Welcome to Best Motorcycle Roads, where we share our combined 65 years of motorcycling experience and 30 years of trip planning to help you make your next motorcycle trip the best it can be. From essential prep to unforgettable routes, we've got you covered!
(00:39) 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 we'll put a link in the show notes this segment about motorcycle gear reviews and tips we call the toolkit this is a segment about motorcycle gear and tips we call it the tool kit uh two
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(01:42) and so when condensation is getting on there you can actually take it and wipe your face shield off super super handy and nice and I would highly recommend one pair of gloves with that on it cuz usually you're going to need and usually they come on little warmer gloves because you're kind of riding in the wet you know and so those are handy if you take a peek at least have one pair of gloves with that on it I don't I've never seen anything that's an add-on but I've always seen them with it on there it's
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(02:40) tips ridewise the section we focus on safety and planning tips uh so when riding through the uh Upper Peninsula of Michigan um just want you to be aware of a few things to take in consideration um like watch for potholes especially the win you know just after winter because you know they get a lot of snow and ice and you know that water gets through the pavement it freezes it heaves um really pay attention to that and in the lower part of Michigan of course it's very populated in the upper part of Michigan
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(03:37) best pictures that I've taken on those kind of things are from there but I will say it also can be like that ocean front view from the hotel that you paid extra for a lot of times you're looking at a lot of pine trees too so you know you're just catching glimpses so so be watching out maybe plan ahead and look at those Scenic views and plan on those being the thing because there's so many times like you can be uh you know sometimes it looks like on the map that you're on the shore you're a quart mile away you know
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(04:34) that uh you know that come out especially around Dawn and dusk so just kind of watch yourself in those forested areas you know stay diligent um and then and the weather does change rapidly up there when you're up next to the lake um have have uh your rain gear with you because you know there's sudden changes in weather it'll just blow right in on you and uh or temperature will change quickly so well they talk about lake effect snow you know in the winter and it doesn't yes it's just the winds that
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(05:28) is a good backup but I think we've talked about this previously and this is Turk's ideas bring that make sure you write down the places that you're staying at least where you're staying overnight maybe like an address because you can put those into those GPS's and it'll get you there true but like if you forget you don't have cell service you can't look up the reservation on the phone pretty soon you have no address you don't even know where you're going yeah that's a good point yeah so like he
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(06:18) from east to west excuse me west to east um one really cool one you mentioned Porcupine Mountains it's it's really good it's in a um ant to nogan a aogan is how you say it aogan um and if you get into the park there's actually what they call Lake of the cloud so it's kind of a you know it's a mountain range you know it's not huge but then there's a lake up there and then so you can drive almost all the way up to the top and then there's just a short walk and then you see this Lake and it's just pristine
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(07:20) bridge Portage Lake lift bridge double-decker bridge that um used to be the bottom was used for rail cars and the top was used for vehicles and then the whole thing both both sections will go all the way up so big boats and things can get through it's really cool um you can't miss it it's the only way across when you're going up north um then Copper Harbor is pretty much is the furthest point North like city in Michigan and that's that's a neat place too and there's there's some nice
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(08:19) us2 um so You' got basically from like almost just north of Green Bay you can get on to um Escanaba uh marionette Mana it goes all the way to the bridge at St IGN ignis um and that's kind of cool that one's got some pretty nice views and there are some really cool Bridges and and overlooks on that one on two that's on the north side of Lake Michigan okay um and then kind of the furthest you can go without like kind of going out on an island is North is Paradise Michigan which um is just south
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(09:31) in the water it just gets so terribly crazy there and so yeah it's it's awesome um you get to go like they have video I'm taking a sub I think down there and oh it's it's cool definitely cool and and when you're up in that area I've only been up there maybe twice yeah are there gravel roads like do we have to worry about like when we're mapping do we have to worry about gravel roads okay and you can see the difference but um yeah so like what's weird is um let's see it would be from
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(10:40) probably not the on-road then either but but it was interesting it was fun to try but it was a little too nerve-wracking for me I wouldn't want to do it again um unless I took some training first buts yeah kind of up in that south side of superior from like paradise or to to Marquette uh lots of gravel M okay lots of gravel and Sandy gravel it's weird yeah it's hard packed I would never know what the heck would happen if it rained can you see it if you're Google mapping it or you for sure no you could definitely you
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(11:42) Pocket with a meatloaf in it I don't know if you did we stop and get one ever I think I have I don't remember we were together it was a hot Pock it's a Hot Pocket with meatloaf in it I think the tradition is that's a big Iron mining area and so I think that was the the the lunch they would take take the night's dinner and then fold that into lunch for the Min yeah for the next yeah just south and then back to the west of Mao Bridge is a great place go find Cross Village it's m119 the tunnel the trees
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(12:42) Lighthouse City so like you can go to a ton of lighthouses yeah I don't remember there's a lot of them there's actually just a lighthouse tour that you can take too yeah I've never took it boat tour or um it'd be more like just kind of a map map yeah yeah uh Brockway Mountain Drive uh again that's breathtaking vistas of Lake Superior and uh the Kina Peninsula I hope I'm saying that right um somebody will correct me if I'm not and then uh h58 uh Ming to Grand maras it's uh moras no grand morray grand
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(13:53) you mention m123 M12 that I'm sure that was the one we wrote on I just okay white fish basic byway two white fish point yeah it's a coastal route it's kind of a dead end but it's cool yeah yeah yeah there's lots to see up there the podcast can be found on best motorcycleroads.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
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(15:01) I'm going to call them about that yeah let's get on it I'm sure someone will answer you have Google you have Gemini now that can analyze everything why can't you just run it through the map St that's a good point um check the weather especially in that Upper Peninsula we said you know the the weather changes quickly uh just be prepared for some cold some hot some wet uh some fog froggy yeah it can it can be foggy and then you know watch for wildlife deer moose all that kind of stuff and and
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(16:00) you're from Michigan Highway Department you understand why you have one line down the road uh and then finally you know some of those areas are pretty remote sales service is is quite limited so uh you know have a GPS with you in addition to your phone um download your Google Maps ahead of time that's that's going to help quite a bit and you know maybe just let somebody know that here's where I'm planning to go and my expected time is this or that yeah that's a good point and then we talked about this a few
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(16:55) comes along yeah exactly and then worse like you know we were one time we were riding and guy went off the road like if he he was okay he climbed back up you couldn't see him that's right there was nothing to be seen I mean I mean nothing yeah there's a couple little squigglies and that was it he was long gone yeah he's 25 ft down the ditch yeah you know yeah had you guys not been behind him and realized he was missing oh goodness you would never found it never you wouldn't have known nope so that's I
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(17:53) liked most about this last episode Todd do you want to start I'm intrigued to go up to see the Edmond Fitzgerald Museum you know the Shipwreck up there this is going to be an opportunity to really create a good playlist for this oh oh I can do that put it on Spotify for us no I I'm looking forward to that I'm glad you brought that up because uh yeah I'd like to get up there I would say that one thing that I like about these rides in some of these areas like this it was similar to our Minnesota ride here one
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(18:48) see a Canada at night and we'll get some we'll get some firewood out there and this that you know it's just enjoyable to just kind of one step back you know that's cool I'd like to do that for sure if this episode revved 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 Adventure alive and remember bikes friends and endless roads the stories ride forever take care [Music]
