Morro Bay and back

One of my favorite Saturday rides is to Morro Bay and back again, 300 mile round trip. I've done the ride a few times on my Savage in about 6 to 6-1/2 hours. I had not made the ride on my Honda Shadow 1100 ACE so last Saturday was my day to go for it on this bike. I was hoping to be able to knock my hours down closer to about 5 hours, knowing I could sit in the Corbin seat longer.

Saturday morning came early. We had been at friends house the night before celebrating my wife's (mumble)-th birthday. So it was after midnight when I got in bed. I had planned to leave at 7Am so I would be home around lunch time. But I kept hitting the snooze button. I didn't get up till almost 8 and wasn't on the road till 8:30. When I left the house, I was contemplating not making the ride that morning, but headed in that direction anyway, jumping on Highway 41 South. Somewhere before reaching Lemoore I made my decision to go.

The ride out was uneventful for the first 120 miles. Traffic was relatively light for a nice Saturday morning and I was making good time. I passed through Kettleman City at 9:30 and kept going. With the larger tank on this bike I'm able to make the ride through to Paso Robles without stopping for gas. Kettleman to Paso Robles is 50 miles with no gas. The Savage has a small tank and the ride from Fresno to Paso is too close a call to take the chance. I have a 2 gallon aux tank and I usually use it on the Savage when I take it on this run. With it I can easily go 200 miles without stopping for gas. But for today, I knew I could best 120 miles without hitting reserve on the Honda.

Traveling through the hills south-west of Kettleman City I experience some heavy winds. This area is known for it's high winds and dry climate. Add to that the turbulence of trucks, RV's and travel trailers and you have some fun times on a motorcycle, especially if you have on loose clothing. My leather jacket can turn into a vicious weapon in the hands of turbulent winds. I had purchased it just after Christmas, my first true motorcycle leather jacket, only to find out how unfit it was for the winds of riding. It has a zipper in the middle with a flap that folded over and snapped. In any significant turbulence those snaps would come loose and the flapping leather would proceed to inflict pain on my unprotected neck and chin. It isn't much of a problem if I'm wearing a full face helmet, but I prefer my 3/4 helmet for it's lightness and comfort. After being flailed incessantly by the spring winds, I made a trip to Walmart and purchased some Velcro squares. I put them on the collars and folds to keep the wind from (easily) tearing them loose. However, this trip was a true test of the Velcro and I have to say that my face was very happy for it.

Highway 41 merges into Highway 46 near the place that James Dean had his fateful accident. There is a marker at a rest spot near the crash site. He is not the only life that has been lost on this stretch of road. This is one of the most dangerous roads in California. One reason is that this is largest road/highway between the south part of San Joaquin Valley and the Central Coast area. There are many trucking companies that use this road to haul into the San Luis Obisbo, Monterrey, and even San Jose areas. In addition the Pismo Beach and Morro Bay areas are heavy tourist spots. It is not unusual to find many RV's, travel trailers and toy haulers on this road through out the year. With all the traffic on the road, you would think that it would be a divided highway. But, unfortunately, this is a two-lane road with the occasional passing lane. For some unseen reason, CalTrans refuses to upgrade it. So when traveling on this road, you flow with traffic and don't get in a hurry, that is, if you want to reach your destination. Fortunately, the trafic was good on the way to Paso Robles, not so on the return route.

I made it to Paso Robles in good time, turned south on the 101 and got off at the Highway 46 turn off. My trip odometer showed 120 miles and I needed gas. There are a few stations at this turnoff, my favorite of which is the Chevron with a McDonalds in it. Wishing I had time for a Sweet Tea, I filled up quick at the Chevron station and headed off down H-46 toward the Pacific Ocean. I have to tell you that this is my favorite part of the trip, and well worth the effort to get here, especially in springtime. The Highway 46 road from Paso Robles to Highway 1 is one of the most picturesque roads in California. There is a small range of hills that separate Paso Robles from the ocean. The Paso side of the hills has acre upon acre of vineyards. It competes with Napa and has quite a number of wine producers. I just love riding through the hills smelling the wonder fragrance of nature. Once your top the hills, you are treated with a gorgeous view of the coast line. From a vista at the top you can see all the way to the Morro Rock in Morro Bay. Even when the fog is heavy (which is most days) the top of the rock is usually visible from here. Today was an exceptional day with no fog limiting visibility. I just had to stop and snap a few pics with the camera on my phone. Someday I'll remember to bring a real camera with me when I ride. However, I may find myself with more pictures on my camera than miles on my odometer.



Once you top the crest of the hills, the temperature drops 10 degrees as the cold air starts coming in off the ocean. This air is denser than the area you have just ridden through and ever bit as windy. Needless to say, you must be careful. Something else to be careful of are critters. This is a non-developed area. There is a lot of wildlife here and the like to cross the road. A few cars found that out as what appeared to be some small animal ran across the road in front of them. The front car slammed on it's brakes and swerved. The rear car didn't react as fast and hit the back of the car in front. But, fortunately (for the animal) neither hit the animal running across the road. I, being prudent, was about a 1/8 of a mile back from the cars and was able to watch the show with very little avoidance necessary on my part. Always better to watch a crash than crash from not watching, I always say. Well, not always. But you get my point.

Highway 46 ends at Highway 1. This is part of the famous Pacific Coast Highway. If you head North from here you drive through some of the most beautiful coastal road in America, all the way to San Francisco. But today I'm headed south to Morro Rock. On the way there you pass through the town of Harmony, population 12. My parents have more brothers and sisters than that town has people. I've often wondered why they call the town Harmony. Obviously, they must have started with less people to come up with a name like that. It's very rare for just me and my wife to have harmony with the kids around. Then, again, well... I guess I'll that's just about all I'm going to say on the subject, because I'm already through the town before I can think any more thoughts.

Did I tell you that it drops 10 degrees when you crest the hills? Well, when you get to the ocean, it drops another 10 degrees. And, boy, is it windy. The stretch along the coast from Cayucus to Morro Rock is cold, windy, and not that fun. It opens up to a divided highway and the pace picks up. However, with the denser air, high winds and many hills, my bike was straining to just do the speed limit. It's amazing how cold this place can get. I used to surf and boogie board here when I was in college. My family lived just over the hill in Atascadero. Today I'm just wondering how in the world I did that without freezing to death. Of course, we did wear wetsuits. It makes me glad that I remembered to put on thermals for this trip. I would hate to freeze on this 10 mile stretch of road.



As I entered Morro Bay I stopped and snapped a quick picture of Morro Rock. Then I turned off onto Highway 41 and started on my return leg. I will be returning through Atascadero on the 41. This is a nice ride as well, but very curvy and slow. Once I reached Atascadero I discovered that they are widening the freeway overpass where I need to get on the 101. I had to proceed down the road and make a u-turn to get on the freeway. Traffic was heavy and it took me a good 10 minutes off of my time. Up the 101 and off at the same exit to get me a bottle of water and some beef jerky. Man shall not live by bread alone, I like beef jerky when I take a trip. Back to the 46 as fast as I can and a stop at the last gas station before Kettleman City to fill up. The wind is usually in against you on the trip back to Fresno so I wanted to make sure I had the most gas possible for this leg.

As I mentioned, the return leg on Highway 46 and 41 was slower than on the way there. Heavier and slower traffic was the norm all the way to Kettleman City. As I was nearing Kettleman, nature was calling enough that I didn't think I could make it all the way to Fresno. I had to make a pit stop. I pulled off at a Chevron that I knew had outside bathrooms that turned out to be closed for some sort of construction. I jumped back on the bike and decided I would stop down the road in Lemoore. However, the bike would not start. The starter would not crank. I check the transmission to make sure it was in neutral, verified the kickstand was up, made sure the run button was on, pushed it again and....nothing...nothing...nothing. All I could think of was that I was stuck in the "arm pit" of California on a beautiful day with a bike that won't start.

I began to tear the bike apart checking wiring, fuses, and anything that might be loose. Still no cranking in the starter. Just the occasional "click" out of about 20 pushes. I checked the lights and horn to see if the battery was run down. Everything looked OK there. Finally, I just gave up and went inside to cool down and think things through. I was fretting over what to do. I knew my wife would have no idea how to come and get me and the bike. And my brothers are impossible to reach on a Saturday. Finally, sitting in a booth sipping my McD's Sweet Tea (heavenly stuff), I hit me...just push start it! So I finished my tea, went out to the bike, threw on my gear, pushed it over to a hill, said a prayer, and ran like a crazy indian. Remarkably, the bike started the first time out, probably because it was still hot from the days running. I stopped at the bottom of the hill and made sure all my gear was tight before setting out. I knew I had just enough gas to get me home and there was no way I was going to stop till I got there. And, luckily, I did. Six hours after starting out I was back home pulling into my driveway. I turn the bike off and tried to start it. Nothing. Oh well, into the shop it goes.

Even with the difficulty's at the end it turned out to be a nice ride. I made my 300 mile journey in a decent amount of time given the stops and slow traffic. I also found my corbin seat perfectly comfortable setting me up for even longer day rides. My next trip I'm planning now is to head up the coast to Monterrey and back through Pacheco Pass, a 400 mile ride that will take about 9 hours to complete. But I am perfectly confident that I can make the trip comfortably on the Honda 1100 Ace, once I can get it started again, that is.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the pictures.

EDIT: The switch problem turned out to be a faulty starter switch (a common problem on Honda's it seems). I was able to clean and adjust the contacts on the switch and get it running again. I also ordered new switch kits for both sides since most of the handle bar switches are pretty worn out (51K).

Last summer's ride to Glacier Point, Yosemite

It's nice to live so close to the Sierra Nevada mountains, and Yosemite in particular. Yosemite is one of the most beautiful national parks to visit, the views are spectacular and easily accessible. One of the parks most spectacular views is the Glacier Point vista. It's also a wonderful ride for a motorcycle, as I found out last summer.

A couple from church, Don and Yvonne, and I had planned a Saturday ride up to Oakhurst for lunch by way of back roads through North Fork. I was excited because it would be the first ride on my heavily modified Savage. I had just purchased the Honda ACE a month earlier but was experiencing heating problems with it (which turned out to just be a bad radiator cap). So I decided to take the Savage on the ride.

The Savage had been at my parent's home where my youngest brother was doing some mods for me. I had purchased some full fenders made of fiberglass and was having problems getting the back mounted. So he modified the frame so the fender fit better, along with cutting down the seat posts to make the Harley Davidson Sportster seat fit better with the flow of the bike. He also helped me get the floorboards mounted. The bike had been out of riding shape for 4 months so I was really excited to get back on it to ride.

The Savage is a light, powerful bike. In stock form it can coaxed to pop a wheelie. Mine has an after market turnout pipe, a cone air intake, and converted from a belt drive to a chain drive with better highway gearing. It will easily cruise the freeway at 70, but still climb highway 41 to Oakhust at 65. I found no problem leaving Don's V-Star 650 in the dust. Of course, my bike weighs in at least 150 lbs less, and I was riding single to their double. My wife has yet to ride double with me and has not expressed any interest at all to any of my querries to do so. Some day I'm hoping to get her on either the back or front of one of my bikes. So far though, I've been without luck.

We meet up on a Saturday at the Starbucks at River Park and headed up the 41. We took the North Fork turnoff but saw that we were going to go through some road construction. We had to travel a 2 mile stretch of dirt road where they were reparing the old road. It was kinda fun doing a little "dirt tracking" on the Savage. The bike was holding up find and I was very pleased. The only thing not holding up well was my rear-end. Unfortunately, the HD Sporster seat was the stock one of the two sportster seats I own. It looks really good, but the padding causes my hinder parts to numb. I have a second seat with modified padding for better comfort, but had left the better looking seat on for the looks. A decision that would cause me pain and many stops for relief. I've ridden on the other seat for 2 hours without having to stop. This trip 15 minutes was a very, very long time.

Passing through North Fork we took the road to Bass Lake. We stopped there at a cabin owned by the owner of the company Don worked for. One of his coworker and her husband were staying there for the weekend. Her husband was also a motorcyclist and an owner of a HD Softtail. I was curious to see what he thought of my bike. He came directly over to it and stared it over good, asking what kind of bike it was. I asked him what he thought it was and he answered that it looked like an old Harley. Bingo! The very thing I was hoping he would say. Of course when I asked him if he knew of any singles that Harley made, he admitted he was stumped. So I told him it was a custom based on a Suzuki Savage. When he found out it wasn't a HD, he lost all interest in it.

From there we continued our ride up to Oakhurst for lunch. While we were enjoying our lunch we decided that such a nice day needed some more riding time. So Don and Yvonne suggested we ride up to Glacier Point in Yosemitee park. I hadn't been to that part of the park in several years so I was game. So we jumped on our bikes only to find out that the 4 months of inactivity had taken a toll on my battery. The Savage would not start. With no cables jumping it was out (needless to say, I now take cables with me on all trips). So we decided to push start it. It is interesting to note that hills are plentiful in the mountains. So having found a good one, we were able to push start it. That was a short trip though, because our next stop was a gas station on the other side of the street. And, yes, we had to push started it again after getting gas. Don and I were starting to get a work out, with more to come as the day went by.

We took the short ride up to the entrance to park, paid our day fare, and started toward Glacier Point. The traffic was heavy, being a nice summertime Saturday, and slow. My bike had the highway gearing on it and I was finding I had to constantly shift between 2nd and 3rd with the slower traffic. The ride took longer than we expected, but being it was such a nice day, we didn't mind much. Once we arrived at Glacier Point, I found a nice spot an the upside of the parking lot, expecting to need it for the expected push start we would have to do later. It turned out that this would be the only time it would actually start for me without pushing it. Maybe the higher altitude helped.

The view from Glacier Point is spectacular. If you are ever thinking of visiting Yosemite National Park, this is one vista you don't want to miss. The drive is a few miles off the main road from the south entrance. From this view you can see Half Dome, the whole Yosemite Valley and many of the main geological features of the park. There is also a snackbar and store if you want to get some souveniers or something to eat. Unfortunately, we were there right after a forest fire had occured just outside of the park which had disrupted the electrical power. The store had a very limited amount of "cold" drinks and food, not good on a hot day. They did have some frozen ice cream bars that were being bought up pretty fast. We were fortunate enough to get us some.

After enjoying the view we headed home. But before we left we did a few poses on a turn that allows a clear view of half dome from the road. You'll see those pictures below. The ride home was pretty uneventful, other than having to push start the Savage again in Oakhurst after getting gas. What started out as a simple lunch ride turned into an all day event. As is usually the case, I found another great place to ride in my neck of the woods. I'm planning a ride back with some more friends again this summer.

Hope you enjoy the story. I know you'll enjoy the pics....

What do you ride?

If you're here reading this, the first thing you notice is the website name, garyonasavage. This name comes from one of the bike's I own, and my first name of course, gary-on-a-savage. The savage is my 1996 Suzuki Savage. It's a 650cc, single cylinder, cruiser style bike. Suzuki is still making them today, but under the name of the S40 Boulevard. Mine bears very resemblance to it's original form. It's heavily modified with full fiberglass fenders, cut down frame at the seat, a HD Sportster seat, and new taillight and turnsignals. The belt drive has been changed to a chain drive and regeared for better highway speeds.

My other bike is a 96 Honda Shadow ACE. This one is pretty stock with the exception of the exhaust and seat, pretty much standard changes on any cruiser. I bought this year while I was working on the Savage. I hated being without a bike during the nice spring days. So when I saw this at a good price I scooped it up. It was high on the mileage, 46K when I bought it, but it's a well built design by Honda. I've already put another 5K on it with only a few of what you might call long distance trips. Most of that mileage has been just traveling to work and back.

For more pictures of my bikes, check out my BikePics pages.

To blog about motorcycle riding

This is my first time ever to blog. Although I've been involved with computers for the for the past 25 years, both consulting and programming, I've never been one to do the blog thing. Some of my fellow programmers are heavily into blogging about computers and software. Me, why would I want to write more about what I'm doing at work...don't I get enough work at work? So, if I'm going to blog, it'll be about something I want to share with others, namely my passion of motorcycle riding!

So if you find this blog by chance and are a fellow motorcycle enthusiast, welcome, and I hope you enjoy.