MO roads

I know the best way to find great roads for riding is to just get out there but... anyone got any suggestions for southwestern Missouri?

Gibby  

I've got an off the wall suggestion (assuming you don't have a GPS(my Garmin allows me to download routes to ride in an area for a couple bucks... haven't tried it yet, but it should work).

Have used this one
Pull up google.earth (load it if necessary). you can pull up fairly detailed maps and pics of an area. If you want an example, pull up Sneedville, Tn (been there, seen the road, got  the pics to prove it). Find Rt 63, and follow it west. Make sure you turn on roads for display. Play around with the altitude, higher lets you see more of the area, lower lets you see detail.

My new GPS actually lets me play rides on Google Earth (no haven't tried it).  

Yeah, GoogleEarth is great. I use it to find launching ramps for my boat :-)

It'll let you see which roads are paved, but not let you see how smooth the pavement is. A while back, on another forum with a chat room, I asked around hoping to find someone who knew of a site that maintained a database of road surface conditions, expressly geared toward motorcycle riders. No one ever knew of such a site and I've never found one despite frequent attempts with search engines.

I was just reminded of that again, last wednesday, when I made the mistake of taking Ohio 22 from Lancaster to Deerfield, on my way back to Florida. It may be a fine road for cars, it's even got brand new pavement in places, but it truly sucks to ride a bike on it. The pavement is wavy and the waves are close enough together to be a constant pounding on a motorcycle. The car skid marks *all* show the tires bouncing while skidding. GoogleEarth isn't good enough to show skid marks yet :-)

regards,
Joe  

Southwestern Missouri and Northern Arkansas are spectacular for riding.
I have family that live in Ozark, MO. and whenever I'm down there with my bike (usually twice each year), we take a run down to the ferry crossing on 125.

The route there from Hwy 65 in Ozark is to take 14 East to Sparta.  Going out of Sparta, the road curves left 125 splits off to the right(to Oldfield).  Take 125 all the way down to the ferry crossing (it's part of the highway system and is free, but only runs until about 7 or 8PM so don't go toooo late).  You'll continue down 125 until you meet up with 14 Take that West back to Hwy 65 which you'll take North back to Ozark/Springfield.
You can also cut this shorter and cut out the ferry if you cut off on 160 West and take that over to Rockaway Beach & come out just North of Branson on 65.

I've not seen the entire country, but there can't be more fun roads to ride with better views than those.

In May of each year, a group of guys that I know who ride or rode M109R's meet up in Eureka Springs (This year it's May 14-16).  We get together to ride hard through the mountains and have a good time.  Anyone and any type of bike is welcome, just be sure that you have thick skin because pretty much all of them/us are/is a smart alec.

In September of each year (sometimes early October) there is also Bikes Blues & BBQ in Fayetteville, AR.  It's a rather large bike rally with tons of stuff to do and many wonderful rides already laid out for everyone.  I've been to the last two and don't plan on missing one for the rest of my life.  They always have bike manufacturers there giving demo rides, the Arkansas State BBQ championship, and lots of good music to jam to.

I recommend checking it out.
There is a website that I have bookmarked at home that lists great rides throughout the Ozarks.  PM me and I'll reply with a link.  I don't want to post a link to another website in case that's frowned upon here.

Maybe I'll meet up with ya for a ride the next time that I'm down that way!