Retrotours - Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

DomenK

One of a kind experience and I can hardly wait to return back for the next tour! 🙂

I live in the European Alps, yet only a good hour ride from the Adriatic sea and I have some pretty nice motorcycle "home rides" from scenic alpine mountain passes to curvy coastal roads.

I have been riding pretty much all over the world (from Sahara to SE Asia jungles), but I've never experienced such a great overall riding package as I got at Retrotours.

We arrived to Retrotours a night before the ride and the fun started from the moment we met one of the kindness people who operate this tours - Joel and Lynn. Joel showed us his amazing garage with a great variety of their vintage bikes, checked our riding gear and Lynn prepared amazing dinner where they shared some of their motorcycle adventures from their 45+ years of riding! Joel even road through our "unknown" country back in 1971 on his ride from London to Istanbul!? 🙂

In the morning of the ride we had an early breakfast and than we took of with the vintage beauties and it was just a super nice and fun whole day motorcycle ride through supreme scenery and diverse countryside. I never thought Pennsylvania is so interesting to ride. Riding pace was just perfect, not too slow and not to fast - perfectly adjusted to this vintage machines. You can tell Joel has been running his vintage Retrotours for almost 20 years (since 1998) and has precise feeling of different riders capabilities. Another great thing is that he's a great mechanic, so you'll never feel that you'll be stuck on the road with this well maintained vintage motorcycles as he can fix most things on the tour. And if he can't he always has a plan B & C in the pocket. So riders can totally relax and just enjoy the whole experience. Really you can not find such a perfect, reliable and safe motorcycle tour guy anywhere!

I love vintage motorcycles, but Joel and Lynn from Retrotours live and breath with their vintage motorcycles. Thank you very much for such a wonderful experience and I'll be back very soon for some of a few day tours!

Liz R.

This is my second time riding with Retro Tours. I'm loving my time in the BMW Sidecar! What a different perspective from the sidecar than sitting on the back of the bike. The breakfast and dinner that Lynn prepares are amazing! The group of riders are a lot of fun and very welcoming for a lady to join them! You can tell Joel does this for fun and really enjoys the bikes and people! Thanks so much! Until next time....

Charles G.

Five Star PLUS review of Retrotours!
After participating in many of these vintage Retrotours over the past two decades, I can emphatically state that this is an amazing experience offered at a great value. It has become a tradition that I look froward to each year. Every tour has been a valuable and invigorating experience that gives the type of adrenaline rush that has become so much rarer as we age and become obsessed with the obligations and responsibilities of our adult lives.
The entire experience is enhanced by Lynn and Joel's hospitality, which includes Lynn's incredible home cooked meals before and after each tour, which is one of the most memorable aspects of the tour.
The routes and destinations, as well as the accommodations, are carefully selected to complement the experience of traveling for several days on forty to fifty year old motorcycles!
Joel's knowledge of the motorcycles, and especially of the fabulous roads is nothing short of incredible, and his abilities as a tour guide and ride leader are amazing. Joel has an uncanny ability for finding the curviest and most satisfying motorcycle roads, which tend to be almost devoid of Winnebagos and radar traps!
Joel adjusts the pace and complexity of the route to the relative skill level of the riders, and provides an appropriate plan to encourage less experienced riders to enjoy the tour within their skill level, while allowing the more seasoned riders to have a more aggressive pace and experience. As a result, everyone has an opportunity to enjoy the unique personality of these vintage machines while also challenging and developing their own skill level.
The machines are incredibly well maintained, and properly tuned and cared for, to ensure almost completely trouble free performance, and when the occasional mechanical gremlin surfaces, Joel's accomplished mechanical skills have almost always allowed us to complete a roadside repair and to get all of the machines home under their own power. On the rare occasion when a bike has had to be stored for a later retrieval, Joel has always had a back up plan, which has served to add to the adventure, and the overall experience is usually enhanced by the slight diversion.
I am always surprised when we make these machines do things that I never had the skills to do, back when these machines were contemporary motorcycles. The performance is impressive and exciting, and it certainly demands much more skill from the rider, to make an old bike go relatively fast, than it does to make a modern sport bike go incredibly fast. This allows for an entire weekend of skills development, and appropriate challenges, at speeds that are much more reasonable than would be challenging on a modern sport bike.
The routine of swapping bikes at each fuel stop (approximately 80 to 100 miles) is anything but routine, and allows for multiple rider's impressions of these great old bikes, and allows for comparisons that we might otherwise never be fortunate enough to experience. I am always fascinated by how much my impression of the same bikes, can be influenced by the order in which I rode them, and by which bike I rode before and after any particular machine. It is also an invigorating mental exercise to adapt to unusual shift patterns, and engine characteristics, including two and four stroke designs, and to experience the differences which are inherent in the machines produced by each different country's approach to motorcycle technology of the period.
Joel also tries to include all of the riders in the proper care and feeding of the bikes, by allowing each rider to adopt responsibility for a particular machine on each ride, so that they are charged with checking fluid levels, and lubricating chains, etc. It is a great rider involvement that is also very satisfying.
I am grateful to Lynn & Joel at Retrotours for providing so many wonderful adventures and experiences for all of us over the last two decades, and I highly recommend this adventure to any motorcycle enthusast. Perhaps I will actually meet you on one of the future Retrotours!

Edwin W.

Fantastic experience. I can't wait to go again on a longer ride. The bikes are well maintained but not new, they all have quirks and that is part of the fun. Joel and Lynn run a first rate operation. If you ride then you should go on a Retro Tour.

John B.

I'd highly recommend booking a ride with Retrotours! Joel is extremely knowledgeable about all the bikes he owns and the history behind them. You can tell he has a passion for motorcycles. All the bikes are in excellent shape for their age and unique, you won't be disappointed! The ride was well organized with beautiful scenery and he made the experience stress free. Joel is a great guy and was a pleasure to spend the day with. His wife Lynn was nice to chat with as well and put out a great spread for breakfast and snacks at the end of the ride. Book a ride with Retrotours, you won't regret it.

G F.

What a wonderful experience! Joel set up a personalized tour for my friend and I, and over the course of two days we rode six of the bikes in his stunning collection. He is a very accomplished guide who set a perfect pace with frequent stops of interest and opportunities to swap bikes. Getting up close and personal with his old bikes is a bucket list experience and I loved learning the personality of each.

As amazing as the bikes were, Joel and Lynn's hospitably is more amazing. They are very warm and friendly, and make you feel at home the moment you meet them. And as so many have commented Lynn's cooking is superb. We heartily agree!

You will have a great time and will only regret you haven't done this sooner. All this for unbelievable value - you won't find a better deal anywhere.

My friend and I are already discussing our next RetroTour. We can't wait!

Brandon C.

First, I'm sad that I wasn't aware of Retrotours sooner! I had a really great time with Joel leading our group on a tour through Chester & Lancaster county. Beautiful day- like the perfect day to ride all day. Joel is a bit of a historian which really brought some interest & engagement to the waypoints. Great lunch, interesting people, educational for me. Joel & his wife are quite personable & hospitable. Their dog "Lip" is adorbs too! Such a nice time, I would highly recommend this to anyone looking to explore on two wheels with a vintage machine from years past. So cool, I needed that.

Robert G.

Excellent! I've done several retro tours with Joel and they have all been fun, challenging and unique. Arriving from out of town usually the night before, Lynn offers delicious meals and a bed to sleep in. A tour through the garage with 25 to 30 bikes, all from the era when I started riding. Very nostalgic!

The next morning, Joel introduces you to the Bikes you'll be riding and the people you'll be riding with. Because you change bikes at gas stops throughout the day, Joel has cleverly labelled the speedo or tach with helpful reminders: right shift, left shift, fuel tap, etc.

Off you go armed with detailed route information, into some beautiful countryside on a variety of roads, mostly sweet twisties with little traffic. Joel knows the road. And he knows the bikes. If any mechanical issues arise, he has the ability to repair and has the needed spare parts to keep moving.

We've ridden in every type of weather to some great destinations, on some amazing well cared for Moto's. The tour price is very reasonable and you can ride all the vintage bikes you desire without the expense of starting your own collection! Ultimately, it's all about the ride and thanks to Lynne and Joel, Retro Tours delivers.