The Unthinkable

[Hudson]

A dilemna: I need to get my car from Seattle to Chula Vista for a "pop top" alteration, which takes a week to complete. That means a week in S. Cal, with access to so many awesome roads. Pines to Palms. Fraizer Mtn to Ojai. Ortega Hwy. Mulholland & the Rock Store. Death Valley!!

These roads would normally take me several days to get to from Seattle, assuming I could find a week away from the family and work. So this presents a great riding opportunity. What to do, what to do? I could rent a car. Hells no. I could rent a bike, but I really wanted to experience those roads on my FJR, not some adventure bike or worse, a Harley.

[Lightbulb above my head goes off: hey, you have a perfectly good dirt bike trailer that could easily hold the FJR]. I called Niehart, who "just happened" to have a brand new Condor chock in his garage for sale, taking away any worries about how to secure the bike properly for the 1300 mile trip south.

So in about a month, I'll be headed down I5, towing (for the first and hopefully only time) my FJR. I'll drop the SUV off Monday, and pick it up fully altered on Friday, leaving me 5 days of possible rides. Afterwards, I'll take a much slower return route, stopping to pick up family in Sacramento, where I'll also have at least one free day to ride some great roads nearby before heading back home to Washington. (Paging OM, OM to the white courtesy phone for a ride chaperone)

So what should I absolutely ride when I am down in S Cal? HQ for the week will be Orange County, and at best I can do one overnite trip, mostly day rides. Routes and tips appreciated, and if anyone wants to consider a meet and ride, happy to consider that too.

 

[FJRBluesman]

My suggestion would be the Sanata Monica Mountains (The Rock Store) and Malibu. It's Twisty heaven in a small area with beatutiful views... and the beach. :yahoo:

 

[not2shabby]

Yep, there's a ton of twisty canyon roads north of LA I found when we drove Mullholland last year in the rental cage...wish I'd had the bike.

 

[raitchison]

Chula Vista is more San Diego than L.A. I know there are some great roads down there and it's not too far from that area up to L.A. county.

In L.A. county I make the following recommendations:

Mullholland Hwy, the whole road is like 50 something miles IIRC and much of it is awesome motorycle roads. Be sure to stop off at the Rock Store and many of our scenic overlooks, if you ride it on the weekend there is a great opportunity to be photographed at "The Snake" if you want a high quality "action shot" and are willing to pay a few bucks for it. (Note there is also Mullholland Dr but I would not recommend that lots of cars driven by rich people who are too important to pay attention to anything but their latte)

Pacific Coast Highway, obviously this road goes on for a while but I'm talking about the stretch in Malibu up into Ventura County, once you get into Santa Monica and South of that there is too much traffic. Make a stop at Neptunes Net.

Piuma Road, This one's short and it's relatively unknown even to locals but it's a great ride. I usually take Piuma Road "up" the mountain and take Stunt Road back down to Mullholland but you could take other roads down to PCH.

You could even ride most of the best parts of these roads in one ride in well under 100 miles, for example:

https://bit.ly/proKqs

A bit more inland there are some more awesome roads:

Angeles Crest Highway (if you ride only one road in So Cal it should probably be this one)

Angeles Forest Highway

Little Tujunga Canyon Road

There are more I'm sure I only recently started riding in this area, one possible suggested route:

https://bit.ly/pNqALl

Let me know when you are down here, if you want to ride any of these roads I'll happily be your guide.

Edit: added links for the roads

 

[Old Michael]

... Afterwards, I'll take a much slower return route, stopping to pick up family in Sacramento, where I'll also have at least one free day to ride some great roads nearby ...

Hudman, there really aren't any good motorcycle roads around here.

I kid.

As soon as you've nailed down the specific dates, give us a shout and hopefully we can get in a little riding while you're in the area.

 

[Neil San Diego]

Bluesman and Raitchison offered great roads for north and northeast of your HQ. You might want to spend one day south in San Diego area. Palomar Mountain would be great mid week (without all the squids). Mesa Grande Road just south of Palomar is also a great road. Julian and Cuyumaca. And the 94 just south of the 8. You could make all these in a one day loop.

 

[Nitro]

A dilemna: I need to get my car from Seattle to Chula Vista for a "pop top" alteration, which takes a week to complete. That means a week in S. Cal, with access to so many awesome roads. Pines to Palms. Fraizer Mtn to Ojai. Ortega Hwy. Mulholland & the Rock Store. Death Valley!!

These roads would normally take me several days to get to from Seattle, assuming I could find a week away from the family and work. So this presents a great riding opportunity. What to do, what to do? I could rent a car. Hells no. I could rent a bike, but I really wanted to experience those roads on my FJR, not some adventure bike or worse, a Harley.

[Lightbulb above my head goes off: hey, you have a perfectly good dirt bike trailer that could easily hold the FJR]. I called Niehart, who "just happened" to have a brand new Condor chock in his garage for sale, taking away any worries about how to secure the bike properly for the 1300 mile trip south.

So in about a month, I'll be headed down I5, towing (for the first and hopefully only time) my FJR. I'll drop the SUV off Monday, and pick it up fully altered on Friday, leaving me 5 days of possible rides. Afterwards, I'll take a much slower return route, stopping to pick up family in Sacramento, where I'll also have at least one free day to ride some great roads nearby before heading back home to Washington. (Paging OM, OM to the white courtesy phone for a ride chaperone)

So what should I absolutely ride when I am down in S Cal? HQ for the week will be Orange County, and at best I can do one overnite trip, mostly day rides. Routes and tips appreciated, and if anyone wants to consider a meet and ride, happy to consider that too.

Yep, I'l second all that. Hit Angeles Crest Hwy. too. Been over 20 years since I rode So-Cal.

 

[tcfjr]

Yep, I'l second all that. Hit Angeles Crest Hwy. too. Been over 20 years since I rode So-Cal.

Angeles Crest is a great motorcycling road, but be aware that it is posted at 45mph and is heavily patrolled, especially between the 210 and Red Box.

 

[Hudson]

I've got a V1, hopefully they don't use laser. Anyway, I'll be careful when I am up there.

OM, should be in town Sunday or Monday of that Thanksgiving week, likely departing Saturday.