Note from Nolan 2018

Ever been at a motorcycle show, thinking how you’d love to ride an old Triumph or Ducati or Enfield? Here’s the answer to that dream! Ride old bikes out on the open road. This is no gentle parade route where you never get out of second gear. You are *riding*! If it’s raining, you’re wet. Hot, you’re sweating. The bikes are real riders, not pristine show queens. Transmissions clunk, engines act up, if the shifter is reversed you have to learn it. Wonderful! Want to live out a multi-day ride? He does them. Can only do a day? He does those too. You can find a ride to fit you and your schedule and wallet. Joel, the owner, rides with you. He’s not in an air conditioned chase vehicle, he’s riding an old bike in the same weather as you. In fact, there is no chase vehicle. If a bike acts up, it has to be dealt with. Cool! Just like the old days. Joel is darn good at keeping these bikes going, and working it out when they act up. He also doesn’t treat himself specially. If the night is at a flophouse, that’s where he’s staying too. I’ve done two rides with retrotours so far, and will do more in the future. I’m riding bikes I would otherwise never ride. Banging gears, eating bugs, swooping through turns. This is heaven for a rider like me. If you too are a rider, it’ll be heaven for as well. I can’t recommend Joel and his Retro Tours enough. Get out there and ride!

 

Nolan, July 3, 2018