BrianF

Damn Jeff, mega bummer. Heal up man, wanna see you back on the road soon.

By the way, given the weather forecast it's probably safe to assume this ride will be rescheduled?

I echo the above. 130+ many times with them - it's more the aero than the worry that they'll fall off.

Your photography skills show through yet again. Nice!

Thanks man. I only took 8 billion photos on this trip so it should only take a year to finish the report haha

Fun to read. Very nice pics too. Please keep them coming.

C

Will do for sure. Everyone's gotta bear with me though, it won't be one-post-per-day as it has been in the past.

Day 1/2

 

10 days of vacation starts…NOW. I snuck out of work at 3pm but didn’t leave until 8pm. Typical me.

 

 

 

First stop: Los Gatos to see Charlie, uno gato that belongs to my friend and his wife. Oh yeah, my friend and his wife were there too. Yay.

 

 

 

They told me they were having a baby so Adam and I drank “some wine.” Later I parked the bike in a garage – possibly theirs.

 

 

 

In the morning I moved the bike out of the garage and started it. For someone like me, this is major progress.

 

 

 

I stopped in Tres Pinos because I was freezing. And wanted a soda. I even got fuel -- I’m getting good at this travel stuff.

 

 

 

This lady was on her first solo ride on her new GS. She was headed to LA – and based on her pace she’s just now arriving.

 

 

 

Hey we’re the Golden State! Maybe “Shitty Brown Drought-stricken Bankrupt Dump State” was already taken?

 

 

 

I hustled through the Central Valley. Which is kind of like screwing a fat chick to get to her hot friend, only with worse air quality.

 

 

 

Then it was up Kern Canyon at the speed of light. Best wishes to the dude on the CBR who decided to pick a fight with the guard rail.

 

 

 

“I’ma tell ya somethin’ ya might not know about me Joe Rogan: I smoke rock.”

 

 

 

Break at Walker Pass. I don’t see colors, I only see black and white and everyone is the same. Oh and I’m a vegan woooooooo

 

 

 

Joseph Rutherford Walker, on the other hand, probably wouldn’t have approved of my black motorcycle. *shifts uncomfortably in chair*

 

 

 

Insert a pokey bush joke here. Hey Beavis...you said pokey bush.

See, not only am I progressive, I’m extremely mature.

 

 

 

And we’re off to Death Valley. The national park, not the LSU Tigers football stadium.

 

 

 

I like empty roads and highlight/shadow contrast. I also like women with big jugs. You can’t have everything all the time.

 

 

 

These people were on their way to Death Valley too. I guess they didn’t make it to the “Valley” part.

 

 

 

“Hey my map shows a section of this road as unpaved but maybe it’s out-of-date and they’ve paved it since??” You’d think I’d learn.

 

 

 

Shortly after this I’d ingest roughly 8 pounds of fine dust from a seven mile dirt section. Looking forward to my mesothelioma settlement.

 

 

 

When you’re running low on daylight the best move is to stop and take photos. Trust me, I’m an expert. I have political advice for you too.

 

 

 

What’s the Timbisha Shoshone word for “90 degrees in November”?

 

 

 

I’m Rob Base and I came to get down.

 

 

 

And now, I present a live look-in at a Harley rider’s dreams. Off to Furnace Creek Campground in the dark.

 

 

 

I set up camp, ate a shitty/overpriced sandwich, and drank a pint of Fireball – because the only thing I hate more than boredom is my liver.

 

 

 

Day 1 (sort of) mapply:

 

 

More to come.

 

“A sequel is an admission that you’ve been reduced to imitating yourself.”

 

Oh yeah like that would stop me.

 

This time I’ve “upgraded” to a 6th gen so I could afford a less cheap DSLR that does autofocus, and yet I still have my piece-of-crap orange tent with its useless rain fly. Can't win 'em all.

All captions/descriptions limited to the customary 140 characters because I built Speaker City from the ground up and I can barely read!

 

Let’s roll.

 

Any of you ever ride out or back down 175 out the Clear lake area?

I hit it a couple times a year. Its major problem is that [unless it's been re-done since last summer] the pavement on the west side is garbage. Kind of a weird gravel/chipseal thing.

253 (Ukiah to Boonville) is much better, IMO.

Weather outlook not looking positive BTW.

Official dates are 4/28 to 5/1?

That would keep me from going - I'm flying back from a business trip on 4/29. :sad2:

I agree with Greg why not just meet in Winters then head west on 128?

Bones Roadhouse is in Gualala jussssayin.

Oh dear lord, time for this already?

I have a non-functional 6th gen and a slightly functional 5th gen. Maybe I can melt them down and make one useful bike?

Assuming good weather count me in.

I guess I'll have to be the one who gets the Africa Twin? You guys are buying all the bikes I want.

Bear Valley to Coulterville is the best section. It's a destination road - bring your A game and a radar detector.

The "Peyton Manning's forehead" of top boxes.

Depends on where you're coming from I guess.

Hop off a Harley and onto a 6th and it's like a sewing machine.

Go from a Gold Wing to a 6th and it's utterly uncivilized. And the 7th is even smoother.

If you do Big Sur or the Sierras I'm sure some of us NorCal boneheads will come out and say hi.

I saw this too - cool ideas. As always, my concern lies in how much it all weighs.

I've owned 8 different helmets (I think) and unfailingly the less they weighed, the more comfortable I found them to be while riding.

Batteries/cameras/sensors can't be light.

Grips for short trips, gloves for long. I have bad circulation in my wrists/hands so I often use both.

Given that it doesn't get that cold in FL, grips should be fine.

Looks like a nice save in the making!

Season's Cheers!

I shot across that parking lot for real. I think I scared my brother and his girl haha

And happy season back to you too!

This is awesome.

For JeffyJeff, crazybrother, tc339, bayarearider, ecn, and anyone else at Big Basin on the Santa Cruz Mts ride a couple years ago.

Merry Christmas ya weirdos.

*note to self: don't try this on the DCT. It will start, um, moving. Rapidly.

A member here helped with my decision by offering a straight-swap for his 6th gen, which I coveted.

I've never once looked back. I have plenty of good memories with the 7th, but I don't miss it. Considering the rest of your stable, as long as you're getting a decent amount of $ for it, I'll think you'll be fine. .02.

rescued from a dumpster fire.

Nice cans! That looks really good.

Totally off-topic, what footpegs are those?

White is the only way to go for the RWB, IMO.

Brian, that thing looks awesome. The red seat and the wheel decals make it unique. Is the owner a member here?

Yeah it's JMS. He's here in Cali.

White is the only way to go for the RWB, IMO.

I always had to push down on the passenger seat while turning the key and it would pop loose - then pull up and toward the tail as usual.

A pretty crappy/finicky design if you ask me, but never gave me any real trouble.