Member Contributer michaelf3 Posted May 27, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted May 27, 2008 Memorial Weekend Ride 2008 (May 23 - May 25) Day 1 (Point A to B) The ride started fine from Orange County. On the I-5 North just south of Pyramid Lake, it started to rain. It finally stopped raining by the time we got to the base of the Grapevine; however, the wind picked up and it was gusting pretty hard. We gassed up and headed towards Bakersfield on our way to Sequoia National Park by ways of Hwy 178 and Kern River Road. We again gassed up at Lake Isabella before our accent. About 10 miles up on Kern River Road it started to rain. As the elevation got higher, we encountered more rain, snow, hail, fog and mist. The ride was cold and the road was extremely slippery. We descended (first part of Sequoia), and decided not to ride the second part of Sequoia because of the road and weather conditions. The second part of our Sequoia ride was to take Hwy 190 to J37 to 198 (Generals Hwy) and down Hwy 180 to Fresno. Problems encountered: 1. My Zumo GPS stopped working halfway through the first day (turns out to be a bad charge). 2. Got lost in Sequoia, had to back tracked and found our route again. Thank goodness for paper maps. 3. I almost went down due to slippery road, drifted for about a foot or so making a right hand turn. 4. Had to cut the ride short due to the weather conditions. 5. One of the R1 needed a rear tire replaced. What went right: Got a call from one of my cousins in Fresno to come over for fish dinner. He actually prepared stripe bass three different ways. The best dinner we had on the trip. After dinner my cousins called some friends over and be played poker till 1:00am. Matt actually won $40, which he used later at the dealership for a disc lock. Here's the route. Full Size Riding Group. left to right 2007 VFR – Michael, 2005 R1 – Matt, 2006 VTX-R – Gerry. 2003 R1 – Zhen and 2005 Vstar - Chad Lost in Sequoia National Forest Day 2 (Point B to C) Had a late start on day 2 due to a replacement of the 03' R1 rear tire. We finally left Fresno for Yosemite National Park around 11:00am. On the way up, we stopped at Sugar Pine for lunch. Entrance to Yosemite was $10 per bike. On the way to the Yosemite Village it started to rain and didn't really stop until we left the park. The 120 East (Tioga Pass) was closed due to the bad weather so we up ended taking the 120 West to J59 to 152 West to Gilroy (garlic capital of the world). Day 3 (Point C to D) We finally started on time at 8:00am. During packing of the bags, the VTX fell on its left side and we had to patch up the left rear turn signal. We headed to Monterey for breakfast, had breakfast at Cannary Row. After breakfast, we headed to Hwy 1 on our way to San Luis Obispo. The view from Hwy 1 was beyond words (my first time on this stretch of road). The ride and views were great except for the few cars that didn't know or care to pull over for going slow. From San Luis Obispo, it was a quick 4 hour ride back home. By the way, day 3 was the only day we didn't get wet. Ride Notes. 1. Check road and weather conditions several times daily. 2. Bring extra maps (in my case I brought paper maps and my iphone). Don't forget the iphone is good if you can get receptions. 3. Be flexible with your time and your routes. 4. Proper riding gears for the conditions (extremely important). Over all it was quite an experience (fun and challenging) because it was my first 300+ trip and the weather conditions encountered. All the tips and suggestion I got on this forum really came in handy. Now I'm looking forward to my next big trip. Maybe September or October this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vfr_steve Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 Superb photos, that scenery!!! Beautiful, also good to see some dirt on these tours, they always seem so crisp and clean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobie1dog Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 Thanks for posting up the report....loved all the pics too, you have some beautiful scenery and roads out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum CEO HispanicSlammer Posted May 27, 2008 Forum CEO Share Posted May 27, 2008 moved to feature, edited to feature front page photo, and google map embed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baileyrock Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 Very nice, thanks for sharring! Great photos too! :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer skuuter Posted May 27, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted May 27, 2008 Great pics....beautiful scenery...............Thanks for sharing it.....sorry for the "mishaps"............. :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer dude Posted May 27, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted May 27, 2008 Nice write up and superb photos as well :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superfunkomatic Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 great pics. sounds like you fellas had an awesome trip. too bad about your buddies bike falling over, i guess signals aren't too expensive to repair. thanx for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BonusVFR Posted May 27, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted May 27, 2008 California has it all for roads and Rain too. Thanks for the report. You were lucky to get over the top on 190 as it is 7,000ft. Great ride up and down when it is dry! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEBSPEED Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 Looks like a great trip! One of these days I will do some motorcycle exploring in California... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BonusVFR Posted May 27, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted May 27, 2008 Looks like a great trip! One of these days I will do some motorcycle exploring in California... Remember you still have the coupon for the Bed and Breakfast in San Diego..............courtesy of the compensation for the 191 shot!!!!!!!!! :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer SGVridgerunner Posted May 27, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted May 27, 2008 I noticed a lot of Pilot Road 2's on those bikes. How where they on the trip? I hear they have awesome wet grip. How's the mileage (center wear)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer michaelf3 Posted May 27, 2008 Author Member Contributer Share Posted May 27, 2008 I noticed a lot of Pilot Road 2's on those bikes. How where they on the trip? I hear they have awesome wet grip. How's the mileage (center wear)? Yeah, the VFR and black R1 have PR2. The grip on wet roads were pretty good. I felt pretty comfortable on them, just don't lean too far on turns and you'll be fine. Riding down the Hwy 190, there are a lot of switchback turns and the PR2 handled great. I've got about 3,500 miles on my PR2 and the center wear is not too bad. I think I should be able to get another 3,500 or more miles out of the rear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer cruzinaz Posted May 27, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted May 27, 2008 Great pix, gotta love those multiple day rides :fing02: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turtlecreek Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 nice photos....looks like a great time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer poconovfr Posted May 27, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted May 27, 2008 You gotta live out there to take that many pics. I don't think I would/ could ever stop. Except for fuel. Great pics! Great ride! You guys suck. :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BonusVFR Posted May 28, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted May 28, 2008 You gotta live out there to take that many pics. I don't think I would/ could ever stop. Except for fuel. Great pics! Great ride! You guys suck. :laugh: Really it does suck - all that spray. And I did see a bug last week. Where was that anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earthshake Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Great pics! I counted two with liquor stores and one gas station. With the price of your gas in Cali, is it cheaper to run on alcohol instead? :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer michaelf3 Posted May 28, 2008 Author Member Contributer Share Posted May 28, 2008 Great pics! I counted two with liquor stores and one gas station. With the price of your gas in Cali, is it cheaper to run on alcohol instead? :fing02: You might have a point. I know one of the guys brought some 151. I'm sure that would have worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2wheels4me Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Nice pictures, looks like a great ride. How does that VFR handle with that rear hard case mounted up, any adverse effects with it up that high? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer michaelf3 Posted May 28, 2008 Author Member Contributer Share Posted May 28, 2008 Nice pictures, looks like a great ride. How does that VFR handle with that rear hard case mounted up, any adverse effects with it up that high? For me, I ride with the top case on most of the time and it never bothered me. I took the bike upto 130mph on an isolated road on the trip, and I didn't feel anything different. If anything, it might have taken an extra few seconds reaching 130. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Great pics - plan on doing a one day to Yosemite very soon - maybe this weekend! What camera (whatever you used sure worked well) did you use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer michaelf3 Posted May 30, 2008 Author Member Contributer Share Posted May 30, 2008 Great pics - plan on doing a one day to Yosemite very soon - maybe this weekend!What camera (whatever you used sure worked well) did you use? It was just a point and shoot, Canon SD850 IS. I'd wanted to take my Pro camera (1D Mark II), but it was too big and I ran out of space on the bike. If you have the space, a lot of time and the weather is good I recommend taking a better camera (simi pro or pro camera). A point and shoot is a great camera for what it does, point and shoot. But a bigger camera will give you better capability and flexibility, especially shooting scenic shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BonusVFR Posted June 6, 2008 Member Contributer Share Posted June 6, 2008 Good first outing/tour. You learn something new every trip. Great tour though considering number of riders and the weather. Plans change on tour! What would you do differently as regards daily mileage or did you hit it about right? Did you have the Zumo on bike power?? I have started carrying two cameras - one mounted on the bars and one for the shots like you describe. Lots of fun!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer michaelf3 Posted June 17, 2008 Author Member Contributer Share Posted June 17, 2008 Good first outing/tour. You learn something new every trip. Great tour though considering number of riders and the weather. Plans change on tour!What would you do differently as regards daily mileage or did you hit it about right? Did you have the Zumo on bike power?? I have started carrying two cameras - one mounted on the bars and one for the shots like you describe. Lots of fun!! I think next time, I'll pack a little lighter. I would also keep the daily mileage down to 300/day. You can do more if you just want to get from point A to point B. If you want to stop and enjoy the routes and sceneries, no more than 300 mile days. I'm already planning a possible trip this September/October with a member of this forum. When we have more details, we'll announce it and see if others on the forum would be willing to come. I like taking pictures and bringing the memories back with me. Next time, I would plan more stops and lots and lots of pictures. Definitely bring the good camera. The Zumo was bike powered, but the ground wire came loose that's why it died on me. A couple days after the trip, I found the loose connection. Zume is working just fine now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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