AFry's Western Sierra Coastal Ride 8/3-8/11

[Todd Whiteside 0]

Part I

The (approximate) route

Arnie's Western Sierra Coastal Loop

The key players

Me - 950SE

Arnie - AFry 950SE

Kris - FuzzyNugs - DR650

Day 1...Saturday 8/3

Set off from Ramona with a "brief" wait for Kris/Fuzzynugs to wake up (after apparently sleeping thru 2 alarms and 1 wake up call) and meet us at the Hideout

after Fuzzy arrived, we set off for Yucaipa to meet Aram (Buster714 on CAR) on his F800GS on our way to Big Bear for lunch/brews @ BJ's.

Lunch was followed by a ride over to I15 via Cleghorn in order to make our way to the recently reopened, presumably Plague free Table Mountain Campground.

Day #2... Sunday 8/4

Aram and the crew all fired up to head up to Tehachapi

then the Sequoia NF via the long, windy and hot route

When disaster kinda sorta struck on Highway 58.... well Arnie, in the excitement of receiving his upgraded suspension (the night before we left) decided rear wheel spacers are for suckers. A busted rear brake rotor, messed up hub and caliper assembly left in its wake.

After several runs to/from various hardware stores in Tehachapi for all the washers in stock and a few hours on highway 58 he was back in business... sans a rear brake. Made our way up to Rancheria Road. Arnie... freed up from that pesky rear brake

Aram

on our way to our next campground that had a cool meadow nearby (Coy Flat?).

Day #3 - Monday 8/5

packed camp to head up towards Sequoia NP on the way seeing our first big Sequoia's and FuzzyNugs starting the first of many repairs on his beleaguered rear rack assembly...

Aram made his way back home at this point but we had picked up a norcal rider named Patrick on his DR650 for a few days.

Stopped at Moro rock and Fuzzy & I made the long climb up for some cool pics.

Then onto kings Canyon and to our next campsite Canyon View CG on the Kings River... found a sweet campsite where we could chill our beers and wash off several days of accumulated grime.

Day #4 - Tuesday 8/6

Made our way down from Kings Canyon via some dirt roads where we stopped and explored an old mine Arnie knew of

then another stop along the river for a quick swim and some more river beers

headed up to Shaver lake for Pizza and gas. Arnie decided to test his new front suspension with a wheelie only to put holes in the tube via his rim lock...

Patrick explaining to Arnie the proper technique for tire changing and torque values and other interesting and colorful anecdotes.

After getting turnaround North of Shaver lake from road closures stemming from the wildfires we settled on another quiet campground at Swanson Meadows

[Todd Whiteside 0]

Part II

Day #5 - Wed 8/7

With the northern part of our route out of the picture due to the wildfires we attempted to adhoc a route via some dirt roads found on my butler map from North of shaver over to North Fork. After checking out a cool peak/meadow (Cascade pk) via a spur on the trail we ended up the hitting a dead end on Casca Del Road thanks to a fallen tree so it was back to Shaver and the slab to get to Bass Lake.

Stopped for lunch then we explored some other cool dirt options to Whisky Falls only to hit a pretty solid (unexpected dead end) on another trail.

Rumor has it that a few guys named General Sherman messed with Fuzzy's bike at lunch...resulting in an off... or two... along the way but apart from a pretty sore ankle he was none the worse for wear.

Found a pretty nice campsite at Bass Lake considering the mass of humanity present... I'll make no mention of the pounder can of Modelo that exploded in my side bag drenching the contents. I was not a happy camper at that point.

Day #6 - Thurs 8/8

Long trek across the central valley on our way to the coast.

Stopped at the Panoche Inn for a lunch brew and sandwich.

Then into the Los Padres NF on our hunt for Prewitt Ridge CG. Best campsite ever and some really fun dirt to get there. Amazing view of the coast and not a soul around...

Day #7 - Friday 8/9

Down from Prewitt Ridge to the coast but not before picking up a flat right outside our campsite

It was ok though as the marine layer cleared up... great view

Fuzzy haulin it down to the coast

sloooooow slab on the PCH

to lunch in Cambria

Then down through Morro Bay, SLO then to the Walmart of campgrounds at Lopez Lake...

Day #8 Saturday 8/10

The party atmosphere at Lopez lake kept us up late (definitely not the beer and gin) so we were slow to get on our way to our favorite...the Pozo saloon...

Then High Mountain Road to the 30+ mile run across the Carizzo Plain. Shortly after this 1st pic Fuzzy ran out of gas as expected so a quick fuel transfer and he was back at it.

Fueled up and grabbed some grub at a new mexican place in Maricopa before hitting our last dirt of the trip on Quatal Canyon road.

Super fun run although the random square edge washouts wreaked havoc on Fuzzy's rear rack and my Rigid mounts but we made it in one piece.

No dice finding a campsite at Carpinteria or Ventura so we decided to really rough it... with surf and turf and a motel room.

Day #9 - Sunday 8/11

A quick stop for lunch in Malibu where the filthy dualsports were literally the centers of attention

then we swung by muscle beach where Fuzzy and Arnie could welcome everyone to the "Gun Show".

Rolled into SD around 3:30pm in one piece.

The stats

1940 miles by my count...

the cost/casualties

- 2 tubes (one front, one rear)

- 1 toasted Pirelli Scorpion Rally front tire

- 1 sore fuzzynugs ankle

- 2 cracked rigid mounts

- 4 maps (beer soaked)

- 1 med/survival kit (also beer soaked)

- 1 rear brake rotor and messed up caliper

- numerous straps and buckles

but all worth it for a great ride with good friends, good fun and good beers!

[kato 53]

Awwwesome!!

[Chris in Wildomar 0]

Awesome pics! Great writeup! Bummed I missed it!

[NOMAD5326 0]

Awesome ride and beautiful pics! Love the top of clouds shot! Thx for sharing.

[TrophyHunter 15]

Seems to be a theme with Arnie's rides........

Good times and relaxin'................

Geez, I need to quit workin' so much.

[CL300CAPT 0]

Awesome! You guys rock! Thanks for the great write up and photos. I'm seriously jealous......

[bikeslut 1]

It's not an adventure until things start straying from the plan- good report and pictures!

[Suspenders 43]

Great ride report!

[Oracle 195]

Sounds like an awesome trip...I'd sure like to join next year

[hodnettjj 0]

Looks fun! I can't wait to rack up some big miles camping off the GS ...

[DustyRock 0]

Excellent write-up, very fun. Wondering... Did you guys go down Quatal towards hwy 33 or up toward Cerro-Noroesti ? The surf & turf looks great, wondering where that was ?

Great timing on this one to get front and rear bikes in the shot.

[Todd Whiteside 0]

Excellent write-up, very fun. Wondering... Did you guys go down Quatal towards hwy 33 or up toward Cerro-Noroesti ? The surf & turf looks great, wondering where that was ?

Great timing on this one to get front and rear bikes in the shot.

Yeah we came down Quatal towards hwy 33 on our way ultimately through Ojai to Carpinteria - last time we were there we were going in the opposite direction and it was wet... and snowy, a little different this go around. That restaurant in Carpinteria with the Surf & Turf is called the Palms... it's a cook it yourself deal, unless you get the surf & turf in which case they cook it for you. It was quite an improvement over the nightly meal in a bag...

[DustyRock 0]

Cool. Thanks for the reply. I have ridden Ballinger and surrounding areas since I was young but not in some time.... I know the Palms, went there last week for lunch but they were closed..... It just didnt look familiar in the pic.

[Mistress of the dual 1]

Thanks for posting your trip and helping me get through my workday. I am seriously jonesing for some motorcycle camping!

[Beezzz 6]

What a adventure!!

AFRY, how was the new suspension?

Why did the rim lock on the rear tire puncture the tube? I have not seen that.

Low pressure? OLD TUBE? THE POWER OF THE 950!!!

THANKS FOR POSTING.

[Afry 1]

What a adventure!!

AFRY, how was the new suspension?

Why did the rim lock on the rear tire puncture the tube? I have not seen that.

Low pressure? OLD TUBE? THE POWER OF THE 950!!!

THANKS FOR POSTING.

What a adventure??

You can say that again!!

What a great time - riding with Todd and Kris makes it all work even better. We seem to get hungry/thirsty/tired at the same time and riding pace was spirited at times! We had some looong days but no one complained and were ready for more the next day. Aram (solomoto.com) joined us for a bit to show us some speed on the pavement - he can move.

I pulled ultimate bonehead move leaving out the wheel spacer and paid the price but Todd and Kris were nice enough to not leave me on the side of the freeway (they probably were thinking of the bottle of Jack Daniels Honey in my bag). 1600 miles of riding without a back back will wear the front pads a bit thin!

The rim lock deal really sucked - I used the Motion Pro light (blue) rim lock deal to minimize the weights needed to balance the tire but found out the internet was correct and they chew up the tubes. The tube was a quality all rubber tube with less then 1500 miles on it I had bought from AA KTM, I was running 30 psi.

Great trails but had to make some detours due to the fires in the area (locals thought it was a BS deal by the Forestry boys but who knows). The detours only caused us to find some new great trails in the area so it was a win win.

The suspension was great - on Quatral (sp?) there are BIG water bars you can hit at speed (50-60) and she was smooth and stable. I want to ride without the bags and really push it but I think George did something really good here. The on road manners were improved as well with much less dive under braking (all front). I did notice the rear is a bit stiff on the road but who cares.

Thanks to Todd and Kris for taking lots of photos as my camera ---- the bed right away.

I am going to do a follow up report on my new custom Motoport jacket which was perfect for this trip.

[Crawdaddy 96]

Good Stuff!

[WARP9 0]

Such fun!!

Thanks for posting

[Riggerdan 147]

Good times and relaxin'................

Geez, I need to quit workin' so much.

+1

Looked like a really great time.....

glad everyone made it home ok

[paulmbowers 236]

I suspect rimlocks are not wide enough for these wide rear rims, allowing the inflated tube to creap around the sharp edges of the rimlock that would otherwise be hidden by the tire bead.

[Afry 1]

This us the front rim and rim lock was the correct size for the rim. Just a bad design, I will post a pic of the rim lock and you will have an aaahaa moment like I did.

[HVYWT 3]

Afry was that your front tire ?

Wheelie right ?

Radial tire ?

Bias tube ?

Looks like you guys had a blast..

[paulmbowers 236]

This us the front rim and rim lock was the correct size for the rim. Just a bad design, I will post a pic of the rim lock and you will have an aaahaa moment like I did.

Huh.

I knew that SE was a flawed design.

[Afry 1]

Afry was that your front tire ?

Wheelie right ?

Radial tire ?

Bias tube ?

Looks like you guys had a blast..

POS TKC - but not because of this I just don't like em in the dirt but they rock on the street.

Hereis a pic of the rim lock....