disclaimer

My current motorcycle:
A 2008 KLR 650 (Kawasaki)

My former motorcycle:
A 1982 Honda Nighthawk 650

Number of US & Canadian states I've been to on a motorcycle of my own:
7

Number of countries I've toured on a motorcycle of my own:
2

Number of countries I've toured on the back of a motorcycle:
17

Trips riding my own motorcycle
California ("Lost Coast" and gold country), Idaho, Montana (Glacier NP), Nevada, Oregon, Washington (state), Wyoming (Yellowstone), Canada (Alberta and British Columbia, Jasper, Banff & Kootenay).

International trips by motorcycle
Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Northern England & Scotland, France, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Macedonia (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden

 
Photos of me traveling by motorcycle
 
See the TravelAdvisor map of where I've been (not just by motorcycle).

 
Lots of day trips in Oregon & Washington state
Here are photos of day trips in 2012, to give you an idea of what we do. We try to ride on any weekend that it's dry and not freezing! For instance


• We might try the area on and around Oregon state road 410, west of Corvalis. 


• We're going to do regular day trips up and down the Dixie Mountain roads and other gravel roads between Scappoose and North Plains, so I can practice my fledgling off road skills; my goal for 2013 is to ride at least 100 miles of gravel before our big two week trip.


• We might ride Berlin Road and Pleasant Valley Road between Lebanon.


• We might try to do a tour of covered bridges in the area (got rained out last time we tried). Oregon has the largest collection of covered bridges in the West and one of the largest in the USA.

If you know of any relatively easy gravel or dirt roads near Portland (low traffic, no steep hills, packed gravel or packed dirt, if I fall, I probably won't die), please contact me!

Weekend Camping Trip in May 2013 (weekend before Memorial Day). Not sure where yet, as the weather is SO bad in May in the Pacific North West. In 2012, it was in Eastern Oregon: we went the long way around through Sweet Home, Sisters, Antelope, Shaniko, Fossil, Condon, Heppner, Ukiah, and back - all in Oregon. It was quite dry - but is there anywhere else that's relatively easy to get to from the Portland area that will be similar in May?



Burning Moto Man, July 25-27, 2013
47008 La Duke, Westfir, Oregon, 40 miles east of Eugene on the Middle Fork of the Willamette River.
Free camping, no fees - bring all your own food and drinks.
Focus: international motorcycle travel. Includes presentations, lots of opportunities to socialize and a backroads ride to Crater Lake (snow permitting), 70 miles of which 20 will be gravel. Alternative paved route possible.

Long weekend camping trip in July 2013
Will we finally do an Oregon coast overnight trip? Or will we finally get to know the farthest North Eastern corner of Oregon? Or will we focus on the area around Mt. Rainier? Lots of possibilities!


Some weekend and long weekend trips under consideration:


• In the area South of Oregon state road 126 (a road that goes between Eugene and Florence, on the Coast), and North of state road 38, which goes between Elkton and Reedsport), there are lots of winding roads that look really good on the Oregon State map. Most are called North Sisters Road and South Sisters Road. Might finally camp on the Oregon coast as well.


• The Hells Canyon National Recreation area and roads in the Wallowa National Forest, Nez Perce National Forest and Payette National Forest, in Eastern Oregon and Northern Idaho. Whomever manages the Twitter account for Hells Canyon has been after us for a while to come visit!


• Gearhart Mountain Wilderness in Fremont National Forest in Oregon. It's an area we've never been to.


• Routes west of the Dalles, in Oregon, mapped by SoundRider. We won't be going to the rally in 2013, but we will be enjoying the routes we learned about from attending the 2012 event. 




That still leaves out all of South Western Oregon, which we still haven't been to! Oh, for more vacation time... 

I'm also hoping to do an all-day off-roading course by Puget Sound Safety Inc. in Washington state - or to do their ADV Training program - I need guidance for riding in gravel and dirt!