First up, a man of few words, DavieDawg's Harley adventures;
No. 2 son, Guinea Pig and I are just back from a brief trip to Southern California where we travelled a mixture of roads over a week. We hired Harleys in an attempt to get the proper tone for the journey. This was a quite special trip so I have some information to pass on which I hope is useful.
First and foremost the weather was fantastic. This was the main reason for choosing the location. Blue skies and sunshine made the whole journey a pleasure in comparison with the miserable weather we were experiencing here in February an early March.
The riding was great. Apart from a couple of painful freeway sections we stuck to lesser roads which in the main were quiet and in some cases utterly deserted. The Sunday run was particularly memorable. From Barstow on I15 by desert roads to Lancaster (near Edwards AFB and Mojave) to Gorman on Hwy 138 into the mountains then to pick up the 33 south to the Ojai Valley and the coast at Ventura. This road is very spectacular and equal to any Alpine route. But its major benefit over the Alps was the lack of traffic. We saw no other vehicle on the northern part. On the south side we met several sports bikes on a mission and eventually nearer to civilisation at Ojai the traffic built up to a trickle. 150 miles of sheer uninterrupted riding heaven.
The people we met were friendly and helpful. Since most traffic uses the freeways and major highways, signposting of the other routes is poor. Junctions for even national routes can be hard to spot, using local names like Cool Springs Lane or Rocky Canyon Road as signage. Assistance was required to find routes. But not once did anyone appear anything other than sincerely helpful, but sometimes unfortunately, totally wrong.
The Bikes. We hired two bikes from Eagle Riders whose service was excellent, reflected in the price of course. My boy was on a Dyna Low Rider which is a twin shock style. I was on a Fat Boy soft tail.
Both are naked bikes with similar engines.They were very useable in the city and the best of fun for setting off car alarms. But a complete disaster for Freeway riding. The seating position and exposure are just not suitable for speeds above 70mph. In fact 60 is really the right territory. This created problems trying to get out of LA. The huge size of the place dictates that you exit on a Freeway where the traffic is doing 85mph to a man.
I could go on but then you already know what I am going to say – brakes, cornering, comfort, vibration. All issues. The Fatboy had a sixth gear! An overdrive I think because economy at 70 mph was phenomenal. But it ran rough and would not pull it. So a change down was required to overtake at that speed. I spent most of the time in fifth gear. So it was a total waste for a bike which is only suited for slow cruising or city riding. However I did enjoy the mountain roads because of the views which I am sure I would have missed on a faster bike.
To sum up the bikes – done that, won’t do it again. If I was going to the same place I would hire a Speed triple or similar for the mix of city and open roads.
Memorable things - Helpful people, great service everywhere. All riders were friendly despite us being on Harleys. Venice Beach. Highway 1 cruising envying the hippies and surfers with the RVs parked at the beach. The lack of clogging traffic. The straight desert roads with all sorts of strange humanity on the verge of civilisation living at the roadside. The 150 miles of mountain roads which follow the contours rather than do the Alpine thing of up multiple hairpins and down again. It produces lots of bends of varying radii and constant views. The only downside is you are up in the colder air which in March was a bit too cold sometimes.
But top of the list is the constant sunshine and blue skies. Imagine if we could have Scottish roads and Californian weather!
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