Rating: 
Summary: kuralt lives
Review: I'm not a motorcycle rider, but ever since I read Robert Pirskin's Zen and the Art of..., I have envied the unbridled freedom that the motorcycle provides for the human spirit. And watching Charles Kuralt hit the highways, I longed to ditch it all live a nomdaic existence in roadside diners and far-flung climes. Now, Gary McKechnie's hearty and humorous insights into the roads best and less travelled has instilled me with yet another level of excitement and longing. He captures the essence of life on the move and at rest, taking my imagination on a real journey (20 of them, actually) to places I've bipassed and flown over a hundred times. Even in my enclosed car, I can find and appreciate these American places and ideals anew. McKechnie cares about the people and places he visits, respects his surroundings and his fellow travelers, and seems to throughly enjoy these ghostly pursuits. In McKechnie's work I can hear the echoes of Pirskin, Kuralt, even Robert Frost. I eargerly await the next installment.
Rating:
Summary: kuralt lives
Review: I'm not a motorcycle rider, but ever since I read Robert Pirskin's Zen and the Art of..., I have envied the unbridled freedom that the motorcycle provides for the human spirit. And watching Charles Kuralt hit the highways, I longed to ditch it all live a nomdaic existence in roadside diners and far-flung climes. Now, Gary McKechnie's hearty and humorous insights into the roads best and less travelled has instilled me with yet another level of excitement and longing. He captures the essence of life on the move and at rest, taking my imagination on a real journey (20 of them, actually) to places I've bipassed and flown over a hundred times. Even in my enclosed car, I can find and appreciate these American places and ideals anew. McKechnie cares about the people and places he visits, respects his surroundings and his fellow travelers, and seems to throughly enjoy these ghostly pursuits. In McKechnie's work I can hear the echoes of Pirskin, Kuralt, even Robert Frost. I eargerly await the next installment.
Rating:
Summary: A wide variety of suggested motorcycle tours
Review: Now in an updated and expanded second edition, Great American Motorcycle Tours by Gary McKechnie offers the reader a wide variety of suggested motorcycle tours ideal for vacationers and cyclists looking for history, excitement, and the joy of the open road. Different tours appeal to different tastes, such an Amish Country Run stretching from New Hope to Intercourse, Pennsylvania, or a Wild West Run from Livingston, Montana to Jackson, Wyoming. Each individual tour has numerous historic stops, and any attraction can be easily looked up in the index for "user friendly" cross-referencing. Overall, Great American Motorcycle Tours is an enjoyable, practical, and very highly recommended guide.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Ways to Avoid Motorcycling
Review: The foreword of the book is written by Peter Fonda. I personally fail to make the connection why the endorsement of a Hollywood actor who happened to shoot a motorcycling movie should prove the value of a touring guide. But as I tried out some of the journeys, I started to see how the whole experience, which these suggested trips cater to, is concentrated around the image of motorcycling rather than the actual experience of riding. I wasted a couple of weekends diligently following directions through Pennsylvania and up the Hudson. The book led me through numerous towns and it reserved a lot of pages for information on all the things, which you could do to avoid riding your bike - you could find listings on every thrift store, restaurant, rafting company, and even bicycle tour! available on your way. Another interesting (and related) point was the fact that the author estimated coverage of about 50 miles per day i.e. if the suggested trip was 200 miles total, you were supposed to need 4 to 5 days to cover the distance. While very concentrated on all the entertainment that could be bought along the trip, the book was not especially concerned with the quality of the selected riding. Gorgeous scenic ways were followed by long stretches of banal suburban motifs and while stuck in the stop-and-go traffic I was wondering what part of the motorcycling experience I was supposed to be exercising at the time. This is my rendering of the qualities, which the reader needs to possess in order to enjoy the recommendations in the book: 1. Your name must be Peter Fonda 2. You must be independently wealthy since you can't both hold a job and go to all these 4-5 days trips. 3. You must be versatile in the outdoors' activities to take full advantage of all the fun that awaits you out there. 4. You need friends who would like to hear about stuff like " When I flew in that helicopter over the Grand Canyon...", and "Here is a picture of me next to an Amish farmer..." 5. You only need basic riding skills and moderate motorcycling enthusiasm. My advice is - get a map, look for the small roads, use your common sense, and explore. Good luck out there, maybe we'll meet on the road.
Rating:
Summary: Wild Rides
Review: This humorous guide provided usuful info between the pages and the laughs. As one from the Easy Rider generation, it was a delight to read Peter Fonda's Foreword. I'm riding more than ever after a long stay in the barn - thank you Mr. Mckechnie. --John Shirer, age 74
Rating:
Summary: cross-country
Review: This is a fantastic book! I wanted to take a cross-country tour and this was the only book I found that covered more than one region. Second, the humor is prevalent but it never gets in the way of describing some killer back roads and great historic towns I might have missed. Third, I never felt the lodgings he recommended were that expensive because A) I am a solo rider so the rates are lower for me anyway, and B) if I don't want to stay at a place he lists, I have the option of finding a chain hotel. That's another thing -- at the end of each chapter he lists campgrounds and state parks (for even cheaper camping). Finally, the reason I like this book and would strongly recommend it is for its great references. There are listings for state tourism boards where I can get free detailed maps, a listing of motorcycle shops within a few miles of each place he visits, and websites for motorcycle corporations, rentals, and tours. This is a solid, essential, and ultimately extremely valuable source of information for ALL riders. Buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Wild Rides
Review: This would be a good book for those new to motorcycle touring, but for those of us who have "been there, done that", it is a waste of money. Motorcyle touring doesn't take five days to go 210 miles. Maybe bicycle touring? The book should have been subtitled "...Tours, For the Wealthy". Is that why Peter Fonda wrote the forward? Only the wealthy can stay at the places and do what is suggested. Two examples; the ride from Taos to Santa Fe, and the one through Death Valley. I have done both, numerous times. The author's directions will get you lost and miss some of the best roads. His places to stay and eat in Santa Fe are for the wealthy tourists. The locals know where there is better food and the "real" Santa Fe. The book also contains numerous typos and inaccuracies. Example: highway 84/285 entering Santa Fe, NM from the north is not an interstate (designated by the author as I-84/285), although the amount of traffic will make you think it is one. Such inaccuracies make me afraid to follow the author's directions in areas that I have not been to. Other reviewers have suggested that the author forewarns about the book's shortcomings, but that does not release him from writing a bad book. I cannot recommend this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: How not to see America.
Review: This would be a good book for those new to motorcycle touring, but for those of us who have "been there, done that", it is a waste of money. Motorcyle touring doesn't take five days to go 210 miles. Maybe bicycle touring? The book should have been subtitled "...Tours, For the Wealthy". Is that why Peter Fonda wrote the forward? Only the wealthy can stay at the places and do what is suggested. Two examples; the ride from Taos to Santa Fe, and the one through Death Valley. I have done both, numerous times. The author's directions will get you lost and miss some of the best roads. His places to stay and eat in Santa Fe are for the wealthy tourists. The locals know where there is better food and the "real" Santa Fe. The book also contains numerous typos and inaccuracies. Example: highway 84/285 entering Santa Fe, NM from the north is not an interstate (designated by the author as I-84/285), although the amount of traffic will make you think it is one. Such inaccuracies make me afraid to follow the author's directions in areas that I have not been to. Other reviewers have suggested that the author forewarns about the book's shortcomings, but that does not release him from writing a bad book. I cannot recommend this book to anyone.
Rating: 
Summary: Yuppie Yuck
Review: What a dud. When I read the section Mighty Montana Run and saw the distance of the leg 335 miles...alow five days with stops I knew this wasn't the book I hoped for. The author's style is entertaining and humorous, but his recomendations of places to stay and see is strictly for the bored rich. Most places were WAY above $120 a night. If your idea of a road trip is camping and out of the way places with an occasional night in a modest local hotel pass on this yuppie guide. If your trip is to an unfamiliar area of the country there are a few good tips that save this book from one or two star oblivion. I'm not a high milage junkie, but this book sputters along until you're glad it stops.
Rating:
Summary: Great American Motorcycle Tours
Review: Wonderful & helpful! Just returned from bring our new 2001 Harley from Chadds Ford,Pennsylvania to South Florida. Did the Skyline/Blue Ridge Parkway tour in the book and stopped at lots of McKechnie's suggested places. Loved them all! What a great reference for where to go and what not to miss. Can't wait to take more of the tours he outlined over the next few years. No, we are not rich and managed to stay within our budget at the places he mentioned along the way. A must buy book for active touring bikers! Thank you. Barry & Kathi
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