Tours

Classic Roads

Classic Roads: Tunnel Of Trees Road (Aka M119)

Travel One of Michigan’s Most Famous Roads Tracing the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, the Tunnel of Trees road is a delightful and curvy scenic cruise, albeit a relatively short one. A must do ride for motorcyclists traveling through Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Classic Roads: Tunnel Of Trees Road

Mar/Apr '22 Premium Content

Scramblin’ Through the Floods, Part 1: A Tour in the Pacific Northwest

The first trip with luggage on a new motorcycle is always interesting. I’ve owned my 2019 Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE for nearly two years, but this was the first fully packed excursion. With the “mono pannier” setup, I don’t have as much storage space as with the previous

Mar/Apr '22

City Escape: Danbury, Connecticut

Danbury, CT, approximately 70 miles northeast of New York City, was nicknamed Hat City for producing more hats than any other U.S. city in the 1800s. You can visit Tarrywile Mansion sitting on approximately 600 acres to take a step back in time. This ride follows the Housatonic River,

Jan/Feb '22

City Escape: Las Vegas, Nevada

Most visitors to this area, and likely many Las Vegans, have no idea what wonders lie just outside the neon-illuminated city limits. Rugged red rocks and alpine peaks reside a short ride from the frenetic streets of Sin City. Due to the altitudes, it is best negotiated in spring through

Jan/Feb '22

City Escape: Frederick, Maryland

If you enjoy an endless progression of curves and elevation changes on off-the-beaten-path roads, then this City Escape is for you. Because of the challenging riding environment, it may feel much longer than its designated 155-mile length. These roads are great fun. The area has a rich panoply of farms,

Jan/Feb '22 Premium Content

A Sublime Loop Around the Southwestern States

Wheeling up to the U.S. border from the Mexican side at Tecate was more of a drive-through experience than the usual cacophony of queues and chaos surrounding the more southern fronteras. The two-year familiarity of my old, comforting Latin American life was about to leave me for a convenient

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

Nov/Dec '21 Premium Content

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Shamrock Tour®

Moravians settled land in North Carolina in 1766 and called it Salem. Just one mile north, Winston was founded as the county seat in 1849. In 1913, they merged to create Winston-Salem. R. J. Reynolds built his tobacco empire here, and many recall the cigarette brands Winston and Salem. The

Nov/Dec '21 Premium Content

New Zealand: Mount Cook and the Blue Lakes

My goddaughter Beth was getting married in New Zealand. What better excuse could there be to do that South Island motorcycle trip we had so often dreamed of? After a long flight from Vienna with a jet lag-busting layover in Singapore, we arrived in Christchurch. We met up with Paul

Nov/Dec '21 Premium Content

Nevada: From the Frying Pan to the Freezer

Badger Campground sits off a main dirt road against a little canyon north of the Black Rock Desert. While people often use words like “desolate” and “inhospitable” to describe this area in northern Nevada, my good travel partner, John, and I love this part of the Great Basin Desert. We’

Nov/Dec '21

City Escape: Missoula, Montana

Missoula, MT, is located in a green landscape where five valleys converge in the northern Rockies. With three rivers running through town, Missoula was the ideal shooting location for the 1992 film A River Runs Through It that featured Montana fly-fishing. Riding north from Missoula, you’ll encounter a diverse

Nov/Dec '21

City Escape: Traverse City, Michigan

Welcome to the land that glaciers carved. What remains is a natural landscape of forests, lakes, the highest freshwater-adjacent sand bluffs in America, vast coastal beaches, historic lighthouses, expansive bays, and a collection of charming small towns. The central urban area for the region is Traverse City, MI, located at

Sep/Oct '21

City Escape: Seattle, Washington

Sep/Oct '21

City Escape: Atlanta, Georgia

Escape the sprawling urban landscape of Atlanta by taking a series of secondary roads to Alabama’s iconic Little River Canyon, and then return via rural roads in the foothills of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Charming historic settlements along the way include the Georgia towns of Dallas, Cave Spring, and

Sep/Oct '21 Premium Content

New England

It’s 2020 and the world is upside down. Life as we know it—the carefree travel, the large gatherings, the simple act of blowing out candles on a birthday cake—is over. In the shadow of the pandemic, my riding partner and motojournalist friend Moshe and I head up

Sep/Oct '21 Premium Content

Alaska's Wild Beauty

Skirting northeasterly around Denali National Park, I was hit with countless chevrons of snow-capped mountains in Interior Alaska. It was a sweet spot that seemed like the very acme of Alaskan wilderness allure. For us, it was the final frontier—the beginning of the end of a four-and-a-half-year road trip.

Sep/Oct '21 Premium Content

Scotland's Gray Skies

"When your arse is in the saddle, the forecast will be the skies in front of you. In Scotland, there’s little point in looking any further ahead,” Calum Murray, owner of Saltire Motorcycles says prophetically, smiling at my comment that the weather forecast looked promising. I slip out

Sep/Oct '21 Premium Content

Galena, Illinois Shamrock Tour®

We woke to clouds and drizzling rain. We waited and studied the forecast to see if it would relent. No such luck… Marisa and I decided that — since we were riding Can-Am Spyders with wind protection comparable to a convertible—we’d hit the road despite the precipitation. Our quick

Jul/Aug '21 Premium Content

West Virginia

If mountains are magnets then I am steel. Be it the Alps or Appalachians, I have always been drawn to the folds of stone and soil, wondering what secrets lay hidden in the distant peaks and valleys. They are tranquil and foreboding at the same time, and largely inaccessible. But

Jul/Aug '21 Premium Content

Tenerife’s Teide National Park

Tenerife, the largest of the Spanish Canary Islands, lies some 200 miles off the coast of northwest Africa in the Atlantic Ocean. It has become synonymous with endless apartments, timeshares, restaurants, and all-day cheap booze. This, combined with full English breakfasts for a few euros and tacky tourist attractions, does

Jul/Aug '21 Premium Content

Palm Springs, California Shamrock Tour®

Ya gotta love Palm Springs, CA, where the summer never dies, the architecture is retro-cool, and the town spirit is as invigorating as an iced martini. Where else can you golf in the morning, go snowshoeing in the afternoon, and enjoy a cocktail by the pool in the evening? As

Jul/Aug '21 Premium Content

Florida's Coastal Curves

While much can be said about the year-round sun, boating, and beach lifestyle of southern Florida, motorcycling in the lower half of the Sunshine State can leave a bit to be desired. Although rides along beach roads are always good for pleasant scenery and beautiful sunsets, the topography is sea-level

Jul/Aug '21

City Escape: Springfield, Missouri

The Ozark Mountain region of Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas provides one of the best motorcycling venues in central U.S. The combination of vibrant scenery, rural mountain roads, historic Civil War sites, and the iconic Victorian village of Eureka Springs, AR, makes this route a pleasing riding escape from

Jul/Aug '21

City Escape: Santa Fe, New Mexico

Route names like “The High Road to Taos” and “The Enchanted Circle” give you some indication just how special this city escape north of Santa Fe is. Mix in some great New Mexican towns like Taos, Angel Fire, and Red River—with several significant historical sites—and you have a

May/Jun '21

City Escape: Ridgeland, Mississippi

This escape takes riders from a modern-day suburban environment back to the 19th century when bloody Civil War battles determined the future of our nation. You’ll also visit a historic location where columns of stone are the only ghostly remnants of a once expansive plantation. After a lunch of