On the Road with H-D, but not A/S ???

[wagnerda]

Hi again,

I am presently about 2/3 way thru an 8,000 mile road trip, but unlike my long trip last year (with my 19' Bambi) this year I left the Bambi at home and instead took my Harley.

My original, original, plan was to take the Harley and have my wife drive the pickup and tow the Airstream so I could have all the creature comforts, but suffice it to say that she was not "in tune" with that plan, so instead I took my tent and sleeping bag roll on the back of the Harley and headed out. Main destination was the big Black Hills (Sturgis) motorcycle rally in South Dakota. One other guy I know decided to ride along (although he rides a BMW not a Harley).

Now, before anyone gets upset about this is supposed to be only about Airstreams, I thought I would just add some comments about the differences I am noting about the relative comforts of travelling with the Airstream as compared to travelling with the other American Classic (Harley-Davidson).

So far it has been great weather. Left Maryland on Sat Jul 26th and headed into Ohio, and even passed thru JC once again just to see how everything was (see pics 1 & 2).

I also find that without the Airstream I am much more likely to stop at a diner or other place for meals as comapred to making a sandwich out of the Airstream frig.

Camped the first nite in Lima Ohio, and the big difference there was in setup and cooking. When I am by myself in the Airstream I never put down the stabalizers because I don't notice the movement if just I am walking around so once I pull into a campsite I am "setup" in just a few minutes.

Camping with the Harley though involves setting up a tent, self-inflating air mattress and other hassles. I definitely missed the Airstream. But all in all it worked out fine. The next nite was over the Mackinaw bridge into U.P. Michigan. Then we went thru Wisconsin and my brother joined up with his Harley so the group was now three...

Nicest part of travelling with the Harley is pulling into gas stations when you are getting an average of 42 miles per gallon... That really helps out.

So, somehow or other 2 weeks have gone by and we are now on our way back. 5,000+ miles of riding and only got rained on for 20 miles so really great weather.

It would be really nice to have the Airstream along though, so somehow I have to figure out a way to have both. I have attached some pics for your reference since they say much more than my explanations can.

best regards, Dave

[TBRich]

Hey Dave...glad to hear the Big H-D trip is going well...yeah, you gotta figure out a way to get the Bambi to go along with ya with the Harley... Good luck on that, though!

Travel safe and have a blast...

[AirsDream]

There are times I'd like to be able to take the bike along (she's a BMW RT) and make the A/S the "home base" for day rides and short multi-day trips. But it doesn't work out well ... I deliberately opted for a short-bed pickup, and outside of buying an SOB toy hauler, don't think it's gonna' happen.

So sometimes I take A/S trips, and sometimes I take bike trips. Each has its special moments and joys. I do wish the bike had a fridge for a chilly one and a more comfortable mattress! (But then again, sometimes I wish the A/S carved turns like the bike, so ...)

Ryanh