• 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?

7 to 10 day trip

Ragman2

New member
I'm starting to think about a 7-10 day road trip in late spring 2021. I will be starting out in the Philadelphia PA area. I'm just not sure about which direction I should go. I have thought about going South to Tennessee (done that...went to Lebanon for the rally) or going North to Nova Scotia. Looks like there is not much West in the time I have unless you can show me otherwise. If I go East, it will put me in the drink.

On the Lebanon trip, I camped out each night but on this trip I will be riding with a friend who is not a camper. We will probably do about 300 miles a day (we are both old). We both ride RTW's.

I don't mind some highways but riding buddy likes backroads all the way (I'm ok with that). I'm looking for some ideas for a good trip other than what I have mentioned.

Thanks!!!
 
Virginia and West Virginia.
Blue Ridge Parkway and Smoky Mountains.
North Georgia
 
Lots of scenic back roads to be found in:
New York's Adirondack's
Vermont
New Hampshire
Maine

:( Nova Scotia is questionable as we have no idea if the border will be open by late spring. :banghead
 
7-10 days is not enough for a trip to Newfoundland, at least not if you want to see anything.
 
How about setting yourself a long-term goal? Like riding in all the lower 48, 2 weeks at a time?

In 1999, I did this. Initially spent some time with a large-scale US atlas and--in very general terms--plotted rides that lasted about two weeks each and within a couple/three years would have me riding in each of the lower 48. I was still working full-time but had lots of personal leave and LOTS of comp time saved up and a very understanding boss (he rode motorcycles, too!). My one advantage that you do not have is geographic location: I'm in the middle of the USA. I started with the trips that went to the coasts from here: (1) the SW quadrant: Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California on the out-bound leg and Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma on the in-bound leg. These were fast trips as you can imagine. Did not stop and spent much time at any particular sight, but still saw tons of great scenery and developed a nice feel for the region. Enough to know I wanted to go back some day.

I repeated this process three more times over the next couple years until I had ridden in all the states. Then, I set about doing the same general thing, but more specifically targeted. Now that I had met the original goal (all 48 states), I did trips to, say, just ride around all the Great Lakes. Or, say, ride to each of the four corners of the US (Madawaska ME, Blaine WA, San Ysidro CA and Key West FL). Or, say, ride all the National Parks in Utah. You get the idea.

Now, here I am about 20 years later and I have ridden in all the lower 48 at least three times on three different bikes (ST1100, Nomad, and FZ1), plus in many of the states 4, 5 or 6 times, all on different bikes. My current ride (F800ST) has 28 states on it so far. But, at 75 I am slowing down drastically and likely will finish my riding career on this bike. I have seen parts of the country that lots of people never see and developed friendships that I never expected.

Good luck.
 
How about setting yourself a long-term goal? Like riding in all the lower 48, 2 weeks at a time?

In 1999, I did this. Initially spent some time with a large-scale US atlas and--in very general terms--plotted rides that lasted about two weeks each and within a couple/three years would have me riding in each of the lower 48. I was still working full-time but had lots of personal leave and LOTS of comp time saved up and a very understanding boss (he rode motorcycles, too!). My one advantage that you do not have is geographic location: I'm in the middle of the USA. I started with the trips that went to the coasts from here: (1) the SW quadrant: Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California on the out-bound leg and Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma on the in-bound leg. These were fast trips as you can imagine. Did not stop and spent much time at any particular sight, but still saw tons of great scenery and developed a nice feel for the region. Enough to know I wanted to go back some day.

I repeated this process three more times over the next couple years until I had ridden in all the states. Then, I set about doing the same general thing, but more specifically targeted. Now that I had met the original goal (all 48 states), I did trips to, say, just ride around all the Great Lakes. Or, say, ride to each of the four corners of the US (Madawaska ME, Blaine WA, San Ysidro CA and Key West FL). Or, say, ride all the National Parks in Utah. You get the idea.

Now, here I am about 20 years later and I have ridden in all the lower 48 at least three times on three different bikes (ST1100, Nomad, and FZ1), plus in many of the states 4, 5 or 6 times, all on different bikes. My current ride (F800ST) has 28 states on it so far. But, at 75 I am slowing down drastically and likely will finish my riding career on this bike. I have seen parts of the country that lots of people never see and developed friendships that I never expected.

Good luck.

Thanks Royce. At 71, I am just starting. Sounds like a whole lot of fun.
 
From PA it would be 3 long days minimum just to get here and then it's a really big island so you'd use up a lot of tie getting around then you'd probably need 4 days home. As much as I hate to say it you'd be better off doing a run around New Brunswick or Nova Scotia. One or the other so as not to push yourself and enjoy the trip.
 
It also depends on what you want to do on your ride. Do you just want to get on the super and drone away the miles to get to a destination? Would you rather take more scenic backroads with frequent stops to take in things of interest (e.g., scenic, historic, not necessarily tourist traps :) )? How about picking a few "interesting" destinations?

For example, in Ohio [I use to live in Columbus] there are several places that were of interest to me. If you like flowers and trees of a wide variety, there is the Dawes Arboretum in Newark, Ohio. To the south of Columbus is a "living farm" as it was during the latter half of the 1800s (Slate Run Living Historical Farm). To the south east of Columbus is the famous triple nickel (State Route 555) considered by some to be among the best motorcycle roads in the US.

Also to the southeast of Columbus is Re-Psycle BMW (lots of parts and bikes) and the AMA's headquarters and motorcycle museum. There is a BMW, Ducati, and Triumph dealer a few miles from the AMA HQ.

To the west of Columbus, near Dayton is the Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum (and a few miles away is an old former bicycle shop that some find interesting :) ) Somewhat to the north of Dayton is the Neal Armstrong Museum and a pretty interesting used auto dealer in Kenton that has some unique motorcycles.

The point being that many of these locations will require some time to visit. It would be possible to spend the week or so in central Ohio and have short rides and visit various points of interest. It is also likely with some further research, that one could locate many good dining establishments. The state of inoculations and COVID-19 restrictions may limit access.

Links follow for locations referenced. -

https://dawesarb.org/

https://www.metroparks.net/parks-and-trails/slate-run-historical-farm/

http://www.openroadjourney.com/rides-and-roads/view/oh-555-the-triple-nickel/868

https://www.motorcycleroads.com/motorcycle-roads/ohio/the-triple-nickel-route-555

https://re-psycle.com/

https://americanmotorcyclist.com/hall-of-fame/

https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/

http://touringohio.com/southwest/montgomery/dayton/wright-bicycle-shop.html

https://armstrongmuseum.org/

https://brimsimports.biz/

https://www.rideapart.com/features/244894/ohios-best-kept-secret-the-brims-imports-collection/

https://motohio.com/
 
It also depends on what you want to do on your ride. Do you just want to get on the super and drone away the miles to get to a destination? Would you rather take more scenic backroads with frequent stops to take in things of interest (e.g., scenic, historic, not necessarily tourist traps :) )? How about picking a few "interesting" destinations?

For example, in Ohio [I use to live in Columbus] there are several places that were of interest to me. If you like flowers and trees of a wide variety, there is the Dawes Arboretum in Newark, Ohio. To the south of Columbus is a "living farm" as it was during the latter half of the 1800s (Slate Run Living Historical Farm). To the south east of Columbus is the famous triple nickel (State Route 555) considered by some to be among the best motorcycle roads in the US.

Also to the southeast of Columbus is Re-Psycle BMW (lots of parts and bikes) and the AMA's headquarters and motorcycle museum. There is a BMW, Ducati, and Triumph dealer a few miles from the AMA HQ.

To the west of Columbus, near Dayton is the Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum (and a few miles away is an old former bicycle shop that some find interesting :) ) Somewhat to the north of Dayton is the Neal Armstrong Museum and a pretty interesting used auto dealer in Kenton that has some unique motorcycles.

The point being that many of these locations will require some time to visit. It would be possible to spend the week or so in central Ohio and have short rides and visit various points of interest. It is also likely with some further research, that one could locate many good dining establishments. The state of inoculations and COVID-19 restrictions may limit access.

Links follow for locations referenced. -

https://dawesarb.org/

https://www.metroparks.net/parks-and-trails/slate-run-historical-farm/

http://www.openroadjourney.com/rides-and-roads/view/oh-555-the-triple-nickel/868

https://www.motorcycleroads.com/motorcycle-roads/ohio/the-triple-nickel-route-555

https://re-psycle.com/

https://americanmotorcyclist.com/hall-of-fame/

https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/

http://touringohio.com/southwest/montgomery/dayton/wright-bicycle-shop.html

https://armstrongmuseum.org/

https://brimsimports.biz/

https://www.rideapart.com/features/244894/ohios-best-kept-secret-the-brims-imports-collection/

https://motohio.com/

Thanks...I never thought of southern Ohio and maybe Kentucky. GREAT help. Thanks!!!
 
may do a new england ride this summer. starting in DC however, the first long day would just suck on slab to get there. sooo....we will cheat. load the bikes on the trailer and travel in comfort up to NE. park the rig at friends house in southern NE and ride from there. maximizes "time in theatre".
 
Back
Top