September 28-October 4 Las Vegas Bike Week Tour San Francisco This is a pre-planned tour with professional guides that starts in San Francisco and continues to South Lake Tahoe, around the lake to the North Shore. Afterward, it makes the run to Vegas for Las Vegas Bike Week. Its return trip to San Francisco runs through Santa Barbara, Monterey, and along the famous Pacific Coast Highway. This tour hits several casinos along the Nevada/California border (North and South Tahoe, Yerington, Tonopah) but ultimately arrives in Las Vegas for two nights. Total mileage is approximately 1,800 miles, with an average ride of 250 miles per day. b4midnight.synacity.com September 29-October 2 Las Vegas Bikefest Las Vegas Hit the Nevada/California state line on the 28th and you can catch the kickoff party at Primm’s casinos. After that, Cashman Center is event central with a vendor village, stage shows, and the Artistry In Iron bike show. lasvegasbikefest.com October 1 SOWF Poker Run Portsmouth, VA The Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) provides full scholarship grants and educational and family counseling to the surviving children of special operations personnel who die in operational or training missions and immediate financial assistance to severely wounded special operations personnel and their families. This October, the foundation is holding a poker run to raise money. Registration starts at 9 a.m. at Bayside Harley-Davidson in Portsmouth, Virginia. Donations of $10 per person are requested. The first 75 riders get a T-shirt and patch or pin. specialops.org October 7-9 AMA National Gypsy Tour 2011 Big Bike Weekend Redding, CA The tour lands in Redding at the heart of the town’s hotel/restaurant/shopping row on Hilltop Drive in Redding. There’ll be a vendor village at the Holiday Inn Convention Center. If ink is your thing, you can also check out the Redding Ink & Piercing Convention. There’ll also be plenty of food and live entertainment. bigbikeweekend.com October 13-16 Daytona Beach Biketoberfest Daytona Beach, FL Biketoberfest is an international award-winning motorcycle festival that offers participants an extended weekend get-away brimming with plenty of sun, beaches, bikes, and fun. Thousands of bikes will roar into and all around town. Popular annual activities include motorcycle shows and events showcasing new, vintage, and custom bikes; demonstration rides on the newest machines from top manufacturers; and on-track motorcycle action at Daytona International Speedway. You’ll also enjoy a wide variety of food choices, live music, and plenty of people-watching. biketoberfest.org October 16 Kalamazoo Fall Motorcycle Swap Meet Kalamazoo, MI The 38th Annual Motorcycle Swap Meet & Parts Expo hits Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan, that Saturday. This swap meet is the original and largest in southwest Michigan. Thousands of bikers will be buying, selling, and swapping all kinds of motorcycle parts and accessories. You can find a huge selection of motorcycle and motorcycle parts, new, used, antique, and hard-to-find parts, leather apparel, and motorcycle-related novelties. There’ll be door prizes at every half hour, food, beer, and a lot more. kalamazooswap.com paragonspromotion.com October 23 Rip’s BAD Ride, Arizona Fountain Hills, AZ California riders have experienced this event for years, and now there’s a version of it one state over in Arizona. It’s a motorcycle fund-raising ride and family festival benefitting the American Diabetes Association. At journey’s end, you’ll get great food, big entertainment, and other activities, all after a nice ride in the desert. ripsbadride.com November 3-6 Lone Star Rally Galveston, TX This is the 10th anniversary of the Lone Star Rally. The event is free to the public and is a family-friendly festival. They will have plenty of vendors as well as demo rides, attractions, and two stages with live music. lonestarrally.com November 6-8 Grand Canyon and Red Rocks Motorcycle Tour Phoenix Ride some great two-lane twisties on your way to the Red Rocks of Sedona and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Travel through historic Prescott and experience “Whiskey Row,” then on to Jerome “The Living Ghost Town,” through beautiful and spiritual Sedona, then on to the spectacular Oak Creek Canyon. From there, this guided ride goes to Flagstaff and on to Williams located on historic Route 66, and home of the famous Grand Canyon Railroad. You can then spend a day at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The return trip to Phoenix will be another scenic adventure as the journey makes the gradual transition from mountain landscapes back to the desert floor. twistedtrailz.com November 11 Veterans Day Ride to Arlington National Cemetary Gaithersburg, MD Battley Harley-Davidson will host the Veteran’s Day Ride to Arlington National Cemetery. Riders will meet at the Battley H-D in Gaithersburg, Maryland, at 7:45 a.m. Kickstands will go up at 8:30 a.m sharp. Coffee and donuts will be provided by Battley H-D prior to the ride. battley.com November 18-20 Progressive International Motorcycle Shows San Mateo, CA When the riding season is winding down, this international show series is ramping up. Each year it tours large cities across the U.S., giving us plenty to drool over while our bikes are hibernating until spring. This year’s series kicks off in San Mateo, with manufacturers from the whole range of riderdom showing the public what’s coming in 2012. There’ll also be plenty of demos, stunts, and bike shows to keep you entertained. internationalmotorcycleshows.com By Baggers’s Staff Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues!