Motorcycle Buzz has seen a lot of travel guides claiming to provide information about motorcycle events. Some of these guides only cover regional events or are just event calendars, but the best motorcycle event travel guide we have ever seen is the Biker's Atlas. We were so impressed by this comprehensive account of motorcycle rallies and events that we just had to review the Biker's Atlas website. For detailed information about every motorcycle event nationwide, the Biker's Atlas is Motorcycle Buzz's top pick!

Truly a "must own" book for motorcycle event enthusiasts!

This is the motorcycle event guidebook that bikers have spent decades looking for. The Biker's Atlas provides in depth analysis, maps and directions to the biggest and best motorcycle rallies, events, hang-outs and clubs nationwide. Bike shops, parts vendors, Harley dealerships and stunt shows, the Biker's Atlas will give you all the information on where to go, what to do and how to get there.

Reviewed by Fat Robert
Thunder Press

Despite the notorious reputation males have for not asking directions, there is one area the testosterone-laden group relishes: maps. All guys love maps. Me included. Especially me included. Find a guy who doesn’t have a special drawer where he stores all those folded pieces of bonded treasure and maybe you need to take a quick look under his skirt to make sure who you’re dealing with. Yeah, we may not ever stop and ask directions but that’s only ’cause we got a map and don’t need no stinking directions!

My personal archive of road guidance literature spans at least the last 15 years of my biking adventures. I collect maps like other riders collect T-shirts. Anytime someone at a rally offers anything close to a graphic street layout of the area surrounding a bike rally, it goes home in the bags. That stuff’s like gold. The other day, I asked my daughter to pull a map of Texas outta the "sacred place" so we could check on the location of some project we were working on together for one of her school projects. She holds the tattered papyrus up to the light and announces, "Hey, this is only half a map. And it’s missing the half I need!" Look again, I tell her, the other half’s in there. She finally finds the missing half of the Lone Star State and the info we need and asks, "Why do you keep a map of Texas that’s torn in half when you have four brand new Texas maps in that drawer?"

"’Cause I ain’t finished using that one yet, sweetie. Besides, I got that particular one four years ago on my way back from New Mexico, in the middle of a terrible heat wave that included desert sand blowing sideways at 40 mph." To me, maps are as much memories as they are guides.

So when the honchos running this loose cannon shoved a copy of the "Biker’s Atlas" in my hands and asked me to do a review, I thought, "This should be easy. I’m a map nut; I’ll rip it to shreds." I was proven wrong. Actually this little book is pretty damn informative and has yet to steer me wrong or get me lost (but then I’ve never really been lost, just sorta confused for a day or two).

This is the second edition of the American Bikers Guide/Biker’s Atlas. I never saw the first one so I really can’t judge between number one and two, but this particular edition seems quite adequate and has found a secure place in my grip.

Published by Scott Goodknight out of Georgia, this guide can easily become a road companion that you just cannot leave home without. The book (at 220 pages, this definitely qualifies as a book) starts out at the get-go with a glossary of events listed in chronological order that covers not only the complete year of ’03 but every state, coast to coast, along with the scheduled date. After that is a locator map that pinpoints major runs on a two-page spread that spans the entire U.S. Then comes "The Big Fifty"--50 major bike runs which the publishers deemed worthy to fall within this category. (I was glad to see Texas well represented in this section.) One page is dedicated to each of these 50 events, and along with a brief description of what to expect at the rodeo/tour/rally, two maps are included (an area map and a detailed map).

Thirty pages of event listings follow this segment, which covers a lot of smaller, local rides and gives pertinent info, usually including a website and phone number.

Major rallies like Laughlin, Daytona, Sturgis, etc. each have their own enlarged, two-page map. Also included is a directory of motorcycle-oriented businesses that spans more than 50 pages and lists addresses and phone numbers to these biker-friendly establishments. The publisher even had the forethought to include a nationwide helmet law map for those of us traveling into unknown sections of the country.

All the maps are the handiwork of "Thunder," a well-known illustrator whose work has appeared in various two-wheeled publications for years. More than 100 full-color maps display his skill, which is just offbeat enough to keep things interesting, while providing much needed info including hot party spots and area bike shops.

Since this book lists not only directions to some of our favorite parties but also the dates, it will be updated annually to reflect changes in locales and scheduling. For any-one in search of a new event to attend or wanting to check out the details and dates on an old favorite, the $19.95 price tag is cheap insurance to make sure you do not miss any of the action.

AIM library

By Joe Knezevis

If you attend biker events regularly, or only get to one once in awhile, Biker's Atlas has something for you. This second edition book is packed with information about every rally you can think of, and some you may never heard of. The atlas was the brainchild of Scott Goodnight who, four years ago, began handing out cartoon maps of Myrtle Beach. Those maps were so popular that Scott decided to team up with Thunder, the map artist, to create the first Biker's Atlas. That edition was so successful that the book, which costs $19.95 (plus shipping and handling), has grown to 220 pages and lists over 380 motorcycle events.

For those that like maps, there are over 100 full-color maps, including the latest helmet law status map and a giant rally locator map of the United States. All maps are in cartoon format and are not drawn to scale. A Feature Map section highlights larger maps that contain more detailed information. Events are listed by date in both the glossary and event listings section.

All major events are highlighted in the Big Fifty section. Other information includes a list of over 2,400 bike shops and hundreds of "biker friendly" business listings.

Much of this information is contained on the Feature Maps. For quick reference, businesses are also listed by state in the back of the book. And though most of this information is readily available from many sources, nowhere else is it all together in an easy-to-bring-along book.

By: Big Road

I've always been a tell it like it is kind of guy. Even when it hurts. I reminded Scott Goodknight of that fact when he asked me to do a book review on the second edition of the Bikers Atlas. I told him that I wouldn't hold any punches. His exact comment was, "shit bro, I ain't askin you to lie for me, just tell me what you think about the book."

Ok. Fair enough. I like the book. In fact, I liked it a lot. The only major malfunction I could find with it is that the Dixie Rider Iron Cavalry Reunion wasn't listed. But, I have to take some responsibility for that since I didn't fill out the paper work on time. Ok... Ok... I'll take all the responsibility. I blew it. (I have it on good authority that the 3rd Annual Iron Cavalry Reunion will be listed in the next printing due out by Bike Week).

At this point, someone in the audience usually stands up and yells, "enough of this crap! Tell us about the book!" To which I respond, "Jeeze...take a Prozac...howboutit..."

With 218 pages packed with information on over 380 rides, rallies and motorcycling events the Bikers Atlas was made, in my humble opinion, to be a saddlebag book. What I mean is that this isn't the kind of book you lay in the bed and read on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Why do I say that? Well, there are no jokes, for one thing, and no pictures of bare naked ladies. This book is all about where to go, what to do, and how to get there. In fact that is the mantra for the Bikers Atlas.

The Atlas features over 100 full color maps drawn by the famous biker cartoon artist, Thunder. A true southern biker gentleman, Thunder has been married more times than Carter has liver pills. If you don't believe it, come to Myrtle Beach and you can ask to see his collection of wedding rings he keeps on a chain around his neck. Not that being married to more women than most of us have ever shagged qualifies Thunder as a great artist, but he's got to have a sense of humor. And a great sense of direction.

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Which brings us to the actual maps. I can say, without fear of contradiction that the maps in the Bikers Atlas are the easiest to follow you will ever find. We print the major rally maps of Daytona, Sturgis, Myrtle Beach and Steel Pony Express in New Orleans each year for that reason and our readers love them. In fact, we were using these maps, by permission, long before The Bikers Atlas started advertising with us.

Besides the 50 major rally maps, there is also a US Rally Locator Map (a free wall mount size one came with the first printing, but no word on if the 2nd printing will also include one free) a helmet law status map, a free phone card offer, and a listing of MRO's as well as select business listing for the 50 states.

If I had any influence over the design of the 3rd Edition, I would probably rearrange the book where it would be easier to locate a specific month, and I may add an alphabetical listing of the events with a page number reference to the expanded listing map. Not that I'm that great at laying out things, because half the time I can't even arrange my own sock drawer. But it's a thought.

As a reference book, it's invaluable. As a work of art, it's timeless. As a guide for "Where To Go, What To Do, And How To Get There" it is unrivaled.