The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
Technical Discussion => Ride Reports and Event Reviews => Topic started by: Melena on August 24, 2008, 11:11:53 PM
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Except I didn't ride myself. :( My right foot still doesn't feel strong enough to hold the bike up if I should have to put all the weight on it. But, it's getting stronger every day. In a few weeks I should have that ride report up. ;)
But, I did get to ride 2-up on the back of a K100 LT. In thinking where to ride, we decided that it was too hot to head west, and too hot to go north up Hwy 101 (it just gets hotter as it goes inland there), and it would be too hot and too much traffic to go south on Hwy 101, so we decided to go west! ;D Toward the coast and the coolness of the ocean breezes. Good choice.
Got a late start as we took it easy in the morning until we got hungry and had to go to lunch before we left. Finally got out onto the back roads and finally on to River Road and through Guerneville and on toward Jenner and Hwy 1. It was hot when we left, but as we got closer, riding through Redwoods and along the Russian River towards that great Pacific Ocean, the temperature dropped considerably. It was a very comfortable and sunny 68 degrees when we got to Jenner where we stopped to get something to drink.
We stopped at the little gas station/store there in Jenner, and there were some guys siphoning gas out of a motorcycle. We, being the curious and friendly people we are, went over to see if there was anything we could do to help. Turns out the 4 guys are from Scotland and work for Cisco Systems. They are over here on a job related trip and take their days off riding around on rented motorcycles. Sounds like quite a nice job to me.
Anyway, the problem is fuel related. Turns out that in Great Britain, regular gas is shown in green. Here, diesel is shown in green. Oops! :o 2 bikes with diesel in them - completely full with diesel. Luckily they realized it before they started the bikes. They were able to push them off to the side and the people in the store/gas station loaned them a siphon hose and gave them a big bucket to siphon into and a barrell to put the diesel into.
There wasn't much we could do, but we did talk to one of them that was just waiting for the others. I guess he wasn't the one to put diesel in his bike. He liked the K100, and said he had owned BMWs and Hondas. Don't rightly know what he owns now. But they had rented these bikes, and they were essentially new - one had 2 miles on it and the other had 165 miles on it. So they were really sweating bullets here. At this point we had to wait to see the bikes started up.
They finally got the diesel out and pushed them over to get them filled with regular gas. At this point they were really hoping that the bikes would start okay. I remember reading something (on this forum?) about diesel in gas and that a little bit wouldn't hurt and may help. Anyway, I told them that and suggested that they fill up when the gas was halfway down and not wait until they were near empty to help dilute whatever diesel was in there even more. The suggestion was taken as a good idea. Oh, and the bikes started just fine. Whew!
So, with that little excitement over, we continued north on Hwy 1 up the steep, curvy hill with a couple of really good 350 degree curves to the bluffs above the ocean. We pulled off into a nice view point with good parking and a restroom (good thing, too, with all that water I drank ::) ) and walked up a hill to take in the view of the beautiful California coast.
By that time it was getting late and time to get home. So off we went back the way we came, this time at a bit brisker pace. And the coolness of the coast turned into 90+ degrees as we got back. Too hot. I'm glad we had the chance to enjoy the coastal temps. It was great to get out. It's been way too long.
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;D Sounds like a fabulous ride! Even if you were just tagging along as a passenger. I remember riding through that country well...
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi129.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fp210%2Fcabcgec%2FMotorcycles%2FAveofGiants.jpg&hash=1a23ef6d61cd5691f8be80f78f43052381b1933b)
You tell a really good story! Makes me envious of being able to just hop on and ride through country like that at the drop of a hat. We have some beautiful roads to ride in the mountains here, but it takes me 3 hours to get to them! Glad you had a great day of riding. Must make you anxious to get back on your own!
Thanks for sharing your day. 8-)
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That's a neat picture of you there Aida. Looks just like some of the roads around here that I get to ride now and then. ;D
If you ever get out here again I'll have to show you some of the back roads around here that are just beautiful. I like to take my time on them and just enjoy the beauty.