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15 Best Motorcycle Roads

3K views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  Andyman 
#1 · (Edited)
"SCMA 15 Best Motorcycle Roads Challenge" Is out.

1. Beartooth Pass and Chief Joseph Highway
2. California Highway 1, Monterey to Morro Bay
3. US 12, Lolo Pass, Lewiston to Lolo
4. Cherohala Skyway & Tail of the Dragon
5. Going to the Sun Road
6. Million Dollar Highway, Montrose to Durango
7. Blue Ridge Parkway, Any continuous 150-mile segment us
8. Washington Highway 20, Concrete to Omak
9. Virginia Highway 16 “The Back of the Dragon”, Tazewell to Marion
10. RR 335, 336, 337, “The Twisted Sisters”, Texas
11. US 16A Eastbound from Custer to Rushmore to Keystone
12. Vermont Highway 100, Stamford to Waterbury
13. US 191, Springerville to Three Way, AZ
14. Utah 12, Torrey to Bryce Canyon Turnoff
15. US 50, Ely to Carson City, NV
I've done everyone of these roads at one time or anther but not all in the same year. It sounds like an interesting challenge to do them all in the same calender year Ay! What do you guys think?

http://www.sc-ma.com/The_15_Best_Roads_in_2012.html
 
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#3 ·
Subjective List

I've ridden 10 of the roads on the list, 12 if you consider that the Twisted Sisters are 3 individual and very different ranch roads.

Surprised that US 50 is on there, even at 15. Very little on that road, it was torture to me. I'll NEVER do it again on a bike.

I may have been jaded by the fact that in the 2 days before I hit that stretch of 50 I'd ridden Utah HWY 128 from Cisco to Moab and then Utah HWY 95 from Blanding to Hanksville. Both of those are on my top 5.

128's geological scenery is amazing and it runs along a river pretty much the whole way. 95 is 130 miles of bliss. No traffic, great road that can handle whatever speed you want to do. 30 over the speed limit or 10 under, lots of sweepers to keep you engaged and a lot more unreal, prehistoric looking geology. Also runs past the headwaters of Lake Powell.

A couple of great resources to find your own list of great roads are http://byways.org/
and also a National Geographic paperback entitled Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways, subtitled "The 275 best drives in the U.S.". I've ridden many roads I've found in that book and never been disappointed. The DOT used to send those books free via byways.org if you could find the link on their site. They're also available at Barnes and Noble for about 30 bucks.

The best website I've ever seen is Pashnit.com out of California, but it's only Cal and some Nevada and Ore. roads. They do a fantastic job on that site, wish we had that kind of a site here for Texas roads.
 
#4 ·
Some great roads on there, no doubt. But obviously this is a subjective topic and it all depends on what type of roads appeal to the particular rider. For example, for me, you can take most of the twisty stuff out. I like 16A from Custer to Mt. Rushmore, but Tail of the Dragon not so much. Don't get me wrong, its a unique road, but I'm more into the wide open spaces. I love Hy. 85 north out of Belle Fourche, SD up to ND. I also enjoy Hy. 160 through Monument Valley in the Navajo Indian Res. in AZ. Hy. 191 into Moab. Parts of Hy. 2 through Montana is very cool too.

I've been on most of the Blueridge PW, and its cool...but I usually get bored and frustrated by the slow traffic with little opportunity to pass. Give me a solitary, wide open ride soft curves where you can see for miles and I'm in!:)
 
#9 ·
Andy man. 50 is ok but definitely not a preffered motorcycle road. Just a decent way to get to reno. But i do love that 100 year old tavern in the middle of nowhere. Lolopass and clearwater river is a ride i do any time im heading east. North cascades is very hard to top. 200 miles of beauty and you can keep going all the way to coast. Hwy 1 is up there too. I would say anywhere in the black hills is nice. One ride destination that i think should be on here is the circle around crater lake. Still is the coolest place ive ever been. It should be a wonder of the world.
 
#11 ·
I've done number 9 several times, but never knew it was called "The Back of the Dragon", great road, but never expected it to be on there. Other than that I've done the Parkway so many times over the years that I've lost count. FYI, if you get there early and it's not the fall leaf season the parkway is empty before 9AM on most days. Of course the Tail of the Dragon and Cherohala Skyway were done, but I haven't done the "Tail" in several years, just won't deal with the traffic.

Kind of surprised that 89A in Arizona between Prescott and Flagstaff isn't in there. longer ride but a great road on a bike or in a car.
 
#12 ·
I rode HWY 12 east a few years ago on my Deuce en route to Glacier NP. I camped at a county campground in Orofino on the Clearwater River- paid 15 bucks... I have a pic of my bike parked under a highway warning sign that had the big "S" shape and underneath said "NEXT 99 MILES". It was gorgeous and so much fun.

I do a 5k+ tour every spring or summer and it's usually solo. You have a lot of time to think on those trips and you find places you might want to someday retire to. This was one of those places. And then I realized it was mid July, and although it was just after sunrise I had full leathers plus my rain gear on for a wind breaking layer and was STILL a little cold. I quickly got over the notion of ever living there!
 
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