Tours

Sep/Oct '14

City Escape: Kansas City, Missouri

> Easily negotiated, relaxing route that features interesting historical locations and rural byways across sprawling prairielands. The best time to go is late June through October to avoid potentially severe thunderstorms in spring and especially cold riding conditions in other months. Length Approximately 200 miles Meet-up Spot Starbucks at 2107

Sep/Oct '14 Premium Content

Iceland: An Adventure-riding Paradise

“Ride a motorcycle through Iceland? You’ve got to be kidding me. Isn’t that a frozen, windblown island nation in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean?” Well, I’ve been awakened to the fact that this place of “fire and ice” is one of the most beautiful, diverse,

Sep/Oct '14

City Escape: Los Angeles, California Northbound

> A great northern escape from Los Angeles is through Ojai and the Los Padres National Forest, which is commonly considered the “better way” of getting to the Pacific Coast Highway from LA (between Cambria and Carmel). Best rides are in the fall when central valley temps drop below 100

Sep/Oct '14 Premium Content

South Africa: The Rainbow Nation

It’s a long flight, whichever way you spin it. Even though I remind myself of the old adage that it’s about the journey as much as the destination, I think that philosophy doesn’t apply here. Yet as I read my travel guide from the constricted comfort of

Sep/Oct '14 Premium Content

Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont: American Industrial Revolution

When British immigrant Samuel Slater introduced the first mechanized system of spinning cotton in the 1790s, America was still an agrarian society with a widely dispersed population, but that would soon start changing. Jeff Arpin (on the Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic), and I (on the Kawasaki Ninja 1000) have traveled

Sep/Oct '14 Premium Content

Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington: The Scenic Way

I’m standing in a fine Japanese garden, and I’m looking at a volcano—an exotic combination. I didn’t have to go too far. This is neither Tokyo nor Mount Fuji. I’m in Portland, OR. Toward the east, the snow capped peak of Mount Hood is clearly

Sep/Oct '14 Premium Content

Tallahassee, Florida Shamrock Tour®: Prospecting in the Panhandle

Reportedly searching for the Fountain of Youth, Juan Ponce de León landed on North America’s most prominent peninsula in 1513. He named it La Florida, or the flowery land, as he arrived around Easter. Roughly 500 years later, we’re not here to look for any magical waters; we’

Sep/Oct '14 Premium Content

Reader Ride–Colorado High Country: Back to My Childhood Home

Our 2012 Honda Gold Wing purrs as we head south on U.S. 6 through the beautiful Spanish Fork region. It’s Day 2 of our seven-day journey from Eagle, ID, to Golden, CO, where I grew up. I look forward to sharing my home turf with Howard, my intrepid

Jul/Aug '14 Premium Content

Weekend for Two: Paso Robles, California

When you head on tour with your special someone, you aren’t just looking for nice roads and pretty views; you’re on the hunt for a place where you can relax, unwind, and enjoy some quality time together. That’s just what you’ll find in Paso Robles, CA.

Jul/Aug '14

City Escape: Québec City to the Charlevoix Area

> Panoramas, mountains, history, geography, and gastronomy are along this route. Venture on Avenue Royale (Route de la Nouvelle-France), one of the oldest roads in Canada. Take the side roads to quaint villages on the shores of the St. Lawrence and enjoy bakeries and local cheeses. Length Approximately 200 miles

Jul/Aug '14

City Escape: Denver, Colorado

> Dual sport Colorado in a day! The twisty paved roads of Jarre Canyon connect to the sandy forest of Rampart Range and return you to pavement among the stunning rock formations of the Garden of the Gods before soaring 14,115 paved feet of elevation on Pikes Peak. Ride

Jul/Aug '14 Premium Content

California: Extremes in America’s Far West

This is not the best way to start our trip—but what shall we do? Today is one of those many days when the fog from the cold Pacific rules San Francisco’s weather. We had planned to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge and then cut east. But in

Jul/Aug '14 Premium Content

Romania: Ceausescu’s Folly—Transylvania and the Transfagarasan Highway

Best road in the world or communist tyrant’s power trip? Only one way to find out! It was on a bus tour in the early 1970s that I discovered Romania. I remember little but the awful food and how our nervous guide evaded political questions, pointing instead to distant

Jul/Aug '14 Premium Content

Kentucky: Doughnut Hunting Going Around in Circles

We came here seeking doughnuts. No, not the dunkin’ kind; calling those toroids doughnuts is like calling Chef Boyardee Italian food. No, we’re here for the real deal. And we’re willing to ride to find them. Thoroughbred From the rolling waves of Kentucky Blue Grass come some of

Jul/Aug '14 Premium Content

Midway, Utah Shamrock Tour®: Where the Swiss Settled

It’s the fourth day of our adventure in Utah. We skip breakfast to get an early start as meteorologists are calling for thunderstorms in the afternoon. Highway 40 takes us out of Midway past Heber City and Daniels Summit Lodge toward Strawberry Reservoir. The low sun provides warm light.

Jul/Aug '14 Premium Content

Weekend for Two: Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Known as “The Little Switzerland of America,” Eureka Springs, AR, offers the perfect escape for couples looking for a romantic getaway to another time. The town gets its name, and much of its history, from a nearby spring that was reputed to hold special healing powers. When word spread about

Jul/Aug '14 Premium Content

Weekend for Two: Staunton, Virginia

Nestled in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, Staunton, VA, is a cultural crossroads offering a weekend of art, history, and motorcycling. The city is home to the American Shakespeare Center, the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, and the Museum of American Frontier Culture. Staunton’s quaint downtown features many buildings

Jul/Aug '14 Premium Content

Reader Ride-North Carolina and Tennessee: Riding the Dragon’s Tail

May/Jun '14

City Escape: San Diego, California

> This ride travels to Julian, an old mining town, in the Laguna Mountains. Roads wind through a picturesque country setting, into the mountains, and down through the desert. The Julian area is most beautiful during the springtime, and the Anza Borrego Desert is cool enough to ride at that

May/Jun '14

City Escape: Orlando, Florida

> Seeking to escape the wonderful world of Disney? Take this clockwise loop around Central Florida’s third largest lake (Apopka) and Lake Dora to the city of Tavares, which is known as America’s Seaplane City. This lakeside community of luncheon and landing spots melds perfectly with pilots of

May/Jun '14 Premium Content

Arizona Backcountry Discovery Route: American Walkabout

What am I doing with my life? Where am I headed? We all reach a point when we question ourselves and the meaning of life. Maybe you’re stuck in a dead-end job, maybe you’re not getting along with your spouse, or maybe the ever-increasing demand for your attention

May/Jun '14 Premium Content

Deadwood, South Dakota Shamrock Tour®: The Black Hills and Beyond

“My hat is off to South Dakota Treasures … Go to South Dakota, but drive there. It is so near to us all and yet I never knew, nor had ever heard much about its southwestern treasure house ….” — Frank Lloyd Wright Motoring west across the Great Plains, we see the dark

May/Jun '14 Premium Content

Southern Ohio: Lighten Up

Judging a tour by miles ridden is like rating a meal according to calories consumed. Camping tours, in particular, pilfer at least a couple of hours each day for set up and tear down and often leave one wondering where the time went. With the goal of lowering daily mileage

May/Jun '14 Premium Content

Ontario, Canada: O Canada? Fugghedaboutit!

“What?!” It’s Canada Day weekend, and it seems like everyone and their grandmother is getting out of Toronto and hauling all sorts of pop-up campers, canoes, motorboats, and bored teenagers with them. Back home in Jersey, there would be tailgating, passing in the right lane, and cussing as well

May/Jun '14 Premium Content

Reader Ride-Nordkapp, Norway: An Irishman at the Top of Europe

Nordkapp (North Cape) has been a mystical place for me since I was a boy. I remember 
reading a book about a car journey from North Cape to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. It was probably written in the early ‘50s. I never dreamed then that I