Bill Dragoo - RoadRUNNER

The Kerfuffle

At 125 horsepower and 125 Nm of torque, the BMW R 1200 GS can sling mud from its Shinko knobby like a snow blower in a Louisiana swamp. My pal Jay Rothstein sits unaware atop his clutch-less KLR 650, 12 miles north of Gypsum, CO. Afternoon rains have turned this

Sidetracked

Thirdendary Roads

“Daddy, where is that car going?” My son spoke those words to me three decades ago as he stood tiptoe, looking out the window of our home on the edge of town. The curiosity of a child has inspired many an adventure. They are an elusive lot, adventure riders. To

Sidetracked

Rain on an Old Tin Roof

Thunder roared in the distance as I ducked under the rusty, corrugated sheet-iron structure. I was a lone 16-year-old boy wearing a faded Levi’s jacket, tight, high-water 501s, and a white T-shirt. Three hundred miles into the day’s journey, my 4 a.m. departure was taking its toll.

Sidetracked

Adventure Riding: What's it to You?

Adventure: A bold, unusually risky undertaking or hazardous action of uncertain outcome."Where’s Kurt?” I ask, as Disco pulls his bike up beside mine. “I passed him a couple miles back. He won’t be riding that KTM anytime soon. His rear wheel spun clean off the hub.” This

Roundtrip Tour Premium Content

Colorado Adventure Ride: The Pinnacle

Motorcycles differ from any other mainstream form of motorized transportation. Because they must be balanced, they require a great deal of skill to operate well, especially off pavement. By comparison, four-wheeled vehicles are incredibly easy to operate over difficult terrain. The very characteristic of a motorcycle that makes it challenging

Jan/Feb '22 Premium Content

Ann Arbor, Michigan Shamrock Tour®

"Bill, your mission—should you choose to accept it—is in Michigan. Your weapon will be a Harley-Davidson.” To an adventure rider, these words are akin to telling a Cordon Bleu chef they just won a free gift card to McDonald’s. Michigan, especially around the Detroit area, was not

Jul/Aug '20 Premium Content

Oklahoma: The “Reel” Wild West

“Let’s go take a look,” said Bill, a familiar gleam in his eye.I sighed, knowing nothing would deter him. As we made the turn for Hwy 80, which snakes along the eastern edge of Fort Gibson Lake deep in the Cherokee Nation, a road sign announced, “High water,

Jan/Feb '20

City Escape: Tulsa, Oklahoma

Historic US Route 66, an ancient old-growth forest, a world-class museum, and some quirky attractions give this day loop an eclectic appeal. Ride west across Keystone Lake and south on a twisty backroad along the Cimarron River, intersecting Route 66 in Warwick and then enjoying small-town appeal and sights of

Motorcycling in Fredericksburg, Texas - RoadRUNNER Shamrock Tour®: The Hill Country Flood!

Sep/Oct '19 Premium Content

Fredericksburg, Texas Shamrock Tour®: The Hill Country Flood!

“Idon’t think we should try it,” my wife suggests as she cautiously wades through the rapids. We are communicating through our Sena 30K headsets over the incessant rush of a river overflowing its banks. I am sitting astraddle my 2018 BMW R 1200 GS Rallye. Susan is scoping out

Jul/Aug '17 Premium Content

Arkansas: The Untamed Side of the Natural State

A tawny, striped face stares at me, unblinking. The Bengal tiger must weigh almost 400 pounds, and she is only a few steps away. I didn’t know there were tigers in Arkansas. Her name is Crysta and she is a permanent resident at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, seven miles

Mar/Apr '17 Premium Content

New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route: The Desert Crucible

The purest art of creating Damascus steel, that extraordinary blade with the wavy design seen in antique knives and swords from the Middle East, is lost to mankind. Speculation suggests multiple layers of metals were forged, folded, and welded together to form a single blade of exceptional quality. Certain aspects

Nov/Dec '16 Premium Content

Arkansas: A State of Mind, Body, and Soul

My ears ring from the blast. Acrid smoke fills my nostrils and burns my eyes. That shot was the last of my powder and the Yankees are coming fast. My mind screams “Run,” but I draw my sword. It is March 8, 1862, and I may die today at the

Jul/Aug '16 Premium Content

Oklahoma and Texas: The Comanche Trail

A single dust plume trails behind us like an earthbound jet stream. Narrow leaving the rear tire, it eventually fills our mirrors as I glance back at Susan, riding pillion on our BMW R 1200 GS Adventure. We’ve covered hundreds of miles of dirt here in this vast emptiness,

Nov/Dec '15 Premium Content

Jefferson, Texas Shamrock Tour®: Bayou Chiefs

It is 1901. Dirt roads are evolving from indian trails and wagon routes to connect a country in the midst of a technological revolution. George M. Hendee and Carl Hedstrom have just completed their first 1.75-horsepower prototype of the Indian Motorcycle in Springfield, MA.More than 114 years later,

Sep/Oct '15 Premium Content

The Oklahoma Adventure Trail: Mission Impossible

“We’re taking the bypass,” a wise James Pratt belts out from aboard his faded yellow Suzuki DR-Z400. “I’m out of gas and there is no way these guys will get those pigs through the woods in this muck.”The “woods” we are about to enter are a segment

May/Jun '15

City Escape: Oklahoma City

This mixed terrain ride takes you by The Round Barn, through an old ghost town, and returns via Route 66, where a restored WPA-era armory and the Seaba Station Motorcycle Museum make history of your rowdy scramble down Oklahoma's backroads. Spring and fall are the best riding seasons in Oklahoma.

Mar/Apr '15 Premium Content

Colombia: Blue Moon Over Bogotá

Imagine the most amazing motorcycle road in the world. What would it be like? Would it race along the Pacific coast like California’s Highway 1? Would it launch you high into the Andes where condors soar beneath the clouds? Maybe you would be greeted by ghosts of the ancients

Jul/Aug '13 Premium Content

Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma: Chasing Dragons

It’s a long ride from my home in Oklahoma to Deals Gap, the twisty, 11-mile section of Highway 129 bordering Tennessee and North Carolina also known as the “Tail of the Dragon.” But rumor has it that eastern Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri are infested with elusive serpents just waiting

Sep/Oct '12 Premium Content

Reader Ride - Oklahoma: Ghost Hollow Road

Steam rises from the blacktop like smoke signals as we approach the bridge girders over Skeleton Creek. I slow the big BMW R 1200 GS and keep Susan’s bright yellow F 650 in my mirrors as we duck under a canopy of trees. Our early morning ride brings us