12,939  Miles of Washington, Oregon and Idaho Roads!
It's not the destination that makes the ride. It's the roads ridden, people you meet and burgers you eat to get there!

 

What's new for 2012!
New HD Cams including Helmet cam and mic. More ride video using HD Video Cameras for multiple angles and perspectives.

 

Join me on Facebook and get informed as things happen. Just click the Facebook graphic then click "Like" on my page.

You know what goes good after a great ride. Beer & BBQ!
Visit our New Site! Over 73 Slow cooked BBQ recipes all in HD Video. See What's Cooking!
@
Smokingpit.com BBQ Page

Winter weather is here. Gear up and enjoy the riding folks!

 

Northwest Motorcycle Tours
I have received many emails from out of state riders who journey to ride our US roads. Those who have ridden our Washington roads echo the same message.... They found Washington's motorcycle riding to be some of the best if not he best in the United States. Washington delivers super slabs to tight twisties running through desert, several mountain ranges, Puget Sound water way, farm lands and coastal ocean beaches. All this and plenty of unique eateries along the way. Some who wish to ride our roads but do not have the time to make the long journey by bike to get here should consider Northwest Motorcycle Adventures. This is a top notch motorcycle rental service that rents only Suzuki V-Strom's which are well known as extremely dependable touring bikes. Northwest Motorcycle Adventures is owned and operated buy Doug Cushing. Doug takes pride in the quality of his service and I have to say after riding with him and seeing his maintenance routine, rental gear and delivery service, I'm extremely impressed. The bikes and gear provided are impeccably maintained and of the highest quality. What Doug offers is a complete turn key package including delivery and pick up of the bikes. Along with bike rentals, Northwest Motorcycle Adventures rents high quality weather proof riding gear including Nolan flip up helmets. What's stopping you? Come see us and ride our roads. Need information on riding Washington feel free to contact me. Looking for the best roads Washington has to offer? Visit my Road Guide and click the "Trip Log & Multimedia" link or graphic to see the trip report, pictures and high quality video stream of the ride taken with an on board camera.   Read more. Check out the Northwest Motorcycles Adventure web site for information on their rates and services provides.

The 2012 Hells Canyon Rally is just around the corner riders!  

This is a 4 day event I highly recommend you attend 2012 and beyond. The Rally is geared more for riding with many day ride options including a ride into hells Canyon and the "Gold Rush Course". At the end of each day there is a street party where folks can partake in any of the great eateries for food and beverages. There is a bike show, awards ceremony and plenty of venders as well. Registration will begin soon. If you plan on attending, I recommend you contact local lodging to reserve a room now as they go quickly. There is ample camping available at the high school. There is even a bike wash available to keep that chrome and paint shiny! Look for a silver Goldwing with an onboard camera. If you see me stop by and say hi! Buy me a Jack & Coke. I won't stop you. :-)

Here's what you need to know and some useful information straight from the horses mouth. Or should I say Steve and Eric Folkestad. They are the founders of this amazing rally that will show you some of Oregon and Idaho's most beautiful roads. I'll see you in HELL 2012! Hells Canyon that is...

HellsCanyonRally.com
Hells Canyon Rally 2009 Video!
Hells Canyon Rally 2010 - 4 days 5 videos!

Big Tom's - #4 Burger in WA and see what's New

This site offers 57 rides and 13,786 miles of Northwest roads all with maps, photo shows and video. Help make this site successful by sharing these documented rides and destinations with your friends. Locating a ride destination is simple. Click the Road Guide link in the menu. The Road Guide page will display all logged rides. Each ride will have a brief description and maps, map images as well as Google Earth 3D maps. Click the display image or Trip Log and Multimedia link and you will be presented with the ride details including a Flash photo show and 16:9 wide format ride video of the actual roads ridden during the ride. Finding the perfect ride is easier then ever!

Looking for detailed information on Washington's roads? This site delivers content rich, short day, full day and multiple day rides with 16:9 wide format high quality video along with multimedia trip logs. Photos are taken with high resolution cameras and presented to the viewer via a flash photo slide shows. Content includes map images, downloadable Garmin map files, an interface to Google Earth 3D maps and where to find the top 10 burgers in Washington. Best of all, it's all free! If you like the content please send my URL (web site link) to your ride buddies. Here is a map of the rides I have covered.  Open Map Image

Featured Washington Roads If you enjoy the content of this site, please help grow this site by passing the URL on to your ride buddies. If you like bike talk... Join our Forum. Registration is absolutely free!

Featured Washington Roads - Click the photos for ride details.

Coming soon! The Hells Canyon Rally trip reports and Video coverage in HD!

July 18th, 2010

Sunrise MT Rainier & Chinook Pass
One of Washington’s great mountains, MT Rainier is a great source of motorcycling. This 201 mile ride will take you up SR 410 through the Federation Forest and into MT Rainier National park. The destination is Sunrise Visitor center at a altitude of 6,400 feet. This is the highest pint reachable by vehicle. After Sunrise visit Chinook Pass. Bring a Camera.

June 13th, 2010

Hells Canyon - Riding the Blue Mountains Day 3
The "Gold Rush Course" is an amazing 267 mile ride through the blue Mountains. This ride will take you through a dead standing forest that burned 6 years earlier and offer up some beautiful scenery. You will ride roads that deliver non stop twisties and sweepers while at the same time allot of scenery. The last part of the ride will deliver thrills and on hell of adrenaline rush as it will feed you some of the tightest turns we encountered the entire trip. If your attending the rally or just passing through, this is a must ride route.

June 12th, 2010

Hells Canyon - Riding the Canyon Day 2
This is an amazing 186 mile ride that is loaded with sweeping turns and twisties galore! After crossing the Homestead Bridge, you will ride what is known as "The Devils Tail". This is approximately 16 miles of non stop twisties down the throat of Hells Canyon bringing you to past the Hells Canyon Dam to the visitor’s center next to the Snake River. It's one of the best rides I have ridden.
 

September 27th, 2009

Oyster Run 2009 - Ride the Northwest’s largest motorcycle rally. The Oyster Run is an amazing event. Take the Mukilteo Ferry to Whidbey Island. Ride Whidbey Island and some of it’s shorelines. Ride into Anacortes the back way and avoid the crowd. Enjoy 255 miles of road and thousands of motorcycles. Enjoy the music, people, food and the Seattle Cossacks motorcycle stunt team. This rally is once a year and is a must do.

August 24th, 2009

North Cascades - Stevens Pass Loop Day 2 - A nice short but scenic 56 mile ride over the Narrows Bridge, through the small harbor town of Gig Harbor and on through Olalla to the South worth Ferry terminal. Next a short ferry crossing to Vashon and then ride Burma Rd on the west side and then head to point Robinson Light House. Top it all off with a scenic ride around Quartermaster harbor and a ferry ride to the Point Defiance landing in Tacoma.

August 23rd, 2009

North Cascades - Stevens Pass Loop Day 1 - This ride is an amazing 2 day ride up and over the North Cascades hwy 20. Experience the turquoise green waters of Diablo Lake and marvel at the peaks of the North Cascades. Then ride down in to eastern WA To the western town of Winthrop and on to Twisp and Chelan. Enjoy riding parallel next to lakes Pateros and Entiat on Hwy 153 and then ride Hwy 97 to Leavenworth WA. See Day 2 for Stevens Pass.

Want more? See all the rides on the Road Guide page.

Road-Quest News

Olympic Peninsula & MT Rainier
by Kevin Williams

Every now and then I get an email from folks who are out of state and have come across this site and interested in riding Washington roads. I do my best to support them with information on the roads, other key destinations and lodging if necessary. I have been wanting to post some content on ride by visitors so that others like them can get the ride perspective by another rider who too is from out of the area. This will be the first post of this kind. This trip report and all photos were provided by Kevin Williams from his ride through the Olympic Peninsula. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Read detailed Trip Report with slide show.

Interactive Map of B-King Owners

This link will take you to an interactive map of Suzuki B-King Owners around the world. This map is currently being populated by PsychoRookie in the SuzukiB-King.org forum. As B-King owners around the world opt in they will be added to the map. Pretty cool Idea in my opinion. B-King Owner Interactive Map

Available now for the Suzuki B-King 30 mm Bar Risers!

If your a B-King owner who has considered installing bar risers, I have recently installed and reviewed a set of  D3 Components 30 mm bar risers. This set of risers are exactly what the B-King needed to allow for the long day ride or multi day ride. CNC Machined from 6082 T6 Aluminum and finished with a black powder coat, this set of bar risers look as if they belong on the bike unlike other brands.  Review and video

Hinshaw's Motorcycle Store - Gets The Yamaha Franchise

Hinshaw's motorcycle store  has been a great resource for new/used bikes and service. They have a Dyno in the shop and very competent mechanics. Recently they bought the Yamaha franchise and now carry the Yamaha line. Now they carry Victory, Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha, KTM and Sym. Bored on a rainy day? Visit Hinshaw's and make your way upstairs to check out their vintage motorcycle collection. 

Custom Airbrushed Paint by James Scott

If your looking for high quality custom airbrushing and paint, check out James Scott. I spent some time looking over some of his work as I'm looking for some air brush work myself. I was very impressed with the photos of the work he has done. James has done two custom paint jobs for me and I was very pleased with the quality of his work.The second of which is nearing its final stages of clear coat and final buffing. Watch the Transformation here! Visit his site and browse his photo gallery. paintbyjames.com  - Check out this work of art!
 

A Tribute to the Ladies of the Sport
Women have been big contributors to the sport of motorcycle racing, dirt riding and touring for quite some time. As time moves forward the numbers of female riders grows. This is a short article submitted by Kevin Patterson. Kevin wanted to take time to recognize his wife Lisa Patterson and friend Carrie Robinson for their love and commitment to the sport. And of course I through in my two cents worth. Full Story

The Grim Reaper Resurrected

Due to a motorcycle accident my newly painted 2008 Suzuki B-King was in need of new paint as well as a few plastic parts etc.  I set out to resurrect the Grim Reaper bike from the grave. To do so I had Hinshaw's motorcycles of Auburn restore the bike to its original configuration. And that they did. Hinshaw's did an outstanding job as always. Once I picked the pick up from Hinshaw's, I enjoyed an invigorating ride strait to James Scott's shop. That's right... Rods to Hogs! James is currently working magic with the graphics I was interested in. He is using his skills to take the pictures I was interested in and applying his own ideas to paint that is turning out to be a true work of art. Stay tuned to see ongoing progress. See the progress and photos.
PaintbyJames.com

Big Tom's - Olympia

Big Tom's is a very popular old school burger joint located in Olympia. It's also #4 on my top burgers list for Washington state. When I first received Big Tom's I was pleasantly pleased with the quality of the food and service. The only thing I found as a draw back to riders was the lack of seating. I expressed my thoughts to the Owner Mike Fritsch and he listened. Mike recently informed me that they now have 3 tables and a picnic type table for outdoor seating. Big Tom's is also sporting new paint, signage and get this... An ATM machine. Now that is convenient! Don't let the seasonal change into winter deter you from one of Washington's great burgers. Get your ride buddies together and ride on out for a great burger, fries and a shake. And don't forget the Goop! Get directions

Suzuki B-King Dyno - Yosh VS. Two Brothers

Recently I was fortunate to work with the great guys of Hinshaw's Motorcycle Store in Auburn WA on a joint Dyno video effort. This has been in the works for some time. In order to pull it of with the highest of video and sound quality we wanted to do this on a Monday when the shop was closed. As soon as the starts aligned, Rick (mechanic), Jim Speer (service Manager) and myself joined forces in the back of their shop and made it happen. I showed up early to set up and watch a Suzuki flat track bike Dyno. What a rush! Soon we were pushing in Hinshaw's Suzuki B-King with Yoshimura TRC cans into the Dyno room and setting it up for a run. We performed 2 runs and then rolled in my B-King with the Two Brothers M2 carbon fiber cans. Both bikes delivered some tremendous horsepower and torque. If you want to see those numbers you will have to watch the video. Also note the rear pop up in the video. We lost traction on the Dyno during the runs. :-(.

Dam Tour 2012 - Dam good rides!
2012 brings a new season for one of the Northwest's great riding experiences. There is a $20 entry fee to enter. You will receive a placard with a unique number on it. You must send in a picture of your bike with the placard in front of the Dam or Dam sign. This will get you credit for that specific Dam. You have 16 Dams (required) and 4 bonus Dams (optional). Get 8 in Oregon or Washington and get a State Pin. Get all 20 and you get a trophy.  I will be posting the videos on Dam Tour Video Page as well as my YouTube channel. Subscribe and get notified as new video is published to YouTube. Please visit Steve & Cheryll's Dam Tour web site and Steve's PDXBiker.com web site. Steve and Cheryll have done some great work with both sites. If you are interested in the 2011 Dam tour you may sign up electronically on the official Dam Tour site.

Mochas & Chowder @ Northern Fish Co.
I ran across a gem of a coffee and Chowder stop. Northern Fish Co. is located next to the Old Town Dock on the waterfront on Ruston Way in Tacoma WA. The mint mochas are to die for as is the Clam Chowder and Salmon Chowder. They server 16 oz. cups for $4.08. The chowder is worth every penny. They buy Ivar's chowder base and mix in their fresh clams or salmon. Enjoy your beverage of choice and chowder on the outer deck over looking Commencement Bay. The view is great as is the service, food and beverages. More information can be found on the Featured Stops page.

Joe Rocket & Cargo Luggage Review
This review covers the Joe Rocket Manta XL tank bag and the Cargo Endurance Monster tail bag. Both reviews have detailed video demonstrating the mounting and the capabilities of each product. The tank bag sells for $40 and the tail bag $99. The tail bag is expandable to a fairly large size. The side compartments expand out and the main compartment expands up. This bag also has padded shoulder straps hidden in the front pouch. This allows it to be taken off the bike and used as a back pack. Review

Oberon Bar End Mirror Video Review
I recently set out to find a really good built set of bar end mirrors that would not only look great on my B-king but were of high caliber as far as quality is concerned. Countless forum posts and online magazine articles later I took a liking to the mirrors produced by Oberon Performance Ltd. based out of the UK. The manufacturer was a pleasure to work with and the product was as equally exceptional. Read my review and watch my video review and installation. You will see why I speak so highly of this product and the manufacturer.

B-king Owners Check out www.suzukib-king.org

If you are a B-king owner or a fan of the bike. If your seeking a diverse set of owners from around the world that team together and help each other out instead of fronting each other off, this forum is for you. I have been treated with great respect as they treat each other. The forum layout, I think is top notch and easy to navigate. You won't be able to pry me out of this forum. A big thanks to you all in the www.suzukib-king.org forum!

Suzuki Hayabusa and B-King Owners!

If your taller then 5'10" and are tired of the cramped rider position that comes with the Hayabusa or B-King you have to check this information out. Joe Satterwhite has assembled a Buell Peg/Lowering kit that requires no machining, installs in approximately 30 minutes and costs under $100.00. Read my review (with pics) of Joe's kit.

2008 Suzuki B-King Review & Test Ride Video by Road-Quest.com

2008 Suzuki B-King- Those of you who have followed my rides throughout Washington  over the past couple years know I started out riding a VTX 1800 and quickly moved to a 2006 Honda ST1300 Sport Touring bike. A year later as I started documenting longer rides so I moved up to a 2007 Honda GL1800 Goldwing. This year although I found the Wing to be an excellent Touring bike that is also quite nimble for it's size in the turns. A part of me was still missing the agility of a sport or sport touring bike. Another part of me wanted something with monstrous torque and looks that go way over the top! After several test rides including the 2008 Hayabusa and 2008 Bandit 1250 ABS I made my choice. After riding the 2008 Suzuki B-king I was hooked. The bike has the Hayabusa engine that has been slightly de-tuned by valve diameter changes, new intake and different exhaust. The result is only a 9.4 horsepower reduction. The weight is only 15 pounds more then the Hayabusa. The gearbox has been altered and houses slightly shorter gears. The end result is 161.4 HP @ 9,000 RPM and 97.9 ft. Lbs. torque @ 7,000 RPM. The beauty of this futuristic looking machine is it's flat torque curve. On the road, torque is king. At approximately 2,500 RPM the Torque is 65 ft-lbs! I was amazed how I could literally lug it in 6th gear with no bucking from the power plant. The folks at Hinshaw's motorcycles are having a Hot Deals sale. They dropped the price on the B-king to only $9,999. MSRP on the B-king is $12,899. A big Thanks to Jason (Sales) and Bob (General Manger). They were very helpful and provided test bikes to ride so I could make an informed decision. Go talk to Jason at Hinshaw's if you are in the market for a bike. As for the B-King, I put the first 35 miles on it. I did take it up to 7,000 in a couple gears just to get a feel for the power. All I can say is WOW! I can't wait until it's broken in. The ride position is surprisingly comfortable and it has the best brakes I have experienced on any bike I have ridden. It now rests in  it's place in my garage next to my Goldwing. A full review and a video of the B-King is now available on this site. Other Reviews: Rider Magazine's  sport standard pick 2008! - Sport Rider  - Motorcycle-USA

Road-Quest.com delivers a multimedia presentation of ride highlights from Washington roads and destinations to viewers in an easy to view format rich with digital content including 16:9 wide video of each ride, photos, text description, downloadable Garmin Maps, Map images, eateries and a rich text description of each ride. The content provided will help you plan and execute great WA rides. You'll find many great hamburgers joints along the way as well! Other motorcycle road related sites offer information on individual roads or highways. This site delivers content rich documented rides with high quality multimedia. Testimonials may be found on the "Viewer Comments" page. This page contains responses from users who have ridden some of the rides and provided feedback on the rides and content of this site. Many riders have trusted this sites information and have had great riding experiences. This is, and will remain a free site. I have many years of riding experience riding Washington roads and trails. I spend a considerable amount of time in a continuous effort to locate new back roads, destinations and places to eat.  I plan, execute and document great routes to ride. As I ride the routes, I take high resolution digital photo's and video of the actual ride. If I have not covered it, I plan to. If you have recommendations, please share. I will ride them and then add them as I find time. This site provides a multimedia presentation of the WA rides to leave folks with  a better idea of what roads or complete routes they may want to choose for their next ride. They are all great, but this site will allow you to quickly find the ride that is more appealing to you. All you have to do is browse the "Road Guide" page. Click the "Trip Log & Multimedia" link for a specific ride and you will be presented with a multimedia presentation of the Northwest ride from my perspective. The trip log contains complete trip detail, photo's, road conditions and 16:9 wide screen formatted video of the entire ride edited down to a 3 to 5 minute video. All video is in Windows Media Video format (.wmv) at  400 - 468 Kbps. You will find this bit rate of higher quality in comparison to the You Tube streams. If you spend any time on this site, spend it on the Road Guide page and the trip logs listed within that page. There you will find the meat, potatoes and gravy of this site.  Speaking of meat, sometimes it's fun to plan rides around a great burger. Check out the "Best Burger" page. There you will find some of the best hamburgers Washington has to offer rated from #1 on up by the author of this site. Take note that on the "Road Guide" page, all rides that I have ridden and ate a burger that I consider within the top 10 for Washington, will display a hamburger icon.

Search this site for Highways, rides, roads, lakes or burgers. What ever it is just use the Search feature and type in your search criteria to quickly display the pages of the site that contain the information your looking for. 

Those of you located it in the Puget Sound area that are interested in hooking up with others and doing some riding, join our forum. We post rides and events within the forum and on the forum calendar. If you are from out of the area we still invite you to join us in the forum for some bike talk etc. We have a very diverse group of riders with many different motorcycles manufacturers and riding preferences. Come join the rides.

About the Author
I am a IT professional  located in the South Puget Sound area. I have been riding motorcycles for over 31 years. I have ridden dirt bikes most my life until a few years ago. Over the years I have owned street bikes of various sizes and styles. I currently own 2007 Honda Goldwing and a 2008 Suzuki B-King. I tend to ride all season with the exception of heavy rain or snow. When I'm not working, I'm spending time with my family, traveling, riding my Goldwing, playing around with digital photography, video editing or working on my web sites.  I hope you enjoy the motorcycle rides Washington has to offer as well as content I have provided within this site. Enjoy the rides and ride safe!

Your comments are welcome...

 Email Rob

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Recipient of a
Hell's Canyon Rally
Life Time Achievement Award!

D3 Components

Rider Articles 

Tim Watts
Saddle Sore 1000
on a KDX250

Kevin Williams
Olympic Peninsula & MT Rainier Ride
July 2010

Kevin Patterson
Custom B-King

Darren Schaefer
BigCC Racing
Hybrid Turbo
B-king