Coast to Coast on a rental
 

My first post on HU so here we go!

It's a bit of a long story, but I'll try and keep the pre-amble short.

I work for a company that have a head office in NYC, last November I got sent over for a week one of the guys in the office has a mad Can-Am Spyder, so I asked him if he knew of any rental places in NYC, so I could take something for a spin while I was over. All he could find was Harley places miles from Manhattan, where my hotel was, so I kinda gave up on the idea.

Then, out of nowhere I get an email from him saying there's this new place that's opened up that are renting BMW's, I had a good look at their website and in the specials section they offer 1-way rental from NYC to LA. This got me thinking.

I did a little googling and some simple sums, NYC to LA via Dallas is about 3000 miles. If you take 14 days that's about 210 miles per day. So I send a quick email to find out how much 14 days would cost and he comes back with $1500 off peak (Oct - Nov) on a R1200GS

Initially that seemed very reasonable and after some more googling it seems very good. It has a number of major advantages over buy/sell or shipping my own F800GS, mostly that I'm only going for 2 weeks riding max.

I guess my main question is, can it be done in 2 weeks?

Am I setting an unrealistic target?

My worry is I’ll spend the first week stopping every 5 mins to take photos then rush the last week to try and catch up, missing loads of cool stuff. I suppose America’s such a huge country you could spend your whole life driving around it and still find new interesting bits to see.

Your opinions and guidance is appreciated.


Jolyon

At a reasonable speed, one can drive straight from NYC to L.A. in about 3 days keeping to the major interstates, and stopping for the night. That should give you 11 days to play with, taking a route that is not on one of the major interstates (the side roads and non-interstate highways are much more scenic). But you do need to consider the weather during those months, so you would definitely want to ride in as early October as possible. By November, it could be mild, or wintry already.

Ever read the classic "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac? Although a little dated by now, it shows it can easily be done.

Best of luck,
Ruud

Thats a great trip. Leave as early in Oct. as possable to avoid snow.
Some possable routes are on the site -
ROAD TRIP USA

Its a easy 10 -14 day trip on two lane roads with occasional rides on Interstates.

Keep off the main interstate freeways and you will have a great ride.

I have made 8 cross country trips in the USA and it is much better to use the Interstate Highways when you are going through big cities.
The old 2 lane US highways go through the older and some times run down parts of town with a lot of slow traffic.
As you get close to large cities you can get on the Interstates and go around them.

This is true as far as it goes, but it is generally very easy to avoid all big cities. Two weeks coast-to-coast is enough time for a first cut, but next time try to take more!

This is very true! I think that minimum 4 to 6 weeks would let you feel like you have actually accomplished something, rather than getting it bit by bit.

I think that 2 weeks would be a short trip just touring through California, starting in San Diego and working your way north. I could probably come up with a 2 week route just through Arizona and Utah, with some New Mexico, and southwest Colorado thrown in.

Not to make you feel bad :(, but think of a longer trip later on as 2 weeks will just get your appetite going!

As I mentioned and someone else did, try early October to avoid the early winter weather, and stay as far south as possible (look along Interstate 10 for a rough estimate of a route as you had mentioned Dallas). Southern New Mexico and Arizona should be warm enough, into California on the western portion.

That is a good deal for a rental. Plan on doing 6,000 miles on the trip. Look out for snow. You will have snow in the pass and may have it all along the way. The wind in some areas can blow snow feet high in the street can be a bit of a pain wind speeds can hit 70 mph but will not last more than a day or 2.

Once in the planes it can get dead boring not much to see or do.

If you do not ride in the UK October and November do not plan on doing the north or central US crossings. Head south and try that.

The interstate are fast and boring built to move 18 wheelers from one city to the next not for people looking to see the USA. But you may have few options with the time your given.

If you are looking for a fast way around I95 south out of NY. till Florida then I10 till LA California. You can picking up I8 in Arizona this will get you to Mexico if you have a bit of time and will get to LA as well. Jumping on and off to see some of the sights. You have the time to do this and a bit more. See if you can get a week more and you will like the trip much better.

Nah, he can cross the US with no interstates in two weeks no problem, just won't be able to linger very long in any one place.