🏍️ Best Motorcycle Roads - Episode 001: Planning Your First Motorcycle Road Trip 🏍️

Engage your senses with Tom and Todd's riveting tales from the road:

• Narrow Escapes & Unforgettable Rides: Kick off with Tom's harrowing yet memorable encounter with a Ford LTD on a skinny Kentucky road. This opener is as gripping as a tight turn on a mountain pass!

The Toolkit Segment:

• Dive into gear reviews and tips. Tom and Todd discuss the evolution of helmet communication systems, praising the game-changing Senna 50s. Their banter about old systems versus new is not only informative but also amusing - "Remember spending an hour pre-connection with the Senas?" 😂

Ride Wise Segment:

• Dealing with Weather & Pre-Planning: Learn how to be weather-wise and flexible. Their story about riding in the rain offers practical tips wrapped in humor - "Sometimes you just need to put the hammer down and slog it out!"

Mile Marker - Story Time:

• Kentucky Road Incident: A vivid recount of a near-miss with a Ford LTD, this story illustrates the importance of alertness and quick reflexes on the road. "My heart stopped... I thought I was going to see one of my friends get killed!"

Closing Thoughts:

• The Last Mile: Tom and Todd wrap up with reflections on camaraderie, the joy of shared experiences, and the importance of communicators for group rides. Their advice is as solid as their friendship - "No whiners on the trip!"

Revved up? Don't keep this thrill ride to yourself! Like, subscribe, and share with your fellow riders. Join the BMR crew for more exhilarating episodes about bikes, friends, and endless roads - where the stories ride forever.

Product Recommended:

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• Moto Coms – An older communication system mentioned as a starting point.
• Autocom – An improved Bluetooth system for bike-to-bike communication.
• Senna 20S and 50S – Discussed for their advancements in motorcycle communication.
• Senna App – An app for configuring Senna devices, though less used with the newer 50S model.
• Quantum Series Helmets – Mentioned as part of Senna's foray into helmets with built-in communication systems.
• Sena Mesh Port Technology – A new feature allowing the integration of various Bluetooth devices into a mesh network. Blue : Red
• GoPro 12 – Noted for its Bluetooth capability that can connect to the mesh network for recording communications

Episode 001 - Planning Your First Motorcycle Road Trip

Transcript:

(00:42) packing the routes and other tips and everything in between from essential prep to Unforgettable routes we've got you covered before we Kickstart today's Journey uh 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 will put a link in the show notes our first segment is called the toolkit this is our segment about motorcycle gears review and tips we call

(01:52) bike with the mocom um and then the autocom was something that Brad and I had that was a little better it was Bluetooth it got back and forth and then we moved to the Senna 20ss and I think things started to really get good then the problem with the senas is everyone will say is it takes you an hour prec connection to get all the connections together um so that was always frustrating and then I think here recently when the Sena 50s is came out it just changed the game CNA 50s is on mesh it's a one button click it

(02:58) there are some settings and features that you can change in there I don't know if you've looked lately Todd but sen is getting into helmets and stuff too so they what they call their their Quantum uh Quantum series helmets so that has like either built in Senna so everything you know they're trying to make the whole thing go but and Senna does have Partnerships with a lot of the top helmet makers now and so a lot of the C stuff is plug Inplay or at least there's channels for the speakers and

(03:50) Bluetooth and connect it um into mesh the mesh blue which um is I think how older Bluetooth devices like you could even Technic technically have like airpods connect to uh the mesh and then the third one is mesh red and mesh red is is other devices so I'm really looking forward to trying this out sometime in the next future um in the future but a GoPro 12 has Bluetooth you can connect this mesh red to that and then we'll be able to record all of our Communications that we're having with vide so so yeah Sen's really got it

(04:54) really be flexible you have to pay attention and start the day maybe by checking the weather um because often times you can change your route to avoid uh some storm cells and and then we always communicate that to everybody in our group you know um you know we just have a game plan uh for the day and we're going to communicate that before we take off and we know that if we if it starts raining the first thing we're going to do is we're going to look for a for a safe place to pull off yeah and uh

(05:53) you know coming that day yeah and I think we just have grown to learn to call audibles during the day sometimes you just need to put the m into get there and you just slog it out and sometimes you say you know like we could change this a little bit and either not ride as many miles cut a loop off the edge you know just I think you just have to kind of play it by ear and see how it's going to go but um yeah I mean and that kind of ties in with pre-trip planning I think a little bit is like having some alternates like I know when

(06:49) that's great I feel like there's been many a time where I've missed something that's amazing that I really would have liked to see had I known it was one mile to our West you know or something to that effect so so it's good I think we always talk about leaving flexibility um yeah go ahead I was going to say that's important for the entire group I mean when we started riding we we knew each other pretty well uh you know we were good friends we knew everybody was kind of chill and and willing to make changes and and relaxed

(07:49) into consideration when planning trips is the fuel range so knowing who's going to be on that trip is important um you know we have a guy Mike he likes to he has about 150 mile range in his head I think he can really go like 190 but he's comfortable at 150 that it's good we don't want anyone to Todd's Point is getting you know anxiety this is supposed to be fun and relaxing so you know couple hours between you know with wheels up is a good number um we've got kind of a pre-planning checklist I think

(08:49) down the city level I've looked at the Chamber of commer um all those things are great options and just Googling you know what's in this area what's in this area it just takes time it seems like it does take a lot of time to do those things but um they're really really really helpful um a lot of people use Butler motorcycle Maps those are very popular they're good um there's another kind of offshoot I shouldn't say offshoot but a competitor called Freeman Maps um they're technically free maps

(09:45) think it works pretty good yeah and one of the things that you always do Tom and I appreciate it is you you do you look down to the detail of the roads in in Iowa we have gravel roads uh not all states do but Tom always checks as he's making our uh planning our rout and he generally tries to find two lanes for most of our rides he looks to looks down and Zooms in to see if they're gravel or not and and and that's wonderful but another thing that you always do is we have a a a pre a pre-trip meeting with

(10:43) you're using that Google Maps I think is be careful when you're dragging and dropping cuz sometimes you'll pull like off of a road for a sec maybe you get into like a parking lot and then it's like oh we're turning up well we're turning around so it's just you really want to zoom in and kind of check the details but yeah that makes a great road so yeah the next segment is called mile marker this is kind of our story segment so um as we tease the little bit we've got um an interesting Kentucky Road

(11:46) going to see one of my my good friends get killed on a motorcycle because here we were on this one lane weaving it was was around trees and around fence lines and it just kept winding winding winding and I was behind you I was the next one behind you and all of a sudden Here Comes This giant Ford LTD around the corner he was flying two guys in it and you were right down the center of the lane and it was so sudden that you were on top of him and my I mean my heart stopped and I don't know how I mean everything just flashed through my head

(12:47) but I am really really sure I believe this road was called old railroad Road and it's north of the city of fall of Ruff Kentucky I forgot that I'll put a link to that uh to that City there and you can you can see if you can find it I don't know if there's bad roads in that area they were just unbelievable they were narrow but wow what what's some great writing it was so windy I don't know how it could have been an old railroad road but whatever well you know that's what it was called so um yeah and so we talk

(13:55) tank bag and he he liked to look at those and he did a really good job of that but we had no communication um we had no gear I'm pretty positive I maybe had a motorcycle jacket that I bought and that's it I think gloves and and a jacket um I don't know I think the luggage I I remember the luggage being simple and really not that not well attached to the bike um so we ended up you know you laugh at us now but I mean we trailered our bikes from from our place to basically north of Chicago in a little town called Zenda Wisconsin my

(15:02) three and 1 half hour ride and I I couldn't believe like I'd been riding for quite a long time and I'd ridden over you know Chicago many times my family is there and and you were going to trailer from here to Chicago and then Loop the I thought what are you doing trailering it's it's right there oh my gosh it's only three and a half hours but anyway you did it that's what we did so uh yeah we stayed the first night in Escanaba uh there's a there's a big boy statue and restaurant still there I

(15:59) back then was that pasties started from leftovers from dinner they put it in some bread baked it and that was what they took to work to eat the next day pocket yeah so um the ma Bridge um great bridge that you know um separates upper and lower uh Michigan man what a cool ride across the bridge couple miles long just a sight to see if you're ever in that area it does it does have mesh in it though on one side is mesh I think it one side is not yeah yeah so people get a little nervous about that yeah it makes your your bike float a little bit

(17:08) tunel trees you'll remember that yeah um yeah so that was one of the things I I remembered so well and then we looped on the bottom side slipped through Gary Indiana we got stuck I don't know what the heck we were doing honestly Todd because like we were in downtown Chicago traffic as well again no GPS so you know we're on maps and then oh my gosh that my love of GPS may come from this trip alone so you know we got the bikes loaded up in the trailer we kicked out took a wrong turn headed downtown

(18:10) the first one I remember how much my butt hurt on the third day you know like I was like we're in we're on the wrong side of the lake and I never going to make it home you know so um so yeah so yeah that's our um that's my story for the day I guess this podcast can be found on best motorcycle roads.

(19:05) I guess we don't hey we don't have anybody yet we have no listeners please no that's that's good I'm I'm excited about that part because you don't know what people don't know and it'll be fun to to help out so yeah all right so the last segment is called The Last Mile it's our closing segment Todd do you want to talk about what yeah I think for me building camaraderie and having uh these experiences together is is really what I enjoy most I think you enjoy most as well um you know sharing some laughs

(20:04) and they're in the back of the group uh without communicators there wouldn't be any way to do it so um these communicators I think as we mentioned earlier are just essential um you know and it's a way to share laughs along the way and point things out and um that's my favorite part you know just like building our friendships along the way and then you know pre-planning uh really pre-plan with your group ask everyone to be flexible um you know there's no wi you know you can't have whiners on the trip

(21:05) think for me it's just um as I reflected on this episode and T thought about that first ride is just get out there if you've never done a first group ride trip get out there and do it it doesn't even have to be just do one day you know but if you don't go out there you don't have one and it doesn't start kind of the the domino effect because like I said earlier I just I I love that trip I remember so much about it um I remember the great things the bliss store we've stopped there a couple times when we've

(22:01) can tell keep the spirit of Adventure alive and remember bikes friends and endless roads the stories ride forever take [Music] care