Stay out of Chicago, it's a festering ghetto. Yeah it would be cool to cruise around and see all the sites from Ferris Buellers Day Off or Blue's Brothers but in reality a taxi cab or ghetto bus will run you down and cut your life short. Make a wrong turn into the the wrong neighborhood and you better hope your Busa is faster than a speeding bullet!
If you want to go to a nice restaurant be prepared to park your bike two miles away. Give it a good long look and remember all the good times you had on it as it will be the last time you ever see it again.
Many of the suburbs are also ghettos or Jerry Springer trailer parks. The higher class areas are stop light after stop light along borg like strip malls and jam packed with cars.
I live about 90 minutes away from Chicago and avoid that city like the plague, I would NEVER consider riding a motorcycle (or even a nice car) there.
Head up a little higher north into Michigan and you'll have beautiful riding areas.
The back roads of Indiana are perfect for seeing what your Busa can do. There are areas with miles of nicely paved straight roads with absolutely no houses or intersecting streets. It's nothing but cornfields with nowhere for a cop hide. Before hitting the throttle I scan the sky to make sure there isn't a bear in the air, after that it's all out WOT fun!
Indianapolis is a beautiful city and a nice place to visit on a bike. I ride down there all the time and using all those little back roads to get there is a major part of the fun. About an hour further south of Indy is Brown County. The scenery and twisties are something you'll never forget. When I rode down there last month there were more bikes than cars on the road.
As far as Hooters in Merrillville, I eat there all the time. The wings and scenery are good
I've never enjoyed the bike nights though. It's 99% Hardley and I typically sit on the patio so that I can keep my bike within eye site. Nobody has ever messed with my bikes but I wouldn't put it past some Hardley red neck to put out a cigarette on the paint or seat.
Hope you enjoy your trip, and just be careful if you decide to tour Chicago by motorcycle.
