Route 66 Road Conditions

[macmike100]

I'm pretty new to Triking. One thing I noticed after buying my 2008 Honda 1800 CSC Trike was that, on a trike, you have a harder time missing bumps in the road. In fact while driving for the first time on a frontage road...and we all know how well frontage roads are maintained...the road had wrinkled in the Arizona sun and gave a horrible ride. And I couldn't miss any of the bumps because at least one wheel was always over them. Consequently I had to lower my speed a lot.

Since it has been our dream to ride old Route 66. I'm wondering now, because Route 66, like the frontage road, isn't repaved on a regular basis (I assume anyway) and thought I'd ask someone if this is a worry to be considered or not. I would hate to be on a road such as the frontage road near my home for such a long way. So...is old route 66 still rideable on a trike?

[Blondie Gal]

We hit parts of Route 66 during our 'big trip' last August - it didn't seem to be any worse than regular city streets anywhere in the country. Granted, we didn't go for any long distances, but I would think it is as well maintained as any other state highway. Other experiences??

[DakotaRider]

Don't know what psi you are running in the rears, but I have found 22 - 23 on rough roads sure does smooth out the ride on rougher roads. Of course, your mileage may vary. Ride safe and often.

[wingking51]

Did the entire route in Sept 2008 on 2 wheels. For the most part, road conditions were ok. The worst part was about 40 miles east of Barstow, CA. I was pulling a trailer and the road was real bad. I got on I-40 to finish ride into Barstow. We had one GW Trike that blew a fork seal and a Harley that lost all his rear lights on that particular section of the Mother Road. other than those 2 incidents, no problems from Chicago to Santa Monica.

[Boscoporp]

I have rode most of 66 and I found it to be in good condition but I was riding about 45 mph.

[Scalp Hunter]

agree with the comment about tire pressure. As Blondigal stated, we rode a good portion of 66 last fall, and other than adjusting speed on less traveled sections of the mother road, wasn't bad at all.

[macmike100]

This is really helpful. Unfortunately the trike I bought has those short racing type tires in the back that don't give much. But as expensive as tires are, I'm probably going to have to wear them down some before replacing them with regular larger type tires.
I believe this is a problem I'm going to have to deal with if I want a smoother ride. 2008 Honda GL1800 CSC Cobra trike.

[jim peacock]

Try lowering the tires down to 18 to 20 lbs.
Since I have never owned a 1800 I do not know much about the main setting on the bike.

[macmike100]

I'm afraid that if I lower the pressure too much on the rear tires, the rims of the wheels might hit. Very expensive looking rims too. Gosh, those tires are only about 2" between rim and road. And out in the boonies there's no air unless you pack a small 12V compressor. Something tells me this trike was not set up for hiking trails. I may drop it a tad though. Thanks for the suggestion.