Day 18

Day 18 got off to an early start after a restless night.  Not sure why I was so restless as we stayed in a quaint, quiet little Inn that likely had the most comfortable bed and pillows we've seen this trip.  About the only thing I can think of is I had a lot on my mind after the previous days clutch issue.  I can't say I wasn't somewhat concerned about trekking across the isolated desert with a questionable clutch in my bike.

Char and I had talked about getting on the road a bit early to beat some of the desert heat.  Well we accomplished that with the temperature being 5 degrees Celsius in Mammoth Lakes at 7:30 AM.  Kind of forgot to factor the 8,000 foot elevation into the equation.  By the time we were 40 miles down the road in Bishop, CA it was already closing in on 30 degrees.

As we headed east away from Mammoth Lakes we saw less and less snow covered peaks.

Lot's of this en route to Vegas, long stretches of isolated straight riding, kind of like Saskatchewan plus the desert, some hills and a lot less bugs.

Our route took us down I-395 to California 168 and the US-95 to Vegas.  The 82 miles of California 168 may be some of the coolest (as in fun not temperature) that I have ever ridden.  Some great scenery with a couple of 16 + mile serious twisty sections with large climbs and descents.  The length of the climbs worked out for me as I had pretty much zero clutch left by the top of each climb but it recovered on the descents enough to keep us rolling.

We stopped 40 miles out of Vegas to take a break and get out of the heat.  I'm not sure of a better way to state this so I'll go straight to the point. Riding across the desert in 42 degree Celsius temps was pretty much miserable in my opinion.  The last 40 mile push I figured would be no problem as it had no major climbs and was only 40 miles so I figured I'd won the battle of the clutch.  So much for that thought, by the time we hit I-15 I had no clutch play left again and we were rolling onto Las Vegas Blvd on our way to the Stratosphere.  It was a challenge trying to shift and pop the bike into neutral and I'm sure there was a few folks wondering if I'd ever ridden before as I stalled the bike at almost every stop but we limped into the parking lot and shut it down for the day.

I contacted both local kawi dealers and neither has any clutch parts in stock and based on the conversations it may be a challenge to get me back on the road by our planned Thursday AM departure.

This will be the last blog until we are on the road again as I'm sure you all don't need an update on my gambling losses.  If we get rolling Thursday there will be a blog Thursday night, if not I'll update what our repair status looks like at that point.

Mileage covered today was 517.1 km for a trip total of 5862.3 km.

Day 17

Day 17 had us departing from Merced, CA. for a tour of Yosemite National Park before heading for our rest spot for the night in Mammoth Lakes, CA.

Highway 140 heading East out of Merced is relatively flat and uneventful farm land for many miles.  I originally thought these were Orange Groves but found out they are Almond and Pistachio crops.  They go on for miles.

Much like the Alberta Foothills, as you head down 140 they start to roll and get higher and higher until you're into full blown canyons.

A nice family man with a heavy Eastern Bloc accent kindly snapped this photo for us at a riverside stop near Mariposa, CA.

As soon as you enter the park there is unreal scenery around every corner.  This was the first of many waterfalls we saw today.

We swapped picture duties with another couple traveling by bike at Glacier Point.  To reach here was a climb of several thousand feet, almost all of it droning along in second gear at about 30 mph.  As we climbed I noticed my clutch pull beginning to change in the rare spots I needed to shift.  By the time we reached the top I had no clutch left at all and basically came to a stop by stalling out the bike.  We sat for an bit longer than we would have normally at this viewpoint and the clutch slowly started coming back as it cooled down.

Since we were giving the clutch a rest, may as well snap a few more majestic views.

This was the order of the day, traffic moved faster in downtown San Fran during rush hour.

The photo can't do this justice.

Grumpy face on during our second clutch induced rest stop during the climb to over 10,000 feet heading out of the park through Tioga pass.

Almost got to witness an East Indian family get pasted onto the roadway while stopped to get this photo.  They seemed to have a hard time comprehending that the bridge they wanted to stand on to take better photo's was also a 50 mph road.

Tioga Pass Park exit on Highway 120 towards Interstate 395.

We stopped at Ellery Lake to give the backsides a break.  The scenery was incredible and I watched a fellow fish for a short while, unfortunately for him no luck with the fish.

Char snapped this one as we descended from Tioga Pass towards I-395.

Figured I was likely to take some grief from my friends with American Iron over my clutch issues so figured I'd better include this photo while pointing out I rode out of the park.

Tomorrows goal is Las Vegas where we have 3 nights booked at the Stratosphere for $27 a night (gotta love priceline).  Hopefully this will give me time to get my hands on a Barnett clutch spring and find a dealer capable of installing it before we move on.

Mileage covered today was 407.6 km giving us a 17 day total of 5345.2 km.

Day 16

Our original plan for today was to depart San Francisco and make it to the Lee Vining area.  After giving it some thought we decided to alter the plan as I didn't want to have to hurry through Yosemite National Park to make it to a hotel in Mammoth Lakes at a reasonable hour.

New plan was to add a day to our plans and stay somewhere close to Yosemite so we had more time to explore the park on Sunday.  After spending the better part of 5 hours searching every possibility of accommodations and coming up empty we had to hatch yet another plan.  We opted for a very short day today staying further back of Yosemite in the town of Merced, CA.  From here we will tour Yosemite and then stay in Mammoth Lakes, CA for the night before pushing on to Vegas on Monday Morning.

So as far as today goes there is really not much to share.  Pretty bland riding after what we've covered recently and mainly super slab riding for the entire day.  Interstate 580 could be renamed the Dublin-Tracy dragstrip with the way traffic flies along.  At one point I was cruising with the flow of traffic, looked down at my GPS to realize traffic was flowing three lanes wide at 140 KPH.

Figured this might be a good day to share some thoughts on the bike and the setup changes I made prior to the trip for those following along from the Kawanow Nomad forum.

Of all the mods we made prior to the trip (fairing, trunk, stereo, highway pegs, engine guard chaps, throttle lock) I can say without question the best money I spent was $95 on a Grasshopper Driver's backrest.

I do notice some handling traits I'm not thrilled about since adding the trunk but only riding 2 up at low speeds with both bags (one in and one on top) loaded.  The bike almost feels a tad front end light in those circumstances.  When we return home I'll look at moving the trunk forward slightly as I have it mounted as far back as possible on the Scootworks rack as that is where Char liked it setup prior to departure.

The Reckless fairing gave me exactly what I was after (better wind/weather protection) and the added bonus of having somewhere to add a stereo and speakers.

I've been pleasantly surprised with fuel economy so far this trip as I expected the added weight of the trunk and fairing as well as all the extra weight we are carrying in gear and luggage would kill the already less than spectacular mileage. 

Mileage covered today was 258.8 km bring the trip total to 4937.9.

Day 15

Day 15 was a planned off day as far as riding and we wanted to do the tourist thing in San Francisco.  It's an interesting time for my first trip to San Fran as this weekend is the largest public event they host each year, that's right it's the Pride parade! 

We hopped on the bike today and headed out from our hotel in South San Francisco and figured we'd start the day at Fisherman's Wharf.  We found a parking lot across from Pier 39 and $15 later we were on the way to enjoying our day.  Besides all the shopping at Pier 39 there is a bunch of Seals and Sea Lions that hang out on some old docks in the Marina.  We watched them for quite awhile as they are very entertaining as they fight for their spot on the dock.

Char and I debated which kind of tour we wanted to do and I was big on the Segway tour.  Char was concerned she wouldn't get the hang of riding one and I was a bit concerned about her having to be on her feet that long.

So instead of the Segway we opted for the open double decker bus tour.  It was a two hour tour that was worth every penny of the $20 per person.

Not sure what goes on here but I could possibly be convinced to check it out.

Apparently dryers and clotheslines are in short supply in Chinatown.

Pretty sure the dude in the shorts on the left is still frozen in place there since I was pretty much looking for warmer clothes at this point due to the ocean breeze.

Real estate is at a premium but a High School needs a football field even if it is artificial turf.

On the way back to the hotel we passed AT&T park and realized the Giants were at home, had I thought of it I likely would have considered taking in the game.

A few other notes;

I made reference to car chases and Divisadero street yesterday.  Our tour guide today mentioned that a bunch of the chase scenes in the classic Steve McQueen movie Bullit were filmed on Divisadero.

Char and I witnessed a tourist getting mugged today by a flock of seagulls.  The tourist had just bought lunch at one of the food stands on the pier and was walking towards a bench to eat.  A few seagulls started to buzz about his head and one went in for the goods and grabbed the basket of food, knocking it out of the tourists hand and onto the roadway.  from there it was a feeding frenzy while the guy stood there dumbfounded. I wish I could say I didn't laugh but It still makes me grin re-living it for this blog.

Mileage covered today was a modest 64.2 km of local riding bringing our total to 4699.1 km.

Day 14

Day 14 brought a great sense of excitement when I opened our motel room door and saw bright sunshine! It was still cool around the coastal areas but as soon as you ventured inland at all it heated up in a hurry.  In my pre-trip planning today was supposed to be a short haul into San Fran but we still had 300+ km to cover to our hotel after falling short a few KM over a series of days.

As we pulled out of the hotel parking lot this group of a dozen bikes rolled by, mostly Sport Touring bikes with two Wings and a Harley Road King.I fell in behind the group as we hit Highway 128 and followed along for several miles, felt just like I was at home riding with the good folks of CMC Chapter 023 Winnipeg.  As Highway 128 became very tight and twisty their group began to stretch out to the point it became apparent the Road King rider couldn't maintain the pace set by their road captain. Their tailgunner waved me through but I didn't want to break into their group, on his second invitation I blasted by and grabbed back onto the tail end of the lead group and enjoyed the ride until the turned off toward Ukiah where Char and I waved out and headed on our way.

Our ride today covered a lot of Wine country, it seemed like there was another vineyard around every corner.

We had the Lions Gate earlier in the trip and now the big brother the Golden Gate bridge.  Got a bit of a surprise coming off the bridge when I learned it would cost me $6 to get off the bridge.  Don't think the Mercedes behind me was real pleased with the amount of time it took me to get my gloves off, dig some cash out of my riding pants and then put my wallet away and get set.

While crossing the bridge Char snapped this photo of Alcatraz.

After we crossed the  bridge I pulled off on a side street to get our bearings, take a break and check a few things on the gps.  That led to an adventure we likely would have missed without my unplanned detour.  The street we ended up one was Divisadero and to this prairie boy it felt like it was about a 45 degree slope.  Every cross street had a stop sign that had you stopping on the slope.  It is a challenge riding 2-up on a 900 pound cruiser loaded with luggage on this street.  All that was missing is flying cars in a car chase ala The Streets of San Francisco.

 I wanted to get an oil change while were in San Fran and with a day off planned for tomorrow I had hoped a dealer could squeeze me in for next day service.  A quick call to Wendy in service at Mission Motorcycles in Daly City and she told me to come on down as soon as I hung up the phone.  I got my oil change on less than an hours notice and a new battery as well as I had been having some issues at start up the last week that had me concerned.  While waiting for my service the nice folks in sales chatted me up and offered all sorts of tips for our day off Friday. My experience would certainly have me recommending Mission Motorcycles to anyone.

Mileage covered today was 328.9 km bringing our total to 4624.9 km

Day 13

Day 13 saw us hit the road under similar conditions as the previous few day, cool with low clouds/fog.  Until mid afternoon we were close to pulling over and donning warmer gear, but as we neared the California coast things began to heat up and I ended the day in fully vented gear.  I have a hunch we missed a bunch of incredible scenery again today because of the fog.

A kind motorist took this photo of Char and I at the Rainbow Rock viewpoint In Southern Oregon.

Another border crossed and this one wasn't on a bridge!

We saw lots of this on 101 South over the last few days, on a positive note it will replace a lot of really bad road conditions.

We stopped at the Trees of Mystery park in Klamath, CA to tour the giant redwoods.

We took the Gondola to the top with Char commenting how her Mother and Sister would love this ride.  Once at the top the view was about 50% of the normal scenery due to fog, but still a worthwhile trip.

On the exit trail from the gondola is a bunch of carvings that were carved with a chainsaw.  This one kind of freaked me out.

After following this guy for 10 miles I had a strange craving for some Pepperoni and Sausage pizza.

I found out this section of the Highway is dedicated to the Armed Forces that have protected the USA.

We had decided to take the famous Avenue of the Giants to see even more huge redwoods.

While off the bike getting a pamphlet for the tour of the Avenue of the Giants I heard some crunching and turned around in time to see a guy in an F250 trying to back over my Nomad.  Apparently my irate extreme volume cursing was enough to get him to stop.  Damage was limited to a twisted and scraped front fender thankfully.  Once he realized I wasn't going to kill him right then and there he apologized profusely, we exchanged info and he insisted on following us for a short time to ensure the bike was ride able before he departed.

It only cost $4 to get to drive through the famous drive through tree, who could pass on that bargain?

Some prime camping real estate just north of Fort Bragg, CA.

A view from the roadside of CA-1 outside Fort Bragg, CA.

Fort Bragg was our stop for the night, who decides where the line is between aggressive and moderate pan handling?

We headed out for dinner at a little hole in the wall Mexican place called the Purple Rose.  The place wasn;t much to look at but the food was excellent.

Mileage covered today was 459.9 km bringing our trip total to 4296 km.

Day 12

Day 12 saw us roll out of Long Beach, WA with completely cloudy skies.  It was a very strange day weather wise with very low cloud cover and temperature fluctuations of at least 25 degrees Celsius.  Made it a challenge to dress for the ride.

Almost immediately we came across a very cool sight.  In Chinook creek just outside Ilwaco, WA I spotted several Bald Eagles sitting on a sandbar.  At one point there was eight sitting there before a few flew off.

No roadside posed shot for this border crossing since the Oregon/Washington border is in the middle of the Megler-Astoria bridge.  No photo's of the bridge since it was under construction and not very photo friendly but it is a very impressive structure.

The scenery along the Oregon coast is beyond describable and should be experienced by everyone at some point.

We came across a nice group of riders from B.C. at one of the roadside viewpoints.  My Nomad garnered a bunch of attention and started quite a few conversations.

At many points during the day our view of the scenery was limited by the low clouds.

We chose this restaurant for lunch after it was recommended to us by Oregon State Trooper Peterson.  Officer Peterson got the chance to make the recommendation when he pulled me over outside Lincoln City, OR. to let me know my speed was beyond acceptable.  We had an extended conversation about Officer Peterson's planned motorcycle trip to Banff, AB later this summer.  I shared some Canadian geography lessons and we discussed the fact he wouldn't be able to conceal carry in Canada.  In the end he sent us on our way with a "ride safe and watch your speed", which was nice as I figured my speed was well beyond the warning territory.

Anybody know where you can find an Ocean View?

Just another Nomad glam shot.

From one beach to the next, today's stop is Gold Beach, OR.

Don't see too many of these at home.

Found this while walking the beach, a good marketer never misses an opportunity.

Mileage covered today was 541.7 km making our trip total 3836.1 km.