Tours

Mar/Apr '09 Premium Content

Off-Roadin' in Eastern Ohio

Not long ago the idea of a dual-sport Shamrock Tour took root when Steve Mauk, a long-time off-road rider, ignited my imagination with tales of scenic gravel roads and trails winding through the overarching canopies of hardwood forests in his native Eastern Ohio. We collaborated on choosing a home base

Jan/Feb '09 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Bryson City, North Carolina

Remember recess? It was every kid's refuge from the old three Rs. Fresh air and freedom reigned and rules were the exception. Unwinding was your sole responsibility and frolicsome fun ensued for no apparent reason. Most motorcyclists know how to get that feeling back and many of them

Jan/Feb '09 Premium Content

At Play in Paradise

Hawai'i. The name sounds like a sweet song and my inner eye sees gorgeous girls in hula-skirts moving slowly to tinkling ukuleles. I think about pristine beaches lined with endless rows of palm trees, daredevil surfers waiting for the perfect wave and the heroes of the Ironman Triathlons.

Jan/Feb '09 Premium Content

Nebraska

The only hotel in Gordon, Nebraska has no record of my reservation, and they're fully booked. It's 30 miles to the next town, and a prairie storm is unleashing its full force outside. "I could put you in one of our B rooms," says

Jan/Feb '09 Premium Content

Reader Ride: Out West with Dad

Each year I look to plan a ride that will take my dad, who lives in Connecticut, to new and exciting places. It started innocently enough with simple ATV rides in Colorado, which over time grew into more epic rides through the southern Colorado areas of Silverton, Telluride and Ouray.

Jan/Feb '09 Premium Content

Japan

I've been on the trail for so long the prospect of crossing a river that might swallow the front wheel doesn't bother me much. You could say I've grown accustomed to the wilds—even the fresh tracks of those big furred salmon-eaters I recently

Jan/Feb '09 Premium Content

Southern Spain, Andalusia

Depending on the reason and the place, it's often nice to arrive a little early. My Edelweiss Bike tour of Spain's Andalusia region is slated to begin tomorrow morning, and I have several hours to while away before this evening's initial briefing. What to

Jan/Feb '09 Premium Content

Northwestern Montana

Western Montana has some of the finest scenery and least-traveled roads in the lower 48 states, or anywhere else for that matter. Formed by the jagged Rocky Mountains and separated north to south by the massive Continental Divide, Montana is ruggedly beautiful. For eons, the relentless forces of nature have

Nov/Dec '08 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Northeast Washington

However you ponder it, Grand Coulee Dam is big. It generates more electricity than any other facility in the United Sates, and it's the largest concrete structure in North America. Its hydraulic height of 380 feet is more than twice that of Niagara Falls, and the concrete used

Nov/Dec '08 Premium Content

Round Trip Tour - Columbus, OH

Despite the good cheer and warm camaraderie swirling about the "MotoStars: Celebrities and Motorcycles" exhibit opening at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, the billowing ebb and flow of showery gloom is the real reason I haven't yet departed. Then briefly, glaring like the Bat Signal,

Nov/Dec '08 Premium Content

New England Tour - Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire

From the weathered mountaintops of the Appalachians to the bountiful sea, stories of a native people and a young democracy are tucked away in the quiet villages, small towns and country roads of New England. Day 1  -  Shelburne Falls to White River Junction The start of this living history

Nov/Dec '08 Premium Content

Reader Ride: Westward Bound

For years, I had wanted a motorcycle and for one reason or another had never attained one. But after I returned from an all expenses paid trip to the other side of the world, courtesy of Uncle Sam, the motorcycle fund was sizable enough and my wanderlust was brewing. When

Nov/Dec '08 Premium Content

Italy's Wild Heart

"Why wander around in the distance, when good things lie nearby?" Long after his passing, these sage words of German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe were the inspiration for our motorcycle journey. Goethe was so enthusiastic about the prospect of seeing Italy that in 1786 he boarded a

Nov/Dec '08 Premium Content

Ontario, Manitoulin Island Tour

It fills the bill of particulars any rider desires, a destination of friendly people and scenic vistas, of well-paved roads bearing little traffic, and if you were going to design an island for motorcyclists, this might be the place. Located in Ontario, Canada, on the northern edge of Lake Huron

Nov/Dec '08 Premium Content

Easy Ridin' in East Texas

Despite its legends, colorful history and, most importantly, its scenic byways, this area remains largely unknown to riders outside of the Lone Star State. But the green hills of East Texas have piqued my touring interest for years. And now, with a stretch of four days carved out, my chance

Sep/Oct '08 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Southern Illinois

Some nicknames make perfect sense. I often answer to Red, nothing out of the ordinary for a carrottop, and my college roommate, Fats, was usually one of the last to leave the pizza buffet. But every now and again, you run across a moniker that leaves you downright mystified, like

Sep/Oct '08 Premium Content

Key Largo to Key West

It's surprising how much island hopping one can do without booking a cabin on a cruise ship - and in southern Florida that's exactly what I might have had to do if it hadn't been for one wily oil tycoon. Instead, comfortably settled into

Sep/Oct '08 Premium Content

California: Along Hwy 49

"In a cavern, in a canyon, excavating for a mineDwelt a miner forty-niner, and his daughter Clementine.Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling, Clementine, You are lost and gone forever, dreadful sorry, Clementine." Rambling around the western shoreline of Lake Tahoe, I'm reminded

Sep/Oct '08 Premium Content

Reader Ride: Doing the Dempster

Stretching across the Yukon and Northwest Territories of Canada, the 720-kilometer Dempster Highway wanders for days through untamed wilderness to reach the frontier outpost of Inuvik. Backtracking its length is the only way off the tundra, but rest assured that not a single moment of this incredible adventure will fail

Sep/Oct '08 Premium Content

Newfoundland's T'railway Provincial Park

Located at the northernmost tip of North America, Newfoundland offers a vision of barren beauty that attracts half a million tourists each year. And after finding out the big island also has a 550-mile railway trail system that's open to motorcyclists, we couldn't possibly resist the

Sep/Oct '08 Premium Content

China

Delicate white lilac blooms and the rosy blush of peach tree blossoms herald the arrival of spring in Beijing. Some Chinese residents have helped me with the importation of my motorcycle into the country, and now my new friend Pai and I are strolling in the glorious garden of the

Sep/Oct '08 Premium Content

The Natchez Trace Parkway - From Mississippi to Tennessee

Many of the roads loved most by motorcyclists are timeworn remnants. Too often, when a forest or mountain stands in the way, it's been a simple matter of putting the big equipment to work indiscriminately slashing trees and moving tons of dirt to fashion the perfect point-A to

Jul/Aug '08 Premium Content

Shamrock Tour® - Gainesville, Florida

It's a long, slow process squaring off a touring motorcycle's tire. As the wheels rotate, asphalt constantly gnaws at the radial's vulnerable contact patch. Like legions of amoebic strip miners, this aggregation of incisors attacks my ebony hoops - digging, grinding, and belching away

Jul/Aug '08 Premium Content

Southwest Oklahoma

Karen and I can hardly wait to begin this tour on our Honda ST 1300. The land to cross is part of the vast Great Plains that stretch from North Dakota through Texas. And because we have lived on the east coast for years, many of the stops planned along

Jul/Aug '08 Premium Content

Grand Canyon Suite

We leave the North Rim of Grand Canyon around five o'clock, hesitating for a moment about missing the sunset on the Painted Desert, but realizing that would put us on the road after dark. As we turn northeast at Jacob Lake, we're delighted by the twisty,