If you ride through the Rocky Mountains (Colorado > Wyoming > Montana > Canada) you won't be dissapointed-

Others have chimed in with particular destinations and there are so many it would be hard to know where to start anyway. However, I would think that with three months you could see a good bit. I do have a couple of pieces of advice.

The first is For God's Sake Stay Off the Freeways!!! The sideroads and little towns are what make travel the most enjoyable. You never know what sort of little unadvertise attrations you will run across in small town America. And you will miss them all if you travel those wide pieces of pavement we have crisscrossing the country.

And dont skip through all that flat space in the middle. The vastness alone is something to experience. And you never know what you might run across. The missus and I ran across this in Oklahoma a couple of years ago.

http://www.shattuckwindmillmuseum.org/

We woud have missed it for sure traveling down I-40.

Also, most all resturants, motels, rest stops and welcome centers will have little displays set up with handouts about local attrations. Some cost money however many are free or quite inexpensive. Be sure to check them out and adjust your plans according to what you come across.

Yankee Dog

Wow! Thanks!

unmissable in USA
 

With a three month span to see the USA you should have enough time to to cross the country several times so you will be able to check out the east, the west and the middle.Also since you stipulate an exit from the US to Vancouver,Canada you have pretty well framed it so that the time of your visit must be during summer.That is a very good season for motorcycling across all the USA. Unfortunately Mollydog's suggestion that ...
" summer can be way too hot for much of the country to be riding a bike '...
is too negative an assessment. Perhaps Pat meant that it might be too hot to be engaging in the extremely strenuous exercise of off-road racing dressed in all the protective gear , or road- riding around cities in full leathers during a heat wave.
As an experienced bike traveller in Africa you no doubt are already familiar with riding in hot weather, and after travelling fom Argentina north to USA you should be well aclimatised for anything you might encounter in the States.
My own opinion , formed in 40 years of motorcycling all over North America,is that I have never seen a single day where I thought it was too hot to be riding a bike . I have seen plenty of warm days, make it to the southwest deserts during July and August often, have crossed the Mojave when it was 118 degrees Fartinhot, the length of Death Valley when it was over 55C at Stovepipe Wells and lots of days elsewhere in the 35C to 40C range even in Canada(very rare ,that).Visit the USA during other seasons and you run the risk of too cold weather in the northern and the mountain states , no fun.Winter is absolutely out for a motorcycle in the great interior.
The solution is to adapt your route for any hot spells- stick to the pavement,avoid cities and their slow traffic, dress lightly and stop often to drink lots of water . The most strenuous thing you need to be doing is turning the throttle and putting the bike on the sidestand for fuel and water stops.
The smaller US , state and county highways all offer a variety of riding and scenery and the option to explore, but don't hesitate to do the occasional stint on the Interstate Highway for another aspect of the "real USA". There is something totally American to experience if late on a hot evening you set out with the sun at your back and head off onto the superslab across the desert , the car lights come on and you see a string lights crawling across a distant pass maybe 30 miles away, the fancy big rigs with their bazillion decorator lights,perhaps a distant thunderstorm providing a fireworks display with no worry of getting wet, the occasinal oasis of lights that looms up as you near some crossroads with the typical franchise restaurants and services.And , in the middle of the night you are still riding in a light jacket and it is still warm. Germany has autobahns where they can still, on certain sections , ride verrry schnell, elsewhere you can find heavy traffic, or hot weather but the combination of good highway, warm nights, and longhaul superhighway are summertime Americana .
As for the middle bit of the country , the Ozarks of Arkansas and Missourri have many great state routes running in all directions,pick nearly any one of the squiggly black lines on a map and you will have fun riding through mostly hills and forest.In Colorado the Rocky Mountain National Park is a great ride for a hot sunny day when you can look from the crest east onto the plains.So many good roads, so little time.

I'll through in a pitch for Idaho. Not well known, but we have the most rugged and remote (mountainous) land in the lower 48 states. See the threads in ADVrider.com for rides along:
- Magruder Corridor
- Hwy 12 & Lewis and Clark route
- St. Joe River corridor
- the Palouse
- Hells Canyon

All not to be missed if you are in this region. And since Yellowstone NP and Glacier NP are not far off this makes sense. The problem is if your eyes are bigger than your window of time. Always my issue! :eek3:

Cheers!

s

If you are riding from San Francisco to Seattle there is only one route to take, Highway 1 from SF north untill it hits 101 at Leggett. You will see the Coastal redwoods and more side trips than you can imagine. Keep on 101 through oregon and enjoy the coast. Here are some photo links

http://www.americanadventures.com/images/redwood.jpg

http://www.beckybuller.com/images/ph...%20Redwood.jpg

http://www.nps.gov/redw/

I've ridden the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway Rt1 and Rt101) from Los Angeles to Oregon a few times and it's spectacular...love it!

If you're a little further inland in CA, check out King's Canyon, Sequoia, and Yosemite National Parks on your way to San Francisco...amazing!

If you choose the Rockies...check out Mt. Evans and Rocky Mountain National Park in CO...then head up to see the Grand Tetons on the Wyoming/Idaho border.

These are the places that I've enjoyed most in the Western half of the US.:thumbup1:

Crikey, where do I begin? Must see places to visit in the US? Well before setting off on a 3-month, 15,000 mile ride around the US last summer, I sat down and made a list, marked them on a map then joined up all of the dots. As simple as that. Here goes -

1. New York - two days, just enough to walk miles around Manhattan and soak up the atmosphere.
2. Washington DC - hellishly expensive hotel, three days of walking the Mall and visiting memorials and superb museums.
3. Blue Ridge Parkway/Skyline Drive - saw my first Black Bear.
4. Indianapolis - visited the superb Hall Of Fame at the Raceway.
5. Badlands NP (National Park)
6. Sturgis - good motorcycle museum.
7. Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse - stupendous.
8. Little Big Horn - scene of Custer's Last Stand.
9. Yellowstone NP - buffalo.
10. Cody - Buffalo Bill Historical Centre and my first rodeo.
11. Rocky Mountain NP - near Denver CO.
12. Mount Evans and Pike's Peak - highest roads in the US, 12,183ft.
13. North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion Canyon - stunning scenery.
14. Boothill AZ - Gunfight at OK Corral.
15. San Diego - my favourite US city.
16. Las Vegas - tacky by day, magical by night. Helicopter flight into Grand Canyon.
17. Death Valley - Stovepipe Wells.
18. Yosemite NP - tent at Curry Village.
19. San Francisco
20. Route 1 and the Big Sur - sensational coastal road.
21. San Antonio - The Alamo and the best jazz band in the US.
22. Bowling Green, Kentucky - The Chevrolet Corvette production line walkabout.
23. Williamsburg VA - Historical Colonial US history and Jamestown, an early English settlement, nearby.
24. Back to New York - McSorley's Ale House - 15th E 7th Street - NY's oldest pub, frequented by many historic figures.

Pick the bones out of that lot!

Stay on I-5 until you are north of San Francisco. 101 is so crowded it is crazy. Yes, it is beautiful, and with the traffic you will have LOTS of time to admire it, suck up the fumes, become agitated. AFTER San Francisco head for coastal route until you cross the Oregon border, cut inland to see the Redwoods, continue east to Grants Pass, I-5 to just south of Eugene (Drain< Yoncalla exit) and go back to the coast, stopping at the Elk refuge for photos of wild elk grazing in the pastures, then the Sea Lion caves, camping is all over. Stick to the Coast highway to Alsea, Lewis and Clark's winter camps at the beginning of the 1800s, the Pig War site in Washington. In Oregon, speed will not matter until you exceed 75. In Washington, the state police will nab you on I-5 for speeding and they really love to nail bikes. I will not exceed the speed limit in Washington. Time permitting, you might also forego the coast route at Alsea and cut east again to north Portland, picking I-80 easst for a short wasy to see the Bonneville dam and the wonderful falls along the Columbia Gorge. Just too much to see everytiing in 3 months, but these are a few things you might consider. Let me know when you are coming and if I am stateside, you have a place to rest, sleep and eat as long as you have some good tales to share.
joe

I LOVE McSorleys!
Therefore all your other suggestions must be great as well.

Thanks Paul.
And thanks to everyone else as well.
(Due to a slight issue with an empty bank account I'm now leaving Sept 2008)

Simon

Simon,

How is it, brother? All good?

USA - I'd gushingly recommend 'Road Trip USA' by Jamie Jensen - 35,000 miles of two-lane blacktop routes that run north to south and east to west. I used this book when I strolled from New York to LA on the 650 and it never steered me wrong. Great rides and loads of photogenic Americana detours.
ROAD TRIP USA

Faves? Following the Gull down the east coast's 'sand dunes and salty air' Route 1 to Savannah and Tybee Island - cutting across the soggy Great Dismal Swamp - chilling in (pre-hurricane) gulf coast Mobile - fleeing a New Orleans hangover that could sour milk on the Great River Road, route 61 - sipping a sunset beer at the Bonnie and Clyde memorial in rural Gibsland, Louisiana - spending what felt like a week of ground hog days racing across northern Texas' enormous skies, nodding donkeys and barbed wire fences - eating proper Mexican food in adobe Sante Fe and running loops round the Los Alamos and Tao mountains - ghosting along old route 66 from Kingsland to Oatman - getting lost in the strangely sanitised deserts of Joshua Tree - finally finding myself parked up under the street sign at Hollywood and Vine.

It really is a beautiful country - you'll have a blast. And there's always the option of crossing from Tennessee to Oregon on nothing but dirt on the TransAmerican Trail...
Trans-America Trail, Cross-Country Motorcycle Adventure, Motorcycling, Trans-Am Trail, Sam Correro, Dual-Sport, Motorrad Media, BMW, F650, GS, Road Less Traveled documentary,

Suerte, Dan

Your wrong Patrick........
 

In "Blighty" ( I'm an Ex-Pat for a reason!) we had the Snow and Ice Season,
The howling Gales Season, and The Foggy Season..... and sometime in August, usually the 13th and 14th we have Summer........ so as you can see, its not JUST :rain:, The Misery varies........

Martyn

Cheers Dan
That works for me you crazy muddafugga. Please let it be September next year when I wake up. I appear to be horribly pished.

Simon

There's no need to having to resort to drinking the typical Miller/Coors/Budweiser fizzy lagers, as you've already found at McSorley's Ale House in New York (15th E 7th Street). Before returning to the US last time, I armed myself with 'The Beer Lovers Guide to the USA'.

Amazon.com: The Beer Lover's Guide to the USA: Brewpubs, Taverns, and Good Beer Bars: Books: Stan Hieronymus,Daria Labinsky

It's superb and contains over a thousand breweries and brewpubs in the country, and their microbrew beers are every bit as good as ours. Many bars now sell them, and if all else fails, Sierra Nevada is pretty damned good. One of the best I tried was at the Snake River Brewery in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; but there are many.

If you did not already know, US drinking habits are very different from what we are used to. Don't expect to go into an off licence (liquor store) and be able to buy (say) a bottle of wine. Some liquor stores only sell the usual fizz, and the low alcohol stuff at that. You may have to ride a few miles to a supermarket (and a lot of those don't sell booze either). Don't go into a restaurant and expect to drink wine either. One evening I walked into, and out of, six restaurants until I found one I could buy a bottle of wine. "We are a FAMILY restaurant" was one reply. From what I understand, getting a liquor licence over there is both difficult and very expensive, and under-age drinking is very seriously treated. If you are under 30 (honestly!) expect to be asked for I/D.

Nevertheless it's a superb country with some of the kindest most polite people you could wish to meet, and many are very grateful that you've taken the time and trouble to visit them. As you can guess, I love the country.

Thanks Paul.
Maybe I'll just use that book as the basis of the trip.
*lightbulb flickers into life above head*