Harley Museum run

[Snert]

Greetings everyone,

For those of you who have been to the Milwaukee area, I'm looking for any advice on roads, places to stop, eat etc. My brother, cousin and I will be leaving Blue Earth MN, and heading down to Walcott Iowa to see a bit of the Truckers Jamboree. I'm planning on taking the big roads there to make time, but open to suggestions. From there I'm debating on how to get to Milwaukee, following the river to the driftless area and cutting over, or going through Illinois. We think we like to go up to Manitowoc and see the WWII sub (again for me!) along with the candy/ice cream store around the block. Then we plan to spend most of the day at the Harley Museum, possibly doing the engine tour, or the demo rides of the new bikes. I think we may swing in to the House of Harley dealership as well sometime as well. From there we would ride back to La Crosse. Finally, we eat at Bucknuckles Bar and then start the return trip back to our respective homes.

Thanks for any help or encouragement!

(My brother rides a Road Glide and my cousin a VTX 1800 so sadly no offroading routes this time...)

 

[Cycledude]

Well I’ve been to the truckers jamboree, the Harley museum and Bucknuckles all very interesting places, hopefully you , your brother and cousin all have a great time.

 

[Squibb]

We enjoyed the ride , on the back roads, between Madison (mini Capitol, lake Mendota, horse fair) & Milwaukee. Lakes & farms, dairyland all the way.

Then you mention of Manitowoc, made me think of Appleton, lake Winnebago & Oshkosh - maybe see this baby fly again: -
.............. https://www.b29doc.com/rides/ Sadly the B29's 2021 tour doesn't quite sync with your Truckers event.

Just dreaming ........... of a time when we are all free to travel again. Enjoy the trip.

 

[Eville Rich]

I live in SC Wisconsin. Coming from Walcott, you are pretty far South. The most "direct" route I suggest is to get up to New Glarus WI - a very Swiss-heritage town. Not sure if the brewery is doing tours again, but worth checking out if you can. Consider getting up toward Madison and then taking Hwy 12 going east. Takes you throught the Kettle Moraine area. If you want to go into Madison, I suggest a stop at the Old Fashioned restaurant in the capitol square - sort of gourmet Wisconsin supper club food and really excellent. Since you are from MN, you may appreciate that you can get herring there.

Going to Manitowoc, I suggest hugging the lake shore as much as possible. I don't know the roads up to Sheboygan, but from Sheboygan to Manitowoc and up to Door County, there is a pretty easy route that is low traffic, along the lake, and nice scenery. Stay off I-43 if you can.

My suggestion for a semi-direct route that avoids superslab and gets you into some nice scenery. If you want get more if the Driftless region, get to Mineral Point - an old mining town, then take Hwy 39 to New Glarus. That's a favorite of mine that is semi direct.

Sounds like a great trip, regardless of the route.

Eville Rich
2016 S10

 

[Snert]

Just got back from my travels. A little over 1400 miles, it was a lesson of plans changing on the fly every day!

First thing that happenned was my tire swap turned into an debacle as the rear wheel bearing was shot. Along with some of the dampers. So it looked like I wouldn't be riding and instead was planning to drive a "chase car." Sigh. But, then the day we were heading out, a family friend offer up his Yamaha Royal Star! Quite a different ride than what I'm used too, but a fun experince all the same. It handled the big roads with ease, not so great in the twisties or city driving, but I made do. All the way down there we were being chased by rain and hoping not to catch the thunderstorm in front of us. Mostly by luck we stayed in the eye of the storm.

Stayed at a sketchy motel 6 in Davenport and vowed to not do that again! My cousin seemed to enjoy how bad it was... Truckers Jamboree was a good time. My favorite bit there was seeing a 1919 truck getting push-started! I had planned to take a scenic way into Milwaukee, but was voted down by the other two to make better time on the the four lanes. Who would think in July it would be cold and damp?

Our Air bnb host recommended a local biker bar FUEL for supper, fun atmosphere. When we got back we found another guest took the third guest room. He was a college kid from Hong Kong. Fun guy to talk with, we bonded over our shared love of Jeep Wranglers. Next day had big plans for a ride up to Manitowoc, but we were too beat down from all the four lines and riding along the edges of storms, so we went to the Harley musuem. I grew to appericate the bar and shield a bit more after touring through there. We stopped at the House of Harley and Milwaukee Harley before heading back to our house. We were in the middle of downtown, and watched cool cars and bikes go rumbing by from the second floor porch. My favorite was seeing the "hood rats" on their ATVs and dirtbikes ripping wheelies. Made me feel like I was back home in the country!

Saturday we went back to the Harley museum for lunch and I had my brother and cousin test ride the Pan America. My brother greatly enjoyed it and commented how he could see himself getting one of them. I was able to get my way and we took two lanes back to La Crosse going through Highway 33 by Wildcat Mt. It was great fun, but slogging through on the Royal Star made me miss the Tenere. Probably, the best riding of the trip, perfect weather, no bugs, and little traffic.

On Sunday, went to Bucknuckles and Nelson Creamery. Fun driving roads, went home through Zumborta Falls on Highway 60. Brought back the bike and my friend commented I have more miles on it now than he has! If anyone is looking for a Royal Star Tour Deluxe it's going to up for sale soon... his wife wants a jeep...

My photo battery was pretty bad, so I didn't get many photos, had just live in the moment!

 

[Cycledude]

Wildcat Mountain is definitely a great ride !
About 10 years ago on a Sunday morning I met a cop and I was pretty sure just by looking at him that he was going to turn around and pull me over even though I wasn’t much over the limit so when I saw a wide spot I pulled over and waited less than a minute, yep here he comes with the lights on. He never said anything about my speed other than asking if I knew what the speed limit was. He said there are way to many accidents here so be careful and let me go.

 

[tntmo]

Sounds like you had a good time. The Harley museum is really well done, highly suggested for anyone in the area.