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Motorcycle Road Trip 2012 August

17566 Views 50 Replies 34 Participants Last post by  old phazer
Hey guys, I took another solo cross country road trip on my bike. This time I decided that instead of crashing at a hotel at the end of the day I would camp out instead. I took with me my laptop, backpacking tent, inflatable mattress, and sleeping bag as well as 1 week worth of clothes. I went ahead and mounted/wired up my GoPro camera on the handlebars so I could take time lapsed pictures throughout the duration of the trip. I was way more prepared for this trip this time than last year's for sure. I even had an emergency tool kit for the bike.

The rider


The Bike - 2011 Yamaha Stryker - Mods: Dunlop 250 rear tire, license plate mod, engine guards, sissy bar, and saddle bag supports. Other than that it's pretty much factory spec.




Houston to Dallas to Amarillo

It takes **** near forever to get out of Texas. I left Houston around noon on a Saturday. There is not much to look at between Houston and Amarillo so I didn't take that many pictures. I let my GoPro worry about that. There was some kind of crotch rocket meet somewhere in this town called Waxahachie or something because I kept running into cops and bikers on the road. I logged 680 something miles by the time I got to Amarillo. Camped out at this rest stop like a boss!









Amarillo to Albuquerque to Santa Fe to Taos, NM

It seems like as soon as you cross state lines the terrain and road conditions change. Kind of like opening up another chapter in a geography book. A lot of the buildings/houses in Santa Fe look like they're made of clay. They blend in pretty well with the landscape, kind of like what that colony in Tatooine looks like in Star Wars. I checked out the Rio Grande river and whatnot before getting to Taos. Taos is like some hipster hippie Native American town. There is psychedelic looking art all over town and every building seems to be made out of adobe. I guess that's just southwestern Native American culture. The art shops there are pretty cool and I am still planning to purchase a painting I came across that I really liked. They're not cheap.









With inclement weather fast approaching I scrambled to find a place where I could camp out. I lucked out and found this RV campground that had sheltered camp sites. Once I set up the tent I went back into town to check out that casino they had there. It was definitely not Vegas for sure.




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Thanks for "bumping" it up AR, I would've never seen this as most newbies like me look mostly for MOD Threads. etc..

Truly amazing, definitely an item for a bucket list. To experience that kind of miles is the reason I wanted to throw a leg over the "saddle".
This thread still amazes me.
Glad you bump this thread often. Pictures make me say wow every time I see them.
Oh man! Great piece. Took me two hours to get through it all, but was well worth it. Thanks for bumping this! and Hope the OP is still riding strong!
I'm inspired.... thank you for bumping this up.
This thread still amazes me.
I agree. I'm just not an iron-butt kind of guy so doing something like this with time to really see things makes a lot more sense to me than bragging about going 1000 miles in a weekend. To each their own but I'd rather a longer trip in days that just miles...
It's the silly jobs that keep getting in the way :(
I agree. I'm just not an iron-butt kind of guy so doing something like this with time to really see things makes a lot more sense to me than bragging about going 1000 miles in a weekend. To each their own but I'd rather a longer trip in days that just miles...
It's the silly jobs that keep getting in the way :(
Agreed. I'd rather take a week and see all there is to see at a nice relaxing pace (Read vacation) that haul azz from point A to B just so you can say you did it.

Face it, A Stryker is NOT a really cushy ride for the iron azz type riding no matter what kind of seat you put on it!

I've read this thread every year since I first saw it, Maybe even twice the first season and dreamed of being able to just take the time and get away.
But I can't, I have a wife, a job, and a pile of crap for a back!:tsk:

After a few hours on my bike I'm ready to be done for a while!
I'm still riding around you guys! I just crossed 25K miles on the odometer last weekend. I've been doing a bit of backpacking the last 2 years and haven't really taken any long distance trips on the bike since these backpacking trips took up most of my PTO. Backpacked through Europe in 2014 and Asia fall of 2015.

I've been mapping out a roadtrip into Mexico. Houston, TX -> Laredo ->Monterrey ->Durango -> Mazatlan and back. I think I can pull it off
Your definitely one of the few that can brother. Glad to see your still around.
What a fantastic photo journal of a great trip. I've been thinking about buying a Stryker, and love doing long trips like this...
So much for getting an early start on my chores today. I started reading this thread and couldn't stop. What a great trip and excellent photo journal. I'm jealous, I wish I could do something like this. Maybe when I retire in 10 years or so.
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