So Covid is awful… am stuck at home like everyone else, but, knowing we will come out the other side I have my touring head on again.
My good friend AnneMarie moved to Mexico City a year or so ago so am planning to visit for a week or so and then…..
Well, as you know I love the States and, as 2021 is my 65th year, it seems like another tour of the USA is required.
So, the plan at the moment is: fly to Mexico City, stay for a week or so and hire a bike to ride out with AnneMarie. Next, fly direct to Los Angeles and either buy a bike or ship my Fatboy over again to ride up the west coast on the PCH1 (Pacific Coast Highway 1) to Vancouver BC. I will then cross Canada all the way to Nova Scotia turning back into the USA through Boston, Provincetown and Marthas Vineyard and on to New York City for my flight home.
All together from LA to NYC will be around 6000-7000 miles in 6 1/2 weeks.
Taking advantage of the drop in prices I have already booked flights from London to Mexico City via Frankfurt then to LAX and returning home from NYC. I depart on the 29th June and arrive home on the 26th August.. just got to wait Covid out and see what happens.
As I am in planning mode I have already contacted Motofreight for an estimate to fly the Fatboy over to LA and am just stunned at the current price. If I was sending her now it would cost in excess of £4000… over double what I paid in 2018 and another £1000 to return her by sea. Prices have gone through the roof because of Covid! Isn’t it amazing how flight costs for me have dropped but, for freight, have increased a hundred fold. Therefore, at the moment, this is not an option.
I have been looking at bikes for sale in LA and given the good dollar to GBP rate at the moment I could get a decent/recent bike for around $5000 which is about £3,700 plus the cost of the new title so approx £4000 in total, but I would then be able to either bring the bike back to the UK for sale or sell it in the States before I leave to try and recoup some of the cost. I could also, if I can find somewhere to store it of course, leave it in the States for future adventures; however, I believe I would have to return within the following 2 years to re-register the bike before the maximum 2 years registration expires – I will need to check out the regulations in New York for this.
Of course, if I buy, it would not be possible to get a Harley this time as $5000 wouldn’t buy a good enough tourer, but some of the bigger Jap Cruisers are available with low miles and in great condition and having owned a Yamaha Dragstar in the past am very happy to go with another one.
Rental for this length of time is still not an option.
All this depends of course on Covid restrictions and I will have to sell my Harley Fatbob 114 to fund the trip, I don’t want to exhaust all my pension savings.
So, in a nutshell, this is the proposed Grand Tour 2021 or 22 or… watch this space!
I look forward to it xxx
Sounds epic Pogs. I have a friend in Vancouver – let me know if you want me to check out if they have a spare room – not a biker sorry – but definitely a free spirit.
Hi Julia… that would be great, thank you. This is a trip on a very much slimmer shoestring than usual, I might even take some camping kit with me to wild camp some of the time and save costs. It would be fantastic to find places to stay with some kind souls who might take pity on me from the WRWR days and dykes on bikes groups.