Modern Vespa

I have planned an event ride to achieve recognition of the SCMA Four Corners Ride. My current plan is to depart NOLA the day after Amerivespa 2014, June 16, heading west to San Ysidro, CA. Then north to Blaine, WA., east to Madawaska, ME., and finishing south to Key West, FL.

The total distance is approximately 7,000 mile from San Ysidro to Key West. Current plans are to complete the event in 18-10 hour days. This means typical travel speeds of 45-65 mph. You will have additional mileage leaving and returning to your home point.

The routing tries to avoid as much Interstate riding as possible. Due to security issues in Mexico none of the useful road will be included on the way to San Ysidro. However, I have planned about 700 miles on Canadian roadways. Passports are required for this cross border overnight ride.

If this would be an issue for some, alternate routes south of the Great Lakes are possible and will have been routed as well.

To be recognized for completion of this event it must be completed within 21 days from San Ysidro to Key West.

This post is also placed on the Rides and Events page of this forum.

Send me a PM if you have an interest and the time to join this ride.

are you going to post the map route?

I can do that. It will take a few minutes to get it all on one picture.

Make sure to visit the Griffith Observatory in LA around Sunset on the trip...worth it!

And stop in San Diego at Hodads for chow - you want the original on Ocean Beach, on Newport, not the other two. Yum.

Nice map layout

Makes my butt hurt just looking at that map!

It is OK, he has a Shad seat.

Of course 400 miles a day without interstates are long days with 18 of them back to back.

Of course gett5ing two San Ysidro and back from Key West adds over 3000 more miles to the trip.

Yeah, my guess is he's looking at a total along the lines of 11-12k miles including the ride down to NOLA from Louisville.

I'm guessing he'll be taking tools and parts and doing his own maintenance along the way.

You can be sure I will have some basic tools and parts with me. IF (and it's a big IF) things work out right I will be installing a new rear tire at ScooterWest, an oil change, filter and belt there as well. There should be no other maintenance needed to complete the tour. OR, I just might have a different ride for this tour and may not need any maintenance the entire trip.

RT from/to my home should be ~ 10,000 miles and a total of 28 days. Then again it might just be 30 days RT if I take a day or two to rest in Key West.

And If I am feeling really good after resting I just may wrap it all up with an Iron Butt to get home. Honestly though that effort is not very high on my wish list. But I will be ready none the less.

I may be wrong but my cut is that the east and west coast rides are the most difficult to manage due to traffic and road conditions around population centers. I am thinking I may be able to make up distance and time going from Blaine to Madawaska. Most of the road ways in the upper US are reasonably straight and level with some notable exceptions. The Canadian miles will be slower due to reduced speed limits compared to US roads.

If I can talk my wifr into letting me retire before June I will be you wingman on the trip. Nice dream any way, but don't hold your breath waiting for her approval to my drop in income.

That is exciting to even think about. I would love to have you riding with me on this. I know it will be tiring but very rewarding at the same time. Hope it works out.

Man this is going to be epic. Wish I could join you also. You will be coming through my neck of the woods towards the end so if the timing is right and you need a place to stay let me know. Maybe I could be your wing man down to Key West.

Sticky - you can ride with me anytime and anywhere. And I may just take you up on the offer. Just need to get the planning nailed down better.

But the belt will only last 6k miles ...I just blew mine up in less than 2k miles(!) hence you should definately carry a spare, and know how to change it.

And he will be putting the belt on at Scooterwest. In Cali. Around 3000 miles into his total trip, maybe a bit less. He miiiight need another belt, maybe, and I'm sure he will carry a spare. This is Ponydrvr, after all. I trust him with my MP3 more than I trust the local place by far, and even more than I trust Sloans (no offense to Sloans, happy to use their services, they are good guys too).

Pony, you are absolutely correct that going across the Upper Midwest is just a whole lot of straight road and high speed limits. (Also applies to the rest of the Great Plains. And there's large parts of the Great Lakes region that could probably fall under that category as well) There's a very good reason that it's called fly-over country... You can easily crack the throttle wide open across Montana, South Dakota, and Minnesota and still have people blowing past you.

Is Georgia Girl going to be able to join you on this adventure? I remember you talking about it over the last couple of Gatherings...

I'd love to join you, but I doubt I'll be able to. I don't think I'll have that much vacation/sick time to burn. I'm signed up for the Indy Mini Marathon, so I won't be doing the Spring Gathering, so I'd just be down 1 day there instead of 4 or 5. But it'd still basically take up all of my rolled over vacation and sick time, plus probably mean I wouldn't get to be at all of AmeriVespa or go to the Fall Gathering, and I'm not sure I"m willing to make that sacrifice. I also probably wouldn't have any other days to take off for anything else for the whole year, whether that'd be taking a nice vacation or just having a day if I'm too sick to code coherently or need a day to work on bathroom/kitchen upgrades...

Maybe I'll see if I can get some unpaid days off... (With the double bonus of lowering my taxable income...)

Mark

I'm on the road to Blaine... would gladly escort you from Seattle to the Canadian Border, or a place to stay north of Seattle if need be.

Well so far I've heard from a couple of you but no takers on the ride. That is all good and now the time is growing close for departure. I'm getting excited to go, the planning is complete, lodging reservations are done, the bike is ready, and packing & loading commences tomorrow. Departure is on
Tuesday, June 10.

A few have asked for routing and following information. Realtime tracking information will be available by clicking HERE. If you would like to see the selected routes click on highlighted "Leg #"

My routes will take me into many of your front or back yard areas, you are welcome to ride along for a bit if interested . The itinerary will tell you when I should be in your neck of the woods . My phone number, just for this trip, is: 502-282-4884. Give me a call or text to make meet up arrangements.

Travel and Itinerary information is below:

Leg 1- June 10 thru 12 Home to NOLA

June 10 393 mi Louisville to Tupelo, MS
June 11 275 mi Tupelo, MS to Natchez, MS
June 12 192 mi Natchez to New Orleans, LA

June 13 - 15 AmeriVespa @ NOLA

Leg 2 June 16 thru 20 NOLA to San Ysidro, CA

June 16 414 mi NOLA to Hempstead, TX
June 17 451 mi Hempstead, TX to Ft. Stockton, TX
June 18 415 mi Ft. Stockton, TX to Lordsburg, NM
June 19 404 mi Lordsburg, NM to Yuma, AZ
June 20 171 mi Yuma, AZ to San Ysidro, CA

Leg 3 June 21 thru 24 San Ysidro, CA to Bellingham, WA

June 21 331 San Ysidro, CA to Salinas, CA
June 22 455 Salinas, CA to Fortuna, CA
June 23 585 Fortuna, CA to Eugene, OR
June 24 403 Eugene, OR to Bellingham, WA

Leg 4 June 25 thru July 2 Bellingham, WA to Madawaska, ME

June 25 421 mi Bellingham, WA to Colville, WA
June 26 404 mi Colville, WA to Shelby, MT
June 27 557 mi Shelby, MT to Minot, ND
June 28 476 mi Minot, ND to South Range, WI
June 29 419 mi South Range, WI to Sault Ste Marie, MI
June 30 415 mi Sault Ste Marie, MI to Pembroke, ON, Can
July 1 351 mi Pembroke, ON, Can to Littleton, NH
July 2 443 mi Littleton, NH to Van Buren, ME

Leg 5 July 3 thru July 9 Madawaska, ME to Key West, FL

July 3 393 mi Van Buren, ME to Newington, NH
July 4 303 mi Newington, NH to Edison, NJ
July 5 392 mi Edison, NJ to Elizabeth City, NC
July 6 374 mi Elizabeth City, NC to Mt Pleasant, SC
July 7 333 mi Mt Pleasant, SC - to Palm Coast, FL
July 8 296 mi Palm Coast, FL to Coral Cables, FL
July 9 463 mi Coral Gables to Key West and Return *

Leg 6 July 9 thru July 11 Coral Gables, FL to Home

July 10 1087 mi Coral Gables, FL to Home (Iron Butt SS100)

*OR

July 10 687 mi Coral Gables, FL to Macon, GA
July 11 521 mi Macon, GA to Home

edited:
1. to clarify the linkage for tracking
2. added links to Google Maps for routing display

Using MP3 or Honda?????

If you're still taking the route you posted last year, it looks like you're going to have a great time. Someday I'm going to get to ride up Route 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway)...

The ride down US 1 (Overseas Highway) is really nice, too. I did that a couple years ago when I was down in Miami. I should have
remembered to take my swim trunks and a towel with me, though, because there's a few free public beaches just off the highway. It would have been nice to do a little swimming in the ocean. Live and learn, I guess...

As much as I wish I could join you, it just wouldn't have worked out this year. I'd have missed too much with the community band I play in, not to mention the lack of vacation/sick days from work...

So, I checked out that tracking site, but I don't see how we can track you from what you've given us. It says: Good luck! And at least I'll get to see you off from New Orleans...

Mark

June 20th in San Diego for the service stop @ Vespa Motorsport. I will PM my number to you and we could grab a bite during the service.

I will be riding the Honda. It will just be more comfortable.

Probably not a service stop in San Diego any longer. I will be putting on fresh tires in Slidell, LA and changing oil and filter in Salt St. Marie, MI. Other than an occasional chain tensioning that should just about be the extent of service required

Mark, I messed up and made the hyperlink looked like a web address. It was in fact a hyperlink. So I changed it to a "click here" kind of thing.

Hope that clears up any confusion. Thanks for bringing the confusion to my attention.

That's much more obvious now. Thanks!

Please note that I have added hyperlinks to each leg for mapping display. Enjoy.

Extraordinary preparation and planning! Some would say anal, but not me...! Seriously, looks awesome. See you in Nola for kickoff.

Hope you have a great time on your ride!
Take it easy, and enjoy the sites and smells!

I'll ride with you from Ventura to Lompoc! That is, if you can be seen with a lowly MP3 500...

Well I don't know about that.

You can see where I will be when I'm close by and you have my bike cell number. Text me the night before or call me the morning of and tell me where you want to meet.

Ralph - after we spoke, I thought of some useful local info - when I-65 and I-24 merge on the north side of Nashville, they are working on that interchange and it gets very messy at all hours of the day, both sides of the highway.

From Louisville south, I Suggest you look at Briley Parkway west (May also be called Brick Church Pike) around the north side to I-40. Note that Briley/Brick Church circles the city - you prefer the route north of the city. This will take you west of downtown and merge on I-40 west - you can pick up the Natchez Trace from any of the exits west of town pretty easily. McCory Lane is probably the best - dumps you right at the intersection of 100 and the Natchez Trace terminus (right turn to Natchez Trace, left turn to LovelessCafe, which I recommend!).

On your return trip north, it appears you have two routes mapped. If you are coming thru Nashville from Atlanta (that would be I-24), it's simple - take I-40 east (fromI-24) and then take Briley Parkway north to I-65. If I'm able to meet you on this ride, I will guide you to the north side of Nashville.

That looks good to me and I've modified the route already. One question .... I was planning to get off on US-70, taking Sawyer Brown down to Old Harding Pike then to the Natchez terminus. Is McCrory Lane a better place to be?

I have a MC friend in Vancouver, Wa. who has done the 4 Corners ride 2X on Moto Guzzis that have shaft drive. What does your Honda have ?

The CTX is a chain drive sytem.

What chain lube are you going to use?

DuPont, Chain Saver w/ Teflon. I'm told it doesn't sling much and doesn't collect as much dirt as others.

Will be interested in your results. I use Maxima chainwax but am always open to a better product.

Bump - looks like Pony is in CA and begins his 4 corner tomorrow.