Great American Adventure

Here it is, Day 12 of James’s Great American Adventure (or GAA as I call it on Facebook – read more about it at my Facebook Author Page. So far, the trip has been relatively uneventful, but lots of saddle time – between 7 and 10 hours in the saddle each day (except the last two days, which I’ve only put in a couple of hours as I’ve reached my New England destination). Only one truly scary incident, and that was when I smelled gas. Turns out, my tank was leaking onto the engine (clearly identified after I had just spent an hour on the bike at 60 mph). Luckily, no flames, and I was able to fix the problem (turns out the bolts to the tank gasket had loosened enough that the gasket was leaking – easy fix, but required removing the tank first.).

If you haven’t traveled across America yet, I highly recommend doing so (I’ve done it a number of time – this is my third time on a motorcycle). The scenery is fantastic, especially if you stay off the interestates.

One thing about the Royal Enfield Himalayan (411 cc) is that it does not like highways, so the back roads have been my main transport links. 50 mph is a good speed for the Himi. It handled the curves through the Idaho and Montana mountains well, along with the curves of the Green Mountains in Vermont (although on some of those roads I worried, due to the poor quality of the roads).

In New Hampshire for a couple of days (family matter), then off to Shenandoah National Park where I’ll ride Skyline Drive and then the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. From there, dirt-road city baby – the Trans-America Trail to Oregon, then back home.