SkooterG
Purveyor of Crooked Facts
I did a recent Fly-N-Ride to pick up a new to me 2004 ABS FJR. Yes - ANOTHER one. Early one morning I flew out to Portland, OR, where the seller, a very nice gentleman named John picked me up at the airport and delivered me to his home in Keizer, OR, where the new FJR was awaiting me. I took the slow way home along Highway 1 - the coastal route. :yahoo:
What a great ride on the new bike. It has been an unbearable August/September in Phoenix so getting out of the desert and the extreme temperatures and swapping for ocean, green, and cooler temps was a welcome and higly pleasurabel respite.
What was not such a pleasure was me having to 'rough it'. None of my creature comforts I have become so accustomed to - No GPS, no throttle lock, no custom seat, no powered tank bag, no heated grips, no tunes.
So much for a 'World's Toughest Rider'. :lol: I did however survive.
So here is my photo-heavy ride report.
Unfortunately I wasn't always thinking, so no photos of John seeing me off from Keizer, OR. Based on his recommendation however, when I hit the coast in Newport, OR I stopped for lunch for some fresh seafood. A rare delicay for this Arizona boy. But NOT before getting lost in the little town of Monmouth, OR, looking for the road out of that town to get to the coast. I was REALLY missing my gps! :huh:
The soup of the day was excellent. Some type of shrimp soup.
The view from my table.
Sorry, no food porn photos of the highly recommended and absolutely delicious Fish & Chips (Eat your heart out Richard) I was so hungry I devoured it as soon as it arrived forgetting to snap a photo.
After lunch began my trip down the cost and along with it the copious amount of 'scenic coastal photos' I took. What a great ride.
The 'new' FJR and the Oregon coast.
Sunset.
I didn't make it as far as I would have liked the first day overnighting in Gold Beach, OR where I once again had an excellent seafood dinner. Not so early the next day I was off.
Not a lot of scenery here. Just a parking lot.
Had to walk to the viewpoint to get this:
Lots of elk warning signs. Finally came upon the real thing.
Bustanut's preferred view.
I don't think he liked me taking his photo. Time to get out of there.
Klamath River area.
Ahhhh...... the first of the 'drive through trees'. Had been wanting to do a ride through the giant Redwoods for a while now. Well, I finally got my wish!
Little FJR. BIG tree.
This desert boy absoltely loved riding through the big tree forest. Pure Heaven!
The second of the 'Drive Through Trees'.
And the last (and the best) of the Drive Through Trees in Leggett, CA.
From Leggett, I travelled a road I had never been on - Highway 1 towards Fort Bragg. It is now one of my favorite roads of all time. An extremely twisty road with excellent pavement. Even though the suspension on this bike is not ideal, I was scraping pegs all too frequently. To hell with The Dragon. I hate to admit it, but The People's Republik of Kalifornia is pure motorcycling bliss. SO many great roads and such a variety of scenery. Those bastards living out there have it too good!
More gratuitous coastal scenery.
Unfortunately, this photo did not do justice to the windy road I was about to travel as I descended from a high bluff down closer to the coast.
I didn't quite make it to San Francisco before losing light so at Bodega Bay I cut over to Petaluma. I needed to make a stop in Modesto and spent the night there. The following evening I had a dinner date with Fairlaner and Doug5551 in L.A. so unfortunately I was not able to continue my journey down Highway 1 from San Fran to LA. I've done it a time or two years ago - but in a car. Bummer. That one is still on the list.
However I refused to just drone down Hwy 99 to La La land. So the next morning from Modesto I headed east towards Sonora. Many years ago I had ridden Hwy 49 during a Cal 24 rally and had been wanting to get back and do it again. Glad I did. Another GREAT road. And with fresh pavement. Photos from my favorite viewpoint:
Then it was an excellent lunch in the quaint town of Mariposa.
After that it was the freeway drone from hell down 99 and Kali's central valley. HOT, HOT, HOT! I was sure missing that coastal route. However, that evening I enjoyed the company of Fairlaner and Doug and a great meal bought by Doug at my favorite hot dog joint from my days growing up in Chicagoland: Portillos! This one in Buena Park, CA however. Thanks for dinner Doug! And thanks for the hospitality Richard!
Then it was another freeway drone on I-10 back to Phoenix, once again back in the desert heat. However I couldn't resist one last scenic detour and headed up to Idyllwild and then down the Pines to Palms higway.
Shortly after getting back on I-10 I ran into a terrible back-up of traffic - SIX MILES LONG! Caused by a major wreck heading up the grade from Indio. Thank goodness for lane splitting in California. I imagine those folks were stuck in that mess for hours. In the heat.
Several hours later, home safe and sound in desert hell with my new FJR. Life is good.
What a great ride on the new bike. It has been an unbearable August/September in Phoenix so getting out of the desert and the extreme temperatures and swapping for ocean, green, and cooler temps was a welcome and higly pleasurabel respite.
What was not such a pleasure was me having to 'rough it'. None of my creature comforts I have become so accustomed to - No GPS, no throttle lock, no custom seat, no powered tank bag, no heated grips, no tunes.
So much for a 'World's Toughest Rider'. :lol: I did however survive. So here is my photo-heavy ride report.
Unfortunately I wasn't always thinking, so no photos of John seeing me off from Keizer, OR. Based on his recommendation however, when I hit the coast in Newport, OR I stopped for lunch for some fresh seafood. A rare delicay for this Arizona boy. But NOT before getting lost in the little town of Monmouth, OR, looking for the road out of that town to get to the coast. I was REALLY missing my gps! :huh:
The soup of the day was excellent. Some type of shrimp soup.
The view from my table.
Sorry, no food porn photos of the highly recommended and absolutely delicious Fish & Chips (Eat your heart out Richard) I was so hungry I devoured it as soon as it arrived forgetting to snap a photo.
After lunch began my trip down the cost and along with it the copious amount of 'scenic coastal photos' I took. What a great ride.
The 'new' FJR and the Oregon coast.
Sunset.
I didn't make it as far as I would have liked the first day overnighting in Gold Beach, OR where I once again had an excellent seafood dinner. Not so early the next day I was off.
Not a lot of scenery here. Just a parking lot.
Had to walk to the viewpoint to get this:
Lots of elk warning signs. Finally came upon the real thing.
Bustanut's preferred view.
I don't think he liked me taking his photo. Time to get out of there.
Klamath River area.
Ahhhh...... the first of the 'drive through trees'. Had been wanting to do a ride through the giant Redwoods for a while now. Well, I finally got my wish!
Little FJR. BIG tree.
This desert boy absoltely loved riding through the big tree forest. Pure Heaven!
The second of the 'Drive Through Trees'.
And the last (and the best) of the Drive Through Trees in Leggett, CA.
From Leggett, I travelled a road I had never been on - Highway 1 towards Fort Bragg. It is now one of my favorite roads of all time. An extremely twisty road with excellent pavement. Even though the suspension on this bike is not ideal, I was scraping pegs all too frequently. To hell with The Dragon. I hate to admit it, but The People's Republik of Kalifornia is pure motorcycling bliss. SO many great roads and such a variety of scenery. Those bastards living out there have it too good!
More gratuitous coastal scenery.
Unfortunately, this photo did not do justice to the windy road I was about to travel as I descended from a high bluff down closer to the coast.
I didn't quite make it to San Francisco before losing light so at Bodega Bay I cut over to Petaluma. I needed to make a stop in Modesto and spent the night there. The following evening I had a dinner date with Fairlaner and Doug5551 in L.A. so unfortunately I was not able to continue my journey down Highway 1 from San Fran to LA. I've done it a time or two years ago - but in a car. Bummer. That one is still on the list.
However I refused to just drone down Hwy 99 to La La land. So the next morning from Modesto I headed east towards Sonora. Many years ago I had ridden Hwy 49 during a Cal 24 rally and had been wanting to get back and do it again. Glad I did. Another GREAT road. And with fresh pavement. Photos from my favorite viewpoint:
Then it was an excellent lunch in the quaint town of Mariposa.
After that it was the freeway drone from hell down 99 and Kali's central valley. HOT, HOT, HOT! I was sure missing that coastal route. However, that evening I enjoyed the company of Fairlaner and Doug and a great meal bought by Doug at my favorite hot dog joint from my days growing up in Chicagoland: Portillos! This one in Buena Park, CA however. Thanks for dinner Doug! And thanks for the hospitality Richard!
Then it was another freeway drone on I-10 back to Phoenix, once again back in the desert heat. However I couldn't resist one last scenic detour and headed up to Idyllwild and then down the Pines to Palms higway.
Shortly after getting back on I-10 I ran into a terrible back-up of traffic - SIX MILES LONG! Caused by a major wreck heading up the grade from Indio. Thank goodness for lane splitting in California. I imagine those folks were stuck in that mess for hours. In the heat.
Several hours later, home safe and sound in desert hell with my new FJR. Life is good.
