TOP 10 Reasons
Twenty-three years ago,
I had no intention of building a motorcycle tour business.
Pashnit Motorcycle Tours wasn't even my idea.
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The idea came from an article published in Cycle World Magazine, written by then Editor-in-Chief David Edwards. He wrote his monthly column about Yours Truly and a website I started building in 1999 about California Motorcycle Roads, known as (pronounced passionate) Pashnit.com. The article about Pashnit.com was published in the November 2003 issue of Cycle World Magazine.
My goal was to ride every twisty motorcycle road in the state of California while photographing and writing about each road. The California Motorcycle Roads site became an obsessive project. Within a few years, I wrote several hundred articles about California Roads and took tens of thousands of photographs while exploring the state, posting the text and photos to www.Pashnit.com. The site soon spanned over 240,000 files, covering nearly 350 California roads and the motorcycle community began to take notice of my pet project.
My spare time hobby working on Pashnit.com gained attention from fellow riders, then newspaper, radio interviews, and magazines soon followed. But it was the call I received from the largest motorcycle magazine in the nation that was the most exciting. David Edwards dedicated his monthly column (Nov '03) in Cycle World about my obsessive hobby. His last question was what does the future hold for Pashnit? I flippantly answered. My wife thinks I should start a tour company. He published that line in the Cycle World article.
And the rest is our shared history.
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Read the Cycle World article that started it all >
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Ask me about using saw blades as throwing stars on a tour.
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OUR STORY
It wasn't my idea.
HOW TO BUILD A COMMUNITY
Pashnit Motorcycle Tours was founded in 2004.
The 2026 tour season will mark our 23rd year of offering organized motorcycle tours — a major milestone for any small business. Since our launch, we've guided riders on 3 million (combined) miles of tours across California, Oregon, and Nevada.
Over the past two decades, our family of riders has grown into something truly special. With a repeat rider rate exceeding 95%, many of our tours are filled with familiar faces. If you look closely as our group photos below, you'll often see the same faces over and over. Why is that? Tour participants often become lifelong friends — and sometimes even family to one another. In fact, at least one couple who met on a Pashnit tour eventually married after riding together on multiple tours.
Many riders return to the places we’ve visited, bringing their spouses or families to share the experience. Others discover that fellow tour participants live nearby, leading to new friendships and riding partnerships that extend well beyond our organized events.
After more than 20 years of running tours, demand remains high. Our entire tour season often sells out as early as August for the following year, with waiting lists created once tour spots fill up. To foster connection even further, we send out group emails several times a ride season of who has signed up for each tour — giving riders a chance to reconnect or plan ahead to meet up together on another Pashnit Tour.
2026
TOUR CALENDAR
As odd as it may sound, our riders often pick tours solely based on date.
Does it really matter where you go? Surprisingly, not really. The roads are always super twisty, the food and lodging is great, and the camaraderie of being together with one another is the true magic of a motorcycle tour. Our repeat rate is so high, I constantly have to create new tours.
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In 2025, we led our 250th organized motorcycle tour and counting...
Welcome to 2026! New tours are most popular & sell out quickly. All our tours generally sell out by the end of January. The ride season is long in California & our winters are short. Tours run mid-February through early-November, find a date that matches your schedule and meet up with us Friday morning. We offer multi-tour package discounts and even a 2026 Season Pass for those that want to ride almost every single tour. Tour dates are set over a year in advance if you can plan that far ahead.
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​2026 Pashnit Tour Dates
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Feb 06, 2026 - EL DORADO
Feb 20, 2026 - TWISTED SISTERS
Mar 06, 2026 - DEATH VALLEY
Mar 20, 2026 - SOUTHERN FOOTHILLS
New! - Apr 03, 2026 - SHASTA DAM
Apr 17, 2026 - PARKFIELD
New! - May 08, 2026 - FORKS OF SALMON
May 22, 2026 - SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
New! - June 05, 2026 - BEAR VALLEY
July 10, 2026 - COAST RANGE
July 31, 2026 - SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON
Aug 14, 2026 - NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
New! - Sept 04, 2026 - OREGON COAST RANGE
New! - Sept 18, 2026 - MAMMOTH YOSEMITE
Oct 02, 2026 - SIERRA CREST
Oct 16, 2026 - CENTRAL COAST RANGE
Nov 06, 2026 - MARIN FALL COLORS
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Nov 07, 2025 - MARIN
Trinity Alps
OUR 2026 MOTORCYCLE TOURS
We're planning 17 organized tours in 2026, including offering five brand-new tours for the 2026 ride season. All tours generally sell out by the end of January (and then move to a waiting list of riders hoping someone will cancel), but more often as soon as they are announced in late fall.
Bulk discounts are available and most of our tour alumni sign up for 3-4 tours per season. Some of our Alumni will sign up for as many as 8 tours in a ride season. We also offer a Season Pass where riders will sign up to go on every tour we offer. Check with us ahead of time to see if we have room, we'd love to ride with you, get to know you and welcome you to the Pashnit Family.
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YOUR QUESTIONS
Admit it. You have many questions.
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This site was not only designed to offer pretty pictures and my rather verbose tour descriptions. It's here to address as many of your questions as possible. After 23 years of running motorcycle tours across multiple states, hopefully we've answered every possible question. If you're on the fence contemplating if an organized tour is for you, spend some time here. Ask questions. Small group tours are not for everyone, but if you made it this far down the page, it's probably exactly what you've been looking for.
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Read how Tom Hohl, based in Steamboat, Colorado discovered this site much like you,
and has made our motorcycle tours an integral part of his ride life for the last decade.
The contents of this site are for you, wondering if this guided tour thing is all it's cracked up to be.
Watch our tour videos, read the FAQs, read about our California Motorcycle Roads.
Check out over 84,000 tour photos in our on-line Photo Albums taken over the last 22 years.
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The majority of our tour participants are local riders on local roads.
Think about that.
Ask yourself: How is that even possible?
Why do people do this?
Over and over.
We tried to answer that with the Top 10 Reasons page.
Contact us if you've got a question we have not answered.
And I so look forward to welcoming you to my family.
-Tim
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