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USA and Canada
Updated 2025 with higher resolution photos but kept in the original style which was mostly straight out of camera (Olympus Pen M4/3) and words unedited. This was such a good tour, the riding every day exceeded my expectations and I really need to return to this part of the world and do another ride. Original post follows:
I start this tour in San Francisco where I am renting a BMW R1200RT from Eagle Rider. The rental process is smooth and having stayed in a hotel nearby I simply walked to the shop in my bike gear, signed the papers and transferred stuff from suitcase to top box. I was riding away about 15 minutes later having left my suitcase with Eagle Rider and booked a pickup with UPS to take it to the shop where I was dropping the rental off in 12 days time.
My overall route is first south then inland and north to Canada. I had read up on the best riding roads from a few sites and read a few ride reports on US touring forums and finally asked some questions about best weather and my choice of roads to arrive at a position where I am fairly confident I have a decent route and good chance of fine weather.
Day one riding is a short and easy ride along the coast down to Monterey so I can adjust to things and because I am expecting to be tired from the long flight.
I wanted to start the tour with a photo of the Golden Gate Bridge but alas the fog that often blankets the bay was present this morning so the bridge was totally shrouded. I waited a bit but then moved on as it was not to be. I could navigate the city rather easy, it was surprisingly low traffic for such a big place. If I known I might have visited a few movie locations but had not put anything in the GPS thinking it would be too congested.
Day one riding in the USA on a expensive BMW – woot!
Quite a lot of fog this day as I ride south the ocean was almost in places obscured so not many photos.
Riding further south the weather continued to be foggy and cool but at least not raining.
Some healthy American food for lunch 🙂
Had a look around Carmel by the Sea then called it a day as still jet lagged.
Day two more of the famous Pacific highway which is nothing like the one in Australia. It really is a spectacular ride both in views and curves.
After originally thinking to ride just to Nacimiento Fergussen road then go inland I rode on to Cambria and was so glad I did as this later part was by far the best as the fog cleared and I was rewarded with lovely views. The Pacific Highway is a terrific ride. I only saw a little bit of it but I’d sure like to ride more one day.
From the ocean my route now turns inland.
The change in temperatures that I experience is extreme. From a cool 16 degrees on the coast the temperature rose sharply after I had lunch in Cambria. A steep narrow climb on a back road to ascend the mountains that hug the coast had me changing to summer gloves and unzipping vents on jacket.
My GPS was guiding me over some real backroads which at one point turned to unsealed loose gravel on the final mountain climb and I wondered if I had managed to take the wrong road but anyway the 1200RT rode on the dirt rather well for such a big machine. I was worried at one point as the bike was really sliding about on some very loose gravel but eventually I reached the crest and the road once again was sealed to become a narrow winding descent with some nice views.
Riding down the other side the heat soared and it was like riding into a oven as the temperature hit 44 degrees! That is a dramatic change in such a short distance. Imagine being on a coast with chilly conditions then cresting a hill and 45 minutes later being in a furnace, never experienced anything like it before. Fortunately it was a dry heat not humid tropics but none the less uncomfortable to ride in and needing me to rest and rehydrate.
Riding more backroads in mostly orange orchards made for easy miles to cover and this helped me in the heat. By mid afternoon I was exhausted and finding a motorcycle dealer at Madera I purchased a open mesh jacket from the nice people at Madera Honda-Suzuki who sat me down and got me a jug of ice water. I must have looked a right state.
From there the road weaved it’s way through some stark sun bleached countryside not dissimilar to some of northern NSW. Mostly good road with plenty of curves, I stopped to have a drink and when the wind blew the yellow fields of grass I was reminded of those mesmerizing scenes in the movie Once upon a time in Anatolia.
It was good to get to the motel as I was exhausted from the heat and perhaps some dehydration. The R1200RT perhaps blocks too much air to be ridden far in hot weather.
I got some Febreeze at a local store as no time to wash my bike gear on this ride and this heat was not good.
Fell asleep straight after dinner then woke up middle of night which was of course daytime back home by my body clock. Took a few days to stop doing this.
Entering Yosemite National Park the scenery changed quite dramatically. I was on the road early to avoid the heat and this also turned out to be a good move for avoiding the heavy tourist traffic.
Yosemite is a fantastic ride although I was there early when it is probably still free of traffic but still the scenery is terrific.
While most of my tour focuses on the riding I will do a couple of tourist things, one of which is visit Bodie Ghost town. On the day I arrived it was packed being the Friends of Bodie day when people dress up in period costumes. What are the odds of arriving on this day!
It really is like being in a wild west movie. But this is a real frontier ghost town.
The road to Bodie has some pretty rough gravel so only two motorcycles in the car park but it was not too hard to ride in. The road nearby was superb hot mix that twisted it’s way through some scenic rocky outcrops.
I got caught in a storm after leaving Bodie, I saw it brewing and so left early to try out run it which to some extent I succeeded.
Leaving the beautiful valley to the north I encountered just the edge of the storm with some heavy rain briefly and small hail stones while climbing another excellent mountain road and had about 15 minutes of this before descending the other side where I exited the storm and returned to excellent sweeping curve roads the remainder of afternoon.
Day three map.
Leaving the Tahoe National forest I was riding next into the Lassen National forest however there was a forest fire and the park was closed. I had another couple of routes for this day but I unfortunately had the wrong one in my GPS so ended up going further north before riding west to try get away from the fires. The roads were still excellent, lovely sweepers in the forest, some straight stuff but not boring. I ended up cutting across to Trinity National forest by days end and had a bit of a head cold today so was feeling poor and did not take many photos but still enjoyed the day.
Todays map is not exactly how I ended up riding.
Still in California day five riding north to the Six Rivers national forest and Klamath forest. Some superb riding on beautiful surveyed roads but in the middle the road all but disappeared to a narrow track for a short way.
Amazing thing, I stopped in the middle of nowhere to have a drink and take a few photos of the gorge below the road (which did not come out well) and as I looked down I saw what appeared to be a US $20 bill in the grass but I thought it must be something else but anyway after I had rest decided to go and pick it up and yes it was a $20 bill just sitting there next to motorcycle (in photo above) Amazing haha.
The riding continued to be very good today but I had a touch of flu which I had been fighting the previous day also however today it was really hitting me hard and I basically just got on with the job of riding. This lunch photo is about as clear as my head felt. The salad came free with the sandwich but I barely touched either prompting the waitress to ask was there anything the matter.
Todays route.
Hotel ’continental breakfast’ in the USA seems to be only crap in cellophane bags. It’s curious how some countries have superb breakfasts included with hotel stay, Germany and Japan offer amazing buffet breakfasts. Yet other places like Australia and New Zealand seem to offer no breakfasts despite higher hotel prices. I am doing my hotel bookings this tour on the fly, looking online the night before then choosing when I get to the town and from here on I will go for cheaper ones offering no breakfast and move to buying some things from the supermarket the night before to have for breakfast.
This saved me lots of time in the morning and meant I could have a healthy choice like some fruit and yoghurt rather than look for a diner and have fatty fried food. I was missing the espresso coffee I usually start the day with. In the states they love drip filter (“brewed”) coffee. I guess it is all what you are accustomed to. I used to drink drip filter coffee all the time working night shifts – the place I was at had one of these machines and you can make some very high caffeine content coffee with a drip filter machine. But then I got to drinking Italian style and well it is hard to go back as the drip coffee has a watery taste in comparison even though the caffeine level I read is actually higher. Well now I am sounding like a coffee snob.
Anyway back to the ride, I zig-zagged from Klamath Falls to Baker City and was not expecting the day to throw a lot of curves at me however yet again the riding ended up being better than I imagined. First was some straight roads but with dramatic landscapes that were never boring and in the afternoon some superb twisty roads in a canyons south of Baker city.
Really interesting small towns here in the west. Would love to explore them more in future.
And then the scenery really got impressive with the canyons however I did not manage to photograph it well.
Hells Canyon was incredible. I wish I had allowed more time for it. My routes on this tour a little long each day. Another place I’d like to revisit.
Joseph Canyon is pretty impressive also.
This day was excellent riding despite feeling fatigued from flu.
Day 8. I am riding north east next to Missoula through Clearwater national forest on highway 12 which is a beautiful two lane road that sweeps it’s way along following the banks of the river and natural curves of the valley. My flu has lifted so I am feeling in great spirits today.
Riding next on the roads in Montana near Flathead lake to Columbia Falls it was very scenic with some gentle curves and bit of traffic in places but majestic mountain peaks creating a postcard backdrop.
The next day is a big one, hopefully riding up the ‘Going to the Sun road’ so I stopped tonight close by in the town of Columbia Falls.
Walking around I noticed lots of bikes riding past all with no helmets. It was a bit worrying for me to see these guys in just t-shirts and shorts with beautiful girls riding passenger also wearing no helmets at highway speeds. But everyone is free to do as they wish. As a rider I am still taking risks so I am in no position to critic other riders.
I asked the road gods for a fine morning tomorrow and safe travels to all and had a early night after another fantastic day of riding.
It was fine but foggy start, cold too, just 4 degrees caught me out and I thought please clear up but I need not to have worried as I had fantastic visibility on the Going to the Sun road. Photos cannot convey how dramatic the scenery is here.
The road really is named well, in the early hours you are literally going to the sun.
Other side.
Amazing weather! Well worth the dawn start to see this. (2025 comment – so glad I had a real camera with me on this ride. Relatively simple Olympus E-PM1 with 20mm Lumix lens (40mm equivalent) but so much better than the phone camera was back in 2012)
Good thing I was up there early, on the way back there was a very long traffic jam. It actually is not really a riders road but undeniably very beautiful scenery. Up there with the Ice-fields parkway over the border in Canada which I drove along some years ago.
After visiting Glacier National park I went on some backroads via Yaak River to Bonners Ferry. Had a couple of scares with wild deer on the road or crossing the road which really spooked me for rest of the day until I got out of the wilderness and back onto main roads. In Australia the kangaroos rest during the day and you can ride until dusk without much risk but that seems not the case with deer.
Next morning I crossed over in Canada with total ease. Rode up to totally empty border check point presented my passport and was stamped and on my way within 30 seconds, never even had to remove my helmet.
A modest state motto.
The roads along the shore of the Kooteney lake were beautiful riding. I was having such a good time I arrived at the ferry to Balfour forgetting I had no Canadian money on me. Fortunately it is free but I could have done with a coffee as I had over an hour to wait having just missed one departure but no means to buy one. Rookie mistake.
On the other side I tried an ATM and it rejected all 3 types of cards I had but the shop keeper took pity on me and ran a purchase through as a cash out on his till so I could buy some lunch and something to drink.
I need not have worried riding north to Kaslo I found a bank where the ATM worked fine and should have held off to just have lunch there but all good. The road again followed the lake and offered some grand vistas and nice sweeping curves.
Different look the the countryside here reminding me somewhat of the lakes region in the Italian border, very scenic. I then stumbled upon what must be the local riders road. Well not stumbled as I have been including all the best road recommendations into my route but still I arrived not expecting such an amazing ride. Route 6 Nelson to Vernon is superb. I took a couple of photos the best roads can be impossible to photograph.
The BMW R1200RT is a nice motorcycle. Very comfortable and the weight mostly disappears once you get moving with a reasonably low centre of gravity. It is however not a light bike and in the more tighter corners I really noticed that but I was surprised how well it handled when the suspension was set to firm (electronic adjustment) then on the open road I set it back to medium for decent compliance. The brakes pulled it up well and seat was was comfortable. The screen full raised blocked all the wind and the electronic cruise control was a blessing at times. I had some glitches with the electric screen getting stuck a few times then the cruise control not engaging or the heated grips not turning off. I found these items randomly happened and then fixed themselves.
The engine had ample power. I rode a R1150R naked in Japan prior and I actually preferred the more torque less horsepower of that older engine than this one. Not often did I ever have the engine revving high so the extra upper rpm engine power is wasted – something I could say about 90% of motorbikes. Personally I prefer the sound of a inline four but the boxer engine might grow on me if I had one. The luggage is very heavy and built to survive anything by the feel. I never needed the side panniers, everything I had could fit into the top case with room to spare.
From Vernon on day eleven I rode to Lillooet via Merritt. Still plenty of curves to enjoy but some very different scenery this morning riding through Indian reserves where the rivers were busy carving away at the landscape.
Big trains up here.
Next I was able to ride a road I had wanted to revisit since when I previously visited Canada in a car 10 years before. Highway 99 Lillooet to Whistler. When I drove this I swore one day I had to return on a motorcycle and so I was very pleased a decade later to have such fine weather and a fine machine to enjoy it today.
I really have not captured how nice this part of BC is nor how good the riding is.
Big day of riding today and I was going to have a early night however met a rider from Czech Republic so we went for a few beers and it was a great night talking motorcycle touring.
Day 12 and I am riding the awesome Sea to Sky highway from Squamish to Vancouver. Started out nice but the weather then turned a little poor for awhile but I could hardly complain I had no rain after the mere 15 minutes earlier on in this tour. It was really beautiful scenery still despite some gloomy conditions. I had a blast on this road mostly ignoring the 80kph speed limit.
Getting back into the USA took some time, I was in the traffic queue for 45 minutes and the BMW engine temperature was really high despite the cool ambient air temperature. It barely started when time to leave the check point. Air cooling has it’s drawbacks.
Next on my list was to ride Mt Baker in Washington state. The weather looked damp as I approached but yet again I was lucky having missed some rain and was able to ride up on a mostly dry road.
Mt Baker turned out to be a great ride the roads offered a bit of everything, sweepers and more technical corners and even a few very tight switchbacks with sheer drops at the very top. I was not able to see the full views but it was still good all the same and the snow really surprised me when not that far south from here I was in mid forties temperatures on day two of the ride.
I was planning to ride back roads to Seattle and indeed started out on state route 9 with a bunch of other bikers which confirmed I had chosen well however there was constant road works and I was wanting to get the bike to the rental shop earlier in the afternoon and avoid the afternoon peak hour traffic so after a number of delays I jumped on the interstate for the last miles. Even this was slow going with terrible traffic jams despite 12 lanes.
The guys from Eagle rider Seattle looked after me and even dropped me off at my hotel. Smooth no hassle renting experience. The one way drop off fee was reasonable, perhaps because not far from my start point and worked well for my limited time. (2025 note – one way fees are now very expensive).
My suitcase I had paid for UPS to pick up from San Francisco never arrived. They did not pick it up because the label I had printed out from their web page was not to their liking. They never advised me it had not been delivered. Did not refund my money.
So I went to the mall near Seattle airport (which is a Westfield mall <from Australia>) and purchased a new one. No big deal my case was old.
Overall I can sum up that this tour exceeded my riding expectations every day. The roads were superb, wonderful consistent surveying, smooth excellent surfaces. Naturally the corners are always a strong focus and these were just great. Not too much tight technical stuff but nice sweepers where you can enjoy leaning the bike and having a nice flow – I loved it.
In many ways it is a ride that anyone could do with ease. Nothing more challenging to overcome than remembering the unique to North America practice called tipping. I had an app on my phone and used it to tell me what to add to bills and tried view it all as a VAT/GST type sales tax that had to be applied to each bill so I would remember it. (2025 note – now it’s so much easier with everything cashless there are buttons on the machines to add tip)
I highly recommend you ride North America.
Awesome pics and write up IC, sounds like a fantastic trip! Nice Beemer too
Just magical Waz, stunning roads and vistas, I envy you 🙂
Superb pics of the trip. Looks like one of those for the bucket list.
Wow! nice pics and it sounds like you enjoyed a lot on this trip. Even I would love to go on this kind of bike tours and explore my experience.
Awesome pic's Muzza. What an experience
What can I say? You are a well-traveled rider! Those places you've been through is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing the pictures!
Hi Warren,
You certainly do get around. I made a similar, but not as long trip up through the Adirondacks, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine many years ago on my R1 [something having come up with the VFR] in the hot summer time. I remember coming down this pass in New Hampshire, and getting so cold that I could barely
control the bike. Stopped at the first motel I could find and spent forever in a hot
shower trying to bring up my body temperature [it had been a camping trip, too].
Sounds like you may have missed out on Hiway 12, running up through the Cascades. It indeed looks like the Alps there, have never seen so many waterfalls in one place.
Also a glacier named after my ancestor up there.
happy trails, and thanks for the nice write up and pictures.
mike
Hi Mike,
I was planning to get back and ride some more including some of the East Coast this year but the motorcycle rental prices seem to have soared. Maybe I got a deal last time but now it's too much, the one way drop off fee alone for the ride I wanted to do was $745, then there was penalty extra cost for 4 days for a bike week thing, then insurance was many 100's and well in the end it was over $4000 even after trimming the ride to save days so I gave up on it for now.
Looks like I will ride in Europe instead. I have left it too late to get the best deals there in the peak season but even late booking I can rent for 1/2 the price for same period of time so thats achievable and the airfares are more or less same so keep an eye out for something happening on this blog later in the year.
All the above comments related to the original post.
Looking back the original post was at a turning point for this blog as after this I started to try write better, learn some photo editing and reply to comments. I am glad I reposted this to show how beautiful that part of the world really is.
This post made me chuckle. So many places in and around here that you have ridden on two wheels and we haven't yet we live way closer.
Where you crossed over the border into BC north of Bonner's Ferry, we used to live in Creston, BC back in the mid-90's. Good stuff and so pretty in the Kootenays.
Ha-ha that can happen, I really ignored my own country to go abroad. But it was such a long trip. No easy way to break up the flight unlike going to Europe (from Australia) with multiple ways to stopover.
Isn't it nice to revisit all these beautiful places albeit virtual? So maybe the no longer functioning website was a good thing after all. I can't get my head around that you basically rode by my then-home in Port Moody. We could have wined and dined you, Warren.
Oh that would have been great Sonja! I all but passed another blogger from Australia on the road when I was there last year neither of us aware the other was touring. Us bloggers need a notice board 😉
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Beautiful trip! I live in Japan too, so thanks for the site 🙂