Reading the thread on trips to the USA as at last prompted me to write up a report of my recent trip around California on a Harley Road King. Maybe this will prompt WC to get off his arse and do something. :o) Apologies for crap fomatting but I'm using Google Groups. Day One - LA to Soshone (South of Death Valley) We picked up the bikes and, wanting to get out of LA fast, headed straight for the freeway. I had 63 miles on the clock before suburban LA was finally in the mirrors. The H-D Road King looked the part but was big & heavy (compared to my 9R, anyway!) with a very agricultural gearbox and crap brakes (the front wasn't really good enough on its own and I couldn't get used to the car-style position of the rear). We missed a couple of turnings out of LA (understandable amid the heavy traffic) and after a bit more freeway to Baker we finally get onto Hwy 127 to Shoshone. This was almost traffic free and is mostly a very clear and very straight road - time for a play... The Road King topped out at 102mph. Even though I had another two miles of straight and it was slightly downhill it just wouldn't go any more. I blame the windshield. One of the guys on a Heritage Softail saw 105+mph and reckoned on a tad more. He also managed to pulverise a rock at around the ton (he was admiring the scenery, and obvously not looking for road ornaments - later info showed that it was probably Talc, the way it disintegrated). Shoshone is a tiny town and was pretty much shut when we got there (apart from the general store) so it was a good job we had booked into the Inn in advance. We bought provisions (mainly beer) and settled in for the night, having washed away the day in the 85F pool filled from a local hot spring. Day Two - Shoshone to Bishop, via Death Valley Death Valley was amazing, the landscape is like something you see beamed back by the Mars Explorer. Two days previously there had been some storms so we had to get around some local flooding n places. It was 92F at 9.30am and was due to hit around 110F later in the day, so not too bad. We struggled to find places to stop for food & petrol once out of the valley (we specifically went to Scotty's Castle for the snack bar but that was not serving food due to "lack of demand") but leaving via a look at the Ubehebe Crater (we *had* to go, just for the name) eventually found replenishment for us and the bikes at Goldfield, although it was 30 miles out of our way. We then rode back through the Inyo Forest to Bishop. This is where we all realised that our cornering techniques on the H-Ds left a lot to be desired - no-one had had much practice on tight, slow, downhill curves on an extremely lardy bike. Bishop is only a smallish town but it just happened to be full of bikes heading up to a rally in Reno the following day. We checked into the Best Western and then did a bit of a pub crawl... Day Three - Bishop to Yosemite National Park After the heat of the previous day, the temperature plummetted as we headed up into the mountains to enter Yosemite National Park at an elevation of just under 10000 feet. I think this is the highest I have ever been without the aid of an engine and wings. I was starting to get used to the weight of the bike by then and I could concentrate on the superb scenery rather then on just riding the bike so much. We had booked a tent at Curry Village for the night and after a bit of a beery session, us five blokes snoring away obviously helped keep the bears away. Day Four - Yosemite to San Rafael (San Francisco) Now that I was comfortable with the weight of the bike and its handling (or lack thereof) I opted to lead heading out of Yosemite Valley and out through the mountains. The Road King finally managed put a smile on my face (or was it a grimace?) as I "hustled it" around the bends (having to countersteer heavily), leaving the others behind but stopping to let them catch up every few miles. This is no 'riding God' claim - two of the riders hadn't ridden regularly for a number of years, so it was to be expected. We arrived in San Francisco late afternoon and after a beer headed off to the Visitor Center (sic) to find some accommodation, only to be told that "SF is full". This was in part due to Hurrican Rita and a load of cancelled flights out, and also because it was the weekend of the "Love Parade" which we managed to not be able to avoid as we walked around. One place where we might get accommodation was in a pretty iffy part of town so we decided to pass on it and move on. Since we wanted to do some sightseeing the following day and were due to head South afterwards, we decided to head North over the Golden Gate Bridge and ended up staying overnight in San Rafael. We found a great bar with its own micro-brewery and it did indeed have a great range of beer, including a lovely 7.2% IPA. I mainly stuck on a nice Amber Ale at around 5.6% though. Day Five - San Rafael to Santa Cruz We headed back into San Francisco (back over the Golden Gate Bridge) to do the tourist thing. The plan was to ride Lombard Street ("the crookedest street in the world") and park somewhere to do the rest on foot or on the cable cars. On getting a little lost, we stopped n a residential side street to check the map where we seemed to become a tourist attraction ourselves. A friendly local (with a Heritage Softail) came to our aid and took us around SF, doing the hilly bits & Lombard Street. We managed a couple of cable car rides and settled for a cold beer in Hooter's to help us on our way. Mainly wanting to just get an hour or so South out of SF we ended up staying in a motel in Santa Cruz. An on-group apology to Muddy here for not arranging to meet up but our itinerary had changed a bit and it wasn't really on. Day Six - Santa Cruz to Buellton We headed South on Highway 1, through Monterey and stopped at Big Sur for a late breakfast of steak and eggs - I mention it because it was the best steak we had had so far (and we'd had a few). In hindsight it would have been nice to head inland for a while and explore the forest but we pushed on South. The scenery was superb (only the Great Ocean Road in Oz would rival it) with the weather warm enough to be pleasant enough to ride with an open jacket over a t-shirt and cool enough to not be oppressive. We ended up stopping in Buellton, where a local bar had "Happy Hour" (/pint) which lasted "until half time in the football" and a barbecue run by a spaced out ex-USAF guy who supported Ipswich Town on account of his time stationed in Suffolk. Anyway, that was us sorted for refreshments... Day Seven - Buellton to LA In the morning we headed North for a few miles to pick up Hwy 154 - a nice scenic and more inland route to get us to Santa Barbera. Coming down from the mountains we could see a sea of fog over Santa Barbera although we were a good few hundred feet above it. It was a very surreal view, from a motorbike at least. We mainly kept on Highway 1 where possible but it peters out for a bit and we had to use I-101 for a while, but then back on the 1 (Ventura freeway) to Ventura (for lunch) and finally down through Santa Monica and Malibu before getting back to LA. We rode for a bit around LA to do "the strip", Beverly Hills and to see the Hollywood sign up close. This was the first and only time that I took Paul (our "support vehicle" (aka luggage carrier) driver as he doesn't have a bike licence) on the back. I didn't think that a pillion would make a great deal of difference on the Harley but I was in for a bit of a shock. It raised the CofG just enough that all the weight of the bike became even more noticeable. Add to this that it was coming up to rush hour and the constant stop/start of traffic lights and four-way stops became a pain - literally. It took two days for my hands and arms to feel normal, but my biceps have improved! As I said when we got back to the motel: "I'm glad we did what we just did, but I never want to do it again" So, in conclusion, if you fancy a USA road trip like this then doing it on a Harley is a great way to do it and it was truly a great experience. I wouldn't buy one, though. Photos at [URL]http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/1917340[/URL]
