zzkenoman
Well-known member
First, no photos sorry, ok thats out of the way, now heres what happened. I wanted to ride before the year was up, and certainly ride before the christmas day. Last week I had enjoyed riding with fellow riders and even dressed up in Santa for the Holidays. Great guys, great company and just alot of fun. I wanted a simple ride from Orange County CA to the San Francisco Bay area, head up to Placerville and head back down. The morning of the Dec 22nd, I geared up and road the brisk 49 deg morning air on Hwy 405 up through the usual light traffic at 5am in the morning.
I really wanted to get out of the LA Metro before light broke. It was quite foggy and had setup new rear and tank luggage and spent most of the night organizing my extra electronic devices. The night before I bought myself a florencent 12v light to put in my clear map pouch, however it had a blacklight color so it illuminated my map pretty nice. I was'nt sure however if the reason the cars were moving to the right lane was because it looked blue from a distant. Up the 405 northbound into the light Santa Clarita hills, the weather burned off the fog and it was clear as a bell with 75 deg weather. The rolling hills was beautiful, and what else could make my day? Music, so my IPod is blasting all my Jazz favorites, weaving my FJR through traffic like a guitarist playing rifts up and down the note scales.
I was traveling on northbound 5, loved seeing Pyramid Lake, more rolling hills, less and less congestion, it was refreshing so......it was time for alittle fun. The view in front was clear for about 4-5 miles, and watched my rpms go from 4500, 5000, 5500, 6000, 6500,7000 and between keeping my death grip steady watching the road and looking for LE, my brain was hard at work, trying to spot my tiny mph needle hiding in front of my huge tank bag. For my 10 min extra adrenalin I was at aprox 140 mph, zooming as if my afterburners were just lit and pulling g's to move me into the next atmosphere.
The funny part was before I did that 3 other suv's and a van were trying to keep pace with me, all at about 90mph, so a alittle 1/4 twist and that group looked as if I jumped 1/2 mile increments. Riding hwy 5 in a car is as exciting as going on a campling trip with your parents and laying down in the back of the van waiting for the next rest area. On the FJR, the long stretch of highways become runways, always touch and go, touch and go, coming into landing, slowind down at the exits, then taking off for the next destination. Reading signs that say next gas in 31 miles, or next rest area 22 miles.
The scenery between Los Angeles and San Francisco on Hwy 5 is lots of flat land, brown rolling hills to the west, and lots and lots of cows. Yeah, you got it, it comes with the purfume of fertilized amonia scent, with a hint of hay. Perfect timing to test out your breathing skills or scuba. My uncle used to help us as kids practice holding our breaths by driving us around in his 79 transam, putting his hand over the electric window buttons located on the middle console and letting loose some wicked foreign gas from a month ago, making its way from the bottom of the earth to the surface and burning up the air in the cabin of the car. You either died or learned to smile and hold your breath. Thats why its second nature, when you go through these farm sections and when you see alot of cows, be prepared to hold your breath for at least 10 min!!!
My gas gadge was getting low, I had the trip at 210 miles so I pulled off at the next gas station and filled up. I called my mom and told me in the bay area the weather was terrible and pouring rain. I didnt believe her since I was riding in such great weather, but put on my riding suit in response to her concerns. When I got to Hwy 580 and Hwy 5 split, the clouds got heavier and visability was getting shorter by the min. Hwy 580 to Hayward was the worst rain I've riding in years. It rained so hard, so fast, even at 25mph you felt like you were hydroplaning.
Between the cars and trucks braving the weather, braking for the occassional deep water sections, the unexpecting driver behind them wouldnt have the fastest response and smash right into thier trunks. I must of passed 6 accidents, some with 2 cars, and at the most 6 cars in one accident. I needed to pull off and wait till it stopped raining elephants and whales, so I spotted 14th street exit in Castro Valley and before I knew it, I hit one hell of a deep puddle. My front wiggled like a high speed tank slapper and got it in control before my equalibriam got out of wack. Unfortunately the car I was watching in my side mirror wasnt so lucky and hit the puddle with hydroplaning results, spinning that little toyota from right to left lanes, and throwing it right again into the highway barrier.
All the traffic behind him stopped and many pulled off to see if that person was ok. I pulled to the bottom of the exit and saw a highway patrol and told him someone is hurt up there, thanked me and took off with his lights on. I pulled under the bridge and waited about 45 before it stopped and headed west over the San Mateo bridge, west to Hwy 280, and north to my first stop in San Bruno. Hwy 280 is very beautiful to ride, with its quiet body of water called Crystal Springs and Pine trees that run the length of Montara Mountains, blocking the pacific ocean winds.
This section of freeway, if it were to be extended for a couple hundred miles would be the United States autoban, and I belive it was voted to be one of the most beautiful freeways in the world some years ago. Day 2, I leave San Bruno early in the morning 6am and head north on Hwy 280 towards San Francisco. My parents who I stayed with in San bruno, did the god sent thing and put my pants, gloves and shirts in the dryer before heading off, and boy was I toasty. On a dark friday morning, it was nice to know it wasn't raining.
The low covering clouds made it difficult to see any buildings above 2 stories, and you could'nt see hardly any of the major landmarks or even make out any of san francisco's bridges until you actually are on top of it. The fog was so bad, all I could see was the dividing white lines, the trucks in front, and steel beams. I wiggled the front end on the massive steel hinges which were about 20" wide, but when wet and the road curves, better have an upright bike, very very slippery. When you get into Oakland, same foggy uninteresting morning commute of people driving like zombies to work. I took Hwy 80 which goes to Sacramento, started to clear around the town of Vallejo.
The scenery was nice, since it rained, the once rolling hills were green now and the sun started peeking out from the east. As I was riding that portion of road, I was thinking of all the guys with FJR's in this area must have some nice roads they could share, and even map them for us. Call it exchanging great road maps, so if we hit your area, bang! we got your map!. Just a thought, must be hungry. It got colder and colder, going through vacaville, and closer to sacramento. I follow Hwy 80 to Hwy 50 up to placerville and go up the elevation to 4000 elevation.
The clouds are below you now, and its clear brisk cold air, about 38 deg. Placerville is a very scenic with its med to tall pine trees. The only thing that sets it off is the sierra mountains with its freshly snow top mountains in the background. I exit towards Diamond Springs and had my breakfast lunch with a friend and tells me many of the local attractions in that area. I think I will make a trip up there with a few of my FJR friends and hit many of the Sierra roads during the summer.
After lunch I head back down the hill, but since it was friday, the day before christmas, the day before the weekend, and christmas heyday, I was stuck in miles and miles of traffic. What a horrible 2 hours, because I had my saddlebags, I did'nt want to split the lanes, plus THEY ARE NOT NICE TO RIDERS. They love to close the lanes to us, like veins with cholesteral problems ready to have a heart attack when they see motorcycle lights in the side mirrors. From Hwy 80 south, I turn south on Hwy 99 towards Stockon, still with uneventful scenery, agressive drivers and/or last min shoppers. and stayed at a constant 45mph down the freeway until I hit Manteca and hwy 120 which goes to Yosemite.
It was time for rest, so I pulled off and stayed at my cousins house. Bad decision, relatives over, kids everywhere, no sleep, all them christmas lights inside the house was driving me crazy! Well, the next morning, I get out as soon as possible, down the 120 west to Hwy 5 south. Yep the unexciting Hwy 5, it had treated me good, to pass the time between major citys, and I was coming to a close on my Christmas ride and needed to be back before Christmas day. I worried a alittle because of the fog and the drizzle, which kept me thinking it was going to pour rain.
I stopped and pulled out my samsung i730 phone which had internet on it, and looked up the weather channel online, and viewed a doppler of california, los angeles county and orange county and no rain in sight. So forget the rain gear, its going to be sunny Yeah!!!. I looked down and gone about 170 miles, 1 bar on the gas gadge, I had a 40 mile range right to go at 80-90mph right? NO, it was the longest 20 miles of my life, that stupid blinking bar, the counter that started at 1.1? whats up with that thing, I thought its supposed to count down?
I pass signs that say next gas 33 miles, and with all my gear on my bike, passing all those cars like butter, now I have to slow down to conserve gas and let all the foreigners in cagers pass me up. Oh, do I see a gas station logo? Yes, 11 miles, 20 miles shorter of my worry. I pull off and fill up, eat and leave.
A CHP pulls up next to me while I was parked and asked how I liked my FJR? "I love it officer, I hope you get one, its faster, I mean its smoother than anything I've riddin before!" I leave south on Hwy 5, and pull up the cars in front doing 90, in my mirrors I make out the shape of that typical CHP Cruiser, just like the one that was parked next to me, but pulling up very very fast. I slow to 75 in millisecons and low and behold it was that guy who talked to me. He waves and disapears, must of been doing over 100. He did have to catch up with the flow of traffic doing 90 anyways.
I do the normal FJR moves, shadowing his movements through traffic, changing lanes to be in his blind spot, keeping pace with his speed, tracking him, like he tracks his prey, but its my turn to crouch in his weakness and prey on him. It was my thought, but that would be a good movie wouldnt it? Im in familiar territory, up and over the grapevine, and it goes from 56 deg to 80 deg, and I am over heating in my heavy winter jacket. I stop near pyramid lake and release myself of the internal liners my jacket and pants have, and unzip all the external zippers for more air. Grab a drink at the corner vendor and head down 5 to Hwy 405. Saturday was supposed to be light on traffic, but obviously not in Los Angeles, where it was bumper to bumper from Hwy 5 & 405 into orange county.
Christmas, what a headache, until a couple guys on suzuki's pass me splitting lanes. I hop on the bandwagen and follow them up to and pass LAX. They take there exits, I'm in better flowing traffic and I'm home soon. Its 3pm, and the only thing sore is my shoulder. Should I wash the bike now? I better wax it, its got to look good for Christmas morning!
I really wanted to get out of the LA Metro before light broke. It was quite foggy and had setup new rear and tank luggage and spent most of the night organizing my extra electronic devices. The night before I bought myself a florencent 12v light to put in my clear map pouch, however it had a blacklight color so it illuminated my map pretty nice. I was'nt sure however if the reason the cars were moving to the right lane was because it looked blue from a distant. Up the 405 northbound into the light Santa Clarita hills, the weather burned off the fog and it was clear as a bell with 75 deg weather. The rolling hills was beautiful, and what else could make my day? Music, so my IPod is blasting all my Jazz favorites, weaving my FJR through traffic like a guitarist playing rifts up and down the note scales.
I was traveling on northbound 5, loved seeing Pyramid Lake, more rolling hills, less and less congestion, it was refreshing so......it was time for alittle fun. The view in front was clear for about 4-5 miles, and watched my rpms go from 4500, 5000, 5500, 6000, 6500,7000 and between keeping my death grip steady watching the road and looking for LE, my brain was hard at work, trying to spot my tiny mph needle hiding in front of my huge tank bag. For my 10 min extra adrenalin I was at aprox 140 mph, zooming as if my afterburners were just lit and pulling g's to move me into the next atmosphere.
The funny part was before I did that 3 other suv's and a van were trying to keep pace with me, all at about 90mph, so a alittle 1/4 twist and that group looked as if I jumped 1/2 mile increments. Riding hwy 5 in a car is as exciting as going on a campling trip with your parents and laying down in the back of the van waiting for the next rest area. On the FJR, the long stretch of highways become runways, always touch and go, touch and go, coming into landing, slowind down at the exits, then taking off for the next destination. Reading signs that say next gas in 31 miles, or next rest area 22 miles.
The scenery between Los Angeles and San Francisco on Hwy 5 is lots of flat land, brown rolling hills to the west, and lots and lots of cows. Yeah, you got it, it comes with the purfume of fertilized amonia scent, with a hint of hay. Perfect timing to test out your breathing skills or scuba. My uncle used to help us as kids practice holding our breaths by driving us around in his 79 transam, putting his hand over the electric window buttons located on the middle console and letting loose some wicked foreign gas from a month ago, making its way from the bottom of the earth to the surface and burning up the air in the cabin of the car. You either died or learned to smile and hold your breath. Thats why its second nature, when you go through these farm sections and when you see alot of cows, be prepared to hold your breath for at least 10 min!!!
My gas gadge was getting low, I had the trip at 210 miles so I pulled off at the next gas station and filled up. I called my mom and told me in the bay area the weather was terrible and pouring rain. I didnt believe her since I was riding in such great weather, but put on my riding suit in response to her concerns. When I got to Hwy 580 and Hwy 5 split, the clouds got heavier and visability was getting shorter by the min. Hwy 580 to Hayward was the worst rain I've riding in years. It rained so hard, so fast, even at 25mph you felt like you were hydroplaning.
Between the cars and trucks braving the weather, braking for the occassional deep water sections, the unexpecting driver behind them wouldnt have the fastest response and smash right into thier trunks. I must of passed 6 accidents, some with 2 cars, and at the most 6 cars in one accident. I needed to pull off and wait till it stopped raining elephants and whales, so I spotted 14th street exit in Castro Valley and before I knew it, I hit one hell of a deep puddle. My front wiggled like a high speed tank slapper and got it in control before my equalibriam got out of wack. Unfortunately the car I was watching in my side mirror wasnt so lucky and hit the puddle with hydroplaning results, spinning that little toyota from right to left lanes, and throwing it right again into the highway barrier.
All the traffic behind him stopped and many pulled off to see if that person was ok. I pulled to the bottom of the exit and saw a highway patrol and told him someone is hurt up there, thanked me and took off with his lights on. I pulled under the bridge and waited about 45 before it stopped and headed west over the San Mateo bridge, west to Hwy 280, and north to my first stop in San Bruno. Hwy 280 is very beautiful to ride, with its quiet body of water called Crystal Springs and Pine trees that run the length of Montara Mountains, blocking the pacific ocean winds.
This section of freeway, if it were to be extended for a couple hundred miles would be the United States autoban, and I belive it was voted to be one of the most beautiful freeways in the world some years ago. Day 2, I leave San Bruno early in the morning 6am and head north on Hwy 280 towards San Francisco. My parents who I stayed with in San bruno, did the god sent thing and put my pants, gloves and shirts in the dryer before heading off, and boy was I toasty. On a dark friday morning, it was nice to know it wasn't raining.
The low covering clouds made it difficult to see any buildings above 2 stories, and you could'nt see hardly any of the major landmarks or even make out any of san francisco's bridges until you actually are on top of it. The fog was so bad, all I could see was the dividing white lines, the trucks in front, and steel beams. I wiggled the front end on the massive steel hinges which were about 20" wide, but when wet and the road curves, better have an upright bike, very very slippery. When you get into Oakland, same foggy uninteresting morning commute of people driving like zombies to work. I took Hwy 80 which goes to Sacramento, started to clear around the town of Vallejo.
The scenery was nice, since it rained, the once rolling hills were green now and the sun started peeking out from the east. As I was riding that portion of road, I was thinking of all the guys with FJR's in this area must have some nice roads they could share, and even map them for us. Call it exchanging great road maps, so if we hit your area, bang! we got your map!. Just a thought, must be hungry. It got colder and colder, going through vacaville, and closer to sacramento. I follow Hwy 80 to Hwy 50 up to placerville and go up the elevation to 4000 elevation.
The clouds are below you now, and its clear brisk cold air, about 38 deg. Placerville is a very scenic with its med to tall pine trees. The only thing that sets it off is the sierra mountains with its freshly snow top mountains in the background. I exit towards Diamond Springs and had my breakfast lunch with a friend and tells me many of the local attractions in that area. I think I will make a trip up there with a few of my FJR friends and hit many of the Sierra roads during the summer.
After lunch I head back down the hill, but since it was friday, the day before christmas, the day before the weekend, and christmas heyday, I was stuck in miles and miles of traffic. What a horrible 2 hours, because I had my saddlebags, I did'nt want to split the lanes, plus THEY ARE NOT NICE TO RIDERS. They love to close the lanes to us, like veins with cholesteral problems ready to have a heart attack when they see motorcycle lights in the side mirrors. From Hwy 80 south, I turn south on Hwy 99 towards Stockon, still with uneventful scenery, agressive drivers and/or last min shoppers. and stayed at a constant 45mph down the freeway until I hit Manteca and hwy 120 which goes to Yosemite.
It was time for rest, so I pulled off and stayed at my cousins house. Bad decision, relatives over, kids everywhere, no sleep, all them christmas lights inside the house was driving me crazy! Well, the next morning, I get out as soon as possible, down the 120 west to Hwy 5 south. Yep the unexciting Hwy 5, it had treated me good, to pass the time between major citys, and I was coming to a close on my Christmas ride and needed to be back before Christmas day. I worried a alittle because of the fog and the drizzle, which kept me thinking it was going to pour rain.
I stopped and pulled out my samsung i730 phone which had internet on it, and looked up the weather channel online, and viewed a doppler of california, los angeles county and orange county and no rain in sight. So forget the rain gear, its going to be sunny Yeah!!!. I looked down and gone about 170 miles, 1 bar on the gas gadge, I had a 40 mile range right to go at 80-90mph right? NO, it was the longest 20 miles of my life, that stupid blinking bar, the counter that started at 1.1? whats up with that thing, I thought its supposed to count down?
I pass signs that say next gas 33 miles, and with all my gear on my bike, passing all those cars like butter, now I have to slow down to conserve gas and let all the foreigners in cagers pass me up. Oh, do I see a gas station logo? Yes, 11 miles, 20 miles shorter of my worry. I pull off and fill up, eat and leave.
A CHP pulls up next to me while I was parked and asked how I liked my FJR? "I love it officer, I hope you get one, its faster, I mean its smoother than anything I've riddin before!" I leave south on Hwy 5, and pull up the cars in front doing 90, in my mirrors I make out the shape of that typical CHP Cruiser, just like the one that was parked next to me, but pulling up very very fast. I slow to 75 in millisecons and low and behold it was that guy who talked to me. He waves and disapears, must of been doing over 100. He did have to catch up with the flow of traffic doing 90 anyways.
I do the normal FJR moves, shadowing his movements through traffic, changing lanes to be in his blind spot, keeping pace with his speed, tracking him, like he tracks his prey, but its my turn to crouch in his weakness and prey on him. It was my thought, but that would be a good movie wouldnt it? Im in familiar territory, up and over the grapevine, and it goes from 56 deg to 80 deg, and I am over heating in my heavy winter jacket. I stop near pyramid lake and release myself of the internal liners my jacket and pants have, and unzip all the external zippers for more air. Grab a drink at the corner vendor and head down 5 to Hwy 405. Saturday was supposed to be light on traffic, but obviously not in Los Angeles, where it was bumper to bumper from Hwy 5 & 405 into orange county.
Christmas, what a headache, until a couple guys on suzuki's pass me splitting lanes. I hop on the bandwagen and follow them up to and pass LAX. They take there exits, I'm in better flowing traffic and I'm home soon. Its 3pm, and the only thing sore is my shoulder. Should I wash the bike now? I better wax it, its got to look good for Christmas morning!
