Trackday: Thunderhill West

Trackday at Thunderhill West, Saturday May 13th 2017.

I hooked up with Bill and Arash over ZRXOA (thread) and bought my ticket for the event. Bill came over to my place the previous Thursday and picked up my bike and Akshay’s bike and loaded them into his van. Bill’s Chevy van is perfectly set up for carrying two bikes.

The day of the event, I got up at about 4AM after sleeping for only about 2 hours the previous night. I was excited and the adrenaline made it hard to sleep! Akshay and his Dad came over to my place at about 4:45AM and we left for the track in his SUV. The two hour drive to the track was uneventful and we got there at about 7:15AM. Bill and Arash were already there, so we parked right next to them.

I registered myself at the welcome desk and then took the bike for a safety check. That went quick (5 seconds) without any concerns, and we then gathered for the 8AM rider meet. There was lots of information there, mostly about rider safety, the various flags and general information about the track.

The first session started at 9AM. I had signed up for the slowest C-group, so I went in at 9:40AM. Each session was 20 minutes long. The first couple of laps we were following a control rider at a snails pace getting familiar with the various turns on the track. Once he moved to the side, I started riding faster, increasing my speed over consecutive laps. I found the time slot of 20 minutes per session to be perfect – any longer would have been exhausting and any shorter would have been too less time to do my best on the track.

I ran the 9:40 and 10:40 AM sessions, but I skipped the 11:40 session. I was a bit dizzy after the first two sessions, not having slept well the previous night. I felt much better after lunch and enjoyed all the afternoon sessions.

The ZRX did incredibly well on this tight track for being a 500+ lbs bike. The instant torque in any gear really helped a lot. I even tried running a few laps in 3rd gear, without a single gear change.

For most of the day, I was riding conservatively, just trying to get a feel for things, and trying to get the lines right. I did have a couple of “sticky” moments, one in turn-8, which is a blind turn at the crest of the hill, and one in turn-4, which is decreasing radius turn. Both times I saved in well before I ran off the track, but I paid more attention to these sections in the following laps.

I started in C group and in the morning session I was easily passing 2-3 riders in every lap. By the afternoon, the slowest of the riders had dropped out and there was less passing. Towards the end of the day, I was being passed every other lap by a couple of aggressive kids I think those guys were from morning B group.

The most worrisome part of the track for me was the straightway. Here you have 4-5 bikes riding pretty close to each other, all gunning it to their max, reaching speeds of over a 100 mph. Then they all brake at different points and magically fall in line to take turn-1. On the first couple of laps this high speed clustering was a little unnerving, so I started to take it easy on the straight, allowing most people (except the 250s) to pass me.

Here is a picture of my rear tire at the end of the day. It was practically bubbling from edge to edge.

Unfortunately Akshay lowsided his BMW in the first afternoon session and had to sit out for the rest of the day.

https://youtu.be/t59efGLRd2I

https://youtu.be/Uy65kkHcZNo

Ride Report #41: Santa Cruz Mountains

December 3rd 2016. This was a ride organized by Bill from ZRXOA. Akshay (FZ1) and I joined Bill (Ninja 1000), Arash (ZRX1200) and Vijay (R1200RT) for an excellent ride through the Santa Cruz mountains. We met up at the intersection of Skyline and Hwy 92. After a few greetings, the usual “ZRX shop talk” and admiring each others bikes, we rode down at a brisk pace to Alice’s restaurant. I was surprised by how fast Arash and Bill were riding. Bill is 67 years old, with probably over 4 decades of riding experience, but he rides like he is 27. Arash too, as I learnt over the course of the day, is a very skilled rider.

We stopped by the STP area, admired the bike entourage and then continued down Hwy 84, Pescadero, Cloverdale, Gazos Creek to Hwy 1. We had lunch at Whale City Bakery Bar & Grill in Davenport, which serves the typical touristy fare. A quick sandwich and beer later we were on our way. Vijay decided to return to San Ramon and did not continue along with us.

Next up were Boony Doon and Empire Grade – both favorites of mine. We then rode down Jamison Creek Road to Hwy 236, which was my first time. Arash rode this entire stretch of 3 odd miles with the engine off! It was actually quite incredible – with no throttle, no engine braking and just downhill momentum, he was pretty fast through the corners, making it look very easy.

We gassed up in Boulder Creek, rode up Hwy 9 and took a short break at Skyline. From there Akshay and I parted ways with Bill and Arash and took the long freeway ride back home.

It was great meeting new ZRXOA riders and I had an awesome fun day of riding. I hope to ride with these guys again in the new year.

Ride Report #40: 2016 Summer Motorcycle Trip

One of my favorite songs of the year has been “Ship to Wreck” by Florence + The Machine. A great track: fun, bubbly, crisp; not too serious, but no-nonsense at the same time. I couldn’t get it out of my head while riding this year, and that sort of summarizes how the ride went this year – a lot of fun, with some serious fast paced riding.

Day – 1

We started Day-1 as usual at Niles. We met at 8:30 in the morning, Bobby and I were there, Akshay and Shobhit rolled in about 15 minutes later. After a few quick pictures we were on our way. Akshay, Shobhit and I had Bluetooth enabled communication (SENA) setup in our helmets so we were constantly chatting, navigating, etc.

We rode through Sunol, over to Livermore and left the Bay Area using Patterson Pass Rd. It was my first time on that road and I enjoyed it. It is a much better alternative to the windy I-580 drone. It was already warming up by 9AM and we could feel the heat as we rode past the many windmills. Patterson Pass hit I580 and then I205. We took the freeway towards the central valley and got off on Hwy 120 towards Yosemite.

The plan was to get onto Hwy 4 towards Copperopolis, so I picked a deserted straight line connector – Van Allen Rd – between Hwy 120 and Hwy 4. Shobhit & Akshay gunned it – I think they topped out over 135 mph. I couldn’t get myself to go above 100, that was fun enough. We rode past strongly smelling cattle farms and by this time the temps were well into the 90s.

We took Hwy 4 towards the Sierras and as it starts getting windy we turned off onto Pole Station Road. This is a nice curvy connector between Hwy 4 and Hwy 49. The pavement is a little rough though and there was a little bit of traffic. I was following Bobby and on one of the blind curves he came fairly close to this wide truck with a metal frame around it. That was probably the only “incident” during this trip, luckily.

We then turned on to Hwy 49, rode through traffic to get to the town of Sutter Creek. Lunch for the day was at Gold Dust Pizza where we wolfed down two pretty good giant pizzas along with some beer. The temps were over a 100 now. We geared up, got back on to Hwy 49 and then turned off on Shenandoah Rd. The next part of our ride was through Amador county wine country – Shenandoah Rd, Mt. Aukum Rd, Bucks Bar Rd, Pleasant Valley Rd and Cedar Ravine Rd. All five of these roads are excellent – the tarmac was great, the traffic was very light and the views were awesome while riding along the various wineries.

We passed through Placerville and our plan was to ride Hwy 193 to Georgetown. Akshay, Shobhit and me were leading with Bobby a minute or so behind. As we turned right on to Hwy 193 we stopped for Bobby a few hundred yards down the hill. He didn’t see us turn right, so he kept going straight on Hwy 49. We back tracked a little to find him, but after searching for a few minutes we could see him anywhere. So continued along Hwy 49, skipping Hwy 193 and eventually found him at the side about 20 miles down the road. It was a relief to re-group with him and from then on we decided to never leave more than a 60 second gap between each other.

From Hwy 49 we turned on to Old Foresthill road where we stopped briefly to take pictures of the Foresthill Bridge. This is the tallest bridge in California – it is incredibly tall and majestic, especially when looking up towards it from the bottom. The temps were well above a 100 at this point.

We rode up to Foresthill and took a break for gas and some well deserved gatorade. As we climbed in elevation is started to cool off, but it was still pretty hot there. We also picked up some beer and converted Shobhit’s top box into a beer cooler full of ice and beer.

From there on we turned on to Mosquito Ridge Rd. I had heard so many good things about this road – and they were pretty much all true. MRR is superb – the curves are plentiful, perfectly banked and most importantly, they come at you at an even pace. So there is work involved in steering the motorcycle, but it’s at such an even pace that it does not tire you out. It’s easy to exit one curve and fall into the next one, while doing a brisk 40-50 mph. The road does it’s fair share of descent and climb, alternating between the two as it dances between a few mountain ridges. There was no traffic at all – I think we must have passed maybe 2-3 vehicles tops. The views along this road are also excellent. The road is mostly tree lined, shaded and cool. It turned out to be an excellent way to end the days ride.

About a mile before the reservoir MRR offers this superb panorama of the entire reservoir and the the L.L. Anderson Dam which holds it back (across the Middle Fork of the American River). We stopped by the dam for some pictures and then rode to our campsite about 3 miles away.

We were in campsites #49 and #50 – which were very close to the water. After pitching our tents we hiked down to the reservoir and soaked our feet in the cool water. Firewood was available with the campsite host for a small donation of 50c per log. Akshay was able to haul a few logs in Shobhit’s top case. We lit a campfire, and enjoyed some beer & whiskey. Dinner was chana-bhatura and a little bit of mama noodles, both cooked on a small camping stove – we all enjoyed it.

Day – 2

Day-2 was probably the most fun riding of any MC Trip so far. We woke up early with the sun, each of us managing a few hours of sleep – the most that camping really allows. We boiled some tea on the stove, but the milk had gone bad, so the tea was pretty awful. We tossed it into the firepit after a few sips. We packed up, geared up and left pretty quickly.

First road of the day was French Meadows Rd. It runs about 10 miles from the dam to 11 Pines Rd. The tarmac is not very great probably because it’s not used very much, but the curves are nice and views are even nicer. It’s one of those roads where there is no center line, no shoulder and no barricade. We passed a total of 0 cars on that 10 mile stretch.

We arrived at the junction of 11 Pines Rd and decided to proceed down instead of riding up to Hell Hole reservoir. 11 Pines is another gem – some very nice twisties, again no traffic whatsoever and the serene Sierras to ride through. As we rode through there we could see the effects of the Foresthill fire – a lot of dead black tree stumps and fresh green vegetation growing at the bottom. It was a superb ride. We stopped at this super high bridge where 11 Pines crosses the Rubicon River. This was a very picturesque spot and the bridge was probably over 200 feet tall. A little bit of searching and I found the name – Ellicott Bridge.

Along 11 Pines there was a short section full of fine saw dust. We had to ride through carefully.

11 Pines dead ends into Wentworth Springs Rd which was the best road of the day. WSR is up there with MRR on the list of best roads I have EVER ridden. The tarmac is amazing, not a a single bump or crack in the pavement. The views are excellent and the curves are just right. A true sport bikers dream, this road delivered! We were all grinning ear to ear as we came to the end at Ice House Rd. Bobby also enjoyed it – in fact he pushed his bike much harder and caught up with the rest of us here.

We then worked our way towards Hwy 50 on Ice House Rd. Another good one, but traffic was heavy with a lot of tour buses as we came closer to Hwy 50. We rode south on Hwy 50 for a little bit and exited at Pollock Pines. Our plan was to have lunch at the Burger Barn, but we arrived way before 11AM, so we decided to make do with some coffee at Starbucks and fast food at Taco Bell.

After gassing up the next road of the day was Mormom Emigrant Trail. I was not very impressed here – this is a mostly straight, albeit picturesque, connector between Hwy 50 and Hwy 88. There was a little bit of traffic. This road is mostly suited to high speed riding (think Busa or ZX14), I kept it under 90 for the most part, but Shobhit and Akshay were way ahead of me.

We rode Hwy 88 towards Kirkwood, a very scenic ride, turned on to Hwy 89, rode through Markleeville and then arrived at the junction of Hwy 4 and Hwy 89. Akshay wanted to dip into the river there. So we parked at the side of the road and hiked down to the water (“The Poor Boy Creek” of the Carson River). The water was cool and invigorating, we met up with a few people there trying their hand at fly fishing.

At the top of Carson Pass.

Gearing back up we rode over Monitor Pass and down to Hwy 395. I’ve now done this road so many times, I decided to hang back and ride behind Bobby. He was no slouch in his riding and I appreciated his smooth riding style through the curves. His bike (R1150GS) is large and top heavy, so when he leans it over it appears to be really leaning a lot. At the end of each day, he was probably the most tired of the 4 of us, steering the 600 lb bike through all those curves.

We rode Hwy 395 (the freeway of the Eastern Sierras) to Whoa Nellie Deli and stopped for some beer and fries. After some decent pale ale, we decided to ride around the June Lake Loop (Hwy 158). As approached Grant Lake, we could see a lot of cars and trucks parked right besides the lake. We decided to ride down to the lake to get some pictures, but the path was full of gravel. Shobhit and I made it down all the way, but Akshay got stuck and tipped his bike over partially in the gravel. I helped him up, and we decided to turn around and get back on to the road. Bobby in the meanwhile had already turned around, he did not venture into the deep gravel.

We stopped at June Lake for dinner, at what I’s describe as the worst sandwich shop I’ve ever been to, Alpine Deli and Pizza Co. Initially the deli owner cracked bad jokes “Your sandwich will take 2 hours to make”, and it did take quite long. When it arrived, it was terrible, I’m sure even Anushka or Valmik could put together a better sandwich. Bobby ordered a salad which was equally bad. I think he trashed most of it. We picked up come tequila from the nearby grocery store and were on our way.

We were all tired at this point, so we pressed on to our destination for the day – The Inn Benton Hot Springs. Hwy 120 was superb as always, and the dips in the road kept us entertained. We got to Benton exhausted after a full day of riding. This year we were housed in the Conway House – an ancient three bedroom house that sits to one side of the property. While I had really enjoyed the visit to Benton in 2013, this time it had lost it’s charm. The house had plenty of hot water (even the toilets flushed hot water) but no cold water, none to drink, none to bathe in, none at all. Akshay and Shobhit had to walk over to the main house to fill up some drinking water. The hot tub was a tad dirty and the whole house was underwhelming. As the evening progressed Akshay & I rode two-up on Bobby’s BMW to the store 4 miles down the road at Hwy 6. We bought some beer and chips and consumed much of that through the night.

Day – 3

Our last day was an easy ride back home. We packed and geared up and rode across Hwy 120. We gassed up once again at Whoa Nellie Deli and rode over Tioga pass through Yosemite. The ride up to the pass was fun, but we quickly hit traffic as we crawled into the park. We paid the steep entrance fee ($20 per bike), pun intended, and worked our way through the slow moving traffic in the park. After a short stop for pictures at Olmsted Point, we were on our way.

Lunch was at the Iron Door Saloon, but our bad luck with food continued. The food (garden burgers) was delayed and when it finally came out, it was very ordinary. Bobby’s Caprese salad wasn’t very impressive either. As we left, we chatted a little with a couple of Canadian Harley riders. They were from Alberta riding through the US for a few weeks with their last stop in Sturgis. I’ve thought about visiting Sturgis, maybe that will happen one of these years.

We fought the usual Bay Area traffic (every single year now!) and made it back home by about 3:30PM. I unpacked, took a long shower and then attended Anushka’s End of Season Dinner and Awards at MVSC.

Don’t touch the sleeping pills, they mess with my head
Dredging the Great White Sharks, swimming in the bed
And here comes a Killer Whale, to sing me to sleep
Thrashing the covers off, it has me by it’s teeth

Ride Report #39: Tunitas Creek and Alpine Rd

On Sunday April 3rd I had a nice ride with Akshay (FZ-1) in the Santa Cruz mountains. We rode Kings Mountain Rd – Tunitas Creek Rd – Hwy 1 – Pescadero Creek Rd – Apline Rd – Skyline. It was a fun ride with the highlight being Tunitas Creek.

We took some videos:

Tunitas Creek Rd:

Alpine Road:

My camera:

Akshay’s camera:

Pescadero Road:

Ride Report #36: 2015 Summer Motorcycle Trip

This year was arguably the best 3-day ride I’ve been on so far.

Planning for the 2015 Summer motorcycle trip started early in the year, about January or February. Since we were going to India in July, I decided to plan it out in June, and after much planning we ended up with the last weekend in June. I booked a campsite at the Mono Hot Springs Camground for the night of June 26th. June 27th was also my 11th wedding anniversary.

This year there were 4 riders: Shobhit, Bobby and me – the usual trio, plus Akshay who rides a 2007 Yamaha FZ-1. Shobhit and I had been riding with Akshay for a few months now and Shobhit liked the FZ-1 so much that he sold his CBR and bought a 2008 FZ-1 a couple of months before the trip. Akshay is an advanced rider, with solid skills both riding and wrenching.

Day 1

We met at Niles Cafe on the morning of June 26th at 9AM. It’s been a tradition of sorts – starting out at Niles on Friday morning. There is a small insurance office right there on Niles Blvd and the owner pulled up in a beautiful red 1968 Ford Mustang convertible. I had a good chat with her; the car was a daily driver! Next Bobby rolled in on his GS, complaining of a clunking sound from the front end. Turns out his horn had come off loose, dangling from a single electric wire. We quickly bolted it back on and he was fine for the rest of the trip. Shobhit and Akshay rolled in next and after a couple of quick pics, we were on our way.

We took the freeway (680 and 101) till we reached the end of San Jose and exited at Bailey. We then rode around Uvas reservoir (which surprisingly had some water in it). Uvas Rd is a short fun ride with gentle turns and good views. We then got into Hollister and stopped for our first gas stop.

Akshay was having trouble with his bike. The FZ1 was cutting out intermittently and was getting hard to ride, especially on the corners. We decided to investigate. Akshay pulled out his tools and with Shobhit and me, we took off the plastic panels and the tank. Akshay initial suspected the kickstand switch, but after some googling of the error codes, he started to think that it was his mass air flow sensor (which is also a temperature sensor on the FZ1 apparently). We called around a few dealers, but none of them had the sensor in stock. So buttoned the bike up and decided to press on. We were hoping the problem would resolve itself.

We rode down Hwy 25 (always a favorite) from Hollister and turned left onto Panoche Rd. Panoche Rd is a fun motorcycle road, but there were lots of patches of gravel. The road is clean and easy initially, but gets rough, goaty, narrow and sandy as you ride further on. It was also starting to get hot (noon), and I could feel my feet and legs heat up with the engine heat and the heat coming off the asphalt.

Our lunch stop for the day was at Panoche Inn. I was actually the last in our riding group and pulled into the bar, while Shobhit, Akshay and Bobby rode past. They soon realized that I had stopped, so they turned around and came back. The temps were now close to 100F and it felt really great to step into the air conditioned bar. We each had a cold beer and sandwich. The owner of the place was friendly and told us many stories of his life & the place. His wife also chatted with us briefly. I pulled out a dollar bill, wrote “Desi Riderz 2015” on it and stuck it to the ceiling. Our little contribution to his retirement I guess. Interestingly this guy collects currency from around the world and he showed us his impressive little collection. I got a card from him and I plan to mail him some Indian and Filipino currency.

We pressed on. It was now VERY hot. From Panoche Rd. we turned left onto Little Panoche Rd, and the first couple of miles offers a straight flat road with nobody in sight. Akshay and Shobhit gassed it hard; Akshay actually hit 148mph; I probably let go at 120mph. Little Panoche Rd is actually better than Panoche Rd. As you cross over from San Benito county to Fresno County the road surface improves drastically. It was a fun ride with many nice curves and absolutely no traffic. I think we must have crossed 1 or 2 cars that whole 30 mile stretch.

As we crossed the central valley I could feel the intense heat. I was very uncomfortable, but the ZZR was OK. The temperature gauge barely made it a quarter of the way up – I just think the cooling system on the ZZR is so over designed that it is impossible to overheat that bike while riding. We stopped for gas at the outskirts of Fresno. It was now over a 100F and Bobby got some ice cream from McDonalds.

We gassed up and left, riding through Fresno on Hwy 168. I found Hwy 168 to be a very special road. Right out of Fresno it becomes two-lane and winding with a super smooth surface. The highway then slowly climbs the mountains while still being this super fast 4 lane road with wide sweepers. I was leading the pack up the mountain and enjoying myself taking these curves at 80-90mph. It was a fun ride and it was probably the first time I pushed the ZZR to such an extreme.

Our last gas stop for the day was at Shaver Lake at a gas station & convenience store run by Indians. We chatted with them in Hindi and were on our way. The next stretch of Hwy 168 is a sport bikers dream. It’s almost a race track for the next 20-30 miles. Perfectly banked curves, super smooth surface and not a whole lot of traffic – made for some excellent spirited riding. This was definitely a road I would come back to again. We stopped briefly at the intersection of Kaiser Pass Rd and Hwy 168 and then started our climb towards Kaiser Pass. Kaiser Pass Rd is also a nice fun road. Initially it is smooth and curvy, good for high speeds. But after a few miles in, the road breaks apart, literally. The pavement becomes rough, the road narrows to a single lane and the turns get really tight. We probably ran that last 20 mile section at an average speed of 15mph. Crossing oncoming vehicles was challenging on that road. There is a little sign at the top of Kaiser Pass, but we did not stop. A little further down the road is a ranger station and then the road descends into this thick forest. All along the views were simply … breathtaking.

Right before Mono Hot Springs is a green metal bridge across the South Fork of the San Joaquin river. We stopped for a few pictures and then rolled into our campsite at the Mono Hot Springs Campground.

We quickly pitched our tents and went for a dip in the river. The waters were cool, clear and rejuvenating after a long day of riding. Across the shallow river are a few natural hot springs. We took a short dip in the “Old Pedro” spring which was really at the perfect warm temperature. Dinner was a pretty good buffalo burger at the resort restaurant. We lit a campfire, chatted a little over some scotch and then turned in for the night.

Day 2

We packed up our campsite and left Mono Hot Springs at about 9AM. Akshay had an unexpected guest sitting on his bike. A small frog climbed up his bike, probably hoping to catch a ride out of there.

I always feel the sierras are especially beautiful in the mornings. We enjoyed the slow but scenic ride back across Kaiser pass and hit Hwy 168 (the racetrack) down to Shaver Lake. We stopped briefly on Hwy 168 to get pictures of Huntington Lake. There was some sort of optical illusion there. When looking at the lake stretching to the horizon, it appears as it the lake is curving up or gaining altitude.

We got gas at Shaver Lake and while we were pulling out Bobby dropped his giant GS. The packing lot had a gentle slope and Bobby was trying to back out. He lost control and down went the big GS. I caught it on my action-cam. Luckily both Bobby and the bike were OK. Nothing major and we were on our way.

We peeled off Hwy 168 and took Auberry Rd towards the small town Auberry. Auberry Rd was such a treat! The curves were perfectly banked (downhill even), the tarmac was very smooth and the views were amazing. The traffic was very light and we all had some high speed fun. As we came down to Auberry the temps were rising and we started feeling the heat. Next we took a few backroads in the area – Power House Rd, which runs to the PG&E A.G. Wishon Power plant, built in 1927 (seen in the pic below) – North Fork Rd – Crane Valley Rd and Teaford Saddle Rd, which got us to into Oakhurst. These were fun rural backroads with little traffic (compared to the Bay Area).

We then pulled into the South Gate Brewing Co in Oakhurst. They had a decent selection of beer and the andouille sausage sandwich was pretty good. We were all very hungry and tired from the 100+ temps outside. Akshay’s bike was still not running well and cutting out every now and then. He was clearly frustrated, but we decided to press on.

We rode Hwy 49 from Oakhurst to Mariposa and decided to stop for gas. It was easily over 105F. Akshay was even more frustrated with his poorly running bike, so he decided to take one more shot at troubleshooting the bike. We stripped the bike off it’s plastics, but not before stripping off all our gear. And there at that strange Mariposa gas station, with all of us standing in our riding underwear, Akshay discovered the problem – a loose connection to the mass air flow sensor. Apparently he had not taped it back up 100% when he last worked on it.

The stretch of Hwy 49 between Mariposa and Coulterville is called the “Little Dragon”, named after the famous “Tail of the Dragon” in North Carolina. Yes, this is a great motorcycling road, but no, we did not really enjoy it. With the 110F heat, the tar snakes were really soft and all of us felt the bikes sliding the front when riding through the turns. Akshay’s bike was now running perfectly, but we all slowed down and rode through the hot dragon at a gentle pace. The heat was really overbearing. From Coulterville we rode on to Sonora sticking to Hwy 49. Our original plan was to take some back roads like Priest Grade and Wards Ferry, but we skipped those because we were all quite tired.

After Sonora, we turned right off Hwy 49 on Parrots Ferry Rd towards a small village called Columbia. Parrots Ferry turned out to be another one of those gems. A fun short road that connects Sonora on Hwy 49 to Hwy 4. There is a nice bridge on Parrots Ferry that offers excellent views while approaching it and riding on it.

We then road up Hwy 4 to Dorrington and made it Bobby’s friends cabin where we stayed the night. We had dinner at Arnold Pantry a kitchen, grocery store and restaurant all rolled up into one. Their locally sourced organic veggie burger (made from beets) was pretty good and we enjoyed a short Jazz/Bluegrass concert on the grass behind the restaurant while we ate.

Day 3

We were contemplating where to ride on Day 3. Ebbetts pass was closed due to a forest fire around Markleeville. So no going up Hwy 4. After playing around with Google maps we decided to ride out to Hwy 26 and then head home. We started off with a short detour to the Sourgrass Day Use Picnic Area on the North Fork Stanislaus River. A nice peaceful place for a picnic. There we met this guy (from the Bay Area) that had ridden his Triumph Scrambler off-road up on Rattlesnake Creek Rd. He had just come down the 3-5 mile stretch and parked next to our bikes. As we started chatting with him, we saw oil pouring out of his oil pan. He had probably hit a rock on his way down and now his oil filter and oil pan were leaking. He was bummed about having to truck his bike back to the Bay Area.

We rode south on Hwy 4 till the town of Avery and turned right onto Avery- Sheep Ranch Rd. This turned out to be an excellent choice. Sheep Ranch is a small town hidden deep in the Sierra foothills. The road was curvy, smooth and a lot of fun. We then took Railroad Flat Rd (to the small town of Railroad Flat!) which finally lead us to Hwy 26. I loved these rural county backroads. It’s hard to describe that feeling …riding along a meandering road, with very little traffic to deal with, great scenery all along, in no particular hurry, but still keeping it spirited. I’m happy that we stayed off the main highways and explored some off beat routes like Auberry, Parrots Ferry and Sheep Ranch. That made this trip all the more special.

After a short break, we turned left onto Hwy 26 and started to make our way home. Hwy 26 is a great motorcycling road too. The fun parts (between Hwy 88 and Hwy 49) are not too long, but the pavement is freshly laid and the curves are plentiful. The only downside was the moderate traffic; We passed a lot of cars, campers and Harley riders. We rode Hwy 26 all the way to Stockton. We passed through the farming towns of Valley Springs, Oak Grove and Linden. It was a Sunday and nobody was in town. We tried a couple of Mexican restaurants on the way but they were all closed. We finally ended up eating a late lunch at this awesome Mexican place in Stockton – Mariscos Nuevo Altata. The tacos there were honestly the best tacos I’ve ever eaten. We were the only non-Latino people at that restaurant and with all our biking gear, we got a lot of stares. Nonetheless, it was the best meal of the entire trip, something I will never forget.

We made it home from there, fighting the customary traffic on 580. We lost sight of Bobby while lane splitting, but he texted me when he reached home safely. We made it home in the early evening, exhausted after three days and 800 miles of riding, but it was an awesome experience.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=wNfmGq1tN-k

The ZZR did really well. It has the power and the comfort one needs for long trips. It had no problems with aggressive riding for three days and 800 miles in 100F+ temps. I love this bike.

Padded cycling shorts are great for such trips. They work much better than cotton briefs in keeping comfortable and dry.

I look forward to another ride next summer!

ZZR1200 – A 1000 mile review

I’ve now logged over 15,000 miles on a motorcycle in the US and probably over 50,000 miles abroad. I consider myself a moderately experienced rider. I’ve ridden a dual sport (DR650), a naked v-twin (SV650) and now this ZZR1200. Going from the DR650 to the SV650 was, in a sense, a doubling of “power”. The SV650 was light, powerful, flickable and actually pretty cute. I loved it. But after two years on that motorcycle, I wanted a change, especially for longer multi-day trips. In comes the Big Zed. So here’s a review of my Kawasaki ZZR1200 after logging a little over a thousand miles on it.

To get started, here are the top three things I like about this bike: a) The engine b) The engine and c) The engine. Yes, true that. What a gem of an engine! I believe this is the last of the old-school Kawasaki carbureted big bores. It provides breathtaking acceleration all through the rev range and hides its 525 lb weight very well. It just pulls and pulls, in any gear, at any RPM, much like an angry pitbull. On paper it can hit 80 mph in first gear and 110 in second. I’ve not really explored it very much above 8000 rpm – there is plenty of grunt before that. While reviewing footage from a recent ride, I noticed how easy it is to hit high speeds. I hit 100 mph in about 6 seconds, and I wasn’t even pushing it.

Now I don’t consider my a fast rider and I usually take it easy on the curves. The SV650 was very easy to lean and confidence inspiring at every turn. The big Zed is certainly heavier to turn, but it’s not very different. I recently rode Palomares Rd and Calaveras Rd and the bike handled pretty decent.

The transmission is smooth and the brakes are adequate. I’ve not been in any situation that required hard braking so can’t say much.

Wind protection is excellent. Highway riding is easy and the wind hits my 6′ 2″ frame below my shoulders. My arms and legs don’t feel the wind. I actually like the leaned over position of the Zed more than the upright seating of the SV650. It makes it easy to ride on the freeway when you are leaning into the wind. The seat is average. I did fine on a 250 mile day ride, but I don’t like the seat pushing me into the tank. The mirrors actually work and give me a decent view of what’s behind. (The mirrors on the SV650 and DR650 were terrible)

This bike came with aftermarket Madaz Racing slip-on exhausts. This is apparently an Australian company that made high quality exhausts specifically for the ZZR1200. I was a firm non-believer of slip on mufflers (what a waste of time), but that may change. When opened up these “cans” sound like an expensive Italian car rocketing away. Around town they are quite enough to not disturb anyone.

With a 6.1 gallon fuel tank, range on this bike is excellent. I hit reserve (nice to have an actual petcock) at about 200 miles, giving the bike a typical range of about 240 miles. The furthest I have gone is 211 miles and I filled it up with 5.45 gallons. I average about 40 mpg.

I like the center-stand – makes chain lubrication and oil changes so easy. An upright bike on the center stand also takes up less space in the garage compared to a leaned over bike on a side stand.

I like the analog gauges. A fuel gauge was a first for me – so that is good. And I’ve never had a bike with digital gauges, but I’m not sure it would be the same feeling as seeing the tachometer needle rise.

The one thing I don’t like are the vibrations on this bike. This thing has a wicked buzz at 5000 rpm (apparently a common problem) which makes it hard to cruise at 80mph on the freeway. I get around that by dropping down a gear. Its perfectly smooth elsewhere, but the vibes are very noticeable between 4700 and 5200 rpm. I plan to sync the carbs this winter, maybe that will help.

That is all. Here are some pictures.

Ride Report #34: Summer Trip to the Lost Coast

The plan for every trip starts with a song in mind. I always feel there is some connection between music and motorcycle riding. This time it was “Los Tiempos Van Cambiando” the Spanish version of Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are a-Changin’. The song was featured in the motorcycle gang show The Sons of Anarchy.

Day-1 Friday July 25th

We met at about 9:30AM at Niles Cafe, and were on our way after a few quick pictures.

It was also Bobby’s birthday. Our first stop for the day was Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa. We got there a little after 11AM taking the freeway all along. It was getting hot and the freeway ride was mildly uncomfortable. Russian River was a busy place and I ordered the world-famous Pliny the Elder. Bobby and Shobhit ordered the 20-glass sampler. While I was very happy with my drink, they were a little disappointed with the mix of brews they received. I tasted a few, and some of them were extreme – coffee flavored, pumpkin flavored, lambic-style sour beer and so on. I very much prefer having one great beer over a bunch of experimental brews.

Our next stop was Anderson Valley Brewing Co. in Boonville. We took Hwy 128 from 101 and Boonville is about 20 miles from the 101 split. Hyw 128 is a nice road with wide sweepers and excellent pavement. The only downside was the heavy traffic. We had a few nice beers there and continued on hwy 128 to the coast. It was about 100F at this point and I could feel the heat bearing down on me.

As Hwy 128 approaches the coast it gets goes through these scenic coast redwood groves. We stopped a couple of times for some pictures. As we merged with Hwy 1, the temperatures dropped and it was pleasant again.

We continued riding Hwy 1 till the town of Fort Bragg. There we had our last and final beer stop of the day – North Coast Brewing Company. The beer was good and so was the fresh fish, but it was pricey. At this point we were exhausted. The Beer, the heat and the riding was probably not a good combination and had gotten us dehydrated.

The stretch of Hwy 1 North between Fort Bragg and 101 is excellent. Traffic was sparse and the road condition was excellent. There were some tight twistes, wide sweepers, dense tree cover at times and awesome views. I highly recommend riding that piece of Hwy 1. We merged with 101N and soon exited towards Redway, Briceland and Shelter Cove.

The final stretch towards Shelter Cove is fun — some very tight turns and a steep decent towards the ocean. The views are amazing as you enter the town.

We made it to our hotel – The Inn of the Lost Coast – just in time for sunset. After a quick dip in the hot tub, we called it a night. The hotel was average, but the views were awesome. We were all exhausted with the day long ride.

Day-2 Saturday July 26th

We began Day-2 with a short ride to the lighthouse at Shelter Cove. I remember visiting this structure about 10 years ago. That whole area is so beautiful!

After filling up at the local gas station (there is one in Shelter Cove), we took the Ettersburg Road towards Honeydew. Ettersburg Road is also goaty, tight and poorly paved. Right before entering Honeydew the road turns to gravel for about half a mile. The gravel section was fairly easy for us to handle and we made it to Honeydew for a short break. Honeydew (a town of about 3 houses at an intersection) has this beautiful wooden bridge. We stopped on the bridge and took some pictures.

As we continued along the famed Mattole Rd, we passed through the town on Petrolia and soon entered the Mattole Valley. The road makes a dramatic entrance to the coast where the rider is rewarded with a million dollar view of the Lost Coast. We continued for a short distance along the coastal Mattole Road and stopped for a long picture break.

We then headed on towards Ferndale and Fortuna. Mattole Road climbs up very rapidly away from the coast, and again offers some excellent views. The road condition however leaves much to be desired. There are potholes galore and in many sections the road turns to complete gravel. We stopped for lunch at the Eel River Brewing Co where I had the excellent organic IPA.

Next we started riding Hwy 36. I had heard a lot of good things about Hwy 36 and they were all true. The turns are banked, modestly wide and easy to take at a good pace. The road surface was also very smooth. We enjoyed riding Hwy 36 tremendously, except for the heat (about 100F) and the occasional traffic. Somewhere along Hwy 36 I started getting worried about my chain being too loose. I could hear a repeatable sound, or maybe I was just imagining things. Shobhit rode along side me for a little while and observed my chain. He said it looked OK and I made it through the rest of the trip without worry.

Our next stop was Mad River, CA a very small town of 4-5 houses and a post office. We didn’t have the burgers at the small shack there, but I had heard they were good. There was actually a small meat processing plant right there behind the post office.

We took off from Mad River, turned onto Hwy 3 and refueled at Hayfork which is in Trinity County. Hwy 3 is probably as good as Hwy 36, with a lot less traffic. Hwy 3 merged onto Hwy 299 and we continued towards Redding and eventually Shingletown. Hwy 299 is not as good a motorcycling road as Hwy 36. It is wide and less curvy, more like a highway that caters to truck traffic.

We got into our campsite KOA Mt. Lassen at about 7PM. The cabin I had reserved was very nice and perfectly comfortable for the three of us.

We went into the town of Shingletown (population 2000) for dinner. While we were having pizza and beer a lady in a Lexus car backed into a Chevy truck parked right next to our bikes. Our bikes were thankfully not touched, but that incident came pretty close to ending our trip. That women was clearly drunk (or stoned), as were many others we met on this trip.

Day-3 Sunday July 27th

We were pretty tired at the end of Day 2 and decided to slab in back to the Bay Area instead of going into Lassen NP. We took a short cut side road (Dersch Road) to get us to I-5 and it turned out be such a nice road. The rest of the riding back was boring — super slabbing it at 80-90mph with a couple of gas and rest stops. Thankfully we didn’t hit much traffic on our way back and were home by 3PM.

All of us had carried action cameras on this trip. We had over 6 hours of video and thousands of pictures. I compiled a short video of some of the clips I took:

Here is a video that Shobhit compiled

All in all, and excellent adventure. Different from 2013 and unique by itself.

Ride Report #30: Summer Trip to the High Sierras and the Nevada Desert

Bob Dylan once asked, how many roads must a man walk down, before they call him a man?

Ever since I’ve been in this country I’ve always wanted to travel The Loneliest Road in America – US50. We tried to do a road trip out to Nevada in 2006, but ended up going to Las Vegas instead. Then came the kids, the dog and the house and I never really got to explore that area.

I got into motorcycling about 2 years ago and it just seemed like a motorcycle would be a fine way to explore the remote Nevada landscape. I researched the area for a couple of months, charted out a few possible routes and discussed the trip with friends online. The final route was as follows:

I have to thank the dear wife here – not only does she entertain the dangerous sport of motorcycling, but she also allows the luxury of multi-day motorcycle trips by taking care of the kids, the dog and the house. I am super grateful to be married to her!

I’m also grateful to have such friendly, enthusiastic and awesome riding buddies – Shobhit on his CBR1000RR and Bobby on his R1150GS. Good riding buddies make all the difference. All photos below are credited to Bobby and Shobhit.

Day 1 – Friday July 12th 2013.

The original plan was to assemble at Niles Cafe on Friday morning and get going by about 8:30AM. That would bring us into Benton Hot Springs by 5:30PM or so. Shobhit sent me an SMS the previous night that he had a leaky valve stem. So we met at Niles Cafe at 8:30 or so and rode to East Bay Motorsports in Hayward.

They open at 9AM, so we hoped to get the stem replaced quickly and be on our way. Nada — the guy says he could only get it done by 2PM or so. I thought the service rep was rude and callous. Anyway, we rode on and met Bruce in Pleasanton. Bruce said we could try Motowrx in Livermore . Sure, they were open and got us in-and-out in under 20 minutes. Great service at a fair price — I would definitely use that shop for my future needs.

Our first stop was in the small historic town of Knights Ferry. We walked around the old mill, the covered bridge and the creek. Quaint little place with a charm of it’s own.

We took a detour off Hwy 120 — using Rodden Road and Orange Blossom Road. Both were excellent choices and avoided the Hwy 120 traffic altogether.

Our next stop was the Iron Door Saloon in Groveland which is one of the oldest saloons still operating in California. The place has an old western feel to it. The beer was cold and burger was fine. Over lunch Bruce told us interesting stories of his days in Vietnam. This was the first time I actually met a Vietnam vet.

We entered Yosemite soon after and since Bruce had a “lifetime pass” we basically got in for free. Riding through Yosemite was amazing. Every time I come here I am amazed at the natural beauty of this place. Traffic was fairly light through the park and we had an enjoyable ride. Here is a pic from Bobby’s GroPro.

We took a break at the Crane Flat Area and decided not to descend into the Valley as it would take a long time and would further delay our plans. We pressed on, on Hwy 120, at a quick pace. Traffic was very light, and I do recall occasionally doing 80mph in a 25mph zone 🙂 . We did spot a couple of rangers along the way, but were doing modest speeds then and did not get into any sort of trouble. Bruce reminded us later on that Yosemite is federal land, so if you are caught speeding you have to go to Federal court not county court. Well, anyway, we made it to Olmstead point and Tenaya Lake.

The views there are magnificent. The skies were clear and the temperature was perfect. The huge granite domes interspersed between the pine forests make a very pretty sight. In full HD:

All smiles

We left Olmstead point and made a final pit stop at the Tioga Pass. Bruce turned around here and made it back home by 10PM.

The three of us then descended into the Eastern Sierras. Hwy 120 east of Tioga Pass is very scenic too. The descent is gradual, but the road cuts along side a steep mountain face. We made one final stop at the Whoa Nellie Deli in Lee Vining. We enjoyed a cold beer with awesome views of Mono Lake.

The last portion of our ride was Hwy 120 from Hwy 395 to Benton Hot Springs. Hwy 120 east of Hwy 395 is a very interesting ride! The road goes through wide open plains, twisty sections and some very dramatic dips. Yes, the dips are almost out of a motocross circuit. The White Mountain range was clearly visible on the way and Montgomery Peak looked very dramatic in the evening sunlight. That section of Hwy 120 is very lonely; we probably passed only 5-6 cars over the 46 mile stretch.

Our hotel for the night — The Inn at Benton Hot Springs — was very nice. We had the quaint two bedroom bunglow for the night and enjoyed soaking in the hot springs while drinking beers. That place is very desolate. We were probably the only people staying there that night. Since we got there a little after 7PM, the inn-keeper Jimmy had left for the day. He left us a note saying that the door was open and a walkie-talkie in case we needed help.

We had dinner at the Benton Station Cafe which is the only place to get food there and offers all of four options for dinner.

Day 2 – Saturday July 13th 2013.

Day 2 began at Benton. As we left Benton for Tonopah, the temps were climbing and the mesh suit was proving pretty handy. As you cross the Sierras into the high desert the landscape changes quite dramatically. Riding out to Tonopah on US Hwy 6 almost felt like we were riding on Mars. The area is dry, arid and desolate. There was little traffic, maybe a car, bike or truck every 5 miles or so.

This allowed for considerably higher speeds and we started running 100 (indicated) and above pretty regularly. Our speeds actually remained in that neighborhood for most of the day. Unfortunately the high speed caused my Sony Actioncam to come loose and fall off my helmet while riding. So the first casualty of the trip was this stupid action cam. I see Shobhit roar past me and wave out frantically for me to stop. We stop, turn around and trace our steps back for a few miles. Shobhit spots the dead remains and they don’t look promising. Meh, that camera sucked anyway.

So we press on to Tonopah and get into Tonopah Station for some decent omelettes. As I try to get gas, I find that my credit card is blocked due to suspicious activity (gas in Benton). Thanks PenFed, but no thanks. I resolve it quickly on the phone and we are on our way. Shobhit and I then switched bikes. I was excited at riding a liter bike on wide open stretches.

Nevada State Hwy 376

Hwy 376 runs north south between Hwy 6 and Hwy 50, basically going through the vast area of nothingness called the Big Smoky Valley. The views are breathtaking, powerful and surreal. The valley stretches out for a about 50 miles between the magnificent Toiyabe Range to the West and the Toquima Range to the East. That part of the state is truly lonely, we must have passed about 3 cars over the 100 miles we rode.

Shobhit ran his bike a few times up and down that desolate road and Bobby took some video —

And we eventually got down to monkey business

We turned left on hwy 50 and rode the windy fun road into Austin. As we got into Austin for gas, we were welcomed by a huge thunderstorm. It rained heavily for about 10 minutes and stopped. This reminded me of India — heavy short downpours followed by cool crisp weather.

Nevada State Hwy 722

We left Austin and took Hwy 722 which goes through the Desatoya Mountains and Carroll Summit. This is an extremely lonely road with very little traffic (again, maybe 3-4 cars in the 50 miles stretch). There is a huge salt flat along the way and as you descend into this vast valley, it creates a magnificent impression. The salt flat is visible in the left part of this picture.

I was back onto Shobhit’s CBR and loved every minute of it. Interestingly we came across a bunch of cows standing right in the middle of the roadway. I was leading and intended to pass them on the left. As I came close to the group, one of the cows got agitated by the sound of the motorcycle and started running (charging?). Thankfully she ran the other way and we passed through without incident.

The winding road up to Carroll Summit is amazing. I was pushing the CBR to my limits 🙂 and it was fun. As you come down the summit you see these interesting cave like rock formations on your left before you hit Eastgate.

We then merged back onto Hwy 50 and stopped for food and beer at Middlegate Station. Trying to avoid meat as much as possible, I order a veggie burger with my Sierra Nevada. It was awesome! Probably better than any veggie burger I’ve eaten in the Bay Area. I know, veggie burger + beer in the middle of the Nevada desert, how weird is that?

Bobby struck up a conversation with “dude” there. It turns out that he is actually a biologist trained at the University of Arizona. He came to the NV desert to study biodiversity and settled at Middlegate. He showed us his finger deformed due to rattlesnake bite. It also turns out that the whole place (restaurant, a few rooms and a gas station) runs totally off the grid on a diesel generator.

We gassed up in Fallon (one of the larger Nevada towns) and our final stretch of riding to Topaz was uneventful. We rode through several farming communities and the small (and beautiful) towns of Smith Valley and Wellington. I was tired and wanted to get done with the days ride. Bobby and Shobhit were riding behind me and wanted to stop at the Walker river. I didn’t see their flashing lights so I rode on — but in retrospect it would have been a good idea to take a break there.

We got to our hotel at about 7PM and after a quick drink and dinner we were off to bed. The hotel was a typical cheapo Super 8 with a gas station, convenience store and casino. It served it’s purpose, that’s all.

Day 3 – Sunday July 14th 2013.

We started early on Day-3 riding through Monitor Pass and Ebbetts Pass towards the Bay Area. As we left the hotel I noticed my speedo not working. It was smooth till about 50mph, then jumped around and died. We stopped briefly to check for a loose cable, nut or screw. I didn’t find anything, so we pressed on. The speedo worked intermittently on the ride back but it surprisingly work perfectly for the last 60 miles or so. A quick search on the Internet showed that my speedo rotor may be getting old and is probably due for a change.

Coincidentally we rode Hwy 89 and Hwy 4 the day after a big bicycle race – the Death Ride. The roads were squeaky clean, there was very little traffic and the weather was perfect.

We stopped at the Kinney Reservoir and Lake Alpine. We strolled down to the water and headed to the Resort for a cup of coffee. We were greeted by this furry friend.

She actually sat next to me for a long time. Must have been all the attention I gave her.

The ride was pretty much uneventful after that. We gassed in Copperopolis and made our way back to the Bay Area by about 2PM. We hit terrible traffic on 580 and took 84 over to Fremont.

Lessons learnt –

Motorcycle trips are a lot of fun. I would definitely do this again. I hope I can make it an annual tradition.
Safety was our #1 priority and it should always be. When the ride ends with only a lost helmet camera and a broken speedo – I call that ride a success! No crashes, no injuries, no breakdowns, no risky situations.
Three hundred to three fifty miles is the ideal sweet spot for riding per day. We did about 440 miles on Day-2 and were exhausted by the end of the day.
I should ride slower, take more stops and take the time to “smell the roses” along the way. There were a couple of places (e.g. the Walker river) where I was leading and the others wanted to stop. I pressed on, when in fact I realized later that stopping & taking a break would have been a good idea. It just didn’t occur to me while blasting through the canyons.

So there you go. The answer, my friend, is blowin in the wind.

Ride Report 24

Couple of weekends ago I rode with Shobhit out to Alice’s restaurant along Skyline and back up Highway 9. This is among my favorite loops. The hills of the Peninsula are always a treat to ride and with sunny warm spring weather the conditions were perfect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cN-3jQ1AkQ

After Alice’s restaurant I rode Shobhit’s Shadow 75o and filmed him as he rode my SV650. It’s been a while since I rode his Shadow. It felt nice and comfortable, easy to ride and easy to throw around in the corners. I was scrapping footpegs on Hwy 9!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNzXfM1PhxQ&hd=1

Targa Windscreen

When I bought my SV650 from the previous owner, she had installed a Targa windscreen. It looked sort of ugly and I much preferred the clean naked looks, so among the first things I did was to remove it. Last weekend I re-installed it and went out for a ride. Why did I want to install that thing? Well I want to reduce the wind blast. After a little over a thousand miles I’m ready for a quiet ride with less fatigue at the end of the day.

Installation was fairly easy. It slips into the studs holding the upper triple clamps. I’d say the results are not bad:

So I decided to head out on a “windy” ride (Ride Report 23) to test out the setup. What better than the Altamont and I5 corridor? I’ve ridden that part of the central valley on RR13 . Well the Bay part of the ride was OK; the shield reduces wind drag on the chest significantly. The helmet sees clear turbulent air without any buffeting, so it’s not really any quieter. But the reduced drag beats you up lesser.

But I5 is still horrible. Not my cup of tea. Riding in a straight line at an indicated 90mph with the wind blasting me like crazy. It’s also amazing how different the ride can be in different directions. South bound the ride was quiet, but north bound on my return the wind was howling. Anyway I need to remind myself — never again. There is no point in super slabbing 130 miles from point A to B and back. There is very little fun in that, it’s mostly just a waste of gas.

Here are some foggy videos from that day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-Hp28k2ixU&hd=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcxKZgcQkQM&hd=1