Kia Ora from New Zealand

Hi everyone
I’m a new member from New Zealand and it was suggested that I post on this section. we are currently planning to travel to Vancouver in July/ August , purchase a couple of bikes and head up north through BC to Alaska before heading back down through the rest of USA and possibly central and South America
We’ve allocated a year for this .I would love to hear from other members ( of which some have already kindly done) what their must see /to do’s are . We have a very loose plan and that’s usually the way we work .
We prefer back roads ,and enjoy a bit of gravel .any ideas would be much appreciated.

Hey, KIA from NZ; I said this to the new MOA traveler from Hawaii:

Being retired Air Force, U can’t go wrong with a Whole Day at the USAF Museum in Dayton, OH!
https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil

Suggest U consider a stop at The Glenn Curtis Museum in New York:
https://glennhcurtissmuseum.org/about/

Something else to ponder that they didn’t have in Hawaii - a Steam Railroad museum:
https://www.nps.gov/stea/index.htm

And if U get this far south, two very interesting & worthwhile museums in Alabama:
Barbers’ Vintage Motorsports Museum & racetrack - see if there’s any racing scheduled...
https://www.barbermuseum.org

Smithsonian Space & Rocket Center -- Biggest one this side of Alpha Centari...
https://www.rocketcenter.com

Be safe and be seen on your explorations - the drivers don’t care about your long-awaited roadtrip!
They’re way too D-I-S-T-R-A-C-T-E-D!

Happy Trails whenever & wherever - Ciao!
HSV-Karen & HSV-Phil
USN-Ret'd —-&-— USAF-Ret’d
'09 650GS-twin — '14 K-GT
'82 R100CS ——— '75 R90S
'16 R1200RS —-— ’05 Vespa 200L

Welcome from Newfoundland. You're not coming to my side of the continent.

Suggestions for BC. It is a huge area. Vancouver is a beautiful city but busy, as Canadians try to do every thing for every one we fall behind in infrastructure so it makes for a hectic pace in our cities. Enjoy but be prepared. Plan to see Vancouver Island, It has some wonderful spots. Cape Scott Provincial Park is one of the best. Tofino is cool but touristy. If your into Wine, the Okanagan Valley is awesome but back to that busy thing. If you find the right spot, it can be wonderful. After that all roads from there lead to. The Kootenay's which offer up our best riding roads with some wonderful laid back small towns, time really does slow down, except in the twistys. Canadian Rockies, well what can I say, if you don't spend some time here you might as well not even come!! Back west, Bella Coola is fun but you have to work to get there, Chilco Lake I don't even have the words, well lots of wash board/Gravel so like lots of BC, undiscovered and fantastic. Most of it takes effort to find.
Then we have the North, highway 16 has some wonderful places to explore and people say it is Northern BC but really you are only half way up. Stewart, Dease Lake, Muncho Lake, they are all North. Best of the best is Boya Lake Provincial Park. I prefer the Cassiar Highway over the Alaska highway to get to the Yukon/Alaska. Actually plan on camping a lot as you will miss so much if you don't. So many spots, little hidden gems, off the beaten track, some just a few K off the main highways that most just ride past.

Oh yeah, Alaska is fun but the Yukon is better. Sorry biased, only been to Alaska once and got rained out. Plan on going to Dawson City, From there you can ride the top of the world highway over to Alaska and Tok. Or you can ride the Dempster and put a Moto wheel into the Arctic Ocean at Tuktoyatuk. Can't do that off the Dalton.

Western Canada and Alaska

A good place to start is to see where high-end motorcycle tours like Edelweiss take their guest.
Western Canada: https://www.edelweissbike.com/en/touren/?c=CCW
Alaska: https://www.edelweissbike.com/en/touren/?c=ADA
You can spend a whole riding season just touring the Pacific North West of the USA. We have both great paved mountain riding and the Back Country Discovery Routes
BDR: https://ridebdr.com/


2021 - SW Idaho Motorcycle Tour

2022 - June Motorcycle Trip Oregon & Washington

I will be visiting New Zealand in November of 2023 - Enjoy your ride!

As a Californian, I'm happy to make recommendations for the Golden State. I will suggest the Butler Motorcycle Maps if you're looking for spectacular roads around the country.

I'm happy to help, just ask.

Welcome Kia Ora

It’s always good to see club members ranging far and wide. We’re glad you’re here. Best of luck on your upcoming North American adventure.