AMA Grand Tours Series might add a spark to your motorcycle touring plans

Riding through Zion National Park

Looking for something a little different this year for your motorcycle road trips? How about a ride to the four corners of the continental U.S.? Or a grand tour of national parks and monuments?

The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) may have just the thing for you, their 2010 Grand Tours Series. The way it works is simple. Five tours have been planned by five AMA-affiliated riding clubs. You choose the tour that interests you, sign up, and then make it a point to visit the places on the tour during the course of the riding season--on your bike of course.

At each stop you'll shot a photo of your bike to prove you've been there, and then send your documentation to the sponsoring club. Completion of a tour will earn you an entry in the grand prize drawing that will be held in December. Anyone who completes at least four of the five Grand Tours will receive a Master Grand Tourer certificate from AMA Road Riding, plus an extra entry in the grand prize drawing.

So really, mostly you'll be doing this for fun and bragging rights. But hey, that's OK. It should be fun, and you know you'll be telling your friends about it. So why not?

Here are the five tours.

Call of the Wild -- Visit towns, cities, or counties with the names of insects or animals in them such as "Elkhart." This tour runs April 1 to November 30.

Titanic Grand Tour -- The Titanic was sunk by an iceberg, 46,000 tons of ship taken down by one berg. Visit one town ending in "berg" and as many towns ending in "ton" as you can find.  This tourr runs from April 14 to September 15.

I've Been Everywhere Classic Grand Tour -- You will receive a list of places named in the classic Johnny Cash song. Then you have from April 1 to November 30 to find those places, take a picture of your bike there, and move on down the road. Contact Joseph Sloan at hogman19053@yahoo.com for details.

The National Parks Grand Tour -- Visit at least 50 National Parks, National Monuments, National Historic Sites, National Recreation Areas, or any other site or park listed in the "Passport to Your National Parks" book in at least 25 states within 1 year.

USA Four Corners Grand Tour -- You have 21 days to ride your motorcycle to these four corner cities of the United States; San Ysidro, CA Blaine, WA Madawaska, ME and Key West, FL. You may visit the four corners in any sequence and by any route that you desire. You do not have to return to the first corner to finish the event.

This Grand Tour Series is sponsored by KOA Kampgrounds, and all participants will receive a yearlong discount card for stays at KOA Kampgrounds across the United States and Canada. In addition to earning points for visiting destinations for each of the above AMA Grand Tours, riders will also earn bonus points for visiting KOA’s motorcycle-friendly camping resorts.

So OK, some folks have got a head start on you so you'd better get cracking. You didn't have anything else going on this summer, did you?