Chicago to Manitowoc: my first long trip!

So, after my bike sat for 3 weeks with a clogged #2 carb, last Thursday night I got everything put back together and she runs! Runs well, I might add. Thanks to Oblivion for letting me use his Colortune.

Saturday afternoon, my buddy, his wife and myself set out on our bikes (they were on their '77 CB750k). The weather was fantastic: mid-80's and sunny all weekend, not much wind. Trip route was (generally):

US-12 NW out of Arlington Heights
Wisconsin State Road 50 East to
Highway P North to
Wisconsin SR 36 Northeast into Milwaukee. Stopped for gas and got on
Wisconsin SR 241/51 North to
I-94/US-41 East to downtown Milwaukee.
Got off and took Lake Drive North up the coast,
Stopped for dinner in Whitefish Bay, then continued North on Lake Dr.
Then, Lake Drive got tricky to follow...methinks the owners of lakefront houses don't want tourist traffic clogging up their street. Anyhow, we went on Lake Dr. as far as we could, including a jog that took us down Fairy Chasm Rd. I will NEVER live on a street called Fairy Chasm, on principle alone.
After getting out of Milwaukee we ended up on Port Washington Rd, then over to Hwy C near the shore. Went through downtown Port Washington and up Hwy II ('aye-aye', not 'two') to
Hwy P North, to
Lake Church Rd. North. to State Hwy. D, here I made my first gas stop.
From there, we got on I-43 North and booked it for Manitowoc as it was getting late (and cold).

In the morning, we headed down Lake Shore Dr. to Sheboygan, got off and walked the pier there and headed out of town on 28 West.
From there we took WSR-57 South to I-43, then stopped for lunch and gas at Brown Deer Rd (WSR-100).
Took Brown Deer Rd. West to Hwy. Y South, eventually ended up on YY South, and then took a roundabout way to get back on WSR-36 West. We took this back to US-12, and headed back the way we came.

All in all, a pretty cool trip and it went darned smoothly considering that we only had hours to plan it. We would have liked to avoid freeways entirely, but it was nice. A few things I've learned:

1) An '82 XJ550 Maxim seat is pretty hard after 50 miles, let alone 200 per day.
2) A windshield is downright necessary for sustained cruising above 60mph.
3) Rear springs could have been set softer.
4) There isn't a much better way to see the country on a nice day than on the back of a motorcycle.
5) 57.6mpg (trip avg) is easy to achieve when you're not dragging a dead cylinder along for the ride! Before fixing that #2 carb, I was getting around 40mpg. During the trip I was getting around 140mi. to reserve.

And finally, my Google quote of the day:

"Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel coast-to-coast without seeing anything."
-Charles Kuralt

 

I wish I would've been around instead of in Iraq, I'm orig from sheboygan, would have been nice to ride with a fellow xjer, how'd ya like sheboygan, heck you passed by my old place on your way out of town.

 

I love Sheboygan! I used to crew on my buddys SCCA Camaro, and when we went to Road America we would stay in Sheboygan. Nice little town. We went once during a fishing tournament in June...I think it was a trout festival? And there was an Italian restaurant at the south end of downtown that had the bessssst wood fired pizza! That was about 5 years ago tho and I didnt check to see if it was still there.

When do you get back?

 

I should be back in the states in about 2 months, I prob won't make it to WI till DEC time. If all goes as planned, I'm going to try and ride home next spring/summer time, not sure though it's like 12-1300 miles GA to WI. I guess it all depends on what shape she's in by then, I have 69K on her now and since I be a southeren again, I get to ride year round and plan on it to.

 

Well cool, I hope she fires right up for you when you get home. Mine had 11 years of stagnant gasoline in the carbs and it didn't want to wake up. Hope to see you in the spring!

 

Sounds like a good ride!! Next time you make a trip up, shoot me an email and maybe we can go for a ride together, if i'm still in town..

 

Still in town? Planning a move in the near future?

 

well i am in the military.. i'll be leaving sometime in Dec, or Jan.. for training, and then i'm off to my new station where that is i don't know yet