By Joe Berk
Unless you have visited Oklahoma or you live there, you probably wouldn’t think of Oklahoma as a motorcycling paradise. But trust me, it is. And finding the best rides in Oklahoma is easy, thanks to Oklahoma’s Tourism and Recreation Department. Sue and I are always looking for interesting travel destinations, and as a guy who writes travel pieces for Motorcycle Classics magazine, my antenna goes up when I hear about great roads and great destinations. Several years ago when I was working for CSC Motorcycles, we attended the Long Beach International Motorcycle Show. In the vendor display area, Sue found a booth manned by the Oklahoma tourism folks.
One thing led to another, we received a package of travel information that would choke a brontosaurus, and shortly after that we were in Oklahoma. I have a friend who retired in Tulsa, we visited a bit, and we hit a bunch of great destinations in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, and the surrounding areas. I wrote several blogs about our visit, and several Motorcycle Classics Destinations articles. These are the blogs:
But even with the above, we barely scratched the surface of what Oklahoma offers. The materials the good folks in Oklahoma mailed to us included the Oklahoma Motorcycle Guide. It suggests several rides, complete with maps and two or three pages on each ride. The Oklahoma Motorcycle Guide is impressive.
Imagine that: One of our states issuing a motorcycle travel guide! More good news? It’s free, the latest version includes even more rides than does the version I received several years ago, and you can download it immediately at this link: Oklahoma Motorcycle Guide Free Download
Trust me on this: If you’ve been looking for your good next place to ride, Oklahoma needs to be on your list.
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What? I keep looking for the rest of the article .
I keep hearing white lightning is the biggest thrill in Okie.
Thanks for commenting, Merle.
😎
I missed all of it I guess. On a cross country trip I rode Rt 64 across the Panhandle at 140 MPH indicated. I normally don’t ride that fast but it was getting dark and nobody I talked to along the way knew if Boise City had any motels. Even people who lived 50 miles away! They weren’t sure. They knew of Boise City but had never visited there! These were older people who lived in the Panhandle. How could they not be tempted to visit a town called Boise City at some point in their lives whose claim to fame was to be the only US city to be aerial bombarded during WW2! Apparently their town square, which is actually square, was mistaken by a B-17 bomber crew practicing night time bombing. They mistook the lit up square as the target range. LOL. Luckily they were using practice bombs and nobody was hurt. Anyways, if you ever visit, there is a company there called “No Man’s Land” that makes a mean beef jerky. I bought a big bag and ate the whole thing. Couldn’t stop.
140 mph across the panhandle! I’ve touched 140 mph twice in my life, and it was just for a short bit.
64 is wide open road. Power lines to the left and rolling prairie to the right. You could see ahead ten miles clearly. I was riding my mighty ZRX1200. That motorcycle doesn’t care if you’re going 40 or 140. Nothing matters to that bike, it just hums along. It’s a beautiful machine.
That is an impressive motorcycle.
I cut across northern Oklahoma most likely to avoid a storm to the north or to avoid Kansas. Had I known of good riding roads there I certainly would have ridden them.
Also of interest in Oklahoma: https://www.woolaroc.org/museum. They have a large collection of Colt firearms, plus a gatling gun, maybe more than one.
That is only 1/8 of the museum.
Thanks, Dan.