10 legendary motorcycle rides

MSNBC ^ | 10:07 a.m. PT June 7, 2007 | Stephen Regenold

[martin_fierro]

10 legendary motorcycle rides

"Tail of the Dragon" in Great Smoky Mountains among best-known roads

By Stephen Regenold

Forbes Traveler.com

Updated: 10:07 a.m. PT June 7, 2007

France may have its vineyards, and Rome its ancient ruins, but America is the undisputed wonderland of roads. Here in the Land of the Free, the open road has long been a symbol of independence, and all the more so on a motorcycle.

But where to begin?

In the continental United States alone there are hundreds of thousands of miles of blacktop and cement, an oblivion of open road panning to all compass points.

For this story, we polled nine biker fanatics, including editors and publishers from motorcycling magazines, as well as some longtime recreational riders, to create a top-10 list of must-ride roads.

< -- SNIP -- >

[Wings-n-Wind]

Cherohala Skyway: Robbinsville NC to Tellico Plains, TN

49 miles... Over 5000' elevation

It's not the California mountain roads.....BUT

It's not bad for a few southern boys with a little extra asphalt and some time on their hands....

********

So many roads..
So little time...

[Poser]

Been there. Done that.

Here in the Northeast, we have Rt. 100 through VT, the Kancamagus Highway (note: only one N and one G) in NH, Rt. 302 in NH and parts of US 1 and 1a in Maine.

Iron Mountain Road and the Badlands in SD are nice, but not during Sturgis bike week.

Next week is bike week here in the Laconia area. Stay away.

[glasseye]

This is better....

http://www.aerostich.com/catalog/US/Coolness-Emulator-p-17406.html

[bmwcyle]

America's 9\11 Ride

[BraveMan]

One more week of work, then it’s off with the dirtbikes to the Spokane Creek campgrround off Iron Mountain Road. Any tips you care to share?

[Poser]

“Any tips you care to share?”

Shotgun Willie’s in Rapid City? /s

I can’t give you any advice about dirt bike riding, butt...

Believe it or not, the Murdo Auto Museum is worth a trip if you are into old cars.

All of the roads from Deadwood/Lead to either Spearfish (Spearfish Canyon) or Keystone are good for road bikes.

Custer State Park has some good roads and lots of bison and bighorn sheep.

I personally think that Crazy Horse mountain is a ripoff but the bikers seem to disagree. I prefer a walk around Devil’s Tower.

If you haven’t been to Rushmore, it’s worth seeing.

[Sir_Ed]

Hardly any traffic??!!

Try going to the Y on Redwood Highway in Grants Pass anytime during the day!

Ed

[Sensei Ern]

Governor’s Bridge Road from Bowie, MD to Annapolis, MD is the funnest 30 miles of road I have ever been on...Wooded areas with twists and turns, flat outs to open up on, hardly a car in sight. At the end, you are rewarded with some of the best seafood the Mid-Atlantic has to offer.

[SFC Chromey]

There is a great road just at the Los Padres National Forest line headed south on 1 towards Big Sur. It is Naciemento-Furgeson Rd, goes over the hill to Ft Hunter-Liggett. Views are some of the best along the central coast. Ft Hunter Liggett has a great restaurant at The Hacienda hotel.

Yes it is an active military training base, so you can’t do a whole lot of exploring without checking in with Range Control, but Ducati did a model year release there. All I heard were Duc’s running in every direction from sun-up to sun down. Music to my ears!

[miele man]

Then by all means be sure to ride the Tail of the Dragon. It is a fabulous ride. You will want to do it three or four times. Exhilarating!!!!

[wizr]

Out here on the Central CA coast between SFBay and SoCal there are lots of places to go with very little time in highway traffic.

I’ve got a route from here to the Sierras while spending very little time in multilane freeway traffic.

Two lanes make me happy.

[miele man]

I stayed in Robbinsville the night before I went over to Deal’s Gap. Also the Cherohala Skyway is a great ride. I was there when the place was crawling with law enforcement looking for the Birmingham abortion clinic bomber. He eluded the police for several years.

[HOTTIEBOY]

DAMN GOOD LOOKING BIKE!

FJR owner, myself.

[HOTTIEBOY]

I have ridden ToD many many times. I live about hour and a half away.

I have ridden it on everything from a 1984 RZ350 two stroke to a Honda Goldwing to a GSXR1000.

I left a few bits of a VMax hanging in one of the trees.

[HOTTIEBOY]

I had a TL1000 a few years ago. Once riding through Chimney Rock I ran into a bunch of Ducs. The sound of the TL fit right in.

[CodeToad]

I had the blue on of those. Sweet bikes. Will probably get another soon.

[wita]

Been raining like crazy here. Hope you have good weather.

[blackie]

My preferred motorcycle riding roads are two lanes with lotsa turns and elevation changes ~ even when in my ‘01 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning.

~~~ and ya gotta be able to get the Pacific Ocean in at most, an hour.

[blackie]

Why would I be going to the Y on Redwood Highway in Grants Pass?

I’ve lived in Oregon since ‘90 and have never even heard of the place, let alone been there.

I hear there’s traffic in the Portland metro area too. I live in the South end of the Willamette Valley and while it’s growing, there’s plenty of space and room to move around.

I you want traffic, go to the SF Bay Area ~ I drove big rigs in that area for 31 years ~ thank God I was getting paid by the hour. >:-}

I retired in ‘86 when I was 55 and moved to Eugene in ‘90; my wife and I love it, except for the goofy politics. ;)

[angkor]

15