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Many of our most memorable rides are not just about the roads or trails or scenery along the way. They're also about the people we shared the ride with.
In the Take Me There sweepstakes, you have a chance to make some great memories of your own, with the person you'd most like the share the ride with. You can enter by sharing your favorite ride on REVER and three winners will be selected. The grand prize is a two-week rental of two motorcycles from MotoQuest and a $1,000 gift card from RevZilla to get you both geared up for the trip.
To inspire you, we asked some Common Tread regulars to share some of their most memorable rides with the important people in their lives.
Ari Henning: A luxury tour of the scenic best of the northwest
Two things have been part of my life for the majority of my time on Earth: motorcycles and my wife. Yet those two loves aren’t combined very often. True, Loren and I had our first date on my Suzuki DR100 when we were 16 and we’ve taken plenty of short jaunts together over the decades, but longer, overnight rides have been few and far between.
That’s mostly due to scheduling, but I’m also aware of Loren’s limited tolerance for mileage and her desire for comfort and kickass landscapes.
So when family moved to Portland, Oregon, I saw an opportunity. The Pacific Coast Highway would supply the scenery, and a rental BMW R 1200 RT from MotoQuest in Los Angeles would check the box for comfort. The only hurdle left was scheduling and seat time, and I solved that with a one-way bike rental and by booking Loren a flight to San Francisco.
Riding solo from Los Angeles and picking up Loren in San Francisco meant she could work a full day on Friday and her trip would be shortened to two days of primo riding to Stumptown. And boy, are NorCal and Oregon tremendous for motorcycle touring.
The PCH meanders as it hugs the Northern California coast, passing through ancient redwood groves, along cliff tops carpeted in blooming ice plants, down the main streets of quaint hamlets, through pastures and farmland. All the while, the air is rich with the aromas of life: spring flowers of every flavor, cool sea air laced with the smell of kelp, the tinge of resinous bay, juniper, madrone, and redwood trees baking in the spring sun. Taking it all in on two wheels is a treat for the senses that’s simultaneously invigorating and incredibly relaxing.
The 750 or so miles from San Francisco to Portland are some of the finest the northwest has to offer, and through creative planning and a flexible rental, I was able to share the experience with my wife. So while Loren and I may not have many two-up rides under our Aerostich suits, the ones we have are certainly special.
Spurgeon Dunbar: Riding Skyline Drive with Dad
My Dad started riding motorcycles in the 1970s and continued until I was about four years old. Around that time, my youngest brother was born and Dad sold his Yamaha XS750 to help pay for our expanding family. But before fatherhood changed his priorities, one of his favorite trips was to ride down to Virginia with my mom and his friends and camp along Skyline Drive.
Fast forward to 2006. I graduated college and was planning to celebrate with a motorcycle trip out to Chicago with my Triumph Bonneville and my buddy Ben Czar. Unfortunately, his now ex-wife had other plans. Sensing my disappointment at the trip getting cancelled, my Dad stepped in.
He had just bought a leftover 2005 Suzuki V-Strom, his first bike since selling his old Yamaha 20-odd years earlier, and was ready to visit some of his favorite old spots. Looking over a map, we planned a route, packed some camping gear and hit the road.
We took the long way down, riding two-lane blacktop through Pennsylvania and Maryland before finally hitting Front Royal, Virgina and the start of Skyline Drive. We made it to Mathews Arm campground around 10:30 p.m., set up our tent in the dark and shared a dinner of peanut butter crackers and a Coke before turning in.
We woke early with rumbly bellies to greet a foggy day. We rode back to Front Royal for breakfast and then proceeded to ride the entire length of Skyline Drive. Around the middle of the day, the sky turned dark and we got caught in a pretty good summer storm, which was the start of a long tradition of me not being prepared for adverse weather. Dad sprung for us to sleep indoors at Big Meadows Lodge that night. The next morning we headed home.
All in all, it was just a simple down-and-back, three-day ride, but for us it was such a special moment. And to this day, Skyline Drive is still our favorite place to ride together. A good motorcycle trip is more than the bike or the location. My favorite rides are all about the important people in my life. And my rides with Dad are always at the top of that list.
Jen Dunstan: Hunting for twisties on the Kancamagus Highway
Back in 2009 when we were still dating, my husband, Alex, spoke fondly and frequently of all the fun he had riding the twisties of Northern California. I hadn’t experienced a true winding mountain road myself at this point and I hoped to impress my boyfriend with an exciting new route to try near our home in Massachusetts. After asking around, I got several recommendations to check out the Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire.
I planned a trip to “The Kanc,” including a stop at the famous Weirs Beach in Laconia that is iconic for many bikers attending Laconia Bike Week. Our ride was a bit tedious at first with many freeway miles, but once in New Hampshire we had a relaxing cruise on the long, sweeping back roads in the forest. We arrived at Weirs Beach for lunch and I was delighted by the charming pier and old-school arcade, complete with motorcycle racing games. (Not sure who won the best two out of three but I will go ahead and just say it was me.)
We continued on to the Kancamagus Highway and whooped in our helmets with joy at the “Winding Road Ahead” sign. This was my first true sport-riding experience on a mountain road. Initially I was a tight ball of anxiety, but each corner I loosened up a bit more and began to let instinct take over. I chased after Alex on his red Ducati Multistrada as fast as I would dare, and we stopped at the Pemigewasset Overlook to catch our breath. The scenery was gorgeous but the summer storm clouds rolling in motivated us to get geared up and moving fast. We were chased by the storm through the second half of the Kanc and down route 113 but somehow got back home dry. Nothing like a little thunder to make me twist that grip a bit harder!
I asked Alex what he thought of the Kanc, he said the ride was good but the company was even better. Now, 12 years later and with innumerable “date rides” under our belts, I have to say the companionship still beats the ride every time.
Zack Courts: A great destination, famous roads, new motorcycles and a best friend
Back when the MotoGP and World Superbike calendars still included Laguna Seca, Ari and I made the pilgrimage from Los Angeles to Monterey, California, every year. We were typically riding bikes being tested for one article or another, and the first couple of trips I did (about 10 years ago now) were always destined to be burned into my memory as my first taste of motorcycle journalism.
Riding an MV Agusta Brutale 1090R and a Triumph Speed Triple R, we did wheelies until a piece of bodywork fell off the MV. After that, we made the obvious decision and did more wheelies to be sure we completed a thorough test. Riding south a few days later along Route 1 in Big Sur, we turned inland on Nacimiento-Fergusson Road to escape the frigid marine layer and soon popped out above the fog, revealing California’s jagged coast half blanketed in pillowy clouds. Then, ironically, we propped ourselves up on the gas tanks like stunters to increase airflow as we strictly obeyed the speed limit in scorching heat through Fort Hunter Liggett. Despite the yoyoing temperatures, that became our route.
Blazing north the next year, we opted to hang a left off Route 166 and cut across the native grasslands of Carrizo Plain on Soda Lake Road. This is a brilliant option for ADV bikes like the Ducati Multistrada 1200 I was riding, but Ari’s then-long-term Speed Triple (he’d fallen in love the previous year) had a top case that wasn’t secured adequately for the combination of Öhlins suspension and washboard. The Trumpet jettisoned Ari’s luggage and we had to backtrack to find it and the hardware meant to hold it in place.
Whether we were riding a KTM Super Duke R and Yamaha FZ-09 or Honda Africa Twin and BMW F 850 GS, this journey will always mean more to me than just the curves in the road. Ari and I rode dirt bikes together before we made it to middle school, splattering ourselves with mud and careening off on adventures near the tracks where our dads were racing. This ride will be forever associated with hooting and hollering over intercoms or calmly talking about life, all the while connecting the adolescent joy of life with, dare I say, a career.
