temp357
Well-known member
Mile 18
(for those asking why this story starts on mile 18 is because it was 18 miles to my house from the dealer)
Destination Palomar Observatory
Estimated Round Trip 320 miles give or take
Route - 405 south, 5 south, ortega, 15 south, CA 76, S6/S7/S6, CA 79 and back
Picked up the '06 FJR1300A yesterday, took the day off today…time to see what she can do. Man it's cloudy. No one told me it was going to rain. Maybe i should've checked the weather.
This bike has a lot of torque. Gotta get used to the abrutness of the throttle. My trusty BMW R1100S was a twin so I'm not used to this. The FJR sure is smooth. I can see why the MORONS at motorcycle.com call it an appliance.
Mile 30
Good thing i wore my leathers...it's getting cold. Maybe i should have worn my liners...dooooh! I have bags now, i could've put then in there. It starts sprinkling...apparently i haven't put rainx on the helmet visor in awhile. This is going to be a looooong day.
I could turn around - nah
this bike and I need to become better acquainted.
Mile 41
I hit Ortega Highway just after rush hour. For those of you not familiar with SoCal, this little stretch used to be a prime riding route until it turned into the rush hour express way. Almost impossible to pass anyone now. Construction? What construction? No one told me about any construction on Ortega! Hmm, maybe i should have checked.
Mile 54
I can't believe that truck is riding up my @ss. Can't he tell that the bike and I have just gotten acquainted? We need to take our time. Better use a turnout and let him by.
Mile 65 - Dead Man's Pass
Haven't been here in a long time. Last time i was here was with my Buddy Cola. Two squiddies passed me on the right and left at the same time through a descending apex turn. Left some pretty big skid marks in my shorts. Wish my buddy Cola was here. A few years back Cola moved to the edge of civilization in Arizona.
Suspension sure is soft and lots of nose dive in the twisties using the front brake. The old BMW didn't have this with its funky front suspension. Note to self, better stiffen the suspension up at the next stop. Better learn how to use the rear brake pretty quick. The lever is a little too high. Can't exactly get my foot on it right. Note to self, check into adjusting the rear brake lever when you get back home. Maybe if the seat was higher, my legs wouldn't be so cramped so I could get better footing on the rear brake peddle.
Near dead man’s pass is a motorcycle hangout that overlooks Lake Elsinore. And there’s a restaurant there. Should I stop for breakfast? Getting kinda hungry. Nahh, next stop Palomar. If I remember correctly there is a nice little coffee shop right up top of the mountain.
Mile 70
Why is the blinker still blinking....Doooh! Forgot to cancel it from 30 miles back. I guess i shouldn't have made fun of the person on one of the forums that was asking if the blinker was self canceling. "Yes, you have to cancel it yourself"
Wonder if i should change the oil after this ride or wait till 600 miles. Should i take it to the dealer? hmm, oil change $35, gear oil $12 - fuel injection...they probably aren't gonna check it anyway and just tell me they did.
Mile 74
Dangit, the blinker is still on again. Harley motorcycle cop - sheesh... where is evil henchmen to "smoke this dude" ? I bet the copper could show him a thing or two. Beeeeep! Argh - pressed the wrong button. The last thing i want is to draw the attention of a copper with my new bike.
Apparently not only was I not able to get used to the blinkers on the BMW, but apparently now I can't use normal blinkers now either. Better look into that mod for the self canceling blinkers. Hey I know the grammer stinks, but if you want poetry read your latest copy of motorcyclist.
Mile 85
Where did all these houses come from? They weren't out here 4 years ago. Guess that explains all of the traffic on Ortega now. It's been awhile do i get off on 79 or 76?
95? How did i end up getting up to 95mph? This bike is smooth. I can pass everyone at will with this thing. I hope the R1100S doesn't mind, she may get jealous.
Mile 90
Where's the 6th gear? I keep reaching for it. The bike has so much torque that I think I’d reach for it no matter how many gears it has.
Mile 106
I pull off onto California 76. There are houses everywhere now. Five years ago this whole area consisted of no more than ranches and avocado farms. One year as we were riding by one of the farms we stopped by the side of the road and picked up some. Since I didn’t have any luggage on my BMW my buddy Cola put it in his Honda accord…err…Goldwing. Apparently he forgot about it, because a few months later we could have still eaten it
This area sure is pretty this time of year. If I had waited any longer when summer sets in everything would be dry.
Mile 120
I passed by a little dive called Jilberto’s Taco shop and by this point I am really hungry. There was a duc sitting in front of it too. Not too may bikers out today. It’s right smack in the middle of a workday after all. I turn around and head back to the taco shop. It’s still another 25 miles or so until I hit Palomar.
Man the throttle springs are stiff…or maybe they aren’t stiff…I just had a throttle lock on my BMW and wouldn’t have noticed it. The BMW has a pretty stiff throttle spring as well. I’ll have to check and see if bob’s bmw has one of the throttle locks I can adapt for the FJR when I get back. Don’t like the idea of drilling a hole in like Fred for Vista Cruise and I’m too cheap to buy a Throttlemeister.
Mile 122
Jilberto’s Taco shop. Now this is what I call a local hangout. The guy with the duc completely ignores me until he is leaving. Won’t make eye contact. He’s driving a brand new duc and sporting brand new $2k leather suit without a mark on it. I order a #2 and chili releno. A quick pit stop before the food is ready. And good thing too. The restroom was enough to make you queasy. Nothing to heave up on an empty stomach. Let’s just say that one of the previous patrons has left a little present.
Food arrives. Tacos? I ordered Enchilada’s. Oh well, roll with the punches. I sit outside to eat. The food is good. Very good. As I’m half way through the meal, the guy with the duc gets ready to leave. Asks me if it was raining….what do I look like the weather man? You should have checked the weather before you left buddy. I say it was sprinkling a little bit, but I hope that it’s not snowing up in Palomar. I’ve been caught up there in a few freak snow storms during the summer time. He chuckles, puts in his ear plug and so ends the small talk for the day.
Next I entertain the locals as I spend 20 minutes trying to figure how to get the seat raised. Why does this thing have the extra piece of plastic for the front tongue of the seat I will never know. Doesn’t look like it should come off but it does. I also move the rear shock to hard. Let’s see if that makes any difference and conclude the entertainment for the locals for the day.
This reminds me of the time a buddy and I rode into this little dive in the middle of Wyoming. The entire place stopped to look us over in our motorcycle suits and only went back to doing what they were doing after we sat down and I ordered a steak and eggs using my thickest Missouri boatride accent.
Mile 127
Didn’t that sign say Palomar was route S6? Turn around, I just passed it. I don’t know if it’s the stiffer shock, the seat being raised, or the FJR and I becoming more acquainted, but the bike is behaving much better. Up through the twisties the bike is working grand until I grab a handful of front brake and the whole thing nose dives. Should’ve worked on the front suspension too. The BMW had an adjustment knob. I could’ve just changed it while I was riding. Guess I’ll have to adjust to using the rear brake more for now. Still don’t have a good angle on the rear brake.
Mile 135
My rear is starting to fall asleep. Danngit. I was hoping to not have to buy an aftermarket seat. Better figure this out before my long trip. After buying the BMW R1100S a few years back I went cheap and didn’t buy the after market seat until after my first trip with it. BIG mistake. After the third day the seat felt more like a broomstick up my…we’ll you get the idea. I bought a corbin as soon as I got back.
The FJR is handling beautifully now. Must be the rider. Not such a high center of gravity as compared to the BMW after all. You just have to think about it and the bike falls right into the turn. Don’t know what the people on the forum are talking about having to wrestle with the bike. But then by this point I’m trail braking with the rear brake instead of the front. Still can’t get my foot on the rear brake too well, but it’s better than messing with the suspension right now.
Somewhere around 7000ft, I pass the clouds to pure sunshine. With the sun shinning down on a sea of clouds, I have to stop for the magical moment. I realized how cold I’ve been. I’ll have to figure out if the heated grips are worth it. The windshield doesn’t do much I can tell you that; doesn’t matter if it’s in the high or low position. I almost prefer it down all the time. It’s much less turbulent that way.
I stop quickly at the restaurant up top to check on the GPS. Don’t exactly remember how to get to route 79 from here. The one restaurant is now a restaurant, general store, and another little store that sells soup.
Some guy with a mean green stops and asks if I have a tire gauge. Sorry don’t have any of my tools on this bike yet. Maybe I should grab the flat tire repair kit from the BMW and keep it with the FJR now. Hmm…
Mile 139
Palomar Observatory. Now mind you, in all the years I’ve been coming up here I have never set foot in the observatory. Other than one or two cars there is not a sole in sight. The cheese and grease must be working. I need a nap. It doesn’t help that I skipped my breakfast coffee. That’s ok, because I just arrived at the perfect spot for it. With the sun shinning and some huge trees for just the right amount of shade. I find a nice picnic table to take my nap. 10 minutes into the nap apparently all of southern California decides to show up.
MOMMY, I want to climb the tree. MOMMMMMY, what’s for lunch? MOMMY look at me in the tree. MOMMMY this and MOMMMY that…
<sigh> Guess I won’t be taking a nap after all. It’s almost 1pm. Better pack it up. I’m still not half way through the trip and I don’t want to hit Memorial Day traffic back home.
Mile 150
Palomar state park – entrance fee $6. I’ll have to pass on that one. Apparently I didn’t look at the GPS too well when Bubba asked me for the tire pressure gauge. I’ll just head back down the mountain and take the 76 to the 79. I know that part of the route since I looked it up before leaving.
Mile 170
Somewhere along the way I passed the clouds again. Surreal. Went from sunny and beautiful to cold and clammy again. Time to button up all the vents on the jacket. I would stop to close the vents on the back as well, but it’s too cold.
Turn onto S79 and by this point I’m half way there. The rest of route S79 is a breeze through some of the best in the area. No RV’s and almost no traffic. The bike has become almost second nature. The only things that will need looking into 1) seat 2) throttle lock 3) stiffen up the suspension asap and see if I can get rid of that nose dive.
Gent’s this story has gone on much longer that I thought. Let’s just say I stopped for gas and beef jerky before I hit Interstate 15 and despite all my wishes, I hit memorial day rush hour traffic on the way back and had to split lanes and suffer behind RV’s and slow pokes all the way home. What a great ride
(for those asking why this story starts on mile 18 is because it was 18 miles to my house from the dealer)
Destination Palomar Observatory
Estimated Round Trip 320 miles give or take
Route - 405 south, 5 south, ortega, 15 south, CA 76, S6/S7/S6, CA 79 and back
Picked up the '06 FJR1300A yesterday, took the day off today…time to see what she can do. Man it's cloudy. No one told me it was going to rain. Maybe i should've checked the weather.
This bike has a lot of torque. Gotta get used to the abrutness of the throttle. My trusty BMW R1100S was a twin so I'm not used to this. The FJR sure is smooth. I can see why the MORONS at motorcycle.com call it an appliance.
Mile 30
Good thing i wore my leathers...it's getting cold. Maybe i should have worn my liners...dooooh! I have bags now, i could've put then in there. It starts sprinkling...apparently i haven't put rainx on the helmet visor in awhile. This is going to be a looooong day.
I could turn around - nah
this bike and I need to become better acquainted.Mile 41
I hit Ortega Highway just after rush hour. For those of you not familiar with SoCal, this little stretch used to be a prime riding route until it turned into the rush hour express way. Almost impossible to pass anyone now. Construction? What construction? No one told me about any construction on Ortega! Hmm, maybe i should have checked.
Mile 54
I can't believe that truck is riding up my @ss. Can't he tell that the bike and I have just gotten acquainted? We need to take our time. Better use a turnout and let him by.
Mile 65 - Dead Man's Pass
Haven't been here in a long time. Last time i was here was with my Buddy Cola. Two squiddies passed me on the right and left at the same time through a descending apex turn. Left some pretty big skid marks in my shorts. Wish my buddy Cola was here. A few years back Cola moved to the edge of civilization in Arizona.
Suspension sure is soft and lots of nose dive in the twisties using the front brake. The old BMW didn't have this with its funky front suspension. Note to self, better stiffen the suspension up at the next stop. Better learn how to use the rear brake pretty quick. The lever is a little too high. Can't exactly get my foot on it right. Note to self, check into adjusting the rear brake lever when you get back home. Maybe if the seat was higher, my legs wouldn't be so cramped so I could get better footing on the rear brake peddle.
Near dead man’s pass is a motorcycle hangout that overlooks Lake Elsinore. And there’s a restaurant there. Should I stop for breakfast? Getting kinda hungry. Nahh, next stop Palomar. If I remember correctly there is a nice little coffee shop right up top of the mountain.
Mile 70
Why is the blinker still blinking....Doooh!
Forgot to cancel it from 30 miles back. I guess i shouldn't have made fun of the person on one of the forums that was asking if the blinker was self canceling. "Yes, you have to cancel it yourself" Wonder if i should change the oil after this ride or wait till 600 miles. Should i take it to the dealer? hmm, oil change $35, gear oil $12 - fuel injection...they probably aren't gonna check it anyway and just tell me they did.
Mile 74
Dangit, the blinker is still on again. Harley motorcycle cop - sheesh... where is evil henchmen to "smoke this dude" ? I bet the copper could show him a thing or two. Beeeeep! Argh - pressed the wrong button. The last thing i want is to draw the attention of a copper with my new bike.
Apparently not only was I not able to get used to the blinkers on the BMW, but apparently now I can't use normal blinkers now either. Better look into that mod for the self canceling blinkers. Hey I know the grammer stinks, but if you want poetry read your latest copy of motorcyclist.
Mile 85
Where did all these houses come from? They weren't out here 4 years ago. Guess that explains all of the traffic on Ortega now. It's been awhile do i get off on 79 or 76?
95? How did i end up getting up to 95mph? This bike is smooth. I can pass everyone at will with this thing. I hope the R1100S doesn't mind, she may get jealous.
Mile 90
Where's the 6th gear? I keep reaching for it. The bike has so much torque that I think I’d reach for it no matter how many gears it has.
Mile 106
I pull off onto California 76. There are houses everywhere now. Five years ago this whole area consisted of no more than ranches and avocado farms. One year as we were riding by one of the farms we stopped by the side of the road and picked up some. Since I didn’t have any luggage on my BMW my buddy Cola put it in his Honda accord…err…Goldwing. Apparently he forgot about it, because a few months later we could have still eaten it
This area sure is pretty this time of year. If I had waited any longer when summer sets in everything would be dry.
Mile 120
I passed by a little dive called Jilberto’s Taco shop and by this point I am really hungry. There was a duc sitting in front of it too. Not too may bikers out today. It’s right smack in the middle of a workday after all. I turn around and head back to the taco shop. It’s still another 25 miles or so until I hit Palomar.
Man the throttle springs are stiff…or maybe they aren’t stiff…I just had a throttle lock on my BMW and wouldn’t have noticed it. The BMW has a pretty stiff throttle spring as well. I’ll have to check and see if bob’s bmw has one of the throttle locks I can adapt for the FJR when I get back. Don’t like the idea of drilling a hole in like Fred for Vista Cruise and I’m too cheap to buy a Throttlemeister.
Mile 122
Jilberto’s Taco shop. Now this is what I call a local hangout. The guy with the duc completely ignores me until he is leaving. Won’t make eye contact. He’s driving a brand new duc and sporting brand new $2k leather suit without a mark on it. I order a #2 and chili releno. A quick pit stop before the food is ready. And good thing too. The restroom was enough to make you queasy. Nothing to heave up on an empty stomach. Let’s just say that one of the previous patrons has left a little present.
Food arrives. Tacos? I ordered Enchilada’s. Oh well, roll with the punches. I sit outside to eat. The food is good. Very good. As I’m half way through the meal, the guy with the duc gets ready to leave. Asks me if it was raining….what do I look like the weather man? You should have checked the weather before you left buddy. I say it was sprinkling a little bit, but I hope that it’s not snowing up in Palomar. I’ve been caught up there in a few freak snow storms during the summer time. He chuckles, puts in his ear plug and so ends the small talk for the day.
Next I entertain the locals as I spend 20 minutes trying to figure how to get the seat raised. Why does this thing have the extra piece of plastic for the front tongue of the seat I will never know. Doesn’t look like it should come off but it does. I also move the rear shock to hard. Let’s see if that makes any difference and conclude the entertainment for the locals for the day.
This reminds me of the time a buddy and I rode into this little dive in the middle of Wyoming. The entire place stopped to look us over in our motorcycle suits and only went back to doing what they were doing after we sat down and I ordered a steak and eggs using my thickest Missouri boatride accent.
Mile 127
Didn’t that sign say Palomar was route S6? Turn around, I just passed it. I don’t know if it’s the stiffer shock, the seat being raised, or the FJR and I becoming more acquainted, but the bike is behaving much better. Up through the twisties the bike is working grand until I grab a handful of front brake and the whole thing nose dives. Should’ve worked on the front suspension too. The BMW had an adjustment knob. I could’ve just changed it while I was riding. Guess I’ll have to adjust to using the rear brake more for now. Still don’t have a good angle on the rear brake.
Mile 135
My rear is starting to fall asleep. Danngit. I was hoping to not have to buy an aftermarket seat. Better figure this out before my long trip. After buying the BMW R1100S a few years back I went cheap and didn’t buy the after market seat until after my first trip with it. BIG mistake. After the third day the seat felt more like a broomstick up my…we’ll you get the idea. I bought a corbin as soon as I got back.
The FJR is handling beautifully now. Must be the rider. Not such a high center of gravity as compared to the BMW after all. You just have to think about it and the bike falls right into the turn. Don’t know what the people on the forum are talking about having to wrestle with the bike. But then by this point I’m trail braking with the rear brake instead of the front. Still can’t get my foot on the rear brake too well, but it’s better than messing with the suspension right now.
Somewhere around 7000ft, I pass the clouds to pure sunshine. With the sun shinning down on a sea of clouds, I have to stop for the magical moment. I realized how cold I’ve been. I’ll have to figure out if the heated grips are worth it. The windshield doesn’t do much I can tell you that; doesn’t matter if it’s in the high or low position. I almost prefer it down all the time. It’s much less turbulent that way.
I stop quickly at the restaurant up top to check on the GPS. Don’t exactly remember how to get to route 79 from here. The one restaurant is now a restaurant, general store, and another little store that sells soup.
Some guy with a mean green stops and asks if I have a tire gauge. Sorry don’t have any of my tools on this bike yet. Maybe I should grab the flat tire repair kit from the BMW and keep it with the FJR now. Hmm…
Mile 139
Palomar Observatory. Now mind you, in all the years I’ve been coming up here I have never set foot in the observatory. Other than one or two cars there is not a sole in sight. The cheese and grease must be working. I need a nap. It doesn’t help that I skipped my breakfast coffee. That’s ok, because I just arrived at the perfect spot for it. With the sun shinning and some huge trees for just the right amount of shade. I find a nice picnic table to take my nap. 10 minutes into the nap apparently all of southern California decides to show up.
MOMMY, I want to climb the tree. MOMMMMMY, what’s for lunch? MOMMY look at me in the tree. MOMMMY this and MOMMMY that…
<sigh> Guess I won’t be taking a nap after all. It’s almost 1pm. Better pack it up. I’m still not half way through the trip and I don’t want to hit Memorial Day traffic back home.
Mile 150
Palomar state park – entrance fee $6. I’ll have to pass on that one. Apparently I didn’t look at the GPS too well when Bubba asked me for the tire pressure gauge. I’ll just head back down the mountain and take the 76 to the 79. I know that part of the route since I looked it up before leaving.
Mile 170
Somewhere along the way I passed the clouds again. Surreal. Went from sunny and beautiful to cold and clammy again. Time to button up all the vents on the jacket. I would stop to close the vents on the back as well, but it’s too cold.
Turn onto S79 and by this point I’m half way there. The rest of route S79 is a breeze through some of the best in the area. No RV’s and almost no traffic. The bike has become almost second nature. The only things that will need looking into 1) seat 2) throttle lock 3) stiffen up the suspension asap and see if I can get rid of that nose dive.
Gent’s this story has gone on much longer that I thought. Let’s just say I stopped for gas and beef jerky before I hit Interstate 15 and despite all my wishes, I hit memorial day rush hour traffic on the way back and had to split lanes and suffer behind RV’s and slow pokes all the way home. What a great ride
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