do the math on the odometer readings the sum is 1552 miles which compared to my GPS miles are low. As explained earlier in the report, I have to estimate my GPS mileage and that number is 1588 miles.



So consider yourself inspired. Exercise your due diligence and plan a ride and go out there and ride that scooter and take some pictures along the way and then come back and write a report about your ride and post it here in this here forum. Oh, and thanks for reading this report.

[dangdawg]

Epilogue

I was wondering if I could come up with some kind of wisdom based on the long ride I took and the answer is probably not. Obviously I understand the desire to go on epic rides. Not only does the Cannonball sound like fun, Alaska is also calling me.

Here are a few observations I made on my ride. None of them are revelations.

The seating position of the traditional step through scooter like the HD200 is not comfortable for long rides. I need to come up with some kind of highway pegs.

Wind greatly contributes to a grueling ride. I spent much of my windy travel crouched down to streamline my profile. I was going to purchase a windscreen from my local B&M scooter store, but when the store got them in they were scratched and I didn’t want to buy a scratched up windshield.

I was overly cautious about buying gas frequently. I had done some research prior to leaving by GPS and internet searches and I found gas in small towns where I didn’t think there would be any.

In the end, I brought stuff with me that I never used: cloths, equipment, etc. If it isn’t absolutely positively necessary, don’t bring it.

After installing my sleeping bag as a lumbar support, I thought I could get away without a gel seat cushion. I was wrong. I never got monkey butt; however it sure was sore after a couple of hours of riding. Get the gel cushion AND use something to support your lower back.

I was one of those people who resisted taking the GPS plunge. If you are going to go on long rides or rides to places were you have never been my recommendation is take the GPS plunge.

[owenbrau]

I'd love to take a few days and explore the backroads across the state. A long time ago, I took a long weekend trip from Philly to Bangor, Maine, on a CB550 witha friend of mine.

[blackc]

Sounds like a great ride. On long rides you have to expect the unexpected but that always seem to work out OK.

Before I set out on my cross country ride last year I invested in an AirK Hawk Seat Cushion. They're a little pricey but worth every penny. At the end of a long day you were as comfortable as when you started.

I'm considerable older than you and couldn't have done the trip I did without it. They're adjustable and you can make them as soft or hard as you like.

Cheers
blackc

[pensacolascoot]

I especially enjoyed your pictures of the western highways. I am planning a trip from Florida to the Mississippi River for driving on the levees and through the river cities. Google Maps is estimating 1,052.

I was excited to hear that the SYM HD200 is so reliable as that is what I have...right down to the silver paint job. Mine is just reaching 2,000 miles.

I am planning 250 mile rides each day and ending with the 300 miler.

The roads in Mississippi can be empty, but we have plenty of tree shade in the summer.

Thanks for the tip about the GPS. I am a good navigator, but I catch your point.

Natchez Trace Parkway (Wait for the Images to load on this link):
maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=Natchez+Trace+Pkwy&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=51.754532,84.023438&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FUSmAwIdsNOx-g&split=0&layer=c&cbll=31.556246,-91.3408&panoid=7Zdt6_vdbpK-JgRQEkd8Pw&cbp=12,228.19,,0,23.83&ll=31.556246,-91.3408&spn=0.878822,1.312866&z=10&iwloc=A

[dangdawg]

Blackc

Thanks for the tip on the AirHawk cushion. That was one of the brands that I looked at. Will definitely get one before anymore long rides.

pensacolascoot

the Natchez Trace Parkway looks really nice. I wish I was going too. I love the corridor of trees. Good luck and have fun and take some pics.


I see this thread is still popular. Sorry it took so long to respond.

[scootin4lyfe]

I really enjoyed reading that. Thank you for sharing your trip with us.

[hangbelly]

I really get inspired reading ride reports like this. It's getting me worked up to take my road trips this summer. As far as your scooter being too small/slow for a trip like this, there's a young lady who has ridden all the way around the U.S. on a Genuine Buddy 125 (google Peace scooter), and a guy who went all the way across country on a 50cc Honda scooter. Hope you had a great time, and thanks for sharing.

[skootz]

Incredible trip dangdog! I am impressed with your scooter performance too, but biased of course!
We share your thoughts about not needing (or wanting) HUGE displacement bikes.
We have 2 SYM HD 125cc's and logged 336 miles this weekend just touring around the North Georgia Mountains
We WOULD take these scooters ANYWHERE in state or out of state.
Thank you for posting this. Your photos are EXCELLENT!

[shalomdawg]

howdy, and a tip of the old hatlo hat to ya--people look kinda crosseyed at me when i mention taking my hd200 anywhere i want ---freeway and all

lotsa miles and smiles to ya
ken

[pensacolascoot]

I found the following mat at the Pensacola, Florida Flea Market. There is a vendor there with about 60 bins of things. This was a bath mat for sale. I looked at it and it feels like gel and if you double it over, then you have the gel-like cushion and air pockets to provide comfort. Even in this hot weather of 101 degrees I don't find myself sitting on a blowtorch as I did before. I rode the HD200 yesterday in the heat for 2 hours with no complaints.

Price of mat: $5.00

You'll find other motorcycle seat mats selling in the $50 range.

--Bill

[dangdawg]

Great find Bill. Looks comfortable and it was inexpensive too. I will check it out if I come across one.

Sorry about the slow response. My wife had to have surgery and I have been taking care of her.

Here are a couple of re-cropped Vary Large Array photos I can share.

I have driven by the VLA three times before, but an antenna has never been this close to the highway before. I could tell from several miles away that I was going to have a “money shot” on my hands; an antenna was only a couple of hundred feet from the road. They move the antenna on railroad tracks which must be a tenuous and tedious process to say the least; these things are HUGE!

And to think they went to the trouble of making an array of all those antennas just so they wouldn’t loose their HBO signal to rain fade. And they live in the desert too. Receiving uninterrupted HBO must be really important to them for some odd reason. LOL

[greg]

thanks for the trip report! a great read.

[harrywr2]

Nice shot.

[jimsahm]

Very much enjoyed reading this... thanks for sharing... Jim

[Jake aka: Ventoscoot]

You have fully inspired me to take a trip from Salt Lake to Lava Hotsprings in southern Idaho were my retired folks live. Not as long, about 180 miles one way, but still epic in my book. Wow, now for the planning.

[trev0006]

wow, good find, I am getting this for sure.

Jun 23, 2009 12:28:12 GMT -5 pensacolascoot said:

I found the following mat at the Pensacola, Florida Flea Market. There is a vendor there with about 60 bins of things. This was a bath mat for sale. I looked at it and it feels like gel and if you double it over tires, then you have the gel-like cushion and air pockets to provide comfort. Even in this hot weather of 101 degrees I don't find myself sitting on a blowtorch as I did before. I rode the HD200 cars yesterday in the heat for 2 hours with no complaints.

Price of mat: $5.00

You'll find other motorcycle seat mats selling in the $50 range.

--Bill

[wf1761]

I really loved reading about your trip. I'd like to do something like that myself.