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move to Indiana

KARSTEN

New member
after living for 30 plus years on the Alabama Gulf Coat I will be moving to Indiana (Fort Wayne area) in a couple of weeks, any must "do" rides/destinations in that part of the country? Looks like there is a club in Indianapolis, anyone know of independent shops/wrenches that can help support an aging 2006 GS1200 in the area?
Looking forward to do some exploring in cooler climate.
 
On road riding in Brown County, IN, Hoosier National Forest and down near Ohio River has some nice roads. Stop at the Story Inn for lunch.




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My 1/2 brother lives there. I pass through a few times a year but never stop. He use to ride, but I think it was pretty much bar to bar with friends on HDs (not hating on HDs I have one myself) For the most part I think he drinks beer, gets stoned and shoots baskets in his driveway with buddies he went to high school with 40 years ago.

I live 150 miles east with pretty much the same weather. You can ride year round, if you are crazy, people do it, but it is not realistic. You can easily ride April through October. I have ridden in every month, but it has been a rare strangely warm day or two. They use salt on the roads, the salt eats metal. Even in the summer when it rains your bike will get dramatically dirtier from the weird crap they put on the roads every chance they get in the winter.

I'm not certain it is a bright spot for riding, but you can make the best of it. Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky have great riding. (Ohio's good riding is south of I70 and east of I71) The NW 1/2 of Ohio is just like Fort Wayne. There are good (motorcycle) roads in Indiana, but I think they are all south.


The east "coast" of Lake Michigan is fun to explore. If you like true off-road riding Michigan has a great off-road trail system, but it can be very sandy and challenging for large bikes.


If you are interested in racing, flat track is having a resurgence with HD's stronghold being broken over the last decade by first Kawasaki and now Indian, even Yamaha had a great showing in Daytona. Fort Wayne would be a great base to be a flat track fan, many of the nationals are fairly close. Springfield I, Lima, Peoria, Springfield II are close.

Vintage Motorcycle Days at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course are just 150 miles from Fort Wayne. It is a great event, a little more party atmosphere than the buttoned up Vintage Festival at Barber. Weekend after 4th of July.

For just general stuff to do. My brother heads to "Brown County" it is sort of the tourist area of Indiana.

Other stuff worth checking out.

National Air Force Museum, Dayton Ohio. Its free, open 364 days a year. You need a whole day!
Cedar Point & Kings Island amusement parks. You will be a few hours from roller coaster nirvana.
Put-In-Bay, a town on South Bass Island in Lake Erie. Priced like Ohio, sort of like Nantucket, without the high-class stuffiness. Perry's (Oliver Hazard)Monument is cool. Commemorates our naval battle with Canada & the lasting peace between the two nations. "Don't give up the ship"
You'll want to make plans for AIMExpo in Columbus this September, it is the motorcycle industry's SEMA and is open to the public.
SHOULD NOT BE MISSED BY ANYONE CLOSE BY.
IMS show in January in Cleveland, or same weekend Garage Brewed at Rheingeist Brewery in Cincinnati.
Corned beef at Shapiro's in Indy or Shrimp Cocktail at St, Elmo's in Indy as well.
Red Bud and Ironman National Motocross races & Supercross in Indy.
AMA HQ, just east of Columbus has a small museum.


That's what I have, I'm sure others will chime in.
 
Indiana Airmarshal Don Beverage is somebody you might consider contacting. Also avail yourself of the various Airhead tech days, not only in Indiana, but surrounding states.
 
I happen to live in Fort Wayne. It’s a great town that’s continuing to grow and innovate. Much has changed (for the good) since I moved here in 1989. Riding here is what you make of it. There’s not much in the way of twisty roads or scenic routes, but there’s plenty of those within 2-3 hours of here. I like riding and exploring. There’s a lot of historical markers to find. There’s lots of lakes just north of town that are fun to ride around.

Hit me up when you move here, I’ll be glad to show you around!

Denny Dubay
 
Where to go from Ft. Wayne

Hi - welcome to the area. You can always head north to the Leelenau peninsula in MI's norther lower peninsula. Tunnel of Trees over by Harbor Springs is nice. If you don't mind dirt roads, you can see quite a few elk north and east of Vanderbilt if you catch them at the right time.

Jerry
 
Southern Indiana--south of about I-70--is mostly nice riding roads and terrain. North of 70 however is mostly flat and straight. Riding might be boring, but still lots to see. My favorite spots in your region are the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Auto Museum in Auburn, Indiana, and the Studebaker auto factory and museum in South Bend, Indiana. Both are wonderful places to visit if you are interested in old cars. I personally try to avoid the Chicago metropolis if at all possible. Nothing wrong with Chicago, but ALL big cities are about the same: too noisy and too crowded for me.

Good luck.
 
thanks for all this info, sounds like there should be a lot to see/explore.
The lack of curvy "technical" roads won't bother me, there are not many
of them in lower Alabama.
Again, thanks to all for great suggestions.
 
Oh also, there’s no BMW dealer or Independent tech (that I know of) here in Fort Wayne. Closest is Falcone in Indy, about 2 hours from here. But I do enjoy wrenching on my own rides so it’s not a showstopper for me personally.
 
same here, no independent mechanic in the area is not a big deal, would have been nice though. I have been maintaining my own bikes, just not so sure on bigger stuff, i.e. clutch, on the newer bikes.Most work I have done was on Airheads, starting with my 1972 R60/5. I guess I could do the more complicated things on newer bike with all the support from the forum.We will cross that bridge when we get there.
 
I also live in Ft. Wayne. The roads around here are flat and straight for the most part. As has been said there are better roads to the north and much better roads in Southern Indiana. The cost of living and housing is very good though. You will be about 2 hrs travel distance between dealerships. Falcon in Indy and South East BMW just south of Detroit. They happen to be the dealer that services the Michigan State Police RT's.

I live on the Northern side by Parkview Hospital, 69 & 469

Welcome

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Brian,
I am just now getting settled in Fort Wayne, have not had much time to do anything but move 30 years of stuff up to Fort Wayne, 850 Miles each way, several trips. A nice gent from Louisville KY got the K bike, he had a GS for sale and was looking for that particular model K bike. The K bike on longer rides just was not working for these long legs. I am still in contact with him, John is his name. Your bike found a good home.
 
Brian,
I am just now getting settled in Fort Wayne, have not had much time to do anything but move 30 years of stuff up to Fort Wayne, 850 Miles each way, several trips. A nice gent from Louisville KY got the K bike, he had a GS for sale and was looking for that particular model K bike. The K bike on longer rides just was not working for these long legs. I am still in contact with him, John is his name. Your bike found a good home.

Awesome! Hope everything is well with you and you enjoy Indiana!


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Hoosier Beemer Rally 27 - 29 September 2019

Welcome to Indiana. I'm happy to invite you to the 36th Hoosier Rally in North Vernon, Indiana at Muscatatuck County Park. Our annual rally is a great place to make the acquaintance of riders from the central region and Indiana. Great location with lots of curves, hills and valleys for spirited riding. See the MOA Events calendar for details.
 
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