Opposed twin, parallel twin, and v-twin. Top right: U.S. Route 212 Beartooth Pass, Wyoming. Bottom right: Riding in the Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado. Story and photos by Michael Palmer.

At a rest stop, a lovely young lady walked slowly, allowing her old dog to keep pace. The dog stopped in front of me, and she said, ?He?s 118 in dog years. He?s gentle, you can pet him.?

Without thinking, I said, ?One last road trip"? Her eyes welled with tears, and I turned my head so she wouldn?t see mine. I quickly said, ?Hey, it looks like you two are having a great time.? She smiled and lifted the old guy into the well-padded backseat of her SUV. The sad part of owning dogs is, they don?t live long. Likewise, the only bad thing about being a motorcyclist is, we don?t last long enough to ride all of the roads out there. But, dadgummit, I?m gonna ride all of them that life will afford me.
The coronavirus pandemic be damned (while following safety guidelines), three lifelong friends in our sixties set out for parts of the country we?d never been on a 2008 BMW R 1200 GSA, 2002 Suzuki V-Strom 1000 and 2017 Yamaha Super Ténéré. In a little more than 7,000 miles and 19 days, we covered 12 states, grew thoroughly tired of sharing a hotel room and rode some of the best passes in the world. From Arkansas, we crossed Oklahoma and the panhandle of Texas to the resort town of Red River, New Mexico. Snow skiing is the main attraction, but summer fun includes hiking, mount...