[lizrdbrth]

Howdy.



Purple and I will be shipping our T-dubs to Chicago, then flying out there and taking Route 66 from Chicago back to Cali, commencing on or about May 16.



Oh, and this is our honeymoon. No cushy cakewalk being waited on hand and foot at some Honolulu resort. Not even motel touring on a Goldwing with a coffeemaker and onboard microwave, but tent camping with ants and skeeters on TW200's for 2,400 miles over 15 days (Eat yer heart out, guys. This was HER choice).



Anyway, we'd like to extend an open invitation to any members living along The Route to use our passing through as an excuse to get in some riding. Most days we'll be covering at least 150 miles, (some days nearly 3 times that) but if your free time and schedule jive with ours, feel free. We hope to update nightly or bi-nightly via this site as we go.



We do have one detail as yet left unnattended. We're still searching for a warehouse or freight outfit relatively near O'hare which will both receive our palletized, partially- dissassembled bikes and allow us the space and an hour or two to slap the wheels and handlebars back on them and top off the oil and fuel. The pallet and bikes weigh over 600 punds, so offloading them at a private residence probably isn't an option. Any thoughts?

 

[Hobopoet]

I think this sounds like a great trip! How much research have you done about old 66? I know a lot of it has been paved over for new freeways. The longest stretch I found was in northern Arizona on the south side of the Grand Canyon.



I've seen ads for shippers in CycleTrader.com. Might be worth a look.

 

[peruano]

For sure post those tentative dates so all can contemplate their schedules. Camp in my yard and dinner is free. Tom

 

[lizrdbrth]

Peruano, hangin' with you is definitely near top of the list. Thanks again for the kind offer. I suffer from "lost puppy syndrome", a condition which leads me to things like spending 3 days at The World's Biggest Ball of String and the like, talking to old men in rocking chairs, etc. Hopefully Purple can help me keep this tendency in check and we can maintain at least some semblence of a scedule.

I've seen ads for shippers in CycleTrader.com. Might be worth a look.

I posted on this few months ago. Some of these bike shippers charge up to $800 per bike to Chicago from here. Granted, they have plush trailers and since they haul only bikes, they probably do a nice job. If I had the need to ship my Concours or a Goldwing that would probaby be the way to go. Two Tw's barely take up the space of one road bike and combined weigh less than one road pig.



We're shipping ours as freight for less than 1/4 of that. Both bike will be side-by-side on a pallet with the wheels, front fenders and handlebars removed. This is the way Yamaha ships new TW's to the dealer.



The problem is so far none of the warehousing outfits we've contacted are willing to allow us to assemble our bikes on their premises for liability reasons. I'm sure we'll find one who will eventually, but this was an unforseen snag in the program. Just figgered some of you might have some thoughts on the subject we hadn't considered.



Right now I'm blowing her bike apart, servicing the bearings, brakes, repainting parts and installing racks, taller bars, o-ring chain, new sprockets and giving it a purple urban camo facelift. Personally I'm pretty disappointed with the Clarke tank we ordered, but we waited too long to return it and at least it solves the fuel issue.



My bike needs only the stock kickstand reinstalled, and the Bighorn and 55T swapped for stockers. I molest every bike I've ever owned, but as I was telling Ronnydog the other day is the first project in a long time that does EVERYTHING I built it to do EXACTLY as planned.



Looking forward to meeting some of you on the road, and we're soliciting ideas for possible weird sidetrips. Weirder the better.

 

[qwerty]

Maybe a Tdubber in the Chicago area can receive your "freight" and truck or trailer it to his or her house where you can unpack and reassemble the bikes.



Maybe a Tdubber in the Chicago area works in a family business where the "freight" can be delivered and you can unpack and reassemble there.



Might be worth renting a car or taking a taxi to a shipping destination outside Chicago where a Tdubber can recieve your "freight" and provide a work area.



Something like that would be a dandy wedding gift, but if it was my honeymoon I'd throw in a nice lunch in exchange.

 

[lizrdbrth]

Excellent.



The Resident Budget Analyst of the Lizrdbrth Household has authorized funds to double said TDubber's weight in Big Macs should said TDubber exist.

We'd kinda like to stay reasonably close to Chicago as it's one of our goals as 66 Geeks to start at the start. But the RBALH has also informs me that I'd better get this handled post haste.

 

[qwerty]

I don't think Chicagoites care much for Big Macs. Sicilian pizza might do the trick.

 

[carmwes]

Sounds Like a Great Trip!

Oklahoma has about 432 miles of Rte. 66. All fun things to see and do,and a pretty good road. I'm 27 miles South of Chandler OK. off "66" . In Shawnee, OK. Need a Shower, Meal, or we have a Yamaha Dealer here in town too. Check out SEABA Station Motorcycle muesem in Warwick OK. Right on Rte. 66.

 

[dhoenisch]

I live a couple of miles from Route 66, but about 25 miles from the start of it. My mom is even closer in Oak Park, about 10-miles away from the start ad one mile away from the Chicago city limits. I can ask her if she wouldn't mind a large crate sitting in her garage for a few days. I'd have them sent to me, but I have no place to store them. Let me know if this is something you would consider, and in the meantime, I'll see if my mom is okay with it, and I'll make room in her garage for them.



Dan

 

[qwerty]

I toldja Sicilian pizza would do the trick.

 

[rmartin]

Might consider contacting a Yamaha dealer in Chicago. They might like the publicity.

 

[dhoenisch]

I toldja Sicilian pizza would do the trick.

Yeah, except I have acid reflux, so I can only admire it.

Dan

 

[dhoenisch]

Might consider contacting a Yamaha dealer in Chicago. They might like the publicity.

There's an idea. The place I got my bike from was Highlands Yamaha and they are really nice people to do business with. They are just 4-miles from my house.



Dan

 

[peruano]

Undoubtedly you know about Searching for 66 - Featuring complete "How to drive it" Guide by Tom Teague. A buddy just asked me to keep an eye out for the book for him. It might stimulate an alternative for you. I know the author lived in Illinois and the book is still available through Abebooks.com. FYI. Tom

 

[lizrdbrth]

Dhoenische, just so you know, Highland does seem like an excellent dealership. Buy stuff from them, cuz they're rare. LOL. Thanks to you and rmartin for the idea.



On your suggestion, I called and spoke to a manager named Dan. While they couldn't accomodate us at the dealership, Dan offered to make some calls to see what he could come up with locally. Based on our convo I believe he will do exactly that, if he can. I'm not a customer nor am I a potential customer, yet he returns my calls. My local dealer and most others I've dealt with would have given me a flat "no". then politely (or not) ended the conversation.

 

[dhoenisch]

Yup, Dan is a nice guy. Last spring when I went to purchase a fuel filter for my Honda, I was asking him about one of the Silverado's they had in stock, and even mentioned that I wasn't purchasing one. He still spent about an hour with me just talking about it and just shooting the breeze. Who knew I would be purchasing my TW from them just a couple of months after that conversation. I definitely do buy from them whenever I need anything motorcycle related. I just picked up a new pair of warm weather gloves from them this past Saturday and will be purchasing a set of Thor 50/50 boots from them as soon as I get the money.



If Dan from Highlands is unable to come through for you, let me know and I'll see if my Mom is okay with your bikes in her garage.



Dan

 

[lizrdbrth]

Thanks to all for your kind offers. Due to a variety of things beyond the shipping hassle we've now gone to "Plan B".



We'll now be doing a 2,400 mile loop leaving from Barstow, California the day after our wedding. Hwy. 395 north into Nevada, then Hwy. 50 ("The Loneliest Road in America") east across Nevada and through the canyonlands of Utah into Colorado. From there we'll head south from Pueblo into New Mexico to Albuquerque, returning to Cali via Rt. 66.



This is a bit more ambitious than our original plan due to the montainous routes involved. Most of our "doping off" will likely be on the Hwy. 50 stretch, and any catching up necessary being done on the Rt. 66 section, given that we've covered most of that together at various times in the past.



Next May we'll do the Chicago thing.