I'm back from my cross country trip!

[apor]

nice mark! this is something i've always wanted to do... if my boss would give me more than 1 week off in a row. how were the 46l cases? i just ordered 36l rplacements for my crashed ones, which were too small at 21l anyway.

[jrevans]

Originally Posted by markgm

If only I read that link before I stopped there!

I grew up in Somerset, PA. I stopped in Washington, PA on the trip back!

Howdy former neighbor

It's really growing up back there. Even the changes to the turnpike are making me sad. They got rid of my favorite turn just past Donegal, and now the fun curvy section uphill to the last west tunnel (between bedford and somerset) is being redone.

[Toastalator]

Originally Posted by markgm

Our goal was to keep the speed at around 85. In places where there were other cars on the road we'd basically go with the flow. When we were the only signs of life in sight there were a few hours we cruised at triple digits. I think we busted out 240 miles in around 2 hours at one point.

To be honest, none of the roads were really boring, maybe because it was all new. When people asked us along the trip what was the best place or part so far, my answer was always the ride. The only part I didn't like was Texas, and that was the only state with cops crawling over every square inch of highway. Twice we were stopped by the border patrol to verify we were US citizens. (I didn't even know that was legal to do.)

What a coincidence, I don't like Texas either, and for the very same reason. Although I've never been pulled over to verify my citizenship. But awesome write up man, and it seems like you had a blast. I want to take a trip like that sometime. Guess ill have to wait till next summer.

[Bredebee]

Excellent pictures , thank you for sharing ...good stuff !

[markgm]

Originally Posted by apor

nice mark! this is something i've always wanted to do... if my boss would give me more than 1 week off in a row. how were the 46l cases? i just ordered 36l rplacements for my crashed ones, which were too small at 21l anyway.

Thanks Apor! The 46L cases are great for the price. I would rather have had 3 52L cases but the price difference was too great. The 46L has the handles molded into the case, which takes away from the interior storage. It also means you can only carry the case one way and it is difficult to get a good grip on it. The 52L has the handle on the outside and it's a normal luggage handle which can be pushed flush into the case and locked which kind of makes it more secure (it would be difficult to carry it to walk off with it when off the bike.)

That said, they're all solid. I'm able to sit on them and with all my gear on I'd imagine I'm a little over 200 pounds. I like how the V35 look, but Caladin said that water pools in the handle and will dump into the case when you open it while it's mounted to the bike. Not a huge deal, but a minor design flaw.

I don't know if it's a fluke, but my brake light on the 52L has had 5 or 6 of the lights burn out already, I've only had it for 10 months.

[markgm]

Originally Posted by abner

what was the issue with the soft bags?

Once loaded they rubbed against the rear pegs and formed holes on either side. Over the course of 7000 miles the cases (or mounting straps) rubbed through the paint on the rear cowling and rubbed right through the paint on the rear grab rails. I'd imagine a few hundred dollars to replace unless he just sands and repaints them.

At one point the tailbag rain cover blew off and hit the exhaust, forming 2 holes. The first set he had had defective mounting straps, it seemed that the tabs weren't sewn on one side. They also took the longest to load. The hard cases were much easier to get on and off the bike once loaded too.

I had 3 hard cases and won't change anything next trip. The Ducati had 2 hard side bags and a soft tailbag, he's getting a hard tailbag for the next trip. The other FZ6 had 3 softbags and will have 2 hard bags and a soft tailbag next trip!

[markgm]

Originally Posted by jrevans

Howdy former neighbor

It's really growing up back there. Even the changes to the turnpike are making me sad. They got rid of my favorite turn just past Donegal, and now the fun curvy section uphill to the last west tunnel (between bedford and somerset) is being redone.

And rumor has it that as the tunnels reach the end of their operational life the turnpike is going to be rerouted again! It is amazing the amount of work they're doing there, now they just need to expand it to three lanes each way!

One of the things that amazed me during the trip was that the middle of nowhere has the same roads as the East coast does, with 1/1000th the population using them.

[hondajunkie]

Awesome write-up and trip mark!!!!

[DefyInertia]

You had a huge smile in every picture...awesome.

The soar ass and wind fatigue and all that just fade away when you're having fun...just gotta keep the focus in the right spot.