Best Motorcycles for When You Chuck It All and Ride Out Across the Country

We’ve all had the urge: Chuck it all, buy a beautiful big bike, and ride it across America. Paul Simon sang about it (“We’ve all gone to look for Amerrrrrrrica…”), Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Jack Nicholson did it in Easy Rider, maybe you’ve done it. The open road calls us and we must go.

The question is, which motorcycle should we take? While you take care of telling the boss where he can put that performance evaluation and the landlord where he can file the renter’s agreement, we’ll suggest a few options of motorized two-wheel transportation to help you make your escape. The common trait among all bikes? Size. In this case, size matters. The bigger, the better.

1. BMW K 1600 GT

Argue all you want, but there are a lot of people arguing that the BMW K 1600 is the best cruiser bike ever made. It’s also easily the sportiest of them all. It’s a near-perfect balance of cross-country caravanning combined with cornering control. It’s fun and comfortable at the same time, a rare treat.

Just last year BMW retuned the capital K’s monster 1649cc transversely mounted inline-six to offer the same 160 hp as before but at a 1000-rpm-lower peak of 6750 revs. Torque has gone up by four lb-ft to 133 at 5250. So you have power and torque to burn.

With its shaft drive, electronic suspension adjustment that automatically compensates for load and riding style, and unique Duolever front suspension, the K-model eats up curves like they were broken-up pieces of Ritter Sport. The craft’s Inertial Measuring Unit, or IMU, a big computer that takes data on spring compression, acceleration, and braking, automatically adjusts the shocks within milliseconds. You can further control performance and handling via ride modes: Rain, Road, Cruise, and Dynamic. And in front of you is a new full-color 10.25-inch TFT multifunctional instrument screen that offers a simpler portal into the big bike’s many infotainment functions and adjustments. It has literally everything you would want in a cross-country cruiser, especially if you were planning to lean into some corners in the Rockies or in Smoky Mountain National Park.

2. Honda Gold Wing

For almost 50 years, the Gold Wing has been an icon of two-wheeled moto-luxury. The Goldwing was all-new just five years ago. Honda in the U.S. doesn’t list output, but European specs say its iconic four-valve 1833cc liquid-cooled flat-six now makes 125 hp and 125 lb-ft of torque. In that recent redo, Honda added to the Gold Wing a feature that should help keep riders upright and riding long into their sunset years: a seven-speed automatic transmission. The DCT, or Dual Clutch Transmission, can be operated manually via a handy toggle button on the handlebar grip, or you can just switch it on and let it do the clutch work for you. A traditional manual transmission is also available. Like most cruiser bikes, it’s on the heavier side, with curb weights ranging from 787 pounds for the base Gold Wing with the six-speed manual on up to 842 for the Gold Wing Tour Airbag DCT. Yes, there’s an optional airbag. This one sits atop the tank and inflates in a frontal impact or whenever the parameters tell it to. Like many big or sporty bikes now, the ‘Wing also has an IMU that helps with traction control, ABS, and generally keeping the bike upright and out of the weeds.

The ride is about as comfy as you’re going to get. I have ridden a couple of these on different occasions, and the only thing stopping me from going all the way from Los Angeles to Daytona Beach was PTO days. It didn’t feel as sporty on twisty mountain roads as the BMW K 1600, but nothing really does.

3. Kawasaki Concours 14 ABS

This is more of a sport touring bike than a cruiser, which you can use to your advantage. The Concours 14’s transverse-mounted 1352cc DFI DOHC liquid-cooled inline-four comes not from some sedate lollygagging cruiser bike, but from the mighty ZX-14R sportbike. That engine makes 158 shaft-driven horsepower further up on the tach than it’s more lopey competitors. This encourages high-speed shenanigans. In between all those scenic photos of motorcycles bending through turns in spectacular mountain scenery are miles and miles of flat, boring nothingness that encourage you to lay your six-pack abs on the tank and wail on the throttle.

Of course, when you do get to the spectacular scenery with all the twisty roads, all the better to be on a bike that thinks it’s a sportbike. Several years ago when I took a Concours 14 from Los Angeles to Monterey for The Quail Motorcycle Gathering, I did just that. Without admitting guilt, let’s just say the Concours feels very much at home at triple-digit speeds. With a wet curb weight of 672 pounds, it’s more than a true sportbike but also around 250 pounds less than some of its beefier competition while managing to be much sportier.