Bike friendly retirement destinations?

[markmartin]

 It's still 10 years out but what can I say?  I like to plan ahead. Cold days and no riding leave a lot of time to think about retirement destinations other than cold northeastern USA .  6 months max of riding here and then we're into the deep freeze.  

I'm looking at western North Carolina as a possible option, but was only there 30 years ago, and that was just passing through.  NC brothers, how many months of riding there??  I've done the Skyline Drive,  Virginia north, and remember there seemed to be an endless number of interesting roads getting there from Florida.

Texas? Southern Alabama?, Central California? South Carolina? Arizona?  

Has anyone given this any thought?

I'm open to all suggestions.

Critera ideally would contain the following, but I'm willing to live with good roads and decent weather.

Good roads
Decent (sunny) weather
Low Crime
Friendly people
Decent employment opportunities
Music venues
Beautiful women at every stop
Cheap beer

[tmkaos]

I'm open to all suggestions.

Critera ideally would contain the following, but I'm willing to live with good roads and decent weather.

Good roads
Decent (sunny) weather
Low Crime
Friendly people
Decent employment opportunities
Music venues
Beautiful women at every stop
Cheap beer

New Zealand. And if you don't like it here Australia is only a hop, skip and a jump away. We've certainly got the top 4 licked   and the rest is a matter of opinion.

James

[aviationfred]

My recommendation is Santa Cruz CA. It is right on the coast. Friendly, laid back people. Mountain roads between there and San Jose. An hour or so from Frisco up PCH. An hour from Big Sur and Carmel Valley to the south. Roughly a two hour ride to Napa Valley.

[racerman_27410]

I'm Greensboro NC and we only have about 2 or three months of cold weather..... last winter there were no days below freezing for the entire day..... its cold right now but next week it will be in the high 50's again.

that being said ,and after having ridden all over the east coast, i personally like the north west section of georgia.... right on the heel of the blue ridge mtns.  Great riding, Atlanta isnt too far away for all the culture and night life you could want and those georgia girls are pretty cute.  

Georgia is also pretty central... you can ride south in winter and north in summer.

the mtns of western carolina do have great riding but the activites other than riding are pretty limp and those mtn girls can be cute you have to catch them before their cousin does  

Tennessee is also a pretty nice place to live since they dont have property tax there......





KOokaloo!

[movenon]

I live in Idaho and own a patch of sand in Ariziona. Usually I let mother nature tell me where to be. This year is the exception, first winter here in 10 years... I need "Boat Drinks"  any Jimmy Buffet fans out there? Fins are low here in the snow. To cold and I have Moditis fever... I am addicted to fleabay and buy motorcycling shit.... All these "good" deals are driving back into the poor house..... Think I will go out now and stare at a periwinkle wheel.......
 

[FJmonkey]

I live in Idaho and own a patch of sand in Ariziona. Usually I let mother nature tell me where to be. This year is the exception, first winter here in 10 years... I need "Boat Drinks"  any Jimmy Buffet fans out there? Fins are low here in the snow. To cold and I have Moditis fever... I am addicted to fleabay and buy motorcycling shit.... All these "good" deals are driving back into the poor house..... Think I will go out now and stare at a periwinkle wheel.......
 

Fins to the Left, Fins to the Right cuz she's the only bait in town.... Anyone have a volcano or parrot handy?

[Jeff0308]

Come over to DOWNUNDER (Australia. )   Great roads. near perfect weather and if not just ride to where it is. Melbourne to Perth 4000km Allow 3 to 5 days. Melbourne to Sydney. 900km 10 hrs drive. Perfect road. 1200 via the coast and magnificent scenery. Melbourne to Brisbane 1800km allow 2 full days About 24hrs driving nonstop. Again a nice drive. Did it last year. Melbourne to Cairns(HOT Damn hot. 4000km allow 3 to 4 days. (Never done it but one day I will. Melbourne to Darwin 4000km lots of outback and red dirt / dust and Damn hot and humid. (never done it ) but again one day. Only tjhing to watch for at night is the Kangaroos. They make a lot of damage.!

[Harvy]

  any Jimmy Buffet fans out there?

Count me one.
I attended a Jimmy Buffet concert at an open air amphitheatre somewhere near Mission Viejo CA back in the early 80's...... he "broke his leg, had to limp on back home".

Harvy

[movenon]

God, wish I could. They say the good news here is that its going to warm up and bad is there is a snow storm coming in.... Then it dips back down to below 0 and becomes one solid sheet of snow/ice.

Parrot's, yes send parrots. I knew there had to be a "Parrot Head" out there in the lonely cold squawking for rum in anything handy. I'd get drunk and put six holes my freezer if I thought it would help. I suppose that would end up costing me to...... Somehow old Jimmy cheers me up on these cold nights as I sit here looking at the last bottle of Genuine Cuban Rum that I have.
George

[Arnie]

Kangaroos almost everywhere in Oz are possible road hazards.  Emus, buffalo, cattle, and camels are more selective in where they choose to die by motor vehicle impact, and even Crocks are getting into the act up in FNQ right now with the floods they're having.  Oh, not to be forgotten by us motorcyclists are the eagles having a feed on all this other roadkill that take off just as you get there. :-(  Happened to me just South of Alice Springs - my buddy who was following me said the eagle passed about 1/2 a foot above my helmet while I was at about 140kph.  And Echidna's have spines that can pierce your tires at speed.  You do NOT want to hit one of these.  At least there's very little snow or ice anywhere in Oz unless you go searching for it.

Arnie

Come over to DOWNUNDER (Australia. )   Great roads. near perfect weather and if not just ride to where it is. Melbourne to Perth 4000km Allow 3 to 5 days. Melbourne to Sydney. 900km 10 hrs drive. Perfect road. 1200 via the coast and magnificent scenery. Melbourne to Brisbane 1800km allow 2 full days About 24hrs driving nonstop. Again a nice drive. Did it last year. Melbourne to Cairns(HOT Damn hot. 4000km allow 3 to 4 days. (Never done it but one day I will. Melbourne to Darwin 4000km lots of outback and red dirt / dust and Damn hot and humid. (never done it ) but again one day. Only tjhing to watch for at night is the Kangaroos. They make a lot of damage.!

[ribbert]

Only tjhing to watch for at night is the Kangaroos. They make a lot of damage.!

You're a game man waiting until night to be wary of roos. I get nervous from pre-dusk.
Coming over a hill or round a corner at speed there are two things you don't want to see, blue flashing lights or this.

[fj1289]

...just shot six holes in my freezer, I think I got cabin fever...

[movenon]

Holy shit ! You are infested with "roo's" ! What the heck is a Echidna ? Guess I will have to look that one up. About the only critters here are deer and cows to avoid. Down South they have ugly looking things call armadillo's parked in the road. Many years ago I hit a slimy patch of squashed frogs. Frog migration, who new...
Back in 1968 I was in Brisbane for Anzac Day and I always wanted to go back to spend more time. The gal that works with my dentist is from Carins up in the North East , she has been here for 11 years. I have a good time with her.  When you get done with the sunshine, please send it back up here .

Back to markmartins question. There is no one place that is perfect it seems. Just fine somewhere you want to live that you can hub out from is my best advise. For me IF money was no problem I would probably live around Santa Rosa / Napa valley Cailf.. But the problems for me is to many people, high cost of living, tax's and fee's up the ass to mention a few. But the weather is for me about perfect and easy to access to the ocean, Redwoods, Pacific NW and the open roads of Nevada.
I do have a sand pile in Yuma AZ. for the winters and hub out from there. Easy run into San Diego, Phoenix or Mexico. But have no allusions, Yuma's only good thing is sunshine in the winter. Not a place to live in full time.
George

[Pat Conlon]

Palm Desert has easy access to some very nice rides. 350 days of sunshine.

For shit and giggles you could always dress like a poofer and chase a little white ball around the fairways.

Then there is the summer...uuugh, it's a dry heat....yea well, so is my oven.... You really need a escape house for the summer...

It's a shame it's located in Calif where the (state) personal income tax is going up to 14% (on top of or in addition to, the federal income tax)

  Cheers!

[The General]

Only tjhing to watch for at night is the Kangaroos. They make a lot of damage.!

You're a game man waiting until night to be wary of roos. I get nervous from pre-dusk.
Coming over a hill or round a corner at speed there are two things you don't want to see, blue flashing lights or this.

Yeah no doubt about it, Dawn, dusk & night, (particularly in outback areas) is a higher risk. That`s why we invented pubs - for touring motorcycles.
I should point out that particular photo is set up. Kangaroos are herbivorous and don`t graze on bitumen roads, let alone all in a row like that. Most roads are fenced to protect Grazier properties which also protects against Roos near roads. You get a Roo warning road sign in unfenced risky areas. I once met a touring French family that had been outback for two weeks and were still looking forward to seeing our famous kangaroo for the first time. - they hadn`t even seen one in a paddock anywhere!
Interestingly it`s very rare to hit a roo on a bike. The only mate i know that hit one has actually had it happen three different times, including two different occasions in a group of bikes. (again he was the only one that got one and was middle of the stretched group). He tells me they tend to duck when they realise you`re there and they are running, so ya never hit them high. He managed to stay upright on all three occasions. He still tours a lot but found the cure to his Roo problem 3 years ago. - He sold his BMW!

......Sound definateley is a factor, which is why Police vehicles in the notorious "Hay Plains" use "Roo Shoos" (a wind driven whistle of a particular pitch) following extensive tests. - but suggest the type of oil you use would be less controversial as oil doesn`t get clogged with insects.