end of season

[xs650mike]

Originally posted by xsivebiker

We've had two wet snows and THEN had our first frost! The leaves in my area [Elev. 2200ft.] are at or just past 'peak'. I suppose the reason that they are so late is due to the dry summer.
As mentioned in another thread, I'm planning on a fall foilage ride today, temps are suppose to be near 71 deg. F.

Well, gotta run, it's already warmed up to 52 deg. and it's time to get the bike out and enjoy the pretty fall colors and some rare warm temps. I hope they forecasted today's high of 71 deg. F. correctly!
Ride safe,
Greg C. in WV
'80 XS1100-G [Fully Dressed] "Christine"
'87 GL1200-I "The Queen"
'93 KLX650-C1 "The Back Road Beast"

We're having a late foliage season here too, probably will peak in a couple of days but maybe I'll ride up on Cobb Mountain and take a look today. It's a bit cold but no frost yet. A big fall hazard in the mountains everywhere is wet leaves on the pavement, they can put you on your bleedin' arse right quick. Don't charge any blind corners guys & gals!

Didn't mention but in winter frost season there are some roads around here that don't see enough sun to thaw, I avoid those but for some reason SUV drivers up from the city think they're immune to weather conditions and crash and die every winter (they believed all those ads showing those SUVs speeding through the snowdrifts). We get some snow here but my driveway has only needed shoveling about 5 times in the 9 years we've lived in this house.

[DeanR]

The holes in the "leather" lined up fine for the seat bolts to fit thru and the bags hung real well also. The problem was the thickness of the material. Those hex nuts on the seat bolts reach their limit (hitting that stop rivet thing) and they can't separate any further to allow for the material thickness. I suppose could they be coaxed to come off completely which would probably create enough space but don't know if that's such a good idea!

[xs650mike]

Originally posted by laxdad
The holes in the "leather" lined up fine for the seat bolts to fit thru and the bags hung real well also. The problem was the thickness of the material. Those hex nuts on the seat bolts reach their limit (hitting that stop rivet thing) and they can't separate any further to allow for the material thickness. I suppose could they be coaxed to come off completely which would probably create enough space but don't know if that's such a good idea!

Yeah, I had that trouble too but with persistance I got the clips engaged. Maybe since my bags are old the leather is a bit more flexible. Anybody out there know a good product that'll make leather more flexible and supple?

[Parr8hed]

Ditto all of that. Man that is a sharp bike! I have a very similar setup going on. I am quite fond of the bag on the back of the sissy bar, and the one under the licence plate. Where did you get those?

[xs650mike]

Sissy bag, tool bag and leather mud flap from JC Whitney.

[xs650mike]

Cool Weather Ride

Even though it was kinda gloomy weather (high temp 54F) and supposed to rain I took the bike out this afternoon to run some "honeydew" errands. SWMBO said to take the car but she mustn't always be obeyed. Put the rainsuit in the saddlebag and snuck away.

Snapped this pic from my back deck around noon.


One errand took me around to the north shore of the lake, Vulcan Tom rode along to keep me company. The north shore is the far side of the lake in the pic, about 35 miles by land. On the way back we took a detour up to the Cobb Mtn. area, about 10 minutes from where I live. Fall foliage isn't really happening yet, leaves are turning though. Walnut trees are still yellow green, maples just starting...grapevines the same, the oaks are still completely green. Maybe next week. I'll try to get some pics if I get a chance. Where I live it's all chapparal (scrub oaks, manzanita and coyote bushes) and grey pines and that stays green all year. Forgot the camera today.

[Jerry]

Yesterday (Saturday) morning I walked down to the end of my block and took this photo of the Roan Plateau:



That white stuff is fresh snow; only a dusting but the snow line creeps closer to my house each week. Went through snow flurries on way to work but nothing stuck.


Hope to get a short ride in later today, have to go back to work for a few hours and can leave after the frost gets off the road.

[xs650mike]

Nice pic Jerry, like the panoramic effect. Like the avatar too!

[xs650mike]

Rainy Day Ride

Today I had to go 16 miles over to the City of Clearlake on Clear Lake's eastern shore to pick up a few small items at Walmart so I just naturally leathered up and broke out the bike even though the view from my back deck was even more gloomy than yesterday.


Forecast was for rain but they forecasted rain yesterday and it didn't. Today I remembered the camera intending to ride up on Cobb Mountain after my errand and take a few pics as well as scuff in my new front tire. Couldn't resist snapping a shot of ol' Rusty warming up.


I left my neighborhood the back way east down Point Lakeview Road which runs along a steep slope which drops off into Clear Lake far below. I intended to stop and get some shots of the big lake but I got too much into the ride and didn't stop until I got to a point where it's possible to see Mt. Konocti to the west across Thurston Lake, a rather large mudpuddle which lies deep in a narrow valley.

On the left side below the grey pine forest you can see the tops of a few maples down on the slope which are starting to turn golden but have yet to reach their full color. To the right above the lake is a stand of grey pines surrounded by dense chapparal. Konocti is an ancient volcano whose last major eruption took place 13,000 years ago when the entire north face of the mountain blew off into Clear Lake. The local Pomo Indians (they say "Indin") are still talking about it. The Pomo name for Clear Lake is Ka-ba-tin and it is the oldest lake in North America, perhaps even the Western Hemisphere.

I really like the way the new front tire feels. It's a CS Barracuda which I had on hand for my 650 but it's now on my 11 and seems to work well with no tendency to follow pavement seams which the Metzler Lazer did.

At the intersection of State 29 I again paused to take a couple of shots. The pic below shows the Rolling Knolls Vineyard with leaves just beginning to turn in some places. Soon this vineyard will be a riot of orange, red and purple. Visible is the red volcanic soil which, coupled with the climate, makes Lake County a premier wine growing region.

Beyond and below the knolls of the vineyard lies the south finger of Clear Lake and the green of Anderson Marsh which is home to blue herons, snowy egrets, white pelicans and many other water birds. On the far shore you can see the buildings of Clearlake peeking through the trees. It doesn't look like much from this distance but it is the largest city in the county (there are only two) with 14,000 population.

After making my purchases at Walmart I rode across town to the Post Office where I still keep a box though I moved from Clearlake 10 years ago. One solitary piece of junk mail, hardly worth the trip. I rode over to Lakeshore Drive and returned to State 53 this way. On the way I stopped at Austin Beach and took this shot across the finger of the lake toward Mt. Konocti.

The top of Konocti is invisible in the clouds but just to the left on the hilltops the houses of my neighborhood of Clearlake Riviera can be seen. I continued on Lakeshore until reaching 53 and turned south toward Lower Lake, the old pioneer county seat and home of the old county jail, a one room stone box which must have been a miserable place indeed to be incarcerated. At Lower Lake I turned west onto 29 for about a mile and a half and then turned left into Seigler Canyon Rd. for the uphill thrill to Cobb Mtn. I no sooner began to gain altitude (lake level is 1379 ft.) and it began to sprinkle...there would be no blitzing the canyon or strafing of apexes today! Stopped to take this rather non-discript photo.

Again one can see some leaves starting to turn but nothing spectacular. This happens to be one of the few stretches of unbuckled pavement on Seigler Canyon which is really a challenging series of change up turns as the road climbs steeply alongside Seigler Creek. It is one of my favorite roads, in summer one passes from the 100 degree heat of the lower elevations to the cool alpine setting of Loch Lomond in just a few miles.

As the pavement becomes wetter and the oil and rubber dust floats up I am reminded just how slippery this road is getting when the rear wheel suddenly spins as I'm exiting a left hand turn and the rear steps out a full two feet. Whoops! The new front tire stays planted though and I quickly regain control and continue at a more subdued pace, even pulling over to let a cager pass...he gives me the same friendly wave I give cagers who extend me the same courtesy...feels strange giving way to a cager but I don't really want to fall, Rusty's too heavy for me to pick up by myself! Soon I reach the three way junction...straight ahead is Big Canyon toward Middletown http://www.pashnit.com/roads/cal/BigCanyonRoad.htm and to the right Loch Lomond Road toward Loch Lomond high on the slopes of Cobb. I turn right and stop on one of the few straight and nearly level stretches as the road passes through a meadow. I turn the camera to the south where the mountains are hidden by the falling rain.

I turn the camera west to the road ahead.

Zoom in on the warning sign ahead...


I resume the ride climbing the steep twisty road beyond the meadow as the rain intensifies...then suddenly a doe appears in the road, she crosses but I stop anyway. Sure enough behind her crosses her fawn and yearling, had I kept going I would have hit one of them for sure. Neither were all that big but big enough to ruin my day and theirs! I continue with brake controls covered and at an even slower pace, in spite of this the rear wheel occasionally loses traction. It is raining harder now which is gradually washing the oil off the pavement and grip is improving so I pick up the pace a bit. I never stopped to put on my rainsuit but I did leave home with my leather britches outside my boots instead of tucked in like usual and the well oiled leather has so far kept me dry. Had I tucked in my pants my boots would be full of water by now. Soon I pull up on the left side at the Loch Lomond Fire Station at the junction of State 175. I take out the camera and shoot the Loch Lomand Grocery and Tavern across the road. Up here in the tall pines it has grown quite dark and I'm startled to see the flash of my camera.

The tavern is a popular motorcycle stop and if you're in leathers and order a soda at the bar there will be no charge. I ride across to the other side of the tavern on the left of the picture and turn my camera south down 175 toward Middletown.

Then I turn right and continue north on 175 toward home.

Up here in the dense shadows of the tall ponderosa and douglas fir it is getting really dark as the rain continues to fall but in a few minutes I will be home in our warm house. There is a famous off camber turn coming up which is on a steep downgrade. It's marked at 20 mph and unlike most turn markings, you'd better believe it. I took it at 25 one afternoon and left a shower of sparks. I wanted to get a good picture but it was just too dark!


After circling a meadow pastureland which has a really picturesque ranch, too dark for a pic, I plunge back into the dark woods for a mile or two before emerging into another mountain meadow. Across the meadow to the left is an old water wheel flour mill and I stop to get a pic since there is more light here but in my haste it came out too blurred to see the subject. I wanted to get closer but the barbed wire fence and a sign nailed to a tree dissuaded me. Sign read: "No Fishing. No Hunting. No Trespassing. SURVIVORS WILL BE PROSECUTED." Ever onward toward home.

Soon I am completely out of the woods and into the chappal and vineyards of the lower elevations, it is much lighter now and the rain has slowed to a slight drizzle. I turn right on Red Hills Rd. and quicky blast down the twisting grade through the vineyards to the junction at 29. A brief stop at the stop sign and across 29 onto Soda Bay Rd. (State 281) and the final two miles home. I arrive home and find the pavement in my driveway completely and totally dry! There is even light enough to take this picture before rolling the bike back into the garage.

The ride home from Clearlake has taken less than an hour including stops! This is what meteorologists mean by the term "microclimates". We've sure got 'em here in the Mayacamas Range. I love this place!

[DeanR]

Thanks for the tour Mike!