Tours

Jul/Aug '15 Premium Content

Switzerland: Lakeside Luxury

One country and four different languages—Switzerland spreads various cultures and sheer beauty between the pearls of Lake Lucerne and Lake Maggiore. Helicopters are circling. A dozen police bikes are riding toward us. We get stopped right at the top of Albula Pass. The reason is harmless and almost disappointing:

Jul/Aug '15 Premium Content

Reader Ride–Utah Highway 12: It's the Journey and the Destination

In my impetuous youth, I felt the kickstand was my sworn enemy. I was one of those guys who wore continuous hours of saddle time as a badge of honor and total miles for the day like the crown jewel on my riding tiara. In my more mature years, I

Classic Roads Premium Content

Route 66 East: America’s Main Street

More than any other stretch of pavement, Route 66 imprinted the open road into the American psyche and helped shape the cultural fabric of the nation as the automobile came of age. The historic route can trace its origins back to 1857 when the Army Corps of Engineers began work

Classic Roads Premium Content

Route 66 West: Riding the Mother Road

Today, when people think about Route 66, they see visions of dramatic expanses of southwestern desert and the adventure of exploring the wide-open country. At its peak, the stretch of 66 through New Mexico, Arizona, and California was a bustling highway as Americans moved west to seek their fortunes.

May/Jun '15 Premium Content

Iconic Roads: Blue Ridge Parkway

May/Jun '15 Premium Content

Riding Baja, Mexico

The year was 1972 … the last time my old man sat on a vinyl seat, pulled on a helmet, and rode off into the sunset. So, when I approached him about riding bikes in Baja for a month long journey down Mexico’s infamous peninsula, I was surprised he agreed

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

May/Jun '15

City Escape: Seattle, Washington

> This circuit includes Seattle's own volcano, Mount Rainier, climbs over the 5,430-foot Chinook Pass, goes through Mount Rainier National Park, and returns via the Puyallup River valley. Park entry fee is  for motorcycles. Stop in charming Elbe and take a two-hour steam train ride

May/Jun '15

City Escape: Washington, D.C. - Virginia Hunt County

> From the streets of modern-day Leesburg, VA, riders motor through the idyllic horse and vineyard country of historic Loudoun and Fauquier counties, VA, and also will navigate briefly into Maryland and West Virginia. This backroad ramble can be taken anytime from spring through fall but is most enjoyable

May/Jun '15 Premium Content

Sedona, Arizona Shamrock Tour®: Mountains High and Valleys Low

I wake to a beautiful fall morning, and standing on the terrace of my room at the Matterhorn Inn, I am afforded a spectacular panoramic view of the red rock formations that characterize this city. I wanted to explore Sedona and the surrounding area by motorbike since I first passed

May/Jun '15 Premium Content

Trans-America Trail, Tennessee to Southern Colorado: Banjos, Tears, & Corn Nubbins

I have arrived in Tellico Plains, TN, and the official starting point of the Trans-America Trail (TAT). It took thousands of miles just to get here, but as I prepare to make my first turn onto the trail, I feel a weight and a reality of what I am

May/Jun '15 Premium Content

Québec: Epicurean and Moto Delights in Nouvelle-France

A trip to the Canadian province of Québec is like going to France but skipping the long plane ride. Having been to Montreal and Québec City on a previous occasion, though, I’m looking for deeper immersion into the province’s culture and exquisite cuisine. Riding my BMW F 800

May/Jun '15 Premium Content

Classic Roads: Pacific Coast Highway

May/Jun '15 Premium Content

North Carolina: Boone Town Mountain Loop

Back in RoadRUNNER’s August 2014 issue we introduced our Budget Touring Project Bike. The goal was to prove how affordable motorcycle touring can be by purchasing the cheapest road worthy motorcycle we could find and take it on tour. We bought a 1984 Honda Shadow 700 for $ 1,000

May/Jun '15 Premium Content

Boston, Massachusetts to Baltimore, Maryland: Life of Pie

Pizza is the United Nations of food, the one dining option that a group of hungry riders can readily agree upon. Burger joints are for carnivores; salad bars are for rabbits. But pizza, ubiquitous pizza, can be customized for nearly everyone. Chew on this for a second—on any given

Mar/Apr '15

City Escape: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Once out of the Twin Cities, this loop follows the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers and countless lakes through serene landscapes that define the heartland. The best time to go is mid-May through September. Minnesotans love being outdoors in the summer, so plan accordingly. Length Approximately 228 miles Meet-up

Mar/Apr '15

City Escape: San Diego, California

This exhilarating day ride emanating from San Diego comes within a quarter mile of the Mexican border at its southernmost point and reaches an elevation of almost 6,000 feet to the north in Mount Laguna. In addition to the elevation and terrain changes, this route has the added attraction

Mar/Apr '15 Premium Content

Ontario, Canada: Riding Explorers' Edge

It’s early afternoon, and the sky is overcast with intermittent drizzle filling the air. I’m in the little town of Severn Bridge, ON, about 60 miles north of Toronto preparing to “Ride the Edge.” Up here, the locals still don’t think they’re that far north, citing

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

Mar/Apr '15 Premium Content

California and Oregon: High Sierra Hoedown

Call it unfinished business, if you will. In 2006, I collected a Ducati Multistrada 1000 DS from Southern California Motorcycles in Brea, CA, and set off to tour the northern Sierra. My trip would include most of the famous Golden Chain Highway, California 49, through the foothills and over the

Mar/Apr '15 Premium Content

Snowshoe, West Virginia Shamrock Tour®: Adventure Times Two

Snowshoe is centrally located in Pocahontas County, and virtually any road here is a motorcyclist’s dream. It doesn’t matter what type of motorcycle one is riding, the never-ending curves mixed into the serene landscape make for an adrenaline-packed vacation. Webster and Greenbrier Counties, and neighboring Virginia’

Mar/Apr '15 Premium Content

Wyoming and South Dakota: Where Indians Roam Again

Given only rough guidelines and a new touring motorcycle, I set off to explore Wyoming on two wheels following the Sturgis Rally in August. My goal: bring home a “living with proof” report on what Indian Motorcycle calls the best of their best, the Roadmaster. Impeccably suited to fit on

Jan/Feb '15 Premium Content

Umbria: Italy’s Dreamy Heartland

I’m riding south through Umbria on the Via Flaminia, the ancient road connecting Rome with Rimini on the Adriatic Coast. I fancy it has been improved since Gaius Flaminius initiated construction around 220 B.C.—now named prosaically “Strada Statale 3.” This fast two-lane highway sweeps along the

Jan/Feb '15 Premium Content

Arizona and New Mexico: Southwestern Diversity

“To those devoid of imagination a blank place on the map is a useless waste; to others, the most valuable part.” Author, Aldo Leopold As motorcyclists, we are by nature attracted to the lines and dots on a map. However, those blank places that Leopold referenced are what make a

Jan/Feb '15 Premium Content

Delaware River – New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania: Where the River Takes Us

“If you wish to go fast, go alone. If you wish to go far, go together.” – African proverb Our four-day journey up the Delaware River to its source begins on the hottest day of the year. It is near 90 degrees as my girlfriend, Cori, and I pack “Big