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Hi all,
I am writing you from QATAR, we are 12+ riders planning to do Route 66 ride in 2018. I am seeking your help to plan our trip, i would like to know the following
1) Which would be the ideal option for us, Bike rental, self guided tour or assisted tour (All are experienced Harley riders, few have been to US for vacations as well).
2) Which is the ideal starting point ? from Chicago or from Los Angeles. We were told that 90 % percent of all people ride from Chicago to L.A
3) What would be the ideal number or days without missing the major tour attractions. I was told 13 nights and 14 days will be perfect.
4) We have 2 option in mind regarding the dates.
a) starting on June 17/18 from Chicago and reaching LA on July 1/2
b) starting on Aug 22/23 from Chicago and reaching LA on Sep 4/5
on those dates, what is the maximum temperature that we may have to face? I was told that the summer is gonna be very hot but need to know how hot it will be. From where we come from, during peak time of summer it can raise upto 122 F and we think we can manage until 90 F.
We contacted some agents but as they exists to make profit, we can blindly take their words and plan accordingly.
Your help in this regard will be sincerely appreciated.
Thanks
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Hello to you too, I'm from Finland.
I did drove US Route 66 trip with my two friends (I was riding Harley Davidsson) this summer. It was my first time visiting United States . We travelled East to west from Chicago to L.A.
1. We chose to do self guided tour, and we didn't regret it. We had amazing time every day. I rented HD straigt from Eagle Rider company (Chicago) and dropped the bike back from L.A.
2.3 Our trip lasted total of 23 days. First three days we spend exploring Chicago. Next 16 days we were on the road driving Road 66 using original maps found here at the site. When ended our trip to L.A Santa Monica pier. Last four days we spend at L.A and Las Vegas. If I remember correctly, i think we had total of four days of no driving on the roadtrip at Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Albuquerque and Flagstaff (Grand Canyon).
4. We did our road trip 22.5.2017 - 7.6.2017 added days at Chicago and L.A, Max temperatures we encountered at Nevada desert, near Oatman and Kingman. Temperatures was max 114F. If you like you can check out our trip video from youtube
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Thanks mate.
Do any one can suggest how foolish it will be to have the Labor day (4th Sep) during our trip? What will be its down side?
I was told to avoid that labor day.
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Hi Muxyd,
1) I went on my honeymoon so wanted to do a self guided, we want to do the route again and would do a self guided again because we loved the freedom so much and feel more confident now. We used Eagle Rider too as it would have been the same price to have our Harley shipped over and it is an old boy 1992 Electra Glide and might not have made it.
2) We did Chicago or from Los Angeles as we wanted the better weather at the end, we traveled late August early September and needed water proofs through Illinois and Missouri on and off and can't tell you about the downpours in Oklahoma. I made my husband stop for an extra day there after seeing accidents on the interstate.
3) The ideal number or days we felt was 20 ish as there is quite a lot of riding especially if you are waiting for others, stopping as a group and so on.
4) We were told it was hotter in July but as you are used to heat it shouldn't affect you, I think there is more rain the later in the year and having traveled on almost exactly those dates in option b can say it was better for us Londoners that are used to rain but not extreme heat. It got up to 122 F / 90 F so you will be fine.
Can i add that we found the loose gravel bits of the route impossible with two of us and full top box and panniers as the back wheel slipped and slid all over the place. Also roads would stop without warning. We found the only directions in some bits led to the interstate and then we could see the old road but couldn't join it. You may be used to them but we were amazed by the strength of the crosswinds especially in New Mexico!!!
Enjoy.
