Tell us where to go (Planning 3k mile ride - northwest....CA, NV, UT, ID, WA)

Since ADVRIDER and it's members provide such a wealth of information, I figured I'd ask for some help with planning our next big trip.
The GF and I are planning to do a +/- 3,000 mile loop like the one in the map below. We'll have about 13 days to do it and will be going towards the end of August. The original plan was to go up along the coast then thru Portland and Seattle and up into Victoria, but I thought something like what I have here would be the better way to go. We could always hit the coast on the way back. What I have mapped here is a rough idea of what I had in mind, but it seems like there's some mind-numbing sections in there. I haven't gotten into planning the ACTUAL roads we would take. I'd like to get people's input here before I start that process. Anyway.....
Here are my questions to everyone:

1. Any suggestions on the route?
2. What part of this route would you change?
3. Any suggestions on different or additional destinations?
4. What "must" roads would you recommend? (we're on 2 ducati's so no off-roading). We usually like to stay away from the interstates. Not as boring and gives a better feel for the towns we're going through.

As a side note: We've done multiple 3,000+ mile trips before, so we're not strangers to trips like this. Those trips though were on the east coast. This will be our first long trip out west and want to make the most of it.

Thanks to everyone for your input......

I'd head north out of SF and get this done first. Maybe throw in a little 'coast' time through WA. If you're going to Victoria you're prolly going to Butchart Gardens. DO NOT MISS... www.evergreenmuseum.org/ while going through OR. Is Crater Lake on that route? It should be if you haven't seen it.

Mount St Helens and visitor center is well worth it. Hwy 2 in northern WA gets you off the main roads and is very scenic. Stay on it into ID & MT. What, no Glacier or at least near this area. Down to Missoula(smoke jumpers tour at the airport is cool). From here it's south on 93, or head a bit east. Nice little loop through Phillipsburg is fun.

Now you're getting close to Yellowstone, or at least West YS.
Soon you'll be heading into UT. Nothing there really. Just Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce & Zion. Hwy 12 south of Torrey has to be ridden!

This will get the juices flowing I hope. Also check byways.org

Great advice. Gonna work on the route a bit. Hopefully I have enough days to squeeze a bit more in there. If you think of anything else let me know. Thanks again.

Heading north, I'd take Hiway 1/101 all the way up the coast. You can take the ferry to Victoria out of Port Angeles. Also, as samthg mentioned, start at San Francisco first. Then when you get to the more inland routes, it will be slightly later in the year and the temperatures will likely be a little more forgiving.

Another vote also for Crater Lake and Hiway 12 in Utah.

If you have the time, you might also want to consider taking Hiway 12 west from Missoula, Montana. This is the Lolo Pass route and is a really great road.

+1 for Hwy 1/101 up the coast from SF. I-5 is a real drone though it is scenic from Shasta to Eugene. You should really see the Oregon coast and the Calif. Redwoods.
The ferry from Sidney to Anacortes through the San Juan Islands is my favorite.
Are you camping or motels???
If you have time to explore Vancouver Island I like the ride up to Nanaimo/Parksville and take Hwy 4 to the west coast and see Tofino and Ucluelet and the Pacific Rim Park Reserve, maybe spend the night?
If you are heading east across Washington I highly recommend Hwy SR 20 from Burlington east over the Cascades. Seattle traffic can be brutal.
That's all I have to add........

>"Heading north, I'd take Hiway 1/101 all the way up the coast."

Ditto... Hwy 5 is pretty boring. Lots of the best riding in California is east to west.

Hwy 1 north of SF.
Hwy 101 to hwy 36
36 to I-5
299 back to the coast... of 199 back to the coast.
101 north in Orygun.

My bad, I had actually moved the route to the cost previous to posting that screenshot, but when I added another destination it must have reset it to I-5. I'm with you guys....I wouldn't dream of taking I-5 up that way.
You guys make a good point about starting that way (along the coast). I had planned on doing that on the way back.
Oh and definitely adding crater lake. Thanks guys.

Thanks for the tip. Just looked into this. While doing so I came across an article that say this is also the less "rocky" ride to get there. So aside from the more scenic, this also seems to be the more bike friendly and SEA-SICK friendly route (Apparently the BLACK-BALL ferries are the worst)

We'll be staying in Hotels/motels.

Great idea. I hadn't really even thought of it, but just checked and it's really not THAT far a ride. Should work to go there and sound the night.

Thinking that with the time that we have available (14 days), this might be the way to go. This will give us a few additional days for places like Seattle, Victoria and Ucluelet. This has us taking the coast pretty much all the way up. I added Crater Lake as most of you suggested. Anything else you would recommend for the trip back south?

You mentioned that you will be staying in hotels. We stayed at Paul's Motor Inn in Victoria -- not overly fancy, but clean and reasonably priced. It's within walking distance to downtown Victoria. It's also on the bus route and we took the bus to Butchart Gardens instead of the bike, so we didn't have to spend a lot of hours walking around the gardens in our riding gear.

http://www.paulsmotorinn.com/

We're not going to worry too much about where we stay with the exception of the more notable stops (Seattle, Victoria, etc). In Victoria we'll likely splurge and stay at the same place we stayed at when we were there in Victoria a few years back (Fairmont). Yikes!! I think saying the name just now cost me money!!! I know, I know....not exactly "roughing it".

In Idaho I really enjoyed the Boise, Banks, Lowman, Idaho City, Boise loop.

Rated pretty highly by Pashnit.com too.

Good luck and have fun, Mark H.

Man that looks great too. Unfortunately it does look like I'd have enough time to get out that far west and have pretty much nixed the idea of Nevada and Idaho.

Here's what I have so far:
Click HERE for Google map route

Anyone have any thoughts on the route coming back from Victoria? (other than Crater lake, which I have included).

You are going to trade Idaho for Ca./Nv./ Or dessert stretches.????......Ugh! If you incorporate the potato state once north of boise A WAYS go from Grangeville down to Kooskia, Then Orofino, Thenthe back way to Kendrick by the reservoir, then up to St Maries, then Harrison and along Lk Coeur d'Alene, you would not be sorry.

Unfortunately we just wouldn't have the time for the first route. The way you suggest would be something like this (wouldn't it also take us through some pretty barren stretches?):
Google map here

I'm assuming that each green dot on your map is an overnight stop. I believe you could go further on some of your days than you've planned. For instance, Day 1 you could probably get to Eureka, or at least further north than Mendocino (nothing wrong with Mendocino, but it's pretty much in your backyard, you can go there anytime.... on the other hand, you can't get a two week trip into Oregon and Washington very often.... unless you have a trust fund or made a mint in some internet start-up.... ) Personally, I would use the extra time to do more east-west rides on the twisty mountain roads in Oregon and Washington. Same with the Sierras, best roads are east-west, but again, those you can do in a weekend. Looks like a great trip!!

]Unfortunately we just wouldn't have the time for the first route. The way you suggest would be something like this (wouldn't it also take us through some pretty barren stretches?):
Google map here

If you were to go from Grangeville, ID to Cambridge,ID, (which would include a really cool stretch of the Salmon River).. at cambridge you could drop down into Hells canyon,, google it.. then form there to Baker City.. then head toward Steens maybe?? (If you had time there is a spectacular route form near Oxbow, FS Rd 39, paved to Joseph OR)..

IF you reveres the loop to CCW direction you could also do the really cool trip from Seattle down to Hood River as suggested, then cut over to the coast

Looks like an awesome trip have fun!

I've never objected to dessert stretches...I'm always on the lookout for ice cream, fudge, chocolate cake....