Got in some riding before the winter chill hits.
God there must be depression/Recession, perfect weather & very
few bikes on the road.
okay.......
I got out of LA on Friday at mid day, & ran up the 5, & the 99 &
finally the 80 east to Newcastle for a 2 day partay.
Saturday, a gang of us scooter hounds ran up the mountain ,over to the red dirt saloon for some breakfast.
After filling Our guts, We headed back down the hills for a metal spinning demo by an old master, Al's metal spinning.
After Al's We sputtered over to Roseville & hung out at Executive choppers. Bill was one of the two guys who designed & built the
famous harmon front ends decades ago. & Yes They are producing them again, (I actually own one of them).
Then we rode back to the party headquaters to make sure the Keg was not getting lonely, & started up the fire pit & got ready to grind on a home made mexican feast.
Lucy & Her Kawi twin^^^^^^
Sunday morning I bailed for old sacramento & hung out at front street & picked up my leather jacket after having a new YKK zipper installed free of charge. (long story).
Then rolled south to Oakdale & hung out at my bud Mike's huge ranch, & jelled out to BBQ'd steaks & old clint spaghetti westerns. & a hot shower.
Mike the filthy rich cattle tycoon^^^^
Me navigating Horse pie's^^^
Monday morning after bacon & eggs I packed
& headed east on the 120 to the 108 over to
sonora, & gassed up the tanks.
I then continued east on the 108 up into the
high country. It was very quiet up there & at times
it felt like I was the only one on this road.
the Weather was about as good as it gets,
although quite chilly as I got up to the summit
at sonora pass.
My 93" Pan with It's S&S E Carb (jetted at sea level)
was not digging the thin air up there in the 9,000+ ft
elevation......here's my 1st ever attempt at a home
video while riding. this is on the west side of sonora pass
note: the camera was just resting
inside my jacket with the lens peeking out between
the zipper.......
[img]
CLICK on photo for VIDEO^
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e233/ ... 0_1010.jpg[/img]
Heading down the mountain on hwy 108 leading to hwy 395
Upon reaching hwy 395, I make it a mission
to get to Bridgeport for some grub because I'm
getting mighty hungry!, & those 3.5 gal. tanks
are running low as well.
after a quick meal I head further south & decide to
take a nice long break at virginia lakes, a couple
of alpine lakes that I have fished before, & really like.
Imanaged to bottom out my springer forks numerous
times on the rutted out dirt road that leads
up to the lakes. As I pulled my scooter up within
20' of the lake, It didn't take me long to stretch
out on a nice wooden picknic table & rest up
awhile. It was really peaceful there & not a soul
around.
Okay enough of this lounging around, It's getting late & shit It's cold!
I rambled back down the bumpy ass dirt road back down to hwy 395
& continued my journey south down into the Mono Basin, along the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevadas.
warmer temps feeling good as I cruise it south through Lee Vining.
I decide to search for a place to set up camp for the night.
Although the weather is very mild, It is November, & in California
just about all campgrounds in the Sierras are shut down in late
October.
So I pull off of the highway on to a dirt road just
north of Dead Man Summit & decide to offroad it into the sticks
because I dont need any hassles by the Badge Boys.
A Fire would have been nice, But the entire area was a
thick bed of pine needles. Perfect for laying out a
sleeping bag though.
After checking the place out to make sure that there
weren't any Bear caves near by, etc. with my 6" Buck
on my side, I grabbed my Tequila flask & trusty Ipod &
jelled out to some tunes.
It was a chilly night due to the elevation being around 6,000ft
level. as soon as the Sun went down, Up popped the Moon, & It
was about 90% full as It illuminated the tall pines in all their glory.
Okay, It's day Five of my autumn ride & I was glad that I
didn't get eaten by any hungry Bears looking to fatten up
before winter chill sets in.
First thing I do.......well....Make that the 2nd thing I do....
I grab my bag with the backpack stove, etc. & look for a spot
to make some hot coffee.
I found a good size patch of snow that was remnants
from the storm that had passed through this area
recently & set the stove right on top of it.
Much better than thick pine needles!
after Coffee I packed it up & got out of there, &
the only thing I left behind were foot prints, & a trail
from my 5'00x16 Firestone.
It was a gorgeous day out & as I motored south
on my way to Mammoth Lakes to Fuel up,
I snapped this photo
After gassing up I peeled southward on 395 & was amazed
as I was the previous day of the lack of people on the
road, Cars or Bikes. I felt as though I owned the road.
I passed through Bishop, & Bigpine, & Independense. I can not pass through
this Town without thinking of 'Ol Charlie (Manson).
Okay.......I figure If I top off the 3.5gallon bobs in
Big Pine, I can get to Mojave without ending
up on the side of the road with a siphon tube in hand.
So I pull off in Lone Pine for Gas & a cup of Java.
After peeling out, I proceed to
hammer it out through the desolate & dry
stretches of land that include tiny townships
such as Cartago, & Olancha. I fly through the
Red Rock Canyon area, & Jawbone canyon, & pull
over to check the tanks at the Jawbone canyon store
just south of the canyon. I pump a few bucks
worth into the almost dry tanks.
& decide what's the hurry? So.....I decide to kick it for
a spell, & grab some grub, & a cold beer & bask in
the sunshine in the outdoor patio, As I remember back
to the days when I used to do alot of desert riding in this
region. I was tempted to ride back through the canyon
& get a glimpe of Widowmaker (Knarliest hillclimb at Jawbone).
The rest of the trip through Mojave, Lancaster, & onto L.A.
is somewhat unappealing, especially after a few days of riding
through Gold country, & the Sierras, So I forge ahead in hopes of
avoiding most of the Tuesday evening traffic.
Riding through the Vasquez Rocks area It becomes apparent
that my Panhead motor is getting very loud!!
I glance down & the rear exhaust pipe
is about to fall off! Bollocks!
I pull over & dig out the tool bag, & grab the bailing
wire & jerry rig the exhaust that had broke at
the weld where pipe meets cylinder head.
why did the weld break?
the lower mounting bolt located near the tail
section had vibrated off of the bike &
therefore the only support was at the cyl. head.
which finally failed.
after rigging the pipe with bailing wire, I bailed out
of there & chugged towards the South Bay, &
the final 20 miles of splitting lanes on the 405 was sending
Me a message loud & clear that I was indeed Home.
my trip-o-meter showed total mileage at 1236 miles.
