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California Motorcycle Rides

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2021 BMW R 18 Classic | Tour Test Review

The hills are green! Time to up the saddlebags on the BMW R 18 Classic and hit the road. California has two seasons - green...

Tracing the Cascades on a Yamaha Tracer 900 GT

Winding through a dark canopy of evergreens, the road played hide-and-seek with the Clackamas River, offering a glimpse here and there of clear water...

Fort Bragg to Sonoma Raceway: IMS Outdoors Northern California Ride

Taking in the view from Duncans Point on a cold, foggy summer day. (Photo by Kevin Wing) For 2021, the Progressive International Motorcycle Shows tour has...

Favorite Ride: Rim of the World Scenic Byway

There are rides we’ve ridden only once and they became favorites, and then there are favorite rides we’ve ridden over and over again. This...

No Promises of Tomorrow: Three Buddies Chase Sunsets and Dreams

At a rest stop, a lovely young lady walked slowly, allowing her old dog to keep pace. The dog stopped in front of me,...

Gold Country Highs: Pass Bagging in Nevada and California

Late spring is a great time to do some pass bagging in the Nevada and California gold country. The passes are usually open by...

Favorite Ride: Mineral King and Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks

The mission was simple: See some scenery, carve some curves and soak up some cool temperatures before the summer heat arrived. Three of us left...

Palms to Pines to the Pacific on California Route 74

Gassing up in the already-toasty Palm Desert morning sun, it is hard to imagine that I will be riding in the cool, tall pines...

2019 Indian Scout | Tour Test Review

I knew I’d stumbled onto someplace...different...when I pulled into the packed dirt parking lot of the Nipton Trading Post, and it wasn’t just the...

Voyage of Re-Discovery in Gold Country and the Sierra Nevada

It was the scent in the air that did it, plucking me out of the Suzuki’s seat and transporting me back to the distant...

Big Deserts, Small Bike: Riding Death Valley, Mojave and Joshua Tree on a Yamaha XT250

Rolling through Death Valley National Park, I have an eerie feeling that I am being watched. Passing a road sign indicating that I am...

The Old Way: Historic U.S. 80 and the Wood Plank Road

Picture a scene in which hearty travelers traverse barren and windswept sand dunes on roads of rough-hewn timbers. I am not talking about some...

Favorite Ride: Bay Area Peaks Trifecta

My Grandpa rode an Indian and I decided to follow suit by purchasing a 2016 Roadmaster. I bought it one rainy January day--a prime time...

2018 Triumph Bonneville Speedmaster | Tour Test Review

Here at Rider, we have an unofficial motto: "Ride to eat, eat to ride." And I contend that the perfect road food is the...

Ranging Around Reno: A Loop Around Lake Tahoe

The mountain ranges to the south of Reno, Nevada, are a playground full of great rides. Today’s will take me up to Virginia City,...

Renaissance Riding: Local Roads and Shakespeare Out West

I was pleasantly surprised a couple of years back when I wrote a travel piece for Rider  called “Chasing Shakespeare: An Elizabethan Tour of...

Monkey Butt 500

Rider rides a mile for every issue: 500 in one day...on li'l singles. Because we can. A ride is an experience, a long sequence of...

Sources of Power: Touring Some of California’s Powerplants on an Indian

I always enjoy riding over to Morro Bay...and not just for the pleasure of calamari and chips at Giovanni’s. Coming down the west slope...
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