1000 Miles in 24 Hours

.....I had been thinking about riding a thousand miles in under twenty-four hours since winter started. I tried to plan my route to avoid ice and stay out of big cities during rush hours. I figured that it would be good to have a full moon for traveling at night, unfortunately there was only a sliver of moon and it came up just before dawn.
.....My route was east to Sacramento, South to Bakersfield, East over the Tehachapi Mountains to Barstow, then South to San Barnardio, West to Ventura and North on Hwy 101 to home. According to Map Quest a distance of just under 1100 miles.

I got my first receipt at 0152 hours and left for Scaramento. There was heavy fog but it didn't last. There was very little traffic on Hwy 80, that was part of the plan. I made good time and made the turn south on Hwy 5, then stopped for gas at Florin Rd., time 0331.

.....The next gas stop was at Santa Nella at 0505. California's Central Valley can be really cold during the winter and by the time I reached Kettleman City 0645 for my next gas stop I was chilled. I was also getting really sleepy, so I got a cup of hot coffee and that helped both the chill and the drowsiness.
.....I stopped in East Bakersfield for breakfast at 0831 hrs., and while I ate, I repaired the plug on my Widder Electric Chaps. When I left I felt refreshed and a lot warmer. It was a good thing that I repaired the electric chaps, because the Tehachapi Mountains were covered with snow and it was even colder as I went up the mountains.

.....I was glad I had planned to be the mountains during the day as there was no ice on the road. I pulled into the Town of Tehachapi at 0923 for gas. It must have snowed recently as there was snow on many of the roofs and on cars that were driving around.

.....It was cold, damn cold! It's hard to take photos when you are trying to make time and even harder in cold weather gear. I did take a couple of photos in Tehachapi.

From Tehachapi, Hwy 58 continues through the mountains, past Mojave and Boron, to my next stop at Barstow. It was good to be on the desert even thought it was still cold. The desert in winter is beautiful. There was a misty rain, just enough to wet the windshield. I saw another motorcycle, a two up Harley, headed to where I just been. This was the first other bike I had seen so far. I arrived in Barstow for gas at 1053.
.....From Barstow I headed to San Bernardino, then west on the 210. I stopped for gas in La Verne at 1215 hrs. L.A. was warmer, I saw a sign that said 61 degrees. I also saw a lot of people riding in t-shirts, but I kept my heavy gear on and just kept going. I started to get drowsy again around Santa Barbara, so I stopped for gas (1417 hrs.) at Goleta and had a Coke. That seemed to wake me up and I had no more problems with fatigue.
.....The 400 or so miles left seemed like a long way, it turned out to be fairly easy. I stopped for gas at 1630 hrs in San Miguel and again in Gilroy at 1824 hrs. My final gas stop was in my home town at 2104 hrs. I asked a local Police Officer to sign my end form for the Iron Butt Association, then rode home and fell asleep in front of the television.
.....The total trip took just over 18 hrs and was just under 1100 miles. I submitted the documentation to the IBA. Believe me I do not have an iron butt or an iron back, but both held up better than I expected.

Arachnoid

...I saw this CanAm Spyder on Hwy 1 between Monterey and Morro Bay. Hwy 1 is plagued by rock slides and we were both stopped by a flagman. I spoke briefly to the rider, who gave me his card. He is Robert Naquin and he has written about his travels on the Spyder for the CanAm website.

http://spyder.brp.com/en-US/Share/Community/Road-Trips/RoadTrips

Hot Rod Nightster

...The Nightster is a hot rod right from the factory, but some people think that is not good enough. My friend Ryan is one of those who thinks that when a bike leaves the factory, it's just raw material wishing to be something better. Witness his sweet little Nightster, he took off that cheap looking plastic and hid the wires underneath the tank where they belong.

Drag bars and short pipes change the whole character of the bike. Is it a cafe race, is it a drag bike, who knows, who cares? It's a hot rod.

And what's the best place to photograph a black hot rod sportster, in its natural habitat, of course, under the neon lights.

A New Link

I'm adding a new link for "Ride the Machine."

I'm still working my way through the hundreds of moto images that run from the ridiculous to the sublime.

Images are from "Ride the Machine"

Hatt's San Quentin Toy Run 2009

...Attendance was down at this years San Quentin Toy Run. It seemed to me that there was only about half as many people as last year. I can understand why, the weather was very cold and threatening rain. Maybe that's why Santa is not looking too happy.

...The ride starts at Pete's 881 Club in San Rafael . You will have to admit that Pete's has some pretty impressive art on their walls.

...From Pete's art gallery, ah, bar, the ride goes to San Quentin Village just outside of San Quentin Prison, where we dropped off our toys for the children of those behind the wall. The route was slightly changed from last year, so the next stop was The Silver Peso in Larkspur. It started to rain while I was enjoying a beer at The Peso, most of the people jumped on their bikes and split at the first raindrop. By the time I finished and got ready to go, the rain had stopped.

...It was a dry but cool ride to the Pepper Mill Creek Saloon in Forrest Knolls. This year the ride skipped The Western Saloon in Pt. Reyes, no loss, maybe it was cleaning day at the Western, naw. The ride to The Viking Tavern in Novato was cold, very cold. The hot food and propane heaters by the picnic tables felt good.

...When I left for home it was starting to rain and rained hard on Hwy 101 by the Novato Dumps. Luckily it stopped and I was able to make it home mostly dry.

...There were some really nice bikes at this years event. I really liked this old Enfield with a sidecar filled with toys.

The beauty and style of this Ariel Square Four was a knockout.

And a Hatt's motorcycle run would not be complete without a knuckle head.

My New Helmet

.....I'm sure that there are a lot of motorcyclists that don't remember the older helmets. At anything above 65 miles an hour they had so much lift that the chin strap just about choked you out.

.....The last full coverage helmet I owned was a Shoei Z-100. It had a little chin spoiler that helped to hold the helmet down at higher speeds. I wore it a while ago and my friends laughed at me, I guess they would really yuck it up if I pulled out my old Bell Star. Anyway it is amazing how far helmets have come, they are cooler in summer, lighter and they don't lift at speed.

.....It's winter or just about and I need a little extra protection so I got a ZOX Genessis SVS. I liked the price and the internal visor that flips down eliminating the need to wear sunglasses. I intend to use this helmet mostly when it is really cold.

.....So how does this helmet work? Well I would say that most of the criticisms of the helmet are true. The chin bar is close, it doesn't bother me but it is close. The helmet is noisy on my Electra Glide. I will have to wear earplugs, something I should be doing anyway. It doesn't seem to be so loud on a sport bike. I was riding my friend Greg's Ducati and it was no louder than an Arai, but on the Harley it was loud.

.....So what' the good side? The helmet is inexpensive, it fits very comfortably and the visor systems works very well.

The Motorcycle that Inspired a Butter Keeper?

Sometimes the oddest things will start me thinking of motorcycles, I don't need much inspiration to start daydreaming, but I don't think anyone who has seen a Suzuki RE5 Rotary will deny the resemblance to the butter tray in my refrigerator.

There it is, the butter keeper instrument nacelle, sitting right on top on the headlight.

This bike was produced from 1974 to 1976. People who bought this bike liked it, most everyone else on the planet thought it was strange. I knew a guy who had one of these, he didn't think it was strange at all. I remember he must have painted the tank a half dozen times, but he was fine with the instrument nacelle. I personally don't think the bike is that strange (except for the instrument nacelle), but then I like strange bikes.
The bike sold poorly. Suzuki put standard style instruments on the motorcycle but sales did not improve and the bike was discontinued.

4th Annual Chilly Billy Memorial Run

...The poker run is called the Chilly Billy Memorial Poker Run. It is sponsored by the local chapter of the Rip City Riders, a motorcycle club whose mission to do good deeds. This run was to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
...The weather was a little overcast and cool, but the name of the run has nothing to do with the weather. The ride is in memory of William Walsh also known as "Chilly Billy." Walsh was one of the founders of Rip City Riders.















...The ride started at our local Harley Davidson dealer and went to the town of Windsor. The next leg was a long loop through Callisotga, St. Helena and back through Santa Rosa. The leg ended in the City of Sonoma, on the square at Steiner's Bar.

...The run ended in Penngrove City Park. Where there was a small car and bike show, also food and music. They raffled of a new Dyna, but I had no luck. A lot of people showed up for the run, the Rip City Riders raised a lot of money for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Everybody had a great time, what's better than that?

The Ride Home

When we left Reno on Friday afternoon, we headed south through Carson City. Just south of Carson City and just south of Hwy 50 West, we took Jack's Valley Rd.. Jack's Valley runs right at the edge of the Mountains. It is a great road with the Sierras rising from the roadside.

...The road goes through the little town of Genoa and hits Hwy 207, the Kingsbury Grade at Mottsville. The Kingsbury grade is a great motorcycle road with sweeping curves and beautiful views of the valley. Hwy 207 reconnects with Hwy 50 at Lake Tahoe and we went west on 50 toward Sacramento.

...While we were stopped for a cold beverage and a break, I was checking the map for a way around Sacramento. We were going to be in Sacramento at about 6:00 PM, during the worst of the Friday Commute and Hwy 80 would not only be the usual crappy road, but would be jam packed and hotter that the hinges of hell. A good Samaritan, seeing that I was checking the map, asked if we were lost.

...When I told him that I was looking for a route around Sacramento and Hwy 80, he suggested taking the Prairie City exit and taking Grant Line Rd.. So we skipped Sacramento and Hwy 80 traffic jams and ended up taking Hwy 12 back through Rio Vista.

...We rode into a brilliant red sunset after a great days ride, what could be better.

Street Vibrations

Street Vibrations started September 23 and ran through September 27th. Since I had not been to the event before, I had no idea what to expect. They closed Virginia Street, which is the main street, for about six blocks for vendors, food and music. There is also a convention center on the next block that had more vendors.









Marie has now been riding long enough that she knows where her bike could be improved. We visited the Progressive Suspension booth. A set of shocks and fork springs will probably be in store for her sportster.
...We also visited the Mustang Seat booth. They were very helpful and Marie was able to bring her bike into the booth and try on a solo seat with a back rest.








Unfortunately we had to be back by Saturday, so after checking out of our hotel on Friday we went over to the Reno Harley Dealer. Harley had their test ride program in full swing and there were lots of vendors and food.
...There was a great rat bike parked on the street, and I snapped a photo. The bike had an Illinois plate and we wondered if the guy had really ridden that far, I'll bet he probably did.




On the way out of town we passed hundreds of bikes heading to Reno for Saturday and Sunday. We had a great time and next year we will plan to stay longer.