June Western States Trip (added some screenshots)

It's cold here, can't ride so I'm planning our June trip. My buddy and I typically take 2 long rides a year, one each around the equinoxes. This one's 13 days and about 5000 miles. I'm going to post the route day by day. Typically, we ride about 375-400 miles a day. I'll ride one of my SF's, he travels on his 1198S. The best way to visualize the route is by going into google maps finding the route and then changing to the topographical view. If you look at the western state's topography, you'll see what I'm doing. I went back and added screenshots to aid this. Across Nevada, running across southern Utah, then zig zagging across Colorado, and then heading back west into the edge of Utah, into Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and back into Nevada. We're picking up the Rockies in Colorado/New Mexico and chasing them north. All 2 lanes (to the best of my ability) and the twistiest one's I can find. And where I can on roads, I know that are mostly unpatrolled. People who live in Colorado will recognize that I mostly ignored the passes near the big ski resorts (Aspen, Winter Park, Silverthorne) that's why. BTW I make it a point to only ride in Colorado on weekdays. Due to this posts length I'm going to post 4 or 5 days at a time then add the rest thru replies. Some of the routes end up in with lots of highway changes. An overview of where we'll be.

Day 1 321 miles. We usually get a late start so short day. We're coming out of Carson NV and ending up in Ely NV. All highway 50. I'm ridden various ways across NV but 50 is my favorite.
Day 2 Ely NV to Torrey UT. 387 miles. East of Ely 50 gets more interesting. 50 to 21 UT, 21 to 130 UT. At Cedar City we pick up 14 east.

14 to 89 N. 89 to 12 at Bryce national park. 12 is the Escalante staircase. 12 is a truly fine road, lots of elevation changes, you're up and down between red rock and granite. 12 T's into 24 and we'll stay in Torrey near the junction.

Day 3 Torrey UT to Delta Colorado. 402 miles. Taking 24 east initially you're in Capitol Reef national park. BTW we're now in southern Utah red rock for a couple of hundred miles. At Hanksville we take 95 that runs in the southern Utah desert above Lake Powell all the way to Blanding UT. Why 95 doesn't show up unless really magnified is weird. Actually a fine road.

On 95 as you pass Natural Bridges you see a road 261 running south. 261 runs to the bluff above the Valley of the Gods in Monument Valley. 261 turns into dirt as it enters the res and winds it way down the face of the bluff. Absolute stunning views of Monument Valley.

95 to 191N, 191 to 491 east and to 141 near Dove Creek. 141 is one of my favorites roads in the west. 141 all the way to 50, 50S to Delta.

Day 4 Delta CO to Taos NM. 372 miles. 50 to 550 then over the million dollar highway into Durango. Typically we'll stop at Mustaches Bar in Silverton. Durango's nice but pricey.

At Durango 160E for a few miles then 172 south. 172 CO turns into 511 NM. 511 to 64E. 64 into Taos


On the last portion of 64 into Taos as you're coming towards the Rio Grande is where the Taos ECO houses are dug into the plain. The original town center square is still in Taos. Kit Carson's house with his 5th(?) wife is there. Good cantinas.
Day 5 Taos to Gunnison. 406 miles. Out of Taos 64E to 38W at Eagle's Nest.
If you continue on 64 east here instead you get to Cimmaron NM of old west outlaw cowboy fame in about 25 miles. Only a few of the original buildings remains but importantly the St. James hotel remains (1850's ?). Heavily haunted apparently from all the murders including one of the proprietors who was shot in his bed upstairs.

38 to 522S at Questa. 522 to 64W to 287N. 287 to 17W (I've not been on 17 before looks good).

17 to 64 west again. 64 to 84N into Pagosa Springs CO. Just east of Pagosa is Wolf Creek Pass.

160 to 149 at South Fork.

149, over two passes to 50W (126 miles) spending the night in Gunnison CO. You'll also realize we're skirting civilization as best we can. I'll come back and post the rest.

any pics grandpa ?

A comment about tires. I ride sportbikes. So, I suspect some of you thought 5000 miles WTF. Tires are the issue. To get 5000+ out of a set requires one to run a hard rear. My current preferred combo is a Dunlop Q5S front (my riding style is incompatible with a sport touring front) and a Roadsmart IV rear. A lot of people will tell you that you shouldn't do this. Ignore it. I would not run a combination of brands to achieve this as it the carcass flexibility characteristics that you want to be similar. I see this as no different than running a medium slick front and a hard slick rear like you do when you endurance race. This combination should each give about 5500 miles (scrubbed 190 pace) if you don't constantly spin the rear.

Day 6 Gunnison CO to Loveland CO. 409 miles. North out of Gunnison on 135 to 306 at Altmont. 306 is Cottonwood Pass. Really good. 306 to Buena Vista.

From BV east on 285/24 to 67 at Woodland Park. BTW 24 here runs past the Florissant dinosaur beds. 67N to Twin Cedars. At Twin Cedars we'll reverse and do the section of 67 running back to Deckers as we've never been on 67 past Deckers. At Deckers, Deckers Rd to Buffalo Creek then Pine Creek Rd to 285E. 285 to 73 at Connifer, 73 to Evergreen, then 74 to 103.

103 to Idaho City then north 119 to 72 to 7. 7 to 34 at Estes Park.


We're going east here towards Loveland but if you go west on 34 you're going onto Rocky Mountain NP. Be advised you need a day permit to get into RMNP and they go fast in the spring. We'll spend the night at the west edge of Loveland.
Day 7 Loveland CO to Vernal UT. 417 miles. Out of Loveland we'll go west on 34 for a little ways and then use the county rd's to get us to Ted's place on CO 14. 14 is Poudre Canyon. In the top five of my favorite roads in the west.


14 to Walden CO. Walden calls itself the moose capital of Colorado. There's a bunch of meandering creeks cut into the plain with trees etc on the creek banks. They like it. Staying on 14 as it heads south. 14 to 40S. 40 to 134W.


134 to 131N to 40W. 40 to spend the night in Vernal Utah. On the way into Vernal on 40 you past the town of Dinosaur and the Dinosaur national monument.
Day 8 Vernal UT to Buffalo WY. 191 North in the morning. Above Vernal is Flaming Gorge. 191 to Rock Springs.

Then 191 to 28 to Lander. 289 to 20N at Shoshoni. 20N thru the edge of the Wind River res thru Thermopolis to Worland. At Worland 16E over the pass to Buffalo.
The Occidental Hotel (1880) in Buffalo has one of the most extensive north American taxidermy collections in the lobby, bar and restaurant. The owner killed pretty much one of everything. From Buffalo you're only a few hours from the Black Hills. For those who are not that familiar with the American west Sturgis of Harley fame is there. More interesting though, is Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and the road thru Custer State Park. The Bullock in Deadwood (1880's also) is also allegedly haunted. Seth Bullock and the 34 (?) men, women and children, who he locked up in the basement and allowed to die to stop a typhoid outbreak are hanging out together.

Day 9 Buffalo WY to Livingston MT. 372 miles. A short drone up interstate 90 to 14W at Ranchester.

Over the pass (pretty technical particularly on the west end) and staying on 14 a high speed drone into Cody WY. At Cody 120N to 296 (Dead Indian Pass).

If you continue up 120 you can go to Red lodge and take Beartooth Pass instead.

296 to 212 and Cooke City. West of Cooke City you're entering Yellowstone at the northeast entrance. This runs you thru Lamar Valley. Lots of buffalo, antelopes etc. Lamar Valley is where all the wolf watchers go. 212 to the parks east rd. North into Mammoth Hot Springs (lots of Elk all the time. At rut there's 100's near the Hot Springs. Out of the park to Gardiner on 89. 89 to Livingston MT.

panibadboy said:

any pics grandpa ?

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No I'll post pics when I go. Use the topography view to understand what you're missing.

would be nice to see pics. lots of text with interesting places, but feels dry

Day 10. Livingston MT to Kooskia ID. 409 miles. From Livingston we normally will run north on 89 into Browning to go thru Glacier National Park or more frequently southwest out of Bozeman working the Montana passes until we join US 93 near Wisdom MT. Since we've not been over Lolo Pass in a number of years we decided to figure out a way to get there from Livingston. So we've not been on much of this before except the pass itself and 89. So 89N to 12W. 12 to 287. 287 to 15N. At short drone on interstate 15 then off on Flesher Pass Rd. Over the pass to 200W. 200W to Missoula (all this to skirt interstate 90 but looks OK.) At Missoula pick up 12. At Lolo Montana 12 turns west to go over the pass. In my top 5 favorite western motorcycle roads. 130 miles of medium speed corners and short chutes. 12 Into Kooskia to stay at the Clearwater Motel. These guys always have rags in the room to use for cleaning your bike.

Day 11. Kooskia ID to Stanley ID. 377 miles. This is a fine ride. We reverse over Lolo Pass and then pick up US 93S over the pass that separates MT and ID, which I love, and down into the Salmon River Gorge. South on 93 to 75 at Challis then into Stanley.

Stanley is in the beartooth range behind Boise. We'll stay at the lodge and suprisingly Stanley has some really good restaurants.
Day 12 Stanley ID to Elko NV. 377 miles. Out of Stanley on 21 into Boise.

A drone on interstate 84 to 51 at Mountain Home. 51 turns into 225 as it goes into NV.

225 Into Elko. 51/225 in the center runs thru the res. The road before the res is fast and flowing but afterwards tight and technical with unmarked corners and free range cattle. Some years lots of Mormon crickets.
Day 13. Elko to Carson 349 miles. A short drone on Interstate 80 and then south to 50W and home.

I hope if you've bothered to read this you've drilled down on the topography maps. Lots of fine roads in the west.

panibadboy said:

would be nice to see pics. lots of text with interesting places, but feels dry

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Use the topography maps. I can describe the roads, but a picture is worth a thousand words.

baggerman said:

Use the topography maps. I can describe the roads, but a picture is worth a thousand words.

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I'm of tiktok generation, what is a topography maps?

panibadboy said:

I'm of tiktok generation, what is a topography maps?

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Go to google maps. First just put the US on the screen. Go to layers at the lower left and click. Now you have a topography view. You can see the Rockies running border to border. And the red rock of the southern Utah desert to the west of the Rockies etc. Got to drill down to see the roads, easier to find in normal map view and then go back to topography.

Added a few screenshots.

panibadboy said:

any pics grandpa ?

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Yes, just for you. That big shot of the west is probably a million square miles.

baggerman said:

Yes, just for you. That big shot of the west is probably a million square miles.

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I admire you, thanks !


Why dont you take a cheap point and shoot camera with you next time and make some photos on the go ?

I know those places are extremely beautiful, its nice to see them again

panibadboy said:

I admire you, thanks !


Why dont you take a cheap point and shoot camera with you next time and make some photos on the go ?

I know those places are extremely beautiful, its nice to see them again

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Thanks I will do just that. I was thinking about adding the locations of a few fun dive bars also. I'm jonesing for a ride and have maybe 1500 miles of rubber left. 40 degrees F here now, peak of the day.

Oh, I'm doing a similar loop this summer, but with the kiddo and on 4 wheels (my 2017 Shelby GT350R). We'll be coming in from Chicago and hitting up Yellowstone for a few days first, so I'm considering how/if I can work Beartooth into the trip. I'm very much looking forward to the stretch of twisty bits we'll be taking from Zion to Bryce Canyon City (Rt 9 to Rt 89). Google Street view already makes my jaw drop.

But after that I've been planning a solo trip that'll also be about 5k miles on the V4R, and I've had tire concerns. If I'm taking it easy, would Roadsmart IV's work fine front and rear in that case? Cabot Trail and Blueridge Parkway would be the main attractions of this trip.

Speaking of Google Maps/topography view, here's a snippet of that route through UT I'm looking forward to:

V4Al said:

Oh, I'm doing a similar loop this summer, but with the kiddo and on 4 wheels (my 2017 Shelby GT350R). We'll be coming in from Chicago and hitting up Yellowstone for a few days first, so I'm considering how/if I can work Beartooth into the trip. I'm very much looking forward to the stretch of twisty bits we'll be taking from Zion to Bryce Canyon City (Rt 9 to Rt 89). Google Street view already makes my jaw drop.

But after that I've been planning a solo trip that'll also be about 5k miles on the V4R, and I've had tire concerns. If I'm taking it easy, would Roadsmart IV's work fine front and rear in that case? Cabot Trail and Blueridge Parkway would be the main attractions of this trip.

Speaking of Google Maps/topography view, here's a snippet of that route through UT I'm looking forward to:
View attachment 60059
View attachment 60058

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People don't realize what the west is really like. If this is your first trip to Zion enter the park from the east. You'll see why. Lots of guys stay in Cody and do dead indian and beartooth the same day on bikes. Come into yellowstone at the north entrance, at the hot springs, run down the west side and wrap around and exit thru the northeast entrance and Lamar Valley then you're going towards Bear tooth and Red Lodge. You can stay in West Yellowstone. With Kids you need 3 days minimum. If you've not seen the Tetons you can exit and return through the south entrance if you want to see them and Jackson Hole. My friend, whose family has always owned the ranch there next to Harrison Ford, comment is "the billionaires are buying out the millionaires'. Pricey Jackson Hole. There's normally buffalo in the central section of the park, but where you're guaranteed to see them is in Lamar Valley. I think the Roadsmart front would be ok, just remember it's a sport touring front. The problem is the rear Roadsmart is a 190 and requires the chassis geometry to be changed a lot to use it. I'm not sure what the hardest 200 rear is. The blue ridge is awesome. And it is patrolled. If you take it all the way to Smokey National Park then as you exit near Gatlinburg or Johnson City, you're real near the Tail of the Dragon.

Actually if you're coming from Chicago, go thru the Blackhills and follow 14 into Cody. Then your can go north into Red lodge and over beartooth and enter the park thru lamar Valley wrap around the park and exit towards Jackson. Going south. All of southern Utah is gorgeous. So if you have time go thru Moab about 500 miles south of Jackson by going thru the flaming gorge exiting at Vernal and then you're 30 miles from the main dinosaur beds. Then run south thru Moab and go thru monument valley then reverse the route I described back to Bryce. I'll shut up. You'd probably need 3 weeks.

I got 19 days! Hitting Tetons outbound from Yellowstone as we head to Bonneville salt flats. And will be dedicating some days to Moab after Bryce Canyon.

I found Rosso IV's in 200 rear. Would those not last me 5k+ at a grandmotherly pace?

Ok go east thru escalante and the desert above Lake Powell on the way to Moab. At Blanding your just a few miles from monument valley. I don't know about that rear. Don't spin it and run a lot of pressure. Maybe. My friend and I were coming home, we were in Idaho when his rear started showing cord. We were somewhere near Kooskia and the nearest usable rear was like 40 miles away (luckily). So he rode there hanging off to one side or another in a straight line to stay off the cord. Still cracks me up.

I don't know how old the kids are but you can rent watercraft at the Bull Frog put in on the way to blanding. The best place in the world to rent watercraft. Powell was glen canyon. So it's sorta like being in the grand canyon on water looking up in a bunch of places.

baggerman said:

I don't know how old the kids are but you can rent watercraft at the Bull Frog put in on the way to blanding. The best place in the world to rent watercraft. Powell was glen canyon. So it's sorta like being in the grand canyon on water looking up in a bunch of places.

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She's 9 and non-adventurous when it comes to those sorts of things. With the time we need to be picky with the stops too. Would you recommend more time in Moab or Glen Canyon?