My first real ride report with actual pics. This was my first big day trip on a bike, about 250 miles round trip. I rented a 2009 Versys, a bike I've had my eyes on for a little while. I'll probably toss some of my thoughts and reflections of the bike in here too.
The route I took is here (I can't figure out how to embed a google map):
http://www.google.com/maps/ms?msid=217793014621057943419.0004af63f033aa93b00f5&msa=0&ll=38.162636,-122.56897&spn=1.060307,2.117615I picked up the bike from the friendly folks at Dubbleju Motorcycles in SF. A 2009 Kawasaki Versys with about 10,000 rented miles on her. I left the house at about 9:15 in the AM. The weather was supposed to be warm and sunny, but as is common in SF, the day started out gray (but not cold).
Here we are with Angel Island in the background
...and the Golden Gate Bridge
From here I hit the slab. I was totally ok with spending a good amount of time on the slab as I wanted to see how the bike felt at freeway speeds, how was the wind protection with the tiny windscreen, how buzzy was it (it is a parallel twin after all), etc. The results? The bike handled quite nicely at freeway speeds, felt pretty solid and stable. I didn't get blown around much (it may not have been windy out). The wind screen did a great job of keeping the wind off my chest. A nice improvement over what Stella Blue (my 700S) has to offer. The bike was definitely buzzy. I noticed it. There were times when I thought, "Wow, this could get annoying, are my hands going to go numb?", but it wasn't so bad. Honestly I forgot about it before too long... But man, the inline 4 of the Nighthawk is a dreamy smooth ride at any speed! This was one area of disappointment for me. The worst part of it all was perhaps the mirrors buzzing all to heck. It makes it difficult to identify the car coming up behind me as a cop car or not.
I hopped off 101 and headed onto 37, and winded up past Infineon Raceway (although I still call it Sears Point). I didn't stop for any races, but there it was in all of it's glory... From 37 I went up towards Sonoma, and Glen Ellen. I stopped in the city of Boyes Hot Springs for brunch...mmm...panckaes, eggs, and bacon...
By now it's about 11:00 or so and it's still gray (but not cold). I am starting to doubt that the sun will ever come out...
Two pancakes, two eggs, two pieces of bacon, 2 cups of coffee, 1/2 glass of water later, I hit the road again. Next stop, Lake Berryessa, Napa county, by way of backroad twisties.
Heading out of town, I pull over for my first vineyard shots of the day, not spectacular, but here they are anyways...(actually, to be honest, this might be from just before I stopped for brunch)
I headed out from Creekside Cafe and got back on to 12. After a few short miles I hang a right on to the quiet, tree lined road known as Trinity Rd. It was quiet, cool, and the smile on my face widened as I saw the gentle winding curves ahead with not a car in sight. I opened the throttle and was gearing up (pun kinda intended) for the first of several hours of twisty fun!
Before long, this lovely road became even lovelier when I got to the newly paved section (about 2/3rds of this road). I think they must've painted the lines not less than a week before. Fresh blacktop, through the hills, with no traffic, and the sun starting to peer out...
who could ask for anything more...All I could think about were the lines I was taking (and how to improve them) and not much else. I was in the zone. My mind was calm and focused.
As I come over the ridge and start to make my way out of the shaded hills, into Napa county, I found the sun! It was hiding in Napa. The sight was amazing! Pictures never do it justice. Nothing but vineyards, rolling hills, blue skies and temps in the low 70's.
At the bottom of the hill I stopped to snap these pics of some grapes that are looking pretty yummy to me!
After a short stretch I make my way on up to my next destination, Lake Berryessa. I'm expecting it to take another hour or so, and I'm hoping the sun will come out even more and the temp rise just a bit. I brought a swim suit and was determined to take a quick dip in the lake. Unfortunately no great places to pull off and snap pics, but let me tell you, the vineyards are beautiful, in their perfectly aligned rows, and grapes hanging off the vines. If you're ever in the SF Bay Area, a ride through the wine country is a must!
I arrive at the lake, and there's hardly anyone there. Sure, I get that it's the middle of October, but it's gotta be at least 78 and sunny. I pulled in, shed some layers, had a big drink of water, and changed in to those swim trunks. The water was cool, and just the refreshment I needed!
Here's my final pic before heading out to my Uncle's for his birthday dinner in Sebastopol. I was supposed to be there in 35 minutes, but was at least an hour and a half away...I accepted I was going to be late, called him, and didn't worry about it. I was going to enjoy my ride, and stay safe. No need to rush. I would rather get there late than get there on a stretcher.
The ride back down was great, more beautiful roads, through small vineyards and wineries. These are the places off the beaten path, the places the Napa Valley wine tours don't go. These are the vineyards I wanted to cruise through. My day was being made...
I finally pull in to my uncle's place about 4 pm, about 6.5 hours since I left. Sure I was tired, but it was a great kind of tired. My two cousins were there (17 and 14 years old) they loved the bike. The 17 year old is dying to get a bike. He wants a fast 650 cc sport bike. I keep trying to talk him into starting a little smaller. He seems to be reluctant to. If nothing else I can talk some sense into him about the importance of good gear, and some of the specific dangers of being a newb on a fast sport bike. Hopefully some of it will get through to him. He hasn't taken the MSF course, but he will (when he's ready). We hung out played foosball, ate BBQ chicken, had birthday cake, etc.
The only incident was my uncle's tenant backed into the parked, rented bike and did some minor cosmetic damage, which will come out of my credit card deposit and I'll have to get reimbursed from him. He refused to give me any of his information, and although admitted hitting the bike, proceeded to blame me and my uncle because he let me park the bike in "his" parking spot. I called the cops to write an incident report and help facilitate communication with this hostile tenant. I'll be taking him to court once I find out the amount of the damage, or at the very least I'll have him served, we'll see if the car insurance information gets handed over at that point (if he even has it)...A headache, but it will be ok...it's funny to me how crazy people get around money. I understand that not everyone is in a position to shell out a bunch of money for damage they caused, but it's one thing to say, I'm broke, here is my situation, I want to help, lets figure out a way, and it's another thing to be hostile, threatening, and unreasonable. I spoke to the cop this evening, he agreed, that this guy will not cooperate willingly, and that I need to force him to cooperate through suing him...
Even with all that, it was still a great day! The bike handled great, nimble in the curves, spunky parallel twin, felt super light underneath me. I really liked the seat height, and the ergonomics were great for my 6' tall, 32" inseam legs...
If anyone is ever out here and wants to do a great ride, let me know, I'm down to do this or other similar rides...
Ride safe!
