Roadtrip USA!!!

Hi everyone! Let me introduce myself: my name is Josri Salem, I'm from Holland and I'm 26 years old. As an engineer I worked behind a desk for a while till the point that it got so depressing to me that I decided to quit, soled my stuff and went on a big adventure!

I have some frends near Orlando who I know from racing in Holland. One of them did a nice trip from California to florida a while back and also made a blog here. He told me he met a lot of nice people via advrider.com who gave him great advice and even places to stay!

Even dough I normaly ride sportbikes it just didnt feel right to do this on a non american bike, so here it is: 2004 harley sportster 1200 roadster


I started the trip a couple of days ago and I'm curently in hammond LA and wil go north and west from here tomorrow. Well... that was my introduction! Wil start writing my reports tomorrow, lots of cool crazy stuff already happend! Now to tired and hung over from last night haha;-)

Anyway, looking forward to getting good advice and meeting other people on this trip!

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I'm in.

I'll follow.

Sounds like a great trip to me! Enjoy the roads from a fellow Harley rider.

cross country on an American made bike and no trailor Im in .

Looks like an awesome trip!

How much range are you getting with the small gas tank?

120miles befor is goes on reserve so probably 150... hoping thats enough!

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Befor I started heading west I took a nice trip to the keys to practice if I would need any further preparations. All I had was a backpack and a tankbag. I soon found out that things were not as comfortabele as I had hoped for....

Here some picks:



Wenn I got back I looked for some sadlebags, highway pegs and a more comfortabele seat. But after doing the math I realised I had to be really carefull with my budget, money goes fast wenn your riding for 2 months! So I thought f*** it! I'll just have to ride here the way she is!

I took off last thursday and after an hour it started pooring with rain. Luckely I bought a rainsuit so I quickly put it on and took off again. I looked down.... shit! Rainpants way to short! Ofcourse after a while my boots got soaking wet. Each time a saw a car I thaught stupid me, I could have sat dry warm and comfortabele listening to some music in a nice car. Instead sitting on a moped cold and drained with a a backpack thats killing me. (Yeah I know this sounds like a sissy but please continue reading ;-)) I kept on riding like that for almost 300 miles till the point I really had enough. I stoped at a little restaurant in a town called Bonifay.


The owner of the place came to me asking about the bike, he was a midlle aged skinny guy with a mustache and true southern accent and named Steve, great! He loved my story so much he just went wild haha! He pointed at me and told all his custommers wat a awesome thing I was doing! Even told his staff he would soon also quit his job. He said there was a bikeweekend in panama so I might as wel stay here. I thaught hell yeah this is exactly wat this trip is all about! This is why doing it on a bike is the best way! Ofcourse the wet feet were long forgotten by now. Steve showed me around, showed me his own 1200 nightster and made sure I got the best hotelroom for the lowest price possible haha!

I actually lost my keys for a while so I put the bike in the hotelroom.... later found out the key got stuck under the magnet of the tankbag.... pffiew...

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More stories this evening! Its time to ride again! Now leaving from Hammond going up direction Arkansas! Please let me know if anyone has any good advice on nice roads, weatherforecast and places to stay!

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Josri! alright, time to head through the Ozarks!!! I don't think there's a bad road up there to be honest. Head north on some little two lanes then cross the Mississippi river in to Arkansas. You guys that live there, can you recommend Josri some awesome riding between where he is and say, Eureeka Springs/Fayettville area. I have a friend in Kingston, Ar so I'm gonna get these two hooked up when he gets up that way.

Hey pat! Nice to see you found my blog! Oef its getting late, need to start packing befor the Indian guy kicks my out of his motel haha

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Haha! Better get moving! I'd think from where you're at, head north a bit to maybe Brookhaven area, then jump on side roads and cross the river at either Natchez or Vicksburg and head towards Hot Springs Ar area perhaps. Could probably stay around there somewhere tonight then head north towards Russelville/Clarksville then jump on those beautiful mt roads heading north/northwest towards Kingston Ar. Hwy 7, hwy 21, hwy 123, hwy 16. You're gonna love riding up there! Alright locals, point him down some good roads!

I have a nice set of throwover saddlebags you are welcome to have if we can meet up someplace. I am in Texas about 60 miles ENE of Amarillo. About 25 miles north of I-40.

Drop me a note when you get close to Los Angeles. I can give you a hand with servicing the bike and other stuff you might need.

"I actually lost my keys for a while so I put the bike in the hotelroom.... later found out the key got stuck under the magnet of the tankbag.... pffiew..."



Always have a spare key .... keep it IN your tank bag, not underneath it.

Hey guys thanx for the responses! If those sadlebags fit a sportster I might adjust my route to meet you, that backpack is really getting anoying! Haha yes Luckely I was smart enough to cary a extra set of keys, (I know how chaotic I can be...) but was still scared someone took my keys and would steal the bike! Oké thats enough chatting, time to start rollin!

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Super nice! It is my dream to do a trip like this . Need to work a bit more though, because it can get quite expensive I think .

Veel plezier, ik volg zeker!

Not sure if they'll fit or not as I've never owned a Sportster. Here are some pics with a measuring tape (inches) for reference. They have the rain covers and (I think) all related straps. I also have a rear seat bag (tail pack it might be called) you can have if it will work.

Unfortunately those are exactly the same bags that my frends in Orlando had and they wouldnt fit, they were touching the exhaust... thanx anyway! Pretty amazing to me how much help people offer me out here! Do you have a picture of the rear seat bag? Maby that one wil work.
I'll try to finish my report on my last couple of days, my Phone is giving me a hard time so I hope it works out...

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So I folowed steve's (guy from the restaurant) advice and rode to the panama bikeweek. On the way there found out that the rain from the day befor had kiled my gauges! Shit this means guessing how much fuel I have left... anyway got to panama beach and (no offence to who might have been there aswel) I saw a lot of midlifcrised man drest up in leathers making a lot of noise! Haha no that just wasnt my scène so got back on the bike and continued going south again! In mobile alabama I stoped for the night. Went for a drink in the bar next to the motel and got totaly waisted with a jung local guy named henry! we got allong really wel and sheared a lot of stories. He said I had changed his life! Haha how cool is that! Next day I had such a bad hangover dough that I could hardly ride... by the end of the day I even went a long way riding in the oposite direction for a while! Found a motel in Hammond louisiana and passed out immediatly.

Next day I was really looking forward to, I had enough of the boring straight coast roads and it was time to go north! My frend pat gave me some good advice to go towards hotsprings and so I did! Man this country is just beutyfull! For a european it is just amazing how much space there is! Also seeing the old little towns with abandoned shops and cars is magical!

I crossed the missisippi in vicksburg and went north again in ruston. I got on highway 7 and gave it full throttle all the way to hotsprings! Man that was perect! Loved it! Also first time I could really see how the little sportster handles the corners and I was definately not disapointed! Unfortunately phone battery was dead so no pics of these gorgeus woods and roads with a low sun! Wow! Great! A roadtrip is just magical...

I went to a bar to have a beer befor I calling it a day (yes i love bars...;-)) met a real nice lady and she wil probably make me stay here one more night... ;-)

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