Dr. Rich's Excellent President's Day Adventure

Washing Baby in anticipation of the next day's ride:



No detail too small:



Silent and jwhite518 meet at JB's for breakfast. Fang woke up just in time to snap a pic:



Morning rendezvous with courtesy sidewalk parking:



Dr. Rich, ride organizer, conducts the pre-ride meeting ("Okay everyone, try not to crash. Got it? Great. Let's go!"):



Lunch venue in Bodega Bay:





Food:



Saddle up!



At one point we thought we were back in Creston: :blink:



Staging point before the day's technical section: Stewart's Point-Skaggs Springs Rd (Pacific Ocean in the background):





Portal of Pleasure (RVs and trailers not recommended; cows OK):



JB and James II:



Excellent ride, Dr. Rich! Thank you for planning and leading this ride!

Jb

Well damn, you guys did stop for lunch, I guess we missed everybody and got there too late !!! We arrived in Bodega about 1-30pm ! :angry: Traffic through the City was brutal even splitting lanes!

Glad everyone had a great safe day!!! We were waiting at the gas station in BB before lunch and a guy came in from the north telling us of a pretty bad sportbike accident further up Highway 1. A rider crossed the double yellow and was under an oncoming car. We were sure hoping it wasn't our crew, glad everyone had a great time. :yahoo:

HIGHLANDER said:

Well damn, you guys did stop for lunch, I guess we missed everybody and got there too late !!! We arrived in Bodega about 1-30pm ! :angry: Traffic through the City was brutal even splitting lanes!
Glad everyone had a great safe day!!! We were waiting at the gas station in BB before lunch and a guy came in from the north telling us of a pretty bad sportbike accident further up Highway 1. A rider crossed the double yellow and was under an oncoming car. We were sure hoping it wasn't our crew, glad everyone had a great time. :yahoo:

Click to expand...

Hi, Dave. Sorry we missed you and Dianne. We stopped for lunch around 11:30, just ahead of the rush. In fact, the traffic was pretty light through town at that point also. We wondered about you, and whether you'd be at a different restaurant, but we figured no one could miss the 300 FJRs (and a couple of Beemers) parked right off Hwy 1.

We got held up by, and passed that accident. We did not see the rider under a car, unless he'd been pulled free. But his sport bike was pretty seriously wedged under the guard rail. The paramedics were working on the rider as we rode by. It was very upsetting to see a fellow rider on the ground like that, but he was in good hands. I hope he recovers.

I guess we have the Napa run coming up soon?

Jb

Here's a small taste of our day: a 56-second video clip of a portion of Hwy 1 north after lunch. :yahoo:

That's jwhite518 in the lead followed by James II (both on Beemers), with whom I'm in communication on two-way radio. An aural indication of the clearance limits of the FJR at 0:43.5 seconds.... Jb

Great Pictures! I love seeing all those JFR's together in one place. :clapping:

Thanks for the pictures.

:yahoo: :clapping: :yahoo: :clapping: :yahoo: :clapping:

Obviuosly you guys had a great ride. I'll get the FJR back and mount the tires, etc., and be ready for the next "get-together".

[SIZE=8pt]BTW, I got most of the KLR repairs done. I found a couple more broken pieces to order (choke cable operator, couldn't get the left heated grip off so I'll be ordering aternate grip heaters).[/SIZE]

James Burleigh said:

We got held up by, and passed that accident. We did not see the rider under a car, unless he'd been pulled free. But his sport bike was pretty seriously wedged under the guard rail.

Click to expand...

He was still under the SUV when our group went by. Glad he at least had need of a paramedic - Couple of people said they saw a life-flight helicopter en route, so a couple of hopeful signs, especially when coupled with the fact that he wasn't very far under the front of the SUV (Low combined speed at impact seems the only possible explanation for that) and it didn't look like his head was in line with the far-side tire - but that was from a one-second glance as I tried to not be a looky-loo and cause a second incident.

Back to the ride - yes, good times. Got to see several of the usual NorCal crew - Slightly less than a 40-60 split on whether we'd met before. Lunch was GREAT! - calamari sandwich and a bowl of clam chowder while looking at the ocean and yacking motorcycles with a bunch of good people - all of whom I had just met.

Got to play on a slightly more treacherous than normal Skaggs Springs Road (couple slimy spots, but the high-speed Looooonnnngg sweepers were all clean and almost all completely dry. Sport bikes coming at us gave several of us pause though (Dang, just one pebble in the wrong spot and that guy is gonna slide right into me at well over 100!) Haven't they heard of JB's golden rule of motorcycling? IIRC, something to the effect of, "The worst thing you can do while riding is harm another biker."

THANKS DR. RICH

James Burleigh said:

Here's a small taste of our day: a 56-second video clip of a portion of Hwy 1 north after lunch. :yahoo:
That's jwhite518 in the lead followed by James II (both on Beemers), with whom I'm in communication on two-way radio. An aural indication of the clearance limits of the FJR at 0:43.5 seconds.... Jb

Click to expand...

What parts were hitting the ground? We were getting the same noise on left hand turns right behind you. Terri dosen't like it when parts drag the ground on corners. She didn't complain she just noticed it was happening.

Later on Skaggs we hit a stick and the rear wheel stepped out. Then we hit a rock and the rear wheel stepped out. Then we hit something smooth and slippery on a right hander and the rear wheel stepped out big time. I felt like I was flat tracking that one with the bars cranked into it and poked my foot down. Ouch that hurt. DOH. :blink: That one lane section of Skaggs can be brutal with two up. The fast wide section where the kneedraggers run is sweet.

Thanks Dr. Rich for the great ride.

Thanks Silent for the great support.

Thanks Bike Effects for the hospitality.

Mike And Terri.

Enjoyed it. Got home safely.

Thanks

I'll echo my thanks to Dr. Rich for making this happen. It was a great day. You FJR guys are a fun lot to hang with! A group ride with 17 bikes could have turned into a parade, but we made it work perfectly. The only dark spot was the accident we came upon. I hope that guy who got airlifted will be OK. And I'm glad we were able to ride around what was obviously a major delay for the cagers. Damn, Skaggs Springs is a fun road. Let's do it again! I have one or two pix of the very cool FJR lineup at lunchtime, will post later.

Old Michael, why you want to scare people like that.

Hycle is much better since the meds kicked in. :dribble:

What a gathering! If you can, put your miles into the million mile challenge: https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?s...c=29943&hl=. All forum members can play, so handles plus miles please!

I'm sorry I missed you all. What a great turnout and great day for riding.

You are amazing Dr. Rich - You even had those bikes parked like a drill team. You must be one tough ride leader :lol: :lol:

I had a flat tire in Davis enroute. The center of my rear tire was getting pretty thin from daily commuting -- but I didn't plan on using the center of my tire much on this ride . . . I had my tire plug kit but couldn't find the hole. Karen and I looked and looked but couldn't find the problem. I took a CO2 cartridge to add air but it didn't hold. We still couldn't find the leak. I ended up taking it home on a flatbed. As soon as I got home I put it on the center-stand and started preparations to remove the rear wheel (This means getting WC's step by step instructions). Damn if the hole didn't show up right there in front of my nose! Typical.

Wow there are a few familiar faces in that crowd, looks like you guys had fun.

R

HYCLE said:

James Burleigh said:

Here's a small taste of our day: a 56-second video clip of a portion of Hwy 1 north after lunch. :yahoo:
That's jwhite518 in the lead followed by James II (both on Beemers), with whom I'm in communication on two-way radio. An aural indication of the clearance limits of the FJR at 0:43.5 seconds.... Jb

Click to expand...

What parts were hitting the ground? We were getting the same noise on left hand turns right behind you. Terri dosen't like it when parts drag the ground on corners. She didn't complain she just noticed it was happening.

Later on Skaggs we hit a stick and the rear wheel stepped out. Then we hit a rock and the rear wheel stepped out. Then we hit something smooth and slippery on a right hander and the rear wheel stepped out big time. I felt like I was flat tracking that one with the bars cranked into it and poked my foot down. Ouch that hurt. DOH. :blink: That one lane section of Skaggs can be brutal with two up. The fast wide section where the kneedraggers run is sweet.

Mike And Terri.

Click to expand...

Hmmmmm, let's analyze....

1.) Early Spring ride.

2.) Winter isn't finished and we're riding remote roads.

3.) We're riding in wooded areas.

4.) We're riding near embankments with loose surface rocks.

5.) We're riding 2-up with our wife-unit (precious cargo) as pillion.

D'ya think this might been a good time to consider slowing 5-10 mph?

I'm just sayin.....as a certified "olde pharte" and member of The Crash Club, and you can quote me on this: Life Flight is expensive and NOT in my top 5 all-time favorite personal history.

[SIZE=8pt]The parts that cause that scraping sound are the peg feelers. You CAN get them down and consantly draggin on a nice high-speed sweeper. On a good day, in the summer, on a closed course/private road.[/SIZE]

madmike2 said:

HYCLE said:

James Burleigh said:

Here's a small taste of our day: a 56-second video clip of a portion of Hwy 1 north after lunch. :yahoo:
That's jwhite518 in the lead followed by James II (both on Beemers), with whom I'm in communication on two-way radio. An aural indication of the clearance limits of the FJR at 0:43.5 seconds.... Jb

Click to expand...

What parts were hitting the ground? We were getting the same noise on left hand turns right behind you. Terri dosen't like it when parts drag the ground on corners. She didn't complain she just noticed it was happening.

Later on Skaggs we hit a stick and the rear wheel stepped out. Then we hit a rock and the rear wheel stepped out. Then we hit something smooth and slippery on a right hander and the rear wheel stepped out big time. I felt like I was flat tracking that one with the bars cranked into it and poked my foot down. Ouch that hurt. DOH. :blink: That one lane section of Skaggs can be brutal with two up. The fast wide section where the kneedraggers run is sweet.

Mike And Terri.

Click to expand...

Hmmmmm, let's analyze....

1.) Early Spring ride.

2.) Winter isn't finished and we're riding remote roads.

3.) We're riding in wooded areas.

4.) We're riding near embankments with loose surface rocks.

5.) We're riding 2-up with our wife-unit (precious cargo) as pillion.

D'ya think this might been a good time to consider slowing 5-10 mph?

I'm just sayin.....as a certified "olde pharte" and member of The Crash Club, and you can quote me on this: Life Flight is expensive and NOT in my top 5 all-time favorite personal history.

[SIZE=8pt]The parts that cause that scraping sound are the peg feelers. You CAN get them down and consantly draggin on a nice high-speed sweeper. On a good day, in the summer, on a closed course/private road.[/SIZE]

Click to expand...

Thanks Mike, even though I had all the same thoughts and lowered my speed, I was still right at the edge. I was the slowest bike in the bunch through the nasty parts. Only bike behind me was Silent, the really smart guy. Once we got on the dry wide open part of Skaggs we finally caught up to other riders in our group. At that point the rest of the group was out of radio range.

Silent just kept telling me to ride my own ride, which we did.

Thanks for posting the words of wisdom

Mike and Terri

Early Sunday morning started relatively uneventufully. When I arrived at Starbucks there were several CHP officer having their coffee, and I thought maybe we could turn this into an escorted ride.

This officer was really funny and at one point I thought he just might join us.



Please note the reserved valet parking for the "New" black 08 that belonged to Chris



Quite the line up at Lucas Wharf....



This was the staging area just before we headed inland on Skaggs Springs Road



It was a great day. I met some very interesting and talented riders. Thanks for the ladies that came along. We missed Ric and Karen due to a flat tire in Davis. Mike (Hycle) was passing out the chocolate at the end. Thanks to all that came and made the day. Rich

RsvlFeej said:

James Burleigh said:

We got held up by, and passed that accident. We did not see the rider under a car, unless he'd been pulled free. But his sport bike was pretty seriously wedged under the guard rail.

Click to expand...

He was still under the SUV when our group went by. Glad he at least had need of a paramedic - Couple of people said they saw a life-flight helicopter en route, so a couple of hopeful signs, especially when coupled with the fact that he wasn't very far under the front of the SUV (Low combined speed at impact seems the only possible explanation for that) and it didn't look like his head was in line with the far-side tire - but that was from a one-second glance as I tried to not be a looky-loo and cause a second incident.

Click to expand...

I searched the Bay Area Riders Forum (BARF) in search of news about that terrible M.C. accident. It looks like [relatively] good news. Not a lot of info, but here's what I found in relation to a Hwy 1 sport bike accident in Bodega Bay:

"Myself, Joe, David and Max stopped by the hospital on the way back. The docs would not tell us much since we are not family, but Josh broke his femur at the hip and fractured his pelvis."

-------------

In other news, while on was on BARF, in the same thread about Josh, I found this great comment, which of course speaks to the same road we were on (Skaggs) where we saw the squids knee dragging at triple-digit(?) speeds (see JB video of Skaggs with these guys to be posted later):

"Hey, the locals were all up there at Skaggs today. We had fun playing with a Lamborghini...bikes are faster. I guess if you show up with a sports car at skaggs we all treat it like a cat toy."
:lol: :yahoo:

Quick question.............what was being said at 37 secs into the video? "we're not gonna make it?"

"we over corrected?"