Route 66

[garyb69]

Hey Guys, i am the big 50 in a couple of years and been thinking of doing Route 66 with a mate of mine to celebrate the occasion (if i make it that far). Been looking online and for us in England with flights, bike hire, hotels and the whole shebang its looking at 8500 of your US dollars each. Does this seem about right to you guys? Do you recon there is a cheaper way of doing it? And if any off you have rode it (which i am sure you have), is it worth all that dollar? Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[gabe]

Yikes...guessing 1200-1500 of that is flight...even if avg hotel was 150 per night that would be another 1500 for 10 nights...so that puts you at 3k roughly...how much are the bikes? Hell for 5k you could buy a decent bike....don't know what I'm missing.

 

[Wills67]

Hate to say it, but it sounds like a bunch of tourist crap to me. What are you really trying to achieve? Most of the "real" Route 66 isn't even there anymore. Is Chicago to LA the trip you want to make? I know you can rent for about $130 to $150 per day. Then there is the flight plan and hotels. A lot of what you will run is just highway 40. Might want to think about how long you plan to spend in the USA and then look at some specific ride itineraries. 1 week? 2 weeks? Badlands into the Rockies could be pretty awesome. If you then have enough time, go on to Cali and ride the coast down to LA.

 

[jjarkys]

I agree. I think you could do a lot more for a lot less with a well planned trip to some specific places. There are several resources available online. A well planned gps route to several of these locations combined with some general site seeing would be better. IMO.

http://www.motorcycleroads.com/best/?s=75

If your set on 66. Check this out.

http://www.historic66.com/books/book-ezguide.html

 

[gabe]

Agree 100% with both above comments. I live in Mid Missouri and there are some older sections of route 66 still around, basically they are Interstate 44 outer roads, and not fantastically maintained.

 

[JeffM]

Hi Gary, Went in 06, boy i hope you have good kidneys and faulse teeth, boy thay track is rough. Unless your a nostelger buff, get the movie. Billy Connolly even had a ride double and trailer for the rough bits on a trike.
As for costs Bike hire through HOG is about $100/day and we allowed $100/day for food, booze and accom............easy done. Motels are/were $35-$45/ nite split x 2.
Do not eat at McDonnalds, they don't use real meat in the US.....little sign under menu....TASTES LIKE REAL BEEF. yuck. Dinners were excellent and most road side bars did good food, LV is a week day only visit, almost all roads are perfect, scenery amaizing, people friendly and welcoming. Pulled into a one horse town to get gas and a feed, stayed 4 days, those mid western gals sure are friendly.
Just go with an open mind and have a ball, i had several.