Have motorcycle, will travel...
The decision
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Epilogue
Links
Tips for long trips
Photo album

4104
San Francisco, CA to Albany, NY in 14 days and 4,104 miles

I'm building this site to share my experiences as the new owner of a 1996 Harley-Davidson Sportster 883. I bought the bike from a friend in the 1st week of August 2000. The bike had just over 10,000 miles and was stock except for some way too loud Screamin' Eagle pipes, drag bars and forward foot controls. As soon as I got the bike, the first thing I did was bring it in for it's 10k service, swap out the SE's for the stock pipes and switch the handlebars back to stock. I know how stupid it sounds to put the stock pipes back on but I did not want to attract too much attention as I was about to make a cross country trip on this bike on my learners permit. As the bike was with the SE's, I was setting off car alarms everywhere I went; funny but not good.

The next thing I did was head south out of San Francisco shooting for my parents house in Albany, NY. Take a look around for pictures of my trip and a description of my 14 day first ride on my new bike.

MiddleofNowhereCA.jpg

Day 2; mid-afternoon somewhere along route 152, west of the San Luis Reservoir, central valley California.

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