Original Trip Research

Here are some findings from my research within the book.

General Statistics & Info

Overall Distance: ~2,800 miles
Average / Riding Day: ~235 miles / day
17 days total, 12 days of traveling, 5 days with friends in Bozeman & hiking
7 nights in motels/hotels, 5 nights camping, 4 nights (presumably) with the DeWeeses
Post-trip time in San Francisco, and trip to return home, are unknown
Highest elevation ~10,900 ft, Day 5, Beartooth Pass, WY (unmentioned - south of Red Lodge, MT), heading to Yellowstone
Pirsig's bike on the trip was a 305cc 1964 Honda CB77 Superhawk
The Sutherland's bike was a 600cc BMW R60/2
Pirsig smokes cigarettes during the trip, and is referenced five times as well as in memories.
There are 3 time zones across the trip - starting in Central, moving to Mountain, then Pacific.

States Traveled:

Minnesota
North Dakota
South Dakota
Montana
Wyoming
Idaho
Oregon
California

Gas Stops:
Few gas stops are referenced. I estimate maximum usable range of the Honda at 140 or 150 miles, which may be optimistic. He fills up three consecutive times on Day 14 at shorter intervals. They travel 349 miles that day, the longest of the trip.

Day 2, Ch 5: Hague, ND
Day 3, Ch 6: Lemmon, SD
Day 12, Ch 22: Missoula, MT
Day 13, Ch 25: New Meadows, ID
Day 14, Ch 26: Unity, OR
Day 14, Ch 26: Dayville, OR
(80 miles from last)
Day 14, Ch 26: Prineville Junction, OR
(104 miles from last)

Oil Changes:
For some reason the frequent oil changes described in the book attracted my attention. I estimate he performed one every 700 miles or so. He seemed to do them very quickly in parking lots or alleys. Soon I realized he was just dumping the oil on the ground and putting in fresh oil. I guess that's what they did in 1968?

Day 2, Chapt 5
Day 4, Chapt 8
Day 13, Chapt 25
Day 15, Chapt 28

Malteds:
Another trend I noticed throughout the book is the author's preference for chocolate malted milk shakes (referred to only as "malteds" in the book). Yum. Normally ordered at diners with lunch.

Day 2, Chapt 5
Day 13, Chapt 24
Day 14, Chapt 26
Day 14, Chapt 26 (2nd of the day)

Pirsig's Route Summary

As best as I can tell from the information in the book, this is the route and schedule of what occurred.
I believe this site to be the most accurate representation of the actual trip that can be found on the web.

Click on the day to view detailed information about that day's route.

Day	July 1968	Start	Finish	Miles	Sleep	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner	Chapters	TZ	Track
Day 1	Monday, July 8	Minneapolis, MN	Oakes, ND	294 mi	Hotel	[unknown]	unspecified stop	in Oakes, ND	1, 2, 3	C	GPX
Day 2	Tuesday, July 9	Oakes, ND	Lemmon, SD	274 mi	Camp	restaurant in Ellendale, ND	hamburgers and malteds at an A & W place in Mobridge	steaks at camp	4, 5	C/M	GPX
Day 3	Wednesday, July 10	Lemmon, SD	Miles City, MT	206 mi	Hotel	bacon and eggs and bread at camp	restaurant in Bowman, ND or Baker, MT	unknown, probably in Miles City, MT	6, 7	M	GPX
Day 4	Thursday, July 11	Miles City, MT	Laurel, MT	171 mi	Hotel	[unknown] (late start in Miles City)	steaks for lunch in Miles City, MT	late lunch of snacks in random town, dinner unknown	8, 9, 10	M	GPX
Day 5	Friday, July 12	Laurel, MT	Gardiner, MT	165 mi	Hotel	eggs and hot cakes and coffee, restaurant in Laurel, MT	hot beef sandwiches in Cooke City, MT	restaurant in Gardiner, MT	11, 12	M	GPX
Day 6	Saturday, July 13	Gardiner, MT	Bozeman, MT	77 mi	DeWeese	hot cakes and coffee, unspecified location	glass-and-chrome restaurant in Bozemant, MT	brook trout and glasses of Bay county Chablis at DeWeese's	13, 14	M	GPX
Days 7-11	Sunday - Thursday	Bozeman, MT	Bozeman, MT	N/A	DeWeese	-	-	-	15 - 21	M	N/A
Day 12	Friday, July 19	Bozeman, MT	Lolo Pass, MT/ID	243 mi	Camp	[unknown] (probably at DeWeese's or in Bozeman)	restaurant with steak and coffee in Anaconda, MT	pizza and milk at restaurant at Lolo Pass	22, 23	M	GPX
Day 13	Saturday, July 20	Lolo Pass	Brownlee Camp	296 mi	Camp	eggs, hot cakes, sausages, milk and orange juice at lodge	malteds in restaurant in Grangeville, ID	supper in Cambridge, ID	24, 25	M	GPX
Day 14	Sunday, July 21	Brownlee Camp	Bend, OR	349 mi	Camp	[unknown]	malted milks in Prairie City and Dayville, OR	supper in a modern restaurant at Bend, OR	26, 27	M/P	GPX
Day 15	Monday, July 22	Bend, OR	Grant's Pass, OR	264 mi	Hotel	ham and eggs for breakfast at LaPine, OR	hamburgers at a roadhouse near Klamath Lake	[unknown] (probably in Grant's Pass)	28	P	GPX
Day 16	Tuesday, July 23	Grant's Pass, OR	Fortuna, CA	184 mi	Hotel	waffles, syrup and sausages at restaurant in Grant's Pass	restaurant in Crescent City, CA	chili and beans and drink coffee at diner in Arcata, CA	29, 30	P	GPX
Day 17	Wednesday, July 24	Fortuna, CA	San Francisco, CA	291 mi	unknown	breakfast in Weott, CA	crowded restaurant in coastal town (Fort Bragg, CA?)	[unknown]	31, 32	P	GPX

Download Full Contiguous Route, Single Track
Download Full Route, Separate Daily Tracks

All references listed are from:
Pirsig, Robert M.. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

Information here was put together largely from close study of the location references in the book, followed by some logic and deduction, and lastly some gaps are filled in by research done by other people that can be found on the web. I use that as a last resort because in most of those cases there is no data to back up their assertions, and I've found a few of them to be incorrect.