FuzzyNugs

Tried to send you a PM, but your message box is full or something. After asking Ken and some web research, I removed the battery, CDI, and voltage regulator. Lights turn on again, so hopefully it's all good.

IN..and Seth, I'm on a DR650 as well in Oceanside just off the 5. If you want I could meet you for the ride down to Tecate. How is your bike geared? Mine is lowered a bit, but I'll still run the interstate down to 94 and then to Tecate. Should be super simple especially with a later departure. So long as your bike is in order, should just need beer/food money and some extra cash just in case, passport, and spare tubes, don't forget the tubes.

This is just what I'm looking for..just have to get the DR back together. Had my frame welded up today so my luggage issues are no more. I can't help so much for where to go in Baja though. Roger, the Muffler Man in Oceanside doctored up the frame for $20. Out of surgery.

Did not get to meet the owner and it would have been nice to hear something about the bikes. As I stated earlier, my motorcycle knowledge is sparse but any idiot can tell when something is old and rare. That's what this place is. Also SnowAviation, my Chrome browser came up with a malware notice when I clicked the link. Are your pictures hosted on a private website? May want to check it for anything malicious.

Just wanted to share this great find with the forum. My mom was just in town visiting from VA, so I figured I'd take her up to Temecula to see the wine country since she likes wines. With over 40 vineyards it was hard to pick, but I stumbled upon one with the description of a vintage motorcycle collection and knew I had to see it. I lucked out as they only show the bikes Thursdays and Sundays from 10-noon and I got there just at noon. Fortunately the owner's son let me into the Moto-Barrel room to see the majority of the collection even though it was in disarray from recent bottling. He said they not only collect, but also race vintage bikes. Here are a few pics of what you might find at the Doffo Vineyard. Could make for a fun day trip to head out through Anza and up to Temecula, taste some wine, drool over bikes, and then head home. Grapes just a week or two away from harvest Massive ageing barrel I presume(I don't know much about wine) Inside the tasting room Ferrari made a razor scooter? I have no clue what this was, but it was tiny and looked fun The owner(absent during the visit) obviously loves motorcycles Stuck my camera through the door of their workshop I knew Benelli made things before their famous shotguns, but motorcycles? I wasn't aware Bridgestone had a bike either This is a Harley I could see myself on The awesome Moto-Barrel room, too bad I don't know my bike history to really appreciate what I was seeing A reminder from when smoking was cool Lot's of neat old stuff in excellent condition, those American Pickers nerds would drown in their own drool And if it wasn't obvious already, the owner seems to be a Ducati fan. Check it out sometime. Would make a good backcountry street ride too with a lady friend or wife.

Truly sounds like a great ride. Thanks for the read.

Great pictures Phil, didn't realize it was so wet out there. Wish I was out riding.

I have a HD 1080P projector I'm not using right now, but the inputs have to be either HDMI, the yellow RCA type, or the standard 15 pin monitor cable. I'm not familiar with Macs, but if someone thinks it will work I'll volunteer it. I don't have a screen and it get's pretty big if you have enough room. 300" I think..

Great RR Kato. You definitely pack in some serious adventures in short time. Looks like the dog saddle made it through the weekend, how did it work out? Hold all your chew toys and treats?

I'll 2nd the Highway Dirtbikes mirror set. I've wrecked em plenty of times now and they still haven't cracked or anything. When adjusted to the right angle they give a pretty good view. Might have to minimize vibrations by holding it with your hand if you are trying to look back really far, but in that case I'll just to a head check. I'd even go as far as to say that you don't even really need the HDB guards. If you are handy enough to drill a hole in aluminum and widen the inside hole with a small concave spot they should bolt up. If you can find a picture of how they mount, it's pretty simple.

Man and I can hardly tie my rack to my bike on a week trip... Enjoy the pageant girls and yes more pics please.

I'm up for either location as everything is far from Oceanside. Count me in.

Nice pics. That blowhole thing looks pretty cool. How often does it spout?

I suppose it's time for me to throw up my version of the events. Might be a bit long...It was surely an adventure, but luckily never got real hairy. After some alarm clock failures, I met up with Todd and Arnie at the Hideout to start our 9 day trek. We picked up Aram in Yucaipa and then did a nice loop of Big Bear before winding down to Wrightwood for the night. Day 1 Day 2 Things got a little more interesting once we got north of Tehachapi. Arnie suddenly pulls over on the side of 58 and we quickly diagnosed the problem. This was only after 3-400 miles. Even after removing the disc, it wasn't until reassembly that it occurred to us there was an obvious wheel spacer missing. It's nice to have duplicate bikes on the trip for these sorts of comparisons. This should buff right out.. Todd discovered he is also a part-time KTM parts dealer and was able to find two perfectly sized washers in town to work as a new spacer. No more rear brake, no problem says Arnie. Also Patrck shows up, our 5th rider, and motorcycle enthusiast. Also on a DR650. Just don't ask too many questions unless you have the time and patience to listen. Back on the road and into the hillside on our way to Lake Isabella for lunch. Aram takes a corner far below us. This was a longer day and we didn't get into camp until just before dark. We took the long way around and finally got back up into the forest. Relatively flat trails, smooth turns, and the perfect ratio of dirt/gravel had my flying through this section. My favorite section of the trip. There was a rough rocky uphill that I successfully bounced through, but in doing so put the final punishment on my subframe. This was a small clearing with a lone tree just after the climb. I had bent the mounting tab and portion of my aluminum rack the week before in Baja. Since it was still attached and strongly bolted I left it. Well after bouncing around for two days, the frame finally cracked. Now with only 3/4 bolts holding my luggage down, it was time to improvise. Mega zipties held at first, and then broke, but I secured a hose clamp that did the trick. Have to thank Patrick for that idea. It would last until day 9, before disintegrating on Qatal Canyon's deep rain ruts. Day 3 With a bit of a slow start, we said goodbye to Aram and had an early lunch'n beer at Camp Nelson. Then we spent the day winding and twisting through King's Canyon NP. Highlights included Moro rock, giant sequoia forest, Patrick's off-balance wheelie through the sequoia tunnel that almost took out Arnie, and finally camping right on the King River. You almost get sick of the turns Not a bad view and worth the hike up Moro rock. The peak of Lippincott Mtn in Death Valley is visible from here. My favorite shot from the trip, thanks Todd. Living giants You can almost forget there are hundreds of people camping just nearby Day 4 We tried to get up to Mammoth Pools, but got turned around by road closures from the fire north of Shaver Lake. Shave Lake Pizza had some amazing dough. Try it out. As Todd mentioned in his post, we did some cave exploration and stopped for a swim and beer in the river. Arnie spotted this frog in the dark on the cave tunnel wall. After looking at the pic, there was a second hiding in the crack. We ended up in a small town of Big Creek that just hung to the side of the mountain, before heading back to town to try Edison Campground(private). It was worse than a zoo, so we quickly high tailed it and found a nice campground just outside of town with few guests. Just what we needed. Big Creek, mainly a hydroelectric town it seemed for the Edison plant. For Day 5, Todd sorted out some alternate routes to get us to Bass Lake. Plenty of time for getting lost, and hanging out in the bar too long. Crossing the bridge at Redington Lake Then we climbed our way up to some trails before being turned around for the fire efforts, again. We ended up in North Fork at a bar. Small town sacrifices But, we couldn't sit in the bar all day, so we got back on the trails. My riding may have gotten a little more enthusiastic as I chased Arnie and Todd. Came around one corner and the back end just slid out too far and I did a small 180. No big deal, but I hate going down and it seems to get in your head once you do it once. I slowed it down, but within another half hour I came around a left hand turn and my front tire knifed in to the left pretty bad. I sort of went with it, but then the tire caught some loose sand on the side of the road and decided to cut back hard and to the right. Bloop, and down I go with my first highside. I'm pretty good at hitting the ground thanks to Airborne school from the Army. I'm not good at getting my feet out from under the heavy DR. I think my right toe caught the ground and twisted my foot out as I was coming off. Definitely hurt, but nothing major it seemed. Patrick helped me right the bike and I took a few minutes before catching up with the guys. I'm glad it was my brake foot and not the shifter foot. Not gonna take me out of my trip though. It would bruise and swell up, but some ibuprofen and tight boots kept me on the road. Hoping it's just a bad sprain and nothing torn. I just had to be careful holding the bike up with just that leg. I was slow in the dirt after this as I really couldn't afford to further injure it in a spill. Bass Lake, on the weekend, what a zoo. But as the trip had gone so far, we lucked out and got a back corner spot that was already paid for and been abandoned by some guy's son. And we got to make a big fire! We were only able to have a fire about half the time on this trip. Sure is a nice thing to have at night. Day 6, the long slog across the central valley After lunch at the Panoche Inn, Patrick split north for the Bay area to head home. The three of us continued on through Hunter Ligget in search of the "secret campsite" overlooking the ocean. Great Success! This was easily our best campsite of the trip. A sea of fog would roll in, but never touch us. Day 7 had us descending via dirt down to HWY 1 and then heading for somewhere around SLO. After not seeing Todd behind me for some time, I turned around to check. He wasn't even a quarter mile from camp when I came upon this. The ol' nail in the tire trick. This tree was nearby and had perfect seats. Back up to the coastal summit for one last view now that the fog had lifted. And..we made it from one camping extreme to the next: Lopez Lake The Wal-mart of camping Word of caution, do not buy the Alite Mayfly chair in this pic. The poles have a design flaw that allows them to slide inside each other, rendering the chair useless. I had to fix it every night and have since returned it. Day 8 We saddled up at the Pozo Saloon, a bar/concert venue from the 1860s Only missed the Willie Nelson concert by a week, ha. Saw some antelope, just before getting to the Chorizzo Plain Finally, after a tiring and windy twist through the mountains to Ojai, we dumped out at Carpenteria in hopes of a beach camping spot. Summer beach season was in full swing so we decided to just get a motel room. But let's get a beer first. While searching for a watering hole, I hear my name called out. What..must be for someone else. Then I pulled over and see Goofyfooter and his girlfriend..another SDAR miracle! It really was funny to run into him so far from SD and on the tail end of our trip. But we were tired, dirty, and need beer so we set out. Hotel after hotel was either booked or laughably expensive. We finally found what turned out to be an extended living motel for "transients". We didn't care and I opted for the floor. Hard to say no when someone offers to buy you steak and crab and the other a few drinks. No diving allowed. Day 9 we blasted home through the pavement jungles of the 405. If a broken rack and a sore ankle are the price of this trip, I'd pay double. I was ready to get off the bike after 9 days, but honestly after 2 days, I've already got the itch to explore the next camp site. (Right after I got home, bruising has all but disappeared now) 1,806 miles and time for new tires.

Welcome aboard. I've also got a DR and it can be a pig at times, but it's plenty of fun. See ya out there sometime.

Nice pics slagnado and sorry to hear about our run in with the hornet. Must have been an angry feller.

Glad I was able to make this trip. Thanks Kug for leading us on another great adventure into the wilds of Baja. I got to test out my new Giant Loop Coyote bag and really like the way it fits the bike and handles compared to hard cases. By the second day, I was comfortably zooming around with the luggage like it wasn't even there. The rocky uphill on the "Road to Urupuan" was the only thing that gave me real trouble. I had done it before in the opposite direction going downhill..much easier then. I lost momentum within the first 20 yards and was down not much later. Slanted roads into ditches are not my favorite and the rear tire wanted a taste of it. It was 90 degrees hot and this is where the true pig of the DR comes out, more so with luggage. It sucks to pick up and maneuver in certain places. Luckily Kato made the trek up hill to help, not an easy task in itself. Thanks man. We got it righted back to high ground. Dana and Kug had already made it to the top, but Kug walked halfway down to make sure everyone made it up and help spot me at another section. We needed some water and shade after that, but soon we were back on the road to Ojos Negros to fix a flat in town at the convenience store, how convenient..and beer. After a very quick blast up Compadre Trail, we snacked on some tacos in Tecate and split ways after the border. I think I clocked 530something miles total. Even a Seat Concepts feels like a plank after that much bouncing around. I wish I enjoyed standing more. Always good to see familiar faces and meet some new ones. I look forward to the next time. The route down Cows at Laguna Hanson A nice high-point to stop and take in the mountains Fueling up on beer and tacos. Kato, the taco hustler, was able to get us 5 tacos for $3 a person. Also, 20 tacos will fit in a tank bag. Dark clouds coming inland from the coast. Winter is coming. A good spot to end the day Kato hill climbing the coastal rocks on his monster ATK I like waking up here, and it's free My setup for the night, tough to find a soft spot without trash and glass. We weren't sure how high the water would come on the beach. That and who really wants sand everywhere. Packing up in the morning before heading into town for a tasty nopales(cactus) omelette Trip back home Elevations Hope to make a return down there in another few months. Would be fun to add a day of fishing in somehow.

I agree. This is especially entertaining with the dogs involved. Keep it up please.

Wow that guy nearly got kicked in half in the video. Sorry to hear about the ribs though. I've heard an old southern remedy is to rub a little barbecue sauce over them before bed. Good to go by the next day. Heal up though and don't go too hard or you could further injure it.

I'm planning to be there ready to leave at 8. I'll leave from Oceanside around 6, but it should only take me 1.5 hours to get there. Enough time to gas up and grab a snack at the gas station etc. I'll be riding down so shouldn't need any other unload or setup time. GoofyFooter, I don't know what your Sunday plans are, but you should maybe "get stuck in Mexico with bike problems for the night". Or maybe you'll get lucky and I'll have bike problems halfway through the ride to join you home.

Good news is my bike runs fine and I'll be making the trip 100% now. I'm gonna swap some tires tomorrow and have a few other small errands to take care of. The more I think about rush hour traffic, I think I'll just link up at the gas station Sat morning to cross at 8AM. I'll bring my little cookset and a meal just in case. I'm sure we can easily find a way to heat up some burritos.

I'm back to 89% again. I couldn't figure out what was keeping power from the starter on my bike and then decided to try bypassing the clutch safety switch. Vroom vroom she goes. I'll do a test ride tomorrow and then call it a go. I'll be opting to camp out Friday night due to the long ride down from Oceanside. Sorry Tim, no KLR250 this time. I'd like to make it back across the border.

Slagnado, your friend's flood story sounds very serious. Glad he made it out. Figured I'd give the forewarning that I may become a 0% on this one. I installed some heated grips, a voltmeter, and rewired my HID light. All that stuff seems to work, but now the bike won't start at all. Nothing on the starter. I last ran it 3 weeks ago. I'm gonna do my best to get it sorted in time.

Haven't been on a group ride in a while. I'd like to throw my name in on this at 89%. I am open to camping Friday night or just meeting Sat morning.

Great photos and huge distances for 6 days. Bet it was fun. Camping or motels?