2,250 miles, 5 days of riding, 1 day of rest, 3 states, 4 friends

[DefyInertia]

This picture sums it up pretty well...


So my friend decided he was going to hop on his ST1000, point it west, and return 2 weeks later....and he lives in Madison, WI! He decided he wanted to ride in California along the way. This is where I come in...

He arrived at my house on a Monday night, did some maintenance and got some much needed R&R in on Tuesday, and we hit the road on Wednesday morning, June 30, 2010.

DAY 1 - San Francisco to the Lost Coast via about 370 miles of good/twisty/scenic roads

First picture of the trip...my buddy exstatic that he is now riding on the WEST COAST after having covered 2,300 miles thus far


Notice the license plate? We're in California remember...and the HD in front of us had KY plates. Notice anything else....mud/grass on the bike perhaps?


The infamous lost coast....we didn't take this road for long...we just wanted to peep the view


Look at that FZ!


The lost coast really starts to give you the feeling of being lost as you go farther and farther in....


No development here...


The farthest west my friend got...taking it all in


There was no fog. The stars were unreal...no pics but I'll never forget that's for sure


Waking up in the morning...still no fog and I although I was 50 yards from the PACIFIC OCEAN, I was not damp at all. Sleeping on the sand was very comfortable.

 

[DefyInertia]

DAY 2 - Lost Coast to Klamath National Forest (west of Etna, CA) via ~400 miles of THE BEST ROADS I know of (HWY 36 and HWY 3), with a stop at a brew pub for dinner and drinks in Etna before cruising the last 15 leisurly miles to our campsite next to a mountain river

First road of the day...the only paved section along the lost coast...not a bad view when you crest this hill, right???


For a straight couple mile section of road, not bad.




Mike taking one last look west before we headed inland for breakfast


A little sample of the good roads I was talking about

 

[DefyInertia]

Days 3 - 6 to follow

 

[Ryan T]

:thumbup:TOO COOL!!:rockon:

 

[rchamberlain]

Sweet ride. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Wavex]

I think I remember seeing a pic of this sign already, when you and John rode up there...

Very cool pics, too bad we couldn't cross path

 

[Lefty]

Nate,
Thanks for posting the pics and write up. :thumbup: I'm always envious of you guys that can take trips longer than the 3 days that I'm limited to.
P.S. Is that tread I see in the picture on your bike?

 

[Humperdinkel]

Looks great so far :thumbup: But chop chop with the rest of the pics :BLAA:

 

[DefyInertia]

DAY 3 - Woke up in the forest around 6:30 am, ended up in Portland at 9:30 pm a little over 500 miles later.

The morning started out with a few instances of fail....I left my heated grips on overnight so my battery was COMPLETELY dead to the world. The clock was not even showing on my display, fuel pump would not prime, no lights of any kind...no sign of any life.....and we were on a dirt road....heh.

Long story short, we pushed it out of the dirt to the paved road and after many attempts, got it going. The battery is still holding a charge as I write this. Needless to say, we got a later start than we had hoped, and with a 550 mile day on the agenda, we didn't take many pictures.

Name that Lake!!!


About 5 feet from the edge. It was around 40 degrees and not very sunny at about 8,000 feet (IIRC). We were glad to head back down to about 4,000 feet where it was in the high 50s.


I was not very impressed by the roads in Oregon. Not being able to pump your own gas or split lanes was also a drag...it was much colder than Cali too. However, everything was green and beautiful and the people were nice enough.

We got to my good friend's apartment in Portland, shed our gear, showered for the first time since Wednesday morning, and started partying.

DAY 4 - NO RIDING!, did some hiking in Washington state, ate and drank a lot, and went to the Portland blues festival at night. Good times with good friends.

That's Portland...and my friend that we were staying with...on the way to Washington to go hiking


"The Gorge" in Washington


Days 5 and 6 to follow

 

[Norbert]

I never knew Oregon was like New Jersey --you can't pump your own gas.

 

[Dunno]

Freakin awesome stuff mate :thumbup: Sharing a journey like that with your pals is what riding is all about.
Thanks for taking the time to document it & share with us.

 

[Motogiro]

Freakin awesome stuff mate :thumbup: Sharing a journey like that with your pals is what riding is all about.
Thanks for taking the time to document it & share with us.

+1! Thanks for the cybertour and taking us with you! :rockon:

 

[Hellgate]

So Nate, how many miles on your scooter these days?

 

[Adirondack Jack]

This is what it's all about, mate. Thanks for posting. It's past my bedtime right at the moment but I'll take my tomorrow and enjoy all the pics. Get back east and let's ride!!!!

 

[AngelFZ]

Awesome pictures and I can imagine it was an even better trip!!!! :thumbup:

Thanks for sharing,

 

[Cali rider]

Nate, just awesome stuff so far. I wish we could get our recent rides to intersect...next year for sure.

...Name that Lake!!!

Crater Lake?

 

[DefyInertia]

So Nate, how many miles on your scooter these days?

Not sure exactly b/c I ran it for a while without the speedo hooked up and I've got the 15T up front, but somewhere in the low 30s.

This is what it's all about, mate. Thanks for posting. It's past my bedtime right at the moment but I'll take my tomorrow and enjoy all the pics. Get back east and let's ride!!!!

My Mother lives near exit 16 on the northway. I really want to make sure I'm able to ride next time I'm out there visiting. Maybe I can rent a bike and just ride and ride and ride for a day or two.

Nate, just awesome stuff so far. I wish we could get our recent rides to intersect...next year for sure.


Crater Lake?

You know damn well that the feelings are mutual.

Yes, that's Crater Lake. :thumbup:

 

[VEGASRIDER]

I was not very impressed by the roads in Oregon. Not being able to pump your own gas or split lanes was also a drag...it was much colder than Cali too. However, everything was green and beautiful and the people were nice enough.

They didn't let you pump your own fuel?

When I was in Oregon during my roadtrip last month, I fueled up maybe four times in that state. Each time I prepaid but they let me pump it myself. Unlike cars, they pumped it.

 

[DefyInertia]

They didn't let you pump your own fuel?

When I was in Oregon during my roadtrip last month, I fueled up maybe four times in that state. Each time I prepaid but they let me pump it myself. Unlike cars, they pumped it.

I handed them the credit card, they punched in a code and swiped the card, they handed me the pump.

I tired to use the pump myself a couple times but it never worked...it required a code be punched in first...so I had to wait for someone to come attend to me.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

So they did let you pump it yourself. They just had to turn it on. It's better than them actually pumping fuel into your bike.

There is no self service in the state of Oregon, it's a law. But it seems that it's a standard practice to let motorcyclist pump their own fuel. Wonder why?