Ride to Julian, CA

I have been pretty busy with work lately so I have not had too many chances to ride. One of the rides I have gone on was to Julian, CA. I took some friends out there because one of them wanted to try out a Buell Blast. She was riding a Yamaha VStar, but it was too heavy of a bike for her. Her husband is still riding one of the two VStars that they bought and she is on a Blast that she found on eBay.

The bike that she bought was from another state and they are importing it into CA. As they go through the process I will get the info from them and post a quick how-to.

Anyway, we rode out to Temecula Harley and from there headed out to Julian. If you are in that area you really should check it out, it is beautiful. One word of caution, there are CHP officers and Sheriff's Deputys everywhere!






The roads were pretty fun with nothing too technical. Great place for new riders to get used to riding twisties. There are no large groups of people speeding down these roads, so my friends were able to enjoy themselves.

BTW, Julian is famous for apple pie, so you might want to save some room. ;-)

Here is the map:


View Larger Map

Jumping the Santa Monica Pier

RedBull is sponsoring a rider to jump the ferris wheel at the Santa Monica peer. The jump is supposed to happen at 7PM Friday July, 11 2008 which is tomorrow. I am going to try to make it. If I do I will take some photos.

Here is the video from the RedBull site:

V-Twin Meetups

We have a new meetup group that is for Sport-Twins. There are tons of groups for 4 bangers and Harleys, and even for Ducati's, but the rest of us get left out. So far everyone that I have met is pretty cool. We have 3 Buell, 1 Aprilia, and 1 Ducati in the group. There are other members, but these are the only ones I have met.

Anyway, I have noticed something about Sport-Twin riders, we all get a long and don't have an elitist attitude. Not to say that all others do, or that some of us don't, it is just an observation. Well, due to the bike feeling like it is slipping on me I had to opt out of a great ride this past weekend lead by Ray on his Aprilia. Hopefully I will be back in the saddle this weekend.

It sucks having only one bike. I may get a Blast or similar to tool around on when my Uly is getting worked on.

Doing a little catching up

I was tired of my 1203 Harley engine sounding like a sewing machine so I put on a new exhaust. I purchased a Jardine RT1 from my local Harley / Buell dealer. They installed it, and the next day I rode out to the race track to watch Higbee and Dixon battle it out in Willow Springs.

Oh, the power!!! The beast has been released. Never mind the awesome sound, I have a lot more noticeable power! I also added the K&N air filter to allow it to breath. Man, it is a whole new bike. I can't wait for them to come out with an 08 race ECM. This bike is so much fun and I love riding it.

I did have some small issues recently that has caused me to lose confidence with my machine. I am taking it in to get looked at before I get back on the road.

What am I going to do next to the bike? Paint it. I will post a poll to see what people think. I am leaning towards a matte black with spot gloss Harley orange racing stripes down the middle.

Since I have disconnected the actuator cable...

Since I have disconnected the actuator cable to the exhaust on my XB12X the bike has been running great. I was on one of the Buell forums someone corrected me on the default position of the valve in the exhaust. It fails shut which forces the exhaust gases to pass through the entire can before exiting.

The bike seems to run better in this configuration. I have enjoyed consistent power with no delays. Really makes things nice in the canyons. There has been one thing that has been bothering me though; the bike feels like it has more power hidden in its guts.

Ride to Willow on Sunday

We will be meeting at Glendale HD - Buell to ride out to Willow Springs. They are in the first race of the day and finish at race 5 so we will need to leave by 7:30AM. I think we will take two routes out there. One over the crest for the adventurous, and one via freeway for everyone else. On the way back we will all take the canyons. Let me know if you have any questions.

motocaliblog@gmail.com

WSMC Club Races

So, here is a taste of what to expect at Willow Springs this month.




Music by Nine Inch Nails from their new album.
Album: "The Slip"
Song: "1,000,000"

Tis the season for Motorcycle Events

Well, summer is here and there are a ton of events going on everywhere. If you know of any events going on let me know. I will post them to the Events Calendar. You can email them to me at motocaliblog@gmail.com. I have also added some stuff. The LA Calendar Bike Show in July looks like a lot of fun. If I have my new exhaust by then, I may participate in the Dyno Shootout.

Sport Twins

So I met a guy (Duncan) who is organizing a bunch of sport twins for rides. I will start posting the ride info on the calendar, and I am trying to get him to add to the calendar as well. There is a lot of stuff starting to kick off now that summer is upon us. Hope to see you out there. Let me know if you have anything going on.

Another nice ride up the canyon

We went up Angeles Crest today. Was really nice. Not a lot of traffic, surprising for a Saturday. Headed up to Newcombs ranch and stopped off for a bite to eat and some coffee. We kept going up the mountain for another 5 miles or so and turned around.

I bought a new Shoei Hornet DS in matte black. It is the most comfortable helmet I have ever owned. I am particularly falling in love with the visor. It keeps the sun out of my face and my eyes don't end up getting fatigued. The shield on the front sweeps pretty wide and I have full peripheral vision. It is also the right fit for my head shape. Kind of looks like a fighter pilot's helmet.

Conti Road Attacks & the Buell XB12X

I really do like the Conti Road Attacks on my bike. I had my Buell XB12X, which is a dual sport bike that sits pretty high, leaned over to the point of scraping my peg in a turn. We came up on a decreasing radius turn and I had to lean it over pretty far. I started to fight to keep the tires from touching the double yellow and quickly realized that the bike and my new rubber needed no convincing. As my foot started contacting the pavement I thought, "man, I am really leaned over." As I pulled out of that turn I had another and the bike performed with grace. I started replaying the turn in my head and realized the tires really did a great job of gripping the pavement. I could not feel any slip at all.

Of course the tires weren't the only thing keeping me from spilling it. A lot has to do with my confidence on that particular bike, and the bike itself. I have been really satisfied with my Buell and I would purchase another one in a heartbeat. Thanks goes to my brother for turning me on to this bike. I have been enjoying the hell out of it and don't think I will ever sell it.

Conti Road Attacks

I just had Glendale HD / Buell put on my new set of Continental Road Attacks. In the short ride back home from the dealership I found that the bike handled pretty nicely. I'm gonna take it into the canyons tomorrow morning to see how they do in the twisties.

Oh, and I love the tread pattern!

Buell 1125R

I got a chance to test ride an 1125R today while I was waiting for the dealer to put on my new tires. I only got to ride the bike for about 15 miles, so I really can't give it a full review. I am going to schedule a longer ride for some time in the next couple weeks.

My initial observations

Very smooth - You barely feel the bike idling between your legs.

Very light - I think it weighs somewhere around 375 lbs, but actually feels like 325.

Corners nicely - The bike felt very stable, and it didn't take much convincing to get it to turn.

Smooth gearbox - When shifting, the gears were very smooth.

Vibrations in handlebars - Although the bike was smooth, there was some vibration in the handlebars. Some end bar weights should take care of it though.

Heat - There seemed to be some significant heat coming off of the bike, of course that could have something to do with the 95+ degree weather today.

I can't wait to get it into the canyons!

Editing Software Crashing

Sorry for the delay on the video. I have been working nonstop for the past few weeks and have finally found some downtime to work on the video. Now both iMovie and Final Cut are giving me problems, which leads me to believe the issue it with my hardware. Once I get it sorted out I will post them. What I have been able to edit so far looks pretty cool.

Sunday at the track

The track was fun as usual. I had four bikes ride over Angeles Crest with me. We talked about riding techniques and headed up the canyon with no issues. Once we were at the track our hosts, Glendale Harley-Davidson / Buell, were already set up and waiting for their race. Unfortunately, Patrick was not able to race due to a crash the week prior. Apparently he was knocked out by someone else with a few laps remaining. He was still awarded 2nd place despite not being able to finish the race.

Jeff "Slipp" Dixon didn't get much of a chance to run on Sunday. His RR was being worked on so he rode Patrick's XB12R. There was some mechanical issues with the bike that Ernie was able to sort out before the second race, but by lap four or five the bike started experiencing issues. Hopefully Jeff's RR will be ready to go next weekend for the Pro races (check the event calendar).

On the other hand, Buell had a great day. Shawn Higbee rode the new 1125R for Bartel's, pretty much stock, and did a great job. I have some video that hopefully turned out. I have not had a chance to look at it yet, but will try to get around to in the next couple days. I think with a little modification that bike it will be a rocket. BTW, Shawn is a professional racer so he had a skill advantage over the rest of the field.

Ride to Willow on Sunday

We will be meeting at the Shell gas station in La Canada at 8AM on Sunday and heading out at 8:30AM. Make sure to check your tire pressure before you head out (it should be checked cold). We will be going through some twisty canyon roads. Depending on the skills of the group we may split up into two different groups up to the coffee point. I will probably have a couple people coming with me that will lead the route up to the coffee point for the faster riders. Depending on our time we may stop or keep going through. From there it is pretty easy sailing.

Here is the link to the map :

http://motocaliblog.googlepages.com/ridetowillowsprings

The cost to get into the track is $10. I just talked to Ernie Snair and he is going to swing a few passes to get in. Glendale Harley-Davidson / Buell will of course be catering lunch at the track. This is a lot of fun and it looks like the weather will be nice this weekend, 63 and sunny.

Email me if you have any questions. motocaliblog@gmail.com

Races This Weekend

FYI, there are some races going on at Willow Springs this weekend. I will be out of town and will not be able to make it. I have someone taking photos and notes on the race for me. I will post the info as soon as I get it.

I will be organizing a ride out to Willow next weekend (Sunday April 20th) over Angeles Crest. We will be stopping for coffee and breakfast for about an hour or so on The Crest, and continuing on to Willow for the races. There will be food and drinks provided by the Glendale team for lunch. Email me at motocaliblog@gmail.com if you are interested in joining. I will post the meeting point and route next week.

Request for video / pics

I got a request for some pics on the mod I did to my bike regarding the performance. I will work to get a video or some pics up on the mod. I will also explain what is going on in a little more detail when I get it all together.

To answer your question I don't think it will hurt anything at all. When you put on one of the after-market exhausts you actually disconnect that actuator cable and remove it from the bike. The control unit on the airbox cover is still there and in operation but with nothing to manipulate. I would assume that if this mod has some sort of longterm effect on the bike you would have the same problem with an after market exhaust as well.

I ran in the canyons with my Ducati friends and the bike was a lot more responsive than it was prior to the mod. I think the next thing in line will be a K&N air cleaner kit from AmericanSportBike.

Calendar of Events

By linking to this post you will be able to see the calendar. I will repost the calendar as new items are added. Let me know if you want your event added to the calendar.

Buell XB12X Ulysses Performance Mod

Ever since I purchased my 08 XB12X from Glendale HD / Buell I noticed that there was a slight delay when getting on the throttle. I talked some other folks that had test rode them as well, including the new XT, who experienced the same issue. Still, the bike had tons of power so I really didn't think much of it and put over 6K miles on it.

After some talks with my Buell experts, Josh and Ernie, and some analysis of the service manual I discovered that the exhaust might be the problem. When the bike is cold the actuator in the exhaust system is closed off. Once the bike is up to temp it opens up a little, and when applying throttle it will open even more. I noticed that I had to bury the throttle in order to get the exhaust to open up.

I theorized that if I could force the actuator to stay in the open position the bike would respond better and I wouldn't need to buy an after market exhaust. After all, the bike has plenty of juice, I just need to get past the delay in power.

I disconnected the actuator cable from the regulator on top of the air box. The actuator is spring loaded so it failed into the open position. I thought to myself, "that was too easy." I started the bike up cold. Immediately I noticed the bike sounded more "Harley-Davidson" at idle. I grabbed throttle and wrenched down on it to discover there was no delay or sputtering (something that occurs when the Buell is cold)!

I rode around town for about 10 mins with a huge grin on my face. I had to get on the highway so I headed west towards Angeles Crest HWY. The sun was still up so I headed up the mountain. I was able to let the bike run lower in the RPM's and when I buried the throttle I got immediate response. I rode back home and was absolutely satisfied with my discovery.

More Power?

I am sure that the Drummer, SpecOps, and Jardine pipes will give you some extra power but I am not sure there will be such an extreme difference. Another thing to consider is your neighbors and local laws. If noise will land you in trouble you may want to try my mod before you buy an after market exhaust. You will see immediate improvement in power and response without causing or getting into trouble. Those of you in countries like Germany may want to consider this before anything else.

This cost me absolutely nothing to do (maybe 10 mins) and I am floored by the improvement. I am going to look into getting some Dyno tests done to show the differences. If anyone has any info on that please post a comment. I have never had one done and don't know what it entails.

Track Times at Willow Springs

So I sent an email to Jeff "Slipp" Dixon asking him for some information about the classes and his lap times. Here is what I got.

He races in Fomula Twins Heavywieght and Battle Of The Twins Heavywieght. Mostly competing against open class twins from Ducati and Aprillia. His bike, the Buell XBRR, was built to compete against middleweight machines, 600s so typically he is "out-classed" by more powerful bikes.

Slipp's fastest lap time so far at Willow Springs is 1:23.45. I am not sure if that time was done on the XBRR or another bike. I will let you know as soon as I get the official word from him. The lap record was set last year by Kenny Kopecky on an ex world superbike Ducati 999r at 1:23.39.

The track is 2.5 miles which puts their average speed at about 107 MPH . Pretty Quick!

Performance

I have been looking into increasing performance of my 08 Buell. It has plenty of power but it seems as if there are some issues breathing. After some discussions with Josh over at Glendale Harley-Davidson / Buell I found out that it is due to emission controls put in the bike. He gave me some suggestions to compensate for the problem while not voiding the warranty and I am going to work on them over the next week or so. I will post more on that later.

One Lap at Willow Springs

I would like to thank Mario Vindeni at Glendale Harley-Davidson / Buell for the video. The rider that is being chased by the camera is Mario on a track day. I edited the video to make it shorter and changed the music.




Music Clip: Before I Forget - Slipknot (www.slipknot1.com)

Glendale Buell Race Team

Sunday was great, I got a chance to see Willow Springs for the first time but the best part was the opportunity to be there to see how the pits work for a race. The first thing I noticed was the organization of the entire operation. Ernie Snair runs a tight ship with ease. His team, which included Steve, Mike, and Alex really worked hard to keep the pits working.

I arrived around 09:30 and they were setup and McGinley was on the field for his practice laps. Throughout the day this small but extremely proficient team worked together like a well oiled machine. In addition to running the show Ernie also takes care of the maintenance with Steve assisting. Mike took care of making sure things were organized and kept track of the Glendale Buell assets. Alex whipped up some mean burgers and dogs for us on the grill but more importantly she kept her ears on so Ernie and Crew could focus on the job at hand. She never missed a beat and the team was ready to go on time, every time.



You will have to forgive me for my ignorance on this track and the different classes as I am a newbie. As I get a few more races under my belt I will provide more information on the event. I am also working on getting some video together.


Patrick McGinley (71)

After Erine and Steve prepped his bike for the race Patrick did a once over on the bike. It is always a good idea to have a fresh set of eyes look at the bike before you head out. No better person to do that than the rider.



Just a few days earlier Patrick injured his ankle and was walking with a limp. This was also his first time on this particular bike (XB12R). Despite his injury and unfamiliarity with the bike he got out there and placed 4th.

I had a lot of fun photographing them on the track. It is not easy to do but I think some of these photos turned out OK.









Patrick does production (I think he is a cameraman) for film and TV and unfortunately had to be on-set in the afternoon, so after his run he headed back to LA. What a day, racing in the morning and working on a movie set in the afternoon. This is one of the things that I am referring to when I say Adventure Riding from the SoCal Perspective. Where else in the world could you do this? This place really is an adventure; I love living here.


Jeff (Slipp) Dixon (883)

Jeff is a Racing Instructor with Fast Track Riders and he DJ's in his day (more likely night) job. Jeff started racing at a very young age and has been at it on and off for about 12 years.

Two weeks ago he had an accident on the track which resulted in internal bleeding, bruised organs, and a punctured lung. Despite that he got on the bike this weekend and ran a great race.

The first round resulted in a mechanical failure on the first lap. The crew and supporters watched as he rounded the first turn only to notice that he was having some issues. Once they got the bike back into the pit Ernie found that there was a problem with the clutch. After working on it for about 30-45 mins Ernie made the command decision to move to the XB12R McGinley rode earlier in the day.



The mothership was out of commission for the day. Jeff started to familiarize himself with his new ride. This would be his first time riding this bike (McGinley rode it for the first time on Sunday as well). After a number swap, some adjustments to the suspension, and refueling, the bike was ready to go.



Jeff started the first lap in 4th place and by the end of turn one was in 3rd. I think the first lap was him getting used to the bike but he maintained the 3rd position until the third lap.

Here Jeff is chasing 2nd.



Then in lap three he pulled off a difficult maneuver and took up the 2nd position leaving a nice gap between him and the previous owner of 2nd. Pretty damn good for a guy who had a punctured lung two weeks prior.

And here Jeff is pulling away from 3rd place.



He chased 1st for the rest of the race but didn't find an opportunity to overtake for the lead. All of the races for the day were limited to six laps.



Here is a shot of the final lap of the day for the Glendale Buell team.




At the end of the day the team pulled in the bikes and tore down the pit. Jeff rolled in and Steve put the bike in the trailer. It is hard to see but the wind started to really kick up after the last race. We started to take down the tents and really had to fight the wind. It was a good thing that there were some other supporters there to help take down the tents otherwise they would have blown away.

Being at the track made me want to start learning to race. Talking to the guys and getting to be around the team really inspires you to get more into bikes. I think a lot of us like the sense of community that comes with being a "biker" and the people behind Glendale Harley Davidson / Buell really make you feel welcome.


Future Races / Events

They race every 3rd Sunday of the month. The pit gets there around 7AM and are there until the last race finishes. I am going to organize a ride out there for next month which will take us through the canyons. There is also talk of a Buell night at the Glendale dealership. If you would like updates on events email me with your info and I will keep you up to date. My email address is motocaliblog@gmail.com.

Willow Springs

What a great day at the track. I have some awesome pics of Jeff Dixon and Patrick McGinley running their Buells. There were some mechanical issues with one of the bikes but both guys rode hard and did really well. It was a long day and I am exhausted from a long week.

The Glendale Harley-Davidson / Buell team cooked up some burgers and dogs for the event and there was a good turnout of supporters. I had the opportunity to talk to some veteran racers who shared their experiences with me in the pit. Hopefully the weather will be a bit nicer next month and we can get some folks together for a ride out there. We can take the path over Angeles Crest / Forrest to the track and then ride back before dark. I will post some details on the ride out for that in the coming weeks.

Willow Springs

I will be headed down to Willow Springs on Sunday to watch the races and to support the Glendale Buell team. Hopefully the weather will be good enough to race. Looking at the current weather forecast it looks as if it may rain. If that is the case I am sure they will cancel the race. It will be interesting to attend one of these events. I have heard that they are a lot of fun and am looking forward to it.

According to the Glendale Harley website Jeff Dixon (Glendale Harley / Buell's guy) won on Feb 17th beating the Ducati 1098. Great job Jeff! Can't wait to see you fight it out on Sunday.

I want to see the 1125 on the track. Since I am a Buell owner I can attend the Inside Pass track day where you get some track time with the 08 models. The Willow Springs day isn't until Nov. Maybe I will catch one in a different city during the summer. I need to purchase some leathers before then. I have been trying on every brand under the sun and nothing fits me properly. I have come to the conclusion that I will need to have them custom made to fit me. More to come on that.

Newcombs Ranch, Moto GP, and Accidents

The ride up to Newcombs Ranch was nice. It was my first time up there and really enjoyed the ride up. I was with two experienced riders but we took it easy going up because David was two up with his son.



Once we got up to Newcombs ranch we had some lunch and started to watch the Moto GP race. Unfortunately we were too early and only the 250 class was running.



On our way back down we see an LA County Sheriff's helicopter landing on the side of the road. I am approached by a bystander who tells me that the road is impassable at the moment. The story was that a motorcycle was in an accident with a van and they didn't know how long it would take to clear the road. He seemed very focused on the fact that we had to wait while they helped the motorcycle rider.



I was a bit taken back by the demeanor of the guy passing along the news. I guess he really didn't care that someone was hurt and was more worried that we would not be able to go anywhere for a while. Maybe it was his way of mentally coping with the situation. Either way it reminded me that it is important to remember that you don't know what people are thinking. When you are on a motorcycle you have to think for everyone else around you.

I parked my bike and started down the hill to see what happened. As I started to pass by the helicopter the medics were on their way to the accident scene as well. Once I got down there I saw the injured rider being worked on by the LA County Sheriff's Deputies (Paramedics).



I didn't photograph the injured rider out of respect for him and his family. Once the rider was stabilized they put him on the back of a US Forestry Service vehicle and carted him up to the helicopter.





Once they had the rider in the helicopter and were taking him to the hospital (Huntington Memorial in Pasadena, CA) I decided to get a closer look at the accident scene.

After talking to some people who witnessed the accident I spoke to the CHP officer and confirmed what had happened. Here is what I was able to find out:

The rider was coming down the mountain and crossed the double yellow line headed against oncoming traffic. At that point a green minivan was coming up the mountain and with nowhere to go and no time to react it hit the bike head on. Keep in mind that the bike was in the wrong lane, it was not the van driver's fault. The front of the bike struck the front left side of the van. This caused the rider to fly about 30-40 feet in the forward direction of travel. The bike on the other hand flew in the opposite direction of its initial direction of travel. The van stopped in place in its lane.









There was speculation that there may have been a mechanical problem with the bike and the rider took a moment to look down and check it. At that point he drifted off into oncoming traffic. Based on what I observed of the riders condition I would say that he wasn't going too fast (~35MPH in my unqualified opinion). This may be due to him breaking along with the driver of the van doing the same.

Another theory that people were throwing around was that he was going too fast and couldn't make the turn. I don't think that was the case because if he were going too fast (keep in mind the speed limit is 55) there would have been a lot more damage to the vehicles and the rider.



The rider was wearing sneakers and not boots. One of his shoes came off and landed next to the bike. The shoe was not laced up properly. It was laced in that "cool guy" pop culture way so that it could be slipped on and off quickly.

He also wasn't wearing any other protective clothing like an armored jacket or pants. The medics had to cut away his pants so that they could asses his situation. When I got a look at his belt it was obvious that fashion was his top priority.

The last image shows the trail of debris from the bike. I was standing where the rider was lying and the bike is just in front of the tow truck. To give you some perspective on distance from me to the bike is about 50-75 feet.



I think this rider was very lucky he didn't end up over the side or smacked into the wall. He was conscious and had asked for someone to call his wife. The general assessment was that he would be OK. Pretty damn lucky for someone who went head-on with a van and wasn't wearing any protective gear (except the helmet which is required by law).

We should all take this little incident as a reminder that we are responsible for our own safety while out on the road. Sure other people are supposed to look out for you but they don't. Keep in mind that you are going much faster than anything else on the road and you have a smaller footprint which makes it harder for others to judge your speed.

Almost every accident involving a motorcycle can be linked back to the rider. Riding too fast, not checking tire pressure, riding on faulty equipment, not paying attention to the road, riding beyond skill level, etc.

• Be prepared for that car stopped at the intersection to pull out in front of you.
• If you are riding in a blind spot expect that you are going to get merged on.
• Expect that there may be a stopped vehicle around that blind turn.
• Know that when lane splitting, minivans and SUVs probably can't see you coming up.

It is your life and only you are responsible for it out there. There is such a thing as safely riding hard. If you are going canyon carving wear protective clothing. You are at a higher risk of being injured canyon carving than in traffic. I support that statement with this; in traffic you are aware of everything going on around you and are riding cautious; in the canyons you are focused on taking the turns and practicing your form, traffic is an afterthought.

Think about that the next time you are in the canyons. When you come up on traffic what is your mindset? Are those unpredictable hazards packed with people doing everything but paying attention to the road, or are they obstacles slowing you down? You probably answered obstacles slowing you down. You have to remember they are the same people who you don't trust on the freeways, only difference in the canyon provides for a nicer background.

Final note: The canyons are not the track and if you try to treat them as such you will end up hurt or dead. Always respect the road and those on it with you.

Rock Store

So we had a good safe ride up to the Rock Store despite the heavy winds. We took the easy route in so there was no pressure for those new to the canyons. Here is a pic I took of the bikes lined up on Mulholland Dr.

We will be doing another canyon ride this coming weekend. We will be going up Azusa Canyon and back down. There will be a 30 min riding techniques overview before heading out. I will try to split up the different groups based on bike type and experience.

Please leave a comment with your email address and I will send you a link to the information for the ride. I am moderating all comments and will not post your information publicly. I have also allowed anonymous comments to be posted so you don't have to have a google account.

Santa Ana Winds

Man, riding in the wind sucks but you don't know sucks until you have ridden in the Santa Ana winds. It was so bad I had to turn around and go 125 miles out of my way in order to close a 30 mile distance. I am not sure what the actual wind speeds were but they were blowing semi trucks over on their side.

There were a couple of HD Electra Glides and Road Kings that went by me with no problems but my Buell XB12X is too light and too high to counter act the winds. I wanted to get home to go out and see some live music but that didn't happen. It took me over 6 hours for something that should have taken 2.5.

There did not seem to be any warning and the weather just on the other side of the mountains was clam and clear. I guess it is all a part of the adventure here in the Southern California area. In reality the winds are only problematic a handful of times out of the year. I rode again today and although the winds were still blowing they were tolerable. It also helped that I had my side cases off.

Headed out to Joshua Tree

So I am headed out to ride down to Joshua Tree National Park. I will be spending the night there and coming back on Saturday afternoon. Once I stake my claim on a camp site I will probably relax and get some work done on the laptop.

You are not allowed to ride off road so I will have to make the most out of riding the paved ones. I will post some pics over the next couple days. The desert is an amazing place and the photos always come out looking great.

Part of the adventure here in Southern California is that there is so much to explore. I have lived here for three years and I probably still have hundreds or even thousands of treasures to discover. If you have never made it out to Joshua Tree, you are missing out.

"Open Source" approach to motorcycle riding

So I want to take an open approach to helping people become better riders. I have met several people that don't know the basics and really don't understand the advanced stuff. I am on the lookout for some experienced riders who are good instructors that wouldn't mind giving some tips to new riders before going out on a guided ride.

I already have a small group going this Sunday and I am bringing two very experienced riders with me to help give a quick 30 min overview of riding in the canyons. We will be departing the Hollywood area Sunday morning at 9AM headed for the Rock Store on Mulholland Dr. There is no reason why anyone should have to attempt to ride the canyons by themselves for the first time. This ride will be pretty tame with some fairly easy roads.

If you want to join us leave a comment with your email address and I will send you the information. Don't worry I am moderating all comments and will not publish your email address. All types of bikes and riding levels are invited to join. There is no cost at all to be a part of this. It is open to everyone! Hence the "Open Source" part.

The start of my blog

So I have decided to start a blog like everyone else on the planet.

I would like to think of Adventure riding in LA as everything from canyon carving to trail riding and lane splitting. I hope to provide good information here that is useful and will try to keep it short so I don't put anyone to sleep.

-Chris