Episode 017 – Don’t do what we did – Best Motorcycle Roads Podcast – YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRZfdLeg3K0

Transcript:

(00:00) How many pairs of swimming trunks does one man [Music] need hello and welcome to best motorcycle roads I’m Tom and I’m Todd together we have over 65 years of combined motorcycling experience and 30 years of planning and riding motorcycle trips we’re here to share with you everything we’ve learned over those years our goal at best motorcycle roads is simple make your next motorcycle trip the best it can be we’ll dive into technology planning packing the roots other tips and everything in between

(00:41) from essential prep to Unforgettable Roots we’ve got you covered before we Kickstart today’s Journey we ask you to sign up for our BMR Rider alerts it’s our way of keeping you in the loop with the latest rides tips and stories we promise no spam only the essentials to enhance your motorcycle Adventures join the BMR crew today today we’ll put a link in the show notes this segment about motorcycle gear reviews and tips we call the toolkit today’s tool kit has rock straps in it I don’t know if you’ve ever used the rock

(01:12) strap I have not used the rock straps Rock straps are awesome so they’re the there’s stuff to use to tie luggage or gear on but what’s unique about them is one end is polyester with like a plastic you know uh clasp M but the other side is like a little bit um elastic okay so what you can do is you you hook them up to your bike usually they Loop through you know the loop and then when you connect them and then you tight it down all the way then when your bike jumps or moves a little bit it doesn’t loosen because it’s it’s got a

(01:46) little give to it and uh is Rock strap a typ it’s a brand that’s the brand R yep R okay R okay R okay okay and I’ve never seen anybody copy them quite yet so maybe they have the patent but they’re they come in I think 3/4 in maybe 1 in um sizes and they’re just wonderful um anytime you’re trying to tie those you know you’ve got some luggage on your back that’s tightly coupled and that’s fine but anytime you’re trying to tie on seats or anything like that there’s just

(02:18) always a little bit of give and these things are the bomb diggity and where can I find rock stps you can find them online I’m sure almost every place that carries motorcycle stuff has rock straps yeah and sometimes even at some of the farm stores but so like RevZilla would have oh yeah okay for sure luggage like it’s really great for luggage for overnight trips too because then you can just pop them and they come off like super easy but they don’t um you’ve seen it before when we’ve tried to tie you

(02:48) try tie things down tightly and then it just loosens up over time and pretty soon half the bag’s hanging over you know running into the muffler you get to the next stop and your back’s actually on fire you know or you’re dragging it down the road by one one strap yeah Rock straps Rock straps and they do c c covers and then some of them actually have a little reflectivity to them too oh that’s nice yeah ridewise is the section we focus on planning and safety tips today’s ridewise segment I

(03:24) want to talk about um a couple of things you can do along like group rides um when you’re stopping like a visual inspection um so many times that we’ve caught things uh in the nick of time uh because we’ve done just a quick visual inspection and things like uh tire pressure I know on this how many yeah seems like every trip there’s something with tire pressure but I just on this last it’s because it’s such a pain in the butt honestly like it really is I mean now with some of the newer bikes

(03:57) has the TPS sensors so you can bring it up on the computer but you know we’re getting old we have to get down on the ground to uh lay that hard ground it’s not so bad getting know I just getting back up getting back up is tough uh so yeah check check tire pressures check your lights um you know more than one time I’ve lost a headlight yeah on a on a trip and uh you know luckily we didn’t get into Dusk and dark it’s good to mitigate it though too like so if you lose a headlight just tuck you back in one behind so you’re

(04:30) kind of not in front you know or if you lose tail eight you know go to the back you know don’t go all the way to the back good point and carry it carry an extra bulb right that’s an easy one too um check for any loose straps you’re just talking about rock straps but yeah yeah we’ve we’ve often had straps dangling flapping in the breeze you know getting caught in the tire you know all that kind of stuff so can cause damage it it C certainly can and then uh look for loose bolts any brackets we’ve had

(04:57) uh side panels fall off motorcycles been riding and get run over uh we’ve had kickstands come loose yep uh we’ve had camera Dr uh brackets you know drop we’ve had mirrors drop uh I had a a a fog light fall off once you had a fog light fall off we’ve had uh Highway Peg you know fall off so yeah just kind of go around and and kind of check all that stuff at each stop I mean it just take you a minute or two to quick walk around especially when everyone else is filling up with fuel or grabbing something to

(05:30) drink you know you have that time and look at each other’s bikes sometimes you get used to looking at your bike so much you don’t you don’t see it it’s like a blind spot for you so uh and then uh just one other thing uh reapply your sunscreen we’ve talked about it yeah yeah I’ve I’ve got myself burned in the face more than one time or the back of my hands uh because I haven’t put enough sunscreen on or reapplied it you know after you kind of sweat it out and uh just make sure you’re taking enough uh

(05:58) rest breaks while you’re writing we’ve talked about hydration before but um you know stretch you know make sure you’re not going to you know get that hip cramp you know and give your shoulders a break and yeah um yeah just stretch move around keep everything limber uh when you’re when you’re taking those breaks absolutely the next segment is what we call the mile marker it’s our story segment for today’s mile marker we’re going to talk about uh maybe a first overnight trip Todd and I are both

(06:27) administrators in a Facebook group called motorcycle trips advice it’s something we started 10 years ago or so and highly recommend that group um we police it pretty heavily I should say I police it pretty heavily we have strict rules where we’re really only talking about advice to make the next person’s trip the best it can be hence some of the stuff we talk about here in the podcast but honestly there’s no event posting there’s no uh just photos of your bike there’s no memes it’s really

(06:55) just you asking people who have been on the road doing the thing that you want to do and one of the um trips that or questions that came in is like help us with the first overnight trip you know what should we know and we’ve talked a little bit about it before I think but really one of the things I like to talk about is really just um kind of circling maybe your location so even if you’re going to do a few hundred 500 700 miles maybe keep your home base in the middle of that you can circle around it it makes it a lot

(07:26) easier to get home quickly if you if something goes bad um so that’s just a one quick tip no matter where you’re riding uh you know we’ve talked about before we ride here out of Iowa in the midwest so lots of recommendations came in for this one on the on the uh on that on the motorcycle trips and advice uh Facebook group but the Great River Road you know we’ve we’ve had an episode about that but anything around Savannah Lacrosse Wisconsin you know it’s nice you can go up one side down the other

(07:57) you know up Iowa Minnesota down Wisconsin in vice versa um and uh someone had pointed out that Illinois 84 that’s a great ride that’s on the that’d be north of savan on the Illinois side and it is it’s a beautiful beautiful ride yeah we talk a lot about Wisconsin Highway 35 it’s kind of one of our favorites we’re generally riding home on that one coming from the north It’s the Great River Road as well just unbelievable um rides Bluffs you know we’ve talked about the locks and dams

(08:27) that you can see the train tracks m it has a little bit of everything um gentle rolling curves and Hills yeah um Mississippi Palisade state park is around there as well that’s um just outside of Savannah if you if you kind we’re Riders and kind of eaters um you know but there’s a lot of people that like to ride hike do some other things there’s some great trails and views of the Mississippi River from there um the Effigy Mounds is more of a National Monument that’s kind of cool it’s um near Harper fery Iowa it’s

(09:02) Native American burial grounds and just a ton of Scenic overlooks there um and then there’s also I think in that same area by cville the Nelson Dewey State Park and then if you’re going to cville you might as well take the fairy right that’s cool it’s an old fery it’s very slow moving you pull the bike on put the kickstand in five minutes and you’re there yeah the first time rewrote it I just remember my was like we rode up and you literally go and there’s a metal box flip it open and then there’s a red

(09:34) button call the fairy and you’re like you push it and you have no idea right if it’s coming or not yeah yeah there’s no voice saying no I was thinking there was a phone there but you right it’s a button call for Fairy I think is what it says but but in those same veins I means food around the area that it’s kind of popular is uh poopy’s Pub and Grub that’s in Savannah kind of a biker place um it’s got everything you need beer tattoo and burger so um no but that’s a fun place really big

(10:06) music venue I I we talked about this I haven’t seen you can tell it’s it’s nice for that um The Barn restaurant is in pren um that’s pretty cool place um on the Iowa side there is the Balltown Family Restaurant that’s kind of a classic and then also pososi Brewing Company now I don’t think you’ve hit that yet hav been there yet Brad and Mike and I did that on a run and they have like a museum there’s a great story about that if you if you have time and check out YouTube but toi is a very

(10:37) small town it’s tiny and um the Brewing Company was there and then it went out of business and a man did a fundraiser to get it going back again and it’s kind of the thing that’s kind of holding that town together and it’s it’s neat it’s it’s well worth the stop good restaurant um really really really solid place to go to pososi yeah it’s in pososi so yeah so um when it comes to doing those rides of that way though I think just hitting hitting some of those classic roads that

(11:07) are around you for the first trip what else do you got for your for first trip ideas yeah so you’re you’re thinking about like just getting used to riding longer yeah staying overnight you know yeah what to pack yeah I think that’s a pretty good idea just kind of stay in your in your area in case you needed to be home or you know yeah you’re just not feeling right about it I mean that’s the story of the motorcycle that I got that I’m riding now is the guy bought it had it fully customized him and his wife were

(11:32) going to ride it to Alaska he brought it home and at 84 miles they started um doing a ride together they put on 25 miles she say yeah I’m not riding this thing a mile more so you just don’t know you know I mean I think um it takes time to figure out the right clothes the right helmet the right this the right that so y to be comfortable and don’t forget your uh swim trunks that’s why I own four of the exact same pair cuz every time tell us that story yeah why do you own more one well because every

(12:01) time we’d go I’d forget and so that I’d go to Walmart and buy the exact same pair of swimming trucks because you like that pair that’s all no it was like three years in a row the ex they just had the the one pair you know so I have three pairs of the exact same pair of so you never know you know you just but it’s also a lesson I think maybe and you’ve talked about this a few times is pack it up what you think you’re going to need and then take half out and then and then you probably still have too

(12:28) much right yeah I’m a classic overpacker and yeah if I could just stick to that all the time I’d be fine but I can’t I think you’re a late Packer not an overpacker I’m I’m that too and you just need to attach the launder basket to the to the bike and you’ll be fine I’m going to try that now next time as well is there a cover for that do they make a cover the podcast can be found on best motorcyc roads.

(12:51) com podcast all the information you need will be there uh but you can subscribe on Spotify Amazon music Apple pocketcast and YouTube this is the interactive segment we will be looking for input from you uh we want you to send us your questions and suggestions for roads topics and anything else you have on your mind today’s roadside Q&A comes from Tim and uh Tim was uh just kind of asking about how do you find local information um you know in in all the various places and I know you’ve talked about you know Chambers of Commerce and

(13:25) you know Google searching and things like that but you know honestly Facebook groups you know uh the motorcycle uh roads and trips advice yeah is a great group that’s the group we we admin but the motorcycle map is another good one motorcycle map’s a good one both of those are positive groups you know there’s a bunch of groups out there and and you know how it is I mean well did you Google it first you know like I mean there’s all that garbage but both of those are very helpful people um wanting to help people

(13:53) out and find things and yeah we’ve seen I mean it’s interesting I mean I know that there’s a post in there right now that’s I’m looking you know best roads in Idaho best roads here best roads there there’s someone from everywhere there I mean I think the motorcycle trips in device has about 25,000 people in it now and helpful all helpful yeah all helpful otherwise you get rid of them yeah I ditch them quick but yeah no Shameless self-promotion as I always tell right yeah uh yeah Tom runs a

(14:22) pretty tight ship in there but no honestly those those groups are are great because it’s it’s people just wanting to help out and well most people in there nice then you get two or three people that are jerks and then they want to you know Yammer all the time about it and I don’t know when you start kicking people out quickly like that people will contribute more and I think that’s what I’ve seen with it is this is only there’s plenty of places to go out there and Meme and do all these other things

(14:47) people want solid advice from people that have been there don’t give advice if you haven’t been there you know and no I don’t want to watch your motorcycle video you know like we just don’t post that stuff so yeah it’s great um both of those so yep I hope that helps Tim yeah now it’s time for The Last Mile it’s our way to close the episode with our reflections of everything we’ve talked about um you know the best first trip is the first one right I mean like you know you can have a best second trip but uh

(15:18) is that kind of like um you can only get you don’t get a first chance to make a second impression okay I think that’s how it goes something like that but I don’t you just got to take it you know and and maybe you just wait till the day is nice so you don’t have to have rain gear right away but just go do it I mean like even if you turn around and not go as far as you think you can go if you don’t get out there and try it you don’t know and you and I both discuss this from probably podcast one it’s just we enjoy

(15:49) being out there having fun and just the silliness of it and if you think you want to be an ultra planner then Ultra plan it you know and if you think you want to just wing it just wing it and see what happens and you know sometimes it’ll work and sometimes it won’t but I think um we’ve found great things in both of those things and highly planned trips have been very good and lightly planned trips have been very good and uh you know I think you say it a lot and I think about it as don’t be afraid to

(16:16) just um you know stop sometimes if you see something interesting um you know it’s just that’s the randomness of it too so one of the things that I think I’d like to do more of I think is just stop at more of those like some of those little history spots and just I think we passed by a lot of things that were probably more interesting than we think mhm yeah yeah yeah I I agree Tom I I really like the idea of if you haven’t been on a a multi-day you know three four five day trip and you you want to

(16:45) start with a one or two day trip I I love that idea just uh stay a little more local I mean you could stay at a hotel of course and and and that but maybe do it like the do the loop around where you’re at y um because you just don’t know until you’ve done it um you just don’t know you know how’s my back going to do how my legs going to do my wrists going to do um you know will I need to get a throttle lock maybe you know you’re out for two days and go geez I can’t hang on to the handle to The

(17:13) Handlebar that long you know so I need to come home and put a throttle lock on so yeah kind of ease your way into it maybe that first time um you know bring it just a couple of friends and and give it a try but if you’re bringing you know you Rod two up enough and that’s a very different experience as well very you know for both Rider and passenger so and there’s a lot of there’s a lot of Club rides around if you want to go for a long day rides I know there’s a motorcycle um like Riders club in in the

(17:41) in Eastern Iowa and all over a lot of those used to be Gold Wing clubs now they kind of converted to General um but those people camp a lot and they’ll have a couple three-day thing and they they go they’re pretty General they actually the rides that I’ve on with them they’ve always had a a car that comes with too and some people get in there for a little while and then swap out and so that’s another option you know too is if you’re just completely not sure you know take a car and a bike true but I I would

(18:09) caution people if you’re going to go on your first long ride maybe not a big group that can be a little stressful that can cause some anxiety if you haven’t done that before definitely definitely definitely and uh you know maybe a group of two three to five and not 25 right that’s that’s a lot that is a lot um if this episode r up your day don’t keep it to yourself like subscribe and share it with your crew we’re all about the thrill of the ride and the bond it creates keep the spirit of

(18:37) Adventure alive and remember bikes friends and endless roads the stories ride forever take care [Music] [Music]