Washington's Best Motorcycle Roads - Maps - Ride Video - Photos and Burgers!
The most detailed site of it's kind in Washington with 40 logged rides and 9,093 miles of 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 Ride Destination link in the menu. The ride destinations 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 never got easier!
Featured Washington Roads

Join our new riders Forum! -  Share your rides. Registration is absolutely free!
Also Check out the burger page! I found a new #1.

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

Special Reports

GWRRA Rally! - I was recently contacted by Dave Shafer from the Bremerton chapter of the Goldwing Road Riders Association. Dave is involved with the planning and stage sound system for the rally. His inquiry was in regards to obtaining DVD quality videos of some of my rides to show at the rally. They will be projecting on to a big screen my North Cascades, Olympic Peninsula Loop Day 1, Rainier Mountain Loop and Hartstene Island - Gig Harbor videos. The rally is on 7/18 -7/20 at the fair grounds Lynden WA.  If you are a Goldwing rider you really should consider joining one of there chapters near you. Just click their graphic on the right to see their site. I believe membership is free.

Saddle Sore 1000 - 2 Riders (Tim and Dale) Complete another Saddle Sore 1,000 (1,000 miles in 24 hours). Tim did so on a Kawasaki KLR 250! See Tim's Trip Report. Congrats Tim and Dale!

Featured Washington Roads - Click the photos for ride details.

July 12th

Flaming Geyser Park - Dash Point Loop - This ride is a short but sweet 88 mile ride to Flaming Geyser Park via the Green Valley RD. The return trip takes you farther up the Green Valley Rd on to Franklin Rd. SE and the to the Green River Gorge Rd. The scenery is breath taking. The ride continues up highway 18 through Federal Way and on to Dash Point. Follow Dash Point, along the East side of Commencement Bay and on into Fife to Pick Quick for a double cheese burger, fries and a malt.

July 8th

Elbe - Hyw 508 - A nice relaxing 166 mile ride through the excellent twities prior to Elbe. Next it’s on to Hyw 508 in Morton. 508 Parallels a couple rivers and has some nice sweeping turns. Then it’s on to Chehalis and then on to Olympia, the home of Big Tom's Drive-In. Here you may enjoy one of Washington’s Best burgers.
 

June 28th

Multnomah Falls Oregon - For those who love the long (487 mile) day ride. Well worth it! Ride up I-5 to Oregon’s Historic Columbia River Highway to see three of Oregon's great waterfalls (Multnomah, Horsetail and Wahkeena). Ride paralleling the Columbia River and cross over into Washington on Hyw 97 to Yakima and Enjoy a Miner Burger. Then head up Hyw 12 past Rimrock Lake and over White Pass to Cayuse Pass (Hyw 123). Ride past numerous roadside falls and then down Hyw 410 along the White river.

Want more? See all the rides on the Ride Destinations page.

Tides Tavern Gig Harbor WA

Summer has arrived and I can't think of a better place to include in a ride as a beverage and food stop then the Tides Tavern In Gig Harbor. We stopped in today and enjoyed the sun, great food, live acoustic guitar music and the view of the harbor. We did so from the sunny deck right on the water. The live guitar music was great as the musician Dave Calhoun was an exceptional player. Dave brought a nice warm island sound to the patrons. As always the service was great. For those if you who who have not been there, it's a boater's dream come true. They have their own dock so boaters can tie up and eat, drink and be merry. When I had my cabin cruiser we moored at Arabella's up the harbor and would walk up and have a great time then sleep on the boat. The establishment is rustic but has a real warmth about it. What you can expect is the Tavern full of locals who come to enjoy a relaxing laid back atmosphere on the water. It seems like everyone  knows each other even if your new to the place. It's one of my favorite eateries and beverage stops. Their soda pop from the fountain is mixed correctly and has great flavor. Allot of places run lean on the syrup to save money. As far as food, every sandwich I have had has been awesome. They are well known for their beer battered fish and onion rings. I really like their halibut and chips. They also are very well known for their pizza. Hell, it's all good! If you like beer and wine they have a great selection to choose from. If you have a large party, I would call ahead and make reservations as it's a very popular spot. Here is a bit of history from their web site. The building was originally a general store built in 1910. After prohibition in the 1930's a Tavern was added. Since then it has changed hands a few times and was known as Three Fingers Jacks for a while. Plan your next ride around this stop and you won't be sorry. Yes, not only do I have the T-Shirt, I have the hat!

The Tides Tavern
2925 Harborview Dr
Gig Harbor, WA 98335 Map

Project California

One of my latest endeavors will be a ride through Washington, Oregon and into the Northern parts of California. The trip is still in planning stages but thanks to Tim Mayhew of Pashnit.com I have some great ride ideas. One of which will be highway 36. On the way to Cali we will be riding to Oregon's Crater Lake. More info coming soon.

RobsNet.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 "Ride Destinations" 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 Ride Destination's 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 "Ride Destinations" 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. 

Looking for motorcycle ride information to guide you to some of Washington's best roads, routes and hamburgers. All published rides are in multimedia format with details not found on any other related site. In 2008 the content is expanding into several other states. You'll also find great information on manufacturers, bikes, shops, gear an service. When I run into any information I feel is worthy of passing on to the riding public I don't hesitate to publish it. Same goes for negative experiences. Check in from time to time to see what is new as far as riding and related information for Washington state.  I hope you enjoy the content and all your rides are safe ones.

News

Electric Motorcycles?

For those of you who can stand to lose the sound of your engine and are eco warriors at heart, how about an Electric Motorcycle. I definitely fall short of this crowd but everyone has their wants and desires. Check out the following YouTube Videos.

Of all things... A Goldwing as a tow vehicle. Well it demonstrates the torque of the wing at minimum.What happens when a car stalls in traffic on a busy highway? Instant traffic jam, naturally, but how does the tow truck get to the car if the highway is filled with cars? Suppose you had a small agile vehicle like a motorcycle that could also tow the car from where it was stuck? Enter The Retriever. It’s a Honda Goldwing with a foldable towing rig that rides through traffic like a normal motorcycle, splitting lanes and weaving through the jam until it arrives at the scene. Then it unfolds the towing rig, loads up the car and rolls away. See it in action (Video)

For the entire article please visit :
http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2005/08/24/goldwing-retriever/

Ride Tip's

Flat Repair - Every ride I carry a compact 12 volt Air compressor and a tire plug kit. During a commute home I was stuck in bumper to fender traffic on I-5 and came up on a sport biker who was on the side of the road pacing back and fourth next to his bike. I stopped to see what was up and if he needed help. Sure enough he had a flat. We rotated the rear tie but couldn't see anything embedded in the tire. We attempted to air it up but at 20 psi it wouldn't  hold any more air. It was then we heard the air leak and located the tire puncture. I went back to my Wings trunk and retrieved the plug kit. The sport biker was jazzed as his bad day just turned better. I inserted the plug, trimmed off the excess and aired up the tire. He was very impressed and greatly relieved as he thanked me and road off on his way. I did warn him that after a puncture his safest bet was to replace the tire. What I used was a $20 compact tire pump with built in air pressure gauge purchased from K-Mart and a $9.00 plug kit purchased from a discount tool store. A cheap way to avoid a lengthy stay road side waiting for a tow truck.

Winter Gear - Invest in some good Textile or like weather proof riding gear that keeps the weather out and warmth in. Rider fatigue has been a known cause of motorcycle accidents. An added bonus is the fact that you will be more likely to ride year round and you will maintain sharp riding skills.

Jumper Cables - This is a high quality set of jumper cables. They are constructed of 10 gage wire with small clamps. just the perfect size for use with motorcycles. The small size makes them easy to carry even on bikes with little storage capabilities. The set comes with a zippered storage pouch. This set can easily be stored under your seat. Order them now at CycleGagets.com.

Tires - I can't say it enough. Don't push your tires past there life. I tend to swap them out before they get close to being worn out. Tires are allot less expensive then hospital bills, higher insurance rates and the cost of putting your bike back together.

What's New!  

Riders Forum
I have added a new riders forum where riders can post, read or reply to message threads related to motorcycle riding. Go to the Forum and create a free account and login. Share your rides and knowledge with others.

Dynamic video play back.
My video page was rather boring as it contained only hyperlinks to my video. I have been wanting to spice it up for some time and finally found the time to do it. Visit the Ride Video page and just click any play button to the left of a video description and the video will play in the player at the top of the page.

Flash Photo Shows
All trip logs have been re-designed to provide a richer multimedia presentation of the ride included the newly added flash photo show. See all my rides in a easy to view format. Just kick back and watch the shows.

Google Earth Interface

I have added support for use of the Google Earth 3D Maps. Install Google Maps on your PC for free and with one click from any ride on the Ride Destinations page, you will fly into the Google Earth 3D Map to view the rides. Controls located in the upper right of Google Earth allow you to zoom, tilt and rotate. Turn on map features and see other photos and video in the area. This makes viewing the routes through mountainous areas really cool. Get Google Earth Free!

RobsNet.com has partnered with BikerKiss.com. If your single and looking for that special someone to experience the open roads with, look no further. BikerKiss.com is the largest dating site by riders for riders.

This site contains content specific to motorcycle ride destinations and motorcycle sport touring in WA state.  You'll find many  scenic Northwest (Washington WA and Oregon Or)
Those of you located it in the Puget Sound area that are interested in hooking up with others and doing some riding,  I have created a Yahoo group called Puget Sound Sport Touring. If you have a Yahoo account and want to join the group, click the link below. If you want to create a Yahoo account it's free. Please visit www.Yahoo.com and create a free account. You don't have to specifically ride a sport touring bike or live in the area. Our main focus is local riding. If you are interested in riding and sharing information and you are outside the state of WA, this group may work for you. Once you have your Yahoo account click here to go to Puget Sound Sport Touring group page. Come join the rides.

Your comments are welcome...

 Email Rob

About the Author 

I am a IT professional  located in the Puget Sound. 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. I'm an all season rider with the exception of heavy rain.  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. Enjoy the rides and ride safe!

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