ROUTE 66

Sea Dog is correct Rte 66 basically no longer exists except for a few remnants of a bygone era. There are places where signs direct you to an exit where you can ride on old Rte 66, a lot of them parallel I-40 or I-44 within spitting distance, not exactly scenic. If you pass through a town like Tucumcari you will start riding on Rte 66 but, within a mile or two 66 ends and you will be forced onto the freeway. As others have suggested I would stay in the west, lots of better rides in the Four Corners area (Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New mexico) There is a nice stretch of Rte 66 from Seligman to Kingman Arizona but, even that is only about 90 miles.
 
Rt66 in Arizona

I jut rode the section from Seligman to Peach Springs and back; there is one curvy bit and 1 13 mile long straight stretch. There are a lot more interesting roads in AZ to ride.
Also, be aware of the temperatures; riding in the south west in the summer can be brutal.
 
For the Grand Canyon, stay in Williams and take the historic train.

+1 :thumb2 I enjoyed Williams in 2012 and breakfast there a few weeks ago, but wasn’t keen on the Bright Angel Lodge on the south rim this time. There are far too many people.

If you want to spend a few nights at the GC, the north rim is much nicer :beerjug:
 
Good advice has already been given


....Also, be aware of the temperatures; riding in the south west in the summer can be brutal.

Indeed, August is going to be pretty warm. Just a thought, you could start in Denver and ride Colorado then loop around into southern Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and back to Denver.
 
We drove a bit of it on route from Grand Canyon to Las Vegas just for a break from the monotony of Interstate 40. It's nice to have done it and we ate at the "famous" Roadkill Cafe, tag line "You kill it, we grill it". Decent breakfast with good coffee.

http://www.route66seligmanarizona.com/the-roadkill-cafe.html

The road itself is nothing special. It's a road with a song about it. In the late 1970s loads of americans travelled to London to see Baker St because of the Gerry Rafferty song, only to find that's nothing special either.

The Zion, Bryce, Antelope Canyons, Lake Powell, Glen Canyon dam circle is the business though. So many roadworks and diversions around Hoover Dam that we missed it.
 
The Zion, Bryce, Antelope Canyons, Lake Powell, Glen Canyon dam circle is the business though. So many roadworks and diversions around Hoover Dam that we missed it.

That area is an absolute jewel and why people choose to ride R66 instead of areas like this is utterly beyond me.
 
This thread is really interesting for me. I am in Vegas for work from 1-4 April and on the Thursday afternoon, am planning to hire a bike from Eagle Riders, have a bit of a ride that afternoon and then on the Friday morning, search out some nice roads. I am looking for an itinerary where I head out of Las Vegas and have a days ride to somewhere nice to stay before riding back to Las Vegas via a slightly different route. Any suggestions would be most welcome.
 
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This thread is really interesting for me. I am in Vegas for work from 1-4 April and on the Thursday afternoon, am planning to hire a bike from Eagle Riders, have a bit of a ride that afternoon and then on the Friday morning, search out some nice roads. I am looking for an itinerary where I head out of Las Vegas and have a days ride to somewhere nice to stay before riding back to Las Vegas via a slightly different route. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Did similar a few years back

In a day you have time to visit the valley of fire national park and also the Hoover dam
 

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This thread is really interesting for me. I am in Vegas for work from 1-4 April and on the Thursday afternoon, am planning to hire a bike from Eagle Riders, have a bit of a ride that afternoon and then on the Friday morning, search out some nice roads. I am looking for an itinerary where I head out of Las Vegas and have a days ride to somewhere nice to stay before riding back to Las Vegas via a slightly different route. Any suggestions would be most welcome.

I'd get across to Death Valley which is a couple of hours away. Some great riding there and the weather will be reasonably cool. Go into the Valley via Shoshone and round to Badwater Basin and there are a couple of nice little rides off the highway liked the Artists Pallete. Some good places to stop and look at old mines as well. You could stay in Furnace Creek (I think there are rooms) and then head back via Dantes View which is a great ride.

You could have a loop round Red Rock Canyon on the way back.
 
I'd get across to Death Valley which is a couple of hours away. Some great riding there and the weather will be reasonably cool. Go into the Valley via Shoshone and round to Badwater Basin and there are a couple of nice little rides off the highway liked the Artists Pallete. Some good places to stop and look at old mines as well. You could stay in Furnace Creek (I think there are rooms) and then head back via Dantes View which is a great ride.

You could have a loop round Red Rock Canyon on the way back.

That is great to read. Many thanks for this. Much appreciated.
 
Eaglerider will help you with route maps and a variety of rental options one way or return from West coast or East coast
 
Still plenty of the original Mother Road left to ride on. Was just on a section out in New Mexico over Christmas. Get a route guide/book. When we rode it from Chicago go LA we used Tom Snyder’s guide - was excellent. Made notes in the margins along the way, which bring back great memories when I read them now.

If you want to ride it the “right” way, ride from Chicago to LA (you know, like the song says!). Downside is you will do a lot of riding with the sun in your eyes. Don’t do it in the summer - it’s hotter than h*ll across most of it that time of year. We did it in October - a little on the late side, but overall very good - got cold in New Mexico.

If you start in Chicago, you must start with breakfast at Lou Mitchell’s diner. It’s across the street from an historic Route 66 road sign marking the official beginning of Route 66.
 
That area is an absolute jewel and why people choose to ride R66 instead of areas like this is utterly beyond me.

+1 on that but I guess if you don't know about these areas then you go with conventional wisdom - but that's what makes this forum so good.

I toured the West back in the very early nineties and was blown away by it. We don't have anything like it in Europe. I had an amazing time even though we went in May and froze our knackers off in the evenings as it felt everything out there was above 6,000 feet. If I had 2-3 weeks I would look to build something around the following destinations (I think you'd struggle to fit it all in so it's a pick and choose) then look at Google Maps to pick the best roads between each point. I'm sure you could tie in elements of Route 66 along the way. Many of the destinations have been stated on this thread already:

San Fran - Yosemite Valley/Tuolumne Meadows - Tioga Pass/Mono Lake - Death Valley - Las Vegas/Valley of Fire state park - Zion NP - Bryce Canyon NP - Canyonlands NP - Arches NP - Mesa Verde NP - Canyon de Chelly - Monument Valley - Grand Canyon - Joshua Tree - Sedona - Hwy 1 up the Californian coast from Santa Monica to SF

Moab is a great place, smack bang between Arches and Canyonlands NPs. It's also next to the Slick Rock bicycle trail . Las Vegas is a great option as a base for touring the desert and I believe Virgin fly direct, or at least they did, and I can see they have a big Harley dealership that I guess would do rentals.
 
Riding route 66 is on my bucket list and has been for many years.

I've never been to the states and going of this forum post, it would seem that route 66 has had its day and there are better options.
Especially if your visiting the states for the first time and want to take in the American atmosphere and great scenic places.

Route 66 was something i was going to do for my 50th, but never happened, that was 3 years ago!!

i have a holiday to Turkey booked this year and a Caribbean cruise in May, i seriously need to get this USA ride out of my system either late 2023 or in 2024.

just need to convince the wife to spend 2 weeks on the back of a Harley instead of lying on a beach somewhere :)
 
just need to convince the wife to spend 2 weeks on the back of a Harley instead of lying on a beach somewhere :)

My wife's a keen pillion, but even she refused point blank to ride on the back of a Harley. We were the only BMW RT riders in the desert South West :p
 

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RT is a nice 2-up motorcycle but so are the Harley tourers. My friend has a R1250RT and since getting it has struggled with hand numbness from carpal tunnel on longer rides. We once traded bikes for a while and he couldn't believe how smooth my Road King was compared to the RT. Harley tourers also handle surprisingly well. And HD dealers are everywhere in the US while BMW dealers can be few and far between, for instance there is not a BMW dealer anywhere in the State of WV but over a dozen HD dealerships. I'm not trying to talk anyone out of touring on whatever bike they like but I wouldn't rule out Harley Tourers, or Goldwings.
 
Riding route 66 is on my bucket list and has been for many years.

I've never been to the states and going of this forum post, it would seem that route 66 has had its day and there are better options.
Especially if your visiting the states for the first time and want to take in the American atmosphere and great scenic places.

Route 66 was something i was going to do for my 50th, but never happened, that was 3 years ago!!

i have a holiday to Turkey booked this year and a Caribbean cruise in May, i seriously need to get this USA ride out of my system either late 2023 or in 2024.

just need to convince the wife to spend 2 weeks on the back of a Harley instead of lying on a beach somewhere :)

There is so much more to see in the US than R66 and have a look at some of my trip reports. Happy to help you out with an itinerary if you need one.

Once you've ridden over there, whether on an HD or not, you will be spoiled as nowhere has that huge amount of scenery you find all over the US.

I've got a 2 week trip to Alaska next June which I'll put in the open invite trips in the next couple of days.
 


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