Daytona Bike Week 2020 meetup and post-event riding and skrew it I’m riding home

Can someone meet me at the Maryland border on Rt81 and ride my bike the last couple hundred miles home??

It isn’t warming up like they said. 48F windchill 46F but bad headwind and gusts at 80MPH makes it feel like 40F.

putting my last windbreaker on now.

Hand warmers aren’t helping much & Walmart in NC didn’t have any winter gloves.
Sure wish I had heated grips!!!!!

Guess I should have stayed in Florida another week.

Enough sissy yapping, let’s do this!
 
Rockets aren't exactly luxury motorcycles so I owe comfortable long distance Rocket cruising to:

1. MP3 Player (iPod for me) loaded with 2,500 songs of various genres. You need a good variety of tunes for long trips.
2. High fidelity Music Ear Plugs - Etymotic ER4XR Etymotic Research | Earphones Exceptional accuracy and clarity.
These work well at blocking wind noise even without music as they have 3 levels of flanges and that also allows them to fit comfortably.
3. Airhawk Air Mattress Homepage | Airhawk Much softer ride and fewer jarring incidents.
4. I like my new LS2 Valiant Modular Helmet. It is full face but the chin piece flips all the way back creating a 3/4 helmet and has flip down sunglasses.
LS2 HELMETS Not the lightest or quietist but the duel purpose feature is great.
5. Ergonomic rubber coated grips. I use Kuryakyns Premium ISO®-Grips | Grips | Handlebar Controls, Grips & Mirrors | Kuryakyn
6. Throttle rockers - for both hands. I have cheap velcro ones on the old bike but really like the Kuryakyn Throttle Bosses on the new one.
Contoured ISO®-Throttle Boss™ | Grip Accessories | Handlebar Controls, Grips & Mirrors | Kuryakyn No more death grip finger fatigue.
7. Cruise control - I use a throttlemeister on the old one but they are out of business it appears.
The new one has GoCruise 2 Go Cruise Universal Throttle Control Device | Black | TwistedThrottle.com It works but looks wierd.
8. Backrest - my top case has a gel rest but I roll up a jacket for lower lumbar support.
9. I can lie on my tank or tank bag and put my heels on the rear foot pegs to take the strain off the back in the wind or just to have another riding position if bored.
10. I put my heels on the front pegs but others would benefit from extra foot pegs to stretch the legs.

So that's 3 riding positions. Switch them up too and do stretches to keep from getting stiff from sitting in one position.

11. Shocks of course. I have Hagon Nitros on the old one and Progressive 440's on the new one for now. 11.5" = 1" lowered plus 1/2" with tire = 1.5" drop.
12. Front dropped 1.5" via tire, trimmed fork spacer and dropping triple tree over forks.
11 and 12 make the bike easier to mount, move around and improve cornering for height challenged folks.
13. Fronk fork springs. I went with Wilber Progressives. Improved comfort, stability and cornering confidence.
14. LED Headlights. I usually don't ride much at night but when I do it's nice to see better.
15. Smartphone with GPS, maps and Hotels.com - less stress knowing that you can find a reasonably priced hotel on the road without having to plan too far ahead. Ride as much or little as you want and search for a place to stay up to 1 minute before you're ready to stop.

The wind has really beat me up on the last few trips and the little windscreen is useless above 60MPH so a large windshield or fairing
would help.

Stay hydrated. Wear comfortable clothing etc...
 
Last edited:
The deed is done. 175 miles to finish the 55 day 8,400 Mile trip.

Notable rides:
Small sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway
The Snake, Foothills Parkway, Dragon's Tail, Cherohala Skyway, Natchez Trace Parkway, The Ozello Trail,
St Augustine to Flagler Florida A1A, The Daytona Loop, Ocala National Forest, Green Swamp Tour - Northeast of Tampa
Cedar Key, Pine Island, Daytona Bike Week

floridarides2020plus departure d55.jpg
 
Last edited:
With the Covid-19 you have lived to tell the tale too!
So far, so good. It will be a few weeks before I know for sure I eluded the deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus.

I'm in the high risk category but refuse to live in fear. I did my best to avoid any human contact by staying mainly on rural roads, avoiding cities or not stopping in busy areas and followed CDC guidelines when I had to stop.

My route was through counties with low confirmed cases (some with only 1). Nashville was the only minor hotspot and I cruised on through. My home county
is actually a bit high and the mortality rate is 3 X the rate in Orlando where I left for some reason so I'm not letting my guard down here.

Most states are on some form of lockdown so there were minimal people out and about.

Here is how I rated* them but aside form Florida i was just passing through.

*Informal non-scientific observations based on minimal duration except for Florida:

Florida = D , there were more people wandering about after the lockdown, inconsistent and ever changing rules, empty hand sanitizers everywhere,
I often saw groups of more than 4-5 people without masks hanging out less than 6' apart. Masks and gloves are optional.
Georgia = didn't stop but fewer folks out and they kept far apart
Alabama = didn't stop - not enough time to tell
Mississippi = B, overall good practices. Masks and gloves are optional.
Tennessee = B, overall good practices. Masks and gloves are optional.
North Carolina = B, overall good practices. A to Graham County for closing its borders early and A+ for opening them in time for me to ride around.. Masks and gloves are optional.
Virginia = B, overall good practices but I couldn't tell it was on lockdown. Masks and gloves are optional.
Maryland - didn't stop - not enough time to tell
Pennsylvania = A-, mandatory wearing of masks in stores (well except for a privately owned gas station that let me buy a soda)
Upstate New York = B+, mandatory wearing of masks in stores, Walmart has one-way shopping isles but didn't police them, overall good practices but lots of people out.
And stupid things like banning golf and removing the ban 1 week later. Walking only though - I guess they can't disinfect their carts? Or maybe it counts as exercising.
 
Back
Top