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I believe it was LoHo who proposed in the Member's Lounge forum that some of the NorCal membership get together at 2 pm Saturday the 13th at Wool Grower's Restaurant in Los Baños. Since I'm unable to attend the Reno/Tahoe rally and I love Basque food I decided to go to this one. Los Baños (pronounced "los bahnyos") is about 210 miles from my Lake County home and was the first real road trip for my recently acquired mechanically sound but cosmetically challenged XS11SF which turned 46,000 miles on this trip. As it turned out only 4 of us XSives could make it, LoHo, Uncle Spot, Diver Ray and myself. Pat Kelly had intended to come but unfortunately had to work instead.
Accompanying me on the ride were Ducati Tim on his ST-2 sport tourer and Tom Phillips on his Kawi Vulcan 1500. We met at Tom's house in Clearlake at 9 AM and set out down State 29 through the oak studded hills of Lake County. At the Napa County line we began the climb over Mt. St. Helena which is a great ride in itself with seemingly endless curves through the deep maple and tall piney woods. As we crossed the summit and started our descent we ran into the famous San Francisco Bay Area fog. We were expecting very hot temperatures in Los Baños and were not dressed for temps in the 50s. Tim and I had full leathers but no warm clothing underneath. Tom was wearing chaps but no jacket.
I pulled over and asked Tom if he wanted to put on his jacket but he said he was OK. This is a fellow who just returned from a ride to Phoenix and back through 126F temps in the Mojave not to mention the monsoon...some guys are just tougher than others! At Calistoga we left 29 and turned south on the Silverado Trail which skirts the eastern side of the famous Napa Valley. This is also a great scenic ride winding through the vineyards and past countless wineries until it again re-joins 29 south of the city of Napa. We turned left off 29 through American Canyon and onto I-80 west which actually goes south at this point. I-80 had the congested stop-and-go traffic for which it is famous in the Bay Area so we had a few miles of the nerve-wracking California sport of lane splitting until we turned east on I-780 towards Benicia (former California Capital and home to the mothball fleet) where we picked up I-680 south through Contra Costa County. Finally we broke out of the fog and into the sunshine! At I-580 we turned east over the Altamont Pass with it's well known windmills which generate electricity for thousands of homes.
Somewhere in Contra Costa (I forget where exactly) Tom pointed at his tank and at that moment my fuel light went on. We pulled off the Interstate for gas. This was a pattern that continued throughout the trip every 122-124 miles. Seems that my Special has the same range and fuel consumption as Tom's Kawasaki 1500 which, though the tank looks bigger, holds only 4 gallons, the same as a Special. Prices at the pump were a whopping $2.929 for 87 octane and $3.019 for 91 octane, the highest I've ever seen. Diesel was an astronomical $3.079! Tim was nowhere near empty on the long-legged Ducati ST-2 but he topped off anyway. I love gassing up with Tim as there is nothing quite like the sound of a Ducati with aftermarket mufflers. Harleys go "potato-potato", Ducks go "rumpety-rump!" When he starts it in a gas station heads snap around. People ask, "What the hell kind of bike is that?"
Throughout the trip with the exception of congested I-80 traffic was moving at well above the speed limit which was good for us since the CHP can't very well ticket everyone but nothing in my experience prepared me for the traffic on I-5 which moving at 80-90 mph though the posted limit is 70 mph. Even the big rigs were doing 80 (truck limit is 55). When in Rome I always say...heh heh heh! I discovered that my 11 Special is a bit buzzy at 85 though it's smooth at 90...guess I better go 90 then! And so began the long, fast, but boring grind down I-5. (to be continued in a future post...)
BTW I took some pics with a disposable camera and have scanned them into my computer...I'll post them when I figure out how!
Accompanying me on the ride were Ducati Tim on his ST-2 sport tourer and Tom Phillips on his Kawi Vulcan 1500. We met at Tom's house in Clearlake at 9 AM and set out down State 29 through the oak studded hills of Lake County. At the Napa County line we began the climb over Mt. St. Helena which is a great ride in itself with seemingly endless curves through the deep maple and tall piney woods. As we crossed the summit and started our descent we ran into the famous San Francisco Bay Area fog. We were expecting very hot temperatures in Los Baños and were not dressed for temps in the 50s. Tim and I had full leathers but no warm clothing underneath. Tom was wearing chaps but no jacket.
I pulled over and asked Tom if he wanted to put on his jacket but he said he was OK. This is a fellow who just returned from a ride to Phoenix and back through 126F temps in the Mojave not to mention the monsoon...some guys are just tougher than others! At Calistoga we left 29 and turned south on the Silverado Trail which skirts the eastern side of the famous Napa Valley. This is also a great scenic ride winding through the vineyards and past countless wineries until it again re-joins 29 south of the city of Napa. We turned left off 29 through American Canyon and onto I-80 west which actually goes south at this point. I-80 had the congested stop-and-go traffic for which it is famous in the Bay Area so we had a few miles of the nerve-wracking California sport of lane splitting until we turned east on I-780 towards Benicia (former California Capital and home to the mothball fleet) where we picked up I-680 south through Contra Costa County. Finally we broke out of the fog and into the sunshine! At I-580 we turned east over the Altamont Pass with it's well known windmills which generate electricity for thousands of homes.
Somewhere in Contra Costa (I forget where exactly) Tom pointed at his tank and at that moment my fuel light went on. We pulled off the Interstate for gas. This was a pattern that continued throughout the trip every 122-124 miles. Seems that my Special has the same range and fuel consumption as Tom's Kawasaki 1500 which, though the tank looks bigger, holds only 4 gallons, the same as a Special. Prices at the pump were a whopping $2.929 for 87 octane and $3.019 for 91 octane, the highest I've ever seen. Diesel was an astronomical $3.079! Tim was nowhere near empty on the long-legged Ducati ST-2 but he topped off anyway. I love gassing up with Tim as there is nothing quite like the sound of a Ducati with aftermarket mufflers. Harleys go "potato-potato", Ducks go "rumpety-rump!" When he starts it in a gas station heads snap around. People ask, "What the hell kind of bike is that?"
Throughout the trip with the exception of congested I-80 traffic was moving at well above the speed limit which was good for us since the CHP can't very well ticket everyone but nothing in my experience prepared me for the traffic on I-5 which moving at 80-90 mph though the posted limit is 70 mph. Even the big rigs were doing 80 (truck limit is 55). When in Rome I always say...heh heh heh! I discovered that my 11 Special is a bit buzzy at 85 though it's smooth at 90...guess I better go 90 then! And so began the long, fast, but boring grind down I-5. (to be continued in a future post...)
BTW I took some pics with a disposable camera and have scanned them into my computer...I'll post them when I figure out how!
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