Bugnatr
Well-known member
As most of you know Richard has one of the new 13's so when he posted up his tech day/open house I decided I needed to check out this bike and meet many of the SoCal forum members for the first time. With Northern Ca having record breaking rainfall it was really up to the weather if I would go.
It's 460 miles interstate miles from my house to Fairlaners. That's Babyshit easy, so with having a good time and a couple extra days I planed a route that would keep me dry out in the deserts of south eastern Ca where I could ride Joshua Tree Nat. Park and loop south through Palm Desert and the Ortega Highway on my way to the open house.
OK it seems we have a theme here for both Thursday start at home and Friday from Ridgecrest, nice toasty riding temperature. This would be the first real chilly ride on my Wing that replaced my totaled 04 Feejeer. Heated seats and grips were a welcomed friend on this ride.
Jack was dressed to go.
After 300 miles of Hwy 99 I finally get to turn left on Hwy 155 east toward lake Isabella and the dry Mojave Desert beyond. This was a really fun swoopy road through the foothills but having never been on this road I was hoping there would be no high elevation pass-wrong.
Started to see the white death as I passed climbed up to what ended up being Greenhorn Pass at 6,102 feet. About the 5,000 foot level the road became packed snow and ice but thanks to the Kern County road dept. and their heavy sanding I was able to let the 100+ lbs of torque flat 6 motor propel the wing up and down snow covered grades of up to 13 %. It was a section of road that I averaged between 10-20 mph, perhaps the hardest part was remembering to breathe regular.
After the pass I was rewarded with this nice view toward the desert.
It was a bit chilly down in the desert at 4pm but in an hour I would be at the hotel in beautiful Ridgecrest, Ca just outside China Lake Navel Weapons Station. It was warm and dry in my room and that was just fine after a chilly ride. Tomorrow would bring a 3 hour ride down to Joshua Tree Park.
This would be my first ride through the Park from the north to the south direction. Joshua Trees were named by the early Morman pioneers but they are in the Lilly family of plants. Part of what makes the park so unique is that half way through, the park transitions from a Mojave desert to a warmer, dryer Colorado Desert.
Plenty of cactus to to look at along the way...
After leaving the park with it's slow 40 mph roads and crossing the I- 10 freeway into Box Canyon it was time to have some fun. This is a great road with the Smoke trees and some spirited riding before heading into the Palm desert area. Those 65 degree temps had me pealing some layers before getting to town.
Saturday morning plan was to ride Highway 74 over to the coast and to Richards for pizza at 12:30. Hwy 74 from Palm Desert has a great twisty climb and then this...more damn snow here too.
Lucky for me the road did not climb that high but it did stay chilly at 34 for quite some time. This area of southern Ca was much like our eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mts.
Finally I see what looks like the TV version of southern California. Palm trees and red tile roofs.
I stopped for a view of Lake Elsinore before my first ride across the well know Ortega Highway. "Well known for squids on 2 and 4 wheels" and I had been warned to stay right - stay alive. No doubt being a Saturday morning was not the most ideal time but other than a few rocky racers in cages I let around me it was a nice ride
As promised Richard had Pizza and lots of FJR types around to handle any high tech drinking problems. I had fun meeting the SoCal gang. Putting faces to names is always an adventure plus Trent let me take his new 1600 Beemer for a spin around the block. I really should have gone several hundred miles for a proper evaluation but it was meeting and visiting with the all the great people that made the day.
No doubt our resident Tubro Dave had the most well equipped LD FJR in the group. It was great to see him again, last time was a few years back when I bumped into him at Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley.
Richard was kind enough to let me crash on his couch so it was time to have a few adult beverages and enjoy dinner at Tony Rama's down the street followed up by eating Duff's birthday cake that FJRchick bought to Richards. A good time(and a few more beverages) was had by all who were able to hang out at Richards. Johnny 80's and I did have a snore off during the night but it's still unclear who won.
Sunday morning was time to don the rain gear in preparation for a 460 mile ride up interstates 5 and 80 toward home. Rain was a waiting my return to Northern Ca. I should interject on Friday evening while checking the forecast for the LA basin there was a special weather alert from NOAA. It warned of up to .15 inches of rain expected Saturday night.
.15 ?? Are you people brave or what. I was rolling in laughter, we get that in 15 minutes up north.
Well Sunday's ride home included a monster tail wind which allowed the Hippo to get over 40 mpg at 80 mph -nice. Then about 3 hours from home the heavens opened up and I was able to discover what the wing could do in the wet. I believe I named the Hippo quite appropirately as this bike handled the wind and rain with ease. The drive in movie screen size front end kept me sheltered (somewhat) from the monsoon rain and the 900# girth keep it stuck to the road through Lake Erie size puddles on the freeway. Cruising at 70 was cake and in the 45 degree temps the heated grips were my friend.
It was a nice 1,475 mile 4 winter days ride. Doug
It's 460 miles interstate miles from my house to Fairlaners. That's Babyshit easy, so with having a good time and a couple extra days I planed a route that would keep me dry out in the deserts of south eastern Ca where I could ride Joshua Tree Nat. Park and loop south through Palm Desert and the Ortega Highway on my way to the open house.
OK it seems we have a theme here for both Thursday start at home and Friday from Ridgecrest, nice toasty riding temperature. This would be the first real chilly ride on my Wing that replaced my totaled 04 Feejeer. Heated seats and grips were a welcomed friend on this ride.
Jack was dressed to go.
After 300 miles of Hwy 99 I finally get to turn left on Hwy 155 east toward lake Isabella and the dry Mojave Desert beyond. This was a really fun swoopy road through the foothills but having never been on this road I was hoping there would be no high elevation pass-wrong.
Started to see the white death as I passed climbed up to what ended up being Greenhorn Pass at 6,102 feet. About the 5,000 foot level the road became packed snow and ice but thanks to the Kern County road dept. and their heavy sanding I was able to let the 100+ lbs of torque flat 6 motor propel the wing up and down snow covered grades of up to 13 %. It was a section of road that I averaged between 10-20 mph, perhaps the hardest part was remembering to breathe regular.
After the pass I was rewarded with this nice view toward the desert.
It was a bit chilly down in the desert at 4pm but in an hour I would be at the hotel in beautiful Ridgecrest, Ca just outside China Lake Navel Weapons Station. It was warm and dry in my room and that was just fine after a chilly ride. Tomorrow would bring a 3 hour ride down to Joshua Tree Park.
This would be my first ride through the Park from the north to the south direction. Joshua Trees were named by the early Morman pioneers but they are in the Lilly family of plants. Part of what makes the park so unique is that half way through, the park transitions from a Mojave desert to a warmer, dryer Colorado Desert.
Plenty of cactus to to look at along the way...
After leaving the park with it's slow 40 mph roads and crossing the I- 10 freeway into Box Canyon it was time to have some fun. This is a great road with the Smoke trees and some spirited riding before heading into the Palm desert area. Those 65 degree temps had me pealing some layers before getting to town.
Saturday morning plan was to ride Highway 74 over to the coast and to Richards for pizza at 12:30. Hwy 74 from Palm Desert has a great twisty climb and then this...more damn snow here too.
Lucky for me the road did not climb that high but it did stay chilly at 34 for quite some time. This area of southern Ca was much like our eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mts.
Finally I see what looks like the TV version of southern California. Palm trees and red tile roofs.
I stopped for a view of Lake Elsinore before my first ride across the well know Ortega Highway. "Well known for squids on 2 and 4 wheels" and I had been warned to stay right - stay alive. No doubt being a Saturday morning was not the most ideal time but other than a few rocky racers in cages I let around me it was a nice ride
As promised Richard had Pizza and lots of FJR types around to handle any high tech drinking problems. I had fun meeting the SoCal gang. Putting faces to names is always an adventure plus Trent let me take his new 1600 Beemer for a spin around the block. I really should have gone several hundred miles for a proper evaluation but it was meeting and visiting with the all the great people that made the day.
No doubt our resident Tubro Dave had the most well equipped LD FJR in the group. It was great to see him again, last time was a few years back when I bumped into him at Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley.
Richard was kind enough to let me crash on his couch so it was time to have a few adult beverages and enjoy dinner at Tony Rama's down the street followed up by eating Duff's birthday cake that FJRchick bought to Richards. A good time(and a few more beverages) was had by all who were able to hang out at Richards. Johnny 80's and I did have a snore off during the night but it's still unclear who won.
Sunday morning was time to don the rain gear in preparation for a 460 mile ride up interstates 5 and 80 toward home. Rain was a waiting my return to Northern Ca. I should interject on Friday evening while checking the forecast for the LA basin there was a special weather alert from NOAA. It warned of up to .15 inches of rain expected Saturday night.
.15 ?? Are you people brave or what. I was rolling in laughter, we get that in 15 minutes up north.
Well Sunday's ride home included a monster tail wind which allowed the Hippo to get over 40 mpg at 80 mph -nice. Then about 3 hours from home the heavens opened up and I was able to discover what the wing could do in the wet. I believe I named the Hippo quite appropirately as this bike handled the wind and rain with ease. The drive in movie screen size front end kept me sheltered (somewhat) from the monsoon rain and the 900# girth keep it stuck to the road through Lake Erie size puddles on the freeway. Cruising at 70 was cake and in the 45 degree temps the heated grips were my friend.
It was a nice 1,475 mile 4 winter days ride. Doug
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Sounds like you and Hilda are getting along quite nicely... B) 
