WorldCrosser Admin, Author at ADVENTURE & OVERLAND MOTORCYCLE TRAVEL

US National Park Entrance Fees are Increasing – May 2018

by WorldCrosser Admin | Oct 30, 2017 | States, ADV News, Destinations, Maine, US National Park

Acadia National Park, Maine (Bar Harbor)

There are a few things certain in this world, and one of those are prices are always going up. Sorry for the pessimistic view, but there are 17 National parks where the entrance fees are increasing in 2018 during peak seasons. It will now be $50 per motorcycle, $70 for cars, and $30 on bicycle or on foot. This is still a proposal but looks as if it will be going to happen. The funds will be used to improve the parks.

“The infrastructure of our national parks is aging and in need of renovation and restoration,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. Some will get the increase in May 2018 and others in June and Joshua Tree is still undecided.

The parks that are getting the increase are:

Riding your adventure motorcycle through the National Parks here in the US is a great joy to be had. Stay on designated legal dirt roads and enjoy all these great parks have to offer.

How do I find Adventure Motorcycle Riding Buddies?

by WorldCrosser Admin | Oct 29, 2017 | Adventure Motorcycles, Explore, New Jersey

Find a group Adventure and Dual Sport motorcycle Riders to explore the trails.

It is great to ride motorcycles with your like minded group of friends, for not only companionship but also for safety reasons. If a motorcycle breaks down or if person hurts themselves, having a buddy will really come in handy. If you don’t have a steady ADV riding group, finding riding buddies shouldn’t be too difficult. Riding the local trails and fire roads, state parks, and other cool roads usually get the ball rolling. So one of the best things to do is simply invest some saddle time and get out on your bike and ride, you are sure to have another enthusiast start chatting when you are fueling up, taking a lunch break or making a stop. My opinion is that the ADV/dual sport riders are simply an amazing quality group of great people.

But just in case that isn’t panning out, here are a few other ideas for finding riding buddies:

A top suggestion would be advrider.com and go into your geographic forum. Riders are always posting rides and would be happy to have you along. Make sure to read the post or ask what type of riding they are doing– as you don’t want to be taking your 1200 beast down single track with some light agile small cc KTM’s, or vice versa.
Another is checking meetup.com for riders and “meet ups” in your area for dual sport or adventure riders
Going to adventure or overland events or meets are also a great idea. Like horizonsunlimited.com or overlandexpo.com to name a couple.
Check out our WorldCrosser event calendar for adventure and dual sport rides and events that you may want to attend.
Check out social networks like Facebook for adventure motorcycle riding groups, join a group that is built around your bike – like the KLR 650 for example.
Speak with your local dealership for events, rides, manufacture days.
Register for a motorcycling training course, obviously an off-road or “adventure” centric course like PSSOR.
Go on an organized professional adventure riding tour you will be sure to meet some like minded individuals, but some of these tours can cost a lot of money. i.e. RawHyde, RideADV, and Ayres Adventures to name a few.
Phone apps, well there are a few like WeRide, Rider, Rever and others.
If you are riding more off road dual sport type of riding, which can fade into adventure riding at times, a great place to start are enduros and hare scrambles. Check AMA, American Motorcycle Association, site for many of these sanctioned events. Remember these are dual sport rides, so be prepared with light nimble bike and motocross gear, no big GS1200 and flip flops. ; )

Hope this is helpful advice and you find a good group to ride with on regular basis. Also WorldCrosser has a number of members that ride together here in NJ and will be integrating clubs into our site, in terms of forum or social app aspect down the road- still in beta. Anyway, sign up as WC member on our site and be part of the inception of this club aspect that will bring ADV riders together!

Enjoy, and as always, ride safe and have fun out there!

Heated Gear for Adventure Riding

by WorldCrosser Admin | Sep 22, 2017 | ADV Gear, ADV Riding Gear

When considering heated gear for you overland motorcycle trips, you need to take into consideration the type of weather you may encounter and your threshold for cold. Some rider like a full heated jacket, arms and all, while other feel that is overkill and cumbersome. Many rider opt for middle ground and use a heated vest – this is probably the most popular heated item sold for riders.

Now some of you rich fancy folk have heated grips, so no need for heated gloves for you. But some of us don’t have all those bell and whistles, so an alternative to buying and installing heated grips, you can simply get some heated glove. If you are taking this router, then you should get the full heated jacket and they “daisy” chain on to the jacket for power/heat.

If going to Alaska, you may want the whole setup- gloves, jacket, pants, socks and insoles. You can get it all but it will add up in cost.

Gerbing, Firstgear, Tour Master and Mobile Warming are some of the big names in heated riding gear, and CycleGear has their own line of heated motorcycle gear as well under the Sedici name.

TCAT – Trans-Canada Adventure Trail

by WorldCrosser Admin | Apr 16, 2017 | Explore, Canada, Destinations, Dual Sport, Roads, Routes

The Trans-Canada Adventure Trail (TCAT) is an amazing adventure motorcycle or dual sport GPS trek across the great land of Canada. It is over 9000 miles is you do the whole TCAT, that is approximately 15,000 Kilometers. It is not for the faint of heart.

Check out Gravel Travel’s website for more info and to get the GPS routes. graveltravel.ca

Ted Johnson, who was interviewed on Adventure Rider Radio, talks about the TCAT and the work that went into creating such a monumental trail that is a must do for and ADV traveler who has desire to tackle such a feat.

Cool TCAT stickers are now available. Click here to order yours today!

Bald Eagle State Forest Dual Sport Motorcycle Trails

by WorldCrosser Admin | Feb 9, 2017 | Adventure Motorcycles, Dual Sport, Pennsylvania, Roads, Routes, States

The Bald Eagle State Forest in named for the famous Native American, Chief Bald Eagle, includes 193,424 acres in Snyder, Union, Centre, Mifflin, and Clinton counties of Pennsylvania.

They have dual sport adventure motorcycle trails, as well as off-road dirt bike trails for bikes that do not have license plates. there are a lot of rocks so wear motocross boots and make sure you bike has appropriate bash plates and protection.

Click on the Bald Eagle State Forest Dual Sport Motorcycle map pic below to open a pdf file of the PA dual sport trails: