Traveling route 66
 

I'm toying with the idea of doing the classic route by motorcycle. I'm currently searching the web for info but was hoping youse guys have experience to share.

I wouldn't start in Chicago. More likely to pick it up somewhere in Missouri....maybe

Not much left of it. I’ve driven most of it in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. This link is pretty good for giving you information on it. You don’t need to buy the book. The link has maps for each state and what there is to see.

https://roadtrippers.com/the-ultimate-guide-route-66/

Thanks even if I travel 66 adjacent it'll still take through the same locales right?

Yes, it will get you close in a lot of places. That link I gave you has maps for individual states and you can zoom in to see what there is to see at each of the waypoints.

There is a Harley Dealership in San Diego that would rent bikes for European Tourists to ride from Chicago to L.A. on Route 66. I do not know which one, but my next door neighbor worked there. (swiss). Her name was Natalie.

They had Swiss ski instructors lead the runs. I think they ran once a week, since they needed to service the bike and then ship them back to Chicago.

Here is the site:

https://www.sandiegoharley.com/

https://www.eaglerider.com/self-drive-motorcycle-tours/route-66-self-guided-motorcycle-tour

Flat, I am not anti Route 66 but there are much better roads once you get west/west.

I would dip my toe in certain sections, but that is about it.

Thanks man I hear you. This may one of the last years that I can ride on 2 wheels solo so I'm wide open as to what happens. It really remains to be seen how much of 66 I can really ride. My goal is to just get into the wind again

Some of the remaining sections of Rt 66 still exist but you have to hunt them out in areas. There are areas that disappear into neighborhoods/desert/forest but you're still on it. Other stretches are not maintained or marked very well on a map.

There are stretches where you'll be on I40 when the actual Rt 66 is paralleling a alongside (the asphalt is still there but the road may or may not be open to traffic).

When are you thinking of heading out?

I’m about a year out from a circle of the States with my best buddy.

This summer, but I do a road trip every year.

I caught bits and pieces of it here and there on my drive back from LA last fall. Couple of cool things along the way but not the " ride through nostalgia" that I expected.

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There are stretches of it that I’ve been on west of Tulsa that parallel newer 2 lane highways. You can’t really travel very far on the old Route 66, but it’s worth investigating just to see how narrow the road originally was.

Did NM to home. Lots of broken bits and pieces and it took me a couple days. Once I entered CA, I stuck around until the area of Amboy or the Mojave Preserve, I cut south and drove home through little roads. I think the area between the western AZ and CA is really boring with not much to see but desert. I wouldn't drive it again. TAke Paul's advice, he know those roads in and out of the eastern CA like in the back of his hands becaue he's driven them many times in and out of those military bases.

Thanks guys , it sounds like a revision is in order, but that's cool I'm easy.

Interesting OP. I have been toying with this as well.

There are some interesting places along Rt 66 between Tulsa and Oklahoma City. The rock cafe is where the writers for the movies Cars saw the inspiration for Sally Carrera in the owner. It is in Stroud, OK. Try to get there at an off peak time, it is always busy.

There is a motorcycle museum, the Acadia round barn, Pops just down the road from there. Rt 66 is just a few miles from my house. Locally it winds around OKC in a crazy pattern. Part of it is called Kelly Ave goes right past the local Porsche dealership. Part of Kelly is old enough that the cobblestones show through the worn asphalt. The tires of both of my cars have touched the cobblestones of the original Rt66.

Out west of Oklahoma City are several small cities, and a museum. One section of road is left very original going into Calumet, OK. It is two lanes wide, and it would be terrifying to come over a hill and see a 18 wheeler coming the other way. The road is narrow. Heck, two modern SUVs. or the overgrown pickups that are popular now. The road has curbs, and no shoulder, so there is really nowhere to go. The good news is it is very little used. I-40 is in view just to the south of it.

If you get to town around a meal time I know several great restaurants and I would love to meet up with you. I met Vinnie at a local pub-brewery right on Rt-66. He said he liked the place. If you ate at all the great restaurants along 66 you will never get to finish your trip in under a month.

One of my friends runs a wonderful VFW museum right on Rt66. We can have him open the place and you can spend hours looking at the artifacts of many veterans from every war, and talk to a volunteer.

The route's changed more than a few times, too. It even included Santa Fe NM at some point, with lots more that isn't I-40. I'm not sure where to research that though...

The old Harvey House in Winslow is cool BTW, as is the nearby crater. A pleasant detour in the area would be Painted Desert/Petrified Forest park then out the south end and back NW to Holbrook. A nice shift away from the interstate tedium.

The desert can be quite impressive, depending on time of year.

Rte 66 from Kingman to Needles (through Oatman) is a pretty darned cool strip of, very twisty, asphalt.

Topock AZ has a big stretch of RT. 66 along the Cali side of the Colorado river. Driven a golf cart on it many times recalling my parents coming to Cali from Indiana in the late 50's .

https://www.theroute-66.com/oatman.html