West Coast Ride

[FJR KEITH]

Leaving in the morning for the West Coast. Plan to do an Iron Butt tomorrow. My wife wants to ride Hwy 1 up the coast. I know California is famos for bad traffic. We will be coming in from the Vegas area. I would welcome any suggestions as to best route.
 
I would be interested is hearing any suggestions as to what to see, do, etc. We only have 13 days so our time will be limited.
We won't be riding the FJR on this trip but the Wing Instead pulling a trailer. We have wanted to do this trip for a long time but, my wife can not be away from her job for a long time.
 
Thanks for your help,
 
Keith

 

[DrWing]

Sounds like a good idea.

IMHO you might consider......Hwy 15 to Hwy 58 to Bakersfield....hwy 58 to Santa Margarita. South on Hwy 101 to SLO.....Hwy 1 to Morro Bay....Hwy 1 north. There are many ways to see the coast. Have a great time and watch your 6.

 

[bgross]

If your goal is to get from Lost Wages to the coast and you want to avoid Lost Angeles (trust me, you DO want to avoid L.A.), it's pretty simple:

As you leave L.V., punch "San Luis Obispo" into your GPS. It will likely route you south on I-15 to Beautiful Downtown Barstow. There you'll transition to Hwy 58. That'll take you all the way across the state - through desert, hills, and mountains - to the Blue Pacific.

About 400 miles, 8 hours plus stops.

Without. Ever. Going. Near. L. A.

Have a great trip, and welcome to California!

 

[supertankerm60a3]

58 over the coast range is great. if you go up 1 from Morro Bay I recommend detouring up "Old Creek Rd" then take 46 back to 1... unless you want a real CHALLENGE , then from Old Creek, just go straight over 46 and continue on Santa Rosa Creek. Both SRC and 46/1 will get you to Cambria but SRC will get you there with a few new stories. If you go up past Ragged point I would also recommend a short run up Nacimiento Ferguson just for the view and a few pictures. Be careful though SRD and N/F are tight steep and rough. Other tight roads are See canyon to Perfumo canyon these two connect San Luis Bay drive to Los Osos Valley rd.

I hope you have a great time. PM me when you will be in the area.

 

[James Burleigh]

You could also head north on 395 and cross over one of the Sierra Nevada passes, perhaps into Yosemite, then drop down Hwy 1 from the North. Anyway, if you're gonna be in the San Francisco Bay Area, let us know. Maybe we can show you some local sights, like the ones you see in this vid I put together to promote a ride once upon a time:

https://youtu.be/Nmd_Cy-Ccw0

 

[dj bill]

I think if you ride around the block till you hit a thou,thats bad ass !

 

[fjrbird]

Google "ride Big Sur" will turn up lot of report, esp. one from pasnit. Basically it's beautiful Califorina gold coast from Morro Bay all the way to Monterey. 120 miles but would take few hours to a whole day if you plan taking lots of photos, few stops here and there. I would recommend starting from the North like city of Monterey and riding down south along Hwy 1. It's much better than riding from the south. Have a great trip.

 

[Tyler]

Leaving in the morning for the West Coast.

Posted on 8/27... they left on 8/28 so are already about 6 days into the trip... not sure where they are now so difficult to give advice... Hwy 1 on a weekday should be good unless it was today, the end of Labor Day weekend... then it would suck... hope wherever you are, you're having a great time! B)

 

[McRide]

Aside from the gorgeous scenery, consider a whole day on PCH so you have time to stop and see the sights. Stop at Hearst Castle at San Simeon (about a 4 hour guided tour), Ragged Point is a good food and fuel stop plus lots of Euros will be stopped there on their rented bikes, very friendly folks and interested about learning the local knowledge, Falls at Pifeffer Sate Park. Not to be missed (and little known, you'll have it to yourself).... take Namiecento-Ferguson road up a few turns, perhaps 1/2 mile and get the full north-south breadth of PCH.

 

[SoCalFJR1300]

If your coming West on the 15 take the 138 in the CAJON PASS to the California Crest Highway 2.

It's about 65 miles of twistys (not tight) though scenic forest and you can stop halfway at NEWCOMBS RANCH for a break. No gas there so might want to gas up at the intersection of the 15 and 138.

From there you can take the 5 to FRAZIER PARK and catch CERRO NORESTE and go over Pine Mountain.

Take the 166 to the 58 from there and it will take you near the coast and Highway 1 near SANTA MARGARITA and the 101.

This way you avoid a lot of boring slab.