I hate living in Fargo. Help change my mind.

I moved to Fargo with work from AZ and then Las Vegas, NM. I'm used to bigger cities and having mountains with curvy and fun roads to ride. Now it's all flat, straight and boring with low speed limits. Blizzards, flooding and "motorcycle season"?!?!

So do I just need to re-adjust my viewpoint, or are there some roads in the region you guys can point me to? I'm going to be based in Fargo for probably another two years- please help me out and point out what I'm missing! Help re-align my perspective.

You can ride over to the DL (Detroit Lakes) MN area and find a few curves. Actually quite a few, but its flat enough its not exactly "twisties". The scenery is much better though and its a very nice area. There is some minor off roading to be had around Vergas.

Head an hour east of DL to Akeley and you'll love that area if you're into single tracking. The Paul Bunyan Forest has a great off road area.

I'm in eastern SD and this area is not great for on-road sport riding.

I go to Akeley often and out to the Black Hills as often as I can to stay sane.

Attend this: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=828754

Wondeful riding street, dirt everything in between. Great beer, food and Inmates. Take US2 scenic [lake Superior] and it's shorter 430 miles only.

http://cadvrider.com/index.html/

There's a tourist brochure titled " North Dakota Motorcycle roads" or something like that. When I did 2 years of "hard time" working in southern Sask, it was the weekend bike trips that kept me sane. Grab a map & look for the rural roads that follow the river valleys or any geography, hills etc. You will find some cool routes and camping spots. Each weekend I explored a different area and grew to like the difference in terrain. The Great Plains. There's history there. My best trip was a 4 day weekend ride. That was the longest ride I was able to pull off in 2 years working. I knew my time out there was not forever so I made the best of it. Adventure is often right in your backyard if you take a moment to look for it.
A big 10-4 on the Minnesota riding close to you also near Brainerd plus go see some races. Aerostich Rally yea that too. It all depends how much holiday time you get. I can live anywhere if they let me loose for 2 months a year . The 2 years of full time almost cracked my sprit

I used to live in Fargo.

Moved down here. I ride up there every spring to visit the folks.

You have to head East about 40 miles. Good stuff starts around Detroit Lakes. Head to Pelican Rapids and ride all over the F'n place. Great roads around the lakes!

Nice Pic. I'd have fun riding there!

Exploring in the prairies is ok. Most people blast right through trying to get somewhere. If you are on the main highway you will not see much, but running the rural secondary roads you will begin to see more and ride with the contour of the land.
A short ways north of you is Turtle Mtn, and Lake Metagoshe. Pretty busy little lake, some pleasant roads around it. Also the Pembina valley can be explored as well.

http://m.byways.org/states/ND

PM me if you want to go for a ride.. I moved to the FM area in February 2012.. I have made the best of it. Meet a local BMW rider and he showed me around the DL area.. The lakes country and Valley City area are the routes I take...

I live in Iowa and that is bad enough. Sister-in-law lived in Bismark for 15 years only made it up there once, that was enough for me. She saw the light and moved to Mesa last July.
My best recommendation is to head for the Black Hills. Great road riding and dirt biking. 685 mile trip for us, have been going making a least one trip a year for last 20 years. Don't recommend going during Sturgis, to many people. Have been staying at Recreational Springs south of Lead for the past several years.
We are planning on moving to Mesa in the next few years, bought a lot in east Mesa this last winter.

For weekday evening rides, get used to flatness.

For day trips, head east to lake country. I suggest picking up a free MN road map at the Moorhead rest stop and finding some curvy highways to explorer. Many of the highways curve around lakes and those will be your best curves in the immediate area.

For a 3 or 4 day weekend trip, head over to Duluth and then north (a goal while you live in Fargo should be the Gunflint Trail via North Shore Drive).

I will admit that nothing around Fargo (or even in MN) is as good as being in the mountains in a state that has more generous speed limits.

No help for the Fargo area, but from Clive, IA - don't get me wrong, I love the Black Hills, but I would go down to Arkansas, much closer.
Not quite as good as AR, but even closer would be SW Wisconsin.

Propforward has said that he wants to spend this riding season exploring more to the west.

I like the suggestions I have seen so far.

To the south of you is the glacial lakes region of SD. Where there are lakes, there are curvy roads.

I've got pie and BBQ places lined up in readiness.



:dg

I have rode in Arkansas and southern Missouri for years also, dirt and street. Some of the best roads I have ever ridden are in Arkansas.
Thinking on heading to Chadwick next weekend for some dirt riding, since we can't seem to shake winter.
I was just suggesting somewhere to go from Fargo.

Gotcha

Thanks for all the input, guys! My wife is pretty excited about riding when I get back- less so at how I keep insisting she get some decent gear and the price of it... Her reaction to what a good jacket costs was funny, makes me forget how much of this hobby I take for granted. She's already planning some rides for us through the Black Hills, to Mt. Rushmore, etc.

We'll be on my '11 BMW R1200R. For a mix of camping and B&Bs, would you guys suggest getting a top case, or strapping a tent, sleeping bag, etc. to a naked luggage rack?

Also, it looks like I'll have to go to the cities for the closest BMW dealer/parts. Any input on a favored shop to haunt?

Hektoglider- GREAT photos and thanks for your insight. I'm stuck in Afghanistan for another two weeks, and the absence has made it easier for me to get excited about stuff! Already looking at Brainerd; now you've got me eyeing the less-traveled roads.

Moon Motors in Monticello is having their open house this weekend. Pretty sure a bunch of us are going to hang out and mosey over to the other side of the interstate for late lunch (I think it was around 2p last year.) I would think about the same time this year.

Just blast down 94 and get off at the 1st Monti exit. You will see the dealer before the exit. They will probably be 'your' dealer.

Like I said, I'm in Afghanistan for another two weeks.

I looked up Moon, Hitching Post, and Leo's South online. Not terribly hopeful from any of the websites, but I'm going to chalk it up to culture shock for now. Back in Tucson and Las Vegas the BMW dealers were almost exclusively BMW, and the twin cities' dealers carry so much else I have a tiny bit of fear that my brand is overlooked. Leo's seems to carry a lot of other European stuff though, so that looks good. Even if their website is almost identical to Hitching Post...

I'd rather not drive all the way down to Omaha (Holy crap! How did I wind up so far north that Omaha is "down"?!), but that may be exactly what I wind up doing.

Thank you for your service - I'm assuming that's why you're out there.

Your fears regarding Moon and Leos BMW are unfounded. Driving to Omaha instead of visiting these dealers would be pointless. These dealers simply understand that there are other good bikes as well.

Thanks, propforward. I actually got an email reply from Moon, and they have most everything I asked about, got me fair price estimates, and don't mind if I install stuff in their lots rather than pay their service dept. to do it. All in all, I've got a good vibe! They even carry stuff that's not on their website (I think it was mostly bad site design that made me nervous).

I didn't mean to sound as if I was slighting other makes of motorcycle. I've just seen enough confusion on which part number fit which model year even at dedicated BMW dealers that I was afraid it would be even harder to get answers. But it was not so! Shane at Moon is really on top of things and has me even more anxious to get back home so I can farkle up my bike!