Moving to Michigan

So I accepted a job up in Michigan, I'll be in the Pontiac area starting in January. I wanted to reach out to see if/where some good roads are to ride or tracks to do track days. I think I'm spoiled coming from New Mexico with mountains to get my fix and pretty temperate weather.
Also wanted to know if there is a good dealer network in the area as well.
Any other input on things to do/see is appreciated as well.
Thanks

-Lance

lance bro said:

So I accepted a job up in Michigan, I'll be in the Pontiac area starting in January. I wanted to reach out to see if/where some good roads are to ride or tracks to do track days. I think I'm spoiled coming from New Mexico with mountains to get my fix and pretty temperate weather.
Also wanted to know if there is a good dealer network in the area as well.
Any other input on things to do/see is appreciated as well.
Thanks

-Lance

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welcome to hell... and btw pontiac area is ghetto as hell. never park your bike out there... it wont last 10 mins.

Yeah its like an episode of the walking dead up there.
I don't travel through that area without a gun or two .

Sounds like a great move....

lance bro said:

So I accepted a job up in Michigan, I'll be in the Pontiac area starting in January. I wanted to reach out to see if/where some good roads are to ride or tracks to do track days. I think I'm spoiled coming from New Mexico with mountains to get my fix and pretty temperate weather.
Also wanted to know if there is a good dealer network in the area as well.
Any other input on things to do/see is appreciated as well.
Thanks

-Lance

Click to expand...

I'm sorry man.. I'm from Detroit. The roads are horrible and you won't be riding your bike much because the riding season is so short. Not many places to ride. There's a bike night in Royal Oak, MI on Thursdays that's normally packed during the Summer. (I think it still happens. I haven't rode there in 5 years.)You won't find many Duc's out there, primarily a GIXXER nation. There is a Track a couple hours away called, Gratton, which hosts some track days.
On Wednesday nights we used to ride to Toledo, Ohio for their bike night which is about 1 hour(70 miles) away from Detroit. We would open the bikes up on the way to Toledo. (Be careful of the peer pressure if you ride with a group to Toledo; we were idiots doing 100+ on the highway... at night, I may add).
Me and all my riding buddies moved out of MI in 2010 and are now more south. I live in St. Louis now and it has a much longer riding season (Just rode today), more back roads to ride on and a decent ride to Chicago, Memphis, or Kentucky if you want. A few track days across the bridge in IL during the summer and some decent bike nights. Strong Ducati community here too.
Overall Pontiac/Detroit has some good nightlife and its fun. I always have a good time when I go back home. Just not a good place to ride a lot.
Congrats on the new job, good luck.

Grattan and Gingerman are in lower MI on the lake... Chicago land area has autobahn and Blackhawk.... have fun.. Michigan is a beautiful state.

You may want to reconsider moving. Unless they are offering you life changing compensation. Just a thought. I was offered a great job in Houston TX. Visited and changed my mind. You may want to do the same before moving.

Appreciate all the insight for sure. Thanks.

I just finished watching a series called The Killing it is based in Seattle . Don't move there either looks depressing and always raining .

I am sure no place it perfect. However I am sure some places are WAY better than others. Just saying do your homework. Everything from schools to crime from insurance cost to cost of living. I live in an area most would call boring however I am only minutes way from the ocean, 4 major cities and amazing back roads.

much inputs from people. this is great.

Yeah good call on doing some research. Figured I'd reach out here first if folks had first hand experience of the area. My work will actually be in auburn hills, seems like all the towns run into each other, which is vastly different from where I'm from.
I figured there'd be some rough spots, like there are anywhere. Hope I can find some decent roads at least.
Thanks again for the input.

lance bro said:

Yeah good call on doing some research. Figured I'd reach out here first if folks had first hand experience of the area. My work will actually be in auburn hills, seems like all the towns run into each other, which is vastly different from where I'm from.
I figured there'd be some rough spots, like there are anywhere. Hope I can find some decent roads at least.
Thanks again for the input.

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auburn hills is a nice and clean area. also there is rochester downtown where you can go eat some nice food there as well.
oh btw if you wanna go 150+ mph take M59 and you barely see any cops there. lol
anyways welcome to michigan and hope you have fun here!!

dunno if there's a track there that you can run on. My folks live in Ann Arbor and I grew up in Toledo. Pretty much any thought of moving back to where I'm from quickly ends when I think about the riding. You can tell when you cross the border from Ohio to Michigan with your eyes closed - the road surface suddenly turns to complete ..... If you're going to do much street riding, start finding some very soft suspension settings!

I've never taken I-75 to Toledo by bike, but I've ridden Route 23 from Toledo to Ann Arbor a few times. I will admit that I did it at triple digits every time; otherwise the boredom would have put me to sleep!

I love riding, and love traveling by motorcycle. But when I go home to visit family....I drive.

wilkson said:

I just finished watching a series called The Killing it is based in Seattle . Don't move there either looks depressing and always raining .

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Hey I live in Seattle. The riding season is actually year-round , if you are OK riding in the wet. Never actually rains very hard though, it's a common misconception. Never gets very cold, either.

Tons of mountains and good riding nearby, and 3 tracks within an hour or two.

Worst thing about Seattle is that the drivers are some of the worst in the country...every outing on I-5 is an exercise in patience and survival.

The Killing is a great show, btw, but they get the rain all wrong.

Lol its hilarious reading these comments..yes the roads are not ideal however you can usually find descent riding on back roads in Southeast and Southwest, MI. The 2 tracks mentioned are good.

derblott said:

Hey I live in Seattle. The riding season is actually year-round , if you are OK riding in the wet. Never actually rains very hard though, it's a common misconception. Never gets very cold, either.

Tons of mountains and good riding nearby, and 3 tracks within an hour or two.

Worst thing about Seattle is that the drivers are some of the worst in the country...every outing on I-5 is an exercise in patience and survival.

The Killing is a great show, btw, but they get the rain all wrong.

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I have fond memories of Seattle, I went to Maritime out there in 98-99; just a poor collage student then... I always fantisized about riding out there; the pacific northwest is amazing. Tho.. I dunno about those polished rock road roads on N45th/N46th in Freemont!!!
I think my Volvo 240 was sideways more than it was strait...

derblott said:

Hey I live in Seattle. The riding season is actually year-round , if you are OK riding in the wet. Never actually rains very hard though, it's a common misconception. Never gets very cold, either.

Tons of mountains and good riding nearby, and 3 tracks within an hour or two.

Worst thing about Seattle is that the drivers are some of the worst in the country...every outing on I-5 is an exercise in patience and survival.

The Killing is a great show, btw, but they get the rain all wrong.

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I have actually been to Seattle and I liked it very much It's a great city .

ok let make something clear I lived in shelby twp for 8 years and michigan is a really good place to ride just check the upper peninsula, copper harbor even better the tunnel of trees, the problem that you have is that you are looking to ride a sport bike on the street and that my friend is not that fun in Michigan, get your self a multistrada or any type of touring bike and you will love Michigan .

Michigan is a great places for touring and you can ride with the proper gear from April to November