POST UPDATE: As of 2020, we no longer offer the the motorcycle rentals mentioned below in the Southeast, but instead, riders can choose from our Oregon-based adventure motorcycle rentals for access to the Cascade & Rocky Mountains, the entire Pacific Northwest, California's Pacific Coast Highway, and many of the Backcountry Discovery Routes. The Tail of the Dragon is also accessible with our Oregon-based rental fleet, but only if you have multi-week rental plans to ride from Bend, Oregon, all the way to North Carolina before returning to Oregon.

Those who have reserved their Patagonia motorcycle rentals for the 2013/14 season are fortunate in that, you won't be stuck begging for motorcycles at the last minute like some people will!  As we share more of Mark's comments from their February/March motorcycle trip below, it's obvious why Patagonia bike reservations sell out so far in advance:

A bit belated, time to share below some of what our self-guided Patagonia tour customers emailed about during their trip in March.  This coming from Mark Larson of Arizona, while he and his riding pal Joe made their way from Osorno to Ushuaia in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, entirely self-guided!

If you enjoy surprises as much as I do, then a “thanks” goes out to BMW Motorrad for what they’ve done with the new liquid cooled 2013 R1200GS.

Hey, if you're as tired of us bragging about how great our Patagonia motorcycle tours are as we are tired of being so awesome, then this one's for you. 

With so many motorcycle tour companies and potential tour packages to choose from, how are you going to choose which one is right for you, and right for your money?  This article is meant to help you think through the shopping process and make sure you pick the best provider for your long-awaited riding vacation.

The Cost/Value Question: Of course, cost is a factor for everyone.  Even those who can afford the most expensive motorcycle tour would rather not overpay, and those who are "stretching it" a bit to make these trips happen financially…well…obviously, they're looking for the best value as well.  Consider some points about the cost of each tour package you see:

As RIDE Adventures is in the business of setting people up with motorcycle rentals and motorcycle tours, riders are constantly hitting us with the question of "which is the best adventure bike?"  There are probably dozens, if not hundreds of blog posts and magazine articles revolving around this question already, but many of them are conspicuously promoting a specific motorcycle.  We won't do that here.

Folks, we get questions about motorcycle travel like these all the time, so it just seems best to post our direct responses to some customers so that you can see for yourself!  One particular group (who is currently enduring a record rainy season in Peru) had questions just like you might, so here's what we talked about:

Just when I thought I'd ran out of good things to say about my Alpinestars Bionic Jacket, I swapped out my 4-year, 250,000+ mile old jacket for a newer version.  The old armor jacket is still fine, and I'll find some use for it someday, but Alpinestars has clearly done it right again with this newer version: The Bionic Jacket for BNS.