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 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 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
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 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 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 Review: 2014 Honda Gold Wing Valkyrie > It’s been a long time coming, but Honda has brought back a large six-cylinder cruiser to its lineup—bigger and more powerful than ever. Big Red has a Power Cruiser Again! Honda’s original Valkyrie was man-ufactured from 1996 through 2003 and followed briefly by the Rune. The
Sep/Oct '14 Review: 2014 Triumph Thunderbird LT For a British bike, the Thunderbird LT looks awfully American. Not that that’s a bad thing; it’s beautiful with its two-tone paint, whitewall tires, and abundance of chrome. Unlike the Thunderbird Storm and Commander, the LT ditches the twin headlight setup that’s a dead giveaway for a
Sep/Oct '14 Review: 2014 Indian Chieftain When it comes to touring on the Chieftain, let’s get the worst out of the way immediately. It needs more range. Though my observed fuel economy was a respectable 39mpg, I found myself stopping for gas every 150 miles or so at best. I think this is primarily the
Sep/Oct '14 Comparison: 2014 BMW F 800 GS vs. 2014 Triumph Tiger 800 XC: Variations on a Theme > The spicy flavor of this British-born, massaged sportbike machine delivers tons of passion from each twist of the wrist, but the BMW’s practical and concise demeanor also delivers in predictable and repeatable ways. Many ask the same question, “Which one?” But only your own taste buds know what
