Zubb

What a great weekend. Good people, bikes, campfires and whiskey. I really enjoyed the route too. There’s just something about great beer, a salad, smoked gruyere and Italian sausages cooked over the fire with riding buddies passing a whiskey bottle. It was my first trip into dirt and sand with Anakee 3’s, I really should have run the Heidenaus for the steep loose rock and sand. But I actually learned a bit about floating a thousand pounds of man and machine through the fluff on slicks. It was just deep enough that you could hop off and not need a kickstand. It was great to see JaJa’s kit in action. He appears to be the master of bike and gear gadgets and gizmos without going overboard Brian, Roy, Jim, JaJa, Dan - thank you guys for a great long weekend! Note: I get 39mpg ever day all day long. When we gassed up Sunday morning I had 81.9 miles on the clock. Jim confirmed he had 81. She only took 1.42 gals to fill. (Drum roll please) : 57.7mpg! To this incredible accomplishment I credit DanRider. Thanks buddy for bringing your amazing KLR that tops out around 39 miles per hour! Keep your garage locked because I’m thinking about sneaking over tonight and swapping your two sprockets around! Just kidding Dan. The pace was perfect for the scenery we rode through. It’s also cool to know if I had to I could get up to 313 miles out of a tank under ideal conditions. Until next time...

I have several business issues this morning, but am IN as planned. I'll be with Wierdrider, when we leave La Mesa. Exact time TBD, but I'm sure Jim will keep the group informed as I ferociously fight work fires for the next few hours. I'm so STOKED for this!

I had a brake light modulator on my Duc and deduced that it helped. My '6' is my most vulnerable side and I am most nervous about cars behind me. I need to put one of these on the GS. With the loss of my noisey Duc, I noticed a significant uptick in number of drivers who weren't aware of me. Loud pipes do save lives. Wether they are annoying is a totally seperate topic. I replaced my crappy worthless PIAA's with some cheap chinese LED driving lights mounted to the crash bars. As soon as I did this, my surprise encounters with other cars dropped dramatically. Moreso that even when I had a louder bike. It's crystal clear that many many more cars move over, and much farther up the line once I put on these lights. So far it's my absolute #1 safety feature. After all... we know we are invisible, but the lights reduce that factor dramatically. But I still ride like I'm invisible anyway. Oddly, while they are strikingly bright and are more of a blue light than yellow... they are not blinding at all. I have them aimed just below my low beam range. Yet you'll see them from a hell of a long ways away in broad daylight. I think I paid $70 on Amazon. Holy crap.... they're down to $40! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CTG55TI/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hi Dirt Dame, I would encourage you to read the Berkeley report. You'll find that the freeways are absolutely the safest pavement to ride. Back roads and side streets have much higher accident rates. I figure I can't afford to rely on what my experience or so called common sense tells me. To get it wrong could be fatal, so I started research actual statistics. Hope this helps...

Thanks for posting Dan. After a decade Moto-Hiatus, I've been road riding daily for about 3.5 years in SD. I've been on the GS now for the last 1.25 years or so. I am certain that dirt riding is far more hazerdous to my aging skeleton that pavement. I owe my 'luck' commuting so far to a couple things. Proficient Motorcycling by David Hough, I read it on day one, and re-read it every couple years. Bottom line is I adopted his philosophy of "If I get hit, it's my own fault". I can't afford to allow anyone to hit me. So I don't (so far). It sounds harsh to say, but David would say that the man hit by the drunken red light runner.... was at fault. Because he didn't anticipate it. This philosophy really pisses alot of riders off. But I ride with this mindset. I already know I'm invisible, and therefore ride like it. NOTE: I am NOT dancing on this guys grave with a self righteous attitude. I am specifically commenting on a mindset, because it has kept me exponentially safer on both the bike, and in the car. I only share this to encourage others to buy and read the book regardless of how long you've been riding. It's my experience that many life long riders can often have the worst attitudes and habits. My own father has ridden his whole life and never been hit. Yet he scares the ---- out of me every time we ride!! Most road accidents are the result of late night riding and alcohol (in the rider). Once I started pointed those factors out to wifey when we saw them on the news every, she began to relax a little. I can control those two factors. Another huge factor is Hooligan-ism. I can control that as well (usually). Take those 3 factors out of the equation and the numbers swing dramatically back into safer territory. I wouldn't trade my daily commute on the bike for the world. Love it. For extra credit please download and read the Berkeley report. Many riders are shocked to see the actual numbers regarding percentage of bike crashes and level of injury from lane splitting. A simple google search will pop it right up.

It looks like I'll be able to leave La Mesa around 10-10:30 with Wierdrider. My only change of plan will be if a work opportunity or crises pops up, but looks unlikely at this time. If Jim/Wierdrider has to pass, I will readjust my launch time to meet up with whomever, at wherever. I LOVE this cold weather!!!!! It's nice to throw the down sweater on under the KLIM and flick on the grip heaters in the morning. I just wish we could have a campfire to pair with the whiskey and beer.

Welcome brother from another mother. The ol' 1150 gs are in a class of their own. And your 900SS . . . well, that's on my list of bikes to own. I miss my ST2. There is NOTHING quite like a rattle of an Italian dry clutch backing up a Termignoni! The only thing serious about the pics above is my relentless pursuit of a world record for crashing and riding away on an 1150. Beware when riding close by as W.Rider has since learned. Lets ride!

I told Jim I'm bringing the iPad to set on the fire grate and play a YouTube loop of a campfire. Not to worry guys.

All clear. Am 100% in. As soon as you settle on a campsite, please let us know which one so we can try to get one close by.

I'm 90% in on this. Just need to move a couple things off that weekend. Thanks for the invite Dan. I'm fully self contained and will be running my swiss-army-bike. Throw the boxes on the back, swap to the dirty wheel set with Heidenaus, and wipe off the headlight. Let's roll!

I never knew him, but if there's room . . . . . I'm in.

Well done sir! Does it pour faster if you twist it? Maybe bore it out and throw a K&N filter on the backside.

Hey . . . are we all missing an opportunity to get together, drink beer and swap lies about Jim? Happy Birthday brother!

I don't even know where to start with this one. I feel like this one day in Baja deserves a full on ride report as though it were a weeklong trip. I don't want to oversell the experience, but it's almost impossible to relay the adventure without seeming to do so. Memorable moments; Riding right through downtown Tijuana in the morning is reminiscent of Mardi Gras, the day after. Except that it's in a Third World country. The mangy dogs wandering the streets, digging through garbage. The broken concrete, potholes and steep Windey streets through a mixture of poverty and three-piece suits, I had no idea where Oscar was leading us but I was happy to follow. Revolucion Avenue is a mixture of flashing disco lights and the faint smell of sewage with garbage filled gutters. I was glad to not be there at 2 AM. The poverty was stark, but not in a bad way because people everywhere seemed happy. We eventually rolled over the hilltop to see the street filled with over 50 Harleys in front of the Solo Anglos clubhouse. I had no idea Dan and I were rolling into Tijuana's oldest biker gang ---- on a couple of BMWs. The ferocious snarl of our German sewing machines competing for space with all those straight pipes! Fast forward to the end of the day, watching a stunning sunset into the ocean. Everybody knows not to ride in Mexico at night. Somehow though we just couldn't seem to leave. So not only did we, we rode right through the heart of Tijuana, up Revolucion Avenue once again. Only this time it was dark, and the nightlife had begun. Lane splitting and gutter hopping, and riding the yellow between the beeps and honks and oncoming cars. Classic TJ, kind of stupid, and worth every moment. Today in spite of all the other things I had going on, I kept having these "pinch me "moments, feeling like I just had a whole week long adventure in a Third World country. Tonight my wife and I were sitting by the pool, drinking an awesome six dollar bottle of wine from the celler of a friend of a bike gang member, and thinking here we are just moments away from a crazy adventure anytime we want to go.

More fun than a guy should be allowed to have... Goofing off in Baja

Dang!! One of the most memorable days of the year for me. Thanks a ton Dan for the invite! I think Brian is alive. Somewhere. If you see an F700 on TJ-craigslist then we'll know we better go back and look for him. I did text him but no response yet. Probably hard to text in handcuffs. All kidding aside, Dan can you try to reach Brian today and confirm he's home and safe? I'll be out of range until noon today. Trip report with pics to follow once I can sit down and post this evening.

See you at Denny's.

going online now to buy my insurance for the day.

My dad goes to Mex all the time, and returns without a problem with only a drivers license. Border guards tell him to get one, and he smiles and says no politely, and promises to see them again in a few weeks without a passport. It's never held him up. I have one, but wouldn't think twice about not going if I didn't.

"IN" Sounds like a day well spent. I have pesos in hand, passport and fresh Anakee 3's. Let's roll.

First of all. Don't go to a three day bachelor party. You should know you're too old to survive such Tom-foolery with dignity intact. Second, Wierdrider and I will reconnoiter the area the weekend of September 22 and if we survive two nights in the wilderness, hard liquor, lost maps and mechanical misfortune... then I promise to bring you the charred remnants of our maps.

I have a visitor from the devastated BVI's for a bit. Holy shite you should see the pics! I'm out.

Yes. Interested. Will do some figuring tonight.

I'll loan you my Helly, if you loan me your SS until you return. I assure it will get plenty of love and excersize.