Tweet
I just got back from two weeks on the road, and I had a blast.
Just to get a jump start and an excuse to see Denny, I stayed the first night at Denny & Glenna's near Olympia, site of the upcoming Aug PNW Rally. Denny kept me company the next morning, we rode to Tigard, OR to meet up with David Browne (Crunchbird) and Tony Weeks (Geezer). As we were about to leave the meeting place, Jeff showed up on his 78E. Jeremy Sells was going to meet us too, don't know what happened to him...
Anyway, we ran to the coast to Lincoln City and had clam chowder at Mo's. I was burning to get back on the road to make some good miles the first day, and I still had 250 mi to go to make Brookings, OR - 438 mi from Denny's.
I thought I'd never go as fast as 50 mph again in my life! ARRGH. Campers, RV's, boats, 25mph limits every few minutes...but at last, a bit south of Yachats/Newport, the traffic opened up, the interruptions of towns fewer and farther between, and I was getting into the curvy coast on 101.
I hit the 'banana belt', a spectacular piece of the OR coast from Port Orford to Brookings - no problem going 75 in the 55 zone. That is Curry County, and I've heard the saying 'you can hurry in Curry'. ymmv
Arrived in Brookings and got settled, and got ahold of Vincent. We tried to get dinner, but apparently most places close by 8pm (!) and settled for the golden arches. Humph. But, good company, and Vincent introduced me to the guy who sold him his bike. He got a good deal - needs some polishing, but it runs great, and sounds great with the Kerker 4-into-1 on it.
Turns out that Vincent is thinking of going to the Bay Area, hey that's right on the way - he agrees to get up early and meet me by 6am so we can ride together.
6:30am, we're in Orick CA as the morning fog is burning off, have breakfast in Eureka, and enjoy the curves 101 has to offer. We take the scenic Avenue of the Giants through the redwoods, very nice!
About noon we arrive in Willits, my destination. Vincent heads on south. It was great to have company on 2/3 of my ride down.
Little did I know how much fun I was going to have on the bike almost every day while there visiting family. I found myself in Laytonville leaving my sister's office and I decide to take Branscomb road out to the coast. WOW. 13 miles toward the coast is Branscomb, which is a small old mill. Nice twisties getting there. I can't imagine much traffic on that road after Branscomb - talk about twisty - no center lines, so many layers of asphalt have been laid down that the outside 18-24" of both sides are sloping away from the road surface - usable by truck wheels, but not advisable to stray over there while leaned over already - another 20 degrees of lean is not good when you're already scraping the centerstand!
I saw only 2 oncomings the whole way - one was a truck hauling a camper, all the way to its own side, I had six feet to fit the bike past. Glad he was on his own side! 12% grade, continous turning/flicking/braking/accelerating adrenaline pumper for sure. They should close that road to traffic for a bike event so you could be sure there would be no oncoming traffic, it would be a blast!
I finally get to Hwy 1 on the coast, head south to Fort Bragg and gas up, and catch Hwy 20 back to Willits - about one mile in from Fort Bragg a sign warns (twisty arrow) next 28 miles. Oh YEAH! The road is great, there are pullouts everywhere, and danged if those CA drivers don't actually pull over out of the way! AWESOME! By time I got back to Willits I had put 130 miles of almost all twisties on, and I was pumped for hours. (I later managed to find excuses to do Hwy 20 in both directions, on other loops.)
That was nice. Any others? Down to Lakeport in Lake County to visit the local Yam dealer just for the heck of it. From Lakeport, Hwy 175 cuts over/thru the hills to Hopland, south of Ukiah. Very very nice mountain-like road, lots of elevation changes and a big variety of curves of every sort, the road was clean, traffic was light, and again my adrenaline gets a shot. Went to visit another Yam/Suz dealer in Ukiah, wound up hanging out there for 45 minutes shooting the breeze w/ the young owner. I was out the door with helmet on when I realized I hadn't asked him his favorite twisties recommendations! He said I should try 253/128 out to the coast from Ukiah.
Next day, I did just that. Again, ho hum, getting used to high levels of natural stimulants in my bloodstream! Went N. when I hit the coast and took 20 back to Willits.
800 miles of my total 2300 miles was 'local' and fabulous. The XJ ran really great, and I was able to get my jetting a bit better. Cam chain tensioner plug is leaking quite a bit what with all the hi-rev riding, had to put in almost 1/2 qt on the way home, and man what a gunky mess the entire engine and even the back of the front fender was.
Left Willits at 7am, 101 is really great for a major hiway. I was hoping to make Newport or Yachats to be more than halfway home, but for some reason, I was feeling really comfortable and really enjoying the ride, so I just kept going. Each gas stop I thought 'why not one more tankful before calling it a day?' I wound up in Astoria (!!!) for the night, even with multiple scenery and relaxo breaks along the way - 595 miles, but I took 13 hours to do it. Not that I was going so slow, but I'd stop at least every couple hours to goof off, drink iced coffee, etc. I credit the sheepskin for being able to stay in the saddle that long with no discomfort. Beats paying hundreds of $ for a custom seat.
Next day easy run to Tacoma where I found Jason Raley at a Starbucks near OldTown, we hung out for an hour, then one last blast of I-5 and I was home.
Can't wait to go back to that area, and have even more time, maybe get to Santa Cruz/San Jose/Modesto to hook up with other XSives.
Yes, I was wishing I had the Bandit when I was on my 'local' rides, but the XJ did me proud! Actually, I wanted 3 bikes - there are many terrific dirt/gravel roads, wish I had my ol' XT550, or an XL600, or a KLR650, or a DRZ450...if I move down there eventually, I'll have to get one!
For those who might want to make a short note of roads if they are ever in the area:
20 Willits/Fort Bragg (can go north on 1 to Leggett, very nice)
175 Lakeport/Ukiah
253/128 Ukiah/coast
101 itself is great, doesn't resemble i-5 in any way!
Just to get a jump start and an excuse to see Denny, I stayed the first night at Denny & Glenna's near Olympia, site of the upcoming Aug PNW Rally. Denny kept me company the next morning, we rode to Tigard, OR to meet up with David Browne (Crunchbird) and Tony Weeks (Geezer). As we were about to leave the meeting place, Jeff showed up on his 78E. Jeremy Sells was going to meet us too, don't know what happened to him...
Anyway, we ran to the coast to Lincoln City and had clam chowder at Mo's. I was burning to get back on the road to make some good miles the first day, and I still had 250 mi to go to make Brookings, OR - 438 mi from Denny's.
I thought I'd never go as fast as 50 mph again in my life! ARRGH. Campers, RV's, boats, 25mph limits every few minutes...but at last, a bit south of Yachats/Newport, the traffic opened up, the interruptions of towns fewer and farther between, and I was getting into the curvy coast on 101.
I hit the 'banana belt', a spectacular piece of the OR coast from Port Orford to Brookings - no problem going 75 in the 55 zone. That is Curry County, and I've heard the saying 'you can hurry in Curry'. ymmv
Arrived in Brookings and got settled, and got ahold of Vincent. We tried to get dinner, but apparently most places close by 8pm (!) and settled for the golden arches. Humph. But, good company, and Vincent introduced me to the guy who sold him his bike. He got a good deal - needs some polishing, but it runs great, and sounds great with the Kerker 4-into-1 on it.
Turns out that Vincent is thinking of going to the Bay Area, hey that's right on the way - he agrees to get up early and meet me by 6am so we can ride together.
6:30am, we're in Orick CA as the morning fog is burning off, have breakfast in Eureka, and enjoy the curves 101 has to offer. We take the scenic Avenue of the Giants through the redwoods, very nice!
About noon we arrive in Willits, my destination. Vincent heads on south. It was great to have company on 2/3 of my ride down.
Little did I know how much fun I was going to have on the bike almost every day while there visiting family. I found myself in Laytonville leaving my sister's office and I decide to take Branscomb road out to the coast. WOW. 13 miles toward the coast is Branscomb, which is a small old mill. Nice twisties getting there. I can't imagine much traffic on that road after Branscomb - talk about twisty - no center lines, so many layers of asphalt have been laid down that the outside 18-24" of both sides are sloping away from the road surface - usable by truck wheels, but not advisable to stray over there while leaned over already - another 20 degrees of lean is not good when you're already scraping the centerstand!
I saw only 2 oncomings the whole way - one was a truck hauling a camper, all the way to its own side, I had six feet to fit the bike past. Glad he was on his own side! 12% grade, continous turning/flicking/braking/accelerating adrenaline pumper for sure. They should close that road to traffic for a bike event so you could be sure there would be no oncoming traffic, it would be a blast!
I finally get to Hwy 1 on the coast, head south to Fort Bragg and gas up, and catch Hwy 20 back to Willits - about one mile in from Fort Bragg a sign warns (twisty arrow) next 28 miles. Oh YEAH! The road is great, there are pullouts everywhere, and danged if those CA drivers don't actually pull over out of the way! AWESOME! By time I got back to Willits I had put 130 miles of almost all twisties on, and I was pumped for hours. (I later managed to find excuses to do Hwy 20 in both directions, on other loops.)
That was nice. Any others? Down to Lakeport in Lake County to visit the local Yam dealer just for the heck of it. From Lakeport, Hwy 175 cuts over/thru the hills to Hopland, south of Ukiah. Very very nice mountain-like road, lots of elevation changes and a big variety of curves of every sort, the road was clean, traffic was light, and again my adrenaline gets a shot. Went to visit another Yam/Suz dealer in Ukiah, wound up hanging out there for 45 minutes shooting the breeze w/ the young owner. I was out the door with helmet on when I realized I hadn't asked him his favorite twisties recommendations! He said I should try 253/128 out to the coast from Ukiah.
Next day, I did just that. Again, ho hum, getting used to high levels of natural stimulants in my bloodstream! Went N. when I hit the coast and took 20 back to Willits.
800 miles of my total 2300 miles was 'local' and fabulous. The XJ ran really great, and I was able to get my jetting a bit better. Cam chain tensioner plug is leaking quite a bit what with all the hi-rev riding, had to put in almost 1/2 qt on the way home, and man what a gunky mess the entire engine and even the back of the front fender was.
Left Willits at 7am, 101 is really great for a major hiway. I was hoping to make Newport or Yachats to be more than halfway home, but for some reason, I was feeling really comfortable and really enjoying the ride, so I just kept going. Each gas stop I thought 'why not one more tankful before calling it a day?' I wound up in Astoria (!!!) for the night, even with multiple scenery and relaxo breaks along the way - 595 miles, but I took 13 hours to do it. Not that I was going so slow, but I'd stop at least every couple hours to goof off, drink iced coffee, etc. I credit the sheepskin for being able to stay in the saddle that long with no discomfort. Beats paying hundreds of $ for a custom seat.
Next day easy run to Tacoma where I found Jason Raley at a Starbucks near OldTown, we hung out for an hour, then one last blast of I-5 and I was home.
Can't wait to go back to that area, and have even more time, maybe get to Santa Cruz/San Jose/Modesto to hook up with other XSives.
Yes, I was wishing I had the Bandit when I was on my 'local' rides, but the XJ did me proud! Actually, I wanted 3 bikes - there are many terrific dirt/gravel roads, wish I had my ol' XT550, or an XL600, or a KLR650, or a DRZ450...if I move down there eventually, I'll have to get one!
For those who might want to make a short note of roads if they are ever in the area:
20 Willits/Fort Bragg (can go north on 1 to Leggett, very nice)
175 Lakeport/Ukiah
253/128 Ukiah/coast
101 itself is great, doesn't resemble i-5 in any way!
Comment