• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Planning for 2021 ride to Great Falls? (advice please)

Pretty much what others have indicated. Secondary roads through the mid-west and west are good and much better than the interstates. However, many times I will ride the interstate for maybe an hour or 2 first thing in the morning to make some miles and then relax on backroads the rest of the day. I've done a lot of 2-3 week trips with a buddy but 2017 was my first solo long ride from Charlotte to the Rally in Salt Lake. It was a blast! I'm looking forward to Great Falls next year! When solo I usually ride 300-400 mile days but if I hit a time change in my favor I may do close to 500 miles. But about 350 mile days are about perfect for me.
 
2021 Rally Planning

Do we start planning routs and stops again, or just reserve the stops that we planned to use this year?:banghead
 
In two small (3K rd trip) and two large (9K rd trip) journeys from Boston, one thing I learned was to not avoid small towns during your travels. I tried to stop every hundred+ miles or so, get off the bike and talk with the local folks. At one stop (2012) in Randolph, Nebraska I had a great conversation with a local farm-owner who spotted my motorcycle and Massachusetts plate. In about fifteen minutes we covered a range of topics, exchanged snail-mail addresses and became pen pals for about five years.

A tall, ATGATTed stranger with a strange motorcycle, and a rarely-seen plate is a source of great interest. When the helmet comes off and the smile comes on, you're a conversation-magnet.
 
If anyone takes Hwy 2 in Nebraska the Arrow Hotel (Broken Bow) looks like a good place to stay.
https://www.arrowhotel.com/arrow-east

We ate there and the food was good.
Walking back to our motel we noticed Arrow East is a parking garage with rooms above. I would like that better than parking on the street at the regular Hotel.

Sand Hills (9).jpg

Sand Hills (8).jpg
 
In two small (3K rd trip) and two large (9K rd trip) journeys from Boston, one thing I learned was to not avoid small towns during your travels. I tried to stop every hundred+ miles or so, get off the bike and talk with the local folks. At one stop (2012) in Randolph, Nebraska I had a great conversation with a local farm-owner who spotted my motorcycle and Massachusetts plate. In about fifteen minutes we covered a range of topics, exchanged snail-mail addresses and became pen pals for about five years.

A tall, ATGATTed stranger with a strange motorcycle, and a rarely-seen plate is a source of great interest. When the helmet comes off and the smile comes on, you're a conversation-magnet.


Oh yeah. I have many such stories even locally. Went to the hardware store during the lockdown and some old dude wanted to talk about riding. From 6' away of course. I was on my first overnight trip a couple years ago (finally have a bike I trusted to start consistently) and stopped for an iced coffee at Sheetz on a burning hot day. A fellow with a limp wanted to talk bikes and all about his accident years ago. :nono Last summer, I was enjoying a cold tea and the local sheriff in WV pulled up and invited me to sit in his air conditioned cruiser (in the front!!) and we talked bikes, the economy, etc for 20 minutes. Still made me nervous. Then I met some coal miners covered in soot who wanted to talk bikes. It's a lot of fun. :)

The one thing I do worry about is some of those wide open spaces in the middle of (what I call) nowhere. Everyone's nowhere is somewhere to someone else. Anyhow, some of that looks desolate and remote. I'm sure folks are friendly and kind.....but anyone ever have a bad interaction?
 
Anyhow, some of that looks desolate and remote. I'm sure folks are friendly and kind.....but anyone ever have a bad interaction?

We like desolate and remote. We have never been hassled in remote areas, if anything people are more apt to help if you have a problem.
 
The one thing I do worry about is some of those wide open spaces in the middle of (what I call) nowhere. Everyone's nowhere is somewhere to someone else. Anyhow, some of that looks desolate and remote. I'm sure folks are friendly and kind.....but anyone ever have a bad interaction?

Rule One is to always maintain situational awareness. There are places, times, and situations you don't want to be involved in, but they can happen anywhere, including your own back yard. Having said that, I've never had a problem in remote areas. In fact the more remote the safer I've felt.
 
Rule One is to always maintain situational awareness. There are places, times, and situations you don't want to be involved in, but they can happen anywhere, including your own back yard. Having said that, I've never had a problem in remote areas. In fact the more remote the safer I've felt.

Ever been to Poplar, Montana?

Has an interesting nick name.

I decided to move on.

Wayne Koppa
Grayling, Mi
71,449
 
The one thing I do worry about is some of those wide open spaces in the middle of (what I call) nowhere. Everyone's nowhere is somewhere to someone else. Anyhow, some of that looks desolate and remote. I'm sure folks are friendly and kind.....but anyone ever have a bad interaction?

As others have found, people in low-population areas always have seemed interested in helping or supporting the lonely traveler. In addition, when I was crossing Utah and Nevada on US50/US6 a few years ago, there was always plenty of cellular service on "the loneliest road in America."

IMG_0106.jpeg

Also, I think a career in law enforcement tends to give a person a nose for tension and unhappiness in a person or group, and that's helpful in just about any place.
 
Rule One is to always maintain situational awareness. There are places, times, and situations you don't want to be involved in, but they can happen anywhere, including your own back yard. Having said that, I've never had a problem in remote areas. In fact the more remote the safer I've felt.

Wear a neck tie...
 
Back
Top