This past weekend a good friend and I took our motorcycles on a bit of a road trip. Here's the map of where we went:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=W+Adams+Blvd+%26+Arlington+Ave,+Los+Angeles,+CA+90018&daddr=CA-1%2FPacific+Coast+Hwy+to:CA-33%2FForest+Rte-5N24%2FMaricopa+Hwy+to:CA-58%2FCarrisa+Hwy+to:CA-58%2FCarrisa+Hwy+to:san+francisco,+ca+to:San+Mateo+County+Fairgrounds,+San+Mateo,+San+Mateo,+California+94403+to:34.559728,-119.921265+to:hollywood+and+western,+los+angeles,+ca&hl=en&geocode=FQ9MBwIdm53y-A%3BFZiBBwIdyj_p-A%3BFfBGEgIdjufh-A%3BFbjQGgIdvlzd-A%3BFQRrGwIdCrDZ-A%3B%3BFVXkPAIdndO1-A%3B%3B&mra=dpe&mrcr=2&mrsp=7&sz=10&via=1,2,3,4,7&sll=34.782228,-119.716644&sspn=1.017377,1.215363&ie=UTF8&ll=35.969115,-120.426636&spn=4.009727,4.86145&z=8
We left on Friday and returned Sunday evening. We were going up to San Mateo for the Maker Faire, which was a blast. The trip ended up being about 915 miles, according to my odometer. The GS did really well and averaged between 45 and 50 miles per gallon, depending on the terrain and weather (it got really windy in the Salinas Valley as the sun went down). It did end up loosing about a quart of oil each direction, but that's due mostly to a leak I haven't fixed yet. I thought I'd share some photos I took along the way.
Here Is my GS fully loaded for the trip with Tourmaster saddle bags and a Tourmaster tail bag. The tank bag is the Rapid Transit Recon 19. This setup was more than enough for a weekend, including some tools and a bit of camera gear:
(http://gallery.me.com/fredzyda/100032/IMG_8147/web.jpg?ver=12440141750001)
Here is a view of 33. There was a stretch of 33 that was about 40 miles long with no straightaways at all:
(http://gallery.me.com/fredzyda/100032/IMG_8150/web.jpg?ver=12440141880001)
Here is my GS next to my friend's Triumph Speed 4:
(http://gallery.me.com/fredzyda/100032/IMG_8152/web.jpg?ver=12440142040001)
Here is a view of 58. This is a beautiful road with a good mix of twisty stuff and nice, long straightaways where you can really gun it. Watch out though, there are a few 2 mile straights followed by 90 degree turns with gravel at the apex. The first one caught me a bit off guard.
(http://gallery.me.com/fredzyda/100032/IMG_8157/web.jpg?ver=12440142180001)
Here is another picture of the GS and the Triumph at the side of 58:
(http://gallery.me.com/fredzyda/100032/IMG_8168/web.jpg?ver=12440142450001)
Here's a fun one of an exhibit I saw at the faire. These guys have a Case steam engine that they've fully restored and were driving around. This thing was so very cool. It weighed about 11 tons when fully loaded with water and wood:
(http://gallery.me.com/fredzyda/100032/IMG_8226/web.jpg?ver=12440143850001)
Some final notes on the trip:
This was my first long distance ride, and I started the ride with unrealistic expectations of how far I could ride without a break. It turns out that I can only do about 50 miles of twisties in a single sitting and about 80 miles of freeway before I need a break to stretch. The Tourmaster setup was new for this trip and I was quite happy with it. We hit a thunderstorm near Taft and the Tourmaster rain covers did their job while staying in place at high speed. We also had a set of these for the trip: http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-intercoms/scala-rider-q2/multiset-q2.htm. They were totally invaluable on the ride and lasted about 10 hours on a charge. The ride up took about 12 hours, so they did die eventually, but they lasted through the parts where we really needed them.
On the way back, we left around 5:30 in the evening and things ended up getting really cold. I wasn't as well prepared as I should have been for the cold and ended up wearing all the shirts in my saddle bags to try and stay warm. In the future I'd definitely pack way more warm stuff than I thought I would ever need.
If you feel like seeing a couple more images from the trip, head here: http://gallery.me.com/fredzyda#100032&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=17
Now that sounds like fun!
I am yet to go on a road trip with my bike. Around where I live its just beaches towns, i spose if i head south a bit i'll find some decent roads but not up here.
Good looking set up you have on your bike fred :thumb:
wow, that's one helluva trip. you are are brave man for doing that ride with no windscreen. Kudos :thumb:
these roads make me envious. looks like it was an awesome trip!
cheers,
~drin
Sounds like a great time was had. BTW, I noticed your saddle bag almost rests on your muffler. Any issues with the heat?
-Porkchop
Quote from: Porkchop on June 03, 2009, 08:15:14 AM
Sounds like a great time was had. BTW, I noticed your saddle bag almost rests on your muffler. Any issues with the heat?
-Porkchop
The saddle bag sat a couple of inches off the muffler, but I had no issues with heat. I did put my can of chain lube in the other bag, just to be safe, but the saddle bag did not seem to get much more than a little warm.
Tripleb - you're right, a windscreen would have made the trip a bit more comfortable. My project bike has a huge touring windscreen that I could have easily switched over too. Oh well, lesson for next time...