Hello

I am planning a trip in the USA next year and need some advice please. The plan is to send my bike to LA (from Sydney - any idea on the cost of doing this?) and then to ride to either Miami or New York (via Miami). The questions I have are:
1. What is the best time of year to do this? I enjoy heat and don't mind travelling in the middle of summer. Would prefer to avoid winter and the rainy seasons.
2. How long will the trip take (and how far is it) to do at a reasonable pace - 300 - 500 km per day.
3. How much camping will I need to do? Would prefer to stay in budget motels / backpackers lodges if possible.
4. Can I go via Mexico and if so, what will this add in distance and time?
5. What would be a resonable budget for such a trip?
6. I am on a New Zealand passport - do I need a carnet for the USA and Mexico?

I plan to ride a BMW 650 GS - any thoughts on whether this is a suitable bike and if not, what else should I consider.

I would really be grateful for any help.

Many thanks

Peter

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Peter

http://peter-onamission.blogspot.com

I'll take a shot at a couple of those questions....

How long can you stay in the US? If it is only a few months, I'd start in March/April in LA. The spring is perfect time to see califorina. Work you way west, check out the grand canyon even though it may be a little chilly. As far as other sights, well, there are manymanymany. Are you more interested in cities/rural stuff/geological things/american culture/insidestuff/outside stuff??

The US doesn't do a good job catering to backpackers, IMO. In some of the big cities you may be able to find a hostel. In cities, you may be able to find a cheap hotel for $40-60USD for a shithole. Along the interstates, you can usually find a room for cheap. But then you're along the interstate and there is nothing to do.

Camping is easy to find. If you're trying to save money, I'd plan on alot of camping.
National Park Service - Experience Your America
and each state has a state park web site, so google for those.

Upon crossing state lines on interstates and some highways, you'll find a visitor center which will have brochures, information, and maps to local attractions/parks.

gotta run!
Daveg

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http://davegtravels.com - RTW on a DRZ
All the way south - Texas to Tierra del Fuego in '08-'09

Hi Daveg

Thanks for the info. I plan to spend between 3 and 4 months in the USA. Would it be OK to go between July and November - what kind of weather can I expect? Are there national parks throughout the USA?

Thanks

Peter

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Peter

http://peter-onamission.blogspot.com

There are national parks alllll over the place. Each state has a few and they are usually of the most geographically distinct areas.

July-Nov will be HOT hot HOT in the south. In Texas, where I live, in August it is 35-40C in the days and just a little cooler at night (like 28-30). In most places in the south US / Mexico, it'll be too hot to stay anywhere without air conditioning. The only people at the parks are people with big old RVs with their noisy generators/ACs.


If you were to start in California in July.. The coast is no problem, nearly year round as the Pacific keeps everything temperate by the coast. So maybe a few weeks traveling the west coast then head towards the Rocky Mountians for August. Then continue accross the northern US. Honestly, I'm not much of an expert of the north as I haven't dont much driving, just flying around to the major cities. By motorcycle, ya kinda get isolated in Texas as it is 8-12 hours drive to leave states .

October/Nov are great in the South. You may still get a couple of hot days, but camping is a reasonable option. I camped a couple of weeks ago and the temperature was perfect.

As far as specific things to do... I can answer questions about Texas, any state on I-35 (Mexico->Canada), and the northwest US as that is where I've done the majority of my traveling.

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http://davegtravels.com - RTW on a DRZ
All the way south - Texas to Tierra del Fuego in '08-'09

July to November will be a perfect period for your trip and 3 to 4 months is plenty to do the L.A.-Miami-NY thing , and then some .
At a pace as you describe of 300km to 500km per day you could easily do this route within a month as it is only about 8000km. In four months you could cover 30000km and more easily.!
So , you have lots of time to add all manner of extra travel. As a suggestion , if you are starting in July then plan some routes through the northern states , even into Canada ,and mountains as it is their warmest month i.e. no big chance of hitting really bad miserable cold rain or sleet in the Rockies. Temperature is to a great degree determined by altitude, so the high passes can still be chilly , but not snowbound. For this same reason a great part of interior northern Mexico is actually cooler than adjacent desert areas of the USA and Mexico. Therefore I would have no hesitation about recommending a loop through Mexico especially during the latter months of your trip. For instance entering at Nogales AZ or Douglas AZ you could do a visit to the Copper Canyon country . In this route done in July -Aug & Sept you would have some thundershower weather to contend with . From there you could loop to Hidalgo del Parral ,Durango, Zacatecas and as far as San Luis Potosi and then head back North to Texas - the other way around of course is also possible . Such a loop could be done in three weeks easily as it is mostly thinly populated and wide expanses and long daily runs are no problem once out of the mountains.
For USA,Mexico and Canada you do not need a carnet. Just have the ownership registration papers in your own name.
Cost wise figure on basic daily expenses of around $50 to $70 , and then add whatever other side attractions you fancy. Camping can be done in national, state ,provincial, or county parks or commercial campgrounds , the $50 figure should be no difficulty. Frequent budget motels should be possible on$70/day.
You can ,if you pick your locations in the open "wild west" camp free. Do avoid areas where ticks live i.e. thick brush, uncut grassy areas ,. These miserable little bugs can often find you even if you put your feet just off the pavement into the grass or shrubs on the shoulder of the road in east Texas for example ( found that out !), and they can transmit Lyme disease- not fun and very serious if not caught early.
As to the question of shipping your own bike over from NZ ; that will be very expensive. It may be less costly to fly to USA and aquire a good used bike ,get all the papers for it , then sell it at the end of the trip. There have been other threads posted here on just that topic.

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http://advrider.com/index.php?thread....207964/page-5 then scroll down to post #93

Thank you Daveg and Sjoerd for your advice - much appreciated.

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Peter

http://peter-onamission.blogspot.com

As for shipping to the USA, if you want to do that, contact Dave Milligan at :

GetRouted : Bike shipping and Tour Operator
I know Dave personally (and I would still use him!).

Jokes aside, he is a member here on the HUBB and knows his stuff.

Regards

Nigel in NZ (Rangiora)

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The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with . -- 2200 BC Egyptian inscription

Thanks Nigel, will probably use him.

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Peter

http://peter-onamission.blogspot.com