A roadside break on Interstate 10 in New Mexico between Deming and Lordsburg. We brought only the essentials on the Triumph Daytona T100R: a change of clothes, a few tools, and photography equipment.

In May 1974, my wife and I, then students at Baylor University in Texas, took advantage of the break between semesters to ride two-up on a 1971 Triumph Daytona T100R from Waco, Texas, to the California coast ? our first long-distance adventure together.

At the time, we had been married for three years. I was a doctoral student in clinical psychology and worked part-time at a Gulf filling station, largely because the McDonalds next door gave free Big Macs to the Gulf employees. My wife was an undergraduate majoring in liberal arts and journalism as well as a photographer. For our trip, she packed rolls of black-and-white film and strapped a tripod on the back of the bike. We had no saddlebags or storage compartments. For a trip of 4,200-plus miles over 18 days, we traveled light: helmets, jackets, a change of clothes, a few tools and chain oil, and photo gear.
Another break on Interstate 20 west of Abilene, Texas. The Triumph ran trouble-free, but its vibration on the highway was intense.

I had handpainted my Bell 500TX helmet with red, white, and blue stripes and affixed a small peace-sign-with-stars decal on each side. Hidden inside the helmet were the words ?free, to be, to become? ? my mantra then and now.

With no cellphones or GPS, our ?navigation? was a Kawa...