Hello!
We just returned to St. Louis, Mo. from our Deals Gap ride. The Gap itself is a must-do for any motorcyclist, and the roads surrounding the area are a treat all by themselves.
I rode my ZRX1100, riding friend was on his GSXR1000, and we both had RevPack Tourpacks. These bags are ideal, low cost, holds a lot and they don't move at all on the bike regardless of speed. Quality is excellent, I highly recommend them.
My riding gear consisted of Held Hawk all-weather gloves, Oxtar Gore-Tex Matrix boots, FirstGear Kilimanjaro Jacket and matching overpants. For the higher temps, I brought along my FirstGear Mesh Pants and Vortec Jacket. Helmet is a Shoei RF800.
It was drizzling when we left St Louis at 6:30 a.m. Sat May 17, but mostly cleared up, the ride through Illinois and Kentucky was great--good weather, very scenic. Into Tennessee, the last 175 miles was in a blinding rainstorm with fog, and at times I crawled along at 40 mph on the interstate due to poor visibility. For anybody considering an all-season jacket, pants, or boots...The Kilimanjaro setup kept me totally dry, likewise the Oxtar boots.
The Gap is an excellent test of rider and machine, and unless you've been through it, words can't do it justice. Riding it 3 times, riding the Parkway and surrounding roads, couldn't get any better. Most of the evening meals were at the Texas Roadhouse, tremendous food and service.
This ride was a chance for a dozen or so Cycle World Forum users that converse regularly with each other to put faces with the names. We had planned this get-together for several months, and we had riders show up from Massachusetts, Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, Connecticut, Florida, and Georgia. One came in from Canada also.
The bikes included my ZRX1100 and friend's GSXR1000, a FZ1, Seca II, Nighthawk700, Hayabusa, Night Train, 2 Sportsters, V-Rod, and a BMW R1100S. Some were trailered; some were ridden to this event.
Both the ZRX and GSXR1000 recorded similar gas mileage, lows of 42 and highs of 48+ mpg, highway speeds were generally 75--90, and this was keeping up with traffic!

1400 miles in 3 days, 350 were at the Gap and surrounding areas. Looking forward to the next ride there!!

ZRX4ME - Terry Berg - US-MO-St. Louis