Lenny Needs Our Help!
Lenny recently obtained his motorcycle license, purchased a bike, and wants to attend Daytona Bike Week! So he came to me asking all sorts of questions about pre-trip planning, what should he pack, how far should he ride per day, and things of that nature. I thought it would be great if we could pool our wisdom and experience, to make a checklist for Lenny and other riders who may be planning a trip this year.
Each day we will tackle one segment of the trip, beginning with any general pre-trip advice you may have. Here’s some further info concerning Lenny’s trip.
1. He is riding with 2 other riders.
2. He has his accomodations settled.
3. They are beginning in Virginia.
4. They will be gone 10 days.
5. He is totally cool with this!
I always reference my handy “Touring Checklist” before every trip. He can check it out here:
Touring Checklist
I like that checklist and you already have some great tips here, but establishing hand signals and group ride strategies with his co-riders is my recommendation.
BE CAREFUL!… one of the most dangerous places in the world for a new rider, on a new bike is a major motorcycle rally. Usually folks who are that hot to trot to go to Daytona have “party” on their mind and motorcycle safety burried way back behind visions of thong and chap clad biker chicks. Look back at the death stats from past Daytona and Myrtle Beach events, he might want to gain some much needed experience before jumping into the fire. Just my 2 cents-Crusty
Don’t be too ambitious in planning your ride out there — don’t plan to go further in a day than you really will and lock yourself into a schedule you’ll be forcing yourself to keep. On a multi-day ride like he’ll be doing, you usually make pretty good mileage the first day or two, but the distances covered each day will start dropping off the further you get into it. I think he should probably plan 400 miles per day, be happy if he gets more, and not be surprised if he gets less. Ride as far as your comfortable each day … and then stop.
Hey everyone thanks for the advice, on Saturday I will post part 2 of this story.
[…] Lenny Needs Our Help! Part 2 Posted by rick in February 10th, 2008 Published in Motorcycles, Out Of State Rides, Riding My buddy Lenny, is heading to Daytona for Bike Week. (See part 1 for the full story). […]