HOG Pony Express Ride : V-Twin Forum: Harley Davidson Forums

harleyag70 · 03-16-2009, 06:06 PM

I am thinking about registering for the HOG Pony Express ride from St. Joe, MO to Sacramento, CA in September but would like to here others experiences on past HOG rides-ie the "Route 66 ride", etc.

The Pony Express Ride will be limited to 750 riders. That number of riders raises a lot of questions such as "how do they manage the ride", "how is lodging handled". "do they divide the riders into groups", etc.

Depending on the various responses I get will help me decide whether to go to Sturgis for the third straight year or wait and go on this ride.

Thanks for your thoughts.
HarleyAg70

PosseRider · 03-16-2009, 10:30 PM

You do not ride en mass. You ride on your own or with friends & just meet up in the same town every nite. They supply you with routes to follow & sometimes there are also alternate routes. You can use their hotel service & they will book all your rooms. I have found it to be cheaper, booking my own rooms after you get the info on towns they are staying. Many times I am at the same hotels they are using and at a less expensive rate. Pays to shop.

toybox99615 · 03-19-2009, 02:38 PM

I would love to make the Pony Express ride. However HOG made a poor plan by not starting sign-ups until May. Perhaps personal planning for the HOG office crew is not a matter of having to work with dates in the future. However for those of us who have to plan in advance all the related travel to and from an event like the Pony, lead time is critical. I wish they had opened the registration in say March. That way those who need to plan the rest of their travels around this trip would be able to do so.

Now if I wait until May I'll have to play with lots of related issues such as other travel and vacation arrangements. I know from past experience HOG members from other countries require sufficient lead time to do things like ship thier bike or arrange to rent a bike. Why does HOG not realize how complex it is for folks to put thier travel plans together to make a HOG tour. For now if you make plans around the Pony such as bike rentals or airline tickets you could end up not getting into the limited number of riders for the event.

I did the Posse ride two years ago. It was a great ride. I plan on making a lot more of these HOG rides. I just wish they would figure out the amount of time some of us need to plan after we get registered.

PosseRider · 03-19-2009, 11:14 PM

Looks like plenty of lead time to me. Sept. is several months from now. The last 2 rides didnt sell out like the earlier rides did.

xtheunknown · 03-20-2009, 08:11 AM

I went on the Road Candy Tour and had a blast! You don't ride all together. You ride at your own pace by your own route and meet up in the same town every night. They usually have a party at a local Harley dealer.

I rode alone the first day, but on the second I ran into some people from my home state and they invited me to ride with them. Along the way we picked up a couple from Ohio and rode with that group to the end.

I thought it was well planned and it was a lot of fun. I say go for it.