The main purpose of the Indiana 340-36 road trip was to have fun riding and camping with friends. However, a close second purpose was to flush out the mechanics of taking such a trip and fine tune our ability to navigate, ride, camp, and otherwise carry out such a journey. I’m happy to report that on both accounts, we succeeded.
First, everyone was safe. We made our way down the road in formation with 7 riders and 2 chase vehicle as well as two more cars arriving at camp separately. All in all we had 14 people, 7 motorcycles, 4 cars, two camp stoves, a fire and tents… lots of tents with guy wires in the dark… and we had no injuries to report of any kind. So that is the biggest win right there.
Second, we had a terrifically good time. To have a decent size group of men together for 36 hours and no arguments – political, religious or even about coffee flavors. Our group was top shelf dudes for sure, but even with the best of people in this close contact and add in the stressors of travel and such and the possibility for at least a good debate increases dramatically. We had no such issues… in fact, not since Robin Hood has there been a bunch of merrier men. Again, big win!
Third, there were no significant mechanical issues. I mean the headlight on the CT70 fell off in the first 30 miles, and we had two bikes with charging issues that turning off the headlight and tightening the battery cable fixed. Annnnddd, the little CT70 with the “big block” in it did leak enough oil to be turned into the EPA as a natural disaster… well, maybe not that much, but it smoked and smelled awesome.
Next, the route was amazing. Short of mountain vistas and seaside views, you won’t find a better set of roads anywhere on the planet than we had for this trip. There were super small, tight, rugged lanes, and smooth rolling curvy ribbons of fresh asphalt… in just the right proportions. We had planned frequent stops where 45min to an hour in the seat was the longest we spent in any single session. It kept us from getting tired or sore. When planning we thought the stops might be too frequent, but as it turns out, the timing was spot on and just what the trip needed.
Finally, navigation and the tech we used also worked out fine too. If there are improvements to be made, this is an area where we learned. The Furkot trip planning software was great, and we divided each day’s ride into four segments and exported them into the Rever app to navigate point to point. We had a few small glitched with the app not recognizing a waypoint and trying to navigate us back in a circle to a spot we had already passed. It wasn’t a big deal, but knowing how the app wants to hit waypoints we can plan better next time. There was only two of us using the Rever app, and a third had a Garmin going. On future trips, it will be highly advised for everyone to have navigation running – it makes anticipating the next corner possible and much safer.
All in all, the trip was a big success, and now we turn our sights on bigger adventures… and many more of these scale as well.
Thanks to everyone who joined in the fun – and for those who didn’t make this one… we’ll catch you up on the next adventure.
