Out Californee Way!

[Ebicat]

Hello all,
On Weds May 21st Me, my roommate Dave (rememberface on here) and my girlfriend Rachel packed up and headed down to San Fran. 3 days down Via the 101, 2 day (3 night) stay in Downtown San Fran, and then 3 days home through the interior! Rachel had an exam on the following Tuesday so she flew home the monday we left to head home.

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6:30 in the morning on the starting Weds, I drag everyone up early, Dave nor Rachel was too happy about it. They both wanted to get up at 9 and leave at 10:30. Me getting us up early would prove to be a good thing in the end though.

We rode for about 2 hours, out of Van (sunny!), across the border (no wait at all!) and into Washington. The weather network said Sunny in Van and Washington with maybe showers in Cannon Beach. not so bad I was thinking. The second we get into Washington we're welcomed with pouring rain. Rachel and I were alright, but Dave was in his 1 piece Dianese suit that's 100% perforated. After 2 hours of riding we stopped at a gas station. Dave basically had hypothermia.

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We got Hot Chocolate, and talked over what we were going to do. We both knew there was no way we could continue this trip for long stretches if this continued. We decided since we were only 10 mins from Lynwood we'd go to Cyclebarn and get Dave some Rain Gear. Dave warmed up by punching invisible American ninjas.

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When we got to Cyclebarn, Dave got some rain gear and I decided a heated vest would be a good idea. It stopped raining in Lynwood and after we purchased our new gear I went out into the parking lot to attach the vest hookup to the Multi's battery. (note dave pimping the new rain gear)

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While I was getting my vest hooked up the VERY american yellow hummer parked next to us, looking hardcore, well... He did till he tried starting it, and tried again, and again and again...

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We finally continued on for another hour or so, pulled off for gas and to figure out where the connection to the 101 was. We decided a map and pizza were in order.

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I located the closest porn shop, they veto'd that and found the connection to the 101, so off we went. We hooked up with the 101 and now to add to the rain we were getting 75KM/H winds too! Felt like we were in a hurricane for the rest of the day. Basically going down the highway in a good lean but going straight. We eventually pulled over because we saw a huge moose! but it ran off before we got the camera out.

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I'll let Dave show you how big the moose was.

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We rode for another hour? and we hit the bridge going into Portland (cool bridge by the way!). After the bridge I saw a Radio Shack and wanted to get an adapter for the vest so Rachel could wear it on and off too. They didn't have anything but on our way out Dave's bike wouldn't start. da-dun da-dun da-dun... nothing, wouldn't turn over. Batteries dead! how? we were riding... Ok time to push start the bike!

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[Ebicat]

I couldn't get it going fast enough unfortunately... Luckily after about 20 mins of searching we find a very nice man to help us out. (He had American flag seats! WOWZ!)

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Bike started up and off we went again, we rode for another 10 mins to the nearest gas station, Fred Meyers!, filled up and.... da-dun da-dun da-dun... BALLS. We pushed Dave's Triple into the parking lot, and then proceeded to ask around for a bike shop (it's about 6 PM now). We find out there's a KTM dealer about 2 blocks up (how lucky is that?). Dave takes the Multi up there too see if he can get a new Battery and Rachel and I wait.

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Looks like a stupid picture right? why bother showing that? well right after that was taken a huge gust from the hurricane force winds knocked my helmet off Dave's seat. it landed on the visor and broke the inside locking mechanism. My visor A) won't come out now, and B) is all scratched up. Not to mention it wont fully open or close anymore... FUCK YOU OREGON!

Dave returns with good news! a battery is charging for him at the KTM dealer, we need to jump his bike once more and get it there. A nice lady in a Pontiac does the trick and we're able to get it jumped.

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We get to the KTM dealer and find out that his battery isn't dead. The leads have come loose, just... so close infact that sometimes it will start sometimes it wont. Thank god for that! They tighten up the leads and we head off, 45 mins to Cannon Beach now.

We arrive in Seaside and take a pic

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Dave is the only one that's been to Cannon Beach before, he proclaims that Seaside is Cannon Beach. We find out the truth soon and ride the 15 mins to Cannon.

We arrive in Cannon Beach and Dave realizes his backpack isn't waterproof and half his clothes are in it. We decide we need a bit of a break from the day of non-stop rain and hurricane winds. We're all a little depressed so we decide to go against our (lets stay in the shittiest places possible and save money) and go to the Cannon Beach Hallmark Resort.

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We get a place on the beach, 2 full rooms, a full kitchen and a jacuzzi bath, also access to a washer and dryer for Dave. After we all go into the indoor pool and hot tub, Dave gets out and his nose proceeds to explode. Luckily Rachel saves the day.

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This next bit is ironic, it's about 10 o'clock now, and we're all starving so we decide to get some food. There's a bar about a block away and it's open so all decide to go there. Stupidly I decide no gear, just a helmet. I sadly convince Rachel of this as well, Dave does too. On our way out of the underground parking, I stall the bike (just not used to riding without my gloves! totally different feel on the throttle and clutch. I topple over, Rachel screams. I muster all my strength and I pull the bike up. Rachel is none too pleased, but at least I didn't let it fall. We get out of the underground parking lot and a Volvo out of nowhere comes about 2cm's (literally) from T-Boning me. She didn't see me at all, luckily I caught he lights and honked just in time. No gear and 2 near accidents... wow.

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We have a Beer and some food, and all is forgotten. We talked about the day, how it was pretty depressing for all of us, and that hopefully tomorrow brings us better fortune.

Morning time, and we get all packed up and head out. a picture at Cannon Beach is in order, everyone has one!

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The weather was so shitty we didn't go onto the beach. Spirits are not high this morning. It looks to be another full day of rain and hurricane winds. We don't stop much for the first half of the day. We stopped for breakfast.

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Dave loves his Par fay, we also noticed not only does Hyosung make shitty bikes, they make shitty Debt machines too

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[Ebicat]

Stopping to take pictures in this weather wasn't on anyone's list. We get to about 1 hour from California and stop for food at a Norwegian restaurant thingy.

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Rachel is pleased.
Can this weather really blow this much? We get to about 20 mins from Cali and out of no where... the clouds disappear and we're treated.

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Dave rode right past the "you are now entering California" sign... go figure, we even told him to stop! He claims he didn't see it. We still got a picture though, ours is just more artistic than most peoples.

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not 2 mins later we're treated to something else we need desperately.

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Lets just say we pay WAY to much for booze in Canada... I'll leave it at that...

We get our booze for the night, and decide that instead of staying in Cresent City we're gonna push to Eureka so that tomorrow is a short day to San Fran. We pick up the pace, passing cars, the weathers nice!

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He gets out of the car, points at me and says "95... 95 you we're going" he walks over to Dave. I look back at Rachel, "wait, what's the speed limit on this road?" Turns out the answer is 55. Oh damn. OH DAMN. 95 in a 55 passing on in the wrong lane. He comes back to me, Why we're you going so fast? "uhhh we we're passing another slow car" I say, "Oh you mean that car doing the speed limit" (fuck...) We explain were from Canada and we don't know any better. We play it nice, he lets us know that he was just glad we stopped as he was expecting a chase. He does in the end write us up a ticket but we get him down to 65 in a 55, the lowest speeding fine you can get.

One thing I didn't expect was how freaking long it takes them to write up a ticket. In our case it was 40 mins. Yeah... It's 7:30 now and were about 2 hours from Eureka. We don't want to ride at night on this HWY for obvious reasons but we do anyway. Honestly it was scary, but we made it without any hitches.

The next day we know we'll be treated finally to a day of good weather!

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We even stop to ride through a tree or two.

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While going through the tree we ended up losing Dave who thought we went off without him, after some searching Rachel and I head off looking for him and find him peeing on the side of the road. All is well again.

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We stop 1 hour outside of San Fran for gas and Quizno's! We also lube up the chains before eating.

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[Ebicat]

Rachel leaves her Visa at Quizno's and doesn't notice till we get to San Fran, shes none too pleased. after 2 hours (rush hour traffic on a friday...) we're treated to a nice sight

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This is the view from the apartment we stayed at.

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We ended up parking the bikes at the Hospital 2 blocks from the apartment. Dave tells them we're seeing someone at the Hospital and they let us park them for free for the 3 days. Sweet! We go watch Indiana Jones 4, and hate it, then sleep.

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You're never too old to learn in the morning.

Raining again. We decide today will be a downtown shopping day and hope for better weather tomorrow when we go sight seeing. We go into this sweet shoe store, Rachel, and Dave both buy shoes. On our way out I see these sweet babies!

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Alas it's not meant to be, I need a size 11 and they only have 10 and 12... Maybe a new pair of sunglasses instead?

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Maybe not...

We work our way towards china town after Rachel and Dave rape their Visa's at Nordstrom. Sorry, correction, Rachel rapes MY visa at Nordstrom.

We stop for wine at this very nice wine tasting bar, which is next to a VERY expensive antique store, Rachel doesn't let the fact that it's well over $15,000 get in her way

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After some wine we get to China town!

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Totem pole, we had Canadian it up.

I'll let the next picture speak for itself

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Nothing angers Dave more than Children, they must pay.
After more Visa rapage in China town we spot something pretty cool.

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It's really nice in person and sounds great. (For those that don't know that's the new Skyline GT-R)

It's about dinner time now so we get some sushi and notice a movie store next door. We decide to rent a movie for the night and realize this isn't just any regular movie store!

[Ebicat]

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You're looking at EPIC amounts of Porno, trust me the picture will never do this room justice. I suggest "Buttastic 2", but then I find the Asian section. Rachel is none too pleased as she wanted "Hard and Sticky" and Dave wanted "Interracial Gangbang Parade" We can't come to an agreement and just get the latest Rocky film. Not a single boob in it...

Next day we're once again treated to nice weather! Yay!
We head downtown again to get on the trolley but there's a 2 block long line to get on it. We decide that if we pretend were on it, it'll be good enough.

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we then head to Fisherman's Wharf.
We see the sights, control a Submarine and ride a bomb, all the usual stuff you do there.

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Dave and I find a candy store.
it's HUGE, and has everything you remember from when you're a kid. Like say "Big League CHEW" I fucking loved that stuff as a kid!

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We proceed to eat the entire bag in one go, this is what it looks like.

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We see all the sights, Rachel and I go on a boat ride and we take in the city. It's a great day, we get some food, wine, sleep, Rachel packs for the plane in the morning and Dave and I get ready for 3 more days.

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The last 3 day's Dave and I didn't take many pictures, that was more of a Rachel thing. Which honestly is too bad, I wish we did now. The first day we went from San Fran to Eureka and then crossed HWY 36. Anyone that's done HWY 36 knows how insane it is. It starts off in a forestry area with small towns, then you're on a mountain with no lines on the road and oncoming traffic, then you're in a dessert on a roller coaster ride. It's basically 3 hours of the most insane twists and turns and change in scenery you've ever seen.

It rained for half of it, and we didn't get a picture because we did the whole HWY on 1 tank of gas and were running on fumes at the end.

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Random California picture will have to do.

[Ebicat]

We had food in Redbluff and decided to ride to Klameth Falls. This was the longest day of riding running close to 1000 km's.

The next day in Oregon we got rain and sun.

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Although beautiful, HWY 97 is boring and flat, there were some straights that seemed to last 25+ miles. Before the day ended in Yakima we got to see something you don't see every day.

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Dave asked the driver what happened? "I lost control" Yeah I'd say so too.
luckily he was ok and no one was injured.

Between Klameth and Yakima Dave's license plate broke off. A little back story, before the trip Dave made his own fender eliminator kit. It honestly looked good, in theory, but was made out of thin shitty metal, which bent it completely parallel with the road. It was about 10 mins from flying off and I didn't want to lose my head from flying license plate so he helped it break all the way. Dave just taped it to his backpack and off we continued.

Then Dave's Rain gear tore, completely. A massive rip in his arm all the way to his stomach. it caused the gear to act as a para shoot which was very uncomfortable for him.

Last day we rode from Yakima to Vancouver, we stopped at Cyclebarn and Dave got his money back for the rain gear and then we headed home. That ended our first long trip on bikes!

I know this was SUPER long so I made sure their were lots of pictures. We had a great time. I need a new seat for the Multistrada, the seat bruised my ass and caused awful pains. Other than that and the weather it was a blast!

:rockon

[Stiffler's Mom]

Good ride & good post. Have you ever wondered if your rain-soaked, nose-bleeding, battery-fixing, visor-breaking, speeding-ticket-getting, visa-losing, girlfriend-dropping, near-crashing, roomate Dave is just maybe bringing you some bad luck? The only thing you didn't do is hit the moose.

[alternateimpact]

looks like a fun trip...and entertaining story.

[CoolDaddyGroove]

TIP: When caught in the rain in your perforated leathers, stop and get a green garbage bag, poke a hole for your head and arms, and wear it UNDERNEATH your leathers. It will save you from hypothermia.

[elevation]

Thanks for the ride report Patrick! Out of all the shitty situations you happened to be in, you made the best of it. Which is exactly what you have to do on long trips. Shit happens. Glad you made it there and back safe. Depending on how much you enjoyed the trip, you may not get on your bike unless the destination is at least past Hope!

[Android]

TIP: When caught in the rain in your perforated leathers, stop and get a green garbage bag, poke a hole for your head and arms, and wear it UNDERNEATH your leathers. It will save you from hypothermia.

Real men wear it on top, inflated in the wind like Kirby. :coffee

Sounds like a hell of a trip, but man you had some bad luck. I did that trip in a car a few years ago and will be doing it again this year... incredible roads along the coast eh?

[Ebicat]

Thanks for the ride report Patrick! Out of all the shitty situations you happened to be in, you made the best of it. Which is exactly what you have to do on long trips. Shit happens. Glad you made it there and back safe. Depending on how much you enjoyed the trip, you may not get on your bike unless the destination is at least past Hope!

Nah, only the first day got us down. Rachel was a total trooper she never complained once. This kinda stuff doesn't get me down in the long run, just makes me remember the trip more :D I had a great time, I'll be having more for sure.


Sounds like a hell of a trip, but man you had some bad luck. I did that trip in a car a few years ago and will be doing it again this year... incredible roads along the coast eh?

The coast even when soaking wet and foggy, is so beautiful. I'm really glad we took it all in. It was awesome :D

Ps. Dave didn't bring bad luck, if anything Dave kept the spirit of the trip alive. It would have been 1000x worse without him. It may sound like I'm blaming him, but this is far from what had happened, Dave helped make it such an awesome trip. :D

[J_Scott]

You're looking at EPIC amounts of Porno, trust me the picture will never do this room justice. I suggest "Buttastic 2", but then I find the Asian section. Rachel is none too pleased as she wanted "Hard and Sticky" and Dave wanted "Interracial Gangbang Parade" We can't come to an agreement and just get the latest Rocky film. Not a single boob in it...

Best quote ever. :laughing

And yeah, looks like some shit luck, but good attitudes. :)

Great report.

[silverD]

Nice trip Patrick!!

Glad you hit 36 eh .. :evilgrin

[Purplekawi]

it's things like you described that make the trip memorable!! you take the good you take the bad you take em both and there you have.........why does that sound familiar!!??

[greenboy]

Great report, your buddy's bike brings back some good memories.

Here's my former 2004 Triple, in August 2005. In beautiful cosmopolitan downtown Ignace, Ontario en route to Halifax.

Touring on a Speed Triple is probably the best neck exercise going, provided your head doesn't get torn off first. :rockon

[rememberFace]

Yeah the Speedy is good at everything up to 130. Over that (damn you paddy) is a neck straining wind buffeting nightmare. It did well though...besides the loose lead bolts on the battery.

Also, I control the weather. So watch your mouth.

[Ebicat]

Yeah the Speedy is good at everything up to 130. Over that (damn you paddy) is a neck straining wind buffeting nightmare. It did well though...besides the loose lead bolts on the battery.

Also, I control the weather. So watch your mouth.

Hilarious, all those times I made you do 150+ for hours on end.

I was very comfortable, minus my ass. :laughing

[elevation]

Also, I control the weather. So watch your mouth.

Well if thats the case then YOU'RE FIRED!

What kind of work ethic was that for the past eight months!!! sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh

[hijinxxx]

:lolup

best road report i've ever read!
:flashy

[Ebicat]

:lolup

best road report i've ever read!
:flashy

Thanks :D

[bafflebrain]

Good read..

[savagebovine]

awesomely hilarious

[LHF]

Great pics....minus the tampon up those though!

[rememberFace]

Yeah sorry bout the weather! uhhh i've got other things on my plate like tides and gravitational fields...yeahhhh thats it.

that tampon was amazing! they're amazing. If I was girl I would be amazed once a month and it would be great. Amazed and insane.